AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this officially has the most comments of any of stories, even more than Stargirl. The support has been far too overwhelming, and I know I sound like a broken record but thank you so so much ❤ Could we possibly get this to 130 Upvotes by the end? I know that's wishful thinking but it would beat Stargirl then haha

Also: please go check out my blog post about my stories and updates for the future. Find it HERE.

Anyway, we've got 4 more chapters to go after this (3 normal ones and then the Epilogue) and then we're officially donezo!

Enjoy this one :)

9

What's Love Got to Do with It?

In the paling morn along the northern rim of the Han everything hummed with noise and great mystery but there in the interior of the ’86 Testarossa all was silent and nothing moved. They sat side by side with the engine cut watching the far banks of the river from a gravel lot beside Jamsil Bridge. Cars appearing at will in the small white eye of the sun and disappearing like memories. The saltrimed crystalline glare of the river face looking back at them, distension of cities like a castellation across the water. It smelled of Irene’s perfume and sweat. Seulgi would not look at her for a long time.

They had been sat there for more than an hour after fetching themselves something to eat from a CU just south along Hangaram road. Irene shifted and the leather seat creaked. She sat quiet and so did Seulgi and all Seulgi could think about was the tobacco tin in the glovebox and whether she would face her insecurities and just give it to Irene and whether in truth she should be thinking about it at all. They still had so much to do. Somewhere in the world a car alarm began to blare. They had only slept a couple hours there in the car.

'I still can't believe you assaulted an innocent man,' Irene said. 'Now you're definitely going to jail.'

'Stop reminding me. .'

'You punched him twice!'

'You ing told me to.'

'Yeah, and here's another thing. I can't believe I only just realised this either.'

'What?'

'You swear like a sailor. this, that, ing . It's just nonstop with you, isn't it?'

'Whatever.'

They were quiet a moment.

‘You want a drink?’ Irene said.

‘What?’

‘A drink. A sippy sip. Do you want one?’

‘Do you have anything to drink?’

‘No, that’s why I’m asking.’

‘What did you have in mind?’

‘How about-’

‘I’m not drinking whiskey,’ Seulgi said. ‘Before you mention it.’

‘I wasn’t going to. I want water.’

‘We’ll get some in a bit. I’ll stop at a grocery store or something.’

Irene giggled.

‘What?’

‘You sound like my mother or something,’ she said. ‘We’ll stop here, do this, blah blah. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. Or anything wrong with my mother.’

Seulgi didn’t say anything. She was playing with the hem of her shirt and watching the anneal shine of Seoul newly risen out the driver’s side window. Debating with herself so very fiercely. Do I say it, do I say anything at all. She turned back to Irene. Even tired and cold and pale she looked picture-perfect, the cherry red of her lips, the cascade of her hair so neatly not-neat. Nothing about her made sense and Seulgi wouldn’t have had it any other way. She sat there until Irene turned and caught her staring with a smile playing on her lips.

‘What?’ Irene said. ‘You got something to say to me, sweetie?’

‘I, uh. No.’

‘You sure?’

Seulgi was quiet.

‘Come on,’ Irene said. ‘Spill it. You're thinking about that kiss, aren't you? The one in the club.’

'No.'

'It's okay, you know? I mean, I'd be thinking about a kiss with me as well.'

'I'm not thinking about it.'

'Uh huh. Well. Don't get used to it. You're not getting many more. Yet.'

'Yet?'

Irene winked. 'So,' she said. 'What's up? If not that then...what?'

‘I just, uh. I mean. I want to say thank you.’

‘Thank me? For what?’

‘I don’t know,’ Seulgi said. ‘, I don’t know why I’m saying this. Or what I’m even trying to say. I don’t even think I mean thank you. Not that I don’t, you know…thank you. Or whatever. , I’m not making any sense. I’m tired. Too tired.’

Irene laughed at her. She wanted Irene to laugh at her forever, strange as it sounded. To until she couldn’t any longer. It was almost counterintuitive, but the way the brain works is  known only unto itself and remains a mystery to everyone and everything else. ‘I don’t know how to say it,’ Seulgi continued, still playing with the bottom of her shirt, hands still fiddling, Irene still eyeing her carefully. Everything felt far too cold and far too distant. Figures and figures. People and cars. Lives of so many. The world turning.

‘Go on,’ Irene said, and Seulgi looked at her. Did she know? That teasing smirk on her face, that curve at the reaches of her lips – did Irene know? And if she did, why wasn’t she saying anything? Perhaps that was most like Irene. To make Seulgi suffer. To watch her squirm and struggle with herself. Perhaps that was Irene to a tee. Or maybe she truly did not know. That she was intelligent to a fault in so many things but not in this, in this she was oblivious almost entirely. Seulgi didn’t know. Couldn’t tell. That smile was frustrating in as far as it told her nothing concrete and made no promises.

‘Look,’ Seulgi said. ‘I’m just going to come out and say it. I don’t know how or why, but I’m going to.’

‘Okay.’

‘I, uh.’ Playing with her shirt again. Her face had gone red even in the cold. ‘Look.’

Those three words on her tongue, eight letters, right there, urging themselves out, wanting to be free. And Seulgi still reluctant, still scared.

‘Okay,’ she said at last. ‘Irene, I lo-’

A banging. They stopped and looked at one another and Irene giggled and turned away. The heat still in Seulgi’s cheeks. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ Irene said, turning back. ‘I mean, it has to be, right?’

Seulgi nodded. They waited. It came again, a loud hammering of hands. They got out of the car and stood as if waiting for someone to find them but in that grey morning they were utterly alone. They went to the back of the car and Seulgi opened the trunk and they stood inspecting the ponytailed captive curled foetal there, hands and feet bound tightly with full-strength survival rope, mouth ducttaped shut and double ducttaped, eyes looking up at them feral and redrimmed and terrified.

‘Well,’ Irene said. ‘It’s definitely him. You know, I’m kinda glad.’

‘What?’

‘I thought he might’ve been dead.’

‘What?’ Seulgi said.

‘Yeah. I mean, we didn’t hear anything from him. I was almost getting worried. Well, not worried, since we’re gonna kill him anyway. But, you know.’

Seulgi turned to her and Irene shot a look as to say: Shut up and go along with it.

‘Yeah,’ Seulgi said, nodding. ‘Uh huh. Would’ve been a shame to, uh, die so early.’

‘Too right,’ said Irene. She turned to him again, head tilted. He was looking from her to Seulgi and back with urgency. As if almost pleading. ‘It’s pretty cold today,’ Irene said. ‘I wonder how long he’d last in the river. Probably half an hour, I think. Maybe a little longer. But whoo, boy. What a painful half an hour that’d be. Imagine getting instant frostbite everywhere. I can’t imagine that’d be a nice way to go.’

Seulgi just looked at her. He seemed to be murmuring something into the tapegag.

‘Did you get the barrels?’ Irene said.

‘Uh, the…uh, the barrels. Yeah.’

‘Good. And did you get the acid?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You made sure it was sodium hydroxide this time, didn’t you? I don’t want any of that like last time.’ Irene turned to him. His eyes had gone red again. ‘You know how long it takes to get rid of a body with hydrofluoric acid?’ she said. ‘So long. Such a hassle. The bone doesn’t even dissolve properly, so you’ve gotta wait like five days and at the end of it you’ve still got all these bone fragments and hair left over, and nothing to do with them. No, not this time. Sodium hydroxide. Now that’s the good stuff. You see, you won’t even feel it. We just lower you into it bit by bit and that’s the end of you. Just this gooey paste that we can flush away. Easy. Sort of like horses and glue. Except...you know. Not. Actually, I lied. You’ll feel all of it. But still. There’s worse, I suppose. I mean, maybe. Actually…eh.’

He mumbled something into the tape and Irene flashed him a smile. ‘Wheein,’ she said. Seulgi looked at her and she nodded.

‘What?’ said Seulgi.

‘Maybe we should just off him right now. It’d save a lot of trouble of dipping him in the acid later, no?’

‘Uh, yeah.’

‘Alright. Cool. I’ll go and get the silencer.’

‘No. Wait. He, uh. He looks like he wants to say something.’

Irene looked at him. Sweating, breathing heavily. ‘Nah,’ she said. ‘He might scream. Better if he’s dead.’

‘Maybe we should give him a chance? I don’t know.’

Irene was quiet a minute. ‘Alright,’ she said at last. ‘Yeah, why not?’ She turned to him and bent a little. ‘If you speak, we’ll cut out your tongue. Or, I will. And I’m not very good at it, so you’ll bleed a lot. And it’ll hurt. But don’t worry, you won’t die. You’ll just wish you were dead. So to reiterate, don’t speak. Capisce?’

He nodded. She bent down and tore the tape from his face and he winced and groaned and looked at them through welling eyes but otherwise he was silent. ‘Huh,’ Irene said. ‘Hey, Wheein. Maybe you were right. Maybe he does wanna speak.’

‘I do,’ he said. He was almost crying. ‘I do.’

‘You what? You wanna speak?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, I do. I’ll speak. I’ll say anything.’

Irene squinted at him. She fetched the roll of tape from where it sat just behind him and tore off a new strip and he begged her again. ‘Wheein,’ she said. ‘You believe him?’

‘I don’t know. Do you?’

‘Maybe. I don’t think he’ll tell us the truth, though. You know what these guys are like. They’ll say anything to get themselves off. So, yeah. I think he’ll speak. But I think he’ll feed us a bunch of bull to make us let him go.’

‘I won’t,’ he said. ‘I won’t. Please, just let me speak. Please.’

‘Well,’ Seulgi said. ‘It’s your call.’

Irene played with the tape. She had a pout Seulgi didn’t enjoy the look of very much. A deliberative gesture she wasn’t even aware of. Or of the power it held in fixing Seulgi in place. ‘What we need,’ Irene said, ‘is a way to get this guy to speak and a way to know he’s telling the truth.’

‘Yeah.’

‘That’s difficult.’

‘What are you thinking?’

‘We could always cut off his fingers? One at a time, I mean. And then his lips if he decides to lie anymore.’

‘Uh.’

‘Right?’

Seulgi rubbed her head. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Right.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Please. I’ll talk. I’ll ing talk.’

Irene leant over and taped his mouth shut again. ‘That’s for you,’ she said. ‘So you can’t get lippy. Heh, lippy. Good, no? Whatever. Wheein, start the car.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Somewhere quiet. Where nobody can hear him scream.’

He said something through the tape but they couldn’t understand him. ‘If you make a noise,’ Irene said, ‘I’ll cut more than your fingers off. You understand me?’

He nodded. She smiled, sickly sweet. ‘Alright. Glad we could come to an understanding. Now you be good. We’ll be there in the no time.’

He mumbled something and she closed the lid on him and dusted off her hands and put the roll of tape on the floor between her legs in the passenger seat and sat waiting for Seulgi to start the car but she didn’t. She just sat there looking at Irene.

‘What?’ Irene said.

‘What was all that about?’

‘All what?’

‘The whole psychopath . You talking about putting his body in barrels and cutting off his fingers.’

Irene made a shushing motion with her hand. ‘Talk quieter,’ she said. ‘He might hear you.’

‘What was it all about? And why’d you call me Wheein again?’

‘Jesus, are you really that slow? Come on, sweetie. I thought we’d moved past this. I thought we were making progress. Detectives really are the worst of the lot, aren't they?’

When Seulgi made no reply she continued. ‘Look. If he fears us, and he thinks we’re proper lunatics, then he’s going to tell the truth, right?’

‘He said he would anyway.’

Yeah. Sure. But how many criminals are really going to tell the truth when they say it, Seulgi? You should know this, being a cop and all.’

Seulgi shrugged.

‘So, all that – all that crazy . Now he thinks we’re mad killers who’d torture him for a bag of sweets or something, you know? See what I’m getting at? If he fears us, he’ll spill the beans. He’ll tell us everything. See? Listen?’

They listened. Silence.

‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ Irene said. ‘I told him to shut the up or I’d cut off his , and he shut the up. Fear, sweetie. It works.’

‘You’re mad.’

‘Well, maybe a little. But I get done. Hey, maybe I should be a cop, you know? Maybe you should recommend me to Hongki.’

‘Not a chance.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. I’d make the department look bad. Can’t have that now, can we?’

‘What are we going to do?’

‘Oh, so now you’re really letting me take charge? About four days too late.’

Seulgi ignored her and she continued. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘Drive us somewhere secluded. Like, somewhere further along the riverbank, I guess? I don’t know. There’s not really anywhere quiet in the heart of Seoul. But do it quick. And then we’ll question him again.’

‘Why couldn’t we have just done it then? Or now?’

‘Because.’

‘Because what?’

‘Fear, sweetie. Now he’s scared of us. Properly scared. Poor guy’s gonna be rolling around in all that darkness wondering which way we’re gonna chop him up first, which breed of dog we’re gonna feed him to, how long until his family finds out – like that. These guys break under pressure, you know?’

‘I suppose you’re an expert on all this, are you?’

‘I’ve seen CSI: New York a couple times. I’m practically an expert.’

‘Uh huh.’ Seulgi started the engine and pulled back out of the lot and along Hangaram going northeast and following the edge of the river about as far as Amsa. When she turned the car into another empty lot under Cheonho Bridge it had just turned eight in the morning. They sat eyeing the slow rotation of the world. Pale sky, paler sun. Nobody kept them company there. Not even the birds. ‘This looks good,’ Irene said.

‘So, now what?’

‘Now we intimidate him again.’

‘Wow.’

‘Got a problem with that?’

‘No,’ Seulgi said. ‘I mean, yeah…no. Just, it seems a bit full-on.’

‘Well, if you wanna find this painting by tonight, we’ve got to be a bit full-on.’ She opened the door and stepped out and Seulgi joined her. When they opened the trunk he was watching them with wide eyes and he had been crying. ‘You gonna be cooperative now?’ Irene said, and he nodded vigorously.

‘Good.’

She took the tape from his mouth and tossed it aside and stood a moment longer in silence. He was breathing hard enough to hear again. ‘What do you want?’ he said.

‘I think you know what we want,’ said Irene.

‘I’ll tell you everything.’

‘Somehow I don’t you think you will. You’re a member of the White Lotus gang.’

He nodded. He looked almost like a giant slug there in the trunk, wobbling about futilely.

‘You see, we’re after something important,’ Irene said. ‘Something very important to the White Lotus gang. And with you being a high-ranking member, we’d be fools to think you’d give it up that easily. So, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to get the knife, and then you’re going to give us th-’

‘It’s going to do down on an abandoned strip overlooking the Han River in Wabu district. About fifty minutes east of here. Take National Route 6 until you come to Deokso road and stop about two minutes before you get to the old bridge that runs south. There’s this rise to the east. You can see it all going down from there. There’s a disused pier along the edge of the strip – that’s where the boat’s gonna be. Once you see it, you won’t lose it again.

‘It’s going to be a Swiss businessman, coming in a yacht. You won’t miss that either. It’s ing huge. The way it’s set up is three men either side, so him and two others and then three of our guys, probably in a black SUV but they didn’t tell me that. It’s going to be a clean tradeoff, the painting for a briefcase full of diamonds. They’re planning on selling the diamonds to legitimate distributors via underground channels over the next three years. The diamonds total about four hundred million won. It’ll be the biggest diamond purchase in Korean history, technically speaking. All for that painting. It’s going down at ten PM tonight. You should be there half an hour early.’

Seulgi and Irene looked at each other in silence. As if to say: What?

‘I uh. Huh,’ Irene said. ‘I didn’t think it’d be that easy.’

‘You’re not going to put me in acid, are you?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On whether you’re telling the truth or not.’

‘I’m not ing lying! Just, please. Don’t put me in acid.’

Irene and Seulgi shared another uneasy look.

‘I don’t understand,’ Seulgi said. ‘Why would you give all of this up willingly, and so easily? If it’s true. Why?’

‘I don’t wanna die,’ he said.

‘I thought gangsters were more hardcore than that,’ said Irene.

‘Yeah, well. Guess you thought wrong. Look, I don’t want to ing die for a painting, alright? I don’t know anything else. That’s all I know. Just don’t kill me.’

‘You’re dead anyway.’

‘What? What do you mean?’

‘If they find out you’ve snitched, you’re dead.’

‘Then I’ll off somewhere. I’ve got money. Just, please. Don’t kill me. I’ve got family. I’ve got a beautiful baby daughter. Well, she’s not mine. She’s adopted by my live-in girlfriend. From her sister. And her sister adopted her from a family who adopted her from an orphanage. And the orphanage got her from another family who got her from another orphanage. A different one, I mean. And she was abandoned at birth. I’m starting to think maybe there’s a recurring pattern. But I want to see her. I want to see my daughter again! Please. I’ll give you whatever you want.’

‘This deal,’ Seulgi said. ‘Tell us again. Where is it? And when.’

‘Tonight, ten PM. On the strip by Route 6 in Wabu. Follow Deokso road if you get lost.’

‘And what do we do when we’re there?’

‘I don’t ing know. Look, . Sorry. But I don’t know. Do what you want. I can’t tell you that. I only know where it’s going down. That’s it. Please. Just let me go.’

Seulgi looked at Irene and Irene nodded. ‘Alright,’ she said. ‘I believe him. For now.’

‘What do we do with them?’ said Seulgi.

‘Get him out.’

She grabbed him by his bound hands and hauled him out of the trunk. So that he was stood there by the car in his tattered shirt and pants like a prisoner of war, wobbling on his tied legs. They looked at him from a distance. Then Irene said, ‘Strip him.’

‘What?’

‘Strip him.’

‘Like…?’

She shook her head. ‘Just to his underwear.’

‘Why?’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Why?’

‘Because,’ Irene said. Seulgi looked at her. Then with a sigh she stripped him until he was stood in nothing but his underwear, shivering against the cold.

‘You know,’ Irene said, ‘that took less effort than I thought it would. I’ve never stripped someone who was tied up before. Maybe we should try that, Seul- uh, Wheein.’

Seulgi ignored her. ‘What now?’ she said.

‘Uh. Okay. Right. Put him back in the trunk.’

‘What? Are you serious?’

‘Why?’ he said. ‘I’ve told you everything!’

‘Wheein.’

She gave a shrug to him as if to apologise and stashed him back in the trunk and stood with Irene inspecting him. His clothes fluttered in a pile in the wind. Irene took the roll of tape and tore off a piece and immediately he objected but she fastened it over his mouth anyway and then a second to make sure. ‘We’ll deal with you later,’ she said. She closed the trunk and Seulgi locked it and they went and sat again listening to the abject silence of the morning. It was almost nine.

‘Why’d you do that?’ Seulgi said.

‘Do what?’

‘Put him back in.’

‘Because we’ve still got to deal with him for the rest of the day. We can’t just let him be free right now.’

‘Why not?’

‘What’s to stop him going directly to the cops and telling them he saw us?’

‘Why would he?’

‘I can’t handle you sometimes,’ Irene said. ‘So slow to the point. He’s just told us literally everything, right?’

‘Sure.’

‘So he’ll be wanting security. Witness Protection. like that.’

‘Right,’ Seulgi said. ‘Okay. So, why’d you strip him ?’

‘Thought it was funny.’

‘What? Are you for real?’

‘I mean, come on. It was pretty funny.’

‘What if he dies?’

‘Dies of what?’

‘Oxygen starvation? He’ll suffocate.’

‘Huh,’ Irene said. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. You make a good point. Well. Necessary sacrifice, I suppose.’

‘Irene. We’re not letting him die.’

‘You sure?’ She looked at Seulgi and pouted. ‘Suit yourself. So, what do we do?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I’ve got an idea.’

‘What?’

‘You got any tools?’ Irene said. ‘Or if not we could go and pick some up.’

‘What sort of tools?’

‘Like, a hammer and a screwdriver. Or something sharp. Like a big carvingknife. No, actually, a drill would be better. Like a small hand drill, you know?’

‘What? Why?’

‘Well, if he’s going to run out of oxygen sat back there, the easiest thing would be to-’

‘No,’ Seulgi said.

‘What?’

‘No.’

‘I didn’t finish.’

‘You’re not drilling holes into my ing car, Irene. That’s final.’

‘I mean, it would work.’

‘You’re not.’

‘He’ll die.’

‘We’ll think of something else.’

‘You really love it that much, don’t you?’ Irene said, giggling to herself. Seulgi ignored her. ‘Alright, fine. No holes. Not even little ones. So, what then? What now? What’s the time?’

‘Just gone nine.’

‘Right. So we’ve got thirteen hours until this deal. Until we save Korea from the biggest theft in the country’s history. Jesus, imagine that – you and me, front page heroes. How ing cool would that be? The crook and the…uh. The duck.’

‘What?’ Seulgi said. ‘Why am I the duck?’

‘Because ducks have small brains and so do you? Or something like that. I don’t know, I was reaching. Or how about: the crook and the .’

‘The ?’

'Yeah.'

'The .'

‘Because you at your job.’

‘Thanks.’

Irene laughed. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We need to get moving.’

‘Where?’

‘Anywhere. Just not here.’

‘Alright,’ Seulgi said. She started the engine and pulled out into the road. ‘We’ll go find a hotel in Suseok or something. Somewhere quiet, secluded. We’ll check in there for the day and then we’ll see about this place tonight.’

‘What about, you know, the guy in the trunk?’

Seulgi didn’t respond. She took Gangdong Bridge north and then east into Suseok and along the outer district streets in search of a place to stay. When they pulled into the quiet lot of the Shinshin hotel it was about ten past ten. The sun had warmed a slight and the day lay in a thin mildew. Seulgi pulled into the lot closest to the entrance and sat surveying everything ahead and everything along the road they had come in along until all was quiet and empty again. ‘We lucked out,’ Seulgi said. ‘Nobody comes through Suseok, really.’

‘So, what do we do? About ol’ buddy boy back there.’

‘Wait here,’ Seulgi said.

‘What? Why?’

She got out and closed the door and went through into the little lobby. It was an old building repurposed and reupholstered as a hotel barely a decade before and there were only half a dozen other cars parked in the lot near them. All old Hyundais and Kias. When Seulgi came back out she had a key in one hand.

‘You checked us in?’ Irene said.

‘For today and tonight. Just in case.’

‘In case what? In case we decide to keep the painting for ourselves and need a place to chill? Hey, that’s a thought actually.’

‘No.’

‘I mean, just think about it for a minute.’

‘No,’ Seulgi said.

‘The biggest heist in history. We could be super-famous!’

Seulgi ignored her. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘It’s dead quiet in there. Nobody’s about. I had to ding the bell three times for the receptionist. So not even she’s there. That’s good.’

‘You’re not seriously suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?’

‘What else can we do? We can’t leave him in there.’

'We could, but you refuse to drill holes in the back of your car.'

'We're not doing that. We're doing this.'

Irene just looked at her.

‘Irene. We’ve got to.’

‘. You might be crazier than me, you know that?’

‘Okay,’ Seulgi said. More to herself than anything. ‘I’ll go up and unlock the room. See what it’s like. Then I’ll come back down and we’ll get him out of there and take him up to the room. Jesus, Irene. Why did you have to ing strip him ?’

‘He’s not .’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘I thought it’d be funny.’

‘And?’

‘Well. I mean, it’s still hilarious. Problems notwithstanding.’

Seulgi sighed. She looked about again. Everything was still quiet and lifeless. Far in the distance the skeletal shape of Seoul marched on. ‘Alright,’ she said. ‘Okay. You ready?’

‘No,’ Irene said. ‘Are you?’

‘No.’

‘Good. I prefer it that way.’

‘Why?’

‘I like the adventure,' Irene said, grinning.