Tsundere × Mobster

Chapter 17: Strengthening

Morning came and Whee-in jerked awake with cold sweat on her forehead. She took a deep breath as she sat up. She had a dream about her late father. In her dream, he was reaching out his hand to her, as if he was trying to lead her somewhere and tell her something.

Whee-in held her head and looked around. Moon was nowhere to be found, but there were different bags on the foot of the bunk beds. Whee-in got out of the bed. She grabbed her phone and saw that it was already six. She fixed herself and cleaned up in the quarters bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she remembered her dream and what Lee Han-mi said to her last night. She needed to look into that. But right now, she needed to focus on what was happening in the family.

She then rushed outside.

Whee-in scolded herself for waking up late. She already had a guess about who owned the bags in the quarters, but she didn't want to jump into conclusions. As soon as she went to mansion's backyard or rather, field, her guess was confirmed.

Lined up in two rows were youngsters, 7 boys and 10 girls. Standing in front of them was Moon who was talking, while Yong was behind them, looking at Moon more than at the others.

Whee-in's eyes searched for Hyejin. She's not here. She must still be sleeping. It's likely that Moon has already been given orders to do this today. She figured that the youngsters must have arrived at the mansion earlier at dawn.

Moon stopped talking and turned to Whee-in. She then gestured to her to come stand beside her. Whee-in walked to Moon and had a better view of the faces before her. Yong was right. These kids were young. A lot of them had that look of youthful naivete, but at the same time their eyes were those of chained predators.

Whee-in decided to introduce herself. Whee-in knew that the Ahn family has their own way of welcoming people, a way that was influenced by military training and the usual street tactics. Other families would find it to be unnecessary, but Hyejin valued this tradition. And she said it was necessary to be 'disciplined rascals in the business". Whee-in respected the decision to strengthen the family, and here they were.

"My name is Jung Whee-in. I'll be in charge of assessing your progresses. You do well and we'll have no problems. Remember the rules given to you by Moon Byul-i and Kim Yongsun. Listen to them at all times. Otherwise, you'll be sleeping with the fishes. Understood?" Whee-in looked each of them in the eyes. A couple of them flinched but they all shouted together,"Yes! Understood!"

Whee-in excused herself from Moon and walked to where Yong was.

Yong still had a bit of a headache, but she was doing much better than when she woke up earlier with a throbbing head. Opening her phone, she discovered that Moon has texted her about how she ended up getting home last night.

Moon then came by and made tea for her after she showered, something Yong never expected from Moon, but it made her heart flutter. It was a bit awkward when Moon handed Yong the cup of tea, but Yong managed to say thanks and sipped the tea silently. She was afraid to ask about last night, knowing that whenever she gets drunk, she tends to end up doing very strange things.

But she asked anyway, the unsettling feeling overwhelming her hesitation.

"Moon."

"Hmm?" Moon looked at Yong.

"What exactly did I do last night after I got drunk?"

"Whee-in ran into the Lees which is why she texted me"

Yong raised an eyebrow.

"No fighting happened" Moon continued. It made Yong feel relieved.

"But...uh" Moon's voice started to trail off.