The Hunt

74

I waited silently while everyone else answered calls or text messages.

Jimin left the dinning room to take a call from his uncle in another, quieter room.

Namjoon leaned over the empty chair Jimin had just vacated, and handed me his phone. A text from Jungkook stated that Choi Seunghan had come forward and claimed to have placed hits on Park JiHoon and Kang Sumi.

My father's youngest brother, Seunghan. The black sheep of the family.

I handed the phone back to Namjoon and focused on Roxy. She looked relieved.

Just happy she doesn't have to talk.

"What do you think, Waffles?" Namjoon asked.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Why would Uncle Seunghan do it? What would he have to gain?

Was he hoping to take down my father and gain a spot on The Council? He had three other siblings ahead of him, so that's unlikely. Same goes for taking over the family business.

He did blow his inheritance on booze, flashy cars, and women.

Maybe he and Roxy have something in common?

"I think it's convenient."

Taehyung tilted his head in confusion. "Convenient? What do you mean?"

"My uncle has a lot of debt," I replied.

"Oh," Taehyung nodded and slipped his phone in his pocket.

"I mean, I haven't seen him in a few years, but I can't imagine he turned his financial situation around." I glanced at Roxy and asked, "How much did they pay you?"

She looked slightly offended at my question.

Is it rude to ask how much someone paid for a hit?

"Two hundred million Won."

"Wait, you asked for 500 hundred million just to name names?!" Jin's face grew redder and his pitch higher with each word. He stood up so quickly his chair tipped back, crashing to the floor, and slammed an angry fist down on one of the stacks of bills in the middle of the table. "I'm taking this back!"

When he reached for the second stack of cash, no one stopped him. Not even Roxy. Not even when he walked off down the hall.

Her entire demeanor changed. Gone was the smug little badass she was trying to pass herself off as, she had given up on that persona. Instead, before me sat a miserable little girl who was just looking to make a quick buck at any cost.

"So, probably not your uncle then, right, Waffles?" Taehyung's smooth, calm voice brought down some of the tension in the room.

"Probably not," I agreed.

"Well, then it's likely someone offered to pay off his debts if he agreed to take the fall for everything. Does he have a family?" Taehyung mused, not waiting for my reply. "If so, they probably offered to take care of them while he served his punishment, or in the event of his execution. But who? Who would have the most to gain?"

Taehyung seemed to drift off into his own thoughts, his eyes unfocused, staring at nothing.

"Now what?" Jin asked as he picked up the chair he had knocked over, and took a seat. "Do we just wait?"

Namjoon shrugged, and no one else bothered to respond.

After a few minutes of staring at eachother, Hyukmin cleared his throat. "Do you guy's have anything to drink?"

"Oh, sorry, Hyukmin. Let me get you something," Namjoon jumped up and walked into the kitchen. "Do you want water, tea, coffee? I think we might have some orange juice."

A loud crash and the sound of breaking glass rang out from the kitchen. I stood up and signaled to Jin to sit back down. "Don't worry, Jin. I'll clean it up."

While Namjoon had the attitude of a tiger, he possessed the grace of an adolescent moose.

I rounded the kitchen island to find him crouched down, carefully picking up the larger shards of glass.

"Namjoon," I said calmly. "Maybe we should sweep up the broken glass instead, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He looked up at me with big eyes and a bewildered look on his face. Standing up, he deposited the glass shards in the garbage and located the broom.

I took the broom and dustpan from him with a reassuring smile. "I'll do it. How about some tea? That might help with everyone's nerves."

"Right," he nodded and located a pot to boil some water. "It's pretty tense in here."

I wasn't even surprised when the doorbell rang. It was unexpected, but not surprising. I just continued sweeping up the broken glass and decided to let someone else worry about the potential danger lurking just outside the front door.