Julian
"Hades Morgans have attacked, we couldn't beat Jaebum that night in the club," Namjoon said as a matter of fact
Now gradually what is a club? Steamy bodies, drunk addiction and sultry music, flashes of red and blue lights. Drinks clink against each other like drunken loose bodies, the music is rock instead of Jazz, and the beat is upturned with a cheap version of a mixtape. Clubs are for free bodies, dancing limbs, and shouting out their lungs. Lorde ones are quite different. It's for drug supplements shipments shifted to travel trucks and let it wander around the city until it roundabouts in the ocean sides. In the middle of the night when brains are fuzzy, bodies are exhausted or horny to feel anything. I supply drug production which was ordered to us. We make drugs, expensive, intoxicating poisonous drugs, and supply them to multi-trillion net-worth companies, influential persons, socialites, politicians, and even presidents of many countries. We are the biggest suppliers of drugs, 80% of production in their companies is by using our drugs. We have the origin of drug dens since 1968. Ours was the second company in all of Korea which start making drugs. We sell drugs in liquid form, gas form, and powder form. Cocaine and morphine are used as staple drugs. In the middle of those steamy nights when beds must be getting warm, our pockets get warmed. My shipment trucks come in the first hour of those drunken mornings, the products are bundled up in those huge boxes and we slip those boxes into our customer's car backside storage holders. In my clubs, I assign morning drivers. The drivers pass every security guard and police officer standing at those traffic points by showing a drunken politician's ID, spent and utterly sweaty bodies always get the green card and voila, I pass through my drug supplies utterly in a magnificent legal way. The traffic police and checkpoints never once stopped those cars and checked those dickeys thoroughly, never once batting an eyelash after seeing the influential socialites drunk and sometimes with marks all over their bodies. Sometimes those peasant police officers give us protection cars where their soldiers protect my drug supplies. Then my cars reach the Busan seaport, and from there my ships sail into international waters where no legal rules are attained, it's the sea of crime. 500 ships sail every 12 hours. And that Jaebum tried to ruin it. My alcohol collections are remade by my drug-making workers, the drug-infused with liquor in such a way the liquids never change the taste, just the color, and then my magical red and blue lights work on their own. Jaebum tried to talk to some socialites about my liquor collection and some of them didn't get drunk. I couldn't send my 600 crores shipment.
Jamy and Meera went but Jaebum didn't visit but sent his menace of soldiers, we killed them taking them to our club basement specially made for execution but that night we couldn't serve 5 of my politician VIPs, such a fucking loss. By the end of the week, we would lose the remaining deals. Drug deals are so delicate and precious, one loses and then we won't get the order from them ever again, the Russian mafias never order the same way, either by negotiating to pay half for those supplies or they want us to ship them free. I suffer from huge losses like this, drug dealers never finalize a deal ever again if I miss one supply. It's a cruel world. But who am I talking to? I am the creator of cruelty. Aren't I?
Now who are the Morgans? Morgans are the origin families of the mafia world. Morgan Travis's great-grandfather was the first ever mafia of South Korea. Originally they were from Daegu but then they immigrated to Seoul when their crimes were getting larger and they left out of runaway hideouts in Daegu. Seoul is the living, breathing city of crime. Morgan's are known for their deadly Joker games. Aka the poker games, the casinos. Every lavish casino in Seoul pays half of its profit to the Morgans, and some of the elite casinos are theirs. Not Lorde though. I don't pay. Morgans and Jeans were forever foes. Born enemies you can say. I was born with a mouth full of deceitful things against them, I got older just as I heard their techniques. Morgans were different. They send Jokers to every casino every night. What does the Joker do in poker? A Joker can be wild, or can be a "bug", a limited form of wild card that can be used only to complete straights and flushes. War: In some variations, beats all other cards. They dress as jokers, paint their whole faces white, and then paint their mouths red and eyes blue. The jokers can infiltrate any game, in between whatever position a group was in it. It's like a wild card. A joker gets a card and then a joker can flip or flop. So in Morgan's joker's case, the flip means convincing the whole team to swap or change cards and also pleads for them to allow the joker to serve, the joker with swift hand movements passes intentional cards, wishful cards, and the joker can show each of their cards flipped on the table and finally bet with an amount the group members shiver to think about then the joker shows its card to everyone, and voila. The Joker wins. And unfortunately every time. And the flop means killing whoever disagrees with the flip. Nobody could win against the Joker. Jokers come in groups and scatter through the casinos and play the long long nights.
Now you can think why I killed Morgan Travis and why I kidnapped Jaebum's sister. What is the connection? What is my gain in this? Jaebum's gang is a specialist in human trafficking, they supply humans just like I do drugs, but their techniques are different, they tie their bodies and then throw them in sacks of rice, and then put them on auction according to their weights. But still, why did I kidnap and kill one of these groups' heirs?
Jaebum and Morgan Seokjin have joined hands and are trying to create a gang war against me. Jaebum's humans which he sells are getting built like human missiles and Seokjin's jokers are distracting me from invading my casinos. At first, I didn't understand, but they are planning the biggest war Korea has ever witnessed. They just want to destroy this den into pieces, shatter it. They are conspiring against me and they are trying to break into my den step by step, first trying to destroy my casinos and clubs, bars, and shopping malls. Then they sent rats inside, an inner informer of them, they supplied my personal mission information and drug deals, and one by one my drug deals were getting canceled, then customers started getting lessened into my bars and shopping malls, the import-export business was getting flopped just because buyers of estates and ships were getting brainwashed. I was suffering from a huge loss, and then sending those jokers in small groups to destroy our willpower. In my mansion, the guards are less as we all are trained commanders. Even my cooks are perfectly trained shooters and self-defense fighters. But again, the jokers come at night and attack us while we sleep. My guards are well-trained boxers who stand at the entrance, but still, one or two can come inside and attack us, shoot us. They tried to too tonight. They tried to harm Heaven. Amidst thinking all of these I forgot Jamy was saying something.
"Hades WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING. WE HAVE BEEN QUIET. LET ME ARRANGE A MEETING WITH SEOKJIN"
I glared at Jamy
"And do what beg? The informers and insiders are from the Morgans, it's the jokers always. Jaebum is making human missiles and human bombs. We don't know when he planted one of those in one of my bars. I need to think"
"WHICH YOU AREN'T DOING Hades"
I glared back at Namjoon
"NAMJOON SHE IS AN INFORMER TOO, BUT LordE. SHE WAS THE LOVER OF THE HEIR OF THE MorganS, SHE MUST KNOW SOME OF THEIR BLUE-PRINTED FULL PROOF PLAN. I NEED TO LEARN FROM HER ABOUT THEIR FUTURE PLANS, SHE MUST KNOW, SHE IS THE ONLY LINK TO JAEBUM AND SEOKJIN."
I said as Jamy poured white wine into my glass and theirs. I can't trust anybody other than Namjoon and Jamy.
"But her diary is trashy, lovey-dovey shit" I felt my insides getting churned for some reason. Jamy is correct
"The rest of the pages must have something or I need to force her to open her mouth. Take her to my warehouse weaponry section"
Namjoon scoffed
"I highly doubt that"
I felt my blood boiling. Jaebum and Seokjin attacked when we were already recovering from the Russian attack, we couldn't counterattack. Lots of our soldiers died. I have called for more weapons from China, but the shipment is stuck in the ship which Seokjin's men aren't letting pass. In international waters, Seokjin rules the routes from where he lets my ships go and from where my ships are forbidden to even touch. It's in Seokjin. And he stuck my shipments of weapons but let my drug-filled ships pass without any thought. What is his master plan this time? I had met Seokjin 10 years back, he was younger back then but still older than me. His eyes had a dark glint, something mischievous and evil. Then we talked the second time through a phone call when he said, "Hades JOKERS ARE FUNNY ENOUGH TO DROWN" It was a puzzling thought to say. But I got it, he wanted water, and I wanted sand, as in Seoul grounds. From then on I handled Seokjin's ground shipments and he handled my water ones. I got the grounds and he got the waters but then Seokjin somehow changed when he met Jaebum. WHERE I GAVE DRUGS, JAEBUM GAVE HUMANS. MORE HUMANS, MORE SOLDIERS. Jaebum supplied prostitutes who worked at Morgan's casinos. Women means attraction. I work with addiction. SEokjin and Jaebum work with women's addiction. Women can make men lose their pants and self-respect within seconds.
Seokjin's informers are quite hard to find, they might be anyone inside my den. How will I find rats? How will I counter Jae Bum's men? My men are getting scared. I ruled South Korean grounds for almost over a decade. Never in my life have I experienced this type of misstep. I need Heaven to spill but she hates me. Quite justified.
After a while, I went to my bedroom. She was taken from the hospital in the morning. I was the one who carried her towards the mattress and laid her, her slender thin fingers clung to my collar, whining just as I started backing away. I can't. I can never explain how I feel around her.
It feels like I am slipping through a black hole and just swinging round and round into that hole. It feels exhausting to feel all of these all of a sudden, my chest feels so full, full to the brim. My body reacts in some ways I can't ever resist, as if I have no control over myself, over my subconscious. It feels odd, something so alien to me. I have never felt this much full to the brim, the feelings don't even fit into my body, it just makes my heart beat rushed and adrenaline howl in my veins. I feel tingly sometimes, like when I tried to get away her finger tightened against my collar and I sucked a deep breath. My body halted on its own as if I just couldn't help but lean into the touch, it's desperate nature of Lorde which never came out until now, something aches in this desperation but desperation of what, to let her touch? Her fingers were cold, and she nuzzled against my chest like those nights when I held her so close I could barely believe myself.
It felt like the shadows and ghosts of ourselves came and bound us together. Such a pathetic way to describe it, but maybe, it's the destined string between us. A red bloody string. She hates me. I hate her?
As if the entire universe was finding ways to bring us closer even if she would kill me within seconds, but looking at her on those nights, when she let me wrap my arms around her arms, she slept like an infant, forcing the warmth to release from me to go to her. But have I never been warm? Was it? Never been a delicate-skinned man. Then? I have always been calloused and scared, built hardy. But she clings to me as if I am her favorite pillow, cushiony and dreamy. Those nights when she was shivering, it was paining inside my chest. I won't deny it, but the pain was unbelievably loud and obnoxious, I have never felt this way. This is so different. The urge to push, punish, and kill even if her skin tingles in pain a little. I never know from where I have this urge. I thought I could never feel it. All these are so different, I never imagined my future to be like this. Letting the girl hold me just because she could rest well, and feel warm. I would have shot anyone who came this close to me. Even Meera. I don't let her sleep holding me. I don't like additional touches. Her fingers barely feel like a touch but it makes a shiver run through my whole body. I feel so confused. Why did I feel like I needed to bring the world's most warm cushiony thingies just to make her stop shivering in the cold? I felt my chest rising in dread when I saw her fever never running down. I held her tightly some nights. Hidden in the darkness of the room, like a coward I let her hold me because I am not strong enough to hold her in broad daylight. Where is the monster inside me? Who just wanted everything for himself. But for the first time in my life, I want to give. Everything I have. I feel so desperate for something. I feel like maybe my body warmth is the only thing I can give so I give. I give until I can't anymore. She sleeps on top of me, most nights. She doesn't get up, but yeah whines and mumbles whenever I try to move, she buries her face wholly and I feel something breaking inside me. I never felt like anything could beat me, anything could break my resolve, anything could make me kneel. But I was ready to kneel to some joker soldiers that day. I never felt losing my life would be scary but when I saw her losing her breath, I felt my entire world collapse under my shoulders and I could barely breathe. So I let her cut my skin. I will let her do anything until she keeps breathing. It's such a scary thought. Never like me. In the past Hades would have stabbed himself.
I saw her sleeping as I looked at her frowning forehead. She doesn't like the mattress either. I felt my lips curving up a little. Her lips suddenly transformed into a pout. My heart sank. Maybe I killed the only person I wanted to keep breathing. I went to her and something deep tingled as she turned. I sucked my breath, if she is awake I need to leave before she stabs me in the heart. I scoffed. I am Hades Julian FOR FUCK'S SAKE. WHY AM I SCARED OF A GIRL'S REACTION? She wasn't awake though. I sighed in relief. I laid beside her and as soon as the bed dipped. Her fingers curled as I kept quiet. After all this melancholy in life, I think I found a color. And when she automatically wrapped herself around me, coloring on top of me, hiding her face into my chest, her body cold and shivered against my warmth. She clings to me possessively as if want the whole me to her. It's something so weird to think about. But it feels
Nice.
Her hair tangled against my neck, it tickled. I captured her waist as she squirmed trying to adjust to a position. She hummed. I felt warm all over. For many decades my body felt something warm just by human skin. I feel like in the melancholic life of Lorde, the color is her. But also when her humor turned into a satisfactory sigh and her entire smaller body rested perfectly against my chest. I feel like the color is golden. Ever golden.