Chapter 42

[Down into the Rabbit’s Hole]

“Holy ,” was the first word that rolled out of his vulgar mouth when everything finally registered in.

Heechul had never been a morning person, but to his recollection, he had never cursed first thing first in the morning. That morning, though, proved to be an exception in so many different aspects.

He had been ridiculously drunk the night before –that he knew and did not bother.

What bothered him (and made him curse in the first place) was the realization of the situation he was oh-so-amazingly trapped in. He did not wake up on his bed, or in his room. True, to him, it was not a new experience to wake up in different places (when he had been more rebellious in his adolescent age, he used to crash in the night at places he did not even bother to remember). But never in his life would he imagine he would be staying over at this place.

The bed he had been sleeping on was very spacious and comfortable; the room itself was big and resembled a five-star hotel suite room. But gone was all the feeling of comfort once he realized the symbol engraved on the French-door windows of the room.

The Choi’s.

“You wake up quite early for someone who’s been wild last night,” the feminine voice greeted him, and the source of it stood calmly –leaning on the door’s sill with arms crossed in front of her chest.

Heechul quickly averted his eyes from the windows on his left to the door in front of him, to the girl who was leaning there –staring at him with one arched eyebrow.

He instinctively looked down to see his condition and to his horror, he was topless –on the Choi’s bed. With Choi Sooyoung glaring at him accusatively, claiming that he had been wild the night before.

Oh, crap.

“W-we d-didn’t?” He couldn’t even continue the words.

Choi Sooyoung rolled her eyes and relaxed the muscles of her taut shoulders as she took more advance steps to the bed. “Of course not. I’m even surprised that idea crossed your mind.”

Heechul grabbed a fistful of the bed sheet and drew it closer to his chest. It kind of bugged him how Choi Sooyoung was not deterred nor was she anxious about the whole situation. Well, truth be told, he knew that she didn’t have any reason to. He knew that the anxiety was present in his case. If he had ever slept with the heiress of the family he hated the most in the world, he would feel as if he was violating his life’s principle.

“But you mentioned something about being wild and –“ he mumbled incoherently as his arms tried to locate his shirt on the bed.

Sooyoung sighed. “You puked on your own shirt and you refused to wear any shirt when my maid insisted. Don’t worry, I’m telling them to get you a fresh piece of shirt now.”

Ego still lingered in him; Heechul didn’t want to admit that Sooyoung had been considerate enough. Instead of being grateful, he tried to corner her again, “So how could I end up being here, again? I wouldn’t ever want to come to this house so it must have been you who –“

The Choi lady took a few calming breaths before she responded, “That’s not very polite for you to blame me –considering that you were the one who came here drunk last night, yelled in front of someone else’s house and puked in front of their gates too.”

He blinked, having scattered pieces of memories about coming out of the nightclub feeling extremely infuriated, driving madly to someplace, and –

Heechul’s mouth gaped open. “I did not –“

The Choi’s butlers came in that moment and Heechul closed his mouth immediately. Sooyoung glanced at her servants and gave an affirmative nod. She didn’t even give Heechul another glance when she told him, “Just get dressed first. We’ll talk after that.”

Sooyoung took a sip of the chamomile tea –wishing the promoted calming effect would dawn on her, but no. It was a nice Saturday morning, but the night before had not been one. The night before, she had come home pretty late due to the business she had to handle at the Choi office, and not long after she stepped out of her car, she heard the mild ruckus from the maids and the guards.

It had turned out to be Kim Heechul.

Sooyoung would have ignored it under normal circumstances. She did not quite know what had driven her to deny the warmth of her mansion and walk instead to her mansion’s gate in the snowy night of Seoul. It had been quite a sight. Kim Heechul had been there in front of the gates –obviously drunk enough to come to her manor and shouted mocking words against the Choi in front of the Choi gate.

She had had every intention to leave him be (and her guards had been prepared to take the guy to the police office for being a  nuisance to the public order), but Kim Heechul fainted after –and not before leaving a nasty pool of vomit in front of her house. Sometimes she cursed herself for her self-acclaimed righteousness –for she felt that she could not leave him be.

So she had instructed her guards to carry him inside and the Kim guy –clueless enough due to passing out –ended up spending the night at the house of his unilaterally-proclaimed long-standing enemy’s house.

When Kim Heechul finally showed up at the Choi’s living room after taking bath, Sooyoung was really itched to make him remember the disturbance he had caused.

But Heechul only raised his hand and signaled her not to say a word. “Don’t mention it anymore. I know what I did.”

“Sit down, then,” told Sooyoung, repressing the urge to complain about his deeds. The guy looked disoriented enough and there was a unsuitable pity she felt towards him. “I’ll tell my maid to bring you breakfast and –“

“I don’t eat at my enemy’s house.”

“Well, in fact you just did sleep at one,” she pointed out, pretty annoyed. “Look, I’m trying very hard to be nice to you here. You’re not exactly my most favorite person in the world, but at least I’m willing to put that aside and act civilly towards you.”

Heechul sighed –putting Sooyoung’s words into contemplation. He knew he had no personal problem with Choi Sooyoung. The only Choi that he actually minded was Choi Siwon. Truth be told, Choi Sooyoung was the type of woman he could actually tolerate. She was independent, patient, and rational enough, unlike a certain Jung lady –who, although possessed some level–headedness, was spoiled, quick-tempered, and judgmental.

The thought about Jessica made him slowly get a better memory of what had occurred the night before.

He had spoken what he had not meant to say to Jessica. As often his childish debates with Jessica were, he had never intended to talk about her family that way. Jessica had been…tolerant enough to cope up with him all this time. He knew that it was quite a feat to be tolerant for his sake and… well, he needed her.

He was not sure whether he could get her to trust him again though.

He groaned, and Sooyoung looked at him with a confused glance.

Heechul stared back at the Choi girl and let his thoughts out. “It’s not that I don’t want to be grateful for your…generous help; but I really have no time now.” After the line was spoken, Heechul rose up and began to walk towards the door. “I’ll make sure to return this shirt to you and –“

“What are you going to do anyway, Heechul Oppa?”

He halted his steps.

He could almost feel Choi Sooyoung’s stare as if it burned through his back. The casual question brought turbulence of insecurity towards him. It was as if he was slammed back to the reality, to the reality that he was back to square one, again. He had no freaking clue how to search Yoona, Donghae, or Eunhyuk. He was not sure whether he could ever perceive the Kim with the same light again. He might have lost his annoying-but-quite-helpful partner-in-crime. He knew that he had to do something to solve all of the seemingly endless mystery, but he was not even sure which path was for him to take to take after he stepped out of the Choi’s manor.

His hesitance was clearly conveyed through his silence; and Sooyoung stood up. She doubted her decision for a while, but eventually, she braved herself and approached the Kim’s heir. Her proposal was brought in. “Let me join you.”

So incredulous was the idea, that Heechul immediately turned around and questioned her, “Join me in what?”

“Join you and Jessica-sshi in your quest to solve the whole Der Märchenclub issues. I-I’ve given your words some thought –“

“My words?” he inquired further –not quite sure which words she was referring to.

“I don’t want Ryeowook to be disappointed in me,” Sooyoung’s words were soft –as soft and nearly as broken as her smile. “I-I have been too afraid to dwell further into the case because –” she quieted down, and took a careful glance to her surroundings. There were no maids around; Heechul and her were practically the only occupants in the Choi’s living room. Having it affirmed, she continued, “Because I was afraid to learn something that I don’t want to know about my family, but now –“

“Hold on, hold on,” Heechul stopped her before the proposal was fully explained. His eyes scrutinized her back in disbelief. “It’s not as if it’s a membership or anything. Frankly, you’re from the family which I suspect and–“

“Heechul Oppa,” she quieted him. There were nobody around, but she could not take the risk. Holding his arm (and ignoring Heechul’s doubtful, underestimating glare), Sooyoung dragged him out. “Let’s just have breakfast outside, shall we? I heard there’s a nice place not too far from your place. Come on, let’s go,” she stated in an obviously fake cheerfulness. But so queer was the situation that Heechul could not do much but to be dumbfounded and follow her around.

Heechul didn’t finish the plate of smoked salmon he ordered in that uptown café in Seoul. But at least he was better than her. Choi Sooyoung didn’t even touch her food. She neatly cut the omelet to pieces, but did not even attempt on putting the piece into . Instead of having a meal, she used most of her time to work on the crosswords game on the newspaper.

Heechul forced himself to swallow the last bite of his food. He finished his meal by gulping the pineapple juice down, while, at the same time, he kept his observing gaze on the seemingly undisturbed girl in front of him.

Sooyoung had been acting queerly, but Heechul’s instinct told him that her action was not something dangerous. He didn’t know what exactly prompted him to think that way about Sooyoung –who was practically a Choi, at that. Nonetheless, his lack of alarm towards Sooyoung did not mean that he had all the time in the world to watch a girl playing newspaper’s crosswords puzzle.

The time where his patience ended came. Laying his fork down, Heechul brought the core issue back to discussion, “Alright. What do you actually want, Choi Sooyoung? If you haven’t realized this, I really don’t have time to –“

Sooyoung interrupted him before his words were even finished. Not used of being interrupted (Jessica was a different issue –he was getting used to the cold girl anyway), Heechul widened his eyes in irritation. Either Sooyoung did not see or pretended not to see, nonetheless, she exclaimed as she pushed the newspaper she had been working on to him. “Oppa, I don’t understand this one. Do you know the answer?”

He shoved it without even giving it a glance. “Seriously. If you’re not going to be much of a help –“

“I really need your help to find the answer for this one,” she insisted in an uncharacteristic whine that he did not suppose would come from her.

Though undoubtedly annoyed, he decided to look down on the piece of newspaper that was offered to him.

Heechul widened his eyes even more when he realized that what she had written down on the newspaper were not answers to the crosswords puzzle. It cost him a second of amazement when he realized how Choi Sooyoung was much more than what she was often credited for. He glanced down to the newspaper –to the message written to him. He read her neat handwriting silently.

            First, don’t act rash and play along with me. I’m afraid some of the Choi’s bodyguards assigned by my cousins are around.

            Second, I might know where my cousin is now.

If Heechul was surprised, he tried to hide it well. And maybe, those drama classes that he took when he was in high school helped him mask the split-of-second dread that was nearly displayed on his expression.

He grabbed the pen from her grasp and muttered loudly upon writing down on the newspaper, “Fool. Of course it won’t match. This is not the way you spell this word. This is how you’re supposed to be doing it.”

He wrote his reply as quickly as he could and pushed the newspaper back to her.

            Where? And this does not mean I trust you yet.

Sooyoung shook her head and with a fake annoyed voice she retorted back and scribbled more. “Oppa… did you pass the Korean language class when you were in high school? There’s no way this is the answer! You see here? If you write it like that, they will never match the next query!” Sooyoung then turned the newspaper to him for him to read.

            Can you drive well? We need to lose those bodyguards. After this, we’ll go back to your car. There might be some interception devices installed in my car. Go to the direction of Palwang Mountain. And try to lose them.

The instruction was too abrupt, too weird for him to comprehend. But before he could get the chance to protest, Sooyoung swiftly laid an amount of money on the table and stood up. “You at crosswords, Oppa. Now as you promised, accompany me to that boutique, okay?” Sooyoung mumbled quickly before she walked out of the café.

He followed her. He knew he was defying his usual logic and precaution, but he felt no danger from Sooyoung. His intuition had always been rather sharp, so he supposed obeying her instruction wouldn’t be a complete loss. Even Heechul had to admit that Sooyoung was the only one who could lead him to the light. And in such a clueless situation, he would need all the help he could get.

Heechul got into his car (which he had brought along during his midnight crazy mayhem in front of the Choi estate) and took the driver’s seat. Sooyoung’s comments about interception devices in her car made him more alarmed. Heechul had found some tracking devices in his car the night before and he had thrown them away. He was just not sure whether there would be more devices that Yunho could have possibly installed. But the option had been rather limited anyway. Once Sooyoung closed the door of his car, Heechul decided to bet on his luck and drove the car away.

As opposed to her early instruction, Heechul drove at a normal speed. And while she did not instruct him so, Sooyoung was kind of relieved Heechul was quite an initiative man. Rushing the car would only make their movements even more suspicious. Heechul’s calm driving was meant to make whoever stalking them to lower their guards down.

“Why did we even need to dine in that café if we could just drive away from your house?” he questioned out of the blue as he slowed his car down for the red light. Perfect. His car was on the first line.

Sooyoung stole a quick glance to the rear window. “I needed to confirm whether we are being followed or not. And besides, you have to eat first. This will be a long journey, Kim Heechul.”

He thought of the lack of food he had on his breakfast, but decided to ignore the issue. “This does not mean I trust you, you know.”

“I know,” Sooyoung said.

“What would you get from this?”

“What do you mean?”

“There must’ve been something that the Choi –“

“Do you always suspect the Choi has a hidden agenda against you, Heechul Oppa?”

“And don’t I have the valid reason to? If your suspicion is correct, even the Choi does not seem to trust you that much. And why would I trust –“

“Siwon Oppa,” she cut him. “He practically controls the Choi now.”

The red light turned green, but Heechul decided that it was not the time yet to show her his mad driving skill. He needed to evaluate whether Choi Sooyoung was trustworthy or not; and for that aim, he would need to buy some time. Driving slowly ahead, he asked her again, “Your Uncle, Siwon’s father, still controls the –“

“Uncle Myungsoo is just the face of the Choi lately,” Sooyoung muttered. “Even in the Board’s meeting, it’s Siwon Oppa who basically runs everything. My family has never been that active in the Choi’s business line, and our viewpoints aren’t regarded as highly as Siwon Oppa’s family.”

“Still,” Heechul countered. “You’re expecting me to believe that you’d turn your back against your family?”

“I’m not saying that I will turn my back against my family,” Sooyoung clarified.  Her tone was not harsh, but there was certainty tinted in it. “I just want to solve the whole thing that might be caused by a member of my family.”

“Words are just words, Choi Sooyoung,” Heechul cooed without any sympathy.

“I know it won’t be easy to believe me, Oppa,” Sooyoung stated. “But I’m the only one who can lead you to Siwon Oppa right now.”

“When Jessica and I visited you, you said you didn’t know his whereabouts.”

“I did. But now I have a strong assumption where he might have been,” she said. “At the Choi’s office, I found out recent business documents sent by Siwon Oppa to his secretary. I asked the IT manager in my office to trace the IP address of the sender, and I might know from where he was sending them.”

“And where did it come from?”

“Yongpyong, Palwang Mountain,” spoke Sooyoung as she kept her sight on the road ahead. “We have a private resort there, and I suspect that’s where Siwon Oppa has been hiding all along.”

“So we’re going there?” Heechul asked, his eyes glanced at the fuel meter. Yongpyong was at a good 200 km distance from Seoul –and fortunately, his car’s fuel seemed to be sufficient. “But then again, how do I know that your Choi men wouldn’t be there to arrest me once we get there?”

“The Choi men would undoubtedly be there, for sure,” ascertained Sooyoung. “But I know the secret passage so that we could reach the villa without arising –“

“Yes, but my concern is –“

“If you don’t want to trust me, Heechul Oppa, fine. I can do this myself. But then again, it won’t be as effective without my help. And you were clueless on how to start your investigation, right? Then again, what a mere girl like me could do to you if –“

“I never like a gender argument. Women or men, they’re equally as dangerous,” he muttered. He remembered the terror when he realized Tiffany Hwang might be the real mastermind of the whole scheme and how crafty she had been in misleading them all. But on the other hand, he realized that Sooyoung’s information was the only useful information that he could use. Even if he decided to investigate the Yongpyong area by himself, he was sure that he would not find the mansion easily. Even if he did, he knew he would be found out by the Choi soon enough. If in the end the conclusion might be the same, than he thought he could use all the resources he had. His own family was not even an option anymore –considering how they even treated him as either a traitor or a target.

Still maintaining the control over the steering wheel, Heechul then decided to fish for his cell phone in his jeans’ pocket. He dialed the number that he had memorized and put the device next to his ear.

“Who are you calling?”

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually he told Sooyoung, “Jessica.”

He knew that most probably Jessica would not want to answer his phone, but then again, he could try. He had survived so far and gotten closer (or not) to the truth partially due to Jessica’s help. If he decided to lean on Sooyoung’s information, he would need an additional person that he could actually trust to accompany him.

To his mild disappointment, the call was never answered. He tried to dial her home phone number.

It was the maid at the Jung’s mansion who picked it up. Heechul did not waste time and asked the maid about the Jung heiress’ whereabouts.

Upon hearing the statement from the maid, Heechul’s grip on the phone tightened. Having heard all information he needed to hear, he then ended the call and anxiously threw his phone to his lap.

“What is it?” Sooyoung asked.

“Jessica. She never comes back home last night. The guard witnessed that she left with a guy and never came back since then.”

“Perhaps she’s just staying over at a friend’s –“

“That spoiled girl does not have any friend,” he noted rather cruelly, but correctly.

He pondered whether calling out Yoochun would be a wise decision or not. Yoochun was Yunho’s subordinate whom Heechul had requested to silently take a look after Jessica. It was clear that Yunho was never on Heechul’s side. And Heechul could bet Yoochun was equally under his uncle’s influence. Yoochun was the only who might know of Jessica’s location, but calling him out might have made it easier for Yoochun to track Heechul back. If that was the case, then getting rid of the tracking devices in his car would be kind of vain.

But he decided to go for his instinct and called Yoochun in the end.

“Heechul-sshi!” Yoochun immediately spoke after he picked the phone –which had not even rung twice. “Where have you been? No, wait, just –“

“What happened to Jessica?” Heechul interrupted him.

“Ah, Heechul-sshi. Your whereabouts is more important, hold on –“he trailed off and Heechul bet Yoochun was trying to locate his location through the signal transmitted by his cell phone.

He really did not have any time. Gritting his teeth, he then demanded once more, “This is my last question. Do you know where Jessica is?”

“Heechul-sshi –“

“Do you?!”

“I-I lost track on her. S-she came back to her house once last night. But then she drove her car away to the high way and I couldn’t locate –“

“Very well,” Heechul