chapter two

    Im Yoona smiles to herself, appreciating the way she looks in the rearview mirror. Today, she was Mrs. Lee Yun Hee, wife of Mr. Lee and a twenty-something rich business entrepreneur straight from Busan. She had worn a long black wig straightened to perfection and applied makeup that completely changed her face. What with hundred disguises she could safely portray; she nearly forgot what Im Yoona was really like underneath the powder and gold.

   “Ma’am, we’re already here.” The driver that she hired along with the black limousine for today announces and steps out of the car. Im Yoona poises herself as the door opened, uttering a thick thank you to the man.

   She goes out of the car, making her way to a fancy store with the words Park & Park emblazed on it.

   As expected from a sophisticated and quaint shop, there were just a few people inside and the items were displayed in a way that they stood out from one another. One of the shop keepers notices her standing in front of the doorway and she grins at him.

   The man who looked about forty years old approaches her with a smile slowly appearing on his face. “How can I help you, ma’am?”

    “What do you have here that’s worth about starting from 10, 000 $?” Yoona inquires casually, her eyes taking in the dazzling array of jewelry.

   The shop keeper gulps when he realizes they have a big shot customer. “We have just the right jewelry for you ranging from that prince, ma’am. Excuse me for a while when I call someone who could assist you better.” 

   Key Kibum was twenty-three and tired. After working two years under Park & Park, he later came to resent his job as a manager. There was a part of him that thought he was wronged. After all, Mr. Jin Park and Mr. Dae Park—the original founders of this business—were rarely inside the store and never did anything. They just leave Kibum to juggle and manage this business, only giving him 50% of what he really deserves. Key Kibum swears that if he earns enough money, he would get the hell out of this place and live his life leisurely on some fancy place like the Bahamas or Macau.

   His usual routine consists of managing accounts and looking over transcript records, and this was what he’s been doing when the elderly shopkeeper bursts into his office. “Mr. Kibum, there’s pretty loaded lady waiting outside.”

   “Mr. Daul, all of our customers are loaded,” Or at least they pretend to be. Kibum rubs his temples with his index fingers. “Didn’t I tell you to not disturb me unless it’s something important?”

   “But sir, this lady right here is asking for our most expensive items and you told us to give you any sales that reach ten thousands to hundred thousand.”

   Kibum looks up and nodded at him, following him outside. He sees a woman in her mid-twenties. She’s tall, thin and beautiful in her own way and her outfit screamed rich. The moment she laid her eyes on him, he grins at her, showing her a set of milky white teeth.

   “Good Afternoon, Ma’am. My name is Kibum. How can I help you today?” He asks, slowly guiding her towards their carefully designed and secured room where their most expensive and valuable jewelries and stones were kept. He observes as his customer scrutinizes each item while keeping up a lengthy chatter.

   She smiles at him and explained in a very thick Busan accent. “You see, my husband, Mr. Lee,  and I went here to Seoul for my birthday and as a gift, he told me to buy whatever I want and I heard from a few of my friends here that this place is great and all.”

   “Oh, then you’ve really come to the perfect place.” He begins luring her with words of persuasion. Yoona was familiar with this way too much. After eight years of being a con artist and taking on different identities and meeting different people, she started to have a clear knowledge on people’s tactics and glibness.

   She keeps on walking around until her eyes landed on a beautiful emerald stone in a beautiful shade of green. Without hesitation, she points at the stone and told Kibum “I want that one.”

   “It’s 200,000$” Kibum informs her, proud of himself for memorizing each and every item’s prince. This is what slaving for years does to you: it makes you proficient in your job.

   “I’ll take it.” She utters and with that, they settle the deal, having signed the check and handing it to Kibum, she in turn, was given the emerald. While they were closing the deal, Kibum was grinning to himself thinking, 200,000$ it’s been a while since someone purchased something big like that. It’s okay, since I’ll have about twenty per cent of the profit. Looks like my retirement would be going sooner than originally planned.

   After about twenty minutes, the transaction had been completed and with a final wave goodbye and thank you, Yoona struts out of the shop as Yun Hee, all the while smiling to herself, step one, success.

∞

   He’s lying down on his office when Kibum’s phone buzzed from his pocket. He answers the call, immediately recognizing Yun Hee’s voice. “Mr Kibum, It’s me Yun Hee, the one who bought the emerald if you can’t remember.”

   His heart drops to his toes in anticipation. Was she going to back out now? He had already received the money and already taken his share. “Why? Is there anything wrong with the emerald? Did you not like it?”

   Her laughter unites the knot forming in his chest. “No, silly. In fact, it was just the opposite! My husband loved it so much he wanted me to get another one and get it done into earrings! Isn’t he the sweetest?”

   “But ma’am, we only have one of those emeralds in stock.” He admits sadly.

   “Can’t you find another way around it?” She begged then her voice started to go soft and she whispered. “My husband told me he’s willing to pay triple the original price just for another emerald like this.”

   Key Kibum’s eyes might as well budge out of their sockets. He’s already calculating the amount of money he could have if he found another emerald exactly like Yun Hee’s. “Don’t worry. I’m on it.”

   Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, Yoona smirks to herself and ends the call, also dropping the Busan accent. Experience has taught her to carefully study and take in accents, and different languages locally and across the globe.

  She knows that he would take the bait easily and once again, Im Yoona is struck by how easy it is to trick people when it comes to money. Uncle Kim was right: you could only con people full of greed. You could never con an honest man. Greed drives people crazy. Greed drives people to the brink of destruction. It's a very ugly thing, but it has already poisoned the hearts of so many men. 

   She finds it amusing yet sad at the same time.

   Now, all she has to do is wait for the signal to proceed to step three.

∞

  When Yoona saw the posters and advertisements for the Emerald two days later, it became her go signal. She didn’t waste any more time and checks in to a luxury hotel immediately. It was a nice place, full of warm lights and marble floors—a perfect setting for treachery.

   But before going inside, she changes herself once again. She dons on a short-cropped wig with a gray salt and pepper color and added expert wrinkle lines on her face, bronzed her skin and other aging tricks that she learned years ago when she was apprenticing under a famous makeup artist. When it was all done, she puts on a very plain dress and applies light green contacts.  

   She was now Laura Gudicelli, an old Italian widow visiting Korea.

   Having been checked in a