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As the smoke disappeared into the darkness, Hyun Woo said with a small smile, “Just don’t get in my way.”
The directness of his words was what first bothered Kang Yoon. As the words settled in, he bristled. He was about to talk when Hyun Woo laughed.
“Don’t be so serious,” Hyun Woo said, raising his eyebrows. “I’m just saying she’s cute, so if you’re not into her, I might make a move. I mean, even if you were into her, I’d make a move anyway. I might want to even more, actually. Nothing more attractive than a woman wanted by someone else.”
Kang Yoon almost puked in his mouth. He couldn’t tell if Hyun Woo had always been this twisted or he was exaggerating out of some sick contempt for Kang Yoon. Either way, he didn’t feel particularly threatened. There was no way Sae Ra would be into Hyun Woo, and, if anything, she might act even crazier to throw him off. She had a surprisingly good sense about these things. Her quirks could be charming—at least at first—but once any creep or even a naive romantic tried to make moves on her that made her uncomfortable, her quirks became less charming and more unhinged real quick.
Sae Ra is no damsel in distress, Kang Yoon thought with some pride. Maybe she can make this guy forget about her, if anything, and transfer to another writer’s team. He knew this part was wishful thinking. It would be too much work for her to take on such a massive memory erasure while ensuring things still made sense in Hyun Woo’s mind. And there was no way she could switch teams right now.
“Okay good luck with that,” Kang Yoon simply said, further provoking Hyun Woo’s curiosity, and turned back to the restaurant. “Shall we go back in now?” He entered without waiting for a reply.
Deep in thought, Hyun Woo quickly smoked a bit more of his cigarette, then followed him back in. The two men sat back down and noticed something was off. Sae Ra was shooting daggers at Tae Ri for some reason, as if trying to figure something out but the other woman was ignoring her with such a cool aura she might as well have had a shield around her that the daggers were bouncing off of.
“Well, enjoy the rest of your meal. I took care of the bill, by the way,” Hyun Woo said, raising his eyebrows at the two ladies. He stood up and smiled. “I’ll see you all at work.” He shot Kang Yoon one last look, which was duly ignored, and left.
Suddenly, Tae Ri leaned towards them with slight urgency, the smell of alcohol on her breath as she whispered, “Okay, let’s go.”
“Huh?” Kang Yoon and Sae Ra both said, surprised by this change in attitude.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Tae Ri whispered, grabbing her coat and half-hanging onto Sae Ra as she stood up, looking with narrowed eyes at the door, which closed behind another leaving customer.
Sae Ra quickly gathered her own things and let Tae Ri half-pull her out the door. Kang Yoon, already ready to go, followed suit, bowing a quick farewell to the restaurant owner. Suspecting they were going to be following Hyun Woo, despite Tae Ri’s insistence she didn’t like him, Sae Ra was surprised when Tae Ri turned the opposite direction and started following another man.
Sae Ra pulled gently on her arm in an attempt to stop Tae Ri. “That’s not him,” she murmured. “I think you’re drunk. Let’s take you home.”
Tae Ri ignored her and continued stalking her prey, walking stealthily on the balls of her feet like a cartoon character. Kang Yoon, to Sae Ra’s surprise, wasn’t helping her stop Tae Ri and flag her a taxi. Rather, he walked slowly behind them, looking ahead at the man—actually, even farther ahead at the woman walking before the stranger. The man Tae Ri was tailing seemed fixated on the lady, following her from a distance under the dark cloak of the night shadows.
Sae Ra didn't know what was going on but from the tense silence and Tae Ri’s attempt to be sneaky despite her intoxication, she knew to follow along for now. Eventually, the man slipped into a dark side alleyway and started to speed up out of nowhere.
“Now!” shouted Tae Ri, rushing forward with Kang Yoon slipping past a bewildered Sae Ra to stay close behind Tae Ri. The two jumped on the guy as soon as he grabbed the lady in front and she let out a startled scream.
The stranger, alarmed by Kang Yoon’s grip on his arm and Tae Ri whacking him with her bag, held up his arms and shouted in a sing-song manner, “Surprise!” Thwack.
The others stilled, except Tae Ri whose bag continued its assault. Thwack, thwack.
“Do you know him?” Kang Yoon asked the woman calmly.
She shook her head, studying the man who had grabbed her. “Who are you?”
“I knew it,” Kang Yoon said with an exhale, his mouth set in a grim line, as Tae Ri continued the thwacking like she never had any doubts or reservations.
Finally, because the man couldn’t speak while he was busy shielding his head with his arms from Tae Ri’s attack, Kang Yoon gripped her elbows and gently pulled her back. He handed her over to Sae Ra who held the drunk woman as she continued glowering at the stranger.
The shaken woman who had been grabbed by the man bowed to the three of them. “Thank you so much.”
“You should avoid dark alleyways like this one when you can,” Kang Yoon said. “And watch your back for anyone following you.”
The woman nodded. “You’re right. My friends often tell me to not walk this way. Thank you again.”
“Would you like to report him to the police?”
She shook her head. “No. Nothing happened anyway, thanks to you three.” She bowed again and after a few more words exchanged among the group, she finally left with her brother who came to pick her up after she called him.
“I won’t let you get off that easy!” Tae Ri snapped at the man, who was pressed against the wall of the alleyway and trying to crabwalk away from them discreetly. He froze.
Kang Yoon was debating what to do because he didn’t feel good about letting the man go. Sae Ra’s mind was on violence, but she waited cheerfully to see what the others decided on first. She didn’t think Kang Yoon would let her attempt murder, at least not from the get-go, and felt very lucky to have someone to stop her from a life of crime.
“Maybe we should take him to the police, after all,” Kang Yoon murmured.
The man shrugged nonchalantly. “It’ll just be a waste of my time and yours.”
Kang Yoon hated to admit that the man was likely correct. He looked at the stranger with an air of formidable calm that kept the man rooted to his spot.
“Don’t you even think about trying something like this again!” Tae Ri yelled. Her warning would have been a lot more effective had she not been slurring slightly, suggesting she might not remember this the next day, no matter how much her eyes meant business.
“Oh, I won’t, I assure you,” the man said, bowing his head. “Not since I got caught. It was a dumb idea. But I was just going to ask her for some cab fare, I swear!”
“No, you weren’t. And I’ll make sure you don’t ‘ask for some cab fare’ ever again, sir. You’ll be walking to hell. I know your name!”
They all looked at her, waiting.
After a small hiccup, she announced, “Mr. Lee Man Sik!”
Kang Yoon and Sae Ra’s heads swerved to the man for confirmation. He looked shell-shocked.
Tae Ri continued, “And I know where you live!”
Kang Yoon and Sae Ra turned back to her. She recited an address. They turned back to the man, who looked even more shaken.
“What are you? Are you a stalker?” His mouth gaped like a fish. He pulled out his wallet and his license to make sure it was still there.
“And I know where you work!” she said next. He looked at her with fear in his eyes. “And your wife’s name and number!” His mouth opened wider in a silent scream.
“No, that’s enough! I got it! I won’t do this again, I swear! I’ll be good!”
Kang Yoon said to Tae Ri, “Give me his wife’s info. I think she deserves to know anyway.”
Before Tae Ri had a chance to respond, the man yelped and sped off. The words he shouted faded as he put more distance between them until he was completely out of sight: “I swear I’ll be good for life! Don’t come looking for me! I’ll be repenting!”
The three stood in the silence that followed for a few good seconds.
Tae Ri chirped, “Ms. Kim Jung Hee,” and recited a phone number.
Kang Yoon whipped out his phone and saved the information. “Good. I’ll try to get word to her…”
“Do you think she’ll believe you?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “That’s up to her. It’ll be enough to at least open her eyes to any signs.”
“Okay, and Sae Ra and I will go to his house tomorrow with bats. You with me?”
Finally, Sae Ra thought. “Yup!”
“No,” Kang Yoon said sternly, gripping the back of Sae Ra’s shirt like she might rush off at any moment to quench her thirst for blood. Once Sae Ra settled down a bit, he turned to Tae Ri and said, “I think we need to talk.”
She gently slapped her cheeks as if that would help her wake up. “That’s good because I can’t tell what you’re thinking, but I bet whatever you’re thinking is right.”
He stayed quiet, his eyes focused on her face. Sae Ra still had no idea what was going on; she was just happy to be there. She also assumed she would finally be getting some answers, which would clear up some headspace—hopefully.
Tae Ri took a deep breath and said, “I can read people’s minds.”
Kang Yoon stayed quiet for a few beats, his arms crossed. Finally, he nodded slowly. “I see…”
“I can read everyone’s minds except yours.” Tae Ri said this almost accusatorially, pointing right at him so her finger nearly touched his nose. “And yours.” She moved her finger to Sae Ra.
She concluded, “And Hyun Woo’s.”
Next time on 🌸Forget-Me-Not🌸
Both women had their eyes latched onto him, so eager and focused that he was starting to sweat. “Why don’t we, uh, go somewhere else to talk? Let’s get out of this sketchy alleyway.”