iris . vkook

twenty four

스물 넷

Jeongguk's PoV;

"Okay, Boss, I swear - this time was literally not my fault." I said, a desperate tone in my voice as I was back in his office, opposite the disgusting mahogany table not even twelve hours after he specifically told me not to do what I had just done.

He gritted his teeth, squeezing and unsqueezing his clasped hands that sat upon the shiny desk.

"Jeon, you threw a fucking blade at his face. How is that not your fault?"

"He attacked me first."

----------flashback to Jeongguk's shift------------

"Hm?" I hummed in response to me not being able to catch what the customer said as he wielded a gun, twisting it in the shop's light, "what was that?"

"I asked, how many bullets does this thing hold?"

I stood up straight from my slouched position over the shop desk, walking over to the man who made me feel slightly uneasy, but then again, I was just selling weapons - his appearance shouldn't bother me.

I held my hand out for him to pass the gun and he did so, causing me to bite back my cocky grumble as he dropped the weapon into my hand and damn, these things ain't light you know.

I smacked the butt of the gun against my hand, causing the magazine to fall into my palm. I inspected the steel container, counting roughly how many spaces there were for bullets.

"Uh, I'd say about sixty four in one round. Maybe hundred-twenty eight if you buy a different magazine." I said as I pushed the gun back into his hand, turning my back on him as I walked back to my desk.

I then heard a click.

An all too familiar sound to an assassin's ears.

Narrowing my eyes, I stayed calm as I quickly grabbed the throwing knives that I'd shoved in my pocket after practice.

"If you could keep your gun unloaded whilst in the shop, that would be greatly appreciated." I said, pinching the thin blades between my bloodied fingers which came as a result of slipping as I went to grab one of the sharp pieces of metal.

"If you could keep your pretty mouth shut whilst I escort you to my men, that would be greatly appreciated. Come along now, Jeon." He said, pointing the gun at me with one hand and beckoning with the other.

Oh fuck no.

I stood up and walked towards him quietly, my hands in my hoodie pocket.

"Hands up where I can see them." He commanded.

I obeyed, throwing both hands up whilst holding onto the edge of the blade with my little finger and as he went to usher me out, I flicked my wrist and threw the blade at him as a result, the metal hitting him on his chin.

As he moved his hands to cup his chin, he dropped the gun and I took this opportunity to knock him to the ground and out of harm's way.

Fuck, and to think this would be a peaceful shift.

"They're all nice men. Bit rough on the exterior." Boss had said before he sent me off.

Boss was a fucking liar.

A snake.

Nice?

The guy just tried to take me as a hostage and then threatened to shoot me!

If he's a nice person then I must be the kindest person to ever exist.

The guy scrambled on the floor, which just made me dig my knee further into his rib cage, wiggling it about until I put my full weight on it and crack!

He groaned in absolute pain, unsure of where to cradle: his chin, ribs or stomach - the thing that I'd just drove my booted foot into.

Eventually, and kindly, I'd decided to put him out of his misery.

With one smack of his head to the ground and a hit to the head with the butt of my gun, the guy was out.

Not bad for a high school drop out or an art freak, huh?

Dreaming of puppies and kittens as he drooled slightly, head tilted back and heavy.

Jungwoo walked in, a questioning look on his face, "you haven't seen Taeil's jacket by any cha- what the fuck?"

"Uh, no. I haven't." I said, brushing both Jungwoo's confusion and cursing off.

He rarely cursed and whenever he did, it was because he was stuck on what to say.

To be fair, he did walk in a weapon shop to see his run buddy stood over an unconscious customer.

———flashback over——————

The situation was almost comical. I was back in his office practically immediately after he told me to stay out of trouble.

I bit back a smile, praying that he couldn't see the dimple that was probably giving away my emotion.

"Jeon, does it look like I'm fucking laughing?" He asked, steam pretty much billowing out of his ears, "if you weren't such a good worker, you would've been fired long ago because you're such a little shit!"

"I can't help it, Park." I shrugged, fiddling with a cigarette before tucking it on top of my ear.

He sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose before he looked up with relief in his eyes, "well. Your weekly shift is over. Thank god. I thought I'd missed seeing your face, but I was definitely wrong. I'll transfer the money to your bank."

"Thanks Boss!" I said, disregarding his previous comments.

A ding on my phone signified that he'd transferred the money over and I almost jumped with joy as I thought of all the shit I could spend it on.

Half a trillion won? I'm rich.

My excuse? My dad runs a business and he transfers money every so often to keep me alive and well.

My dad is actually dead - but no one needs to know that.

I slapped down my paper timetable and map on his desk, happily skipping out after yelling goodbye to Boss - like he hadn't just paid me tons of illegal money for illegal work.

As soon as I left the room, I phoned Taeyong.

"Guess who's shifts are finished for the week?" I said into the phone.

"Yours?"

"Yes!"

"We need to celebrate! Get everyone together to see you, have you got Taehyung?"

"I don't. I'll collect him now and we'll be down at yours by tomorrow."

"Sweet. Does he like cake? You know, since it's practically his birthday party."

"Every cake apart from fruit cake."

"No one likes fruit cake, Jeongguk." Taeyong replied sassily.

"Jeong-ja does."

"Case closed." Taeyong giggled, causing me to laugh in return.