"young skull!" a voice called, holding his hand out for jisung to shake. "it's a real pleasure to meet you."

jisung politely shook the hand of the man, not bothering to ask who he was. jisung wasn't at the head of the mafia yet, he didn't need to know every single person in the mafia. and he wasn't even sure his father knew everyone part of the mafia. the criminal organisation held so much people...

death park was composed of various groups of different importance.

at the very top were jisung's family the heads of the business.

then, there were jisung's parents' close friends, each one of them being responsible for a branch of the mafia: jaehui dealt with all the gambling activities of the mafia, namseon managed the drug activities, myungki was in charge of extortion or basically manipulating people to give money to the mafia in exchange of the mafia protecting them, jihu is responsible for everything murder and weapon-related, and finally heesun – who is jisung's godfather – is the one dealing with prostitution.

each of those 5 branches have their own teams and men, all being under the commands of their leader, and of the mafia boss.

"oh, young skull! you've grown so much since last time i saw you!" another unknown man declared, shaking jisung's hand.

jisung's mafia name was young skull, as he was the youngest member of the mafia, and the heir to death park, whose symbol was a black skull.

he wasn't particularly fan of being called that, but if it allowed him to stay undercover whenever he would do something illegal, it was worth using.

the boy sighed loudly, plopping down on a sofa with a glass of what looked like sparkly apple juice –all of the other adults held long flutes of champagne, occasionally taking sips from it – to stare at his surroundings for a while.

the whole scene made it look like they were in the middle of an old italian mafia movie. the people around – mostly men – were all wearing expensive tuxedos and bowties with way-too-polished shoes while they drank some expensive champagne and talked with the other people around about the criminal business in a variety of languages.

jisung felt quite out of place there, wearing his expensive clothes and looking like a rich kid – which he was in a way, because his parents held the biggest criminal business of the country just to earn lots of money.

"what's my favourite godson doing on his own on new year's eve?" a voice caught jisung's attention, making him lift his head.

"heesun!" jisung exclaimed, placing his glass on a nearby table before jumping in the arms of his godfather and hugging him tight. it had been long since they had seen each other, but this didn't make them any less close. when jisung was only a child and his parents would need to leave the country for mafia duties, heesun would always be the one to stay with jisung. they had grown close over the years, and even with them seeing each other rarely now, they still loved each other dearely.

"you grew up a lot, ji." heesun ruffled the tall boy's hair, messing with it.

"no! don't do that! mom scolded me last time for having messy hair." jisung laughed, trying to rearrange his hair.

"come on, you look handsome anyway, it's not a problem." heesun rolled his eyes. "and if she ever scolds you, tell her that it's my fault and that she should be scolding me instead of you."

jisung smiled at his godfather, sitting back down on the sofa and patting the space next to him so that heesun stayed with him for a bit.

the man obliged, placing his glass of champagne on the table before sitting down next to his godson.

"so, what are you doing here on your own?" heesun asked.

"everybody's old here. i have no one my age to play with." jisung explained.

"but you're turning twenty soon. you're an adult now."

jisung shrugged. "life was better as a kid."

"well, i'm not saying the contrary." heesun laughed. "but sadly, we grow up, and things start to change. you have more and more responsibilities..."

"don't tell me about it..." jisung sighed. "mom and dad are giving me so much things to do... my managers are getting worried seeing me going out this much to 'meet my parents'." jisung nodded.

"oh god, that's hard for you, i bet." heesun patted jisung's shoulder. "double-dealing has never been easy, but being a famous idol adored by the whole world on the one side, and the heir to the biggest criminal organisation in korea on the other side is on another level."

"well, the good thing is that no one doubts me, because i have so much work as an idol, and i live around 20 other males. so, yeah, no one would imagine that i'm the one killing people and doing all those illegal things..." jisung explained.

"yeah, that's the good point." heesun nodded.

"but, yeah, i need to lie to my members and my managers." jisung sighed again.

heesun wrapped an arm around jisung's shoulders in a comforting manner. "you're a strong boy, ji. i know you can do this."

"i mean... i don't have another choice... that's the life i decided to have..."

well, this was partly right.

jisung had always wanted to be an idol, and he had made it.

but on the other hand, jisung had never wanted to be part of a mafia, and worse, being the heir to that mafia.

but sadly, he couldn't dodge it. this was in his dna, so he had to deal with it...

"some aspects of this kind of life are great, you know?" heesun declared, using his thumb to scroll through his phone.

"i'd be surprised to know what?" jisung scoffed.

"well, the fact i have more influential people in my contact list than the queen of england..." he explained showing his long contact list.

"stop exaggerating. we aren't associated with many- wait who the hell is mister president?" jisung frowned when he saw the name on his godfather's phone.

"who do you think it is, huh?" heesun raised a teasing brow.

"stop trying to make me believe your shit. i know we're not actually affiliated with the president..."jisung rolled his eyes as he playfully hit his godfather's shoulder while both of them laughed for a minute.

"anyway." heesun stated once he had stopped laughing. "let's have a conversation about something people actually talk about on new year's eve."

"people here only talk about the mafia, and in this family, new year's eve is the day to talk about mafia shit." jisung chuckled at his godfather's words.

"sure, but i want you to feel like a normal teenager for once. not one whose perfect life is about to get ruined because he'll become the head of a huge criminal organisation, and not one whose whole life is filmed by cameras to be shown to crazy fans. a normal teenager."

jisung smiled, leaning against his godfather's side.

"i'd love that." he nodded. "so, what do normal teenagers talk about?"

"i don't know, like... sports... girls...?"

the younger boy lifted a brow, looking at his godfather whose face was decorated by a smirk.

"girls? seriously?" jisung snorted.

"yeah, i mean, you're aging, and it's time for you to find yourself someone to share your life with..."

"okay, but, first of all, i very rarely see girls because i'm too busy either practicing or killing innocents. and then, are you trying to give me a love lesson when you don't have anyone to share your life with either?" jisung continued, his brow still raised teasingly.

"i'm responsible for the mistakes i made in my life, and i don't want you to do the same. so, you should find someone to share your life with." heesun explained.

jisung nodded. "yeah, i do agree, but who? i never see girls around and- "

"i mean, i said 'girls', but it might as well be 'boys'." heesun specified.

"yeah, girls or boys, but anyway, i don't feel like i have the capacity to love. i learnt how to be emotionless and insensitive to everything." the younger boy sighed.

"jisung, you won't control it when you'll fall in love. you still have a heart, and it's him who will fall for someone, whether you like it or not. the problem of humans is that we cannot make our emotions disappear completely, and this is why anyone in this room can be corrupted, because we all have hearts, and as much as we try not to, we're still attached to some objects or people, and he would do everything in the world to prevent them being hurt."

jisung blinked a few times, trying to process everything his godfather had told him.

"so... you're telling me that i should find someone when this will make me weaker?" jisung raised a confused brow.

"having a lover sure makes you vulnerable, but the rest of the time, it makes you more powerful, and gives you a reason to fight and to stay alive." heesun told.

"okay, yeah. i understand what you mean." jisung nodded. "but how can i find someone who will accept being with a mafia leader?"

"i'm not telling you to find this person, ji." heesun chuckled. "i'm telling you that your heart will find them, at the less expected moment."

"so... i just wait?" jisung questioned.

"unless you're dying to date someone, you should wait and your heart will lead you to that person."

before jisung could answer, a loud cheering was heard inside the expensive villa, and everybody started embracing each other with bright smiles on their faces.

"oh, we're in- "

jisung was cut by a notification popping on his phone.

under his godfather's eyes, jisung opened the message, smiling when he read it.

"who's that?" heesun asked, looking over jisung's shoulder at his phone.

"it's one of my group members. his name is chenle. he wanted to wish me a happy new year before anyone else." jisung explained, typing his answer.

"oh, the kid with a dolphin-voice?" heesun's brows furrowed.

"yeah... how do you even know him?!" jisung questioned.

"hey! i'm a loving godfather! i do watch videos of you and your members doing shows!" heesung told, making jisung smile. "and i know them all in your group. well, almost. but yeah, i know who chenle is. he's cute. and you two always are glued together."

"yeah, he's my closest friend." jisung nodded, placing his phone back in his pocket.

"friend, huh?" heesung raised a teasing brow. "i mean, he always looks at you fondly."

"yes, friend." jisung rolled his eyes. "we're just close, and he's like that with everyone."

"if you say so." heesun grabbed his glass of champagne. "happy new year, then. i wish you the best for 2022 and i hope you'll find the person that will make you happy forever."

⇄

jisung tiredly pushed open the door of his parents' car, getting out of the vehicle with his parents.

"happy new year again, jisung." his mother embraced him as she gave him a peck on the cheek – needing to stand on her tippy-toes for that because of her giant son.

"thanks mom." the younger smiled, kissing her cheek as well before heading to his father.

"be safe, okay? we'll let you rest for a few days so that you can enjoy the first days of 2022 fully." his father continued, patting his son's back while hugging.

"thanks a lot." jisung hugged back before pulling away. "go back home safe."

"of course." his mother smiled. "no go and rest in the dorm. it's almost eleven..."

jisung nodded, looking at his parents getting in the car before driving away.

he was supposed to come back to the dorms in the afternoon, but let's say the traffic had been horrible, and the originally 2-hour journey had taken them 5 hours, causing jisung to get at the dorms at past 10, almost 11.

with a sigh, jisung unlocked the door of the dorm, glancing around at the street and furrowing his brows at the sight of a certain car parked on the 'no parking' spot. he didn't need long to recognise the license plate of chenle's mother.

jisung entered the dorm, being greeted with nothing but darkness. apparently, they had partied a lot for new year's eve, and all the neos were tired, which is why they had declared they would celebrate kun's birthday the next day, and which explained also why the dream dorm was so silent: they were all sleeping.

speaking of which, a snore followed by a groan made jisung turn around immediately, and then chuckle at the sight.

chenle was half-sitting, half-lying on the sofa, his eyes closed and his mouth agape, in a deep sleep.

"chenle, hey..." jisung whispered, shaking the boy a bit.

"mmh...?" the chinese male hummed, his eyes fluttering open slowly until they fell on jisung.

"what are you doing here this late?" jisung asked, rearranging the boy's messy hair.

"i was waiting for you... i wanted to be the first member to greet you a happy new year in person..."chenle explained groggily. "am i the first?"

"yes, you are, chenle." jisung nodded, his lips curving upwards at chenle's words.

"great..." the chinese boy smiled in content. "what time is it...?"

"it's almost eleven." jisung explained. "come on, your mom is waiting for you."

"how do you know...?" chenle mumbled, his eyes closing again because of tiredness.

"i saw her car in front of the house." jisung told. "now, let's go. i'll walk you to the car."

jisung sighed when chenle started snoring lightly again.

he was really tired...

without thinking too much about it, jisung lifted chenle bridal style with ease, then walking to the front door and opening it with his foot before walking out to chenle's mother's car.

the woman gasped at the sight of her passed-out son in the arms of jisung.

"oh my god, is everything alright?" she asked worriedly.

"yes, don't worry mrs zhong. he was just so tried he fell asleep." jisung explained, sitting chenle on the passenger seat and buckling his seatbelt to secure him.

"thank you so much jisung." the chinese lady smiled sincerely. "chenle is so lucky to have you as a friend."

"it's normal, mrs zhong." jisung bowed respectfully. "happy new year to you and your whole family."

"thank you jisung. happy new year to you too." she smiled as jisung closed the car's door – not too hard in order not to disturb chenle's sleep – and then watched the car roll away in the night.