Chapter 1: Release

"Oi inmate, here's your shit. Make sure that everything's there then get the fuck out of here".

The guard begrudgingly set down the blue plastic container on the counter.

White, glaring lights and a scrubbed stainless desk. Used to being surounded by grimy cement floors and blood stained walls, Jin began to feel uncomfortable. Surprisingly, he began to miss the screaming and shouting he used to hear from his cell. Compared to the silence and cleaniness he felt in this room, it felt more comfortable to him.

Everything felt too fucking tidy.

Jin opened the container.

A black hoodie, 5000 Won, a cellphone, and some keys were all that were in his possession when he had been arrested 5 years ago.

He could still remember his mother's face, teary eyed and bloodshot, begging the police officers to not take him away. He quickly took all of the items out and placed them inside the plastic bag that had been given to him, zipping up the hoodie which now barely fit.

He was going to miss this place. Even though it had been hell for him when he first arrived here, he quickly learned the rules of the prison, adapting to it quickly. Avoiding the peope that needed to be avoided, fighting when it needed to be done, Jin had learned valuable lessons here that he couldn't have learned anywhere else. He had become the top dog in his unit during the time he served his sentence and leaving the kingdom he had made from the ground up felt a lot like leaving behind family.

At the entrance to the room, guarded by double steel reinforced doors, Jin could see someone peaking through to him from behind the iron bars.

"You're finally getting out of here huh?"

A friendly face gleamed at Jin from behind the metal barred door.

Gin-su, the only other person to have been sent to juvenile prison with him at 13, had become his enforcer after he had taken over the unit. They had quickly bonded and become best friends, taking on the other units together during riots, claiming territory and expanding the brotherhood.

"Send some bitches over to me once you get out yeah? I wanna see some fresh highschool girls instead of all these dumbass brick lookin fucks", Gin-su leered.

"Shut up if you don't want me to knock your ass out and stay for another month in confinement", Jin retorted, grinning.

"Try it if you can but I'd rather you get the fuck outta here" Gin-su chuckled.

"What's the record again? I lost count".

"Sure you did asshole".

"No seriously I forgot tell it to me again".

"No fuck you".

"Come on".

"...0-37". Ginsu, visibly embrassed, became exasperated. "Leave already dumb fuck I don't want to see your ass anymore".

"Yeah yeah I'll see you when you get out... in 40 years". Jin grinned. "Brush up on your skills and you can try to beat me with a cane when you get released.".

"You're returning to the soft shit fuck you mean, I'll be taking over the unit after you leave. I'm gonna rename the brotherhood too. The Dogs sounds retarded. We'll be Demon Fists by the time I see you again". Gin-su hautly crossed his arms.

"That's why I named it. I knew you'd pick some dumbass shit like that."

A moment of silence fell between the two.

"I'm gonna miss you man. Come visit when you can yeah"? Gin-su's face seemed happy yet a gleam of sadness could be seen behind his eyes.

"...Yeah".

Jin's face lit up momentarily.

"What's our motto". Jin whispered under his breath.

Gin-su's eyes widened slightly, then with drilled intensity he yelled, standing to attention.

"BEWARE OF DOG."

"Why do they fear the dog?"

"HE TRACKS. HE STALKS. HE BITES."

"And once he bites?"

"HE NEVER LETS GO."

Grabbing the handle of the exit, Jin glanced back with a sad smile.

"I needed to hear it one more time. I'll see you later Gin".

He slowly opened the door that would lead him out to freedom for the first time in five years.

"DON'T FORGET TO SEND SOME GIRLS!" Gin-su shouted at the top of his lungs, watching his hyung walk out of the building, knowing he would probably never see him again.

Bright blinding sunlight glared down at Jin. He felt too exposed. The openess and lack of people felt unnatural to him. The packed sardines mentality that had been drilled into him for five years felt like a bad dream compared to the outdoors.

The empty parking lot didn't surprise him. Why would his parents come pick him up on the day of his release when they never visited him during his stay? Jin sat down on the side walk, trying to think of where he could go.

Reaching into his black hoodie, he felt up the arm pocket. It was still there. Grinning, Jin unzipped the pocket to pull out a musty pack of cigarettes. It was almost damp from being stored in the unit for all this time, but Jin couldn't helped but smile lighting it. How hard he had fought with his parents when they learned he smoked. It was better than being ignored like this. Like he didn't exist.

He spat on the ground, trying to get rid of the old cigarette taste. In prision, he had quit smoking and he realized that it tasted like shitty memories. But sometimes, you needed to take in all the bullshit like this.

Jin had been a quite kid growing up. He always obeyed his parents, helped around the house, studied every night, played piano, and got along with his friends. He had a stable group of friends who all enjoyed going to PC-bangs together to play games and have fun. He was never the center of attention, but always there. He definitely wasn't a ladies man (motherfucker barely spoke to girls), and he was a certified nerd.

It all changed when he went to middle school.

It started off as a foot here, a smack there. A kid named Minso began to bully him relentlessly. A milk carton thrown at his head, the trash dumped into his back pack, the bathroom mop water poured onto him during recess. It was endless.

There had been no particular reason. One time, while getting pummeled after class for not giving up his money, he had asked him what the reason one. Giggling, Minso said "Does there need to be one? I just through you looked fun to play with" as he stomped on Jin's fingers.

It eventually cumulated to Minso forcing Jin to buy them cigarettes one day. Entering the store, Jin had tried to force the clerk to give him the cigarettes, ending in a scuffle that left the clerk badly wounded on accident. Jin was arrested on the spot, stopping his life as he had known it with a screeching halt. He had told the police that Minso had forced him to do it, but after the police questioned him, Minso denied everything and played nice with the cops. Minso's parents had also been wealthy as shit, so they probably hushed everything up on their side too, turning all the blame onto him.

Jin's parents had turned on him instantly, refusing to believe him after listening to Minso's side of the story. Only his friends had believed him but they too mysteriously refused to be witnesses at his trial. Frustrated and upset at the unfairness of it all, Jin seethed at his hearing, even lashing out at the jury. This escalated the situation, increasing his original sentence of 1 year to 5.

He gritted is teeth. Just thinking it about it made him pissed. He couldn't wait to see Minso again to teach him a fucking lesson. Dusting off his pants, he crushed the cigarette under his slipper. He knew that he couldn't do shit after being just released, but he was itching to beat the shit out of something. Bloodlust began to ooze from his being.

"Oppa..?"

Jin glanced up. A young teenage girl nervously seemed to be approaching him. He instantly dispelled all bloodlust and glanced the girl up and down. And old habit he formed when he was in jail, he sized her up.

Slight make-up to enhance her features, black hair, brown eyes, pursed thin lips, atheletic body, and the nervous sheen of sweat. She looked the same as she had been 5 years ago, only more mature and definitely nervous as shit. His younger sister, Ji-ho. They had been close when they had been younger, but like his parents, she never visited him during his sentencing.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the police station to him, as if trying to validate him sitting there.

"Jin Sook? That's you right?"

"I haven't changed that much dumbass. Why are you here". Jin replied coldly.

"It is you!" Excited, she suddenly lunged at him.

As if by reflex, Jin grabbed her outstretched arm, forcing one behind her back, pinning her in a armhold.

"Don't do that". His voice, cold as ice, pierced through her attempt at a warm embrace.

"S-s-sorry..".

He slowly released the grab. Teary eyed, she rubbed her arm, in pain from the sudden twist behind her.

"Why are you here. I thought you didn't want to talk to me". He asked again.

"I-it's not like that! Mom and Dad wouldn't let me visit you at all! I came today since I could finally see you again. I tried to visit you many times and send you things, but they always interfered and made sure I couldn't. I snuck out today to pick you up and bring you back home".

"I don't need it"

"W-what? Where are you going to stay.."

"I don't know. Anywhere but there. I don't want to leave one prision to go back into another one."

"They're not like that anymore. T-They're getting older now so they're more laid back."

"Right, so thats why they let you visit me today." Jin snorted.

Ji-ho lowered he gaze to her hands, fidgeting with her shirt. "N-no. But I wish you would come back. I'm sorry I didn't visit you", she stammered.

He sighed. On one hand he didn't want to go back to that place she called home, but on the other he didn't have a ride or a place to stay. Plus he was getting pretty hungry.

Frustated, he kicked the cigratte away and sighed.

"Whatever, fuck it I'll face the music".

Ji-ho's face gleamed with anticipation and joy.

"Wait, can you even drive. Aren't you like 17".

"I got my permit oppa. You never learned how to but you're an adult now so I can drive with you in the car", she stated as they walked towards the car.

"Okay but I'm putting on the seat belt and holding onto the car handle".

"OPPAAAA! I'm not THAT bad!" Ji-ho pouted, as they both opened the car door.