“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No!” Bora spluttered. “What am I supposed to do, pretend like I didn’t know? I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to—to piece it together.”
“Well, it’s not what you think,” Dahye said sullenly. “He didn’t leave me because he wanted to. His father made him go. He had no choice.”
“Go where?” Bora threw up her hands. “Why didn’t he take you with him?”
“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand!” Dahye cried, her face suddenly hot. “You can’t seriously be blaming Hyukjoon for this. It was … it was bad luck, Bora.”
Bora’s jaw was clenched. She put her hand on Dahye’s knee. Dahye waited a moment, then pushed it off. She couldn’t stand the thought of someone touching her. Not now.
“I’m sorry. I’m just … I’m upset that something like this can even happen in the first place,” Bora said, letting out a sharp breath. “Haven’t you been keeping up with the news? It’s everywhere, and all the government is doing is shrugging their shoulders. They say they can’t track these sick fuckers down. But even when they get lucky and find one of them, they do nothing but give him a slap on the wrist.”
The image of the dead woman’s shoes swam into Dahye’s mind. She stared at her hands and saw that they were trembling. “What do you expect Hyukjoon to do?” she asked. “How would they even find the people who did this? It seems impossible.”
“If anybody can do it, his family could,” Bora said grimly. “It’s not like you have any money.” She stopped, chewing the inside of her lip. “You and I, we’re just normal people. Hyukjoon’s family, on the other hand … They have power. If they really wanted to, I bet they could find the bastards who did this.”
They have power.
Dahye closed her eyes, remembering a night with Hyukjoon from weeks ago. The two of them were sitting in the car, Dahye’s naked back sticking to the leather seat. Hyukjoon wasstaring at her, his eyelids fluttering. He reached over to stroke her arm.
“You have no idea of your power, do you?” he asked.
Thinking it was a joke, Dahye had giggled. “What are you talking about?” she asked.
“You could ruin me if you wanted to.”
“I would never.”
Hyukjoon’s eyes were dark, inscrutable. “I wish you would,” he said, so softly she almost missed it.
Dahye stood abruptly. Bora’s words were too much for her to bear. “I need to pee,” she announced, hurrying into the bathroom. She shut the door. There was no lock. She sank to her knees. Bora’s bathroom was so small that, in this position, her shins touched the toilet bowl. She looked around. The shower was leaking, and the floor was wet. She listened to the steady dripping of the water and tried to calculate what time it was in New York. One or two in the morning, she thought.
Hyukjoon had mentioned his New York penthouse to her in passing. Floor-to-ceiling windows. High ceilings. Wood floors. “It’s spectacular during the winter, especially when it snows,” he had said. “You’d like it. I’ll take you sometime.”
“Hey, your phone is ringing,” Bora called. Dahye scrambled to get up, her knees banging against the toilet seat. She hurried out, snatching the phone from where it was charging on the bed. The call was from a blocked number. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hyukjoon—is that you?” There was a faint crackle of static, then silence. “Oppa,” Dahye said again, hysteria creeping into her voice.
The line went dead.
It was him. It had to be him. There was no other explanation. She dialed his number, but the phone did that same strange thing it had done earlier, ringing just once before goingdead. She tried again. And again. Bora was saying something, trying to rip the phone from Dahye’s hands. Then Dahye heard a strange rumbling coming from the direction of the bathroom. She looked.
A long shadow loomed over the damp tiles.
For Junyoung, the day started off terribly and only continued to get worse. Kangmin, the smug bastard, kept poking his head into Junyoung’s cubicle every chance he got.
“No pervy stuff today, huh?” Kangmin whispered, after the fifth or sixth time. “Too afraid of getting caught?”
Despite the rage he was feeling, Junyoung kept his expression neutral. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, then asked in a stiff voice, “What do you want?”
“Nothing. I’m just making sure you’re … behaving.” Kangmin paused, then looked Junyoung up and down. “Why are you all dressed up?”
“No reason.”
“Hm. Gotta say, I like it better when you’re dressed normally.”
I don’t care what you like, Junyoung thought, clenching his fists. He listened as Kangmin returned to his desk. At least Junyoung still had his lunch date with Dahye to look forward to. He hadworn his best suit and most uncomfortable pair of shoes for the occasion.
Junyoung went to the restroom and locked himself in the last stall. He pulled out his phone to check the camera footage for Dahye, but she was nowhere to be found. She was usually one of the earliest arrivals, but today she hadn’t showed up at all. Maybe she was sick.