Chapter 3

When Minjoon smiled, the elite man sitting next to him watched him with eyes that said ’is it because of money?’ and silently opened his mouth.

“If you’re having a hard time right now, would you mind handing over the young master?”

Minjoon turned and showed the elite man a sleeping Touma who was gripping his padded jacket including in his sleep, saying he was fine.

“Do I look like a madman when I smile?”

“No, well. Maybe just a little.”

“When I lived in Korea, I hated the way people would look at me. So then, I decided to come to Japan and enjoy the life I always wished I had. But that only lasted six months… I cant help laughing now that I’m at my wits end.”

“You speak Japanese really well despite only living here for six months. It didn’t even cross my mind that you were Korean.”

“It’s because I’ve been studying Japanese for a while now. Hey, can you really not just drop me off somewhere? I.. am really scared right now.”

“Is it because we’re yakuza?”

Minjoon shook his head no as if he was a child. Then, he even laughed and spoke in a strangled voice, “oh my god, you’re a yakuza? I didn’t know you were yakuza since you look so proper. Then, that man from before, was he your boss?”

“Yes, the boss. And the person in your arms right now is his son and next in line as the boss of the Ueyama clan.”

Suddenly, Touma, who was sleeping peacefully like an angel, began to weigh down on his lap as if he was a ball of steel.

’What?!? Then, the next boss captured me, not as a lover but as a mom?? What kind of fate is this!’

While he was lamenting, Minjoon asked himself if he would grow up to have a handsome face just like his father. Surprised with his line of thoughts, he quickly shook his head.

‘Don’t get confused. You’re not a woman, you cant be his mother! Besides, you’re in danger right now, you just have to work hard to pay back your debts and start over, or give up and tell you’re mother you’re ready to die now.’

But right now, he couldn’t even let go of the sleeping child and jump out of the moving car.

“The yakuza don’t touch innocent people,” said the elite man in a low voice, as if reading Minjoon’s thoughts.

“Innocent? Then.. what happens if I’ve committed any crimes?”

“Well, I’ll just leave that to your imagination.”

Minjoon didn’t wish to hear the story behind those words. He leaned his head against the car seat, bit his tongue and tried to hold back the tears threatening to drop because of the extreme fear he was feeling. However, he wiped back Touma’s sweaty hair and rearranged him so he could sleep more comfortably.

“…I’m up..”, Minjoon murmured unconsciously as someone shook his shoulders, “Taisei.. no… just 5 more minutes.”

In that moment, his eyes shone to the point of tears and his cheeks turned red as if they were on fire. Minjoon, who had yet to regain complete consciousness, yelled at the man who had slapped his face.

“Bastard, do you want to die.. I.. ugh.” Minjoon put a hand over his lips as he shook his head. The incredibly sexy man’s face was right in front of his nose.

The man, Touma’s father and the current boss of Ueyama, looked at Minjoon as he exuded incredibly manly pheromones. His black eyes shone in the dark, stimulating all his senses and raising the temperature of his body.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Hand Touma over.”

His grave voice was beyond his imagination from up close. Minjoon’s member began to ache despite not having touched it. Heat began to spread across his body. Ashamed of his behavior, Minjoon lowered his head and hesitated. Seeing this the man leaned down and took Touma from his arms, exiting the car.

“Get out,” he said, and Minjoon hurriedly obeyed his order. As he followed behind him, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

’What the hell is this reaction? Seeing as he has Touma, I doubt he’s gay. So then, why am I behaving like this? Forget about the grim reaper for now, I cant die until I’ve been beneath such a wonderful man. Only then will I have no regrets when I leave this world. He’s a million times better than that bastard Taisei. Alright, Minjoon. You can do this. Trust yourself.’

With this new objective in mind, Minjoon felt like his current situation was ridiculous. He was suddenly full of hope, looking forward to the thrilling and hedonistic future that could open a new door in his gay life.

’There is no law about how a person should die. I was prepared to die, but this seems like the best way. I’ll make you fall in love with me no matter what. I’ll die under you one way or another’

Minjoon, with his heart in high hopes, crossed the garden that resembled a forest and entered an enormous mansion. But life doesn’t always go as expected. In less than ten minutes, Minjoon found his new found hope vanishing without a trace, like a piece of paper under the rain.

When the elite gangster disappeared with Touma, who had once again fallen asleep, Minjoon began to feel anxious. Touma was like a lifeline for him in this situation, now that he was no longer in sight, Minjoon felt unsteady on his legs. While Minjoon staggered and supported himself against a wall, a man who had been acting as their leader approached him, over passing the other men.

“What’s wrong with you?” Minjoon, who never thought he’d be spoken to, felt his anxiety rise at those words. “Why are you doing that?”

“I-I’m so scared I can hardly walk.” Minjoon said, slightly raising his head. His eyes focused on the man’s silver tie.

“Who told him we were going to kill him?” The man looked directly at Minjoon as he shot a question at the confused men standing behind him.

“No one.”

“We’d never do that.”

“Kenta hyung-him even went as far as to tell him we don’t kill innocent people, but it seems he’s still scared,” said the man who looked like a thief and who had been in charge of driving the Mercedes Minjoon had been riding on, as if he was being falsely accused of being a coward.

“Get up, or do you want me to carry you?”

If this was a normal situation, Minjoon would have jumped immediately at the order, but, how could he do that in a situation like this? People say you become stronger in the face of death, but they’d never been in a situation such as this because of someone else. If he hadn’t been left alone, this wouldn’t be happening. Sure, Touma may have cried for a short while, but kids learn by crying.

Minjoon was so frustrated and angry he turned his head to the side and murmured to himself, “ You guys are the one who look so terrifying. And you still believe a guy as handsome and lovely as me would be sane right now? I cant walk. I cant walk because I’m exhausted and confused.”

The silence was so heavy, it could certainly kill a man. He had come to many realizations in just these few hours, and in less than a second, he began to lament being taken by surprise. Finally, his body began to shake. How much better would his life be right now if he had this kind of spirit before!

The silence was so heavy that Minjoon was desperately holding onto his sanity by a single thread. The man moved his sensual lips and approached the coward who was about to fall.

“Then, I’ll carry you.”

“N-no thank you, that’s not necessary.”

Minjoon struggle to pull himself up by supporting himself on the wall. Then, as if nothing happened, he put down his hands and smiled. But almost immediately, he slid down the wall as if he was boneless.*

“Caught you.”

True to his words, the man with the most terrifying appearance, carried Minjoon over his shoulder as if he was a sack of flour, despite being a 22 year old adult man of short stature. Minjoon, who had high self esteem, received a blow to his pride. But, he was so scared that he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

It was a dark room with an enormous oak desk, and surprisingly, a wall full of books as if it was a personal library. Minjoon stood carefully in front of the man. In this moment, he felt that even swallowing the lump in his throat would result in something terrible, so he split his saliva into part and swallowed it little by little as carefully as he could.

“What’s your name?”

“Sorry?”

“‘Sorry?’ I told you not to respond with a question!”

Something flew over Minjoon’s head directly towards a wall and stuck there.

He suddenly felt pieces of his hair falling over his shoulders and landing on his padded jacket. Paralyzed, Minjoon slowly moved his head and tried to identify the object that had just threatened his life.

Unbelievable. He had actually thrown a dart at him! There was a dart board directly behind him, and what had just flown like a missile through his hair had been a dart with a needle sharp enough to pierce even a sturgeon.

“I am 22 years old. Last* name Min, first* nam joon. My name is Minjoon.” He replied loudly, as if he was an elementary school student presenting himself in a new class for the semester. He did this with bated breath, of course.

“Who’s that Taisei you were calling out to earlier?” The man pulled out a gold case from his inner jacket and brought a cigarette to his mouth.

The bald man who had been standing near him, hurried to take out a lighter, but that man was quicker and lit it first, puffing the smoke deeply. Minjoon retreaded quickly as he was faced with another of his fears.

“Are you scared of me?” The man asked with a calm expression watching as Minjoon retreaded.

Minjoon covered his nose with his hand, shaking his head before changing his mind and nodding, pointing at the man with his finger. The man slowly approached him and exhaled a long stream of smoke.

He thought he had covered his mouth as best as he could with his hand, but when the cigarette smoke, lighter than air itself, entered directly into his lung through his nose, Minjoon began to cough uncontrollably. Shortly after, he fell towards the floor, dripping impure liquid from his lips and nose as his chest fluttered uncontrollably.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

The man who looked like he could calmly cut a steak without lifting a single eyebrow even if someone was being mutilated next to him suddenly leaned down when he saw Minjoon coughing until violent tremors wracked his entire body and tears dripped from his eyes. Minjoon was thinking of asking for a tissue, but he was so upset in that moment that he instinctively reached for the cloth hanging in front of his eyes. He hastily used it to wipe his tears. Then, he folded the piece of cloth many times and used it to wipe his face clean of snot and saliva.

Suddenly, a terrifying word was heard in a clenched v once over his head.

”Scissors.”.

Minjoon thought the thick black covered hand that handed over the scissors, appeared to be shaking.

RIIIIP

When he heard the horrible sound of cloth ripping, his mind finally reacted. He realized that the cloth he had just used to blow his noise, was actually that man’s tie! The scissors which had been used to cut the tie were stuck to the round in a 90 degree angle. When another shaky and rough hand threw the piece of cut cloth, Minjoon came to the realization that he had just carved his own death.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, so I didn’t realize that was your tie.”

“That’s alright, Who is he?’

When Minjoon began to look around confused as if asking ’who is who?’ the bald yakuza rolled his eyes furiously as if saying ’please, get a hold of yourself’. Then, he silently mouthed ‘Taisei’

“He’s the person who tricked me.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s…” Minjoon was unable to say that he was gay and that he was his ex boyfriend.

“Explain everything to me in a simple and concise manner in ten seconds. Just so you know, I’m very tired at this moment.”

Minjoon licked his dry lips, while the mans eyes seemed to say ,i>’I cant guarantee anything if you go over 10 seconds’ Then, he avoided his eyes and spoke directly to the window to his side.

“I’m an international student of Korean origin, My roommate, Taisei, took out a loan under my name. He stole my first year enrollment, my passport and threatened to sell me to a bar; all while the loans sharks constantly followed me around…”

“Stop,” The man lifted his hand to cover Minjoon’s lips, as if saying 10 seconds had already passed. “So Minjoon, international student from Korea, you’re saying the guy who tricked you is your roommate and lover, and that, you’re also gay.’

“Ah.. uh yes.” Minjoon was surprised by the man’s capacity to get directly to the point, despite him never directly mentioning being gay. Minjoon thought to himself, ’these days the yakuza are rather smart’.

“Well, that doesn’t matter. Just undress.”

“What? Why are you asking me to undress? Are you going to hurt me?”

Minjoon, who was already on the verge of tears, quickly hugged his arms around his body while he looked around. The whole world seemed terrifying. One of the men had a bald head with a thick cut under his eyes and appeared to be the boss’ right hand man. He couldn’t even find the words to describe the other two! They were just the perfect example of what being a yakuza was. The only person who seemed to be different from a yakuza, was the incredibly sexy man who was standing next to the window, but now he wasn’t so sure about that. He was actually the most terrifying yakuza of them all.

The other men made eye contact with Minjoon with shaky eyes. It was as if they were silently shouting in unison, ‘What makes you think we’re going to do something to you? We’re not gay. You bastard, you’re the one who’s gay!’

“Is there anybody here who has slept with a man?”

“No.”

“Never.”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

You know what, even if you did, I’d rather die. I don’t like you guys either.

Minjoon, who felt offended by the yakuza who yelled that he preferred woman, pouted and said with an openly disdainful voice. “I don’t like you guys either.”

“Really? That’s good then. Undress.”

“And why should I undress? There’s no reason why I should do that.”

“ Physical exam.”

“Physical… exam?”

“I have to carefully examen everyone entering my house.”

“And what are you looking for?”

The man approached him with a cold look on his face, as if he felt offended by the fact that Minjoon was unable to grasp the situation and understand what he was saying immediately. Then, the bald man took out a pair of leather gloves. The man stretched out his long leather covered fingers in front of Minjoon’s eyes.

Minjoon, who was having all kinds of unbelievable thoughts, watched the man move his ten fingers that were covered in leather as if it were a second skin. He was thinking that if he were to be choked with those gloves, his fingerprints wouldn’t even be marked. It would be the perfect crime.

When the man’s hand lifted Minjoon’s chin, he wan unable to contain the moan that escaped his lips.

“Agh.. ugh. Yes.”

The man, who was watching Minjoon with an unknown expression, brought his face until their noses were touching and spoke in a low voice.

“I will not explain myself again, so concentrate and listen. I have to check every inch of the bodies of the people entering my house. You never know where disgusting things may be hiding.”

Minjoon opened his eyes wide at the pain he felt across his open jaw. He wanted to continue watching this man’s face, even if he was going to die. And even when he thought about it, it seemed to be a crazy idea.

“Hey, what do you mean disgusting things? I just showered this morning.”

At Minjoon’s ridiculous words, the man frowned and spoke in a raspy voice.

“I’m talking about hidden microphones or spying devices. Things that are a threat to my safety.”

Minjoon audibly gulped, and then closed his eyes in fear. However, he had the courage to open them once again. He had the feeling that if he kept his eyes closed, he’s be in big problems. And as if that were enough for an answer, he felt as if the man’s body had been engulfed in flames.

“If you understand, undress.”

Minjoon replied breathlessly, as if he didn’t know where he’d gotten all of his courage, “N-no, I don’t understand. I was just a random pedestrian. What could I possibly be hiding? I’m not that type of person.”

He was so scared as if his heart was burning, but in reality, what scared him was something else entirely. If that man’s heavy gaze stayed on his naked body long enough, his member would react regardless of what he wanted. He hated it. And although he was decided to kill himself, he didn’t want to die naked in front of the freaking yakuza! Minjoon shook his head no. He was shaking so hard that even a moan managed to escape his lips once again.

The man who was giving Minjoon a deadly look, stepped away as he said a single word.

“Undress.”

It took the men less than a minute to step forward and undress him. But did they expect Minjoon to stay still while they did that? Absolutely not! In the end, the man with a bald head had a line of blood across his jaw product of a scratch from Minjoon’s struggling. The other two yakuza also had injuries to their faces, he had even managed to bite the ear of one of them. He tried to fight to the best of his abilities, but in the end, he was no match for them.

Minjoon shook his shoulder violently, covering himself up with his hands as he looked at the man. But he simply put his leather gloves on once again and walked towards him. Then he gave Minjoon, who was standing and covering his lower half, a strange look.. However, without uttering a single word, he brought his fingers to Minjoon’s lips and began to meticulously examine his mouth.

“Come on… open up.” The salty taste of leather made Minjoon feel nausea as his long fingers explored his mouth.

When he saw this, the bald man grimaced and quickly opened his mouth. “Boss, let me do it. If he vomits it will be a disaster.”

But the man didn’t pay any importance to his words, and didn’t remove his fingers until he had checked every corner of his mouth.

When he was done with his inspection, he elegantly removed his gloves, gave them to the bald man and calmly put on a new pair.

“Take the men outside.”

He was unable to respond immediately, as if he still had something to tell his boss. “…yes, understood.”

In the end, the bald man retreated, signaling the other men.

As they were exiting, Minjoon quickly covered himself and called out to them anxiously, “Excuse me, where are you going? Please don’t leave me alone. Please… I really don’t have those types of things on me. I’ve never even seen a tracking device in my life. Please, take me with you…”

In the end, Minjoon began to sob. He had come to the realization that those men, who looked as if they could fight and defeat a tiger with their bare hands, were actually really good people when compared to the man they referred to as ’boss’