Chapter Text
“Momma!”
Throat raw from the force of his screams, Jisung chokes on the toxic plumes of smoke filling his lungs. Clawing frantically at the steel cuff locked around his wrist, his vision swirls, and he sobs harder. Around him, the only home he has known burns, the white peeling walls now crumbling from flames and blistering heat. A heat that is seconds from consuming him, the scorching temperature of the smoky air already singeing the fine hairs on his arms.
“MOMMA!! HELP!” Chained in place by his right arm, he wildly jerks at the steel tether, screaming in pain as the tight cuff peels away his skin to reveal the bone as he hysterically fights for freedom. His cries and pleas drowned out by the screams of terror from the others who live on this floor, people who, like him are still trapped in their cells, burning alive.
Where is his mother? Why hasn’t she come for him? The Master of the house had called for her hours ago, and she hasn’t returned. Biting his bottom lip, he swallows down the sobs creeping up his throat. In his heart, he already knows… she’s dead. She has to be or else she’d have come for him when the explosion happened. Pain throbs behind his ribs, but it only lasts for a second. He is accustomed to loss, to death. In his short life, he’s witnessed it a thousand times and almost touched it more than once himself.
Coughing harshly, his lungs burn as the oxygen in the room is slowly drained by the flames eating away at the walls. Wheezing, he folds in half, his legs shaking as his vision dims at the edges. Curling in a ball, he buries his face between his knees with a smile on his lips… he is going to die here. In a way, it’s a relief. It all ends now. He’s tried to picture it before… the way he would die. It’s funny that he’d never envisioned it being by fire. It was always at the hands of his Master or a visiting vampire. He thinks this way is better…
A loud crack followed by a boom shakes the floor, and the weight pulling on his wrist falls away. Jolting upright, his eyes follow the steel chain to find its anchor to the wall lying on the ground. Free, but it’s too late. No one is coming for him… for them… their screams are fading, their pleas for help stolen along with their final breath. It’s too late. It was always too late. He’d opened his eyes born to die, it’s only taken eight years to fulfill his fate. Eight years too long.
Around him, the room warps and he falls to his side. The pain of his temple smacking the ground a faraway spike in the recesses of his cloudy mind. Chest seizing, his lungs heave crying out for air that isn’t there, his eyes rolling back as the tips of his fingers grow numb.
“FIRE DEPARTMENT CALL OUT! IS ANYONE HERE?! FIRE DEPARTMENT!”
Eyelids fluttering, his heart skips as the loud announcement reaches his ears…
“FIRE DEPARTMENT CALL OUT!”
Struggling to form words, his tongue darts out and he flinches at the taste of blood on his cracked lips. “H-here… I-I’m r-right here…” The stuttered plea is a mere whisper, his throat and lungs unable to be any louder. Vision blurry, he fights to keep his eyes open as he reaches outward with a hand. Through the bars of the cell, he sees the outline of shadowy figures moving through smoke.
“FIRE DEPARTMENT! IS ANYONE HERE?!”
Please… please let them hear him, see him. “H-here, I-I’m her-“ Voice no louder than a squeak, he freezes as a reverberating boom comes from behind him. Head snapping to the right, he looks over his shoulder just in time to see the wall behind him split and fall forward.
Searing heat followed by darkness engulfs him…
“THERE’S SOMEONE HERE! A CHILD!”
Skull throbbing, Jisung feels the weight atop him shift, followed by a pain so intense his consciousness sparks in fireworks of white hot heat. His skin flayed open to lay his insides bare. Surrounding him, a riotous crowd of noise barrages his ears. Calls for more water and a stretcher… the snaps and crackle of flames…
“Sir! This one is critical. Possibly too far gone.”
Pressure lands on his right side, and he screams. The remains of his lungs shouting in agony as he is moved, his mind hanging on by a thread as darkness calls to him again.
“That fucking monster burned them alive. So many lives lost and no-“
“Give him to me…”
Cutting the first voice off comes a second one, a male harnessing a level of calm in stark contrast to the chaos Jisung hears around him.
“But you aren’t-“
“I said. Give him to me…” The second voice snaps.
Jostled, Jisung whimpers as a solid weight falls against the left side of his face, and he feels the press of arms under him. Waffling between unconsciousness and the present, his bones rattle as he’s wracked in excruciating pain. Rocked back and forth, the body holding him moves, and he barely catches the first voice mumble… “Fucking demon walks in here like he has a right to…”
A demon? Had he heard that right?
Pushing through the pain, he begs his eyelids to open. He’s never seen a demon before. It’d be nice to see one before he dies. Eyes fluttering open, they sting from the harsh light above, and he whines at the blurry shape holding him.
“Ssshhh… I’ve got you little one. Everything will be okay.”
Trembling, he tries to move but the only response is a stab of pain flaring down his spine.
“Don’t move. We’re almost outside.”
Held tight to the stranger’s chest, Jisung’s mind floats away from him only to be wrenched back by the scent of fresh air. Forcing his eyes open again, he squints to see better but can only register a dark sky and the fuzzy outline of a jaw and sharp nose.
“Chan?”
A cold voice comes from nearby, and the man holding him jerks to a stop. Brain glitching from a spike of pain skittering across his flesh, Jisung only catches the last part of his savior’s reply.
“… Min… What are you doing here?”
“Me?” The new person’s cold tone has the arms holding Jisung drawing him in closer. “I was vacationing in Langkawi and heard about the raid. You know how fast word spreads these days. You got here awfully quick yourself. Last I heard, you were in Busan dealing with artifacts smuggled in from Egypt. How very strange that I learn of Aariz being raided, only to show up and find you on scene and carrying out a child, no less? Did the human police ask for your help?”
A breathy huff shakes the chest Jisung’s cheek is resting on. “Human affairs mean little to me, you know this. I’m in Malaysia on personal business and heard of the raid, same as you. Although I’ve been expecting one. Aariz has been carelessly loud about dealing in flesh. It was only a matter of time.”
“So it’s true then?” The pitch of the new person’s voice drops, carrying an edge of fury in it that has Jisung trembling harder. “It was a breeding ring? Is this one of them?”
Struggling to stay lucid, he feels the man holding him nod. “Yeah. Not many have survived. Aariz set off an explosive the minute the raid began.”
“Hmm. Bury the evidence. Given the condition of the compound, I must say it looks like it almost worked.” The second person’s voice suddenly sounds much closer to them, so Jisung clings to his savior’s shirt, flinching when a heavy sigh comes from above. “So young, so weak. He is near death, Chan. It’s pathetic really. You’d be kinder in killing him.”
“Yeah Min… I know…”
________ Twenty years later ________
“…eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety…”
Ding* Ding* Ding*
Listening to his round timer, Jisung pops up from his final burpee, eyes flicking to the flashing clock on his phone. Thirty seconds rest before moving to the next station. Bobbing his head in time with One Ok Rock blasting from the gym’s speakers, he cracks his neck before turning to the punching bag on his left. One, two, three…
Ding* Ding* Ding*
Right fist landing its first hit to the bag, his mind fills with the familiar rhythmic counting he’s repeated for years. One-two jab-cross… One-two-three jab-hook… One-two spin-kick… One-tw- “So it’s true then… It was a breeding ring…”
Stumbling, Jisung pushes away from the practice bag, shaking his head to drive out the cold voice. One-two jab-cross… One-two-three jab-hook…On- “It’s pathetic really. You’d be kinder in killing him.”
“FUCK!”
Cursing aloud, he throws a knock-out hit, sending the bag swinging. What the fuck is wrong with him?! “Ugh!” Catching the bag on its back swing, he drops into a fighting stance and resumes his workout. One-two jab-cross… One-two….
It’s been like this for days. His mind rattled and unable to focus since he’d dreamt of the night he’d been pulled from the burning wreckage of his prison. The night he’d lost his family… the night he’d been stolen from death’s door. Like a boomerang, the memory has completed its cycle in the back of his mind and returns to the front of his consciousness, dragging with it the accompanying cold sweats, empty tears, and sleepless nights.
“You’d be kinder in killing him.”
“Yeah Min… I know…”
Whoever that stranger was. He’d been right. It would’ve been kinder of Chan to kill Jisung that night. Instead, he’d been robbed of his freedom. Robbed of the chance to escape the hell he’d lived for the entirety of his short, pathetic life up to that point. And now here he is, years later, paying the toll for a demon’s hesitation.
Ignoring that person’s advice, Chan had taken the burned and bleeding little boy to the nearest hospital, and miraculously, he’d lived. Out of the hundred or so humans who’d lived at Aariz’s compound, only six survived, with Jisung being the only child survivor. To protect his identity, he was labeled “Boy X” by the court system and deemed too young and traumatized to testify at his vampire Master’s trial. The four men and the single female survivor had testified on his behalf, and thankfully, the world forgot about him.
He’d survived… spirit broken, but not his body. Scarred inside and out, Jisung had survived to tell the tale… if he could only remember it that is. Whether fate has been merciful or simply indifferent to him all these years, he couldn’t say. His therapist thinks the lack of memories has been his brain’s attempt to preserve his fragile psyche.
Now that they’ve started to return, he thinks fate is a sadistic shit. The images from his past preserved to be sprung on him when least prepared. Glimpses of his mother, the other slaves… his Master. Of a short life spent in slavery; beaten, broken, and starved.
The years he has spent training, fighting, and hunting since then have been rendered useless. His strength and mental resolve are nothing when compared to the images of people's throats torn open. Of his mother’s soulless eyes as she was led once again to a room where equally soulless men were waiting for her.
Raised to kill, he’d sworn to never be weak again, to grow into a man who could’ve saved her, but now… Now it takes but a second to cut him to ribbons. A momentary flash of a memory he doesn’t want to be cut down to a microscopic size. He remembers now that as a child he’d thought he’d been born to die. Now he thinks he was born to suffer.
Throwing a hard hit to the punching bag, he twists his hips, putting his weight into it. One-two jab-cross… one-two spin-kick… Breathing harder, he adds more energy behind each hit. The addition of his anger and rage is enough to have the metal stand holding the bag rocking back and forth, the innocent gym equipment the poor target of his frustration. He needs something to take it out on…
It would be wrong to say he blames Chan. Yes, the demon had stolen Jisung's chance to die, thus guaranteeing his continued existence, but it hasn’t been all bad. If he died tomorrow, he would welcome death, but he’d do so with no regrets and perhaps a handful of memories that don’t torture him to relive. If not for the demon’s interference in his life, he would have nothing precious to look back on when walking through the gates of hell. Because undoubtedly that is where Jisung will be going when his time finally comes. One does not simply live a hellish life on earth only to be rewarded with nirvana upon final judgment.
He kills people for money… yeah, the Promised Land is a long shot.
No… despite Chan being the exact reason why Jisung is still alive and now forced to process through his past. He likes the demon. To this day, their relationship is the most family-like connection he has on Earth, and he values it. While he is the one paying for the elder’s momentary desire to play God, he knows Chan’s black heart was in the right place. Wait… do demons even have hearts?
“Hey! Yo! Sung-ah!”
Hearing the call for him, Jisung’s spine snaps straight at the same time the music in the gym turns to silence.
“There you are.”
“Woo?” Ignoring the blip of annoyance that comes with having his workout interrupted, he turns to see his friend Wooyoung propped up against the door holding the remote to the stereo system. Panting from the intense cardio, he inclines his head in acknowledgment of the werewolf. “What’s up?”
“Sorry to disturb your daily routine, but Hongjoong is looking for you. He says it’s important.”
Sour mood perking up instantly, Jisung starts the process of peeling the cotton wraps from his hands. “It is about a job?” As dedicated as he is to training, a new job is exactly the distraction he’s been looking for. He’ll make up for stopping early today by working twice as long tomorrow.
“I think so, but he didn-“
“It’s a huge job.”
Sentence cut off, Wooyoung looks annoyed for just as long as it takes for his brain to recognize the voice of the person who’d broken into their conversation.
“Sannie!”
Ugh… Turning his back on his friend and the newcomer, Jisung rolls his eyes as the sound of lips smacking against each other and soft whimpers reaches him. Gross… The two self-proclaimed soulmates had recently mated and have been insufferable ever since. He should’ve known if Woo was here, then San would be close behind. The larger werewolf is new to the pack and makes no effort to hide his distrust of Jisung or his possessiveness toward Woo.
Raised in a smaller pack near Seoul, San had only moved to this one in the past few months and, upon learning a human resided with the Busan wolves, was immediately suspicious. He doesn’t fault the werewolf for it. It is unusual for species to mix. Especially shifters. Given vampires had hunted them to near extinction, most shifter clans are exceptionally distrustful of outsiders and, as such, chose to live in isolation. Honestly, had it not been Chan who’d arrived at the pack’s doorstep twenty years ago with a barely breathing eight-year-old human child in his arms, the pack would have rejected taking Jisung in. However, having a demon indebted to you is too good of an opportunity to pass up, and so Hongjoong’s father, the pack leader, had agreed to let Jisung live with them.
Finished removing his hand wraps, a chill tracks down his spine, and glancing over his shoulder, Jisung catches San’s dark eyes focused on the disfigured and scarred skin of his neck, shoulder, and right arm. Looking around, he spots his hoodie hanging off a treadmill and, grabbing it, throws on the protective barrier. Accustomed to curious looks of disgust from strangers, he can admit to disliking the feeling of being stared at as if he were a freak on display in his own home. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, Wooyoung will explain to his mate Jisung’s origins so the alpha wolf’s attention will move on.
“You said huge?” Catching San’s eye, he holds the shifter’s gaze, daring him to comment on what he’d just seen. “How big are we talking? A-tier?”
Having enough shame to at least appear embarrassed at being caught staring, San looks away before answering. “At least, or possibly S-tier.”
“S-tier!” Gasping, Wooyoung takes his mate’s hand in his. “Our guild has never had first pick of an S-tier job. Fuck! Thank God, we really need the money. Are you sure?”
Grabbing a bottle of sanitizer, Jisung spritzes down the equipment he’d used while San finishes explaining. “I ran into Mingi this morning, and he said all signs point to the new job being a high level. Apparently, the Marketplace contacted Hongjoong just seconds after midnight when the job was posted. That’s why he wasn’t at breakfast this morning…”
Watching lines of sanitizer drip down the punching bag, Jisung chews on his bottom lip. If the Marketplace has reached out to Hongjoong directly, then without a doubt, the contract is for an S-tier kill. As Hongjoong is the leader of the werewolves’ bounty hunting guild, the Chairman over the Marketplace would want to talk with him directly for a job of this caliber.
Who is the contract for? And for how much?
S-tier jobs are so named because their high level of risk is balanced out by the reward. The more dangerous the target, the higher the payout. As high level contracts are extremely rare, the Marketplace changes how they’re assigned, and rather than being bid for, S-tiers are assigned to a guild based on a queue. The last S-tier contract that hit the Marketplace was over a year ago. Paying out over a million US dollars, the contract had gone to the human bounty hunter guild as they were first in line at the time.
Now it would seem to be the werewolves’ turn.
Watching Wooyoung cuddle into San’s side, Jisung studies the look of adoration on his friend’s face and thinks the timing of the contract could not be better. For the first time in hundreds of years, the entire werewolf community in South Korea has begun working together for the betterment of their people. With reproductive rates at an all-time low, the different werewolf packs have agreed to join resources in a targeted attempt to fund medical studies to improve fertility and thus guarantee the future of the species. Wooyoung, being a rare male wolf capable of bearing children, has the most to gain from the medical studies. For his friend’s sake, he hopes the contract’s payout is large.
Although born a human slave and forced on the pack, the Busan wolves have raised and cared for Jisung as if he were one of their own. Seeing them come into a large sum of money would bring him peace. If anyone could use a million dollars, the wolves could. They’ve more than earned it.
Peeling his eyes off Wooyoung, San’s gaze again returns to Jisung as the human picks up his water bottle and gym towel. “Hongjoong has called a meeting and asks that all guild bounty hunters attend.”
“Mmm.” Nodding, Jisung shoves his cell phone in the pocket of his gym shorts. “I’ll shower real fast and head to the meeting hall. When does it start exactly?”
Checking his watch, San sucks in a sharp breath. “Five minutes ago…”
“Fuck!”
**
Sprinting down the hall with San and Wooyoung close behind, Jisung reaches the door to the guild’s meeting hall, taking only a second to compose himself. Heart rate elevated and breathing labored, he tries to fix a calm enough look on his face to at least mask the furious run. Fist raised, he’s prepared to knock when the heavy oak door swings open before he can make his presence known.
Waiting on the opposite side, Hongjoong flashes him a sharp grin. “Jisung-ah, come in. We’ve been waiting for you…”
“Uh…” Blinking rapidly, Jisung looks to Wooyoung and San, but the two appear just as confused as he is. Why are they holding the meeting up for them? Bowing briefly out of respect for the guild leader and elder, Jisung moves past the blonde werewolf only to pause again upon seeing the meeting hall filled. Taking up three sides of the long table in the center is the pack leader Ho-jin and the pack’s advisors, while seated off to the side are the dozen or so other hunters in the guild. Gaze moving over them, Jisung questions the stormy expressions on their faces until his eyes land on the lone person sitting at the only empty side of the table.
“Hyung!” Forgetting their audience, Jisung races to Chan’s side, coming to a stop inches away from the demon.
Smiling up at him, the man stands before pulling the human into his arms. “Sung-ah! How long has it been? A year?” Embracing him, Chan cautiously ensures he touches only the parts of Jisung that are covered by his hoodie before stepping away. Holding him out at arm’s length, the demon’s dark gaze travels over the younger, and seemingly happy with what he finds, nods. “You look good.”
“Thanks, hyung, you too.” Brushing off the compliment, Jisung nudges the elder with an elbow. “What number is it for you this year? You’re looking good for three thousand nine hundred and eighty-five.” And truly he means it… Thanks to immortality; with flawless skin, long black hair, and the perfect jawline, Chan will forever pass as not a day over twenty-five. If Jisung would ever let him forget it, the demon’s true age would be a mystery to the world. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”
Releasing a loud huff, Chan looks around the room before returning his attention to Jisung. Hesitating for just a second, the demon offers his hand palm up, giving the younger plenty of time to refuse before they connect. Bracing for the contact, Jisung extends his left arm, allowing the demon to link their hands. Fingers entwine with his, and instantly, an itchy burning sensation begins to crawl up his arm. Gritting his teeth, he ignores the pain and allows Chan to pull him into an empty seat.
“Do I need a reason to come visit my son?”
Hearing this answer, his head snaps in the man’s direction, and he stares at the demon fighting to keep his face clear of surprise. Something is wrong… Chan only refers to Jisung as his son when he is staking his claim on the human. Scrutinizing the elder’s face, he recognizes the tense lines around the demon’s lips for what they are. Stress. This is not a normal visit.
“Ahem…” Interrupting the reunion, Hongjoong clears his throat while taking a seat and casting a serious look in their direction. “Jisung-ah, while I know it’s been a while since you’ve met with your guardian, I must ask that we go ahead and begin the meeting as there is no time to spare.”
“Yes, Sir. My apologies.” Squeezing Chan’s hand a final time, Jisung releases his grip on the demon, masking his relieved breath with a sigh. The second the contact ends, the burning sensation crawling across his skin starts to fade, and he can focus on the guild leader. Smile stitched in place, the werewolf’s gaze is locked with Chan’s, and Jisung cannot help but notice the tension between the two men. Odd… While unusual for a demon to have close ties to a single group, the relationship between Chan and the Busan pack has always been strong, with Jisung being the direct link between the two.
Looking away first, Hongjoong picks up the remote for the projector screen and, pressing a few buttons, turns the machine on. “Thank you, everyone, for meeting with us today on such short notice. As some of you have already heard, the Chairman over the Marketplace contacted me early this morning and advised that an S-tier contract has been made available to us.”
“So it’s true…”
“S tier…”
“Holy shit…”
Following the announcement, the room breaks into a hushed roar as hunters turn to the person next to them in shock.
Raising his hands and voice, Hongjoong looks around the small crowd, silencing them… “Quiet, please! I know this is exciting news, but we don’t have time to spend discussing this. We have a limited window of opportunity to accept the contract, and I need to get you all up to date.”
“Accept the contract?” Waving a hand, Wooyoung gets the guild leader’s attention. “Sir, I don’t understand. Is the job not guaranteed to be ours? We’ve waited years to reach the front of the queue and be awarded a high level contract. Isn’t it ours by default?”
“Yes and no.” Expression turning serious, Hongjoong’s eyes dart to Jisung before moving around the room again. “As this is our guild’s first time being awarded an S-tier contract, there has been a bit of a learning curve. Being first in the queue means that we are the first to be offered the contract and have twenty-four hours to accept or it becomes available to the next guild in line. The timer started this morning at midnight when the Chairman’s call came in.”
Eyes flicking to the clock above the door, Jisung frowns. It’s just past six in the evening. Why did the guild wait over half the day to call the hunters in? As if reading his mind, Hongjoong continues speaking…
“Since taking the Chairman’s call, I have been in discussion with our pack leader and his advisors trying to determine if the contract is not only worth taking, but also feasible. The money at stake here is substantial, actually life changing for our people, but it is not without risk. The Marketplace has strict rules governing the guilds it allows in, and if we accept this contract and fail, we will be removed from the storefront and no longer allowed to bid on jobs.”
Surprised at hearing this, Jisung anxiously drums his fingers on the tabletop. It now makes sense why the pack waited this long to bring the details of the job forward. Bounty hunting is extremely profitable for the pack, and to lose their access to the largest broker of for-hire contracts across the globe would cripple them. If they accept the S-tier contract, failure is not an option.
“After discussing the job and its specifics with my father, we’ve determined that the bounty is too great an opportunity to pass up. The majority of today has been spent devising a plan for how we’ll complete the contract.” Seeing he has everyone's rapt attention, Hongjoong drops the first bomb of the evening. “The reward for its successful completion is fifty million US dollars.”
“WHAT?!” Louder than all the others, Wooyoung’s scream fills the room, but it is quickly drowned out by the crowd of hunters’ cheers and shouts of joy.
Fifty million US dollars… Fuck! That has to be the single largest contract ever offered by the Marketplace. Money signs spinning in his head, Jisung turns to Chan only to freeze at the look of fury resting on the demon’s face. Eyes narrowed and lips pressed in a thin line, the elder’s line of sight is focused on one person, the Busan pack leader Ho-jin, who… oddly enough, is watching Jisung.
Lips turning downward in a grim frown, Hongjoong points the projector remote towards the screen, bringing up a single photo. Looking at it, Jisung does a double take, and all the blood drains from his face. Staring at him from the screen are sharp eyes with burning red irises, long straight black hair, skin pale as snow, and an expression so deadly he audibly gulps.
Mau Bim-yeong. The target for the S-tier contract is Mau Bim-yeong.
Around the room, one by one, the other bounty hunters notice the photo, and slowly the joy in their voices drains away until there is nothing but weighted silence. Their faces growing pale as they process who their target is and what is being asked of them. None need even question who the female vampire is. They all know, because she is the sole reason so many shifter breeds are either extinct or endangered.
One of the oldest and strongest vampires on record, Mau is known for her voracious appetite and love for shifter blood. A key member of vampire high society, she is considered untouchable. Seeing their target posted in front of them, Jisung is no longer impressed by the fifty-million dollar payout. Looking around the room, he sees similar expressions of doubt growing on the faces of his peers, and he knows they’re all thinking the same thing. The contract is no longer a hunt, but a suicide mission.
“Impossible, she cannot be killed.” The response comes from the back of the room, and leaning to his right, Jisung locates the speaker, but before the man can continue, Hongjoong is talking over him.
“It is not impossible, Yunho. Difficult yes, but still possible. Mau is simply a vampire like all others. If you remove her head, she dies.”
From beside him comes an ugly snort, and glancing over, he catches Chan rubbing his temples. If Jisung is being honest, he is sorely tempted to copy the demon’s actions. To say Mau is a vampire and thus killable like any other is a gross simplification. It’s like suggesting a person can walk the full circumference of the planet, simply because in theory it is physically possible to walk twenty-five thousand miles.
Unlike a demon who is truly immortal, Mau can physically die, but severing her head is the exact problem. Aside from the handful of demons who walk the Earth and a mere dozen or so vampires who are more powerful than her, no stronger individual exists, and certainly no shifter could overpower her. If there were, she’d have been killed eons ago out of revenge for the path of destruction she’d dealt to the shifter population over the centuries.
To this day, despite international accords outlawing the hunting and killing of shifters by vampires, were-creatures still chose to live in isolation in a bid to recover and restore their numbers… an outcome directly linked to Mau.
Shoulders slumping, Hongjoong runs a hand through his hair, and Jisung feels genuinely sorry for the pack. To have waited so long for an S-tier contract only to be given an impossible mission is devastating. As always, when a hit is put out on someone, Jisung wonders who the person is that wants another dead, but when it comes to Mau, the sponsor for the contract could be anyone as long as they have the funds.
“You said the bounty is too good to pass on and that you’d spent the day creating a plan.” Speaking up, San looks at Hongjoong and Ho-jin with a hopeful expression. “Does this mean you have an idea of how we can take her out?”
“Ahem…” Clearing his throat again, Hongjoong’s eyes briefly lock with Jisung’s, and the contact is enough to send a chill down his spine, putting him on edge. Something feels… off.
“That is correct. After learning exactly who our target is, I made a few calls to our informants in the vampire community and have gathered enough information that my father and I believe there is hope that we can complete this.” Pushing away from the table, the guild leader begins pacing. “From what we’ve learned, Mau has recently returned to Korea from the Americas and is unsurprisingly looking to get into the trade.”
Eyes falling closed, Jisung rests backward in his chair, suppressing the heavy sigh he wishes to release. Of course, the bitch would return to her homeland and look to deal in flesh. Thanks in no small part to Mau and an unchecked vampire populace over time, shifter numbers dwindled to an epidemic level, and the vampire community was forced to turn to a more sustainable food source.
Humans.
Where shifters are slow to reproduce and age, humans are the opposite. With high birthrates and relatively short life spans, they became the next target. For decades, as long as no one spoke out about it, the world operated with blinders on, choosing to look past the enslavement of a few unlucky humans. But eventually, as the world evolved, so too did people’s morals, and due to vocal advocacy groups and societal pressure, world governments were forced to take human trafficking seriously.
However, nearly a century later, in spite of international law enforcement agencies enacting trade laws with harsh penalties, only those who are willfully blind believe that human trafficking by vampires has stopped.
Jisung would know… he was born into that world. Born a slave and raised in a breeding ring, the first eight years of his life had been spent witnessing the atrocities wrought on mankind by vampires. And thanks to a certain demon and sadistic fate, he’s lived to remember all of it.
“Since the destruction of Aariz’s breeding camps in Malaysia twenty years ago, no vampire has attempted to revive the breeding trade, until now. According to our contacts, it appears as if Mau is looking to start an empire by actively recruiting some of the most influential vampires in the Korean Peninsula, along with establishing connections inside the human governing body. With enough support and influence, she could restart the breeding trade and still be protected. This not only makes the completion of our contract more important than ever but also supplies us with our way in.”
Listening to the guild leader, a sense of discomfort and unease begins to take root in Jisung’s chest.
“Reviewing the information available, my father and I believe the best course of action is to get close to Mau by planting one of our hunters inside the trade.”
Opening his eyes, Jisung finds every person in the room looking at him, and his pulse stutters.
Moving around the table, Hongjoong stops his pacing to the right of Jisung’s chair. “To infiltrate the trade and not attract attention, the hunter would need to be a human.”
Swallowing thickly, Jisung takes a deep breath as what he was beginning to suspect is finally voiced… There is only one human in the werewolf guild. Him.
“Sung-ah…” Voice dropping to a whisper, Hongjoong falls to his knees beside him. “Jisung-ah. Whether the guild accepts or declines the contract depends on you.”
“NO!” A shout comes from the left of him at the exact moment a fist punches the table, sending a crack ripping through the center of the solid oak. Leaping up, Chan’s eyes flash to his demon form, the white of the orbs swirling to a full inky black as blinding light shines from where the pupils once sat. “Ho-jin! You swore to me you would protect him, and here you are sending him to slaughter!”
Matching the demon’s energy, Ho-jin also stands from his chair. “Chan, you know as well as I do that the agreement ended ten years ago when he turned eighteen. Jisung is his own person and a contributing member of this pack. As a bounty hunter for our guild, it is up to him to decide what jobs he will and will not take on.”
Beneath them, the floor begins to tremble, causing dust to fall from the ceiling and a number of the pack’s advisors to race for the exit. Ho-jin’s vocal defense of Jisung and his pack’s decision is a testament to how serious this high level contract is to their guild.
Faced with Chan’s fury, all but the most dedicated would’ve backed down.
On this earth, there is no greater danger than an enraged demon. Of all the supernatural creatures, demons are the most feared, and for good reason. Other than knowing that currently seven walk the planet, nothing is known about them beyond that they’re true immortals with no ability to die. Time poses no threat to them, and neither does any substance known to man. Their power seemingly unlimited, it has long been the collective goal of all creatures to avoid becoming their target. As a whole, much to the world’s relief, the species chooses to stay above the affairs of modern times, choosing instead to simply witness chaos as it unfolds.
The only recorded instance of a demon losing his temper took place sixty years ago in Brazil when the demon Kim Seokjin was insulted by a local while on vacation. His mate, Kim Namjoon, admits to perhaps having gone overboard when he wiped the entire town off the map to include a hundred thousand square miles of uninhabited rainforest. To this day, nothing will grow on the blackened scorched land.
A palm clamps down on Jisung’s right hand kick-starting a burning sensation across his flesh, and jerking his head to the side, he comes face to face with Hongjoong. Understanding the silent plea in the man’s gaze, Jisung grinds his teeth together. Chan must have suspected the werewolves would propose using him. Why else would the demon pick today of all days to visit Busan when, as recently as two days ago, he knew the man to be in Australia at a surfing competition. It’s not surprising, when it comes to Jisung, somehow Chan knows everything.
“Hyung…” Reaching over with his left hand, Jisung threads his fingers through the demon’s hair, ignoring the burn to his fingertips as he forces the elder to look at him. “Hyung. Stop this now.”
Gaze narrowing, the light of Chan’s pupils blinds him, but he stubbornly holds his ground, keeping his chin raised as an answer to the demon’s challenge. Seconds tick by and for a moment the trembling gets worse before disappearing completely. Around them, relieved gasps for air fill the room, and Jisung frowns, wrinkling his nose. Someone had shit themselves…
“Sung-ah no…” Tone borderline whiny, Chan’s mouth closes as the demon’s voice whispers through his mind instead. “Jisung, please. You cannot be serious about taking this contract on.”
Shaking his head, he looks to his right hand before cutting Hongjoong a hard look. Seeing he has the human’s attention, the werewolf lets go of his hand, freeing Jisung from the burn searing through his veins so he can concentrate.
Turning back to Chan, he responds in the same manner the demon had spoken to him, broadcasting the response in his mind rather than voicing it aloud. To the shifters in the room watching, it would appear as if they were simply staring each other down.
“Hyung, I haven’t agreed to anything yet, but I want to hear them out.”
Jaw stiffening, Chan’s glare hardens. “I know you, and if you listen long enough, you’ll agree to whatever half-baked idea they’ve come up with. Right now, all they care about is the payout at the end. You are not their priority.”
“Whether I agree or not, it’ll be my choice. Now you can either behave rationally and stay in here with us, or leave. You decide.”
“If I kill them, you would have no choice to make.”
Trying to keep his face blank, he fights the impulse to roll his eyes. For being thousands of years old, the elder sure likes to throw temper tantrums. “If you feel like wasting that much energy, then how about you save all of us the trouble by killing Mau yourself on behalf of the guild.”
Brow furrowing, the elder shakes his head. “You know I don’t get involved with mortal affairs.”
Lips pulling to the side in a sarcastic smirk, he bites the inside of his cheek to keep from reminding him that Jisung is mortal, and thus the demon is already very much involved. Then again, arguing logic with Chan has more often than not, not worked in the human’s favor. Something about being immortal really fucks with a person’s sense of right and wrong, and frequently Chan’s only justification for an action is that he wanted to do something, and so he did it.
“Fine. Then stay out of my guild's affairs and let them finish explaining everything.”
Lips pooching outward in a pout, Chan releases a deep sigh from his nose, and Jisung silently cheers. For now, the demon will cooperate.
Ending their silent exchange, both return to their seats with Jisung resting his elbows on the meeting table and nodding to Hongjoong. “Hyung, if you’d like to finish explaining your plan, I’ll agree to hearing to you out.”
Frame relaxing, it looks as if his words have a thousand pounds lifting from the guild leader’s shoulders. Returning to the opposite side of the table, Hongjoong places a hand on his father’s arm, encouraging the pack leader to return to his seat as well. “Thank you Jisung-ah. Please trust that I am fully aware of what taking on this job requires. The guild and I do not make this request of you lightly.” Turning in his chair, the guild leader addresses the hunters who will not be given this mission. “If Jisung agrees to take on this job, the majority of it will be spent solo. As you all will not be assisting, I ask that you leave us so that the details of the mission can remain between as few of us as possible.”
Soft grumbles of dissension come from more than one hunter, but Jisung doesn't think for a minute that they’re unhappy with being kept from the mission. No… watching them slowly file out of the room, he sees the poorly hidden smile on a number of their faces, and knows that their disappointment stems solely from being kept out of the loop.
Hesitating at the door, Wooyoung looks at Jisung with sad pleading eyes.
“Woo, don’t worry about me. I’ll fill you in on everything when we’re done here.”
Accepting the promise, his friend offers a tiny smile before leaving. Room empty except for those needed, the door clicks shut, and Jisung is now the sole focus of a half dozen pairs of eyes.
Ho-jin’s gaze is firm, direct. It locks with his, and Jisung sees no hesitation, not a shadow of regret for bringing what is possibly a deadly mission to a pack member. Does the werewolf truly see Jisung as a member of the Busan pack, or is he, like so many of the hunters who’d just left, secretly pleased that a shifter is not being asked to walk into a vampire's lair?
Searching his heart for a hint of bitterness, Jisung finds none, and so his mind is already leaning towards a decision. Perhaps on this mission he can find what Chan stole from him so long ago.
“As I was saying earlier…” Hongjoong starts speaking again, and Jisung peels his eyes away from the father to watch the son. “We spent the day going over different plans and strategies of attack, but ultimately this is the only one we could see working. Killing Mau is not the challenge, she bleeds like any other vamp. The trick is getting the opportunity to get close enough to do it. Not only is she one of the strongest beings to exist, she surrounds herself with the rest of the upper echelon of vampires who are equally a threat. A direct approach will not work with her.”
Listening intently, Jisung takes in what the man is saying and aligns the information with what he knows to be true. His mind looking at the details from all angles to see if he can get the same result but with a different path…
“Instead, we propose that the only plan she will not see coming is the one she would never suspect. A slave. Chan…” Addressing the demon on Jisung’s left has the werewolf flinching, “… correct me if I am wrong, but when an individual gets to her age and level of power, a certain degree of ego develops, and those viewed as less than are often not given even a single look, much less a closer inspection. Yes?”
Crossing his arms, Chan sits back in his chair emitting what sounds like a low growl from the depths of his throat. His lips open, and Jisung notices his teeth have morphed to his natural form, with each tooth being sharp and serrated like a shark’s. “Essentially, yes, you are correct. Mau, along with most vampires, regards human slaves as valuable as a werewolf might a flea. Tiny and a nuisance. To a vampire like her, they are a mere food source and that is it. I doubt she would even blink twice at a slave, let alone suspect that one could harm her.”
Pleased with the demon’s response, Hongjoong’s lips spread into a smile. “Exactly! The last thing she'd expect is a human slave to not only have the knowledge and training to kill her, but the strength on top of it. This is where you come in perfectly, Jisung. There is no way one of our wolves could get by unnoticed if sold into the trade. They would instantly stick out and become a target. Factoring in Mau’s obsession with shifter blood, they’d more than likely be drained within a few seconds of being in the same room with her.”
“As you are human, you can blend in with the other slaves and use that to your advantage. We have also considered that it is very likely that at some point Mau will learn there has been a hit placed on her. The Chairman promised he would do all that he could to ensure a leak does not come from the Marketplace, but as fifty million is the largest bounty ever placed on a target, as well as the target being Mau, there is still a good chance she will learn of it. If it becomes known that our guild received the contract, then you are still safe, as no one would suspect us of employing a human bounty hunter. Your identity and thus our mission would be protected.”
Running the variables through his mind, Jisung has to admit that the plan has a certain level of plausibility to it. There is, however, endless room for error, and what Hongjoong is proposing sounds like a long-term undercover operation. Raising two fingers, he gets the guild leader’s attention. “When does the contract expire?”
“Ah.” Looking rather pleased, Hongjoong’s smile grows wider. “Were it not for the timeframe we’ve been given to complete the hit, our guild would have immediately refused the offer, and we’d have been cycled to the back of the queue. Whoever is sponsoring the contract has given us a year. If we accept it, the expectation is that we have it fulfilled by this date next year.”
“A year…” Surprised by their liberal timeline, Jisung’s left leg begins to bounce as a measure of adrenaline flows into him. This could very well work… Had Hongjoong replied with a timeframe of a week or even a few months, Jisung would’ve known the plan to be a failure. Being given a year to fulfill a hit is unheard of, but then again, once you factor in who the target is, it would seem that the contract’s sponsor is aware of how difficult the task is. Satisfied with the answer, he nods, spurring the werewolf on to continue.
“Taking into account the year deadline, we think it reasonable to afford you nine months in your undercover role. If after nine months you’ve been unable to complete the hit, you’ll pull out and return to us. That way we’ll have the remaining three months to enact plan B.”
“What is plan B?” Spoken through gritted teeth, Chan’s voice sounds more like rocks rubbing together than his normally kind tone.
Shifting awkwardly in his chair, Hongjoong gives Jisung an apologetic grimace. “We will come up with plan B during the nine months Jisung is working his operation.”
Sucking his teeth, the demon scoffs loudly, and he can understand the elder’s frustration. The second plan is that they have no second plan. If he agrees to take this on, then he has to succeed because there is no guarantee that in the nine months he is gone (if he makes it out alive), the guild will be able to come up with another plan. If that happens, then they fail to fulfill the contract and the Marketplace pulls their right to bid, effectively costing the pack its largest source of income.
“How do you plan to sell me into the trad-“
“Jisung!” Cutting off the question, Chan’s face snaps to him, and on instinct, he cringes from the weight of the demon’s true eyes. “You cannot be considering this.”
“Hyung, I-“
“Jisung, you will be a slave again! At the mercy of whatever vampire you serve.”
“I understand Hyung.”
“No, I do not think you do!” Volume matching his outrage, Chan is now practically yelling. “Are you honestly going to sit there and pretend that you're prepared for it? What if the vampire who buys you wants to feed? Or fuck? You are their property and they have open access to you.” Letting out a frustrated breath, the elder roughly runs a hand through his hair before turning to the younger.
Dark eyes swirling, the black slowly bleeds to white, and now it’s Chan’s human eyes filled with concern watching him. Stretching out his right arm, the demon traces the tip of a finger across the back of Jisung’s hand, and instantly a burning sensation travels up his arm, causing him to flinch. Sighing, Chan’s voice turns gentle… “Sungie, you can hardly stand to be touched for even a few seconds at a time. If you agree to this, then there is no pulling away. There’s no saying no if they…” Leaving the sentence unfinished, Chan allows Jisung’s brain to fill in the words left unvoiced.
Pulling his hand back, Jisung shoves it in his lap. He knows what the elder is implying, and yes, it is a concern, a serious one, but… fifty-million dollars. Memories of Wooyoung on his mating day come to mind. His friend had looked so happy then with his heart and eyes full of love and hope for the future.
Pulling Jisung into his arms, Woo had thanked him for being there. For being a part of his life and a member of the pack. Woo spoke of the desire for pups, of a day when the Busan pack was safe to live out in the open, where his and San’s children knew no fear. This is Jisung’s chance to help that dream come true. With the contract’s payout, the pack could finance their fertility studies as well as expand the boundaries of pack grounds.
Hongjoong said it best at the start of the meeting… the money at stake here is life changing.
Potentially his life for theirs… a life that most days he isn’t sure he wants all that much. He’d never asked to be born, and he sure as hell never asked Chan to save him all those years ago.
He eats, he sleeps, and his eyes close each night to open the next morning not from a desire to seize the day and live, but simply because that is what they do naturally.
The thirst for life, the desperate search for meaning and joy in seconds that each look the same as the one that’d just passed… that is a gift for others to hold. To him, the pain and scars one’s soul accumulates over time is too much to pay for the cost of birth.
He has never thanked Chan for saving his life. He never will… to be thankful implies gratitude. Jisung doesn’t care, he never has.
“Hyung…” Speaking softly, he returns his hand to the table and upon meeting Chan’s gaze, clasps their hands together. A stinging, painful burn starts the journey across his flesh, but he ignores it. “I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet, but the memories of my life before you brought me here are returning to me.”
Eyes closing briefly, a supreme look of grief moves across the demon’s face before he can school his features back to neutral.
“I know what waits for me. I know what I am agreeing to. I also know the good that will come from my success. This is for the pack. Have some faith in me.”
Lifting his free hand, Chan’s palm cups the right side of Jisung’s face, and he shivers at the ache spreading outward from their point of contact. His therapist calls the brain mankind’s most powerful tool. Jisung determined long ago that his tool came from the maker defective. Traumatized by his youth, it has turned on him to make all touch mirror the flames that had almost consumed him.
Lips pressing in a thin line, the elder’s voice returns to his mind again… “Little one. All this time and you are still so ready to die.”
Jisung shakes his head. “I’m not trying to die.”
Gaze narrowing, Chan pulls his hand back. “You’ve never tried to live either.” Turning away from him, the elder looks across the table to Hongjoong. “His mind is made up.”
Unsettled by the brief exchange and the emotion in Chan’s voice Jisung cannot name, he opts to finish his earlier question. “How do you plan to sell me into the trade?”
“While the timeframe for this contract is substantial, we want to place you inside as close to Mau as possible. Our thought process is that in the event you are unable to kill her yourself, by being around her or those who know her, you’ll gain valuable intel that will assist us with creating plan B.” Picking up the remote for the projector, Hongjoong changes the photo to that of a male vampire with a young face and curly hair. Beside him, Chan sighs loudly.
“After speaking with our contacts, we’ve determined there are three vampires who meet the qualifications necessary to be the one you infiltrate. All are known to keep slave companions, and all are likely to have close contact with Mau. Our mole could not confirm that she’s contacted each one personally about her plans, but given they are active members of vampire high society, we suspect that she will. There are pros and cons to each of them, so I thought it best to list out each one and let you make the choice.”
“Option one, the vampire pictured here, Kim Soojin. Approximately two hundred years old, he is young compared to the other options, which means he is less likely to have influence with Mau, but, as a popular actor, he has a mass following of all species of supernatural beings. As Mau is looking to get the backing of prominent figures within the vampire community, and it is known that they’ve met on more than one occasion, he might be the right choice. His manager is the one who supplies his slave companions, so we would take that route to introduce you to the trade.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chan shakes his head before slamming his palm on the table. “I suggest you get a new contact within the vampire gossip community, Hongjoong. It is widely known that Soojin exclusively prefers the company of females, for his slaves and personnel. To the extent that the only member of his staff who is male, is the company-appointed manager who does his bidding.”
Right eye twitching, Hongjoong’s jaw visibly clenches. “Fair enough.” Clicking his remote, the photo changes to a second male vampire, this one wearing a boxy suit with a severe haircut and a sharp mustache. “Park Geun-hye, five hundred forty years old and currently the head of vampire affairs for the South Korean right-wing political party Gungminuihim.” Eyes drilling into Chan, the guild leader pauses, providing ample time for the demon to interject an opinion, however, much to Jisung’s surprise, the man simply leans back in his chair.
“It is believed that Park and Mau are already in communication with each other as the right-wing party is projected to win in the next election. With Park’s support, Mau would be protected from federal investigations. Without a doubt, she is trying to get him in her corner. Park is known to frequent several exclusive clubs that are suspected hot sites for trafficking. His favorite club, Heads Up, is how we would secure your introduction to him. At first glance, he is a perfect candidate for this mission, however, it is rumored that he is an exceptionally violent individual. Placing you with him would guarantee you are close to Mau, but it also puts you in danger from the very start.”
Frown lines growing deeper, Hongjoong’s gaze jumps from Jisung to Chan. “Contrary to what some may believe, we do not want to make this mission any more dangerous than it has to be. I want to avoid using Park unless option three is just a total no-go for you.” Clicking the remote a third time, the picture changes, and before Jisung can take in the photo, Chan has sat upright in his chair.
“Min?”
The whisper that comes from beside him is soft enough that Jisung questions if he’d heard it at all. Is Chan familiar with this vampire?
Attention returning to the projector screen, Jisung blinks rapidly. The photo is a terrible one with over seventy percent of the vampire’s face obscured by a face mask and baseball cap. Looking out from the screen, two almond-shaped eyes stare back at him, and noting the bizarre color of the man’s irises, he snorts. Vampires are the most vanity obsessed creatures on the planet, and this one takes the cake with his purple colored contact lenses and what looks like Gucci gym shorts.
“Lee Know, age unknown, but it is suspected that he, like Mau, qualifies as an ancient at around one thousand years or more.”
“An ancient?” Sitting forward in his chair, Jisung's eyebrows fly up. “I’ve personally read every text the guild has on ancients, and yet I’ve never heard of him. How is that possible?”
“Because there is almost no information available on him.” Understanding his confusion, Hongjoong offers a sympathetic look. “Despite being one of the wealthiest vampires alive, little is known about him as he rejects all forms of society regardless of whether it’s vampire, human, or shifter. Lee Know stays to himself enough that I would argue that he qualifies as a recluse.”
“If he is that antisocial, what makes him a candidate for this mission?”
“Ah, well…” Clicking his remote again, Hongjoong changes the slide to a compound that looks remarkably similar to Changgyeonhhung Palace. “This is his appeal.”
Looking from the photo to his guild leader, Jisung wonders what he is missing. “He owns a palace? Does Mau have a hard-on for ancient Korean architecture?”
“No, no… this is not just any palace, it’s a hotel. Lee Know’s company, SDD Inc., owns and operates the largest chain of premier luxury hotels and resorts catering to vampires across the globe. This specific one is his top of the line A-1 resort, located a short drive from Seoul in a secluded portion of Yeonhui forest.”
Hongjoong changes the image to a fuzzy aerial view of the resort’s palatial grounds. “The resort also doubles as his home with the right half being his private residence.” Using the red laser embedded in the remote, the werewolf divides the faux palace in half. “It also happens to be the location Mau has booked a private wing at for the next year. It would appear for the time being that she is living there until the construction on her properties is finished.”
“Mau is living at Jayu House?” Forehead wrinkling, Chan sits forward in his chair as his eyes drill holes in the screen.
Surprised by Chan’s sudden interest, Hongjoong stumbles on his response. “Uh, y-yes… and Jayu House is the official name of the resort. We suspect Mau is not only using this location as a temporary home but also as a base of sorts. Why else would she rent out almost a quarter of the available space in the complex? Not to mention, at Jayu house, there are private meeting rooms and ballrooms for her to meet with her inner circle. We assume that Lee Know is already an ally of Mau’s, considering she is staying on his property.”
Face wiping clear of all emotion, Chan relaxes back into his chair, but Jisung isn’t buying the sudden shift in his Hyung’s demeanor. After twenty years of knowing the elder Jisung is no longer fooled by the demon’s poker face. He is hiding something.
“What is my in? Does he use slaves to manage his properties?”
Reversing through the images, Hongjoong returns the photo to the one of Lee Know’s masked face. “That is where the cons start to outweigh the pros. Lee Know is our best candidate as Mau is living on his property, however, so little is known about him that we’re unsure how to get you inside the home. Our mole has never seen him at a trade auction, nor does he visit the trafficking nightclubs. He has been spotted numerous times in the company of three different humans, so while he keeps slaves, how he selects them is unknown to us.”
“Unfortunately, if we can’t come up with a way to get you into his care, then Park Geun-hye becomes our best option.”
“I can get him in.”
Hearing Chan’s offer, Hongjoong’s jaw drops open to gape like a fish as a number of the pack’s advisors stare across the table looking equally stunned.
Turning to face his Hyung head-on, Jisung surveys the demon’s controlled blank face and is instantly suspicious. “Why? And how?”
Face contorting into what can only be described as a ridiculous attempt to appear innocent, Chan meets the younger’s suspicious gaze. “Why? Simple, I’m looking out for your safety. You’re determined to take on this mission, I can tell already. As I consider you my son, I would like to see you placed in the home that carries the least amount of risk with it, and Park Geun-hye is known to be violent, especially towards his slaves.”
Not satisfied with the basic answer, Jisung challenges it. “We are dealing with the slave trade, hyung. I am just as likely to be abused while in Lee Know’s care as I am in Park’s.
“Well…” Sniffing dryly, the demon scratches at his cheek. “… Lee Know is an acquaintance of mine. He and I have met a few times, and I’ve not once witnessed him be violent towards his human companions. However, I was not aware that he has a close connection with Mau, that is cause for concern.”
“Are you offering to use your connection with him to sell me in personally?”
Upper lip curling, the demon angrily hisses at him. “The fuck I will!” Catching himself, the elder quickly composes his face. “You even suggesting that hurts me, Sung-ah. I will not engage in the flesh trade, and that is widely known in the supernatural community. Even if I were willing to sell you myself, Lee Know would be suspicious and more than likely refuse to buy.”
“So how wi-“
Speaking over him, Chan acts as if the human hadn’t spoken at all. “I know a broker who recently acquired an art piece that Lee Know is interested in. You can use him. Kim Tae-chon loves fast cash and won’t turn down the chance to make money. Figure out when this whole thing is going to start, and I’ll give the guild his contact.”
Smirking, Jisung pokes the man in the ribs. “And what about staying out of the affairs of us mortals?”
Posture turning stiff, Chan’s eyes flash to black and back again, and he regrets the question. The elder is clearly not amused, and yet Jisung is still pushing. Backpedaling, he bows his head. “I’m sorry, hyung. Thank you for the help you’ve offered.”
“Mmmm…” A gentle hum followed by a hand ruffling his brown hair tells him he is forgiven.
“So it is settled then?” Voice thick with barely restrained excitement, Hongjoong looks between the two of them. “You’ll accept the mission?”
Eyes traveling to the image of the vampire who will soon fill the role of his Master, Jisung squares his shoulders. “I’ll take it. Call the Chairman for the Marketplace and tell him we accept.”