Lee Joon was following the police cruiser, careful to keep at least one, usually two cars between his own and the target. He was following his sixth bride. She wasn’t alone though, which added a complication, but this didn’t mean he wasn’t up to the task. God was testing him. Seeing just how good he was before he walked the true and most beautiful bride down the aisle.

It was uncommon to find such a beautiful woman as this in law enforcement. He’d taken such a range of women, the last being a flight attendant, showing that he could snatch them from the sky as well as the ground. And now from the authorities, from right under their noses.

Joon had long ago selected another woman who lived in Gangnam, a college student in her twenties named So Ra. But the Agent had into the equation, and God had changed his mind. It was important that people learn their place in the pecking order. That Agent was near the bottom of the pile, far below the favorites he was trying to save.

That drizzly little pretty man.

He whistled as he followed the police car which turned to the exit from the highway to a rest stop. They were making an unscheduled stop, likely to relieve a bladder or two. He needed only thirty seconds of quiet time with the lady police, Young Ji and her partner. Depending on how many other cars were in the rest stop, this might be the perfect thirty.

Joon’s pulse built steadily. The two cars between his and the police car drove on, and he clicked on his right turn signal, taking the exit to the rest stop as well.

The silenced nine-millimeter semiautomatic lay on the passenger seat, and he placed a gloved hand over the steel. He disliked guns because they were blunt, impersonal tools that were used to kill, and he wasn’t a killer. But they were sometimes useful as tools of motivation.

The tinted windows of his pickup prevented passersby from seeing the occupant, and any person looking directly through the front windshield would see a dark-haired man wearing sunglasses and black leather gloves, but they would think nothing of it.

The police car pulled between two parking lines next to the restrooms. Joon scanned the rest area and saw that they were two of only three cars and one van that looked bedded down. He let his pulse surge. He could not pass up this opportunity. God had sent me a gift.

Both doors on the car opened. Joon slowed his approach. Young Ji got out first, a woman with a small bladder. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, easy to tuck up under her hat when she wore it. She looked stunning in her uniform. Casting a glance backward, she headed to the restrooms, followed immediately by her uniformed partner, name yet unknown to him.

He pulled his pickup next to the van and waited. His only prayer now was that their bladders would empty as quickly as they’d filled. The conditions were good at the moment, but that didn’t mean they would remain optimal.

Young Ji, being the first to head in, was the first to head out. Working smoothly , he slipped out, shoved the pistol behind his belt, retrieved his case from the backseat, and locked the doors. Bleep.

After one last look up and down the driveway to be sure no one was pulling in, he headed toward the police car. Young Ji, being a cop, watched him. Watched her enemy approaching head-on, powerless to stop him. She likely assumed he was a salesman headed into the facilities.

Her partner, a bullish-looking man with dyed blonde hair, came out, walking fast, eager to catch up with her. He probably had a thing for her and didn’t want to miss an opportunity to offer a witty come-on. Perhaps he wanted to take her back for a quickie.

Both saw him. Both watched him. But he acted nothing like anyone who’d want to harm a flea, much less them. And he didn’t have to act, because he really didn’t want to harm them any more than he’d wanted to slap that little boy in the restroom at restaurant before.

He timed his approach, allowing them both to slide into their seats before he pulled the silenced weapon from behind his back and stepped up to the passenger door.

He shoved the barrel in Young Ji’s face. “Get out, please.”

****

Joon had left his pickup back at the rest stop beside the van and now drove the police car. It had taken a bit of doing to make his intention clear to  the policeman. The man didn’t want to give up his uniform, and Joon needed it. He’d shot the man in the head and stuffed him into the trunk.

On the bright side, the man’s square sunglasses were stylish and his uniform fits Joon well except for the length of the inseam. The police man had been a good-size man with sawed-off legs and Joon had opted for his own slacks rather than look like an utter fool.

The black car he followed, pulled onto a dirt road and headed up a long driveway that ended at a lone house built into the trees. One of those classy log homes with large windows. There was evidently some money in this family. He followed the car in, then parked twenty yards behind it.

He glanced at the police woman, who sat next to him, facing forward. “This is it, Young Ji-ah. I need your help now. No talking, not a word. You sit there and look like nothing in the world is wrong, and maybe God will have mercy on you.”

A woman climbed out of the black car and waved. Joon smiled and waved back.

“Everything is going to be just fine, Young Ji-ah. Not a word, not even a sharp breath. You know I have to do this so that there will be no witnesses. I just can’t afford to leave a woman who’s seen me alive. It’s only one more life, and it’s distasteful, but what’s a man going to do?”

Forgive me, Father for I will sin. I will now sin.

--------------------------------

The day had started out well, a badly needed break after a week of mind bending. Krystal’s mother had suggested she get out of the city for a day.

Why not? Krystal had thought. There was something therapeutic about sitting on the back porch with Mother, watching tall pines grow and listening to birds chirp. No phones, no orders, no deadlines.

No victims.

The police who was put in charge for her protection had called her and suggested a break at the rest stop – too much morning coffee. But she was eager to get to Mother’s and told them to catch up with her, which they’d done ten minutes later, flying up behind her.

The minute she’d left the highway and headed down into the familiar path to her Mother’s house, she knew that coming had been the right decision. Amazing how a large forest could swallow life’s most stressing challenges. The towering trees on either side were doing what they had done for centuries. Regardless of any turmoil that came and went, they slowly, majestically inched their way skyward. Now in their shadow, Krystal felt safe.

She pulled into her mother’s driveway and climbed out. The police car pulled up behind and looked settled in. The cops would whittle away the day making small talk, catching up on paperwork, drinking coffee, whatever else they did while keeping an eye out.

She waved at the driver, who acknowledged her. So, the detail was overly cautious, but she welcomed the added layer of security, especially at Mother’s house.

She headed up the steps to the front porch, rang the doorbell, and tried the door. Open. She stepped in without waiting for an answer.

Her mother’s sweet voice called out. “In the kitchen!” The familiar smell of freshly baked rolls filled her nostrils. It was good to be home. She should bring Min Ho by one of these days.

“Ommaaa.”

So good to be home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(Back at CWI)

Shin Hye couldn’t remember ever feeling the kind of elation she’d experienced these past few minutes.

She’d started as the skeptic who felt tricked into meeting with Min Ho oppa yet one more time, as if the wound they’d opened now required some salt to aggravate the pain. But her feelings had changed slowly, starting early with the way he had looked at her as if he was the one who felt awkward for coming again. It had taken half an hour and a dozen stolen glances to convince herself that he really was uncomfortable.

Now, whenever she wrote a story, the character who averted his eyes and blushed, was either guilty of some sin or felt he had been outdone. If her judgment was any good, and it was, Min Ho felt subservient to her. An irrational idea, but there it was, on his face, like a mustache of white betraying the person who’d been in the milk jug.

Jae Suk oppa went on about the case, hopping around with the pictures, and all the while she was lost in thought, trying to figure out what had gotten into Min Ho oppa, this tall, exquisitely fashioned man who looked too good to be any good at all. Why did his eyes shift when she looked at him? Why did he offer shy, awkward smiles as if they shared some deep secret?

Slowly she’d come to the only conclusion that made any sense to her. He liked her. Not in a romantic way. But enough to feel nervous around her. He might even be – and this was really absurd – he might even be awed by her.

Suddenly it occurred to her that maybe her mental illness was worse than first assumed. Had she finally suffered another psychotic break? Panicked by the idea, she determined to test her insecurities.

Her test had started with a long stare, right at him. He’s blushing. Disbelieving, she’d forgotten to break off her stare and he’d looked back. They were locked in a kind of embrace with their eyes.

Shin Hye thought about fleeing the room. Instead, like a metal dust drawn to a magnet, she’d taken it farther. And so had he, she thought. He was responding the way she thought someone who liked a girl might, and she didn’t know what to do with the idea. But she did like it. Yes, she liked it more than she thought she should.

She felt a bit dizzy. Light, like a balloon.

He’d walked up behind her and her mind was spinning with story – daring, forbidden tangles of love. He kept saying her name. Shin Hye-ah. Shin Hye-ah. And then she’d seen Yoo Bi try to steal him away. Watched from the corner of her eye as she took his hand. Saw him pull away. But she acted as if she didn’t.

She began to float. She could hardly contain her enthusi