Min Yoongi
‘Did you find anything?’ Namjoon asked as he and Jin both sat in my office which was surrounded by computer screens.
‘Not much,’ I replied, shaking my head. ‘I talked to our contacts in forensics and there is no match to them. It’s like they never existed,’ I explained.
‘Any features that might be useful?’ Jin asked and I nodded as I showed them a photo which I had printed.
‘They all have that scorpion tattoo. It’s small but they all have the same one on their neck, right behind their ears,’ I explained.
‘I never saw this symbol before,’ Namjoon said and I nodded as well. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
‘Come in,’ I said loudly. The door opened and Cherry walked in. Cherry. What an odd nickname that was.
I still didn’t know from where Jimin got it. All I knew was that he did not like the name Domina Umbra and I couldn’t blame him. It felt impersonal and cold and if she was going to be living here, then we had to start building a relationship with her. Still, Cherry was kind of odd for her. She’s a strong woman without a doubt – confident and independent to say the least. She appeared to always have a response at the ready, especially for Hoseo, who clearly did not like it.
‘You sent for me?’ she asked as she looked at me. I nodded as I motioned her to come closer.
‘I know Scarlets are rather informed people. You said so yourself, so I was wondering if this symbol or tattoo means anything to you,’ I said as I handed her the photo. She took it and smirked.
‘Something tells me she knows about it more than we do,’ Namjoon commented, a smile on his face. I was still not convinced about his choice but I have known Namjoon for a long time. He was always someone who followed his gut and his instinct has almost always led us to good things.
‘You can say that again,’ Cherry replied as she handed me the photo. ‘May I?’ she asked as she pointed to my computer. I nodded as I moved slightly while she began to type away. My eyes followed her and what she was doing, careful she was not doing something she was not supposed to.
A few seconds later, a window popped open. It showed a number of people but some were marked with black boxes. I knew that meant that there was a lack of information about them. No face, no name – nothing, as if they were shadows.
‘Meet the Scorpions. How very original, right?’ she asked as she rolled her eyes, making me shake my head. Leave it to her to pass a joke like that at times like this.
‘Do you know them? Have you worked for them before?’ Jin asked. She straightened as she looked at him, arms crossed across her chest.
‘No. Just because I am a Scarlet, does not mean I have gone around killing left, right and centre, Seokjin,’ she said. ‘But I do know of them’ she added as she put a slight emphasis on the words.
‘Okay that’s good. It gives us something to start it. What can you tell us about them?’ Namjoon asked.
‘They’re a new group who came together three months ago. They’re a rookie group but they’re impatient and hot-headed. They want to climb to the top of the crime world and that means eliminating the big players and let’s face it, Bangtan is one of the biggest players if not the biggest,’ she said.
‘I gathered the security footage of what happened. Either they have been planning it for a long time or they’re really smart for rookies,’ I said but she shook her head.
‘No way, they are a group full of amateurs,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘My guess is they have someone driving them, someone new who knows this business,’ she said, biting at her lower lip.
‘What do you want to do Namjoon? Do we go after them and rattle them a bit?’ Jin asked but Namjoon shook his head.
‘They took three of ours and we took four of theirs. Let them think they won a battle and if they strike again, we will be ready for them,’ Namjoon said.
‘Are you serious?’ Cherry asked, her voice raised. We all saw the look of disbelief on her face. ‘So, you’re just going to let them go?’ Cherry asked, one eyebrow raised. Namjoon shrugged and nodded.
‘Not let them go exactly but I won’t go after them,’ he said as she shook her head.
‘You do realize that they might have failed this time but succeed the next time, right? You got lucky this time,’ she reminded him.
‘I know which is why you’re in charge of looking after my wife’s safety,’ he said and she scoffed. Was that contempt? Was that disappointment in Namjoon’s decisions? Was it anger or worry? I could not tell.
‘The next time they attack, it might not be guns blazing or car chasing. It depends on what they want; whether they want her dead or whether they want to demand things from you,’ she said.
‘I may have an idea where they might attack,’ Namjoon said as we all looked at him. ‘Jackson Wang is hosting a party and we’re all invited. It’s a gathering to celebrate one year of relative peace between the gangs,’ he explained.
‘By relative peace we mean not interjecting between each other’s deals or go on fully fledged wars. It doesn’t mean there aren’t any fights which end up with casualties, but they’re different, controlled. Before, they used to be a blood bath and everyone was losing so we cut a deal, all gangs included,’ Jin explained as she nodded.
I had a feeling she knew of the information already but did not want to cut him off. I stood up as I looked at her. ‘If we attack, it will look like we are breaking the treaty and starting war,’ I said.
‘And that means that they would all turn against you. Your allies will become your enemies,’ she said.
‘Precisely Cherry and we cannot afford to have that,’ Namjoon said. ‘We do need to be vigilant though because as you said, they might change the way that they attack. They might come at us in a totally unexpected way,’ Namjoon said.
There was a silence that followed until Cherry cleared her throat. ‘When is this party taking place?’ Cherry asked as she sighed. So, she had decided to help after all – I thought to myself.
‘This week so that means it’s still in our deal time,’ Namjoon said with a smile. She rolled her eyes but smiled as well.
‘I’ll protect Myung, Namjoon,’ she replied. Jin and I both exchanged a look as both of us recognized that fierceness in that sentence alone. I didn’t know if I could trust it but it felt like a promise. I remembered her words from this morning’s breakfast “I am someone who keeps to their word” and I just smiled. Maybe Cherry might be a good addition to Bangtan.
‘Good because I am quite literally counting on you,’ Namjoon said. ‘Yoongi, I need you to gather everything you can and try to find who is leading them,’ Namjoon said.
‘On it,’ I replied as I sat back down. I turn to Cherry who looked amused. ‘You seemed to know your way around a computer. Want to help?’ I asked.
‘Yes, thank you!’ she exclaimed as if I had saved her from some boring chore. She reached for a chair and sat down next to me, on the other computer. I heard the door click shut and I realized Namjoon and Hosoek had left already.
Cherry and I both type away on our computers before I turn to look slightly at her. ‘Where did you learn to hack? Did the Scarlets teach you that?’ I asked. She stopped typing as she turned to look at me.
‘I was always a smart girl. Really good memory skills – you know, one of those supposedly genius kids with a future ahead of them,’ she said as she scoffed but I could see that glimmer of sadness in her eyes that she tried so hard to hide away. ‘As a result, I was good with computers and when I ended up with the Scarlets, they honed in on that skill. I didn’t start out by killing people and for a long time, my work was to gather information and data for them,’ she explained.
‘There is something I do not understand about you, well not one thing but something which has been running around my mind. May I ask?’ I asked and she laughed.
‘You just asked a question,’ she replied but nodded. ‘Go ahead. Ask away,’ she said as she leaned back.
‘You left the Scarlets and betrayed them for whatever personal reason. Yet, you still call yourself a Scarlet. Why is that?’ I asked.
‘The short uncomplicated answer is that once you’re a Scarlet, you’re always a Scarlet. You’re branded for life,’ she said as she ran her hand over her tattoo. It was a beautiful tattoo but also a mark. I wondered when she had got it and whether she had any say in it.
‘And the complicated one?’ I asked, pressing her further.
‘The complicated answer is that for over half of my life, it was all I knew. While my family discarded me, they shaped me into who I am today. They gave me the skills to survive and every time I use those skills, I cannot deny that in my heart, I am a Scarlet and I cannot escape that,’ she said. She shrugged and turned back to her computer, indicating the conversation was over.
I sighed as I got back to work myself and typed away, hoping to find more information about the Scorpions.
As I said, chapters might be shorter than the usual ones to keep with the pace of the story. We see her interacting with Yoongi who although does not quite trust her, feels inclined towards her. We see her helping Namjoon out and we see her being somewhat defiant in the sense that she won't just take orders but also question. Namjoon knows that if attacks now, it could wage war again and he knows it could be part of the Scorpion's plans. Once again, we see Namjoon being the smart leader he is. I look forward to your thoughts. Tomorrow I go back to work so updates might be less frequent. - Tae's Misfit
"I never thought love was worth fighting for but then I looked into your eyes and I was ready for war."
