unicorns&rainbows

“See you later, Yejin-ah.”

*

“Yejin?” Hyojong waved his hand in front of my face.

“Yeah?” I asked, realizing he must have been talking to me.

“I said, I need to take care of some… stuff now,” he repeated kindly, smiling at me as always. “I’ll get you to the living room and you can stay there or in my room, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied.

That was not completely true, though. I didn’t know what was going to happen if Hyojong was not around and I was scared about it. I hoped for the best, but Hui’s words still rang in my head and I just hoped he was as busy as Hyojong for now.

He walked me to the living room and left as soon as I sat down on the huge couch, the same one that Hyunggu sat on yesterday. Not even a minute passed when I felt someone fall down right next to me, almost squishing me with his body. As if there was not enough space.

I looked to the left and was met with a definitely-too-close stare and a wide smile.

“So you’re Yejin!” the man said and only when he moved back a bit, I saw that it was the one laughing so much yesterday. I couldn’t remember the name though.

“I guess,” I mumbled a response and he chuckled, putting an arm around my shoulder, his eyes not leaving me for a second.

I leaned back, trying to get as far from the guy as possible.

“Get off her, Shinwon,” I heard a voice from the right and immediately snapped my head in that direction, just in time to see Changgu walk in and rest his back against the wall in front of me. “She’s not interested,” as blunt as the statement was, the last word still unsettled me.

Shinwon huffed, but backed out and took his place on the other side of the couch. His eyes still lingered on me playfully, but he didn’t seem as insistent as before.

“How do you know?” Shinwon spoke again, his question clearly directed at the other man. “Did she turn you down?”

He chuckled, but when I looked at Changgu his gaze was fixed at me and there was a dangerous spark in his eyes.

“She didn’t have a chance yet.” I noticed he was playing with something in his hands and as soon as I realized it was the same knife as yesterday, my eyes flew back to Shinwon.

The contrast between these two men was incredible, but he was the safer pole here. I didn’t dare to look back at Changgu and Shinwon successfully grabbed my attention.

“So Yejin-ah,” he spoke, but it was not the scary tone anymore, more of a curious one. “What did you do for a living?”

“Uh… I’m an architect,” I replied, not really knowing if it was just a casual conversation or if he was trying to gather information. Either way, I didn’t like the past tense in his question.

“Cool!” he almost screamed in awe, “But you still managed to get lost yesterday,” he laughed, throwing his head back and I got flustered.

“Uhm.. I.. that’s not really-” I tried to explain myself, but Changgu was quick to interrupt me.

“Or maybe you weren’t lost at all,” he mused, with a smirk. “So? How was it, Yejin-ah?”

I tensed up and suddenly my voice was gone, leaving me absolutely helpless.

“Oh come on, have you seen her face when Yanan brought her?” Shinwon was back at it with his loud voice. “She’s not a spy,” he said clearly amused by Changgu’s words.

The other man just chuckled and said nothing at that. I was left with Shinwon’s odd questions and even weirder reactions to my answers. It was not the easiest conversation to handle, but it was definitely more relaxing than any other up until now. I could almost forget about Changgu’s presence in the room, as he only reminded me about himself a few times by throwing in a random comment.

It was all fun, but I couldn’t stand their loudness for too long. I felt too overwhelmed with all that so I just gave a simple excuse of being sleepy and limped back to Hyojong’s room. It somehow felt like the safest place in this whole building. I walked in and took a while, taking in everything that I didn’t manage to see yesterday. The whole room was very clean, but the desk couldn’t be messier with various papers, documents, files and tons of scattered pens, all of them different.

I smiled to myself and moved on, standing at the window. I put the crutches away and rested my elbows on the windowsill, staring outside. It was raining, water drops on the glass obstructing my view a little. The house really was in the middle of nowhere as the landscape outside consisted of fields and trees. I sighed and a small circle of condensation appeared on the window for a second.

“You prefer being alone, don’t you?” I heard next to me, right before I felt Hyojong’s presence at my side.

Somehow he managed to walk in without catching my attention, which was odd considering how silent the whole room was. I looked at him, but his eyes were just as unreadable as yesterday, so I went back to admiring the falling rain.

“I guess so,” I shrugged. He was so comfortable to be around.

“Would you mind if I joined?” he asked simply.

“Wouldn’t it ruin the whole concept?” the playful remark came out naturally, before I could think about it.

Hyojong chuckled, lowering his head, before looking at me again.

“Do you care?” he mocked, making my lips stretch in a small smile.

I took a step to the side to make space for him and winced immediately when I tried stepping on my hurt foot. His hand immediately flew to my waist to steady me, but it was gone just as quickly and I suddenly felt cold.

For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was the raindrops hitting the window as we both stared outside. The silence was not uncomfortable though, it felt so natural I lost myself in it for a second, closing my eyes slightly.

Suddenly Hyojong’s phone buzzed and I was ripped out of my peaceful moment. He glanced at the screen.

“I guess the relax is over,” he said straightening up. I sent him a questioning gaze and he shrugged. “Hui hyung wants everyone in the living room.”

There was no room for further questions and I felt like it would be no use asking them either way. Hyojong didn’t know what it was about and if he did, he wouldn’t tell.

He helped me a little and we made our way to the living room. Everyone was already there, apart from us and Hui. I was told to sit next to Shinwon and I did so without a word, still pretty intimidated by the rest of the guys. He smiled at me brightly but didn’t have a chance to say anything when Hui entered the room. He greeted everyone and sent me a separate, longer stare. I froze in my seat and didn’t even notice Jinho walk in as well, until they both took their places next to Hyojong, at the front of the room.

The room was so silent for a minute I could clearly hear my ragged breath. Then Hui spoke confidently, easily gaining everyone’s attention.

“The plan is now ready, thanks to our lovely Yejin-ah,” he smirked, piercing me with his eyes. “She will play an important part, so I hope everyone welcomes her in our team for the time being.”

“Of course is she agrees,” Jinho spoke up, also looking directly at me. His eyes, however, were not making me this anxious. “You have a choice, Yejin. Not a pretty one, but you do-”

“Let’s listen to the plan first,” Hui interrupted Jinho, tone of his voice not as playful anymore. He clearly didn’t like people getting in his way of fun.

“Of course,” Jinho cleared his throat and stood up, making his way to a whiteboard on one of the walls.

The plan sounded simple. In general. I was going back to university to befriend Sohyun and make her trust me. Changgu was enrolling with me as well, to become her boyfriend and lure her here, to the headquarters. That would make kidnapping her perfectly achievable, maybe even easy. After a few days of a ‘spring holiday’ with her boyfriend, Sohyun would be introduced to the whole situation and ransom would be requested. Jinho didn’t say anything else and I didn’t even want to think about what would happen after. It wasn’t already tough to come to terms with all that I just heard.

The plan was easy, but the problem was me. Me being involved in all of this. It sounded so straightforward. Meet Sohyun. Become friends. Help Changgu…. right. Changgu. Not only was I terrified of him, I felt like prey in his presence and I bet it was not far from reality. But to be left alone with him? Treat him as my best friend? Was I a good enough actress to fake trust?

I got so carried away with this train of thought I forgot Jinho mentioned I had a choice. A small spark of hope ignited in me.

As soon as I looked up, I saw everyone’s eyes focused on me. I didn’t even notice they were waiting for my stand.

“I…” I swallowed hard, directing my next words at Jinho alone, “What choice do I have?”

There was hope in my heart but not my mind. I realized my position and the resignation in my voice probably gave it out to everyone. Jinho smiled sadly and wanted to answer my question but Hui was faster.

“None really,” he spoke slowly and clearly with cold satisfaction spread across his face, “unless you want to make everyone’s life harder and still end up deep underground.”

He flashed a wide grin and I shivered. That was not a choice, he was right. But to have to choose between my life and Sohyun’s? He couldn’t be more cruel. That said I have already made up my mind.

“I’ll do it.”

It felt as if someone else said it, even though I clearly felt my mouth moving. The words ringed in my ears like a curse. My head was down, so I could only hear everyone let out their breaths after Hui clapped his hands with satisfaction. People started chatting, asking questions about their roles and I, in turn, tried not to break down crying. What did they expect of me? I wanted and didn't want to know at the same time.

To make everything worse I suddenly felt a strong presence next to me. I didn’t realize when Hui took Shinwon’s place, but now that I looked up, his face was too close to mine. I flinched and tried to move back, but his hand was already wrapped around my arm, securely keeping me in place.

“Yejin-ah,” he said my name as if he was chewing candy. I felt it lingering on his tongue and it made me sick. “You agreed to work with us. What a good girl,” he purred the last few words, making me uncomfortably aware of his touch and closeness.

“It hurts,” I squealed when his grip on my arm tightened even more. There was sure to be a bruise.

He didn’t move even slightly, though, his gaze not leaving my eyes for a split second.

“This is nothing, sweetie,” he said, clearly amused with my reaction, but his voice was dark. “Try doing anything stupid and I’ll make sure you know what pain is.”

My heart dropped and I felt cold sweat running down my back. His eyes were bearing a promise and a threat.