Pop Singer: A Dark BWAM / AMBW Romance (28 page)

“The government hasn’t touched it or anything. I know that was one of my worries after you got kidnapped. Most of the Double Dragons took as much they could out of the banks and offshore accounts. But Oh-seong managed to nab some of the most important security details— he essentially stole all of what we earned. That’s how his gang got so powerful so quickly. They took everything from us. Not only did they manage to grow faster than ever before with our record label, they covered up all of their bad shit. So no one was the wiser.”

A sense of rage and anger boiled down inside of me. Not only did he abduct a poor woman from America, but he took all of my money, and stole from me. Literally, financially. He was grabbing pieces and left nothing but a husk.

“Then we have all the more reason to go after him,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind killing him.”

“Easy there,” Hae-il said. “We still have a long road ahead of us before we can exact revenge.”

“Why exactly are you after him?”

“I may have a small vendetta against him. He… I don’t really want to talk about it. I was close to your parents, and I’ve never really felt extremely close to you in the same vein. I could tell everything to them. But you? Honestly, I always suspected that someone would take you out, and that I would be able to be the next in line.”

“I suspected that from you,” I said. “Now that the power lines are all down, why don’t you just tell me everything out in the open?”

As we got into the truck, and as Hae-il got into the driver’s seat, he said, “I’ll tell you later.”

I wondered what he had to say, but I didn’t have time to think about that anymore: because as soon as we got back onto the road, we were sailing across the highway, across the different streets, focused on meeting Kyung-joon.

In my head, I went over how we would go to Japan.

Act naturally.

Talk normally.

Say nothing more than what was necessary.

I needed to get Henrietta back to the United States, needed to get her back home, so that I could exact revenge on Oh-seong.

She, Henrietta, seemed…sprightly though? Like she wasn’t fazed at all anymore. Sitting there in the back of the truck with me, her legs crossed, her eyes darting from left to right, her neck craning this way and that. Taken by the nature, taken away by Korea’s natural beauty. Not scared at all, this Henrietta. She wanted to be here, but I couldn’t keep her around…

Could I?

Having her was a liability.

I didn’t want to say it out loud, because I didn’t want to deflate Henrietta’s spirit. But she was indeed someone who could cause a lot of trouble if we didn’t watch her closely enough. She was unexperienced traveling in this shadow world—I could tell by the way she carried herself, unassuming, modest.

She had no idea how to front or be aggressive.

The picture of femininity, Henrietta had no mindset that could lead her through dangerous streets, would take her across channels bleak with trouble.

“Is something the matter?” Henrietta said, turning her head to me. “I love this part of Korea already. It’s so peaceful and relaxed. It’s not like when I was in Seoul, with all of the people surrounding me, bustling everywhere, such in a rush and in a hurry to get to where they needed to. Even I was caught up in the craziness. People were well-dressed and everything. And the city itself is beautifully constructed. But I don’t think I could live there in the long term.”

Bit-na snickered in the passenger seat. She tilted her head towards the side view mirror. Bit-na and Henrietta’s eyes met together there, staring angrily, viciously.

This was the only time I ever saw Henrietta become antagonistic: when Bit-na gave her push.

And rightly so for Henrietta to defend herself.

But should she have to stand being around Bit-na? I barely knew who Bit-na even was. Keeping them both around…

Liabilities, liabilities everywhere.

“Seoul is a wonderful city,” I said. “My family used to take me to the border all the time. To North Korea. We would stand in the demilitarized zone, watching the guards. We didn’t have money to go to actual sites, to go see the beaches or anything. So much of it was funneled back into our business—or rather, our gang. Building a house in the countryside. Trying to corral everyone together and make everyone listen. Sometimes, people, they just don’t listen.”

“I know what you mean,” Henrietta said, dreamily. “I know what you mean.”

I sat closer to Henrietta now, unbuckled my seatbelt. I didn’t care what the others thought, I wanted to tell her something.

“I’m warning you right now,” I said, “that Bit-na and Hae-il have probably done worse than just killed people with their bare hands several times before. This isn’t a schoolyard trip. You need to keep your wits about you, stay close to me and so we get you back home.”

“I get you,” Henrietta said, whispering softer. “I
understand
. I know what’s going on.”

“Maybe we should just bring you back to the police station.”

Henrietta glanced over at Bit-na in the side view mirror. “I’ve been thinking about that, but I don’t think your friends would let me go. Like you said. We can’t keep going back and forth like this. The best way for me to go home is to have a plane ticket or a safe out.”

“I’m just saying is all, if they give you any trouble, you need to tell me. Because things are about to get dicey.”

I pulled away from Henrietta now, and Bit-na gave me a nasty smirk. “I guess you’re already falling in love with her, aren’t you?”

“I’m the one who saved her. It’s fine that she has special attachment to me.” Henrietta gave me a smile, and then she blushed. Maybe she was still starstruck. Maybe the illusions of who I was were coming down.

Maybe she had so many thoughts storming in her mind that she didn’t know what to feel anymore. I could feed her as much information as I wanted to, but really, her intentions were only for herself. “Keep to yourself, Bit-na. We don’t need any trouble on this expedition.”

“I have my goals,” Bit-na said, putting up her feet onto the dashboard. “And I promise you they don’t involve her in any way.”

Anger boiled underneath my skin. Henrietta was nothing more than a civilian woman, an innocent bystander. If Bit-na was going to be like this, then maybe we were better off without her—we could all pursue our personal vendettas separately against Oh-seong then.

As I boiled there in the truck, I clenched my hands, making two fists.

God!

She could be infuriating.

I went to say something back to Bit-na, but then Henrietta crept her fingers over my knuckles, squeezing tight my palms.

She pumped once and then twice, watching me from the corner of her eye.

She mouthed the words, “Don’t.”

And I didn’t move anymore. I didn’t make any quick actions or rash decisions. My anger simmered away, and then we rode onward down a highway, passing several trees, going to where we needed to.

Refocusing myself, I thought about Kyung-joon.

But Henrietta appeared in my head several times over.

I would protect her in the end. If not for her own sake, then to spite Bit-na and Oh-seong for sabotaging her trip over here, endangering her, and making her nothing more than their play toys.

God, they made me angry.

When we got to the hospital, Eun-jung was standing at the front door, Kyung-joon next to her.

She did not even look at me, not even to acknowledge us.

She simply walked across the street, head held high, her nose pointed towards the sun.

I kind of hated her, but I couldn’t too much. She was risking her life for us, just by having us around.

“Roll down the window,” I said, as Hae-il pulled up to the curb. “Kyung-joon!”

He came around to my window. He said, “I’ve got them. Do you have the money?”

“You already bought them for us? How kind of you.”

He told me the price.

“I don’t think the tickets are supposed to be that expensive,” I said. “You’re trying to trick me here. Kyung-joon, seriously, that’s not cool.”

Kyung-joon blushed, and then he shook his head. “You’re free to go get your own tickets if you want. You don’t have to get them from me. I’m risking myself for you—I’m helping you out here. You’re either going to get them or not. And through me it’s the safest way.”

Bit-na forked over the cash. I gawked at the price, counting every single won, even though it was a complete loss and better to look away.

Now I began to hate Kyung-joon, wanted to grip his throat in my hands. Wanted to command Hae-il to get at him, take him down.

But then I caught Henrietta staring at me—maybe she saw the rage boiling up again— and that stopped me in my tracks, from lashing out at Kyung-joon, from causing a scene. “Here,” I said, still somewhat peeved. “I don’t have anymore. We are not rich, you know?”

Kyung-joon nodded, seemingly guilty, his hands in his pockets, stuffing the cash as fast as he possibly could. “Thanks for helping us,” he said.

Then all of the gears in my head clicked together.

Him and Eun-jung…

He has a girlfriend…

“You’re dating Eun-jung? And she doesn’t like you because you’re helping me? That’s what’s happening here, isn’t it? You’re her boyfriend, and she’s your girlfriend.”

Now Kyung-joon turned extremely red, so hot to the point that I could probably cook an egg on his face.

I wanted to crack a couple across his forehead, to knock some sense into him.

Because at the end of the day we were all in the same basket. We were all in the same league.

But he did not see himself anymore as a gangster. He saw only a man in the mirror who wore professional clothes, came into a 9-to-5 job and checked out at the end of the day with a pretty girl around his arm.

“Fine,” I said. “You can do whatever you want. Thanks.”

“I don’t owe you anything. It’s not like I have to help you,” Kyung-joon said. “But I want to. I know that times are tough for the Double Dragons. Everyone is going their separate ways. Everyone’s trying to figure out how to get back on their feet. I want to be compassionate—but you’ve got to understand, I’m in my own dire situation. My own special hell.”

“I understand, I guess. I have to. I have no choice. I’ve got your number and everything, so we’ll see if I’ll be needing you.”

Kyung-joon nodded. “We’ll be seeing you.”

I didn’t ask any more questions from him. I could only hope that life would get better in the end for all of us.

I ushered Hae-il to go forth, and then Kyung-joon walked away, waving at us, as we pulled from the hospital parking lot, down the road and for another motel we would stay in.

Henrietta didn’t say anything else until we were deciding rooms, and she said, “I don’t mind sharing it with you, after what you told me.”

Together, in the same bed, we would share heat and energy.

Calm and quietude.

No longer being chased or hassled this way and that, forced out on the road like a bunch of bandits.

Hae-il and Bit-na resented us.

They wanted to stay in the room themselves as well—and we invited them to come—but they seemed to prefer the truck, I think because me and Henrietta were going to be there.