There was a whishing sound vibrating through the air with countless echoes. It was an awfully clear day; no clouds or heavy waves. All that was there was the bright sun and the heat touching her skin, but as of right now that didn’t seem to be a big bother to Namjoo.

From the top of the step with Na’s drunken husband’s belt in her grasp she busied herself out of boredom by flinging it in continuous circles. Luhan, Na, and Ying had gone out on her boat to borrow some tools from a neighbor so that Luhan could fix the door for her before they left. So while they were out, Namjoo was keeping an eye on her husband.

She’d seen a lot of violence, but none of them were as taunting as seeing a husband hit a wife. The sight had stunned her last night. What appalled her even more was that their daughter had witnessed these occurrences, which have most likely happened more than just a couple of times. Thinking about it angered Namjoo.

As a few small waves swept up close to the wooden dock Na’s husband finally stirred. He was a little on the round side, but his stature was still somewhat on the thin side. He didn’t look so old either. The fact that these two were almost younger than her was another shock for her.

He craned his neck back and slightly cracked his neck before trying to move. Namjoo watched his shoulders twitch helplessly due to the fact that Luhan had bound his wrists to his back. Then after tying his hands to the pole Luhan had just left him there exactly as she’d wanted. Na’s husband wouldn’t be able to budge a single inch. Right now he wasn’t even worthy of being dangerous.

Namjoo stopped flinging the belt around and placed her hands on her knees while watching his eyes flutter open. A dignified smile crept onto her face when he looked up. After sighting her he immediately looked around confused.

“Who are you looking for?” Namjoo questioned.

He tried to twist his way out, but failed. With a tight glare he questioned, “Who are you? This is my house, what are you doing at my house?”

“Oh really?” Namjoo shifted her hand to underneath her chin. “I don’t remember being told this is your house.”

“Na! Na! Come out!”

Only the oncoming waves answered him. Namjoo shrugged when he glanced back at her.

“What have you done with my wife?”

Namjoo raised her brows amused by his antics, “If they’re not here, where else could they be?” Tugging the belt between her hands loudly she eyed him, “Though if you look on the dark side, you could say I’m pretty good with knives. If I stab 5 centimeters into your heart, I can penetrate your blood flow and you’d die right on the spot. I see that your wife has some pretty sharp ones in this kitchen of hers. And if you’re curious to how I know this, lets just say, from experience.”

His eye twitched at the perky smile on her face and she watched him gulp at the lame fact she’d just come up with. There was an urge to spill out a laugh, but she withheld it for the sake of scaring him. She supposed that if he’d been involved in dirty work he might as well have witnessed dangerous actions to know that even a small thing as a nail could kill.

“Then on the other hand,” Namjoo held the belt up and turned to look at it, “this belt might as well do the job too. About 50 people die from belt strangulation each year, do you know that?”

Namjoo turned back to him with a stare out of the corner of her eye and smirked. A second later Na’s boat came into sight and she spotted Luhan at the front of the boat ready to grab hold of the dock.

Her husband let out a cry when they alighted from the boat, “You’re finally home! Untie me! Don’t go in the house! That lady’s going to hurt us!”

But as Na stepped onto the dock she just shot him a glance before starting up the stairs hand in hand with her daughter.

“What’d you do to him?” Luhan questioned as she got up.

“Nothing,” Namjoo shrugged and looked his outfit from last night over, “you look silly in that.”

“It’s comfortable,” he shrugged her comment off and turned to the door. “Are you going to help me?”

“Your two hands can fix that,” Namjoo muttered eyeing the weak hinges.

Luhan only shot her a judging stare before she rolled her eyes and grabbed the pack of nails from him.

“All you got was that?” she stared at the hammer in his hand.

Luhan stared at her annoyed, “Na has a screwdriver, all right? Can we just get to work here?”

“Someone untie me!” her husband screeched from outside. “You can’t do this to me, Na! I’m your husband!!”

Namjoo only shook her head as she and Luhan set themselves to work. They finally had the door up 15 minutes later and upon Na’s order they closed the door. Her husband was still screaming outside, but it didn’t look like she really cared. None of her neighbors seemed to be calling her out for the racket he was creating either. Perhaps the whole neighborhood knew well about him and the troubles she had to deal with. After his betrayal she probably turned against him and it looked like her daughter was standing strong on her side.

Breakfast was served shortly after and when Luhan changed back into his clothes they were ready to head back. With Na’s help, one of her older neighbors offered to give them a ride back to the city. Before they left, Na handed her the envelope she’d come with.

“I don’t need it and I certainly don’t plan on living off my father,” Na said dropping the envelope into her hand, “so bring it back to him. As you see, we like it here and we don’t plan on leaving. Tell him that if he feels sorry, to just leave me alone. I’ve gotten over everything that’s happened.”

“I’ll pass your words over,” Namjoo promised then she took notice of how Na seemed to glance at Luhan then back to her.

“Thank you both for coming here and doing more than I could have asked for,” she sounded more sincere than her welcome yesterday. “I haven’t been the greatest host, but I really appreciate all you’ve done. It’s a really special thing for two people to stay together through troubles. I envy you.”

“Huh?” Namjoo immediately became lost, but staggered a step to the side when Luhan put an arm around her shoulders.

“Of course,” he smiled.

The smile that came across her lips enriched the youth on her face enlightening her simplistic beauty. Ying clutched onto her mother’s shirt swaying back and forth as she watched them talk.

“You’re going to be a good mother,” Na commented placing a hand behind Ying’s head.

Namjoo noticed the gesture, but before she could reply, Luhan said while drawing his hand over her shoulder, “She’s already one.”

The smile on Na’s face sweetened and Namjoo didn’t know how to react. Whether to shove Luhan off or elbow him in the stomach.

“Na!” her neighbor shouted from outside.

“You two should get going,” Na told.

“What about your husband?”

“I’ll take care of him, don’t worry.” She promised before bidding them farewell again.

A strong cool breeze floated against them along the way back to the city. Clutching the envelope tightly she watched the murky waves splash up against the side of the boat roughly. Never minding Luhan’s earlier play she focused her worry on whether they would get that gun or not.

Na hadn’t taken the money they were supposed to deliver. When Fluke found out she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. He could lash out at them or worse, send his men after them. But it wasn’t as if they were already in enough trouble as it was at the moment. The days were being wasted away and she worried about her month long stay.

Fluke’s house finally came into view an hour later and Namjoo had to admit she was more nervous than she’d intended to be. Even with Luhan there with her there was no guarantee about safety.

“I’ll go first, stay behind me,” Luhan cautioned.

Quietly nodding she watched him reach for the doorknob to find the door unlocked. With a twist of the knob the door opened and when Luhan stepped in Namjoo followed. A shrill scream of pain echoed throughout the house as the door closed behind her. Part of her wanted to peer over Luhan’s shoulder to see what was happening, but another part of her didn’t want to see a gruesome mess if there was any at all.

Luhan didn’t budge from where he stood, so Namjoo kept behind him still clutching onto the envelope close to her chest. Something hard hit the ground and snapped after another coarse scream deafened her ears. Namjoo slightly jumped from the noise and listened to the sobbing man with her eyes focused on the tiled floor.

She’d never get used to such cruelty.

“Who’s there?” Fluke’s voice filtered through the room as he turned their way. “Ah…you two.”

Dropping the broken golf club to the ground he nodded to the man standing beside him to take the wounded upstairs. Namjoo turned in time to watch his minion force the sobbing man to his feet before urging him up the stairway. He had his hand over the side of his head and there was a noticeable streak of blood flowing down the side of his face. Quick to avert her gaze she could only wonder about the pain he was dealing with.

A silence waved over the room as Fluke stared at them. Adjusting her fingers around the envelope she stepped out from behind Luhan, but he stopped her.

“I’ll do it. You stay here.”

Namjoo tugged her arm back, “No, I talked to him yesterday. Let me deal with it.”

“Didn’t you see what happened earlier?” Luhan hissed.

Namjoo stared back and glanced over at Fluke, “I’ll be fine.”

With that she walked forward and up the short stairs. As she reached him there was a tendency to her lips that had gone dry in just a few seconds. Namjoo held out the envelope to him as sweat melted down her back and slid down her spine. The broken golf club sat at her feet in ruins and she saw the fresh blood on it.

Fluke first snorted then snatched the envelope from her, “She didn’t take it, did she? That wench.”

Namjoo slightly jumped when he threw the envelope against the little table behind him loudly. Fluke reached for the drawer and pulled out a black handgun.

Shoving it into her hand he ordered, “It’s loaded; now get out of my sight.”

Namjoo glanced at the gun and with a short nod of her head muttered a quiet thanks. Turning toward the stairs she hurried toward Luhan.

“Ah…” Fluke’s voice stopped them. “Just a warning, that gun can’t protect you forever. Oh, and don’t forget to sleep with your eyes open.”

She turned back to stare at Fluke and watched him smile before chuckling, but Luhan was already pulling her along.

“What does he mean by that?” Namjoo questioned as she stumbled along.

“Forget him,” Luhan uttered underneath his breath, “he’s just toying with us. Give me the gun.”

Allowing him to grab it from her she watched him tuck its head into his jeans before pulling his shirt over it.

The calm of the morning wasn’t able to reach them. As they moved around the city in search of a place to eat, Namjoo felt her eyes searching the crowds for any possible movement that might tell her they were being followed. There was suddenly so much tension in her nerves and muscles that she couldn’t relax.

Luhan finally decided on a deli shop and they sat near the back away from the windows and the door. However delicious her sandwich looked, there was no real appetite for her to feed. The sandwich was bland and tasteless in and she watched enviously as Luhan ate hungrily.

Where was his appetite coming from? Why did he seem so calm?     

For the first time in what seemed like a long week, her phone finally beeped. Wriggling it out of her pocket she looked the text over before setting it down.

“What is it?” Luhan questioned.

Part of her suddenly felt guilty. Other than heading over to Fluke’s for the gun and the tension she’d been feeling, their morning had been coming along almost perfectly. She could almost imagine Luhan’s arm draped around her shoulders again.

“Sungjae,” Namjoo forced the name out, “he’s offering seats on their next trip to the elephant farm.”

Instead of saying something to stop her, there was a look of long disappointment or perhaps some kind of momentary shock on his face. For a long second Luhan said nothing, and for some reason Namjoo seemed to wait for his permission.

“I’m…going to see him for a bit,” Namjoo continued. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel, ok?”

She watched Luhan his lower lip before nodding. Slightly caught off guard by his act she hesitated out of her seat before catching a cab outside. As the cab drove off she twisted around in her seat to stare at the deli shop.

Why did it feel like her heart was sinking? Why did it feel like she should be guilty?

Sungjae was waiting for her with two drinks in hand when she arrived at the fort outside of his hotel. He sent her a welcoming smile before offering her the beverage in hand.

“Hey,” he greeted.

Namjoo sent him a small smile.

“So do you want to go? I can fill in a space for you if you’re up for it.”

Holding the thin can in her hand she peered over the short fence guarding the flowers, “Can I bring a friend?”

“A friend?” Sungjae repeated. “Sure, why not?”

Suddenly feeling somewhat relieved Namjoo broadly smiled and tapped her finger against the can before opening it.

“Oh, about those apartments,” Sungjae mentioned, “they’re on the farther side of town this time. You don’t mind, do you?”

Namjoo turned to look at him, “What do you mean?”

“Ah…because last time…your friend said you wouldn’t like the ones in this area,” Sungjae explained.

Questions twisted inside her mind leaving her baffled with confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Namjoo asked.

“Let me think…” Sungjae tilted his head, “he told me his name’s Luhan. He came out for you last time and said you wouldn’t like the apartments in this area, so I thought you’d like to take a look at other places on the other side of town.”

“Lu…han?” Namjoo slowly repeated thrown back by what she was hearing. “He went with you to look at apartments in place of me? Is that what you’re saying?”

Sungjae nodded and Namjoo couldn’t help, but let out a baffled snort. She was too stunned to react properly. The anger quickly gushing through her wasn’t helping her keep her mind straight one bit.

“Fine,” Namjoo turned back to him, “why don’t you text me their locations and we can figure something out?”

“Ok,” Sungjae innocently smiled.

Namjoo gripped the can so hard that she almost crushed it. 

***HAHAHAHA!! Luhan's in for it now! Namjoo knows his deed! But will the argument flow in her favor?