“Hyunnie?” Seulgi asked, gobsmacked.

“Hyunnie?” asked the other voice in mirth.

“Don’t you start. I know where you live.” This was said in the soft, sweet voice that was known, but this kind of response surprised Seulgi even more than she would have expected.

“And I am your boss. Hyunnie.” There was an undercurrent of nigh uncontrolled laughter at this.

Seulgi was apologizing profusely in her heart and in her eyes to her friend. She would do so again, properly and thoroughly, later. Maybe with an extra dessert. And away from whomever is causing her grief. Other than herself, being the source of that ill willed mirth.

That last declaration was followed by an agonized, “Yes, ma’am.”

At least that ‘Ma’am’ was not directed at her this time, Seulgi thought.

“Seulgi, are you here for the one o’clock appointment?”

Deciding to keep things minimalistic to avoid bringing her friend more problems, she answered with a simple, “Yes.” JooHyun showed back up to the desk with a clipboard and a smile. She knew this smile, Seulgi sighed because she was not in trouble after all. She was still going to apologize, though. Just not here.

“You know the drill. Fill it out, bring it back up and we’ll get you in.” There was as much warmth as there was a smile. She was reminded, viscerally, about all of the bodies that she had left in her wake at the gym. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

“Hyunnie?” came from inside the office again. Seulgi did not have to imagine what the sound of JooHyun’s teeth grinding sounded like, now she knew. How she managed to make the sound of grinding her molars as ‘delicate’ was beyond Seulgi’s understanding, but there it was.

She scuttled off to a seat and started filling out the forms. Most of the data was the same as everywhere else. Name, sex, address, insurance, and all of the normal, boring things. She was done quickly and returned the forms and clipboard to the desk.

JooHyun quickly wiped her mouth as Seulgi returned. There was a quietly muffled “Hyunnie?” from behind the door leading away from the reception area along with a sweet peal of laughter that was full of gleeful malice.

“Sorry about that. I was surprised that you work here,” Seulgi apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” came the soft, sweet reply. “Ignore her. I already have what sort of reprisal to respond with tomorrow.” The grin that was as full of malice as the laughter from the other room.  

Seulgi shuddered. She thought that the jokes and pranks from her department were rough. She ought to bring in a cake tomorrow just to show appreciation to her people.

JooHyun took the clipboard from her hand. She expertly went over the forms. She pointed out one box that Seulgi missed and got the requested information.

“Let me put this in and then I’ll bring you back. OK?” She managed to say this around a mouthful of nearly devoured lunch. Seulgi went back to her chair, thinking how different this version of JooHyun was from the one that she usually knew.

She was still a flawless beauty. Perfectly made up and turned out. The only flaw on her perfect face was the one grain of rice next to her carmine colored lips. She wore her hair loose at work. Seulgi was used to it being knotted up for the gym or to go to the restaurant. JooHyun was even more beautiful with her ebony hair down.

She thought more about the difference between her friend between here and the restaurant while waiting. She didn’t realize that she was just distracting herself until she was called back.

JooHyun held the door open with a dazzling smile. Seulgi knew that she would be given proper care, Hyunnie would not allow her to be abused.

She was brought to an elegantly appointed office. It was spacious without being empty. There were several degrees from very distinguished universities on the walls. There were many knickknacks and other items on display that much have had sentimental meanings to the owner of the office.

One side of Seulgi’s mind noted that everything was impeccably clean. Not a speck of dust anywhere in the office. It was almost obsessively clean. Now that she thought about it, so was the waiting room. And the entryway as well.

The dirtiest place was JooHyun’s face while she wallowed in her lunch. This must give the clean freak owner the heebie jeebies. She could not help but laugh softly at this thought.

Someone must pay the cleaning staff well.  

JooHyun softly closed the door as she left. Seulgi continued exploring the room. There were a lot of photographs of very famous people. There was the occasional stone and a map location of where it was from. There was even a rock from Antarctica. At least, she took it for granite that it was.

There was a large, wide desk in the back third of the room. It was the centerpiece that bespoke power.  There was a conference desk off to the side. There were chairs and couches near the windows that spoke of warmth and sunlight. There was a preventative mirrored tint to the window so no one could see in. But that did not stop the shadows from the clouds from playing across the surface of the furniture.

Seulgi went over to the windows to observe the scene below. She could also see boats on the Han River. The cotton ball puffs floating across the sky mixed with the activities below made for a very serene montage. The heat from the sun further mixed in to relax and calm her worried mind.

While looking over everything, she heard something clatter to the floor behind her in the hallways. That brought back memories. Being on her back, helpless. A bang and being sprayed with blood and bone. The knife clattered on the ground in the parking lot. Bhuwakul and Yeji screaming her name, and feeling all over her body, checking for injuries. Jeong-Hui with her death head rictus smile and smoking gun.

The door was thrown open at her screams. They found her sobbing in a fetal position next to the window.