Beautiful Stranger

"Sorry you wanted to say something?" Lee tenderly untied So-Mi's gag. "There you go."

His once familiar beautiful face, now a complete stranger's.

So-Mi spat out the bitter after taste of the gag.

"You killed Appa," she accused, shooting daggers with her eyes.

"I'm sorry So-Mi. I seriously did not want to resort to that. I like Choi-Appa. And I did try to hint to you, tried to warn you."

He ran a tired hand in his hair and drew a ragged breath.

"All we wanted was for you to be with us. But you seem to be too secure with your Appa and Omma. And you needed you to be with us with no baggage. No family. Because we will be your family."

"Omma..." So-Mi whispered worriedly.

"We'll spare Choi-Omma, don't worry. Since she's gone off to the village and all...I'm not a cold hearted bastard, you know," he shook his head, disappointed with her lack of faith in him. "But your Ahjussi. Now, he's a different story. He definitely has to go."

Lee said it so nonchalantly. Like it was a part of a legal corporate strategy.

Making every bit of So-Mi's bone tensed.

"Are you behind Amber's disappearance too?" So-Mi frowned in question.

Lee stared into space, a slight wistful look on his face.

"I do believe she's happy wherever she is at the moment."

"You killed her too..?" So-Mi whispered in disbelief.

For once Lee kept silent, glancing down at So-Mi, again with a look that bordered disappointment and sadness.

"I blame myself for being slow and not direct. Instead I used scare tactics with the notes and those thugs. Hoping that you would call me for help. Thinking that at last you would choose me," he said softly. "But you didn't even call."

He pulled a similar chair as hers and sat stradling it, facing her.

His smile almost eerie in the dim light of the room.

"But those goons hurt you, when I specifically told them just to scare you. So I had to punish them, so others will know that instructions must be followed to the letter. Such is our code."

He explained apologetically, reaching out to run a finger down her cheek.

It took every ounce of her body mass, not to flinch.

"But they were in police custody," she whispered.

"Yes, and they were not in my precinct either," he shook his head. "We used virtual detonator. Poison bomb in the teeth."

He grinned.

"Like you, we are high tech too. And in actual fact, when your precious Ahjussi was running through town last night searching for you, I already knew where you were."

Again playing with her smooth cheek.

"But then again, I wasn't about to tell the competition that the girl is waiting for him in his own room, now would I?"

At So-Mi's startled look, Lee answered, leaning forward to gently caress the star pin on her shirt collar.

A slow caress that made So-Mi's skin crawled involuntarily.

"Thank you for heeding my call to wear this all the time. Made it easy for me to track you," he smiled.

And for the first time that evening, So-Mi actually felt scared.

"You and your Ahjussi were naughty last night, weren't you?" he admonished her.

"Your Appa has just passed on. How could you..?" He continued to scold her, cheapening what Tae-sik and her shared.

"We had you covered from all angles," Lee nodded. "I tried to disconnect your CCTV and all before I went to get you, but your configurations are different and they were good. And I could only spray paint the one outside, not the ones in the house itself. But then again, I wanted Tae-sik to know who was behind all this. So, that's ok. Like I said earlier, I just want this to end."

To stress his point, Lee got up from his chair and threw it away.

Preferring to squat close in front of her.

Putting his hands on both sides of her small chair.

"Admit it So-Mi, we are doing the world a greater good here. Giving these kids better homes from an otherwise sad existence. These kids are like you and me. Homeless, abused, hungry, scared."

He looked up at her earnerstly, his eyes again beseeching her.

Begging for her understanding.

And acceptance.