Black Roses

ᴏɴᴇ

~~~

Even though I never knew her that well, I knew enough to know that her loss brought a sharp pain in everyone's heart, mine as well. From what I have known, Yumi was a nice soul, and she would have been a great mother, if her un-born would have been given a chance to live. 

I have been in the mafia for years now, and never have I seen the faces in this building as gloomy as they were today. Not a single soul smiled. After all, a member of the mafia, a member of The Black Roses, have been assassinated today.

"Hey," I said calmly to Yumi's sister, "How are you holding up?"

"I don't know Miyoung," Yerin sniffled, engulfing me into a hug as she cried on my shoulder. "I was just talking to her and-and a gun was fired...and they just, they just killed her..." She bawled, clutching her hands into weak fists, "I was going to be an aunt Miyoung," She sobbed, people looking at her with sympathy with their teary orbs.

"I know Yerin, I know," I whispered, trying to sooth her down, gently pushing her away when I saw a figure approaching us.

"I heard what happend Yerin," Dahee, our boss said, "My deepest condolences. I assure you, we are looking into the matter and justice will be served."

Wiping her tears, Yerin gave a small nod, receiving a soft smile in return. "And Miyoung," Dahee turned towards me, "A word with you please."

I followed after her, being one of the most adept assassin in Black Roses, I have become a lot familiar with the pathway that led to Dahee's office and quiet friendly with Dahee herself. "I thought you were not assigning tasks for the rest of the week, considering what happened today."

"I am not," Dahee answered, "But this one is important. It is related to what happened to Yumi."

"Did they found out the killer?" I asked.

Dahee put down a few photos of a man's blurry, black shadow, "Sadly, no. The killer was quick."

"A guy," I noted, "Not an inside job then." 

Examining the photo which was a little less blurry, my eyes ignored the masked face and darted towards the gun, "He holds the gun in a good manner though."

"A little too professional to be just a random person."

"Yeah. Almost as if he was..." I trailed off, allowing the realisation to hit me, "Another mafia?"

Dahee sat down on her chair with a sigh, "Do you know Bangtan?"

"I have heard of them. Why, are they the suspect?"

"Calling them a suspect would be cutting them some slack," She said, putting a small bullet on the table.

"What's this?"

"You know how we leave a black rose after assassination?"

"So they leave a bullet? How original," I snorted, tossing the bullet from one hand to the other.

"It is not a bullet Miyoung," Dahee took it from my hand, rotating its tip like a water bottle's cap till it was separated from the case, revelling a small paper, Bangtan, it read.

"Okay, fine, that's original," I scoffed, "But why would they do it? She has not been on any missions either due to her condition."

"Our suspicion is it was the father of her child." Dahee said, patiently waiting for a response.

"She never told anyone about who the father was. It was obvious she wanted to keep it a secret for some reason. She did not even tell Yerin," Dahee continued after seeing my confused expression, "Also, having a child would mean having a weak spot which is bound to be revelled."

"So someone from Bangtan was scared that Yumi would start speaking about it sooner or later. That is why they killed her?"

"Not just someone," Dahee said, "If it was a low ranked soldier, he would have been killed not Yumi. It was someone who plays an important role, someone who cannot be replaced and would be prone to getting targeted if their weak spot was known to anyone."

"So my job is to assassinate them?" I asked with a smirk.

"Well firstly, you would have to find out who they are."

The smirk faded from my face, "How am I supposed to do that?" 

"It is a shame that we don't allow any males in Black Roses," Dahee said, "Other mafias are more  likely to accept them as part of their group rather than a girl."

"You want me to go undercover as a boy?"

"What? No, no, no," Dahee chanted, "That would be hard, considering that you haven't gone undercover in ages."

I sighed with relief, slumping down back into my chair as I heard Dahee speak, "We just want you to go undercover, join their mafia, and kill whoever was behind Yumi's assassination."

And with that simple order, I walked out of the office to pack my stuff for the long mission which awaited me.

║█│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║