The Mafia Who Loves Me

"Let him go!" I yell at the three men defiantly. They're dragging my older brother, Kai to their tinted black SUV. I don't know if I should call the police! "Let him go or I'll call the police on you, I know your plate number."

One of the men who looks like a bulldozer roar out in a sarcastic laughter, as the other man nudge him on the arm to stop laughing. I guess the fats on his tummy have gotten to his brain and clogged it. Thoughtless fool, how dare he mock the police authority.

"Stay out of this, girl. Your brother will have to answer to the boss." The third man says, while he keep pushing Kai's head into the car. Kai is fighting back, but the men are all huge and absolutely more powerful than Kai.

That's it! They'll have to take me too.

I throw away my crossbody bag and lunge at one of the men; the bulldozer, trying to bite off the chunk of flesh on his arm, but he push me away so quickly and I fall flat on my butt.

"Hana ya, don't fight. I'll be okay, don't worry about me. I'll come home by tomorrow." Kai yells through the little opening of the door, but I see the fear written in his eyes right before the door closes and the men enter the car and quickly drive away.

I keep my eyes on the plate number again. It's a customized plate number written '9146 Alfonso'. The name sounds like spanish or Italian, and I'm sure that one among the men is not even a Korean.

What has Kai gotten himself into? Who are those people and who the heck is their boss? I'm going to report to the police if Kai doesn't keep his word and come home by tomorrow.

I grab my crossbody bag and get back on my feet. Darn it! That bulldozer has ruined my dress, I've got mud all over me, I won't be able to walk into the coffee shop looking like garbage.

"Ya, look at that woman, she looks like a skunk doesn't she?" One among the four group of high school boys is pointing at me and laughing at his remarks alone. They have the same blue and white uniform, they must be from the nearby high school where I work part time as a librarian on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Those naughty kids!

"Hey, stop laughing. It's senior Hana, the school librarian. Don't badmouth her again." Another boy from the group says as he smack the head of the boy who's gossiping. "I'm sorry, he's a new student. He doesn't know you're our school librarian, sunbae (senior)."

They all shamefully nod their heads before walking into the alley on the opposite, occasionally glancing back to sneak a look at me who's immovable. I'm standing like a robot, unable to properly process my thoughts or go anywhere. Should I just call the police right now? I'm afraid that my brother will get hurt. He's the only family I have, the person who pays the bigger share of the house rent and electricity bill. If something happens to him, I don't want to imagine. I love Kai too much to let him get into trouble. Maybe I'll go seek advice from Min Oppa, Kai's best friend who lives very close to the laundry shop where I work part time to deliver customer clothes during the weekends.

I manage to walk my legs pass the fence of the basketball court in our neighborhood. We live on the outskirts of Seoul, we're use to seeing loan sharks and landlords mercilessly beating up people over money, because the people who reside in this shanty neighborhood are helplessly poor. It's called the last urban slum in Seoul, where most families use bicycles as a means of transportation. Because cars are a high luxury most people cannot afford to buy here.

I almost bump into the trash can in front of Min's apartment, thank goodness I'm able to realize it. I side step the trash and reach for the door and knock. I hope he's in there.

I knock four more times before Min opens up the door, looking like a drunk frog as usual. His honey brown eyes are the only good feature he has, very bright and reassuring, and at least, he doesn't have the under eye bags like I do. But Min is a lazy guy always at home getting himself drunk while his restaurant business is slowly dying.

He starts running his fingers and untangling his messy brown hair immediately he sees me. "Urm, sorry I got wasted Hana. Don't mind my look. Why. . . are you here anyway, when you're supposed to be at work?"

"This won't be the first time I'm seeing you wasted, so don't take it to heart Oppa. Do you know what my brother has been up to lately? I just got out of home for work, and some men showed up in an expensive SUV and took Kai away. They claim that he has to answer to their boss. Do you know anything about this?"

"Urgh. . . No, not really. Just that he's, urgh. He told me he gotten a new job yesterday and he's going to buy a house in gangnam very soon. He said not to tell you though, so I'm only saying this because I don't want you to be clueless."

"A new job?" I press my hand on the doorframe, using my other hand to remove the whips of my greasy brown hair sticking like gum on my face. This is quite frustrating, I don't know what to do. "This is somehow strange though, I don't know why he never said anything to me about the new job. Kai doesn't keep secrets from me, you know. I'm the only family he has, and then you, Oppa."

"Come in and have water first, Hana." Min says, holding my arm as if to support me so I won't crash to the ground. It's like he's seeing right through me, my legs feel so shaky. I have a bad feeling. Is Kai into something dangerous and illegal? Because older brothers take a lot of risks to take care of their family, even Eunnie's older brother is currently in prison for being an accomplice in women and child trafficking business.

"Hey." Min's voice brings me back to my senses, and I find myself already sitting on the floor chair in his small, half empty room. "Don't think so hard. Kai is going to be fine. You can trust him, I'm sure he can handle whatever it is." He pats me on my back.

"He said he'll return tomorrow, but I'm so worried, Oppa. What if my brother ends up like Eunnie's brother? What if he's involved in, you know. Drugs or something?"

"Don't say that! Your brother is too clever to get involved in illegal activities. Just trust him. I'll get you some water to drink, okay?"

"Okay." Min stands up and goes to his corner kitchen which I can see from where I am sitting. He takes a bottle of water and uncap it and pour into a glass cup. He glance over at me and smile, then he takes a sachet of something and pour it into the glass cup.

"I've dissolved some vitamin C. It will help you feel refreshed." He explains as he walks to me and handover the glass. "Finish it all and calm down."

Min is like my family, I trust him so much just the way I trust my older brother. Without hesitation, I gulp down the water as it pass through my throat, making me instantly refreshed.

"Thank you Oppa."

"You can sleep some more if you want to. I think you deserve a long sleep baby, you don't need to go to work anymore. Oppa will take good care of you." The smile on Min's face looks very unsettling to me for some strange reason, and my heart starts thumping loudly against my chest. I feel like I've just. . . taken. . . I don't know. Concentrated alcohol?

My eyes starts going blurry and I fall on Min's hand, feeling so weak as if I've just consumed a hundred bottle of soju. "What did you. . . put in my water? Oppa. . ." My eyes forced themselves to close, and I drift into a slumber.

~ ~ ~

A stinky smell of something like piss set me startled awake. My blurriness clears up and I see figures and movements of so many girls around me, panic written on their faces. One among them must've piss in their panties, hence, the bad smell.

I'm confused, I don't know where the heck I am and why I'm among those strange girls. There's darkness in here, it feels like we're in a container being transported in at the back of a truck or something.

The air is choking with not a single source of ventilation apart from the tiny tiny holes drilled into the container walls.

An extreme wave of fear begins to surge in my soul, I can feel my heart erratically pounding in my chest. It feels like I'm going to pass out. The last thing I can remember is Min Oppa's face smiling down at me after he's drugged me. I can't believe he did this! Where has he brought me to? I wrap my hands around my body tightly holding myself together. I feel like a glass cup about to crumble to pieces.

"Hey. Are you okay? What's your name?" A girl touch me and I almost flinch at the contact of her warm hand against my shoulder. "Uh, sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Just worried because you're shivering so much. Are you cold?"

"No. You can call me Hana. Where am I?" I ask, staring at her beautiful large brown eyes that makes me feel a little bit calm and hopeful. "What is this place? Do you know how I got in here?" I hope she's not going to tell me what I'm thinking.

"Everyone is just as clueless as you are. But I think I have an idea about what's happening to us. We're all victims of women trafficking, we've been purchased by our buyers and I think they're taking us to our destination."

It's obvious already, I just don't want to admit that it is what it seems like. Why will Min of all person do this to me? I thought he sees me like his little sister, how can he live after doing this to me?

"We're going to live, Hana ya. Don't cry. We must be strong in other to live." The girl says, her voice too calm that I wonder why she's not terrified like all the others who are quietly glancing at one another. She looks around my age, maybe nineteen or eighteen.

The others seem to be teenagers probably within the age range of fifteen to nineteen. I roughly count the girls with my eyes, we're about twenty two in number including myself.

"What's. . ." I sniff in an clear my throat to speak well, wiping the teardrop away from my cheek. "What's your name? How did you end up here?"

"I'm Mira. A loanshark sold me off because my Dad failed to pay back the money he took."

"Oh my gosh, I'm sure your Dad will be so worried. He'll probably hate himself for this." I wish I even have a Dad or Mom to worry about me. No one will know if I rot in here, Kai is already gone. Our worlds have split apart and my life is about to change.

"My life hasn't been any better than this even when I was free." Mira shrugs. "Now that I'm like a slave, if the place I end up is better than my home, I won't mind that much. I'll focus on surviving and grabbing every opportunity I get to be happy."

Life must've been really cruel for her to be saying such things. Who will want to lose their freedom no matter how bad their family home is?

I guess her life may be worse than I can imagine. Especially if her Father happens to be an abusive drunkard just like Min's Father who fell of the cliff and died last year. His Father must've been the one who turned Min into such a monster. How can he betray us? How can he ever live with what he's done to me? I've known him for my whole life, it's not stupidity for me to trust him. It's just a bad fate.

Mira holds my hand in hers, she seem like a good person, but I'm not yet comfortable with her because she's still a stranger. Though I find myself unable to slip away from her comforting warm hold.I give in and allow her to console me while the tears keep pouring down from my eyes continuously.

The trailer suddenly comes to a halt and something starts scuffling from the outside. Mira clutch my hand tighter as we all stare at the bronze gates swinging open. Lights from outside flood into the container as a man climbs up and enter. There's a whip in his hand and a rope in another as he glance at our faces one after another.

"All of you girls peeing and shitting like you're going to get killed. . . Aish! They stink so badly." He frowns and spit on the floor near me. "Anyway, we're not killing any of you, so relax. Just that your life of comfort as princesses in your homes have come to an end if you don't know this by now. You're now a property of the Dante Empire." He laughs loudly like a maniac with his stained teeth. "Quickly line up, we need to leave immediately."

"Huh? Where are we going to?" Mira asks, but the cruel looking dirty man doesn't even look at her. He turns and walk to the gates and call on another person 'Lim' who quickly comes up and enter the container.

Lim is too tall, his head almost touching above. He looks like an idiot sidekick who would lick the boss' feet on instant command. I don't know whether he's looking at me or that's just how his eyes are, they look unnaturally misplaced.

"Keep your eyes on the girls." The thick boss issue his order. "I'll check the sewage tunnel myself. It's very important to be discreet, so don't tell Dae-sung about this deal." He adds before he leaves, while Lim stays behind and starts ordering us to queue up.

By the time all of us have line up, the thick boss has return in. He signals Lim to start bringing us out, and we all move in line until we're out of the container.

I notice it's a large truck which has brought us to an unknown destination. It looks like an abandoned road with potholes and pavement pieces scattered everywhere. The air is cold, making me to shiver. It's the season of rain, the air here smell dewy and the ground looks wet with all indications that it had rained earlier before we get here.

"Send them down, now! We don't have all day!" Someone yells from inside an underground sewage where Lim is standing. I think his boss is the one yelling from inside, I don't see him around anywhere.

The other girls diligently obey orders, exiting through the underground one after another, while I and Mira keep hesitating to move faster. She's probably thinking of what I'm thinking. Maybe escape?

"Mira, we should run. They don't have men." I whisper close to Mira's ear, watching as she instantly shoots her eyes wide open and shake her head in protest. Am I the only one concerned about escaping? Why are all the girls acting like loyal bitches?

"Move fast, will you? Or you waiting for someone to piggyback you?" The truck driver comes out of the truck along with two more men emerging from the truck. Shit, now the men have become five, maybe that's the reason why Mira is against it.

Mira goes down the tunnel first before I. The stench coming out from the hole makes me want to throw up, but I manage to hold it in until I'm completely down. I start throwing up, as Mira suddenly helps to hold my hair. I notice four to six other girls throwing up as well.

"Aish! Girls are always a pain in the ass. Who impregnated you to be throwing up anyhow?" A man yells, but I don't even look to see who he is. I hold my breathe as we resume walking deeper into the tunnel.

We navigate through corners until we come to stand at the end of the sewer where there's an open burglar.

It looks like there are men waiting for us outside the burglar. Mira catch a hold of my hand again, as we look at one another. "It doesn't look so bad, does it?" She asks, searching my face for answers.

"What?" I don't get what she's saying.

"The end of the sewer. Look beyond the burglar, there's an exotic building somewhere around there. I think it's our destination. The Dante Empire."

I keep my eyes ahead as I walk, following the other girls. I and Mira move out of the tunnel at the same time. I'm awestruck by the size of the Mansion estate we've arrived at. Are we still in Korea?

~~~

We were allowed the luxury to take shower in the bathroom which is bigger than my home. We put on the yellow dresses offered to us by an elderly Ahjumma (old lady).

"What are they going to do with us?" The young girl standing beside me, asks nervously. I can see fear written all over her face. I don't know what to say, because I'm not sure of what we're doing standing in the middle of the big room which is almost the size of a hall.

"We're going to be fine. Don't worry." Mira assures her, as the old lady walks in and call the first girl to go with her into one of the bathrooms we used to shower earlier.

Minutes later, they both come out, the girl nodding her head shamefully. I think I have an idea of what they did in there. I hope it's not what I'm thinking.

The next girl goes in, and then four more, before it comes to my turn. I follow the woman to the bathroom.

"Lift up your dress and remove your panties." She suddenly orders. I don't realize I've rolled my eyes at her until she starts glaring at me. "You disrespectful child! Do you know where you've come to? You're going to be serving the Dante Family, I have to make sure you're a virgin. Lift that dress now, before I do it myself." The old lady make an attempt to touch me, but I step away and run out of the bathroom.

Two men lunge at me to catch me, but I'm lucky to grab a chair and haul it at the first man, making him to fall on the ground, groaning. I pick an iron bag hanger and point it towards the second man. "Don't come near me! I'm going to break your head if you do, bastard!" I yell, moving backwards until my back hit something hard that makes me to stop.

I turn around startled as I meet a pair of hazel brown orbs drilling a hole into my forehead. There's tobacco stick at a corner of his slightly opened lips as he looks down at me, scowling like an angry anime character. I don't know how I end up admiring his pale baby smooth skin, letting go of the hanger which falls down on the tiles with an angry sound that works to snap my attention.

"Master Jin! The girl refuse to follow the ritual." The Ahjumma comes running towards the man, nodding her head.

Looks like he's the boss here, but I don't care who he is. I quickly take my defensive stance, ready to assault the nose of whoever tries to touch me.