"Eomma, I just arrived," I told her as soon as she picked her phone. A quick look at my black Bvlgari watch on my left wrist told me it was 11:34 am, exactly 13h 30m after I left Chicago.
"Jin's in Sofia, Hiro!" She shouted to otou-san.
"Tell Dai to speak with the ones in the streets of rich neighborhoods around there," he shouted loud enough for me to hear. "Ask for Mischief."
"You heard your appa!" Eomma purred.
A nod, "I was already planning on it. Now I'll be out, eomma, as I plan on finding Yeji today, I need to start right now, it's October 3rd, I want her to be with zio on her 18th birthday, which is in four days."
"Be careful and polite, Jin. Don't cause trouble in Bulgaria!"
That made me smile, "I won't," then I hang up and turned to Luca, one of our private pilots. "Luca," I spoke in Italia, "I'll comeback at night, try resting until then." When he nodded, I ran out of the airport, directly to a vehicles rental shop, where I rented a Harley and followed the GPS.
It took me ten minutes to get to one of the richest neighborhoods.
Thank Google for making my life easier. I just needed to search the richest neighborhoods of Sofia, Bulgaria and a list popped up, easy peasy. The fact that Yeji lives in he biggest city of Bulgaria makes it easier too. It only took long because of the traffic, not surprising since it's Tuesday.
As soon as I got to the first dark alley I found, I parked the rented Harley and walked inside, finding my targets there. A trio of different cats, meowing loudly at me, wondering if I'm a threat or not. And you may not believe me, since this is weird, but I can talk with cats, all cats, I've been able to communicate with them since I was a toddler. No other animals though, only cats, it runs in otou-san's family, and I took after him, since he also can talk with cats.
It's not my only gift, but in missions like this, it's the most useful.
"Hey, guys," I spoke in Bulgarian, lowering my guard for them. "I have a some questions, and I would like to ask you!" They all froze.
["What the fuck?"] Gasped the fat orange with brown.
["Is this little shit talking to us?"] Scoffed the one-eyed white.
["Fuck that, let's scratch his pretty face,"] purred the black.
Well, the last one is a female. "It's reassuring to know I'm pretty even in the opinion of cats," I grinned. "Yes, I'm talking to you."
["How can a lowly human like you talk to us?"] The fatty hissed.
"I'm no lowly human, that's why," I winked charmingly.
["You are the prettiest human I've ever seen, I'll talk to you,"] the black purred, sitting down, and the other two followed reluctantly, proving that she's in charge. Ugh, black cats are the best. ["What's your name?"]
"Dai-Jin Moon Nishimura, but in Korean is Moon Seok-jin," I got down in one knee, looking down given how I'm towering over her, even though she's definitely a distant related of a Maine Coon. "Yours?"
She licked her lips charmingly, ["I go by Yor, pretty boy."]
["I go by Garfield,"] coming from the orange fatty, I wonder why.
["They call me Olaf,"] the one-eyed white hissed, hostilely.
["Now, now, pretty boy. Make your questions,"] Yor purred.
"Do you know a girl called Choi Yeji? She also goes by Mischief Kalina Nosht-Choi," I asked slowly, and Yor flinched, as the other two both turned their three eyes to her.
["Why are you looking into her?"] She hissed at me, alarmed.
Oh, she definitely knows about her. "I'm her father's godson and apprentice, his name is Silas Sutherland Salvatore Solomon III, he lives in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States of America. We got word that she was here, and I came after her, to get her to her father. I need to find her."
["Jungkook heard from his stead with his human that Missy does not want to be in any kind of contact with her father or his USA family, and that includes you. Jungkook's words are law around here, and we protect our own. I cannot help you, and no other cat will help you in the city, human Moon Seok-jin!"] She snapped, on the defensive.
What the hell? "Jungkook? As in Jeon Jungkook? From BTS?"
She scoffed, ["His human likes the group. He's one of us."]
Now that is a sight. "And who's his… human?"
["You wouldn't be able to meet her, she's extremely busy."]
Well, seems like I won't be getting any help from Yor and her boys anymore, "Do you at least… know Yeji?"
["Everyone knows Missy,"] she said matter-of-factly.
Missy? It's the second time she calls her that, is it a nickname for Mischief? Sounds like it, which means I really won't get help from-
I frozen when a huge group of ravens came flying pass us, and into the neighborhood I'm in, further into it where the real rich people live, which startled the living shit out of me, and of the cats, who almost jumped out of their skin, hissing. That is, until Yor's eyes registered what happened and she turned warier than before.
"What the hell was that?" I gasped. "Ravens don't fly in groups, they fly in pairs, they are not crows," I frowned, swallowing.
["Oh no!"] The three cats blurted haunted.
["Mischief!"] It was the last thing Yor yelled before storming out of the alley, Garfield and Olaf right after her.
"Mischief? Is that about her?" I gasped, running to the Harley and hopping on it, then I was on the streets again, ignoring the GPS and going for the ravens instead. Which wasn't difficult at all, given how there were definitely more than a thousand ravens making loud noises and flying in whirlpool over a extravagant villa, four streets away from me.
And at each centimeter I cut of the space between us, a horrible gut feeling took over me, making me hold the urge to puke my guts out.
As soon as I got to the villa surrounded by the ravens on the air, six of them flew to me and when I thought they would attack me or do anything weird, they grabbed me by my jacket as soon as I got out of the bike and pushed me inside the villa, which made my bad feeling grow worse.
"Missy. Help Missy," two spoke in their deep freaky voice.
Ravens scare the hell out of me, not just because they can talk like parrots if trained, but because of their voice, bro. Their voice is always deep like that of a grown men who smoked his whole life. "Missy? Mischief?" I struggled to stay on my feet as they guided me to the left side of the villa, not inside it, but surrounding it. "How can I help her? What happened?"
"Help her. Help her. Help her. Help her!" They yelled.
I flinched, "I'll help. Fuck, I'll help. I'm in Bulgaria for her."
A flock of ravens, about twenty-five of them, turned to me and joined the other six, grabbing me by my jacket and taking me of the fucking ground, which is no minor feat, given how I'm a 218cm mountain of pure sculpted muscles. And I confess a high-pitched scream left my lips on the sudden horror I felt when the birds flew with me. I kept screaming until I hit something… water.
The whirlpool of ravens threw me on a pool. A fucking deep and cold pool at that, with shoes and all clothes on. I struggled for a second but then I was fighting my way out. That is… until I saw her.
"Yeji!" I screamed when I saw her drowning, blood spilling from both of her sliced wrists, and as I went deeper again, my eyes met her icy blue gaze for a second before she closed them. Desperately I swam to her, mentally cursing the almost Olympic fucking pool for being so huge.
Surrounding her unconscious body with my arms, I held her tight to me and swam up, out of the pool, right when a stranger grown men came running to the back where the pool is. Startling me again.
"Missy," he screamed in Bulgarian. "Don't you dare to do this to me. Missy. Mischief," he yelled. "Choi Yeji," he yelled again, and he turned ghostly pale when he saw me taking her out of the water, tears spilling down from his eyes in despair and horror as he noticed her bleeding wrists. "No. Noooooooo," he screamed. "Tell me she's alive. Tell me she's alive!"
"Dude, get a fucking hold of yourself and call an ambulance," I all but yelled back at him, in Bulgarian, laying her down. Taking of my jacket, and then my cashmere black shirt, I reaped the shirt in two and began to wrap each piece tightly on her wrists to help with the bleeding. Then, I desperately began a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "Stay with me, stay with me, stay with me," I begged, feeling tears burning my cheeks, doing my all to help her vomit all the pool water she swallowed when drowning. "Yeji, for fuck's sake, you better not leave me now that I found you!" I yelled in English, so desperately I forgot how to speak Bulgarian. "Stay with me!"
"Missy," the men got back to crying after calling for the ambulance. "You can't die, you can't. You can't leave me, you can't leave us. Don't do this, please," who the fuck is this bitch?
"Dude, shut the fuck up," I yelled, "be useful. Take off your damn suit, reap it in two and tie in her wrists over my shirt. If she doesn't die from the drowning, she might die from losing blood. So, stop throwing a fucking fit and be fucking useful!" I said it all in English, hoping he would speak the language, and thankfully, he did. Sobbing like a widow, but did.
"How… how did you find her?" He asked in English, still crying.
"I followed the cats and the ravens," I blurted, not caring if he'll think I'm crazy or not. "As soon as I got to the villa, a bunch of those damn birds grabbed me and flew with me here, then threw me on the pool where I found her. Who the fuck are you?"
"Uncle. I'm her uncle," he said, still shaking. Ah, he must be Julien Kim, Seojun's father, who otou-san told us about. That definitely explains his reaction. "You are the stranger here. Who are you?"
I swallowed, "Dai Nishimura, I'm her dad's godson. He sent me."
The men froze, "Silas?" He asked haunted.
Hah, so he knows who zio is? This family is a fucking joke. I'm not surprised, after her stupid mother runaway pregnant with them and never came after zio. Then she lost one of her twins and never came for them. No wonder Yeji is suicidal after breaking up with her boyfriend, she must have a fucked up family.
"Yes," I clenched my jaw.
"He… he's been trying to find Missy?"
I almost cursed him, almost. "I'm here, aren't I?" I snapped, and finally, Yeji coughed violently, vomiting all the pool water she swallowed.
"Thank you," he cried. "Thank you, kid. You saved her."
But when she remained unconscious, I began to panic, "Don't thank me yet, that will jinx the situation, you fucking idiot. Hey, hey, Yeji, babe, stay with me," I got up with her in my arms. "If you die before we meet, Yeji, I'll kill you," I yelled panicking. "Where's the fucking ambulance?"
It was me saying it and the siren sounded in front of the villa, then I ran there, holding her tight in my arms, and the aji-san cry baby behind me. She feels so small in my arms, I knew she was short, but not this much, she probably doesn't even reach my shoulders. I have to protect her, I can't let her wither away like this. Later I'll comeback go Bulgaria to murder that piece of shit of her ex, for breaking her precious heart so much that it made her want to kill herself.
He's dead.
"Stay with me, stay with me, Yeji, stay with me," I begged.