Hyun was lying on the floor, sleeping when a guard unlocked the heavy gate to his cell.

"Get up, you swine!" the guard yelled. Hyun groggily rubbed his eyes. He had been in solitary confinement for weeks, only being allowed an hour of sunshine around the grounds before being thrown into the darkness again. Staying inside the prison he lost all sense of time but he was sure that it was too early for his daily walk.

​​

"What is it?" he asked.

"You'll be shifted to a regular cell from today," the guard told him. "Which means that you'll be getting cellmates and follow the rules. Also, you'll be working with the other prisoners on the grounds."

Before Hyun could say anything, a couple of guards dragged him to his foot and put handcuffs around his wrists. On his way, he glanced at the cell next to him but it was empty. Eight had been shifted too.

"You'll be working with the tailors from today," the guard went on. "Ya better make sure that the clothes are well stitched."

Hyun did not rely but was inwardly relieved that he could now work alongside Eight. However, he did not see the guy's face and other than the tattoo, he was not sure what he looked like.

How am I going to find him? He wondered.

The guards led him to the second floor of the prison. Hyun passed by the cells which only had a small window for the prisoners to see through and a tiny opening for food trays to be kept. Like him, all of them wore grey uniforms with numbers written on them.

"Move your feet!" a guard barked at Hyun who sped up. They stopped in front of a cell and unlocked it.

Inside the cell were three other people who eyed Hyun. There was a skinny teenager who looked meek and timid while the man next to him was in his forties and medium built. The leader seemed to be a burly man in his fifties who was chewing tobacco. His reddened teeth were visible as he spat out the tobacco from his mouth. The man's hair was greying and he wore his long hair into a messy ponytail.

"He's your new cellmate from now on," the guard informed them. "I don't want any troubles from you, Ahn Chuldoo!"

He turned to Hyun and added, "Here are your things."

The guard handed Hyun a toothbrush, a soap and a spare set of uniform. The burly guy put more tobacco in his mouth and sloppily chewed on it. The guards locked the door behind Hyun and left him there with them.

Hyun did not meet their eyes but kept his things on a nearby desk. The cell was too small for four people because the beds were cramped together at a corner. The tiny washroom reeked of shit and urine which engulfed the whole area. Hyun felt sick to his stomach and wanted to barf.

"Boys, are you seein' wha' I'm seein'?" Chuldoo sneered. "We've got a fruitcake with us!"

He was indicating the term at Hyun, referring to his sexuality. "I 'eard 'e killed his lover!" Chuldoo went on. "That too in jail! 'Ave ya heard abou' the fruitcake minister who killed the doc, Yoo?"

"And stole his money," Yoo, the medium built man, remarked. "Our little fairy here…"

He pointed at the skinny boy who was shaking in fear. "Jung here is also a thief."

"I-I only stole a wallet!" Jung squeaked but Yoo put his arm around the boy and squeezed his neck.

"Yer better than the fruitcake!" he snickered. "At least you didn't kill anyone!"

Hyun's blood was boiling but he kept his mouth shut. But his silence was taken as insolence by Chuldoo. The man stood up and approached Hyun.

"Why are ya silen' Fruitcake?" Chuldoo demanded. "From now on, we'll call ya, Fruitcake."

"My name is Shin Hyun," Hyun gritted. But his remark was met with a heavy punch to the gut.

Hyun doubled over in pain but Chuldoo kicked him in the groin and kept on kicking his abdomen like a mad man.

"Yer the reason I'm in jail ya scum!" he hissed, kicking the former minister without mercy. "Yer crackdown on my gambling clubs led me 'ere! Son of a bitch!"

He kicked Hyun more. Hyun was now bleeding, his stomach hurting by the minute. He rolled over in pain while Yoo stood up to stop Chuldoo.

"Easy boss," he cautioned Chuldoo. "We can' kill him here. If we do, our sentences will be extended. Let's slowly torture him instead. We've got plenty of time."

Chuldo spat on the fallen Hyun who felt the man's spit hit his face. "Fruitcake!" he sneered. "From now on, he'll be cleanin' the toilet! Make sure he does it everyday or I'll kill him!"

The skinny boy was cowering in a corner. He wanted to help Hyun but was too scared to come forward. Chuldoo and Yoo spat at Hyun a bit more before going to the corner where the mattresses were kept. They lay down on them and soon, fell asleep.

Once they were asleep, the boy silently came forward to help Hyun.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Please, don't mind them. They're quite ruthless so you gotta keep your mouth shut here."

He helped Hyun to stand up and led him to one of the mattresses. Hyun felt grateful for the boy's help.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Jung Jiho," the boy replied. "You can call me Jung."

"That man…"

Hyun turned towards Chuldoo who was still napping. "Who is he?" he asked.

"That's Wang Chuldoo," Jung explained. "He used to be one of the most infamous casino owners in the country but your crackdown on the casinos led to his downfall. He lost all his wealth and the police closed up his illegal gambling dens before throwing him into prison. The man personally blames you for his loss and now that you're here, he'll make your life miserable."

Hyun let out a low curse. As if the members of the Light were not enough! He forgot that there were other prisoners in Aberville who were out for his blood.

"Boy, how long have you been in this prison?" he asked.

"Two years," the boy sighed.

"Do you know the paths well?" Hyun asked. "The passages and the routes?"

The boy shook his head. "This place is like a maze," he stated. "It's impossible to make a proper map out of it."

"Who are the bigwigs here?" Hyun asked. "I know that there are some prisoners who control the politics here."

"Depends," the boy shrugged.

"On what?"

"On how much money you have," Jung said. "You see, even in prison, money equates to power."

"I have money," Hyun claimed. "In my bank-"

The boy shook his head. "Not bank money," he said. "Here, you can't use those notes. What will you use them for? You can't buy anything here with them. It's a prison, not a shop."

"The money I'm talking about," he went on. "Is what you can barter. Not just notes. Anything of value. Like cigarettes, drugs, gold or even porn magazines."

Seeing Hyun frown, the boy said, "Notes are useless here. What these men want are their necessities. Most prisoners smoke and take drugs here. Moreover, gold has good value in this place especially if you want to bribe a guard. Some people smuggle in gold through their relatives and give it to the guards. The guards can also do special favors for the prisoners. Like…"

He lowered his voice and said, "Chuldoo has a girlfriend outside. He gives the guards some gold and they let him some private time with her in one of the empty cells. Half an hour per carat gold. Chuldoo here gives them five carat every week."

Hyun glanced at the sleeping figure of Chuldoo who groaned like a pig before turning over.

"How do I get gold?" Hyun demanded.

"Well, you can always ask someone to smuggle in some gold for you," Jung suggested. "Or, you can start off by trading cigarettes for now. Slowly, you'll manage to fetch gold from at least a few inmates who are desperate for a smoke."

Hyun was now at a fix. To gain power in the prison, he needed the money to influence people. But how was he going to do that?

"I'd say, you start off by going to the grounds today," Jung advised him. "You'll see plenty of people trading there. And keep your head down. Don't let anyone get to you otherwise you'll be beaten up even worse."

Hyun nodded his head but his mind was already concocting ways to get his hands on tobacco and gold. Glancing at Chuldoo, an idea came to his head. There was one way to get his hands on those things. And he must use that tactic to gain influence.

"Fruitcake, huh?" he smirked.

….

When Sunye woke up the next day, she found the other side of the bed completely empty. It took her a few seconds to remember that SD had left for the next few days and she would have to deal with training on her own.

A strange feeling was unsettling her. In the past, SD had constantly appeared and disappeared from her life. At that time, she simply assumed it was for some sadistic plan he was concocting and did not think much because she took it for granted that he would always return.

But after finding out about his condition, she was no longer sure about whether he would return or not. What if he left for good?

She picked up her phone. SD had warned her that he would be unreachable for the next few days but that did not stop her from typing out the message.

"Return to me safely, please," she wrote and pressed send. Within seconds, the message bounced back but she put it on repeat mode. It would be sent out continuously until it reached him. Only then would she be assured that he was going to come back.

Until then, she would continue the work he had assigned to her.