Kai opened his door before we had even gotten the chance to knock. He ushered us to the sofa in less than a minute. It was a surreal experience, walking through his messy kitchen to sit on a patchwork sofa at four in the morning. A faint cloud of dust rose up as I mechanically sat down. My head was spinning from everything that had happened in the last few hours. I was dead tired. And now, sitting on Kai’s sofa, I felt an overwhelming urge to just lay down and close my eyes. Kris sat beside me on the sofa, leaning so far forward that he was almost off the cushions. Kai sat across from us, cross-legged on an old rickety chair.

The two of them sat in a terse silence. I sat in a daze, blinking hard to keep myself awake. Kris didn’t care for social niceties as he broke the ice. He got straight to the point. “What did you overhear?”

“Everything.”

Even as exhausted as I was at that moment, I felt a jolt of cold energy run down my spine and restart my weary heart. How far had our voices traveled? I desperately combed through my memory, trying to remember how loudly Kris and I might have argued in the dead of night. How many neighbors the broken glasses and overturned chairs might have woken up. The walls were thin and our other neighbors might not be so inclined to keep our secrets.

I caught myself thinking ‘other’ – as though Kai were in a unique group all by himself. He wasn’t Kris, but he wasn’t everyone else. He was somewhere in between, vacillating in my mind between the territory of friend and enemy. And although I was worried out of my mind, I realized that I didn’t actually care so much about Kai knowing. He was, if not an ally, a neutral bystander at worst. I trusted Kai enough to believe that he wouldn’t use this information against us.

Kris’ face was ashen. He must have been thinking the same thing as me. Only he didn’t trust Kai as much as I did. He didn't trust Kai at all. “Everything. You heard everything. Everything and nothing right?”

We were playing a game and it was Kai’s move.  

“No,” Kai said flatly. “I heard everything.”

Kai wasn’t playing our game. Not the game that he himself knew so well, of unsaid secrets, implicit agreements and silent understandings. He was breaking our rules. Kris’ expression hardened. “Look. You’re a good kid. I know it. So forget about all this. All right?”

“No,” Kai said, “I won’t. I can’t pretend anymore that nothing’s the matter. You think I don’t notice anything? You sneaking around all hours of the day, carrying this and that? Men coming around in suits? Hiding packages in your apartment? You think I don't have eyes?”

Kris clenched his hands so hard that the veins protruded violently against his skin. I knew he generally liked Kai, thought of him as an okay guy. Now though, looking at him, I could tell that he wanted to hurt Kai very badly. Dreamlike, Kris stood up with frightening precision and in three steps, he was right in front of Kai. His fist connected with Kai’s cheekbone, and Kai toppled over in his chair. I froze, unable to process Kris' outburst of violence, even as I had known it was inevitable.

“This,” Kris said, looming over Kai, “is our life. My life and May’s life. Stay the out.”

Kai slowly stood up, his jaw terribly tight. “I can help you right now in ways that no one else can, if you’d just let me explain. If you’d stamp down your stupid pride for a minute.”

At this point, I intervened, stepping between them. My heart was pounding. I still couldn't believe that Kris had actually punched him. “Kris, stop being so hasty. Let Kai talk.”

Kris looked at me, and I could see the surprise in his eyes quickly morph into hurt and betrayal. That I had chosen a stranger over the only family I had left.

“Fine,” Kris spat, eyes narrowing. “Go ahead, explain.”

“Stop that,” I snapped, my temper getting the better of me. I was tired of all this arguing and fighting. I wanted a normal, civilized conversation and my older brother was acting like a stubborn child. I turned to Kai. “Sorry,” I said, genuinely contrite. “I’m sorry that my brother is such a prick.”

Although Kai didn’t say anything, his jaw unclenched. He turned around and started to rummage around in a chest. “How much money do you have?”

It took a moment for me and Kris to realize he was talking to us. “What?” Kris asked, bewildered.

“Money. Do you have money lying around in your apartment? Or what about a savings account?” Kai was impatiently throwing clothes out of the chest.

“I have around thirty-five thousand won saved up,” Kris said. He sounded defensive, as though he were trying to justify our indigence, even in circumstances such as these. It must have killed him, to admit how little we actually had.

Kai spun around, holding out a thick envelope. “Take this.”

Kris hesitated, but I didn’t. I knew from the rustle of the envelope that it contained money.

A lot of it.

I opened the envelope with steady hands.

“That’s seven million won.”

My heart skipped a beat. Kai looked directly at Kris.

“I want you to take it and leave. Start a new life.”