Lost Girl | Taeyong

3. The Boss

The boss had called.

Jaemi manoeuvred her bike through the traffic and slowed her pace down as she approached the tattoo parlour. It had only just opened, the fluorescent light shining, welcoming in new customers. However, for people like her who were there on business, she would already be considered an hour late.

She pulls over and hops off her motorbike, locking it and flipping the keys around her finger, placing them into the pocket of her leather jacket, the one Baekhyun had given to her. She then walks into the parlour, a neutral look on her face. It was a small shop, purposely placed in a discreet location to not draw attention to itself.

They weren't a gang by any manner, rather 'agents' for higher. Jaemi worked for Mr Choi, and in turn, he supplied her with the most recent rumours, secrets from the underground. How her life had taken such a dramatic turn, a tragic fall from the top. From queen to servant. Jaemi knew she could do nothing but lay low for the current moment though.

A bell from above the door rings, signalling Jaemi's entrance into the parlour. A man sat leaning back in a chair at the counter, feet thrown up on the desk raised his head, ready to welcome a potential customer but stopped when he noticed it was Jaemi.

"Oh. It's you. Late as usual." His usual tongue in cheek musings. Jaemi finds herself chuckling at the statement

"I thought we were friends, Seoho. What's with the 'oh it's you' and I woke up late again." He shakes his head at her, a smile streaming across his face. The two had known each other for a long time. Seoho had been working for Mr Choi, the boss before Jaemi joined the parlour. Most of Mr Choi's agents never saw one another, but Seoho had more of a laid back job, acting as desk boy. He was capable of going out on missions like the others, he had simply never had the desire to. Jaemi had never known why the ex medic student had chosen this lifestyle.

Most people were born into this lifestyle, becoming the unfortunate prodigies to their parents. Others were forced into the crime world, spurred by hatred or clouded by revenge. Jaemi had a rather odd origin story of her own, but Seoho had always stumped her, coming from the perfect background, he never spoke of his life before he became the desk boy of a criminal boss.

"You always seem to have some sort of excuse for being late," he pressed the hidden button under the desk with his shoe and the wall behind him slid open, revealing a hidden staircase. "Good luck but then again, you don't believe in luck." The boy had a teasing smile on his lips, daring the girl to contradict his words. She didn't, her life was a storm of misfortune events, sewn together by her absolute and stubborn grit. Many others in her position would simply have given in to their grievances.

The girl simply quirked an eyebrow to Seoho, stepping away from the hidden door as it smoothly sealed shut behind her, blocking off all-natural sunlight.

Jaemi made her way down the narrow corridor. It was lit up by flickering lights, barely hanging onto their black chords. The whole atmosphere was dark and oppressive, no matter what small amount of light the LED could provide.

The hallway itself was tattered in filth and leakages, causing tiny patches of water to grow on the tiled floor. The entire base had remained mostly unkempt, never cleaned due to the constant load of missions, never giving anybody the chance to clean. Mr Choi was too proud to clean it himself, and Seoho simply didn't care.

Jaemi's boots caused echoes to stalk her as she closed in on the lone door, in the labyrinth, it stood proudly in its solidarity. Jaemi remained unbothered by the unpalatable environment, fist banging on the hard surface. It sent a great rattle throughout the barren passage.

"Enter." The gruff voice rebounds off the walls of the bricked wall as she slyly looks around once more before entering.

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