#dongcheon

pairing: choi mujin x fem!reader

wc: 3k

warnings: kidnapping, fight scene, torturing, mention of blood and wounds, burning reader’s skin (idk how to word it better), implied past intimate scene (type of), sexual tension

author’s note: sooo this is my first post after a while of not writing anything so you can think of it as a warm up and if you enjoyed this part make sure to check my masterlist. There is no other right now (lol) but I hope there will be :) And thank you for giving a chance to my fic. Love youu

Ropes tight around ankles. You are upside down and the whole world is spinning. In the middle of nowhere with no possible contact with the organization.

I am fucked, badly. You thought.

No ending tortures just to make you speak -even the thought was ridiculous honestly-.

Questions about Mujin, Dongcheon, the business. All the stuff they had nothing to do with.

It all started a lot prettier.

First try, sweet offers and kind talks. "Tell us this and you will never have to worry about money ever again." lame, you thought. After the very first time that they offered you money all you could think about was how much you would give away to see Mujin’s reaction. You could see his handsome face in the back of your eyes. His intimidating gaze, a cigarette between his lips as a side slightly raises up in a mocking way. Only a fool would believe that money could buy loyalty. That it would lead them to success, power. Mujin knew better.

Then they took a stupid guess. Thinking you were not accepting their offer cause you were scared. "Don’t be afraid of Mujin, we'll protect you." they said. Little did they also knew they didn't stand a chance. They liked to think that they could.

Sooner or later they realized that they were going nowhere with offers. Then they decided on something else. Second try, threat.

Nothing did the job.

You wondered how many days had been since the first knife blow that drew your belly red with your own blood, now the whole fucking room was covered of it, let alone your bruised body. You kept blaming yourself , how did you not realize that their loyalty no longer served for Mujin. How you fell right into their traps all alone. A part of you didn't even wanted to be saved. Even the imagination of Mujin’s disappointed eyes hurt you more than any wound on your body. You were not ready to face the real one. Your body was getting weaker every passing day with the lack of food and the countless hits you endured every few hours. You did not have much time, you could feel it.

The sudden bucket of water pouring down your body woke you from your unconscious state. The man with the ugly smile stood before you upside down. His hand grabbing a fist full of your hair to bring your face closer as he smiled. "Wakey wakey, dollface." He was unnesecarelly loud. "Do you feel like talking today?" he asked. His smile grew like he was happy by your lack of response. It used to piss him off. You frowned, your guts telling you to open your eyes to see what he was up to. So you forced them to and realized the mini red gas cylinder. "You know dollface, I've been thinking lately what should I do to you next. Then guess what, I saw this." his voice was sadistic as he pointed to the red gas cylinder. "And I had an idea. I thought I should get rid of that tatto and maybe then you would start acting less like a fucking loyal dog, huh? You'll be less of being like one of them and who knows maybe you would use that pretty little mouth of yours and give me what I want. Huh, how about that?" he asked you as if he was talking about weather.

You sick bastard, you wanted to say only if you had the energy for it. But even though you gave him no reaction, the thought of your tatto getting ruined made your heart ache. The tatto was not just a symbol, it was a reminder. A reminder that you belonged to somewhere. That you were not alone.

He walked to the red cylinder with a thong in his hand, he was holding a round metal piece in the size of your tatto with it. He heated the metal as a manicing smile formed on his lips, he was enjoying this. When he was satisfied with its temperature, he walked back to you. "Are you ready dollface?" It wasn't really a question. Without giving you any time to get ready for the incoming pain he pressed the hot metal on your chest. And he finally made you scream out of pain. Only for a moment, though. You quickly studied yourself and kept all of it in. He didn't like it, he wanted to hear that scream again and again. After reheating the metal he came back. He pressed it on your chest without waiting a second. "Anything that comes to your mind that you'd like to share with me?" his sarcasm making your ears bleed. You couldn't held back your screams and you cursed yourself for giving him the satisfaction.

Then something happened, you heard a door breaking. After that, the chaos followed. You would recognized the voice of blade cutting through someone's skin at anytime and now wasn't the exception.

The organization will protect you.

Now it was your time to smirk at his face. To enjoy every bit of his smirk fading and leaving its place to panic. He threw the thong away and rushed to the side to release the knot on the rope and slowly lowered you to the floor. He grabbed one of the knifes he's been using on you and released your ankles but wrists remained tied together. He was aware how little time he had and he was panicking. He dragged you to your feet and pressed your back on his front with a knife pressed to your neck. You couldn't move a muscle while he waited facing the door behind you, waiting for the storm to come in. You didn't have the energy.

Eyelids too heavy and mind too dizzy. But every inch of your body felt his presence. No aura can compete, no traitor can no longer breathe.

You forced your eyes open, every bit of you were craving to feel his eyes. But also afraid of what you might find in there.

Mujin stood still and took in what was in front of him. A table full of all type of tools, most of them tinted red, ruined clothes next to it. Your blood all over the place, all wounds and bruises on display. His eyes finally landed on yours.

There he was, looking way too perfect right in front of you. Looking as presentable as ever while you stood in your underwear's in front of all those man. Bruised and broken. You saw something in his eyes for a split second, an emotion. But what was it?

Sympathy? Disappointment? Or worse, pity? No, no. Please don't be pity.

You would be more ashamed by it more than all the gazes on your too bare skin. How ironic, isn’t it?

The man behind you tightened his grip, "Stay away. If I die, she dies." he was playing his last cards. There was no way out of this for him. He knew it too. You gulped and turn your eyes to Taeju. His eyes were burning with rage as he took in your state. You also took in his. Hair a little messy, some blood stains on his shirt. None of his own, you just knew it. The thought made your lips quirk a little. Of course none of it was his own. Then you saw the blade in his hand and you found your plan to get out of the mans grip. You and Taeju locked eyes, you knew he read right through your eyes but Taeju didn’t seem like he saw something that he liked there. You felt Mujin’s eyes too. He was well aware that you were up to something. You communicated well in silence. Both man trying to make you stop with their eyes. You kept your eyes on Taeju, ‘cause if you saw the order in his eyes you would have no other option but obey him. You did not want that.

Taeju shook his head in a slow motion. But gulped with acceptance when he saw the determination in your eyes.

You no longer could hear any of the threats the guy swayed around. Only kept your eyes locked with your partner as you waited for the right moment to make your move.

Just when the guy pointed his knife towards them instead of your neck, you collected every energy remaining in your system and get back in your fighting mode. You threw your head back in full force. The guy groaned in pain with the unexpected hit and released his grip around your body. With a swift motion you kicked the wrist of the hand that he held the knife with. As the knife hit the floor you also dropped to the very same cold floor and leave the rest to your partner. Taeju threw his knife right on the guys neck without waiting a second and rushed to your side.

Mujin was faster. The moment he read the situation he step further and catch you before you hit your head.

The drug lord, on his knees, what a sight.

Mujin quickly took his jacket off and wrapped it around your almost naked body. You were nearly unconscious in his arms. Couldn't keep your eyes open. Even the little bit healed wounds were open back with your kick. Your shallow breaths were a sign of your hurt.

You needed a professional's help, quick.

Without leaving a time for you to protest Mujin took your whole body in his hold and carried you with an arm on your back and the other under your legs. Your head resting on his chest. Your last words were: "I'm sorry."

…

Two weeks has passed while you were unconscious. Mujin brought you to the temple after your rescue. Made sure you were well taken care of and safe. He came to visit you every other day and ordered Taeju to do so at the days that he couldn't. You were his second subordinate, your health mattered. And that was the only reason of his worries and sleepless nights while you were nowhere to be found. He deceived himself into thinking that that was it.

He may or may not succeed it.

There were some things Mujin never welcomed in his organization nor his business. But the top of the list belonged to the traitors. He worked extra hard on the topic after the incident. Making sure the same thing never happens ever again. He blamed himself just like you blamed yourself.

I shouldn’t have send her there alone. I should have been more careful.

While Mujin was on his car, driving, you woke up. Slowly recognizing where you were, you knew the place. Your whole body aching, you slowly got up. Trying to remember what happened, you walked to the full length mirror. Carefully holding the sweater up to check on your wounds. It was hard to tell, all of it was covered with white bandages. Eyeing around the room, everything looked like how you remembered it. The only new thing was the folded clothes and a hair tie on the wooden desk, waiting for you. An idea of fresh shower became too hard to resist and you took the clothes and walked to the bathroom.

Warm water running through your body was relaxing with a little bit of pain. You took the wet bandages off to replace them after shower with fresh ones. You checked your wounds, they looked better than you last remembered but they still needed time to fully recover. You took your time in the shower and after shower. Re-bandaged yourself with the kit in the bathroom, brushed your hair with your fingers as best as you could. Then you decided to braid your hair like you do it all the time while you work. A part of your unique uniform, giving that you are the only female in the Dongcheon. While the men wears black suits with white shirt, your uniform was looking presentable, by all means. Mostly wearing black or white, hair usually braided and that was it.

You opened the door to get back in the room without knowing you had a visitor. Boss. Mujin.

He was dressed in all black with a long coat. His cigarette between his lips, a hand in the pocket. watching outside from the open doors. He turned his face to acknowledge you. You quickly bowed after you two made an eye contact.

You were tense and he was aware.

"Did I kept you waiting for too long?" You asked after a while to fill the silence.

He took a long drag of his cigarette before he answered, "Hmm."

"I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything back. Kept smoking his cigarette in silence. After standing next to the door for a whole minute watching him awkwardly, you decided to do your own business. You grabbed the hair tie on the desk and went back to the mirror. Your back turned to Mujin so that you could act like he wasn't there and unnerve your tensed muscles. Right when you saw your reflection in the mirror you realized that you did not wear the sweater on after bandaging yourself.

Nothing he hadn't seen multiple times before anyway but...

Another realization hit midway, you were right in front of him with only a bra on on your upper body and he didn't even glance.

You gulped, how should I feel about that? you thought.

You could have linger on that thought for way longer if you didn't get distracted by something else. Your tattoo. No, your ruined tatto. You held out your arms to braid your hair with your eyes focused on your chest. Something was hurting, either the cuts on your arms or your heart, you didn't know.

Like how you didn't know there was another pair of eyes on your body. Watching you secretly.

When you turned your back to him, Mujin started watching you more freely. He saw the look on your face and didn't like what it made him feel. He took long few steps and stopped right behind you. He held your hands in your hair and whispered, "Let me,". He slowly pulled the hair tie from your wrist, taking his time while doing so, enjoying the little contact you two were sharing.

You took a deep breath and obeyed. Letting your hands drop to your sides.

Mujin caught the rhythm change on your breathing and your muscles tensing. Your figure standing straighter, he was well aware of your body reacting to him. He braided your wet hair, his fingers touching your skin here and there. He caught on the shivers too.

You watched him through the mirror. Carefully working on your hair, gentle as ever. His scent mixed with cigarette filling your insides. You didn't realize how much you missed it until he was this close.

"How are you feeling?" he asked in a low tone.

You decided to be honest, "Hurts but nothing unbearable."

Silence, again. It was your turn to fill it.

"I’m sorry." You apologized again. You both knew what it was for.

He remained silent, finishing the braid. Your head dropped down. You needed him to say something, anything. Every passing second tightened in your chest. Desperate for his reaction, to know what he was thinking of the situation, of you.

Mujin tied your hair and gently held your arms at both sides. He quietly smelled your hair. Loud enough to make you suspicious of it, not enough to be sure whether he did it or not.

You turned around, thinking about apologizing again. You were not ready to look in his eyes just yet but when he held your chin in between his thumb and index finger, tilting your head up. You knew it was a silent command.

Look at me.

You obeyed, like always.

"It wasn’t your fault."

Right when you opened your mouth to say otherwise he closed it for you. "It wasn’t."

You looked in his dark eyes, you felt relieved. He didn't look disappointed in you, you could finally let out the breath you were holding in for so long.

Faces too close, lips inches apart. You wondered who you two were right now.

Boss and his subordinate? CEO and his servant? Muse and his admirer? Or just Mujin and Y/n?

While you were deep in thoughts Mujin’s hand snaked to the back of your neck from your chin. Holding you form as he pressed his lips to your temple. Too light to consider a kiss, but still there.

You held yourself back from clinging to his collar and beg for more. Afraid of losing the little contact you were having, so you stood still.

"I'm glad you are okay."

His voice was too low you thought you imagined it, almost. Without giving you time to process any part of this interaction, he stepped back. Putting distance between your bodies before it got risky. You were too stunned to speak, to move.

"You need to rest."

Translation: I’m leaving.

He took off a phone from his pocket and handed to you. "Contact us if you need anything."

In another word: you are staying here.

You simply nodded, there was no use of denying him.

You watched him leave through the door without another glance.

Boss and his subordinate. You decided on. But at least his.

I managed to dig a little deeper into the series and find several additional pieces of information about Dongcheon, many of which come from the famous information panel that the drug squad displays in its offices.

To start with: The logo of the Liber is the Dongcheon's, slightly modified (yes, they kept the two snakes intertwined but in a stylized way).

(Or how to taunt the authorities)

Next, here's what the information board says and what it tells us about the gang !

They seem to have little information about Mujin... on the other hand, Taeju has a hell of a criminal record !

Mujin:

The table shows that he has never been arrested for drug-related or violent offences, and in red it states that Mujin claims to have no connection with the real leaders of the Dongcheon gang.

We can therefore assume that Mujin is lying to them openly, given that he appears to be at the top of Dongcheon... but if the gang is old, as we will see later, perhaps Mujin is not actually the big boss ?

(It would be very funny to see him having to answer to a kind of ‘council of elders’ who, like bitter old men, would spit on his decisions and say that the younger generations are weak.)

Taeju :

Taeju is described as the "current second-in-command of Dongcheon" (it can easily be assumed that Donghoon was the previous one).

The red line describes his role within the gang, where he would manage its administrative tasks. The lines below tell us that Taeju has a criminal record :

That he did 1 year in prison following a conviction for assault in 2013.

That he served a six-month probation period following another assault in 2017.

I really liked the theory of someone who assumed that Donghoon could have "sold" Taeju by giving the information that led to his imprisonment.

I can't imagine Donghoon selling Taeju for fun – even if he seemed less close to him than to Mujin – so I imagine that Donghoon could have done it to avoid Mujin ending up in prison ?

An organigramme of the organization ?

Failed, that's what I had hoped when I saw the shape of the paper:

BUT !

I managed to get information about the characters below. Originally I thought that they might have been the previous leaders of the organization... until I recognized Mango on the far right. And I have the impression that the man on the left could be one of the "high-ranking officers" that we see during the duels. The other two men are unknown.

So here's what I managed to get from Google Translate (and if people know more about Korean, please, correct me if I'm wrong!)

The top line shows their names: the first is Lee Jin Su (thanks again, mizldrizl!) and the second is Daniel Choi. For the other four, the series does not reveal their full names as they are cut off by the camera or hidden by Pildo (although the third one looks a lot like Mango... but I can't really see Mango as a high-ranking member of the organisation 🤔).

Lee Jin Su is described as "Dongcheon Advertising Manager" and the line below it reads "2017: Total Sales Increase."

The second one is labeled as "Dongcheon Smuggling Chief" and the line below it reads "Hanyang Expeditions Representative"

(To be verified, as translators have difficulty translating these texts)

I have the impression that the first two are two of the high-ranking officers I introduced to you in "Dongcheon Organisation – Part 1"?

If so, it would prove that Dongcheon's top brass are managers of important parts of the organization.

The organization's past

To start with : I have the impression that Taeju was definitely Mujin's little favorite, since we see him accompanying them many times in old photos.

(And since he is not yet wearing his luxury suits, we can assume that he could have been a recruit or a young soldier then.)

It can also be assumed that the organization has been around for some time. First, because of the ring, which seems to be a clearly established symbol of legitimacy: Mujin is the only one to wear it and it is engraved with the Dongcheon logo.

But also because of old photos. As said above, I had hoped that the black and white portraits displayed on the wall could be old portraits of former leaders (well, failed). But there is an old photo on the wall :

As @mizldrizl explained in a comment, behind the photo we can see a series of Chinese characters: ‘東天派,’ which means ‘Dongcheon Gang’ (and Dongcheon, 東天, means ‘eastern sky’). This confirms that the gang is relatively old, since colour photography was developed in the early 19th century (colour techniques already existed in the 18th century – notably with the Lumière brothers – but the processes seem to me to be more complex for ‘general public’ use).

It’s my first fic since long time ago 🤭

Also English is not my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical mistakes. 🫶🏼

It turned a little bit darker than I intended it to be so enjoy!

Relationship status: ✨ enemies to lovers ✨

✨Trigger warnings: injuries, insults, blood, the reader has a crush on taeju and taeju doesn’t know, drugs, gangsters stuff. Slight mention of sexual activities. Mention of death several times. If there’s something else tell me.

✨No usage of Y/N

He loves invading everyone's personal space cos that's his intimidation technique. It makes them uncomfortable. So why is it that none of the Dongcheon men are ever depicted as having interest in women? Like just a girl hanging of your arm or something.

Chang Ryul: Two snakes are holding each other. *he imitates the position of the two snakes with his hands* Like this.

Park Hee-Soon: Don't let go? Don't let go of this tie?

Which made me want to share my thoughts as well on the signification of this logo:

A snake eating its tail represents eternity, so two snakes embracing each other and eating their own tails can be interpreted as "Together for eternity"

Interestingly, the logo of Dongcheon is pretty similar to the logo of the Japanese gang Mugen (= "Infinity" in Japanese) from the multimedia franchise HiGH&LOW*.

Mugen was created because Kohaku dreamed of riding his motorbike with his boyfriend Tsukumo forever. And while he never explicitly said why he chose this logo it has always been pretty obvious (at least to me) that the two snakes represented him and his best friend.

Which is why whenever I look at Dongcheon's logo I can't help but wonder:

Who chose this design and why?

What do you think everyone? 👀

*: I definitively recommend H&L if you're into fruity gang members going through 'friendship' breakups, being suspiciously obsessed with their rivals and fighting side by the side against capitalism thanks to the power of friendship.

Also if you loved Mujin's self destruction tendencies and Taeju quiet pinning for a man still not over the death of his boyfriend you will love the arc focusing on Kohaku, Tatsuya and Tsukumo 👀

Here is the viewing order + a few tips

The King, on hearing of this unusual event, wanted to see the woman’s house. He had his attendants persuade them [to welcome him]. The family knew the King had come to visit and did not dare to refuse him. The King entered the room and summoned the girl wanting to have her. The girl said, “As this is the King’s will, I do not dare disobey. If in our fortune a son is born, I hope you will not abandon me.” The King assented, and when it reached past midnight, the King got up and left, returning to the palace.

Year thirteen [209], spring, third month. The Queen knew the King had a relationship with the Jutong-village woman and became jealous of her. Secretly she sent soldiers to kill her. The woman, on learning of his, secretly disguised herself in a man’s clothing and fled. They pursued her wanting to harm her. The woman asked, “You have come now to kill me, is this the King’s command or the Queen’s orders? I am pregnant with a boy which is the King’s child. You may kill me, but do you dare to kill a Prince?” The soldiers did not dare to harm her and returned, reporting what the woman had said. The Queen was angry and definitely wanted to kill her, but to no avail.

When the King heard of this, he went to the woman’s house again and said,  “As you are now pregnant, whose child is this?” She replied, “As in my life I have not even shared seats with my own brothers, how would I dare associate with strange men? Now the child in my womb is certainly the progeny of Your Majesty.” The King comforted her and gave her many gifts and then returned home where he spoke to the Queen who in the end did not dare harm her.

Autumn, ninth month. The Jutong woman gave birth to a boy. The King happily said, “This is Heaven giving me a son to succeed.” As it started with the pig to be sacrificed and leading him to have relations with the woman, accordingly he named the child Gyoche and made his mother a secondary queen.

Earlier, before the Secondary Queen’s mother had become pregnant, a shaman told her, “You will certainly give birth to a queen.” The mother was pleased and when she gave birth, she called the child Hunyeo [royal woman].