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Namjoo fidgeted in her seat, nervous. Sleepy jazz music from the above speakers helped light the mood up romantically. Upon arrival they were led into a dim room with three tall white candles, perfectly lit at the center of the table. They were the only guests present, the identical table neighboring them empty and abandoned. Purple neon lights glowed from the short counter top running around the room, with small vases of artificial flowers in each one set around. The rest of the décor consisted of an abstract painting on the wall and the dark curtains that had been drawn close.  

The atmosphere perfectly mimicked the setting in a movie whereupon the male lead took the female protagonist on their first ever date. A sensual date with light dinner, smiles, and fluttering happiness. But why was the atmosphere like this?

That was why Namjoo was nervous, especially because she couldn’t forget Kai’s earlier words. He’d known Choonhee wasn’t feeling well, but why had he saying staying upset gets the soul sick?

What did he know? How was she supposed to react in order not act out of boundaries? If he was as close to the dead twin as Hayoung warned, just how close had he been to her?

“Yes, that would be all,” she heard Kai say to the waiter who left after bowing. His attention now on her, he asked, “Do you like it?”

“What?” Namjoo asked, caught off guard by him.

Kai gestured his head to the right. Namjoo’s eyes widened with confusion and light panic. She followed his head, sighted nothing and wondered if she was already found out. He broke out into a laugh – a joyful one, as if he was having fun teasing her. Namjoo couldn’t understand him or his subtle humor.

“I saw you looking around the room. You like it?”

“Oh,” Namjoo breathed surprised, relieved. “Ah…it’s…fancy. A little dark.”

“Really?” she watched his eyes roll around. “I was thinking you’d say it’s plain.”

Oh …had she messed up?

Letting out an awkward, out of place laugh Namjoo felt her shoulders shake, “Then, I guess it is plain.”

The corner of his lip swung up having enjoyed her statement, as if it served an amusement for him. Namjoo felt her insides dry up from tension. He appeared to be playing with her, enjoying every little thing she did. Was he keeping track of her mistakes in order to pick her out later?

“What have you and Hayoung been up to?” Kai asked. “You were dressed…quite differently earlier. Are you ok?”

“Of course!” Namjoo immediately replied. “We…I was…” her eyes searched the room, wary of his watching eyes. Would he notice anything distinct about her that was different from Choonhee? Could he already sense how off she was? Her insides were practically screaming. What was Choonhee’s relationship with this man?

They turned at the interruption of waiter walking back in. Never minding the fancy structure of the restaurant and dismissing the sight of the – as Kai said, plainly designed room – while the waiter set out two wine glasses onto the table and poured them their wine, a disturbance balled up inside her chest. Discomfort, anxiety, and nervousness became a bundle she was suddenly lugging along with her. She would have sunk in the honor of being in such a high class restaurant, but fatally making a mistake would send her to a jail cell. Right now all that clouded her mind was how to best imitate the dead twin until she got her hands on Hayoung again.

Namjoo pleaded inside her mind for the waiter to take his time filling their cups with the expensive wine imported from who knows where. He was done too quickly and left just as fast as he came. To avoid further speaking, Namjoo reached for her first ever cup of wine and began gulping it down, forgetting for a moment that Kai was there.

“You alright?” Kai asked shifting forward in his seat. “Choonhee…”

Upon hearing the name, Namjoo started coughing fiercely and quickly reached for a napkin as the wine started flowing down her nose. Her heart started ramming even faster when Kai started to get up from his chair.

“I’m ok, I’m ok,” Namjoo struggled through her delirious coughing. The frequency of it came from deep inside , scratching her esophagus as it came up.

“Why are you drinking so fast? Are you really ok? Something on your mind?” concern was clear in his voice. Namjoo nodded, still struggling to calm down. “You’re probably worried over the opening this week, aren’t you? Don’t worry about it. Even if Sehun doesn’t make it, I’ll be there with you.”

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Namjoo’s body bounced on the fluffy mattress as she jumped down onto it and stared up at the ceiling, releasing the deepest, longest sigh she could build up. Lunch with Kai felt like being stuck in a cinema, fighting sleep through a three hour movie. She’d been so nervous after breaking into the cough that she hadn’t dared speak much. She wanted to know even more what Hayoung was doing with her and why the hell she had been pulled into this. She was merely gambling and there were no promises with the ending.

Choonhee…just who was she?

Turning her head up she peered around the room again. The yellow-white walls, furniture, and the frilly curtain added just the perfect feminine touch to the room. All was vibrant and lively, organized and orderly. Lee Choonhee lived a good life, but a mistake turned everything upside down.

Hayoung had said pressures had made Choonhee keep shut while trying to meet expectations. So who did know about her pregnancy?

The buzz of her phone made her sit up. Namjoo reached for her phone to see a message blaring on her screen: I’m outside.

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The sun was plunging deep in the sky, still hot and burning. Namjoo immediately felt the heat flash in her face when she stepped out the front door and searched around the empty and long driveway. Obviously no one was there. The gates were closed and locked all the way at the front, yards away from her. The tall brick walls surrounding the home like an iron fence made it impossible for anyone outside to climb in, unless a ladder was available. Yet, the thicket along the yard created the perfect hiding place for a burglar.

Alone in such a big place, Namjoo felt cautious. She would have expected more maids, maybe even a butler to be around considering this was some grand estate owned by millionares. There was none. Had Choonhee seriously felt safe here in solitude? Had she been alone?

Nearing the gate she slowed in pace. Through the gaps of the long vertical bars she spotted a man standing on the other side. The long shadows of the gate grew on the concrete shifting in size and hovered over her. Namjoo glanced down at the phone in her hand to recheck the name on the screen. Tao, the street friend of Choonhee’s.

He was tall, well built with stark black hair. Dressed in casual street fashion he peered back at her with a small frown, as if to see whether she was really Choonhee or not. His eyes held the gaze of a tiger, ferocious… The paranoia that she would get found out haunted her every second. And what would she do when it happened; Namjoo wasn’t really quite prepared for that.

Pressing her lips together she gulped and forced herself to step forward. It wasn’t like she could avoid anyone, she didn’t think. If she avoided them they might realize something was up with Choonhee and that would cause her greater distress, since one thing always naturally led to another. That was simple logic, wasn’t it? Namjoo didn’t know. She wasn’t that intelligent.

“Choonhee,” he called out, stepping closer toward the gate. There was anxiousness in his tone and the way he looked at her…was the way a distressed friend would look at another after something worrying had happened. Brows drawn together, eyes full of earthly emotions.

How to respond?

“Are you ok?” Tao asked. Namjoo had thought he appeared dangerous looking from afar, but up close he looked just like a serious child. A little tall in height but soft and pure at heart. Tao reminded her of the street friends she left behind earlier. Gruff and brusque but underneath many layers lie gentleness.

Exactly who was he to Choonhee? Who was Choonhee to him?

“Oh…yea, of course,” Namjoo answered, her eyes fully on him. She felt an immediate soft spot for him, but couldn’t forget she had to be head alert on her feet at all times now.

“Open the gate, will you? I want to make sure you’re really all right.”

Now alert, Namjoo hurriedly insisted with much urgency, “No, no. I’m feeling great. You can go now.”

“Choonhee,” Tao deepened his voice. Desperation seeped through. Namjoo looked around helplessly. What exactly was she to do? “Please. Just so I know you won’t be lying to me.”

“Wh…why would I lie?” Namjoo stuttered, wondering why Choonhee would lie.

“Choonhee,” he grounded his voice with urgency then grasped onto the bar. “Please open the gates. I know I might have gotten carried away the other day, but I didn’t mean it. I just don’t like what you’re doing. You didn’t contact me after collapsing, so I had to come. Now can you please open the gates.”

“What?” the word escaped thoughtlessly, her face scrunching up into disbelief. Choonhee had been pregnant. She had collapsed.

Luckily for her Tao hadn’t noticed her mistake. “Choonhee!”

Waking back up Namjoo stared back at him. All sorts of thoughts rushed back and forth through her mind, the ever more confused she was. What was the situation here? What had Choonhee been doing? Who was Tao?

Namjoo’s senses were forced back on Tao when he shook the gates. The metal hummed against each other startling her. The iron gates were steady and strong, a reliable shield, but geezes he was strong. Once again running her eyes over his build she saw the noticeable biceps, the muscular shape of his arm. Namjoo gulped thinking that if she were on the street she wouldn’t mess with him. But he was Choonhee’s friend, she quickly reminded herself. Certainly he wouldn’t harm her.

Deciding to figure out what was going on; she stepped forward to undo the lock on the gates and stepped out. “She…” she quickly shook her head to correct herself, force herself into the right state of mind. “I out? When?”

Now he looked at her with a deep frown. She must sound otherworldly to him, she supposed, but there was no helping. Something was – had been up. With mind in a state of utter confusion, everything haywired Namjoo figured she had to do however much she could in order to figure everything out.

“What are you talking about?” Tao stared down at her questionably. “See, I told you you weren’t alright! Come on, lets go. I’ll take you to the doctor.”

Namjoo’s heart literally jumped out of her chest when he grasped her arm to pull her toward the road. Quickly flinging her arm out she stumbled backward. He was much stronger than she assumed – her mistake. Pressing her lips together to steady herself she swallowed the excess saliva oozing from her state of anxiety.   

“No, no, no,” she shook her head. “I’m fine. I just…I couldn’t really remember anything.”

“What?” he breathed then stepped toward her. “Choonhee.”

“I…” Namjoo held her hand out helplessly. She was unsure how to go about finding out what Choonhee and her friend had argued about. What the hell was she doing?

“He comes back today, doesn’t he?” there was an indescribable depth in his voice. Warning? Caution? Whatever the emotion there, it wasn’t a happy one.

“He?” Namjoo repeated.

Dismissing her he went on pressingly, “Don’t go see him.” There was a slight pause the longer he stared into her eyes, “Or did you see him already?” Then raising his voice, “Choonhee!”

Startled yet again, Namjoo’s lips dropped apart. Her blood rushed, her heart accelerated in an erratic manner. Maybe she was a little scared.

“I…” she started, feeling edgy. “He…who?”

An exasperated sigh, the heaviest of its kind exploded from his mouth. Tao turned his head to the side to look elsewhere, tired of her impudence – as what it seemed to him.

“I’m telling you, please listen to me,” Tao turned back to her, his eyes begging her for whatever reason she couldn’t understand. Why the hell was he acting like this? What was it? “This isn’t a good idea. It’s better if you don’t work there. Don’t go to the opening this weekend. You can’t trust any of them. Not him and definitely not the other one.”

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Bewilderment.

That was the only word suitable. The only word fit to describe this whole day’s occurrences. Nothing, nothing made sense at all!

As Namjoo stood there in the hallway running every word she’d heard over and over again in her head, the more puzzled she became. Muddled by everyone and everything she discovered it difficult to even align her thoughts.

Something had happened. And it gave her bad nothing but bad vibes.

Slowly lifting her eyes up to the family portrait she’d earlier seen, she asked aloud as her eyes sunk in her mirror image’s beautiful face. That superficial smile.

“Just what the hell did you do?”

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Even at the age of fifty-two, Kim Sungsik stood like a tower above his family. Even his son, intelligent and wise, could not beat his outstanding height losing by two inches. The man still fit and trim remained outwardly healthy only having lost his toned muscles with age. His face finely creased but was still handsome in appearance, with head full of constantly dyed black hair at the nagging of his small wife. He received many comments for his maintained looks, but what he heard most was, “Your son looks just like you. Like father, like son.”

Turning at the sound of the door in his home office b with tall bookcases, each one barely touching the blue ceiling, all of them filled with how-to-business books, economy management, advice books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. All of the studies reflecting what his family valued – what he’d taught them, what their very lives surrounded. If without business, their very lives would mean nothing. They would suffocate, like fish breathing air.

He watched his only son walk in and felt a fulfilling smile climb onto his face. The room was large, packed with leather furniture, a fine coffee table made from the finest wood – the only item on it was a box of tissue at the very moment. His wide desk carved from maple wood shone from underneath the sunlight splashing in through the two side windows left wide open. A soft breeze floated into the room as shadows of tree leaves from the yard danced on floor.

The heavy door closed and Kai walked in, comfortably seating himself on the leather couch. Kim Sungsik joined him, sitting opposite him.

“Have the movers finished transferring everything?” his father questioned.

“Yes, I’ve just checked in with them. Everything should be in place tomorrow.”  

The elder man nodded satisfied. “What about the opening?  Have you talked to Choonhee? Will she be there?”

“I’m sure she’s going,” Kai replied.

“That’s good,” the old man smiled. “The President and his wife are coming back tomorrow. Don’t forget to give them your greetings. We have to remain in their favor, so don’t lose Choonhee.”

“Yes. I know.”

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Usually when Namjoo wasn’t called out for work she slept in until late afternoon. After waking up she’d do her biddings, whether it was just roaming the street and eating at street vendors or simply strolling around. Sometimes – a lot of times – she just lazed inside, slept most of her days away.

Today there was knocking on her door. Disrupted from her peaceful dream her eyes shot open. The scourging sunshine seeped in through the window curtains, telling her it was light out. Eyes floated around the room, taking in her surroundings before the knock at the door rung in her ears again. Suddenly jolting up she turned to stare at the locked door.

Who was there?!

Heart blasting inside her chest, fear crept over her. It nearly felt like a walking nightmare as the knocking at the door presumed. Gulping, she slowly climbed out of bed with feet tingling once her feet touched the soft carpet. One step at the time she neared the door, unwanting to anticipate who was on the other side. The hem of Choonhee’s white nightgown brushed against her knees when she stopped in front of the door.

She gulped. Maybe it was the house maid. Right, it could be her. Hadn’t Hayoung said she was returning today?

Nodding to help will herself to believe that bit of information she hesitantly reached for the glassy knob. The iciness of the solid pierced her palm and gulping, finally twisted the knob.

Not the maid. Not Choonhee’s parents.

Some man on the other side stared back at her. The blankly set eyes, his cold yet calm expression stared back at her, like a deep abyss her into its pool of darkness.

He was in one of the pictures Hayoung had shoved into her hand yesterday. What was his name?

“I think this is the first time I’ve caught you sleeping in.” he said.