What Lies Ahead < a jaeyong mafia au >

What Lies Ahead

Jaehyun’s eyes roam the entirety of the inside of the elevator, taking in that there are five other men dressed in crisp, black suit with him. The floor number flashes right above the silver, metal doors, blaring red as it nears the floor where all of them will finally meet the Kingpin of the organization.

He wonders momentarily if the Kingpin’s an old, graying man teetering on the edge of life and death hence the need to recruit more members, probably to secure the organization’s longstanding safety. It’s only natural, he supposes. In the mafia world, one has to fight to stay alive and make sure that they’re on top of the chain.

Jaehyun surreptitiously glances at the men around him. All of them are officially going to be the new members of Red Phoenix in a few minutes, labeled Gold. In the organization, members are categorized in different levels depending on their skills. They must have been pretty impressive during the exhibition to accelerate three steps from the bottom. The highest is Diamond, and only a few names are in there.

The thought of landing on the Gold category makes him feel so smug, so proud of himself. He had worked hard for this. With him previously belonging in Red Phoenix’s subgroup Invictus as a shooter under the leadership of his father, he was initially regarded as someone who climbed into his current position through connections, which is utter nonsense because one, his father was against him risking his life in this profession in the first place, and two, he has a strong sense of independence. Relying on someone else isn’t in his dictionary. If Jaehyun lives, he lives through no one’s help.

And he’s here in Red Phoenix because he had proved himself worthy; he’s outstanding.

The elevator dings and they all stride out into an office right at the end of the floor. The guard dressed in the same suit presses a button to his Bluetooth earpiece to inform the other line of the arrival of recruits before asking them to press their palms right on the scanner by the door. After their identities are cleared, they waste no time in entering and taking their seats at the round table.

The interior design of the headquarters doesn’t look much different from Invictus. A screen that fills up the entire wall switches on to reveal a man looking expensive, untouchable and youthful despite the crow’s feet on the corners of his eyes. His hair is jet black, gelled and brushed back to expose his forehead. He looks like he’s in his 50s. If the wristwatch embedded with little diamond stones says something about the man’s wealth, Jaehyun would wager that this is their Kingpin and he’s wrong about one thing: the Kingpin isn’t dying and they most likely just want to strengthen their organization, to assert their dominance.

“I suppose you’re already oriented about me, Gold cards. I apologize for not allowing photos of me to be divulged, but I trust that you know the protocol and you respect it, do you not?” Lee Namgyu smiles as though he’s trying not to scare them. Jaehyun mentally snorts. They’re not about to let someone – even the most powerful in this organization to treat them like kindergartens. But he appreciates the fatherly aura emanating from the man and it’s so palpable that it passes right through the screen. He’s sure the others feel it too.

“Excellent,” He praises although there was no indication of a response from them. The room is deafeningly silent, saved by the Kingpin’s rough yet calming tone. “Let’s get right into business without further ado, gentlemen. As you already know, Dragonaire is threatening to kick us off our own market. Bold of them to assume we’ll let them right into our world, to harvest the seeds we have planted for years. Gambling, smuggling, trafficking, it’s ours. Red Phoenix had been raking millions out of these kinds of business. This is ours. We are not going to let a third-rate mafia damage our fences, are we?”