VENOM » SKZ Lee Know [mafia au]

03 - Acts of Kindness

SONG REC: "MOVIE STAR" - CIX

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Felix encouraged Yun to walk into her room first, so she walked ahead of him. Her room was closed, but when she opened the door, she bit her lip to hold back tears.

There were new bed sheets, pillows, fairy lights, candles, a vinyl player with a stack of records, stuffed animals, and snacks filling her cabinets. Her bag remained untouched on her bed.

"God," she mumbled. "The members did this for me? Somebody they just met?"

Felix nudged her gently. "Lee Know trusts you already. Everybody in the team trusts his instincts more than they trust themself. He doesn't show much emotion but he cares about us a lot, and in return we care about him."

She shrugged. "I'll see how I feel about him." Despite that statement, she could already feel herself learning to trust Stray Kids, including their boss.

Felix nodded. "I understand. But trust me, you'll learn to care for him. Although he doesn't open up to us often."

"Anything else I should know about?"

He shrugged. "Lee Know gets really stressed at times. Maybe because we don't know how to help him, so he has to do a lot of the work alone. But when those times come, just stick with me."

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It was quickly eleven-thirty at night. Four hours ago, she wasn't even aware of Lee Know's presence anywhere near where she lived. Four hours ago, she was a homeless, lonely girl who fought and begged and did anything for her money every single day.

    Felix left her to have some alone time. As she returned from the bathroom, she ran into Han, who smiled warmly.

    "You doing okay?" he asked.

    "Yeah," she answered, failing to hold back a yawn.

    "It's been a long night. You should crash soon." He left to enter his own bedroom, but not before shouting at her, "And enjoy the stuffed animal I gave you! It was one of my favorites!"

    "Which one?"

    "The quokka." He winked at her before shutting his door, and she was left embarrassed by his act of affection. Han and Felix were growing onto her fast.

    Just like Han told her to, she crashed the moment she hit her bed. She barely had the energy to turn off the lamp and push the stuffed animals out the way before she was dozing off.

    Strangely enough, the cold man who recruited her filled her dreams.

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The next day, at the front of her door, there were stacks of men's clothes. She assumed that they were Han's and happily put them in her closet, liking how the size was nearly perfect.

She was slightly taller than Han if she straightened her back, so it only made sense if the clothes came from him. Especially because she talked to him about the lack of clothes yesterday. She went outside to find him on the couch.

    "Han~" she called, sitting next to him. He was sitting beside Lee Know, and they were watching a movie in the living room.

    "Yes, my dear Yun?"

    "Thank you for the clothes!"

    He glanced at her with a guilty expression on his face. "I'm sorry to say that the clothes you're talking about aren't my clothes."

    She stared at him. "What? Then who...?" Glancing at Lee Know, she noticed that the tips of his ears were red. He was tense, as if he was listening in on their conversation.

    Would it be possible that these were his clothes?

    She quickly excused herself to go into her room and look at the clothes further. On closer inspection, she realized "L.K." was stitched onto all of the insides of the clothes. Lee Know. She would have to thank him.

    Later, when everybody was quieting down and Felix was done with his mission, she went over to Lee Know's office.

    "Thank you for the clothes," she said as sincerely as possible. He would never know how much the gesture meant to her.

    He looked her up and down once, but besides that, didn't react. She bristled.

"No problem." He turned back to his work and she took that as a sign to leave.

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She was going to the gym to workout when she found Lee Know working out alone. His shirt was off, but when he saw her he immediately covered what looked like a scar.

"Oh my god, I'm so so sorry!" Yun shouted, shutting her eye to respect his privacy.

After a beat he said, "You can open your eyes now." He had put on a shirt and she sighed with relief.

"Sorry for the intrusion; I wanted to work with some of the stuff you guys have to see what weapon I prefer. Han sent me down."

He nodded, approving. "Let me help."

He walked over to her and led her to the weapons room, where there was the largest assortment of weapons she had ever seen. There were knives, guns, bows, sticks, and everything else used to kill people in all sizes.

She walked throughout the room, awed, and touched a couple weapons that stood out.

"Go ahead, try them," Lee Know encouraged.

She picked up every single weapon that seemed like her preference and tested them. Everything worked well, but nothing felt right. There was a common saying on the streets that your weapon had to click with you better than a significant other, as if it was your soulmate.

She had personally never found that weapon, but here, in this room where everything seemed possible, it frustrated her that she couldn't find the right one.

She frowned, trying a different gun. Nope. She put it down.

Lee Know then pulled out a small pistol from his belt and handed it to her. She grabbed it gently and admired the gun.

"Does it feel right?" he asked.

She switched it from her left and right hand, miming shooting. The gun had a simple design but she immediately liked it. It was light, easy to hide, and easy to use.

Lee Know nodded. "Keep it. I can see this gun is the right one for you."

She sent him a cautious smile. "Does this gun mean a lot to you? I can always use another weapon."

He shook his head. "No, it was just a gun I liked. There's always a lot more for me."

She pocketed the gun. "Thank you, Lee Know."

"Anything for my team members."

She smiled. I am a team member.

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