I’m not sure how I got here, but I’m well aware of this situation. I pull the gun to his face. My finger firmly wrapped around the trigger. I was ready to pull it any second. I stared at his face. He was in his late 50’s. Already half his life wasted young girls, and then killing and disposing of their bodies in wastelands.
“Please don’t kill me.” He begged as he laid on the ground bleeding. “Please. I’ll give you anything you want. Please, just don’t kill me.”
“Is that how all those young girls begged for their lives before you took theirs?”
“What?”
“Now if I let you go, do you think that’ll be fair to them?”
“I didn’t do anything to those girls.”
“Didn’t do anything?” I kicked him in the guts a few times. “You didn’t do anything?”
“They asked for it.” He let out a loud laugh. “The way they dressed. The way they talked. The way they begged for me to stop. They were all just pretending to be good, but they knew what they were. They are just animals. Women are just animals to us men.”
“Is that so?” I kicked him a few more times and then I took off my baseball cap that was covering my face. As he saw my face, surprise spread on his face. And then I did it. I pulled the trigger. But in the background, I could already hear the police sirens responding to the bar’s stressed call about having heard fighting in the alley. Before I left him there to rot, I said my last farewells. “You just got eaten by an animal.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“You don’t seem surprised.” Jung Il Woo said staring at me as he wiped down some cups.
“It’s downtown. These things happen all the time.” I sipped my lemonade.
He looked at me as though he knew it was me who had done it. It felt like he had looked into my soul in just that millisecond. His face scrunched up as I stared back at him.
“Huh.”
“What?”
“You don’t seem like the person I thought you to be.” He went back to his cleaning.
“I’m not an open book for you to read.”
“Sung Hwa, Il Woo! Come here.” The boss called from the entrance. “I have someone here for you to meet.”
This man that we were going to be introduced to was someone familiar but also a stranger. He had a built frame, and he was tall. He was an older man but he still looked strong and held a lot of authority. He had a stern voice that rattled the gates to my past. It was him. The man I spent my whole existence so far trying to track down.
“This is Gong Ji Kwang. He is our newest addition to our sponsor list. Please treat him well whenever he decides to visit.” Our boss Hong Ji Man introduces.
“Annyeong haseyo. I’m Gong Ji Kwang. I hope to see this place grow bigger and more popular. Please help me around when I visit.” He says chuckling as though he found something really funny.
“Annyeong haseyo. I’m Jung Il Woo. I’ll try to help you to my fullest potential.”
It was my turn to introduce myself. Yet, I hesitated. I didn’t want to know this person. I just wanted to put a bullet in his head and get this over with. I wanted him dead and gone so my family can finally rest in peace.
“Yah. Sung Hwa. Don’t be rude.” Jung Il Woo nudged me in the side.
“I’m In Sung Hwa.” I said coldly.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Gong Ji Kwang said sticking out his hand awaiting a handshake.
“I’m sorry, I’m not the hand-shaking type.” I said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to work.” I didn’t want to be near this person anymore. I wasn’t going to go for him just yet though. I didn’t want to get him that easily. I didn’t want him to die a fast death. I wanted to torture him. To the very end I wanted to torture him. Like how he has tortured me for the last 15 years.
“What was that all about?” Jung Il Woo asked following me.
“Nothing.”
“It has to be something.”
“I said it was nothing.” I glared at him. “Just forget about it.” I grabbed the last of the glass bottles and head to the backroom. Just as I open the door, my phone started ringing. I placed the glass bottled box on the ground and answered my phone.
“Hello?”
“It’s all over the news.”
“I’m aware of that.” I softly kick the door close.
“How are you going to take care of that?”
“I won’t.” I said walking to the back of the room looking for a place to hide as I kept talking on the phone.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll just let the others soak it in before I deal with them myself.” I said as I lifted myself onto an old desk.
“So you’re just going to let them do whatever?”
“They’ll soon regret it.” I grabbed a spare box cutter and started playing with it.
“Don’t screw this up Sung Hwa.”
“Ahjussi. When have you ever heard of me messing up?”
“Never.”
“So don’t worry.” I studied the blade carefully. This was a new cutter. Probably one they just ordered not too long ago.
“I’ll call you later about the new job.” Then he hangs up. I stare at the blank cellphone screen. I’m already so use to this aren’t I? No one waiting to hear me hang up.
I stood up and stuck the phone into my back pocket again. As I turn the corner of the shelf I noticed someone standing there. I reacted reflexively. I grabbed the collar of this stranger and shoved my forearm into his chest causing him to stumble onto the shelf. By this time I finally realized who it was and I pulled the box cutter from the place on his stomach that I had positioned it at. The electricity I had felt at the café shot back through my body. It felt warm, nice, and…
“Jung. Il. Woo. What are you doing sneaking up on me?” I said pulling back.
“I was checking up on you. What took you so long?” He said straighten out his shirt.
“I wasn’t sure where to put the bottles.” I said looking around.
“Seems like you do.” He pointed to the box of bottles at the bottom of the table next to the table next to the door.
“Well I guess I do.”
“Whatever. Just hurry back to work. Boss didn’t pay to sit around and do nothing.” He walked out of the backroom and back to work. And leaving me a little frustrated.
‘What the hell was that all about?’ I said looking at my arm. But even more importantly, why couldn’t I hear his footsteps? Jung Il Woo’s footsteps as he walked into the room. It was almost like he was had no … footsteps.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I know it's been a really really really really long time, but here it is. I know it's not a lot, but I'm on Winter Break and I'm finally getting to write again. :DDDDD So good news to all of my readers (If I haven't lost any of you.) :)))) I promise you guys that there will be more action in the next few chapters. :)))) keke. :D But for now. have fun with your imagination of the coupling. :D