Vacation from He**

Suspicious Activity

"I didn't mean to run into her."

"I would hope not," Knock's shoulder heaved as another laughing fit took him over. "My stomach hurts."

"Then stop laughing."

"I don't think I can."

"You wouldn't laugh if it happened to you."

"But it didn't. So I'm going to laugh all I want."

"I'm so happy my suffering is entertaining for you."

Korn leaned back in the driver's seat. He had insisted on driving, insisting he didn't trust Knock had recovered enough from his stay in the hospital, but in reality didn't think Knock could stop laughing long enough to drive safely.

He hadn't thought getting food from the street cart would lead to yet one more level of bad luck. As he'd been ordering, he thought he saw Cho and Yihwa on the other side of the street. Korn side stepped to the left to get a better look. He turned as the girl stepped into his path. They collided in a jumble of pink ice cream and meat sticks. The sticky ice cream rolled over his body, down his shorts, and fell with a splat on the pavement. The girl looked at him and he looked at the girl, both stuck in a state of shock.

It was a small bit of good luck the girl didn't cry. Nor did her mother yell at him. With apologies given all around, Korn escaped with only minor damage to his pride as the ice cream thickened against his skin and shorts. While he had washed it off as best he could in the beach showers, he could still feel bits of the sugar mess stuck to parts he couldn't expose at the beach. He couldn't wait to get home to his own shower and properly clean himself off. If he was really lucky, he could get Knock to help him. Except home was still many hours away and his luck was anything but good.

As if a demon heard his thoughts, a red light in the rear-view mirror flooded his sight.

"What the fuck?" Korn eased off the gas and pulled to the side of the road. What little hope he had of leaving all their problems at the beach faded when the police car pulled up behind him.

"What's going on?" Knock twisted to look over the back seat. "What did you do wrong?"

"I didn't do anything. I wasn't even speeding, much."

"Then why?"

"How the hell would I know?" Knock flinched away. "Sorry."

In the rear-view mirror, Korn watched as the police officer opened his door, his hand moving to his hip.

"You two in the car. Step out slowly, so I can see your hands."

"Shit. What do we do?" Knock wrung his hands together.

"We don't have much choice. Come on."

With his hands held in front of his body, Korn pushed the door open with his foot and stepped out onto the dusty roadside. Knock's head popped into view over the roof, his hands held high.

"Sir, is there a problem?" Korn called out.

"There won't be any problem if you keep following directions. Move to the trunk, turn around and put your hands behind your back." The police officer's hand twitched at the holster near his hip.

"Can you tell us why you pulled us over?"

"I told you to move." The police officer unsnapped the holster.

Korn risked a glance Knock. A thin layer of sweat covered his face.

"Alright, we're coming." Korn inched his way down the car. He did everything he could to appear unthreatening while sizing up the officer at the same time. Korn didn't fear the police, but he knew to be wary of bad apples. The odds were this was nothing, but it could be a shakedown for money, or worse. Either way, he had to be prepared.