July 12, 2032 - Junkie’s house, 10am.

  After Seohwa, Jiho and Yerin were updated on what happened on the first job, Seohwa sighed, “I’m just glad the three of you are safe. You guys should rest for the day.”

  Yerin hummed cheerfully, “As for the cut, how about we split it evenly among us for now? Since the $500K was supposed to be for all of us anyway until Junkie spent it on gambling.”

  Mantis and Hwayon opened both the suitcases as they gasped at the huge amount of cash.

  Jiho stammered, “So, what is that? $1M divided by 6?”

  “We’re not including Junkie?” Seohwa glanced at the group with her brows raised.

  “I think it’s fair to say, he gets last dibs for spending $500K on gambling…” Yerin huffed.

  “And, he wasn’t going to give us our cut.” Minggu’s jaw tightened at the thought of it.

  Taeseok munched on some chips as he suggested, “Why not give the leftovers to Junkie? If we divide it by the 6 of us first. We each should get $160K. That’s $960K in total.”

  Hwayeon sighed, “That means Junkie gets $40K. Alright, that sounds like the best way to minimise his loss if he were to gamble again.”

  Minggu and Hwayeon each counted the cash and gave everyone $160K each.

  When Junkie came down after sleeping in and saw them splitting the cash, he walked towards them and asked, “What’s my share?”

  “It’s 40K.” / “40K.”

  They all answered at the same time.

  “What the…” Junkie’s jaw dropped as he sighed, “Ya can’t do that! How am I supposed to pay taxes then?”

  “Taxes?” They all looked at him, confused.

  “Aren’t you presumed to be dead?” Seohwa crossed her arms at him suspiciously, “You wouldn’t need to pay taxes to the American government.”

  Junkie flinched as he realised he stuffed up. He chuckled to ease the tension, “Ya know what? Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

  “Hold it.” Yerin held his shoulders and froze it, “What do you mean taxes?”

  “You’re not getting out of this one that easily.” Hwayeon sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes.

  ***

  “The Gambler’s debt association?” Seohwa incredulously asked, “So? How much in tax do you owe them for joining their gambling so far?”

  “…” Junkie sighed and answered reluctantly, “$5M.”

  “$5M?!!!” They all yelled.

  “You’re an idiot!” Jiho yelled.

  “Way more than Jiho!” Yerin nodded.

  Jiho glared at her, “Hey!”

  “Don’t worry, they give you a loan to spend for every gamble and you just pay it back little by little.” Junkie pouted.

  “… Junkie…” Taeseok looked at him pitifully, “That loan is the reason why you owe $5M.”

  Hwayeon groaned as she placed her head on the table, “How are we supposed to pay all that?”

  “When is the next tax period going to end?” Seohwa asked.

  “They collect it once a week on Wednesdays.” Junkie sulked as he was given such murderous gazes from teenagers decades younger than him

  “So, in two days.” Yerin sighed.

  Taeseok glanced at Seohwa, “I think it’s about time for you to step up, Viper.”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking so too, Bear.” Seohwa smirked, “Say, do they allow underage gamblers?”

  “It’s illegal. They could if ya have money.” Junkie then realised, “No. Ya may be a lucky gremlin, but I ain’t gonna have ya go gamble.”

  “I rigged the lottery.” Seohwa confessed.

  “… What?” Junkie was baffled, “Then… ya ain’t a lucky gremlin?”

  “Of course not. I don’t leave things to chance. I guarantee I will pay your full $5M back…” Seohwa glanced at everyone, “For now, everyone should trust me and give me their share of cash. If I’m going to do it, they need a reason to let me in.”

  “Sure. Here is mine.” Jiho gave his cash to Seohwa first. Yerin followed suit and so did everyone else.

  Junkie was baffled that they could trust her so easily as he asked her, “How do ya get people to trust you so easily?”

  “It’s simple. I keep my word.” Seohwa stood up as she placed a hand on her hips, “So you should too.”

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  “…” Junkie sighed as he reluctantly gave her his measly $40K, “Just this once… for now.”

  “That’s all I’m asking.” Seohwa smiled, “Now then, lead the way.”

  ***

  2 hours later - Dust Devil Den.

  Underneath a gas station at the border of Utah was the gambling den that Junkie often frequents.

  Black security guards stopped Junkie and Seohwa as Junkie smiled, “Hey guys, it’s me! I’m here because this lass wants to join in on the fun.”

  The manager came after being informed it was Junkie and a kid, “You know, you’re not supposed to bring a kid, right?”

  “I’m no kid.” Seohwa placed a hand on her hips, acting like a spoiled brat, “I’m a lady and one that brings you $1M as my buy-in, for now.”

  At her words, the manager’s eyes brightened, “Of course, of course! Please come in! You, fetch a drink…” He had pointed to a waiter before facing her, “What would you like, missy?”

  “Apple Juice.” Seohwa smirked arrogantly. Junkie was baffled at her superb acting as a spoiled princess.

  The manager introduced himself, “My name is Marcus. And the name of the missy is…?”

  “I thought you don’t allow real names here?” Seohwa frowned, “Junkie here told me that.”

  “Oh why yes, of course! This is just to put it down in our ledger that you shall be participating in our fine establishment.”

  “Hmph, it’s Sasha.” Seohwa flipped her hair back, acting irritated at the bothersome bookkeeping.

  Marcus knew she was lying about her name. But it didn’t matter to him since she was bringing money in. “Miss Sasha, first, I would like to thank you for joining us this fine evening.” Marcus clasped his hands together, tasting the money as he had them sit at a poker table.

  “This is the poker I first heard about?” Seohwa raised her brows curiously, “I’ve never played before. Do you mind explaining the rules to me?”

  “Why, of course! Everyone is given two cards, all you have to do is match your cards to the set in the middle! I’ll give you this sheet so you know what patterns can be established.” Marcus gave her a sheet with the potential sets she can make: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Full House, Flush, Straight, Four of a Kind, Three of a Kind, Pair, High, Low.

  “Simple enough.” Seohwa commented arrogantly as she gave it back, “I have a good memory, I don’t need the help of a sheet.”

  “You sure?” Marcus was baffled but then again, it’ll be her loss and their win if she fails, “Why, of course, Miss Sasha.”

  The first round:

  Seohwa smiled innocently. Her eyes slowly turned green and checked everyone’s cards including the dealer’s deck.

  Seohwa didn’t need to touch her cards to see what she had. A pair of Jacks.

  I see, they want me to win…

  Thanks for the free money then…

  Junkie, who was behind her, was super nervous.

  Brat, ya better win.

  Seohwa smirked as she placed a $500K raise from the $10k check-in, shocking everyone there, “What? It’s not a gamble if I don’t play safe in the first round.”

  “Miss Sasha, you haven’t even looked at your cards.” Marcus sweated.

  “What? Have you never seen a gambler not check their cards before or what?” Seohwa puffed her chest out.

  Marcus sighed, he wondered what to do if everyone else would fold but instead, the men at the table chuckled at the easy prey before them, “Don’t worry about it Marcus. Let the lady do what she wants.”

  It was the man with a scar on his face who called her $500K. “I’m in. I like the lady’s guts.”

  Seohwa frowned, still acting like a spoiled princess, “Guts is quite crude, Mister…?”

  “It’s Bill.”

  “Bill, let’s have a good game.” Seohwa smirked.

  Junkie didn’t know what she was doing but stayed quiet.

  She said to trust her…

  But that’s $500K, goddammit!

  The other three folded as the dealer revealed the cards:

  King Heart, Ace Heart, Jack Clubs, Jack Diamond, 9 Diamond.

  Bill chuckled as he opened his cards, “I got a pair King.”

  Seohwa smiled, “Then what do four Jacks do?” She revealed her two Jacks.

  Bill gasped but she could tell he was faking, “My word, you did good, lady. Well, my $500K is yours.”

  He gave her his chips as she hummed cheerfully, acting as if she didn’t know they'd let her win for the first few rounds.

  Seohwa chuckled, “I feel lucky today! Junkie, I don’t understand how you fail at poker when it’s this easy.” She winked at him.

  Junkie flinched and acted nervously, “Miss Sasha… please be careful…”

  But internally…

  Hahaha! This brat is as sly as a snake!

  ***

  During the first five rounds of winnings, Seohwa now had $4M worth of chips.

  In the 6th round, Marcus nudged the dealer and swapped with him, “Now, I shall be the dealer for this round until the 10th round. For the sake of fairness, dealers are in a swap rotation every 5 rounds.”

  Marcus was screaming joyfully inside.

  This brat doesn’t bother looking at her cards.

  She’s an easy prey…

  I’ll take all your chips, Miss Sasha…

  Marcus dealt the cards and Seohwa didn’t bother touching her cards as she tilted her head, “Hm? I think I’ll sit this round out.”

  What? Why all of a sudden?

  Marcus asked, “But you haven’t even looked at your cards?”

  “I don’t know. I just feel like it’s a bad hand.” Seohwa yawned.

  Marcus flinched.

  A lion’s cub is still a lion…

  She has quite the instinct…

  The next five rounds since Marcus began to deal, Seohwa didn’t check in at all as she kept her $4M worth of chips.

  Marcus was seething inside as he had no choice but to send in another dealer.

  Seohwa perked up as she placed a $1M check-in, “Well, I suddenly feel lucky, I wonder why?”

  Marcus smiled but inside he was cursing her out. The dealer he sent was from a different faction of the gang so he had no control over him.

  The third dealer was a young man who seemed like he was still in his teens as he had a bulldog tattoo on his right arm. He smirked and began to shuffle really fast.

  Seohwa acted fascinated at his quick shuffling as she clapped, “That’s amazing! What’s your name?”

  “The name is… Max, Miss Sasha.” Max smiled gently but Seohwa felt wary of this dealer more than Marcus.

  Even if she felt wary of him, she continued to act, “Perhaps I should hire you to my mansion just for your card skills, Max?”

  “…”

  Max didn’t respond as he simply shuffled.

  The only reason she checked-in for this round was because she had her wind detection ability to see the cards regardless of shuffling technique. But somehow, the way he shuffled was so fast that no normal cheater would be able to remember all the sequences.

  Unfortunately, Max didn’t account for abnormal cheaters like Seohwa who was an awakener.

  The 11th round:

  Seohwa once more didn’t look at the cards as her rich fellow gamblers on her side were nervous at her $1M check-in.

  But because they had their pride and the fact they lost a lot of money, they had no choice but to check-in.

  So on the poker table, every person placed $1M as a check-in.

  Max dealt the cards. The cards were as follows:

  King Diamond, Jack Diamond, Queen Diamond, 10 Diamond, 3 Heart.

  Thankfully, no one had raised since $1M was already too much anyway, so everyone called for the whole game of the 11th round.

  The gamblers’ on Seohwa’s table began to groan, knowing they had lost. All that was left was the dealer and Seohwa.

  Seohwa smirked, “Would you like to reveal your cards first?”

  Max smirked and nodded. He revealed his cards: 2 Heart and 9 Diamond.

  Max flinched when he saw the cards he got but continued to smile, “A straight flush.” Seohwa could tell that he wasn’t expecting that.

  Seohwa chuckled, “Why don’t you reveal my cards for me, Max?” Max reached out and he revealed her cards: 8 diamonds and an Ace Diamond.

  “Wow! A Royal Flush? Aren’t I lucky?” She gasped, acting shocked as she excitedly stood up, “That was a good game… Though, I feel my luck has run out. Marcus, won’t you be a dear and transfer this $8M worth of chips into cash?”

  Click.

  As she faced out, she noticed the security pointing their guns out towards her and Junkie. She frowned, “What is this?”

  Clap. Clap. Clap.

  Max finally laughed and revealed his true nature, “Splendid! I was sure I gave you the 9 diamonds!”

  Seohwa smirked, “So you admit your little cheating?”

  “Yes yes I did. I mean this is an illegal den. Of course there would be.” Max chuckled as he flipped his blonde hair back as Marcus gasped, “Y-you’re Mad Max?”

  “In the flesh…” Max looked at Seohwa intrigued, “My question is, how did you get the Royal Flush, Miss Sasha?”