Kim Minseok rolled the casket onto the metal table where, earlier, he and Sehun had stuffed Ahn Hyunki’s body. Minseok flipped a few switches and pressed some buttons before he opened the chamber to slide the casket inside. The whole machine looked like a big metal oven. Sehun watched from the little window as it turned into a blaze inside, the casket burning up in flames.

“Thanks for your help again.” Sehun shook Minseok’s hand, slipping him a generous amount of bills in his palm.

“No problem.” Smiling, Minseok pocketed the money. “He’s a big guy. It’ll be around three hours to burn him completely.”

“Whatever gets it done.”

Minseok worked at the cremation facility in the city and was by then one of the big bosses who managed a handful of staff. They had known each other since elementary, Sehun fending off bullies from Minseok. Sehun once stole the bullies’ expensive designer shoes during gym class and threw them away with the cafeteria’s biodegradable garbage for breaking Minseok’s bulky glasses. They had walked around in their socks the whole day.

Minseok didn’t know why Sehun brought in dead bodies from time and Sehun liked that he didn’t question it. All Minseok knew was that a good friend needed something done, and he did it.

To Sehun, burning to bodies to char felt like he was erasing them forever from the world. They were burned beyond recognition. Just a pile of ash. No traceable dental records. No nothing. Almost as if they hadn’t existed in the first place and the only thing left was their memory.

“I’ll let you get back to your business,” Minseok said once one of his staff poked his head inside the room and said he was needed somewhere else.

“I’ll get going then.” Sehun followed him out of the room. Minseok called over a few people who were out in the hall and directed them to watch over the chamber.

“Let me know if you need anything else!” Minseok yelled after him, watching Sehun make his way out of the area.

Sehun waved after him before turning his back. His phone rang on the walk back to his car. He picked up after two rings. “Hello?”

“Hey pal, got any updates for me?” It was Baekhyun. “Like a dead person maybe?”

He had been dreading his call, but Baekhyun was like a pesky fly that just wouldn’t go away. “I think I’m going to have to give you back that seventy-five thousand,” he said, thinking about how Chanyeol was going to be heartbroken over that.

“What, you can’t get the job done? Like I said, I’ll have to get my men involved.”

Sehun sighed, wiping his forehead with a hand. “I never said I couldn’t get the job done. You should know that I’m a busy man. There are other people to take care of besides that girl.”

“You understand that this is a seventy-five thousand dollar deal, right? I can’t believe it’s not at the top of your list.”

“It’s not about the money. I go by order. First come, first serve.” It was a complete lie. Sehun had taken in newer jobs and completed them before Baekhyun’s. “I’ll be giving you back that money by tomorrow. I don’t feel like I should still have it in my possession.”

“Should I give you a due date, Mr. Oh?”

It was the first time Baekhyun had called him that. It was always just “Sehun” or “buddy” or “pal.” Sehun remembered how scared Baekhyun seemed when they were closing the deal on Byul—sweat on his temple, fidgeting fingers, and nervous smiles. He figured that he was just acting tough on the phone.

Even if Baekhyun couldn’t see, Sehun raised a brow and paused in the middle of unlocking the door to his car. “Are you threatening me? You know, I have a different procedure for people who do.”

“N-No, not at all. I was just saying…” Another nervous laugh. “Goodbye.”

The call ended without another word.

The following morning, Sehun had another body in his car to burn later. Because he was passing by Byul’s neighborhood, he thought that he should check on her. He hadn’t gotten any emergency calls or frantic texts from her lately, but it would calm Sehun to see her in person. When he knocked on her apartment door, it was Jangmi that answered. She looked at him with a forced smile that didn’t touch her eyes.

“Hi. Uh…” Jangmi pretended to think. “You’re Sehun, right?”

“Yes. Is Byul around?” he asked, cutting right to the chase. Sehun would rather fall into a batch of acid than try to make small talk with Jangmi.

She shook her head. “No, I think she went to work.”

“Work?” For a moment, Sehun thought he heard her wrong. “I thought she was let go from the bakery.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “That’s what she told me.”

Sehun cursed under his breath. He gave Jangmi a curt goodbye before leaving immediately and jogging down the stairs. Sehun hoped it wasn’t one of those situations where Byul got a threatening phone call telling her to fake a work shift to her roommate so that she could quietly leave. He already dropped off Baekhyun’s money earlier that morning. He hoped that it didn’t make Baekhyun think that their deal was off. Didn’t he make it clear over their last call that Sehun was just taking his time?

He managed to break into her bedroom by climbing up the fire escape on the side of the building. Sehun slipped in easily through the window and landed softly on two feet. He made a mental note to remind Byul to lock her windows. Sehun shook his head to himself in silent disappointment at how easily he managed to sneak inside. Her room was mostly tidy. He didn’t know if it was just slightly messy because she had to leave in a rush or because she wasn’t a neat-freak. Sehun hated that he didn’t know these simple facts about her.

There were no real clues in her room. No sign of somebody other than Byul who had been there.

Seeing a name tag on her desk, however, Sehun figured that she maybe did go to work.

“Thank you. Have a nice day,” Byul dryly recited, handing the customer their receipt before they left the grocery store with all their bags. “Next please.” Seeing the bread roll into the conveyor belt, she scanned the item. “There’s a three for the price of two sale for white bread if you want to get two more— Holy !”

She was surprised to see Sehun when she looked up. Her manager gave her the stink eye for swearing and Byul was sure she’d get a lecture about it later.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. Sehun eyed her makeshift name tag that was a piece of paper stapled to her shirt with her name written in black Sharpie. She had forgotten her name tag on her desk at home. “You work here,” Sehun said, answering himself.

“Yes, genius. Are you for real buying this bread or are you here to casually stalk me?” She held up the bread, hesitating on bagging it.

“I need bread for real, okay?” Grabbing the bread, he tossed it into the plastic bag himself. “Also you need to be telling me where you are during the day. What if something happens?”

“It’s crowded here. I don’t think anyone would try anything on me. Except maybe that guy.” Byul jerked her head towards the entrance. “He was asking me if I could meet him in the back of the store an hour ago.”

Sehun eyed the man down that she was referring to. There was no doubt that it was the guy who was leaning against the exit of the store as if he was there to memorize the faces of all the customers. He had his hands in his pockets and his hat tilted down to cover most of his face.

“Seriously Byul, you need to be telling me your location.”

“Is that really necessary? I can still have a life even if somebody wants me dead… kind of. If working here counts as exciting.” Running the till at a K-Mart was never what Byul would imagine for herself. It seemed like the only place that was hiring.

He just scoffed at her comment. “Just give me the bread.”

Byul announced his total and he dug out his wallet to pull out a card. When Sehun was finished with his purchase, she smiled at him in a fake-cheery kind of way and said, “Thank you. Have a nice day!”

Sehun would have laughed at her. “Also, remember to lock your windows.”

“What?”

“Bye.” Sehun waved and left without looking back. Instead, he had his eyes set on the suspicious man by the exit who Byul said spoke to her earlier. He was still keeping an eye out on the store even though it was obvious there was no way he worked there. Maybe he was waiting for Byul to finish her shift.

Sehun stopped in front of him. “Hey. You look strong. Do you mind helping me change a tire on my car?”

“Umm…” He hesitated, as if leaving his spot by the exit could kill him.

“Come on, I’ll pay you a twenty.”

His face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Sure thing! Lead the way.”

Sehun had him following beside as they made their way through the parking lot.

“That’s a big car, man,” he said when Sehun stopped beside his black Cadillac Escalade.

“I know.” Sehun tossed the plastic bag through the door once he unlocked it. “Why did you tell the cashier girl to meet you at the back of the store?”

“Huh?”

Sehun whipped out his gun at his lack of an answer and pressed it against the man’s stomach. It was just low enough that people looking from a distance couldn’t see.

The guy threw his hands up in the air, sweat already beading down his face. “No, wait! Please! I was just going to ask if she wanted to buy!”

“Buy what?”

To show him, the guy reached with one hand into his pocket to pull something out.