Ties

"Oh, Mr. Eun-ji, you're such a sly man!" A drunk half-naked female pampered in makeup wrapped her arm around Jun Eun-ji's back. "Is there anything that you can't do?"

"As the proprietor of Club Ethereal, I believe everything's possible," Jun said, bowing to the ladies and the customers around the bar table pulsating with the beats of the electronic dance music. He slicked his silver hair back and swept the dust off of his iridescent bomber jacket. His eyebrows slanted to the right, sensing that his bodyguards were watching him from afar. "I believe my services are required upstairs. If you'll excuse me." He said.

"Oh, not at all! Hope you'll come back soon, Mr. Eun-ji! Thanks for the drinks!" The female cheerfully exclaimed.

Jun turned around and scoffed secretly as his bodyguards approached him. The lower half of his mouth perched up in mild irritation. His dull eyes scanned the faces of his bodyguards, watching them assess the severity of the situation.

"I thought I told you assholes to stay on the first floor." Jun's voice tingled with anger.

"I'm sorry, sir. But your presence is required upstairs. A meeting had been called, and we're not quite sure what to do with it." One of the bodyguards informed him.

"A meeting? Here?" Jun approached the bodyguard. His face met close to his to intimidate the guard. "In my Club Ethereal?"

"Y-yes, sir." The bodyguard replied.

Jun moved away and played the fortuitous meeting as a pure joke by relaxing his tensed muscles like a hyper clown. "I'm just fucking with you! Well then, why don't we go greet these people in this so-called meeting?"

The bodyguards followed Jun in a double-line formation, following his footsteps upstairs in the main lounge. As soon as Jun opened the double doors leading to the lounge, something was offputting about the way his surroundings were. The neon and fluorescent lights above the lounge were dimmed, the entrance's bouncer had vanished, and customers were nonexistent. Even the guest sign-up list had been missing.

Jun turned around and faced his bodyguards. "Is that it? A power outage?" He asked.

"Not a power outage, sir," One of the bodyguards said. "This is where the meeting was called."

"Oh, yeah?" Jun raised his voice, turning around to face the entrance while raising his arms like a holy priest. "Well, where are these motherfuckers conducting business in my Club Ethereal, then?"

A loud thud resonated from Club Ethereal's entrance, prompting Jun to examine it carefully with observant eyes. The bouncer's face slammed against the door, panicking to open it as he struggled with the door's handle. After seconds of panicked pulling and pushing, the entrance opened with the bouncer staring lifelessly into Jun's eyes.

"Mr. Eun-ji..." The bouncer whimpered. A serrated blade with poisonous acidic liquid laced on its edge pierced through the bouncer's lower stomach, revealing the man's intestines and guts spilling out like a bloody waterfall. The bouncer choked on his blood and terror as he was immediately executed. The acidic liquid began dissolving the man's innards as the blade yanked itself out.

Jun froze as one of his bodyguards approached him from behind. His mouth was wide open in horror as members of the Seething Vipers approached him with their poisonous weapons. The Korean triads, also known as the Kkangpae, were adorned in slim armor laced with tubes of chemicals wrapped around their shoulders, arms, legs, and chest. The most notable feature of the Seething Vipers were their mossy green and golden plague doctor helmets etched with mini vipers on the base of them.

From behind the Seething Vipers entered the man with the oni mask, approaching Jun wearing a gray suit and white tie.

"Ah, ssi-bal..." Jun muttered before turning around to seek an exit. However, the bodyguard that approached him stopped him in his tracks. Without warning or hesitation, the bodyguard plunged an ornamental dagger into Jun's side, puncturing his ribs from within. Jun's eyes widened as he collapsed to the ground, speechless by his associates' betrayal. He gasped for air as he pulled himself back, tugging on his jacket to maintain any of his senses while he still lived.

"I'm sorry, sir..." The bodyguard apologized, approaching the oni-masked man with his hands placed in a prayer. "We did what you asked. Now, please let us go-"

The oni-masked man immediately executed the bodyguard with a hidden blade through the throat. The guard's throat spewed with blood, showering over the Seething Vipers. They did not move, for they enjoyed the metallic scent and bloody nightmare.

The oni-masked man slowed down his speed before kneeling in front of Jun, who was in the brink of death. From up close, the oni mask was nothing but a symbol of death greeting Jun at the door, who came in the form of death reincarnated.

"Who..." Jun whispered as his strength waned. "Who the fuck are you...?"

The oni-masked man placed both of his hands on the sides of his mask. He pushed down on two clamps, releasing steam from both sides before removing his mask. Jun's eyes widened in awe as he met his eyes with the true identity of the man. He whispered to himself the name of the man, but nothing could be audible before he attempted to lash out his hands in seething retaliation.

"Do you remember me?" The oni-masked man asked.

"I... I didn't mean it..." Jun's voice faltered. "I shouldn't have said it. I'm sorry-"

"But you did," The oni-masked man replied. "And now I'm here to give you your reward."

The man pressed his hands against the dagger stuck into Jun's side. He gripped it tightly and began pulling up, carving Jun's innards into pieces with each undying second. Jun's horrendous bellows and screams increased in volume, nearly shattering his throat into glass.

"How does it feel?" The oni-masked man asked. "How do you feel?"

"I'm... sorry!" Jun cried endless tears as he struggled to move even the slightest inch. His cockiness and belligerent pride within Club Ethereal had rescinded upon meeting his eyes with the oni-masked man. He had given up everything begging and pleading for survival. "Please... I'm sorry!"

"I believe you." The oni-masked man said, placing his mask back on. He patted Jun's slicked-back silver hair before standing up. He snapped his finger and called upon one of the Seething Vipers, holding a small grenade-shaped pod filled with poisonous chemicals. The Seething Viper member kneeled down and chuckled before clamping Jun's lower jaw open with his hand to open his mouth.

"Unfortunately, they don't." The oni-masked man said before walking back out the entrance.

Jun screamed and shouted as the Seething Viper forced him to swallow the entire pod of chemicals down his throat. Jun suffocated as the massive pod lodged itself in his throat. The Seething Viper slammed his fist against Jun's throat, shattering the pod from within and allowing him to breathe once more. The Seething Vipers watched as the acidic liquid melted all of Jun's organs slowly. The acid eventually traveled into Jun's brain and leaked out of his eyes.

The last of his screams eventually ended when all of his body dissolved into nothing but bones.