"You incompetent fools!"
Jae Hyun's voice bellowed from the hallway as he stormed into the main room. His men moved to pave the way from him, creating a wide space between them and the boss.
"Unbelievable imbeciles." He yelled, spitting the coffee he had just sipped back into the cup and shoving it in one of the guard's hands. "Who made this?"
It was no secret that Jae Hyun had been in a foul mood since the silo incident. He was handling the household staff along with the guards with as minimum courtesy as he could manage.
His men got it worse. He had been nothing short of an asshole to them, constantly screaming at them at the slightest mistake or delivery of news that he cared to listen to, or not. Poor Minho was getting the worst of them all, who only looked at him from afar, only for Jae Hyun to return his glare with a sharper one, and with no words at all.
Jae Hyun was a ball of emotions, ready to go off at the slightest irk.
"Kiyo was to handle the shipment from China." He said, looking all frigid and terrifying as he passed a stirring glare at the assembled men. "Where is he?"
The men looked at each other, shuffling murmurs nervously. Given his foul mood, it made sense that none of the guards would be able to look him in the eye and tell him what happened unless they wanted to risk their brains getting blown off.
A few seconds later, one brave one a foolishly ignorant one- decided to speak up
"Kiyo's uh… he's gone, sir."
There was a stunned silence for a bit. The words that no one dared to say were now out, and everyone froze, some taking a step back as Jae Hyun at them like whatever they were saying was all a joke.
When Jae Hyun spoke again, his voice was low, strangely calm for someone who had just got news about his lackey's death. It proved even more unsettling than his prior rage.
"Sorry, maybe I'm developing an ear problem," he bit out. "Because I could've sworn, I just heard you say Kiyo, the one I specifically sent to oversee the largest shipment we've received in… seven months–is dead?"
The guard bobbed his head in a jerky nod, swallowing thickly as he fought to maintain eye contact with his irritated boss. "S–sir, it's true. It… it was yesterday night…w–when the exchange ―"
The man did not finish explaining. Jae Hyun jammed his fist into the man's throat without hesitation, and the man choked on his own blood. Like he hadn't done anything, he looked up without a care. The twitching guard fell hard on the floor, and two other lackeys rushed to help him up.
"So, who wants to give me another disappointing news?" he asked in a low, demeaning tone as he squared a look at the other men. "Or should I just agree that Kiyo is replaceable and move on from this?"
They shook their heads in chorus along with a gasping acceptance. Jae Hyun lifted his finger and they all went silent, then heaved a sigh, opening his revolver cylinder with his thumb, letting the used shells clatter then spin it shut.
"Okay," he began, feigning a low tone that all the men knew better than to buy. "Who wants to begin from the top and tell me why fifty-five kilos of China White were found in a gutter along with Kiyo's body?"
There was a long stretch of silence, because unless someone was tired of their guts or brains to dare face the boss and tell him what actually happened.
"So, no one's going to talk?" Jae Hyun asked before completely losing his patience and aiming the weapon at an hourglass on the desk, shattering as it fell on the floor with a clang.
Finally, one of the older guards stepped forward and dipped his greying head. "Sir," he began. "Triple triad syndicates set up the whole thing. It was all a scheme to cripple our supply lines. They wanted to send us a message, sir." He dipped his head again.
"I had them on good authority. I knew they were going to play ball this once. What happened?" Jae Hyun let out a sharp exhale.
The guard shrugged, being careful not to piss off the raging boss out of his wits. "They are probably threatened by your growing influence. Or maybe greed, or ambition, you name it. Take your pick, sir. But what happened is that they breached our customs lanes and somehow tracked the shipment to the exchange point. They just waited for Kiyo to arrive, then they went all out."
"So what? None of you thought to provide backup? You brain donors didn't even think of beefing up security for a 50 million won payload?" Jae Hyun said derisively. "No wonder that fool ended up taken out."
Jae Hyun turned on his heel and stomped over to the high pallet at the center of the room, yanking whatever canvas they used to cover it, and exposing the bags stacked in there.
He flicked his wrist and unzipped the top bag, carefully revealing the bricks of what seemed like powder, packed like ingredients. They smelled terrible, causing Jae Hyun to scowl in disgust.
Jae Hyun sighed. "Ten keys, at least." He said after assessing the package, shrugging, and zipping the duffel bag shut. "This is just enough for me to put a few more holes in those slobs' skulls if they try that stupid stunt again."
"Your orders, sir?"
There was pregnant silence, and even then, Jae Hyun couldn't tell which of the men talked. He looked up and caught sight of Minho lurking at the door. He met Minho's stare with a harsher one for an instant, causing Minho to dark out of sight.
Jae Hyun turned to his men, shaking off the disquiet. "Every one of you, saddle up. These people just declared war on my business, and I won't take that lightly. Tonight, we will paint the city red. I want their houses burnt to the ground."
He wasn't fine, by a long shot, and right now, it was rage cling the shots, leaving his men terrified and bewildered. "Do the same for those damn stash houses. And most importantly…" he faltered. "I want their skulls decorating their fences. This should serve as a warning for the rest of the crews. Am I clear?"
One after the other, the men cocked their guns. It was clear enough that this trip was going to be a bloody one.
Minho was outside the door in the hallway. He hadn't left yet and was getting wind of the grim proceedings from where he was eavesdropping. He was utterly confused if his place in Jae Hyun's world was beginning to take root―like he was just to sit around and wait to be called upon when his time came to be on the front line.
And nonchalant as he was putting a front, Jae Hyun felt Minho's absence with a twinge of unease that he was never going to accept or show Minho–or anyone for that matter.
The die had been cast. After all.
Violence was returned with more violence, and soon enough, the crew would know they picked the wrong one to trifle with.
He had passed the order for his loyals to roam the streets unprovoked, and with his orders, they were free to rip out the throats of anyone who tried to stop them or did anything to cause them more trouble.
For Jae Hyun, wanted to ensure that memories of this ambush stuck right into the hind parts of anyone's brain who would dare think to sabotage him like that again. It was far deeper than just flesh and blood casualties for him, and to make it happen, he had a few personal calls to make to make it happen.
There were fates far much worse than mere death that he could inflict on the perpetrators.
He strode towards the door throwing his coat over him when he met Minho's concerned, almost pleading stare at him in the hallway blocking his way before shoving him hard in the chest into the wall.
"Move."