─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER TWO:
a dead man can't repay debts.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The stupid cat hadn't returned. The moment Mei had walked through the front door of her apartment, she realised she had been alone when she wasn't greeted by the sound of loud meowing. Bae was perhaps the most vocal cat she had ever met—always screeching in her face for more food. He'd been a stray, and yet, Mei thought he was fatter than most indoor cats.

Despite their family losing most of their money, Mei's home was modestly nice. She had managed to rent it with her own money, instead of relying on her mother to help her—though, it had been hard, and for a while, she had been in debt with her landlord. But that was over. She'd paid her dues and didn't have to worry about it. Her mother, on the other hand, constantly worried about money—it was her favourite thing to complain about.

Mei never thought her father had much of a personality, so it had been obvious that her mother had married him for his wealth. Mei didn't judge her mother for such a thing, but her greed had been what left her with nothing in the end. She'd married a man who inevitably had a public fall from power—losing everything he had built. And All because he couldn't say no to illegal Casino's.

Mei hated her father for that. He'd earned a fortune in his life time. He'd had more money than he could possibly have dreamed and he had thrown it all away for the rush of the gamble. And it had left her mother devastated. Mei could never blame her mother—it had been the life she had known, full of luxury and contentment. And it had all been ruined because of the greed of her father.

Sighing heavily, Mei sat down at the counter in her kitchen, reaching to pull out the packet of cigarettes from her back pocket when she hesitated, suddenly remembering what sat in her other pocket. She reached inside, pulling the wad of cash out and putting it onto the counter, analysing it with mahogany coloured eyes.

She picked up one of the notes, holding it in the light shining through her living room window. It appeared to be real—she had no reason to believe it was fake money. But still, something about it made her feel sickened. She couldn't understand why a man would give away such a reward for free. Of course, to most people, 100,000 won wasn't a grand prize, but with the lack of money she earned, it was more than enough for her.

Her phone ringing from inside the pocket of her leather jacket made her settle the note onto the counter alongside the others. She pulled her phone out, answering without a doubt, "Jun-ho? What have I done to receive this pleasure?" She asked upon answering, swivelling around in her sweet that spun in a full circle.

"Mei, your mother called," The man on the other end of the phone told her. "She was paranoid, saying she thinks the men your father owed money to has found her. I was going to drive out to see her and—"

Mei sighed deeply, flipping her hair out of her face, "Don't bother," She told him. "You know my mom, she's a paranoid wreck—you'll only be wasting your time taking a visit to see her." She said, growing agitated.

"Are you sure?" Jun-ho questioned.

She nodded even though he couldn't see, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll go see her." She assured the man, standing up from her stool.

"I could give you a lift if you want? She's ways out." He suggested, always trying to be helpful.

"I appreciate it, Jun-ho. But it's alright. You just focus on whatever you've got going on." She reassured, heading towards her front door.

"Alright," He agreed, pausing for a second. "If she's right though, gimme a callback, okay?" He said.

          Mei hummed, "Alright. Bye, Jun-ho." She said, hanging up the phone without another word.

She walked to the door before hesitating, glancing over her shoulder at the pile of cash on her desk. Letting out a breath, she walked back into her kitchen, opening up a drawer and pulling out a stack of envelopes. She took one from the pack and headed towards the kitchen counter, picking up half of the money and stuffing it inside the envelope before sealing it and tucking it into the inside pocket of her jacket.

On her way out, she pulled her phone back out to text her mother.

Ma, I'm on my way—stop harassing the police, please. It's getting annoying. And especially stop harassing Jun-Ho, he doesn't even work at the station anymore. Be there soon.

Mei stood outside of her mother's house. It was on the other side of Ssangmun-dong which was what agitated Mei so much. The travel wasn't particularly long—but it was certainly a pain in the ass. Had her mother not hassled Mei's old friend, she never would never have bothered with the travel. But it was getting old with her paranoid wreck of a mother and Mei had to put an end to it.

Mei stood outside the painted red door, giving it a hard knock. She didn't have a set of keys as her mother wouldn't allow it—and her mother always had the door locked shut. When there was no answer, she huffed out a breath and gave it a kick with her foot. To her surprise, the door slipped open, revealing it had been unlocked all along.

Mei slipped inside, taking her shoes off by the door, her bare feet padding on the cold floor, "Ma?" She called out as she entered, walking down the dimly lit hallway. "Ma, you had the door unlocked and—" she paused when she could hear the sound of scuffling coming from the living room, like there was some kind of commotion happening. She was kicked into fight mode the moment she heard her mother yell.

"Mei! Run!" Her mother cried out but it didn't fear Mei, instead, she crept further down the hallway and into the living room, coming to a standstill the moment she entered.

The entire living room had been turned upside down, furniture thrown everywhere, glass broken on the floor. Mei turned, seeing her mother backed into the corner of the room, shaking as two men stood over her, "Hey! What the fuck are you doing?" Mei demanded, rushing towards them but she was suddenly sent flying backwards when the larger man turned around and swiftly backhanded her across the face.

Her body hit the floor, her cheek smacking against the ground, the skin breaking ever so slightly when it connected with the glass on the floor, "Mei!" Her mother cried out, trying to rush towards her daughter but she was kicked back into her corner.

Mei breathed out heavily, her hair covering her face as she collected herself, "Ah, this must be the bitch daughter of the old man," The shorter man drawled out, a scar on the top of his lip. He laughed. "Great timing this is, Boss—surely she has the cash, right? Little Princess like her has gotta be living it good." He said, walking towards her.

The moment he got close, Mei kicked out with her foot, slamming it into the man's knee. He let out a yell, dropping down. Mei was quick to grab a shard of glass from the floor before yanking the man's jacket, pulling his back to her as she pushed the glass to his throat, "I'm not giving either of you shit," She growled, the glass cutting into the side of the man's neck as he suddenly began to tremble. "Now get the fuck out of my mother's house before I kill the both of you." She threatened, her voice not wavering.

The taller man let out a scoff, grabbing her mother by the hair and yanking her onto her knees. He pulled a switchblade from his pocket and put it to her throat, "You think I give a fuck about that guy? Kill him all you want. But I'll make sure I slit your mother's throat in return." He said with a laugh, pushing the knife to the older woman's neck as she cried in fear, her face bloody and eyes wet.

Mei clenched her teeth, her grip around the glass loosening ever so slightly. She looked to her mother who was crying hysterically. And then she dropped the glass.

The shorter man was up in an instantly, kicking her hard in the ribs and knocking her to the floor once again, "You filthy bitch," He spat as he crouched over her, beginning to raid her pockets as she tried to slap him off. He reached into the inside of her jacket, yanking out the envelope. "Now, what do we have here, huh?" He sang with a smirk, opening it up and taking a peak inside.

Mei glared up at him, her eyes fiery, "Would you look at that, Boss. This bitch had 100,000 won in her pocket." He said, tossing his Boss the envelope filled with cash as Mei watched them toss around her money.

The Boss snickered, "That ain't even anywhere close to half of what her father owes us." He reminded him.

Mei ran her tongue over her teeth, "A dead man can't repay debts." She reminded them, her voice low.

The Boss's head snapped towards her as he pointed his blade in her direction, "No, but their bitch daughters can," He snapped before creeping towards her. He crouched down, towering over her. "63 million won your father owes us and now you're going to be the one to pay it for pulling that little stunt. And if you don't? We'll come back here and we'll kill you and your whore of a mother. Do you understand?" He told her, lowering his face to hers.

She stared him down, not speaking a word as her eyes bore into his. He reached out, giving her cheek a tap before standing to his feet and walking out of the room, laughing as his crony followed him.

Mei didn't move—not even when her mother rushed over to her and begged her to tell her if she was okay. She sat there, body shaking ever so slightly as she stared at the ground, a red hot rage bubbling through her body. Even in death, she couldn't escape her father—and she hated him for that.

( authors note )

mei not even being in debt upsets me, bc wdym she ends up a part of this game to repay the debts of a dead man?? tf?? (i created her). anyways, she deserves better :')

— taylor x