Chapter 1

509 14 8
                                    

It had been six years working with Park Li that Hyunjin decided he have had enough. Park Li was an assassin, a bloody psychopath. Over the years he had built a team of highly capable individuals in assassination. Now, Hyunjin didn't mind assassinating. He had been in the field for too long to give it a thought now. Instead, he enjoyed it. Crushing the selfish morals of those hungry for wealth bastards, it was fun to watch them plead for their lives before him. It was fun because their previously excessively prideful eyes would water in fear.

But Park's objectives had changed over the years, they were against his principles now. Hyunjin didn't mind taking away everything from those rotting bastards, however, he did mind harming the innocent. Out of all the avaricious minds Hyunjin had ever known, Park's was the worst. And so, after four years of loyal service, Hyunjin had left his organisation for good. Obviously, it wasn't an easy escape. Turning your back on your predator only gets you killed. But Hyunjin had pre-planned everything. He knew Park so well, that his resignation was a success, even if it had left him with a filthy, long scar across his chest.

The first thing Hyunjin did after leaving Park was changing his house. Knowing when and where Park's men could be, he chose a very safe location. Some, many kilometres away from his previous residence. From his current savings, he could rest for a month at least. And so, the very next day of his shifting, Hyunjin found himself at a cheap local bar, drinking shots.

Minding his own business, he was watching the crowd dance when someone smacked into his back violently. He stood up immediately, alert and ready for a fight, only to find a stranger fallen on floor, who had nothing to do with his previous life. He could barely see the man's face from the dark of the bar, but could tell the man was sober.

His confusion grew when he saw the man's outfit. He was wearing a faux leather jacket over a basic white tee and a pair of denim. He looked decent. Hyunjin wondered why even the man was in that cheap bar.

He furrowed his brows when the man looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know how ...how we bumped into each other so.. I'm sorry." Hyunjin relaxed his posture noticing the genuineness in the man's apology and forwarded a hand to help him up.

The stranger gave him a small, embarrassed smile, but instead of taking Hyunjin's hand, he stood by himself. "It wasn't on purpose ." He said, rubbing his neck nervously.

Hyunjin nodded then, sitting down again on the barstool. Surprisingly, the stranger flopped on the stool beside him. From his wariness of strangers, he narrowed his eyes at the man beside him in alert. However, the man's demeanor didn't look like he was some kind of a rogue, relaxing Hyunjin to an extent. But now he could see the stranger's face and the thought of having seen the same face somewhere before, struck him. The man caught his eye and smiled warmly, before turning to the bartender and saying, "The regular, please."

As the bartender walked off with a nod, the stranger again looked at him and asked. "I can pay your bill if you want? As an apology?"

Hyunjin smiled, shaking his head. "No need, but thanks."

The stranger smiled in acceptance. "I have never seen you here before ."

Hyunjin shrugged, nonchalantly. " It's my first time here ." The stranger uttered an 'oh' as he took his drink from the bartender. Hyunjin's curiosity however got the best of him and he asked, "I think we have met before ?"

The stranger looked at him in amusement. "We have meet?" He gave Hyunjin an examining look and then shook his head, stifling a chuckle. "I don't think so."

"Oh." Hyunjin said, confused at the man's reaction. "My bad. Just said because your face looks familiar ."

The stranger shrugged, smiling at him. Hyunjin didn't want to, but he posed another query. "You look rich. And that's the last place i think a rich person would put in their wishlist."

The man shrugged. "Where you find what you need. I think you should be there?"

Hyunjin knitted his brows in confusion making the man laugh. " Jeongin." He said, forwarding his hand.

Hyunjin shook hands with him, hesitantly. "Hyunjin."

I know

Jeongin nodded. "Good. Nice to meet you."

"by the way", Jeongin looked at him from head to toe, "What do you do?"

Hyunjin raised his eyebrow, taking a moment to answer, "Eat , sleep, repeat."

"For a living". Jeongin completed his query.

"Oh, the answer is still the same." Hyunjin

Jobless bit*h

"Mhmm", Jeongin gulped down his drink and removed a card from his jean's pocket. He forwarded it to Hyunjin, giving him a big smile. "Will you work with us?"

Us?

Hyunjin looked at the card in suspicion. "Like what?"

Jeongin kept the money on the table for his drink and stood up from the stool. "You will know that tomorrow ."

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at him. "And money?"

Jeongin gave him a sweet smile. ". Tomorrow. he whispered. If you accept my offer, then come to the given address . Sharp 5 pm.."

Hyunjin slowly took the card from him and as soon as he read the name over it, he knew where he had seen Jeongin. He looked up in shock but Jeongin wasn't there. His head immediately turned at the exit and Jeongin gave him a two finger salute before leaving the bar.

"This guy.." Hyunjin said gazing at the name 'Lil-fingers' on the card. "Bounty hunter?" He smirked. "i knew he seems oddly familiar."
,..........
A.N: please read and vote

Criss-Cross || HyuninWhere stories live. Discover now