Tables Turned | JH

Chapter 11: Interesting

Choyeon POV

As Jhope and I enter the meeting room, the five other men that are waiting immediately stand up and bow. I merely dismiss them with a wave of my hand as I take my seat at the head of the table. Jhope pulls an extra chair up for himself to sit next to me whilst Kwon takes the last seat on the very end of the table.

"Names?" I ask softly, looking over to Jhope curiously as I wonder whether he managed to figure any of them out and remember from last night.

"Yong, Seng, Woo, Ahn, and... Joon. Not including Kwon who we brought in with us." He answers softly, glancing around at each of the men. I take note of his hesitance with Joon but don't speak of it, knowing he's probably still uncomfortable with being anywhere near him right now.

"Good." I tell him quietly, before looking up to the rest of the men.

"Alright. Let's get down to business, shall we? Profit. I want to hear improvements." I state, starting the meeting off. It doesn't take long to run through profit margins as I lean back in my seat, occasionally being passed a folder to help inform me on their progress.

"Woo, you deal in drugs don't you?" I cut the man off as I blankly look up at him. The man freezes in the act of speaking, looking over at me in surprise. I cock an eyebrow at the man due to his lack of response.

"Y...Yes, Ms. Kim. Is there an issue?" He responds. I can feel Jhope's eyes on me as I keep my eyes on the man down the table from me.

"I'm afraid there is. Throughout the entire report, I seem to be missing the stronger drugs here. Heroin being the biggest mistake. I'm sure this is merely coincidence that is appears to be missing, yes?" I question, looking at the man with a serious expression. I watch as he rubs his hands together nervously.

"N-no, Ms. Kim. It's not a mistake on the report. I've not been dealing in the stronger drugs." Woo answers hesitantly.

"Hope, you dealt in drug meetings, yes?" I question the man beside me, not taking my eyes off of Woo.

"Yes, Ms. Kim. Plenty of them." He answers calmly, looking at me curiously.

"How powerful of drugs were you witnessing being sold? Which ones were the most popular? Most expensive?" I ask, watching as Woo shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Ms. Kim, I-" Woo begins.

"Don't fucking interrupt him, you fuck head." I snap with a glare. The older man noticeably gulps, nodding his head slowly.

"Heroin and OxyContin were amongst some of the most popular. Those two along with cocaine were the most expensive to sell. Cocaine only costing so much due to its immense popularity." Jhope answers from beside me.

"Ms. Kim, I understand the high demand for those drugs. But the lethality of them is high and dangerous. I'm personally against putting that shit out on the streets." Woo says, trying desperately to defend himself.

"So you're okay with your kid risking his life on not overdoing the cocaine and trusting that he won't get a hellish trip when smoking weed that could end him, but you wouldn't want him hitting the better shit? Hmm. Interesting." I speak coolly before turning to Jhope with my arms crossed over my chest as I lean back in my chair.

"Interesting, wouldn't you say?" I ask him, tilting my head to the side as I watch him. I can tell he's a tad uncomfortable with the attention, but hides it fairly well.

"It is interesting, Ms. Kim. Especially considering the drug world is a very competitive one. Easy for someone to sneak in and steal your business. I know first hand that if you don't have the shit customers want, that they'll leave for someone else who can give them what they want. It would sound to me like he's losing you good business." He answers, looking at me with the tiniest of smiles. I fake a smile in response, nodding as I spin in my chair back to face the other men.

"I want you to start selling, Woo. No excuses. You saw what happened to Jinhee last month when her uncle was losing us business from his protectiveness and personal feelings. It would truly be a shame if something happened to that boy of yours." I state smoothly. The man opens his mouth to protest, though nothing comes out. Instead, he just ends up shutting it again before nodding in defeat.

"Good. Alright, sorry boys, but I'd like to get this meeting moving. I've not got all day unlike you lowlifes. Is there anything else that I direly need to know that can't just be summed up in a report and emailed?" I question, looking around to the six of them.

"Good. We can move forward to more pressing matters. Before we get started, is there anything anyone would like to say?" I continue on after a lack of response. Looking around the room at the six men, they all remain silent and innocently look around at each other before returning their gaze to me.

"Nothing? Nobody wants to 'fess up now?" I challenge, eyeing them all once more. However, the men all stay silent. Sighing to myself, I stand from my chair and walk towards the bulletproof windows that line the wall to my left.

"Everybody thinks they're innocent, huh? Hope, what do you think of that?" I ask, not bothering to look back at the men as I look out the window in front me.

"I'd say it's interesting, M-Ms. Kim. K-Knowing there's a few d-different men sat here w-who most d-definitely a-aren't innocent." He stutters just loud enough for us all to hear. I mentally sigh, hating the constant facade that I have to wear at all times anymore as I pull a full smirk onto my face.

He's clearly noticed my definite change in mood which would appear to have scared him a bit. Cute.

"Hope, you said you helped keep people in line before coming here, correct?" I ask, finally turning back to the men. He looks at me in surprise, nodding slowly.

"Yes, Ms. Kim. I-I helped keep misbehaving people in line. U-Usually resulted in a visit to the doctors on their end. N-Nothing substantial though." He answers shakily.

"Ah, yes. However, we're higher up in this world than those people you used to handle, correct? Even at this stage in the game, that would no longer be an appropriate punishment for lies in this Empire, would it?" I ask as I walk over to him, gently placing my hands on his shoulders. I can feel him ease into my touch and I mentally smile at the fact.

"No, it wouldn't." Hope answers, his voice nearly a whisper as he tilts his head back to look up at me.

"And what would that suiting punishment be? Especially after the naughty things they've done?" I question with a pouty smirk.

"Death." He whispers this time, eyes not leaving mine as he looks nearly like an innocent little child. Adorable.

"Good." I tell him, ruffling his hair lightly before looking up at the men.

"Everybody still got nothing to say? That's just a shame. Considering, I know some of you have gravely fucked up. Knowing that, Seng, you've been in charge of drugs production and that you've not only been dipping into the product but the profit as well on multiple occasions. Not only that, but making trades on the drugs with Ahn for some of his best skins and not even leaving them in a returnable manner. And Ahn, don't think I don't know that you've also been playing backhand deals with Kwon so that he could taste both sticks and holes." I say, my voice growing dark as I glare at the three men, deciding to ignore Joon for the moment.

Though, he makes it hard when he chuckles in response to it all. The other three men look at him incredulously before looking back to me with still wide eyes.

"Hope, who do you think should have the honor of ending them?" I ask, looking over to him. I watch as his eyes grow wide, slowly turning to look at me.

"U-Umm p-probably Y-Yong. P-Prove t-that he's l-loyal to b-both y-your father a-and y-you, Ms. Kim." He stutters softly. I smirk once again, nodding.

"I like your thinking. Yong, I want Ahn gutted. Kwon needs to be strangled. And Seng? Let's have him... actually, give me your gun. I'm not letting him waste my bullets on himself. Hope? Make sure you're watching. Important lessons to learn. Betrayal isn't taken lightly. I will find out your fears and I will use it against you to end you." I instruct, hating the fact that I have to threaten Jhope as well. But he and Yong nod in response, despite both of their seemingly nervous states.