cherry bomb › nct

08 | the golden circle

SANGKYUN UNIV.
DORM 119
8:37 AM, TUESDAY

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ yeah, i'll be there after i finish
this digging up i'm doing.

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ oh, okay.
≫ are you gonna take long?

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ depends...
≫ but i'll try!
≫ tech boy daniel can dig
this up right away

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ well, if you say so!
≫ you're gonna miss out
on the fun!
≫ we'll see you later~

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ mhm, bye hyung

Daniel threw his phone on the bed after texting Reiji for a few times. He then jumped straight onto his chair, rubbing his eyes as another yawn escapes his plump lips. "What's his name again..." he mumbled, pressing a few keyboard keys to unlock the computer. "Yun... Hansuke."

After numerous of times, a frown curved down his lips as he stared confusingly at his computer screen. "No additional info?" he coughs, eyes going through each paragraph.

"Yun Hansuke... relatives with the Mikami family?" he tilts his head, "Mikami... I've heard that somewhere!"

"Yun Hansuke handles a few famous bars across South Korea..." he trails off before clicking onto the highlighted name, Mikami.

With one click, tons of information began popping up his computer screen. "They claimed to be the richest, until they weren't..."

"The tragic fall of the Mikami Empire."

"Mikami Empire owns the second biggest corporation in South Korea, after a terrible loss to the Lee Industries in 2014. Still, Mikami Empire continues to introduce the world to different classes of alcoholic beverages." Daniel hummed, "So they are the famous family for numerous of well-known bars they have across the globe."

Daniel smirks and kept scrolling, "Aha, Yun Hansuke."

"Business terms with Mikami Empire despite being relatives... He also owns a top executive gaming company which are known for the famous playing cards and game pieces used in gambles... Hansuke is reported to be apart of The Golden Circle..."

He clicked on the article, only for it to get blocked and removed. "Strictly confidential...?"

"Maybe I can sneak in– just a few minutes..." Daniel tilts his head, tongue sticking out as he began attacking the server. He did it in an unknown user, making sure that they would have no traces of him whatsoever.

Unlocking the article, his eyes looked here and there, absorbing all the information he could find. He managed to get a copy for himself, a satisfied grin plastered on his face. Once he had finished, he shut down his computer and patted himself on the back for his good work.

"I'm definitely going to jail after this." he mumbled and flipped through the printed files he made. "The Golden Circle is some sort of association... several different business owners or whatsoever gathering to become associates with Mafia clans!?"

Gasping, he quickly threw on a hoodie before grabbing his keys. He scurried out his dorm after figuring it out. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" he kept cursing, running out the university, heading straight towards the arcade downtown.

"Fuck– where are they!?" he panicked, looking around the slightly crowded arcade.

He heard a familiar voice shout and he deadpanned, realizing that the voice belonged to no other than Reiji. He followed the male's voice, leading him to the rows of arcade race cars. Two of his co-workers sat in the virtual race game, shouting insults at each other, trying to pass each other's car.

"Fuck off, Reginald!"

A whine escaped Reiji's mouth, "Yah! I told you– R-E-I-J-I! REIJI! REIJI FUCKING YOUNG! What's so hard about that!?"

Daniel groaned and smacked the back of their heads, earning yelps of pain along with threatening death glares. "Daniel, what took you so long?" Reiji mumbled and hopped off the car seat.

Keiko rolled her eyes, sucking onto the cherry flavored lollipop she had. "I made him research something for me."

"About what?"

"My uncle."

Reiji tilts his head, "Why? Did something happen?"

The girl sighed, pulling out the lollipop from her mouth and throwing it straight into the garbage can. "I just want to know what the fuck does he do everyday."

"I thought you didn't care about what shit he does?" the older boy chuckled but soon faded when Keiko snapped a look towards him. "I mean..."

"I don't care at all, but those two mafia members that came into the bar made me feel like something bad is gonna happen."

"There were mafia's in our bar last night?" Daniel gasped, unaware of the situation.

A frown curved on her lips, "There were two of them, and they would probably come back again, I don't know what the fuck they want but they need to stay away from my bar."

"Why do you love bartending anyways, Keiko? Didn't you have a nice childhood?" Daniel questions and Reiji cursed silently, a bit scared for the younger one as he just hit a sensitive topic.

Keiko chuckles dryly, playing it off as if it didn't hit her, "I wish I did have a nice childhood. I was homeschooled, did nothing but study business. My Grandfather taught me how to bartender."

Reiji grabbed onto Daniel's hood, pulling him back as they let the girl walk in front of them. He glared at the younger boy, whispering, "Don't you go asking her things like that!"

Daniel was confused. He obviously knew not that much about them since he was just new after all. The boy knew how close Reiji and Keiko were just by seeing them talk to each other.

"Wait– Where the heck are we going?" Daniel questioned, realizing they weren't on their way to Pandora's Box.

Keiko glanced behind her shoulder, giving the boy a smirk, "We're visiting my family's first bar."

—