Sorry if I didn't update for long! I was busy...

She sets him down at one of the tables in the shop, not at all surprised to find the boy missing. She heads to her living room and sees him lying on the floor, the bottle cradled in his arm like a child does to a stuffed animal. She takes the bottle from him and gives it a shake to check if there is anything left. Fortunately, there is a little bit left so she heads back to her shop, grabbing a cup on the way and serves it to the barber.

“Here, drink up. You need it.”

Quietly he obliges, eyes distant.

“So what are we going to do about that Chinese one up there? Surely we can’t just let him rot in that chest forever.”

“Later tonight when everyone’s asleep, we can bury him in the middle of the woods where he can’t be found,” he replies.

“Well, I suppose that works fine. It’s not like he’s got any relatives to come lookin’ for ‘im.”

She rises from her seat and walks towards the window to look at a neighboring shop across the street. And almost so suddenly, an idea dawns on her and she turns back to look at the man in the room. “You know, if you think about it, it seems such a shame to do away with someone like that upstairs.”

“Shame?”

“Of course! It would be such a waste if we just throw him out just like that.”

“Waste?”

“Definitely! I mean, he’s got such a nice plump frame doesn’t he? And if we bury him, there’s a chance that he can get discovered and the crime would be traced back here. I’ve had such a hard time here at the shop, you know, with all the debts I need to pay. Business needs a lift...” she trails off, hoping he comprehends. When she realizes that he doesn’t, she continues, “I mean, with the price of meat these days. You’re lucky if you get it.”

“Ah!”

“Exactly. Think about it, Mr. S, Mrs. Chan’s business is booming and they don’t even have any idea that it’s stray cats they’re eating! I’m sure human flesh can’t compare as far as taste. I heard the taste falls somewhere between veal and sweet pork. Surely it’ll all work out fine.”

 “What a brilliant idea! A bloody wonder you definitely are, Mrs. Han. Eminently practical, yet appropriate as always,” he tells her with a sinister smile plastered across his face.

“Well, it does seem a waste!”

“It’s the perfect plan—undetectable, and delectable. Man devouring man—no one would suspect a thing! Mrs. Han, how I’ve lived without you all these years, I’ll never know.”

“Think about it, Mr. S, with all those gentlemen coming into your shop for a shave I’ll have endless supplies of meat for the pies! And with the money I get from that, I can pay all the debts and perhaps buy some fruit and restore this place into tip-top shape. With your reputation in this city, you’ll be able to practice on the gentlemen until you get to the Judge and the Bailiff, and my business can flourish once again. It’ll benefit the both of us.”

“Perfect. Just perfect. Funny how the world turns around so suddenly, isn’t it, my dear?”

“I know, dear. I know.”

“Those above shall now serve those down below. How ingenious indeed!”

The woman smiles at the man’s reaction. Perhaps this is the best idea she has had in a long time. Kim Junsu will have opposed to the notion—the idea of even killing another would have made him cringe! But Seo Junho—there he is in front of her, thinking she is the most brilliant woman in the world. A rarity it is indeed, so she savors the moment. Besides, she knows that his heart—if he even has one—belongs only to one woman and that is his wife, Minjung. Nevertheless, she is willing to live under the pretense that he does belong to her even just for the moment as he praises her.

Seo Junho, unlike Kim Junsu, is a man of boldness. As she listens him speak of how wondrous their plan is, she begins to think that maybe, just maybe, that is why she likes him more than Kim Junsu.  

I feel that I owe it to you guys, so just to not waste anymore time with stuff that are all going on in one night anyway, why don't you just click that "Next Chapter" button and go on reading? It's my way of saying thanks and sorry for not updating for DAYS!