@badheart
The gun didn’t waver. Kim’s gaze was fixed on Akira—a mixture of amusement and disdain passing across his eyes. He was here to take action, to do what his boss hadn’t dared yet. If it had fallen on him, he would have pressed the trigger the moment the other dared to open his mouth with some excuse or plea for mercy. But it wasn’t that simple. The moment he fired, he’d be proclaiming war on the Saio and proving the man right after his smear campaign against the Korean community. Kim didn’t want to drag his people into that, which was likely why Han hadn’t acted. This was a delicate situation, and time was running out. Bleach Japan was already terrorizing their people.
“This is the last time you underestimate me,” Kim warned, biting back venom. Unlike Han, there was nothing binding him to this man that required mercy. There only existed resentment—born from his boss’s inaction.
He shifted his weight slightly, adjusting the aim without a sound. His eyes stayed fixed on his target, tracing the way Akira’s shoulders tensed as droplets of water ran down his body. “You aren’t very smart if you think I’d go through all this just to kill you.” As tempting as that was, Kim’s goal wasn’t to end the man’s life. It was to protect his people and no longer suffer under the stigma manufactured around them after that interview.
He allowed Akira to exit the bathroom, following close behind with the barrel of his gun aimed steadily at him. A tilt of his head directed the other toward his wardrobe, silently giving him the chance to get dressed while Kim issued his demands.
“You will condemn Bleach Japan and label them as the terrorist group they’ve become. Reinforce police security in response to the growing hate aimed at the Korean community,” Kim explained, circling Akira like a predator. “You can frame it as a call for peaceful protest if you want to appease the public, so it doesn’t look like you’re backtracking.” The public was the least of their concerns; the Saio were the most prominent. “As for the Saio, we’ll make it seem as if the fires in Little Asia were caused by Bleach Japan’s ideology. Sell them the idea that your little group is getting out of control and that you’re only looking out for them.” In the end, whether they believed it or not mattered very little to Kim.
He stopped just behind Akira, leaning over his shoulder, the gun lightly pressing against his temple. “I tried to be nice,” he said, voice low, “but you drove me to this.”
















