“Mark’s sister is Jongguk’s mother.  Your friend, Mark Tuan, is my son’s uncle.”

The words don’t register themselves in my brain the first time across. I stand there, blinking, thinking, convincing myself that what I just heard must’ve been an auditory hallucination.  What did he just say?

“What?”  I whisper.

“Jongguk’s mom is Mark’s sister.  Mark is Jongguk’s uncle.” 

This has to be a hallucination.  A Kai-induced hallucination.  It must be.  This must be the tree leaves rustling in the distance— playing a trick on me!

“Seul?”  Kai asks gently, and that’s when I know I’m not hallucinating.  My brain is fine.  My ears are fine.  My hearing is fine and… accurate.  Kai said…

“Did you hear what I said?”

Slowly, I bring myself to nod.  “You said that… Mark is Jongguk’s uncle.”

“Yeah, I did.”  Kai nods.  I feel his arms slowly wrap themselves around my waist, just as they did last night.  “Are you okay?”

“Mark… Mark Tuan?”  I whisper.

Kai nods again affirmatively.  “Yes, Mark Tuan.”

“But… but how did you—“  I stutter, “—are you sure?”

“Yes, Seul.  I’m sure.”  Kai says firmly.  “We just talked it over.”

“And?”  I ask. 

“And... we just confirmed things.  I thought I’d tell you before you learned it from Mark or by accident… again.” 

I honestly don’t know what to say about this.

“Uh…”  I start.  Suddenly, like a mad woman, I begin laughing.  I laugh, short and detached and nearly painfully, maniacally clutching my hair.  I just… I just cannot believe this!  I mean, what the hell?!  Why is everything in my life so ed up?!  Why is everything so connected?! 

“Iseul.”  Kai calls, his deep voice rumbling like thunder in my storm.  He clutches my wrists and firmly holds them away from my head, slowly lowering them down.  “Iseul, calm down.  Calm—breathe.  Breathe.”

But I don’t.

“Oh my God.”  I whisper.  “Oh my God, first you being a mobster, then you and Jae, and then now you and Mark… what the hell is happening?  Why are you in the middle of everything?  Are you living in the center of the universe, Kai?  What else are you going to tell me?  What other shocking revelation am I going to get from you?!”

“Nothing else, I promise.  Nothing else.  Nothing else, you hear me?  I’m not hiding anything from you anymore.”  Kai whispers softly, holding my shoulders.  “Take a deep breath, Iseul.  Take a deep breath.” 

I finally do as he says and take a deep breath.  “Okay.  Okay.  Um… okay…”

“Okay?”  Kai repeats tentatively.

“Okay.”  I close my eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I really am.  I just… I just didn’t see that coming at all.”

“Me neither, to be honest.”  Kai says, taking my hand.  “I had no clue until…”

“Until when?”

He looks at me unsurely for a moment but then proceeds to tell me everything that happened they day he found out.  The day we had a bubble bath together in the bath tub—yeah, earlier that day.  It turns out that that was the same day he came to Jongguk’s school to check up on me, saw me with Mark, and decided to eavesdrop my entire conversation with Mark through my own phone.  How did he even do that?! 

Anyway, however he managed to do that, in the end he realized that Mark is Jongguk’s uncle, or as he put it—

“Victoria’s brother.”  Kai says.

“Who?”  I ask, wrinkling my nose.

“Victoria.  That’s my ex-fiancée’s name.”

I nod slowly.  “Oh… okay.”

He sighs and rubs his face.  “I swear it was a shock for me too.  And the fact that it took me this long to realize…”

“Yeah, how did it take you so long to recognize Mark?”  I ask.

“The thing is, I didn’t.  I never met any of Victoria’s family.”  Kai clears his throat.  “I didn’t want to, back then.  I was all about protecting my privacy and everything so…”

“You wanted to marry her but didn’t want to meet her family?!”  I shriek, absolutely mortified.  Oh God, my feelings are all over the place again!  I know I’m not like, considering to marry Kai or anything, but still—after hearing this, I’m starting to question him all over again!

“NO!!  Well… maybe!   Well I was stupid!  I was like 19 at that time, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted!  Come on, don’t look at me like that!”  Kai groans, tousling his air.   

“I just… wow.  Wow.”  Before I can stop myself, I find myself asking, “If I wanted you to meet my family, would you?”

Kai’s jaw drops open, but he quickly recovers.  “Yah, are you saying we— well, I’ve met your sister, haven’t I?  What difference would meeting your mother too make?”

Now it’s my turn to stand there gaping.  “So you’re saying you’re okay with meeting my family?”  Is that an indirect yes to marrying me?!

Why are we even thinking about marriage right now, Iseul?

“Why are we even talking about this?  This is beside the point!” 

“Well… I just— because you— wow.  I don’t know.  I don’t know what I want to talk about first.”  I close my eyes and rearrange my thoughts, prioritizing them.  “Okay, so… Mark knows too?  Since when?”

“That’s the thing!  He knew it from the beginning!”  Kai says, spreading his palms.  “He said he had realized it ever since he knew my name is Kai and that I am a single father with a six-year-old son!”

My eyes bulge out.  “So you mean… he’s known it from the beginning?!”

Kai shrugs slightly.  “More or less?”

I’m silent for a moment or two.  “So um… is this going to change anything?  I mean, like did Mark tell Victoria too and does she now want Jongguk, or does Mark want to have some part in taking care of Jongguk too or… what?  What’s going to happen now?”

“I don’t think anything’s going to happen.”  Kai murmurs thoughtfully as we gradually resume walking.  “We’re just living with this realization now… and the only thing Mark wants me to do is…”

“Yeah?” 

Kai looks at me squarely.  “He wants me to come to your graduation ceremony with Jongguk to meet his father, who he says is a professor in your university.  I think he means it as… some kind of closure.”

I relay the fact over my head, thinking about it through and through.  “I get where he’s coming from, I guess.  Are you going to do it?”

Kai hums.  “That’s what I’m not sure about.”  He pauses briefly.  “Do you want me to do it?”

Genuinely touched by how he’s asking me this, I ponder over the question for a while.  “I… don’t think I’m in the right place to decide.  I don’t know everything that happened between you and the Tuans, right?  That isn’t really for me to say.”

“Yeah, but do you want me to do it?  If you were me, would you do it?”

I shake my head.  “I don’t know.  Think about it thoroughly first, Kai.  My graduation is in a week.”

Okay.  If we’re reeaaaally going to be honest here… I want Kai to come to my graduation ceremony for me.  To see me graduate and to be there with me.  I’ve thought about asking him to come, but now that this came up I don’t think I should.  He should decide whether he wants to come or not without my influence. 

“What if I just came for you?” 

My heart stops beating momentarily.  Oh what the , Iseul.  Didn’t see that coming now did you girl??

“F-for me?”  I repeat, looking at him to see if he’s serious about this.

“Kidding.  I have better things to do.”  He sticks his tongue out, and without thinking I immediately pull my hand away from his clasp and push his face backwards with it.  This !

“Good!  I don’t want you there either.”  I retort.  “Who knows how you and Jongguk are going to ruin my reputation again, huh?”

Kai smirks.  “You so want me to come, don’t you?”

“Me?  Tch!  No way!” I say, glaring at him.  “So how should I act around Mark now?”

“Like a total boss, of course!  Have you forgotten how he left you in the toilet last night?”

“Yah, that’s not what I meant!  Aish, now you’ve reminded me about it again.”

“I’m sorry, does it still hurt?”  Kai asks sarcastically.

“Mmhmm, very much.”  I say dramatically, clutching my heart.

“Puahahaha!  How stupid!” Kai laughs.  “Do you want me to tell it to your face again?”

“Ahahahaha, humor based on my pain.  How funny.”  I deadpan.  “Now go away.” 

I begin walking faster, getting ahead of him.  Behind me, I hear Kai’s laugh ringing gleefully, then footsteps catching up to me, and suddenly he’s beside me once again. 

“Hello again Iseul!  Aren’t you curious about Victoria?” he sings teasingly, knowing damn well that I probably am.

“Who’s Victoria?”  I ask blankly, just to irritate him.

“Hahahaha, very funny.  If you pass up this opportunity I’m not going to tell you about her ever again, Iseul, so don’t do something you’ll regret.” 

“What makes you think I want to know about her?” 

“You don’t?”  Kai smirks. 

“And what makes you think I can’t find out myself?  I have some very awesome hacker friends, you know!”  I say, referring to Suzy and Dara and some of the girls at Computer Science who I’ve become well-acquainted to thanks to Suzy.

“Oooh, I’m scared.  Okay then, good luck hacking the national database of China.  It’s ten times harder than South Korea’s.”

Wait, China?!

My face must’ve said it all because Kai bursts out laughing again. 

“God, you really are the cutest thing ever.” He says, poking my cheek with a finger.

I slap the annoying finger away.  “Yah!  You’d better start talking now!” 

“Ha!  Too late!”

“Yah!!  Kai!!” 

“What?”

“Tell meeee!!  Why is she in China?  Did you guys send her away from Korea or something?”

“Why don’t you and your awesome hacker friends hack that out of her yourself?” 

I cross my arms.  “Because we can’t.  There.  I said it.  I swallowed back my pride for you.  Now tell me all about this ex-fiancée of yours!”

Kai finally stops laughing.  “Okay, okay.  What do you want to know?”

We finally get back to the bus stop for the Gangnam line and wait for the next bus to come.  “Hmm.. well… what happened between you two?”

“Jongguk.”

I feel a vein in my temple throb again.  “No I meeeaaan… what happened after that?  Wait, no.  What happened before that?  How did you meet her?  When did you meet her?  Were you at school?  How did you two end up having Jongguk?  Did she find out about your secret?  Is that why she left?  How did she leave?  How did you find out?”

Kai looks at me like I’m a total nuthead.  “Are you crazy?  Do you think I actually caught anything you said?”

I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down.  “Just tell me everything about her!” 

“She’s not important anymore, why do you want to know so much?”  Kai asks. 

“What?  Are you trying to back out of telling me now??”

“I didn’t expect you to ask so much, woman.  You’ll have enough information to destroy my life!”

“Aish, what could I possibly do with it?”  I cling to his arm.  “Come on Jongin, tell me~”

Kai’s eyes widen.  “Oh no, no, no, no!  You are not using the Jongin card on me right now, young lady.” 

“But why?”  I cry, shaking his arm.  “Come on, Jongin~”

Hmm, I could get used to calling him that!  Jongin.  Jongin!  Jongin!!

Yanking his arm free effortlessly, Kai mutters something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch.  “What was that?”  I ask, tucking my hair behind my ear.  “Did you say something annoying?”

“Of course not.”  Kai smiles a sickly saccharine sweet smile— that’s sooo unconvincing, by the way.

“Hmmm… okay then!  Come on, tell me about this Victoria bi—“

!  I nearly said Victoria !!  Aish, stupid, stupid, stupid Seo Iseul!  How could you let that slip?!

A cocky smile immediately finds its way to his lips.  “Victoria what?”

“Victoria… unnie?” I try weakly.  Way to go, Iseul.  That sounded extremely lame.

Kai’s smile only grows wider.  “Seo Iseul, you— are you jealous?”

GAAAAHH!

I knew he would catch it!

“Who, me?”  I blink oh-so-innocently.  “Of course not!  Why would I be jealous?”

“Because of Victoria maybe?  My ex-fiancée?”  Kai suggests, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.   He taps my nose twice, causing another minor heartquake in me.  “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

I scoff.  “Tell you?  How about no, just like you’re not going to tell me anything?” 

Kai snorts loudly before cracking up again, shaking his head in amusement.  “Okay, okay, fine.  You win, princess.  What do you want to know?”

I immediately present to him the cutest smile I have the biological ability to muster before he decides to flip off that switch in his mind and change his decision again.  “What happened between you and Victoria?” I ask nicely.

Kai looks at me.  “Do you really want to hear it?”

I stop smiling for a while.  Do I?

“Can you take it?”

Chewing on my inner cheeks, I turn away from him and concentrate hard on the road, on the vehicles zooming past us.  Do I really want to hear about this?  About the girl from his past?  What if he starts missing her once he starts talking about her?  What if all the feelings… begin to come back?

I feel Kai slide closer to me.  “I can tell you later, if you want— or whenever you want to hear it.” 

But it won’t change a thing right?  Whether he tells me now or a hundred years later?  Victoria will always be Victoria, the mother of his son, once the love of his life, which might be his first and maybe his last.  It never really occurred to me like this—the actual definition and implications of her being his ex-fiancée, because maybe I never really felt for him like this before.  But now that— now that I—

Can I take it?  Do I want to take it?

“I don’t feel anything for her anymore, if that helps.”  Kai says from my side, shrugging nonchalantly.  “Talking about her would be nothing more than a mere factual recount of a certain phase in my ed up life.  It’s like… almost autobiographical.”

I sigh.  “Okay, tell me.”

“Now?”

“Now.”   

“Well… okay then.”  Kai bites his lips and sighs.  “I don’t think you’ll remember, but... do you remember me telling you about—“

“The time you followed a friend into the autopsy of a heroin addict and puked all over the place of the waiting area because it was so disgusting?”

Kai looks at me in amusement.  “You remember that much?”

“I remember because it had me shook.”  I say, shuddering.  “You met a girl who offered you some water and crackers right?”

“Yeah.”  Kai nods.  “That was Victoria Tuan.  And that was the first time we met.” 

Then he shakes his head as if going ‘why am I even telling her this’, and plunges into the most complicated, winding, and secretive love story I have ever heard.  Basically, that was the first time he met that girl.  The next time he met her was at some nightclub downtown.  Kai decided to approach her this time, and they talked, and he eventually learned that she was there at the hospital that day because her best friend got severely beat up by some thugs. 

Which made Victoria hate and fear them, of course. 

“So she didn’t know you were a…”

“No.”  Kai shakes his head.  “All she knew about me was that I was a bad boy with a motorbike and a ton of money.”

I laugh dryly.  “Charmed her well, didn’t you?”

Kai snorts.  “No joke.  She was with me every single minute of the day because for some reason, I was totally into her back then as well.  So that was the start of it, I guess.  We hung out even more after she graduated from high school, and maybe a little too much because—“

I instinctively turn my head away.  Kai stops talking as well because he knows I understand already.  I know this must’ve happened already, but why does hearing it hanging in the air like this hurt more than ever? 

“Iseul.”  Kai whispers, taking my hand.  “I’m sorry, princess.  The bus is here.” 

I let him guide me up the bus and to a seat for two by the window, me sitting on the inside.  Once everyone has already settled down and the bus starts moving again, Kai resumes his story.  “So… that happened.  Don’t think about it.  Don’t think about it, Seul.  That was a million years ago and it doesn’t even cross my mind anymore.  If we’re not talking about it like this, I mostly don’t remember that it ever happened either.” 

“But how?”  I laugh bitterly.  “There’s Jongguk.”

“Because I love him, not her.” 

And just like that, it feels like a ton of bricks has been lifted from my shoulders.  I look at him questioningly, silently asking, “Really?”

Kai’s eyes meet mine, clear and sincere.  “Really,” he whispers, as if reading my mind. 

Then my heart goes into overdrive.

Again.

As it always does with Kai around.  It’s banging in my chest like it wants to jump out of my ribcage and soar up into the clear blue sky.  It’s banging so fast that I’m actually starting to feel it in my stomach.  Oh God, help me.  Somebody help me—I’ve got it so bad. 

“Anyway.”  Kai continues, “we had… Jongguk.  Everything was fine for the first few months.  Back then, the guys and I— we lived in our own individual houses in a high security neighborhood, not in the HOC building like we do now.“

“One night, while I was out at… you know, work, my house got attacked by another group of mobsters.  There was only Vic and Jongguk that night.   When I got there the whole scene naturally turned into a bloodbath.  We ended up killing every single one of them to protect Vic and Jongguk, but by the end of it, the only thing that registered in her mind was that I was an insanely dangerous mobster, the human equivalent of monster.”

I listen carefully, trying not to miss a word Kai is saying in that hushed voice of his.  Thankfully, the bus is empty, with only a high school couple sitting in front.  “So she…”

“Yeah, the next morning… she was gone.”  Kai shrugs.  “.”

I gasp.  “Kai!” 

Kai looks at me.  “What?”

“…That’s not nice!”  I chide, surprising even myself.

Kai grins.  “But I’m not nice.  And that’s what she is anyway.  You know what else she did?  She got hush money, but she still went and snatch a few from my bank account.  In the end, she got enough to move to China and even start a fashion business there!”

“.  She has enough to move and start a business there?”

“How much do you think she took from me?  10,000 won?”  Kai rolls his eyes.  “Try adding another three zeros behind that and you’ll see what you can do.”

“Oh my God.”  I breathe.  “How—how could she?!”

Kai shrugs indifferently.  “It’s not hard when you have access to it, I guess.”

“But like, does she not have this thing called conscience?!  Plus, didn’t her family try to look for her and everything too?”

“She got kicked out when she told them she got pregnant.  Another reason she went as far as moving to China, I suppose.”

I sigh and shake my head in amazement.  So complicated.  This is all SO COMPLICATED.

“So… that’s the end of it?  Your relationship with her, I mean?”

“Yup.”  Kai nods.  “All is history.”

“Don’t you guys ever… catch up or anything?”

Kai scoffs.  “Iseul, she ran away with my money and left the country.  The term catch up does not exist when it comes to her.”

“So it just ended like that without any closure?”

“No.  Why?  Not everything in life has to have closure.”

“But…”  I seriously don’t get him.  She was his fiancée!

“Anyway, it’s over with her.  It’s over and done!”  Kai says, clapping twice with finality.  “Congratulations.  You are officially the second girl to ever know about all this.”

“Second?”  I ask suspiciously.

“The first was Victoria herself, of course.  What did you expect?”  Kai says, and I smile in satisfaction.  Kai tsks and shakes his head.  “Getting jealous, are we?”

“Didn’t she ever call or anything?  For Jongguk?” I ask, ignoring the large smile that is beginning to spill over his face now.

“Nope.” Kai shrugs, still smiling.  “I don’t think so.”

I gasp.  “How— so heartless!!  Did you ever call?”

Kai looks at me like I’m an idiot.  “Of course not.  Are you stupid?”

“I don’t understand you two.”  I say, shaking my head.  “How is it that you both share something as precious as a child but then act like nothing ever happened?!”

“Because she’s a and I love my son, not her.  So… what, do you want me to call her right now?  Hmm?”  Kai asks, immediately whipping out his phone.

I nearly jump out of my seat trying to pull it away from his hands.  “No!  Yah, not now obviously.  YAH, that’s not what I meant—hey, you still have her number?!”

I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up over this but—DOES HE?!  DOES HE STILL KEEP HER NUMBER?!

Time to hack into his phone and delete it!  With the help of my awesome hacker friends!!  Ha!

“What if I still do?”  Kai taunts.

I cross my eyes.  Breathe, Iseul.  Breathe.  You can do this!  You are a mature, calm, and collected woman.   DO.  NOT.  POUT!!

“Then you should’ve used it a long, long time ago!  Before—“ Before he met me, I want to say, but instead I settle for—

“Before I prompted you to.  Ble!!”  I say, sticking out my tongue. 

“Oh, you are so jealous.”  Kai smirks.

“Pfft, noooo!  I don’t care.”  I say coolly, knowing damn well that I’m going to regret it.  “If you’re going to call her, go!  Just don’t be surprised if you suddenly find your phone miraculously flushed down the toilet tomorrow.”

Kai snickers.  “And you call me possessive?”

“Takes one to know one.”  I smile, crossing my arms.  “So don’t you even think about calling her, you got that, Kim Jongin?”

“What did I say about using my full name to boss me around?”  Kai asks, his voice immediately octave lower and a whole lot huskier. 

“That you find it so hot when I do it?”  I challenge, arching an eyebrow confidently.  Oh .  What was that?!  That was Hoe-Seul y’all!  Not me!

Kai lips tug into a small but so inviting smirk.  “Behave, Iseul.  Don’t do anything you might regret.”

.

“B-boss?  Boss, the Hong Kong chapter is ready.”

The Boss’ thin lips stretch into a crooked smile.  Despite the unflattering connection, he laughs brightly into the receiver and leans back on his chair, folding his legs.  “Well done.  Any new reports about their movements?”

“They will be flying to Hong Kong in around two weeks.  We could attack then…”

“Let’s give them a fixed date.  We move on the 25th.”

“The 25th.  Noted.”

“And… how about the girl?”  The Boss asks excitedly.  “What about the girl? Are they officially together, already?”

“No new reports, Boss.  There hasn’t seem to be any changes yet.” His subordinate replies.  “Do we want to…”

Humming thoughtfully, the Boss takes another slow drag of his joint.  “Later… later.  Don’t you remember the plan?  First, we have to get the Joker.”

“So???”  I whisper as Kai and I walk up to Jongguk’s school, even though the kid is still nowhere to be seen.  “Does Jongguk know?  Is he going to know?”

“Not now.”  Kai immediately says sharply.  “Later.  I’ll tell him when he’s older.  He’s perfectly happy now, he doesn’t need to be burdened with the knowledge of everything yet.  Besides, he can’t know the truth of this without knowing the truth about me either, can he?”

“Well… I guess… Hey, does Mark know you’re a mob—“ I drop my voice down to a whisper, “—ster?”

“No.”  Kai says, loud and clear.  “And he must not know, you understand?  I don’t need him to know.”

“But don’t you think Victoria might’ve already told him?”

“She hasn’t.  Mark doesn’t know.”  Kai replies, glaring at me.  “So he’d better not know from you.”

“No way, don’t worry!”  I say.  “By the way, Kai, aren’t you going to tell me more about that thing?”

“What thing?”

“That thing you do.  I feel like… we haven’t discussed it enough that time.”

“Didn’t we?”  Kai hums.

“No, we didn’t.  I mean, we did sort of talk about it, but I feel like, we haven’t talked about it enough because you were half-drunk that night, and we were both emotional, and I was busy with grad-ball and everything and the real thing was the next day so I didn’t really have the time to think about it, and then this happened— ANYWAY!  There are still so, so, many things that I want to know and I want to ask you so… can we please, please talk about it a bit more seriously?” 

My question hangs in the air like a bubble, ready to pop, and finally Kai does it with a—

“No.”  He answers with finality.  “Are you crazy?  We’re in the middle of the street right now.  Do you want to get the both of us killed?  And why would I discuss more about my life with you?  You already know the basics.  You already know the big picture.  That’s enough for you to know.  What are you going to do with all the small and delicate details anyway?  Knowing too much, Iseul… might get you killed.”

I stand there, speechless for a few seconds.  So… no? 

“But…”

“I said no, Iseul.  Don’t push it.”  Kai looks at me with a gaze that could’ve been made of steel, and for the first time in quite a while, I see the old Kai coming back.  What the hell?  Why?

I must’ve shown too much on my face again because the look in his eyes immediately disappear.  Kai hurries back to me and takes my hand.  He sighs. 

“I… I’m sorry.  It’s just that—when it comes to these matters, they’re extremely private and have to be guarded with the utmost secrecy, okay Seul?  If I— if I say too much, if I show you too much, I could really get the both of us killed.  I’m not joking.  I’m not even sure how Sooman will react to us being like this now.  But I promise you, that if it’s right for you when the right time comes, I’ll tell you, okay?  I’ll show you.  I’ll answer all your questions.” 

I laugh dryly.  “What are we doing, Kai?  What are we, even?” 

Kai his lips, thoughtfully gazing right into my soul again.  “We’re us and we’re going at our own pace.  We’re going with the flow, remember?” 

I sigh.  Slowly, I nod.  Okay Iseul, you can do this.  You can do this.  You’re going with the flow of a deep dark underground river where you can’t see a ing thing as to where this thing is heading, but you can do this.  You can do this.

“Just start praying so that my uncle won’t blow up when he finds out.”  Kai mutters. 

“He’s going to find out?”  I ask, scared of the thought already.  Oh God, he doesn’t like me.  Sooman, I mean.  I can tell that much already from the first time we met from the way he absolutely did not spare a single smile for me and aaaaAAAAAHHHHHHH—

“Yah, come on!  Of course he’s going to find out, he’s my boss.”  Kai holds out his hand.  “Where’s his ID card?”

“His ID—oh!  Here.”  I quickly fish Jongguk’s pick up ID thingy from my bag. 

Kai shows it to the security guard who proceeds to call Jongguk’s name with his megaphone.  Waiting for Jongguk to come out, I absentmindedly look around while Kai busies himself with his phone. 

“Wait, Kai.  Is that Dae?”  I suddenly say, only being aware of it now.  I point to a sleek black car across us, with someone who looks like Dae—Kai’s driver—standing in front of it.  And yup, he’s definitely looking at us.

Kai immediately pockets his phone and looks up in confusion.  “Daehyun?  Where?”

“There.”  I point.  “Did you ask him to come and pick us up?”

Kai’s jaw clenches for a second.  “No.”

I look at him in surprise.  “Oh?  Then how did he… wait, don’t tell me he’s been following us?!”

“No.”  Kai shakes his head and suddenly begins walking away from Gangnam Elementary School like he didn’t need to be there at all.  Suddenly, as if on cue, his phone starts ringing.

“Hello?”  Kai picks up in a flash, not wasting a single second.  Immediately, he takes a step away and turns around, facing away from me. 

I’m starting to get this pesky itch inside of me.  Come on Iseul, it’s none of your business.  Don’t look!  Don’t peak!  Don’t even try to strain your ears—ah it.  We’re all gonna die anyway.  LET THE EAVESDROPPING BEGIN!

Slowly, I inch closer to him.  Oh what a y back— goddammit Iseul please stay focused!!!

Straining my ears, I begin to hear snippets of the conversation.

“No—I—“

Who is it?  Who? 

Oh !!  Is it Sooman??

“Yes.  Yes.”

That’s definitely Sooman isn’t it?   Who else would Kai be so respectful to? 

“I have.  Yes.”

What does he have??  What does he have??

He probably did not mean it like that but—

“Yes.”

Suddenly, just like that, he pulls his phone away from his ear and shoves it back into his pocket.  Letting out a frustrated grunt, I barely scamper away in time to protect myself from the wrath of Kai.  Okay, uh-oh.  UH-OH.  That must’ve been bad….

“.  !!”   Kai abruptly whips back around to face me.  “.  That means that something has ing happened and that I have somewhere to be.  Come on, we have to go.  I need to drop you off at the HOC and—“

“Kai!  Jongguk, remember!  What are you doing?!”  I call, quickly stopping him. 

“, you’re right!  Goddammit, how could I forget?!”  Kai abruptly turns back around and addresses the security guard this time.  “Yah, excuse me, have you called out my son already?  Can’t you do it louder?  I’ve been waiting for—“

“Appa!” 

Suddenly, like a breath of spring air, Jongguk comes running out of the building with his lunch bag and a piece of paper crumpled in his hands.  “Appa came today!!” 

Just as always, Jongguk manages to pull Kai out of his mobster mode and shifts him back to father-Kai— though sometimes only for a split second.   Kai grins widely and crouches down to hug his son, ruffling his hair affectionately.  “What took you so long, Jongguk-ah?”

“Jongguk nearly forgot my lunch bag in class.  So Jongguk went back to get it!  Last time when Jongguk left it at school for a day noona wouldn’t stop complaining at home because she said the lunch box became really smelly already.  Why did it become really smelly, appa?  Noona said it’s too hard for Jongguk to understand!” 

“Yah!  I didn’t say that!”  I shout automatically.  Heol, this kid!  He’s making me look like a meanie!

Kai chuckles.  “It’s because bacteria, Jongguk.  Bacteria.  Come on Jongguk, we have to go.”

Without waiting for a response, Kai immediately begins dragging Jongguk towards the car and Dae.  I quickly scurry after him and gingerly place a hand on his back, rubbing him slightly. 

“It’ll be fine, Kai.  It’ll be fine.  Don’t worry.”  I whisper, hoping it’ll calm him down.

“Anything could’ve happened.  How can I not worry?”  Kai asks in an agitated voice.  “God, if Sooman knew that I was with you… he’s going to kill me.  He’s going to be ing furious, Iseul.” 

I smile uneasily, because Sooman will probably know anyway.  “Let’s just get back as quick as possible.”

The ride back is quick and silent.  Dae said something to Kai that I didn’t quite catch because Jongguk was telling me something about beetles that he learned in class today, and after the brief exchange with Dae Kai has his eyes fixed on his phone the whole time, fingers texting madly away. 

As soon as we reach the HOC building, Kai immediately jumps out of the car and dashes off to God knows where, leaving me with an utterly confused Jongguk. 

“Where is appa going?”  he asks as we ride the elevator up to Kai’s place.

“I don’t know, Guk.  He won’t tell me.”  I say, trying to hide my disappointment.  Suddenly, my phone starts ringing.  I pull it out quickly, hoping that it’s Kai.  But instead… it’s Suzy.

Instantly, images of Suzy and Mark last night at the grad-ball start swimming in my head, and I start hearing snippets of their dialogue again.  The gnawing feeling in my stomach returns.

But I push it away.  Suzy didn’t do anything wrong.  She didn’t even know!  There’s no reason to ignore her.  Besides, Iseul, this has been your best friend ever since high school!  You are NOT going to ignore her call because of some idiot.

Taking a deep breath, I swipe and pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“SEUL!  Oh, you’re alive!  Thank God!  Hi!”  Suzy’s breathless voice greets me.  “Yah, why haven’t you replied to my texts?  I was beginning to worry about you!  Do you wanna go and grab something to eat?  I need to tell you something pronto!”

Hearing her babble like that shoves the gnawing feeling away, for some reason.  “Right now?”  I ask. 

“In like, 30 minutes, because I just finished my pilates session for menstrual cramps and I need to shower first because I don’t want to go out smelling like goat .  We have to meet.  We have to meet and talk about .  You know what I’m talking ‘bout here right?  Come on!  You down?”

“I sort of have to babysit right now… so…”

“Okay, tomorrow?” 

“Lunch?”

“Sure!  I know just the place!”

“Great.  Text me the details, okay?”

“Okay!  See you tomorrow then!”

“Bye!”  I reply before hanging up.  Suzy is like my personal Trip Advisor for restaurants.  She knows all the best places to eat in Seoul, from street ddeokbokki to Mexican tacos.  I’m surprised she doesn’t have her own Mukbang yet.

“Noona, who’s that?”  Jongguk asks, plopping down on the couch once. 

“That’s Suzy, noona’s friend!”  I sing, happy with my plans for tomorrow already.  “Come on Jongguk!  Get in the bathroom!  Shower time for you!”

“Noooo!  Later!!

“Kim Jongin!”  Sooman yells the minute Kai steps into his office.  “Are you out of your mind?!”

“Uncle?”  Kai says unsurely.

“I am talking to you as your boss, not your uncle right now.”  Sooman fumes, his voice omnious.

“Yes, boss.”  Kai immediately stands upright with his hands tucked behind his back, wrist clasped in the other.  He bows low, hanging his head in submission. 

“Come here.”  Sooman beckons, signaling Kai to come closer to his large table.  Kai does as he is told.

On The Joker’s large, wide desk were photographs.  Photographs and photographs of grainy surveillance camera screenshots printed out on small cards, each one focusing on a certain couple walking down the street.   

“Does any of this look familiar to you?”  The Joker demands.

Kai doesn’t need to look to know what they are.  He opens his mouth to explain but his boss beats him to it.

“First one, outside the Coex Mall at nearly 1 in the morning.  Second one, at the gas station near Dobongdong.  Third one!”  Sooman slams his said photograph in rage.  “In an alley near Dobongdong K-mart where you are seen two other guys!  Fourth one, entering K-mart at Dobongdong at almost 3 am.  Do you need more?  Hmm?  Next one, near Seoul National University at 11.30 pm.  Now the most recent one—today at 1.27 pm at the Yeouido Park bus stop, 1.50 pm at the Gangnam line stop, 2.03 pm at the Gangnam Elementary School!  Have you gone crazy?!  Do you want to die?!  Why do you keep appearing in street CCTV footages with that woman?!  Have you forgotten that you are a goddamn mobster?!”

Behind his back, Kai squeezes his wrist tightly in his other hand.  “I apologize, Boss.”

“Don’t you realize that with all these appearances in the public CCTV network, people can easily track both you and the girl down, Kai?!  Don’t you know how easily they can use her to get to you?!”  Sooman yells in fury.  “Most importantly, don’t you understand why we are called the underground society?  It’s because we stay underground to stay HIDDEN!  Does appearing in CCTV footages mean you are staying hidden, Kai?!  Answer me!”

“No.”  Kai says, hanging his head low. 

“Have you forgotten about the world you actually live in, Kai?”  Sooman continues, still shaking in anger.  “Because of the girl?”

“No, boss.” 

“Then?  Why are you acting like you have?”  His Boss asks.  “What the hell were you and Seo Iseul doing at the Coex