Sang-Woo’s door swung open. He sat up in his bed, startled by a sudden intruder. He reached for a knife he tucked under his pillow after the woman from before had left. He had finished work through the week but gotten no word from her. By now he had surmised that her accepting his offer was a trick. That is, until this random intruder arrived. He slowly made his way out of bed only to be greeted by the intruder placing a box on the floor and mumbling “package delivered” before leaving. He went after him, yelling for him to stop but the intruder had disappeared.
“How can someone just disappear like that?” he said rubbing his head, “He just left the box without a word of what’s in it…”
He searched all over the box but there was no address on it, nor a sender. He opened it, finding a small box inside. Whining to himself about the wastefulness of it, he opened the smaller box finding a phone inside. As soon as he picked it up, it began to ring. The caller ID read ANONYMOUS. He answered quietly, unsure of if he should.
“Hi Sang-Woo!” the voice on the other end sang. He recognized it as the same voice as the woman’s. “It’s been a while. How are you Mr. Accountant?”
“A-Ah it’s you!” he exclaimed, “The package was a phone? Why not just ask for my phone number?”
“What a stupid question.” she replied, “You really don’t make me feel confident in your skills. Phones can’t be tracked if they are ghosted properly. I won’t contact you any other way so you might want to keep this safe.”
“AAh, that makes sense.”
“Did you forget our meeting tomorrow?” she asked, “Meet me at Hongik University Station at 3am. Don’t look for me. I’ll find you. Don’t be late.”
“Y-yes!” he said nervously, “I’ll be early. Early is on-time and on-time is late!”
He waited for her to respond, but she hung up without a word. He stared down at the phone, gulping at the thought of meeting her alone. He didn’t know what she could do to him given isolation. Nervously, he paced around the room before remembering something a good friend had told him.
“I got a new hunting gun the other day! Come go hunting with me sometime. You can use my old one.”
The idea raced through his mind. He knew his friend would let him borrow it. Then, he could protect himself if she tried to pounce. He grabbed his cellphone and began typing ferociously. He didn’t explain the entire situation but just enough to where his friend would understand the itching feeling of danger he had going up his back.
His phone rang and his friend greeted him with “Sang-Woo what the hell is going on?”
“Taek-Hwan!” he laughed, “I didn’t expect you to call me so fast.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Taek-Hwan pushed, “You’ve never gone hunting with me and never been interested in guns. All of a sudden you want to borrow my hunting rifle? And the story you sent me sounds ludicrous. If someone if threatening your life, then go to the police.”
“That won’t work!” Sang-Woo boomed, “By now they probably think I killed that guy! You said it yourself that it sound crazy. Please, just let me borrow it for tomorrow. I swear I won’t kill or hurt anyone…unless necessary.”
“…” Taek-Hwan sighed, “Fine. But you have to come get it. I’m at my sister’s in Daegu tonight.”
“I’ll be right over!”
Sang-Woo hurried out into the night, grabbing a hoodie and his favorite grey sweatpants. The nights are chilly in the fall, so he knew he’d need to bundle up. Daegu was only two trains away with 30 minutes being the longest it’ll take him to get there. The trains were crowded; in an hour or two the last train for the night would be leaving. This always caused a jam.
He took his seat with another person quickly sitting beside him. He recognized her as the young girl who had caused him trouble at the stall the night he met the assassin. She grabbed his arm, and another person sat down beside him. This time he could tell from their build that it was a male. He guessed it could be one of the boys that were a part of the group she was with. A second male stood in front of him, holding the handles above Sang-Woo.
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“Don’t say a word old man.” the girl whispered, “I told you not to screw with me.”
Sang-Woo sighed. Of all the things he’s been dealing with this was the biggest inconvenience. He wanted to make a quick trip to pick up the rifle. He pleaded with them to let him go.
“Look,” he said “I’ll give you your money back or free tteokbokki for life. Just let me go. I don’t have time for this.”
“Let you go?” she giggled quietly, “Not until I have my revenge for the embarrassment you caused me.”
“Come on!” he groaned agitated, “It’s just tteokbokki.”
She ignored him, typing away on her phone. The other two eyed him the entire ride. When they reached the next station, they ordered him off. Leading him to a nearby lake, they ordered him to strip. He looked at them confused.
“What are you waiting for?” she said, “Get to it.”
“It’s freezing here!” Sang-Woo argued, “I’m not going to strip down for you.”
She pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. The two men with her jumped in surprise. It was clear they didn’t know she had the gun from the beginning. They urged her to put it away but she ignored them. She ordered them to stay back if they felt scared.
“Strip or I’ll shoot.” she ordered, “I won’t repeat myself.”
Trembling, Sang-Woo began to strip down. He could hear them laugh with every article her removed. He had always been conscious of his body. He knew he wasn’t the best look-wise, and his dieting habits were non-existent. He’s so self-conscious that in all 36 years of his life he hadn’t laid with a single woman. Stripping in front of three kids made his insecurities attack.
“Get a load of this!” she laughed taking pictures, “Your body looks like an ice cream cone. What’s with the hair on your chest? You know that isn’t attractive in the slightest, right? Oh, but the kicker for me is your little guy…so small. What are you a grown baby?”
Sang-Woo lowered his head. Tears began to fall as she continued taking photos. She pulled out a bag she had been hiding under her jacket. Inside was a pink dress and heels. She tossed them at him, motioning for him to put them on. Her co-conspirators argued at this.
“Seriously Ye-Jun?” one of them protested, “Don’t you think you’re going to far? I know money’s tight for you right now but punishing him this much isn’t necessary.”
She turned the gun to him. His brown eyes almost escaped their sockets at the shock this sent through him. His short, messy black hair fell back as he backed away from her. The other minion now stood beside him, now cautious of her. She smiled at them.
“Don’t worry Ji-Hong.” she cooed, “I’m not going to shoot you. But now he knows BOTH of our names. Dong-Hyun, Don’t stand beside someone whose a target. You could get hit too. I’d never hurt you guys. But I will hurt him.”
“Why?” Dong-Hyun questioned, “You said you just wanted to scare him and take some blackmail photos. Why did you bring that? How did you even get that?”
“Oh my god!” she groaned, “I changed my mind. None of that matters. Guys like him deserve to be hurt. He’s just like every other ‘good guy’. Selling something to they bill as good to people just to secretly benefit themselves. People like him don’t care how it hurts the people he takes from.”
“Is there something deeper going on here?” Sang-Woo chimed in, “I-I don’t know what your problem is kid but I have somewhere I need to be. Please stop so I can go!”
“Shut up!” she yelled, “You’ll go when I say so.”
“Ye-Jun just put the gun down.” Ji-Hong begged, “This has all been blown out of proportion-”
Before he could finish his sentence a pop rang out into the night. Ye-Jun stood shaking in shock as his lifeless body fell to the ground. Dong-Hyun tried to run, but panicking she shot him as well. Sang-Woo—seeing an opening— lunges at her. They wrestle each other before she breaks free. She aims at him, sniffling.
“I-I didn’t mean to kill them.” she cried, “M-my finger slipped. I’d never shoot them. It should’ve been you! This is your fault. You stupid, manipulative narcissist!”
Before she could pull the trigger she fell to her knees. A bullet hole sat bleeding in the middle of her forehead. Sang-Woo screamed, before falling back into another person. It was the same guy that had delivered his package. The phone he gave him rang.
“Hello?”
“Next time you shouldn’t be so willing to be cornered. Kids with underlying daddy issues are the least of your worries and you can kill kids like that a lot easier than you think. My buddy there said you had ample opportunities to escape but didn’t. As my accountant your life is about to get change. People will kidnap you, try to kill you, or even torture you. You’ll have to learn to do more than wallow in your insecurities and cry. You begged me to live yet, you aren’t trying to live yourself. It’s annoying. Now, where were you going so far away from home?”
“Just to dinner with a friend.” Sang-Woo said laughing nervously, “He invited me over for steak and-”
“Spare me the details.” she interrupted, “All I needed was a straight answer. I’ll have my buddy there check in on you so don’t try to fuck me Sang-Woo.”
“I swear I won’t!”