ღ III ღ

Baekhyun walks up the steps to the home of the last name on their list. Ray tails him closely from behind, murmuring to himself as he skims over the information written on the paper. As the two of them approaches the small stand-alone house, situated a little far away from the main street, Baekhyun can’t help thinking just how much it reminds him of his old house – one which he shared with his late father.

It’s been over ten years now, but memories never go away and time doesn’t heal everything.

“Who do we have here?” he asks, glancing over his shoulder briefly to check if the kid is still behind him.

“Hmm…her name is Park Chorong.”

Baekhyun’s steps come to an abrupt halt. Ray, who was following blindly, almost trip over his own foot.

“Hyung…why are we stopping?”

Did he hear wrongly? How many Park Chorong could there be exactly? What are the chances of this one being the same girl he had just talked to the previous night?

“What did you say her name is again?”

“Park Chorong,” Ray repeats in a louder voice. “She lives with her younger brother, Park Jimin. They have been in a debt with us for – “

“No parents?”

“No…” Ray says slowly and pushes the paper towards Baekhyun. “Here – this is what we have on them.”

He quickly scans through the contents, heart sinking as he swallows in every word. She is definitely the Park Chorong that he knows; working as a bartender in Spade & Clover Club, 23 years of age, sole guardian to her only brother and apparently, she’s been paying off her father’s debt for the last 8 years.

And she still has a large sum remaining to be paid.

Baekhyun folds the paper into half and keeps it inside his blazer side pocket.

“Ray…” he begins, turning to face the younger guy. “Why don’t you wait in the car for me? I’ve got this.”

“But hyung – “

“Do me a favour and run through the list again. Calculate the money we’ve collected and make sure that we didn’t miss anything.”

Ray looks skeptical, but still he agrees as he scratches the back of his head. “Okay hyung, I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Baekhyun waits until he is out of sight, before trudging forward in his steps again and racking his brain for a legitimate excuse which could explain his purpose for suddenly appearing on her doorstep.

❊

Chorong is ready for them. The gun which she keeps for emergencies has been loaded and stuck in the space between her back and jeans. Jimin had gone off to Minsoo’s house as instructed so she could at least breathe easy about that. Only, she has no idea what they would do once they discover that her brother is missing.

Hence, the gun.

At 8pm sharp, she hears the knock on the front door. Bracing herself for whatever’s that coming, Chorong takes in a couple of deep breaths before marching up towards the door.

❊

Baekhyun’s fist was just an inch away from the door, about to knock for the second time, when it is suddenly pulled open.

He notices her crystal, clear pearls enlarging in surprise as gapes open.

“Baekhyun…? What are you doing here?”

Smiling sheepishly, he gives her an awkward wave. “Sorry for barging in like this. Am I interrupting anything?”

“No…” she replies suspiciously, shooting nervous glances over his shoulder. He guesses she’s probably afraid the debtors would come by any second and it’d be a messy situation to deal with. Little did she know…

“Are you waiting for someone?” he asks, out of mere consideration.

“Oh no, not at all! Sorry for making you wait out here like this.” She steps aside to gesture him in. “Come on. We can talk more inside.”

He smiles gratefully as he steps a foot inside her humble house. It smells of home – his home, and it causes a pang in his heart that he couldn’t quite fathom.

❊

Chorong emerges from the kitchen about a few minutes later, carrying a small tray of two tall glasses and places it in front of Baekhyun on the coffee table. She then takes a seat on the opposite side of him and crosses her legs together.

“Sorry there isn’t much that I can offer,” she says bashfully. “If I had known you were coming – “

He dismisses the matter away with his hand. “Don’t even. Of course you wouldn’t even be expecting me, like ever. It’s just that…” he pauses momentarily for the effect. Chorong raises an eyebrow questioningly, waiting for him to continue.

Letting out an awkward laugh, Baekhyun continues, “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Yesterday after we talked, you seemed a little upset and left in a hurry. So I was…worried.”

His confession causes Chorong to burst into a fit of giggles, leaving him completely flushed – from embarrassment or the addictive sound of her light laughter, he can’t tell.

“I got your address from one your colleagues and here I am now,” he grins. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Her laughter eventually dies down as she shakes her head in disbelief.

“But Baekhyun, you really shouldn’t have. I’m sorry if I caused you to worry unnecessarily, but I really am fine.” The corners of her lips lift up into a sweet, tranquilizing smile – one which he finds difficult to tear his gaze away from. “That’s really nice of you to come all the way here just to check on me. But I’m really okay. I was just tired yesterday I guess.”

Lies…he almost spills. She doesn’t know that he’s aware of what happened and how he had secretly defended her. Or how he would gladly do it for her over and over again, no matter who they are.

“That’s good,” he smiles faintly. “I can see that now and I’m glad. Well then, I guess my purpose here is served and I should get going now. Thanks for the drink and letting me inside your lovely house.”

Chorong gets up from her seat too and walks him to the front door.

“We are friends, right? I always welcome my friends in with open arms.”

Friend…he likes the sound of that. But will she still consider him a friend when she finds out about his connection to the debtors who have been harassing her for money all these years?

“Goodnight, Chorong. I’ll see you again, soon.”

Behind her joyful smile and sweet laughter, he can tell she’s hiding something. A secret that she wants to remain buried perhaps or a past that she wants to forget.

Baekhyun knows – because he has one of his own too.

A secret that could cost him his life.