Antifragile

“What do we do? What do we do?” Eunbi muttered as she paced back and forth.

“We have to leave, it’s not safe here anymore.” Yujin suggested.

“We can’t, Yena can barely walk. She hasn’t recovered and straining her injury might cause her to die. Besides, it’s not just us that I have to worry about. What about our business here? What about our associates? So many people are in danger now because of us. Who knows what they’ll do to them if we just leave? I can’t abandon everyone and leave them to fend for themselves.” Eunbi argued.

“And Yuki’s family has connections all over the country. Even if we leave Hanyang, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be safe from them.” Chaewon added.

“Is there nobody who can help us?” Yunjin groaned.

“I’m not sure if they’d be willing to anyway. We’re bandits for one, and we’re now against a powerful enemy. Purple Kiss commands a lot of respect, and not many dare to stand against them.” Yuri reasoned.

“Why can’t they understand that we didn’t mean for Jieun to die! It was an accident. The soldiers killed her, not us.” Wonyoung whined.

“They don’t see it that way. They’re holding us responsible since it was our idea and we dragged them into the plan in the first place. And they didn’t take kindly to us from the beginning because of what we did to Yuki.” Sakura explained.

“Then what should we do? We can’t just stand around and do nothing! They’ll kill us all.”

“They won’t come for us directly. I know what Goeun is like. She’ll attack our associates, ruin our business. Once we lose our business, we’ll be penniless and completely helpless. They’ll force us into submission, then slowly kill us off. It’s more fun for them to torment us first.” Eunbi revealed.

“I get it now. The declaration of war was meant to scare us. They expected us to scramble to save ourselves, because then we’d forget about our associates. So it would be easier for them to ruin us financially because we would have focused on the wrong thing.” Chaewon said, understanding dawning on her face.

“Now the question is, how do we avoid them? We know who they’ll attack, but not how. We need a way to ensure our business continues running without putting anyone at risk.”

“They’ll interrupt your market, steal all of your buyers. That’s the simplest way, but it’s also very effective. They’ll offer better prices to your customers, who will then turn their backs on you in favour of the cheaper prices. After that, they’ll approach your suppliers and associates with enticing offers to appease them and steal them away from you. Because then you’d be left without customers, and without any suppliers to continue selling stuff.” Kazuha said.

“How do we stop it then? We don’t have enough money to top their offers. Besides, they could always resort to brute force and threats to get their way.”

“You currently have quite a steady support system. You have regular customers, and your associates are all close friends. I suggest offering certain incentives to your customers, especially to those who have always been loyal to you. Like a loyalty program of sorts. For example, buying items over a certain amount entitles them to a discount on their next purchase or something like that.” Sakura suggested.

“Having a good reputation is important as well. Luckily we have a good reputation for being honest and delivering high quality products. We’re quite a well established group on the black market, and word of mouth is one of the best ways to attract customers. We just need to encourage our regular customers to spread the word and recommend our services.” Eunchae added.

“And if we have a steady stream of customers, there’s no way that our associates will be persuaded. Hitomi and Nako don’t need money, and I’m quite sure of their loyalty. And Yeonhee would never betray me, even for all the money in the world. I practically raised her, and I trust her.” Eunbi concluded.

“What about them using brute force though?” Wonyoung piped up.

“We still have some money left over from Chaeyeon. I’ll ask Nako and Hitomi to hook me up with a good security detail.” Eunbi replied.

“By good security detail, do you mean…”

“Yes, the yakuza. I’m afraid it’s the only option we have if we want to counter their strength effectively.”

“And what if we run out of money?” Yujin added.

“I have my sources, don’t you worry. I’ll make sure the yakuza aren’t a problem.” Sakura quickly answered.

“Now how do we alert them? I’m sure there are spies watching us, so if we run straight to our associates wouldn’t that alert Purple Kiss that we’re on to their plan?” Eunchae pointed out.

“Leave that to me, I have my ways. Don’t worry.” Eunbi reassured them with a confident wink.

As they continued discussing their plans, they all failed to notice the girl hiding under the window. She had heard everything she needed to know. The moment they concluded their meeting, she ran off.

“Unnie, they know our plan. What do we do now?”

Goeun smiled, glancing over at Yuki who was by her side. Yuki simply chuckled, a knowing smile on her face.

“Don’t you worry. We’ve got everything figured out. Just give it some time, everything will fall into place soon enough. Just wait and see.”