Five [Key... Lock]

In her sister’s one-bedroom apartment, Minju sits perfectly still on the couch and allows herself to be shut in by four white walls, tinged with pink. Glancing around she can’t help but noticed that the tidy and sober state of the room reflected Yeonhee’s personality perfectly. Between the two of them, her sister can’t drink—to save her life—and is more graceful and elegant. For those small reasons, Minju felt obligated to protect her older sister at all costs, especially when her stepdad won’t lift a finger to do it. Making it clear that the sisters were on their own unless he found their relations fitting. 

Minju jogs her memories back to last night’s attack. Something was amiss. After Yeonhee went out on her morning errand run and Yunseong returned home for a change of clothes for work, Minju has been to the places of interest. However, her visits were for nothing. She learned that there were no surveillance cameras along the road nor at any nearby shops and businesses. And if there were any, they refused to show her anything. Vehicles weren’t allowed to park on the shoulder of the road either so black boxes were out of the equation. 

After racking her brains, for what seemed like an eternity, Minju couldn’t determine who gave the order. Though she could think of a few names that would want her dead, she certainly can’t imagine who knows about her returning to Seoul. 

Soon day turns to dusk and dusk turns to night. It’s 9 P.M. when Minju hears the front doorknob rattles. The person behind the door lets themself in, in a sluggish manner. Behind the granite kitchen island, Minju establishes eye contact with Yeonhee who appears fatigued and in despair with half-opened eyes. 

While holding a spatula coated with spaghetti sauces, Minju retires from the kitchen to welcome her sister in at a closer distance. 

“Finally you’re back. I was starting to think you weren’t going to come home. Do you usually get in at this hour? I’m making dinner if you haven’t had any.” Minju says, loudly. She was never good at suppressing her emotions when she’s concerned.

Yeonhee heaves a sigh as she shuts and locks the door. Once their gaze met again, Yeonhee musters a tiny smile, “Dinner sounds nice. What did you make?” 

“Your favorite, spaghetti.” 

At the dinner table, with cleaned spaghetti plates in front of them, Minju and Yeonhee were laughing and having a good time catching up. Perhaps it was the food or the fact that she didn’t get a good look at her sister last night, but Minju was relieved to see Yeonhee lively and healthy again. 

“But that’s enough about Yunseong and his adorable clumsiness, how are the girl and grandmother you were staying with? You said her name was Yena, right?”

Minju hums, “Choi Yena, but she’s hardly a girl. More like a grown woman stuck in the body of a ten-year-old.”

“Why do you say that?” 

“She’s a bit immature,” Minju states, then smiles mostly to herself as she tries to describe Yena to the t, “whiny, lazy, a brat, but she’s got a pure heart.” 

“She sounds adorable,” Yeonhee comments as she reaches for her bottle of water. 

Minju looks away for a brief moment. “Yeah, she’s like a...modern-day princess, and her grandmother blessed her, is sweet, selfless, and special.”

“Special?”

Minju nods, “She reminds me of our mom. Mom was fair, if you and I get into fights, she would never pick sides. We’d both either be 'right or wrong',” Yeonhee joins Minju in quoting their deceased mom, causing laughter between them. Once they grow quiet, Minju puts on a more serious expression and lowly says, “When you were gone, I looked into the calculator you received. The serial number was destroyed beyond readable and whoever bought it probably paid cash. Nine stores in Seoul alone carried the same TI-81 scientific graphing calculator.”

“Carried?” 

“The same nine stores no longer sell it. The 81 was released in 1990 and discontinued in 1996. It’s hard to say when, how long, and who possessed the calculator. It’s harder to say it may have been purchased in the early 90s from abroad or around the same time Gangnam was distributing them.” 

Yeonhee frowns, wearing a quizzical brow. “Gangnam?” 

“The American company that produces that exact model has an establishment in the Gangnam district,” Minju answers patiently. When Yeonhee doesn’t mutter a sound, she quickly adds, “Was the death note written in English or romanization?” 

“English…” 

Minju rubs her chin and flattens her eyes for a short moment. “Whoever delivered it could have been a foreigner or someone very young.” 

“So it’s possibly another auditioner father failed?” Yeonhee asks, tired from the repeated and unnecessary cycle. 

Minju hums then leans backward until her back aligns with the chair, “It's possible.” 

Yeonhee is slightly relieved to hear it could be another unacted death threat. However, what happened to Minju has been bothering her all day, “If that’s the case then I’m safe, but what about you? Last night, that fight. What if you’re in danger because of me?” 

The look in her sister’s clear eyes is full of worries and guilt, but Minju knows Yeonhee is the last to be at fault. 

Shaking her head, Minju assures her sister in a soft voice that it was just a bad coincidence. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“Actually,” Yeonhee says, cutting her off. As Yeonhee gets up to retrieve her purse from the couch, she returns with a notebook she’s taken out of her bag. “I asked around the area and discovered that the shopowners and neighbors were paid to keep quiet. Except they weren’t paid money but protection? But that doesn’t make sense—”

“Protection racket,” Minju says the second she understood why she was ignored and refused help earlier today. “But how did you get anyone to talk?” 

Yeonhee blinks cluelessly, “Huh-oh? Some of the neighbors and I are friendly and I’ve brought a lot of businesses to the small stores around here. Wha-what was that you call it? Protection rac...ket?” 

The dumbfoundedness on Yeonhee’s face reminds Minju that her sister never learned of her double life. Although Yeonhee was aware of Minju’s constant running away from home to hang out with a bad crowd, getting into trouble with the police, and dropping out of school before she turned 14, Yeonhee never knew Minju was taken under the wings of a mafia group known as AVICIDE. 

Shortly, the whereabouts of AVICIDE’s former members piqued Minju’s curiosity. The last time she’s heard from any one of them was three years ago, since Soyeon’s death and her fleeing Seoul into hiding. 

When Minju finally feels Yeonhee’s hard gaze penetrate through her, she quickly shakes out of it and key Yeonhee in, “Ah, it’s basically a protection fee. You pay a group in exchange for their security.” 

“So like...hiring bodyguards?” 

Minju smacks her lips together and bobs her head once, “Exactly. Bodyguards.” 

In her dark office, Chaewon tries to fight off sleep as Hyewon reports today’s findings. 

“One of our men reported that the Kim sisters were looking into last night’s inroad and the calculator. The interesting thing is, they investigated it separately. Our man said Kim Yeonhee bought the intel you planted.” 

A sinister grin crosses Chaewon’s pale face as she leans farther back into her seat then shuts her eyes. “Perfect. Soon Minju will know that is AVICIDE’s territory. And when she does, she will raid their hideout and be outnumbered. Once that happens, we’ll be there. Under the impression of saving her from the Big. Bad. AVICIDE.” 

Hyewon stands still, giving Chaewon a split second of peace and quiet. 

Before Chaewon can doze off, Hyewon continues, “While I update you on our new recruit’s progress, I want to add that one of my guys is currently carrying out tonight’s task rather than two hours later because I believe, it will further confuse the Kim sisters. And vitalize the web you’ve spun.” 

Chaewon heaves a sigh through her nose. “Look at you, all grown up,” she says playfully.

“Thank you,” Hyewon says emotionlessly, then she clears and picks up where she’d left off, “Choi Bomin has mastered reading basic music notes. However, we’ve had a bit of a...setback.” 

“Setback?” Chaewon groans sleepily. “What kind of setback?” 

“Choi’s fingers cramps up after one or two songs. I believe it is a condition.” 

Chaewon peeks through her right eye, mostly to study Hyewon’s expression more than intimidates her. “If the guitar makes him nervous then change it up. Go with a drum or flute for example. Or perhaps, even a trombone, you know, to build his lungs’ capacity.” 

“You want him to learn a new instrument under such short notice?” Although Hyewon worded her question in a defiant manner, Chaewon knew Hyewon had no ill intentions. Instead, she can see the small changes in her second in command because of Choi Bomin. 

Sitting up in her chair, Chaewon rests her jaw on top of her left knuckles and lazily avoids eye-contact. “Everything I’ve been planning for the last year is nearly perfectly set in their place. Bomin has to, no, he needs to pass that audition, more than anything he must make the CEO fall in love with him as an artist. Bomin is the key to opening that man’s heart while Minju will be the lock that seals that man away forever.” 

“And me? What is the purpose of my role if it’s not to seduce Kim Jinho, sister?” at the doorway, the duo make out a lean and decently tall man with his hair sticking out in all directions. 

Hyewon bows her head to greet and pay the man respect. Before excusing herself, to Chaewon she says, “I will see to it that Choi learns the drums as soon as possible.” 

Once Hyewon leaves the room, the man enters and sits in the chair across Chaewon’s desk. 

“So? What you got?” Chaewon asks, casually. 

The man sits in a slouch and taps the armchair with his slim fingers. “Just like you said, Kim Jinho is crazy about money and reputation. Like you wanted, 25% of the official music production but I settled for 10% on the condition that his biological children get 15%.”

“15%? I said 5, nothing about a 15.” 

The man throws his arms into the air and sigh, “Welp, the girl was pitiful.” 

Chaewon scoffs, “Since when were you so soft-hearted, Felix?” 

“Alright, you got me.” The man identified as Felix chortled, “I did it because I’m loaded and she’s cute, alright?”  

She rolled her eyes at his response. Coming from a proud womanizer with a previous profession as a gigolo, it was no surprise. Chewing the inside of her cheek, Chaewon leans back into her chair to ponder her next move. 

Meanwhile, Felix whistles a song and dusts himself down. A habit of his to kill time. 

It’s 10 P.M. Minju was cleaning the table with a rag as Yeonhee scrubs the dishes down with soap before rinsing them. 

Midway through she stops to observe her sister’s backside. 

Despite being older, Yeonhee is shorter and Minju always found that adorable. In fact, Minju used to brag about how much taller she was when they were a lot younger. Not only is Yeonhee shorter but she is curvier and because of that, guys hit on her often when they used to meet in public. Since Yeonhee attends University, Minju can’t imagine it being any different. 

Right when Minju starts to feel bad for Yeonhee, for being the one and only to suffer anonymous hate because of her father, a loud glass-breaking noise is heard coming from the living room. The uncalled for clash made Yeonhee scream and cover her head, while Minju pivots toward it. 

Running into the living room, Minju can see that someone has broken one of the glass windows with a round object. As Minju paces over to pick it up, she sees that it’s a phone protected from bubble wrap and two long and thin rocks tied to the sides. 

Wanting a glimpse of the doer, Minju hurries outdoor and onto the street. But as she looks both ways, there is no one in her range of sight. Biting down her teeth, she grunts in frustration. Then irritably, she rips the bubble wrap and rocks off. Once she turns the phone on, she sees a message that reads: Die already, you ! Die!