Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 33

The siren outside stopped, and I stepped off the bench for the first time in hours. I ran over to the door and put my ear up against it to see if I could hear anything, but it was as silent as it had been for days.

The flap near the door opened and a tray slid inside. On it, a piece of bread and a bottle of water.

"Fuck," I mumbled. Whatever had happened had made them go back on feeding me actual food. That could not be a good sign. I picked it up and made my way to the bench to sit on. I picked at the bread, hoping to make it last as long as possible.

"Hey Han," I heard over the intercom. I looked up out of impulse to face where the voice was coming from. "You busy?" he laughed. It was Jeongin.

"Obviously not," I retorted. I pulled my feet up and sat with them on the bench just in case he released something.

"I have a surprise for you," Jeongin said.

"Is it more food?" I snarked, waving around the remnants of my single slice of bread.

"No, but it could lead to more food if you answer me correctly," I sighed. This again?

But then the room went dark. I heard a mechanical sound and then a screen projected across the wall from me. Jeongin was on it.

"I thought you'd like a movie with your dinner," Jeongin smiled. His face was as punchable as ever.

"Oh don't worry," he began. "I'm not the star of it.".

And then he flipped the camera around. Sitting there in a ripped-up white shirt was Lee Know.

The blood rushed from my face as I stared at him. He'd called me weak and fragile. He'd said I was easily manipulated. He'd kicked me out of his house and avoided me all because I'd done something he'd been doing all along. He'd lied to me. He probably never even liked me to begin with.

And yet, here he was, arms tied behind his back. He'd been caught just like me. His head was hung low, and he looked ashamed. Maybe being as weak as me was embarrassing for him. I wondered if Jeongin caught Lee Know himself.

But then I noticed his chest...the numerous scars. They wrapped across his whole chest and wound down his arms as well. He'd been burned, too.

My heart tightened to imagine him going through what I'd been dealing with. Was this why he'd been so insecure that he couldn't be intimate with me?

I shook my head. No, it couldn't be. He wasn't intimate with me because he never liked me. The letter made that obvious.

"So Han," Jeongin began. "Are you ready to play a game?"

"What could you possibly be insinuating?" I asked.

"Well, you're apparently off limits now. But Lee Know isn't," he responded with a devilish smile. I wished I could kick him again.

But then it clicked. He was going to use me to torture Lee Know. It was like all of the air had been sucked out of the room.

"Now, obviously you both know the rules," he said pulling Lee Know's shirt over to expose him even more. He looked so uncomfortable.

"So let's play," Jeongin clapped his hands together.

"Han," he began. "Who are you working for?"

Lee Know hadn't looked up once. He looked so defeated. It wasn't the Lee Know I'd come to know who was strong and protective. He looked weak.

"Nobody, Jeongin," I replied.

Jeongin pulled out his iron rod that glowed from heat and placed it against Lee Know's chest. He yelled out in pain as Jeongin held it there. Lee Know writhed and tried to sink back far enough into his chair to get away from it, but Jeongin followed his movements and maintained pressure.

"Stop, stop!" I yelled out. I couldn't do this. I couldn't watch him hurt him because he refused to believe the truth.

"Are you ready to tell the truth?" Jeongin asked, pulling the rod off of Lee Know whose head fell forward. He'd passed out from the pain.

"Is he okay?" I asked for a couple of reasons. One, because I wanted to know he wasn't dead; and two, to stall for time.

Jeongin set the rod down and walked around behind Lee Know. He lifted his head to the camera and slapped his face. Lee Know woke up breathing heavily. He still didn't make eye contact with the camera.

"He's fine. See?" Jeongin said, dropping his head back down. Lee Know stared at his chest.

"Now, what's the truth?"

I picked through the half-finished lies I'd come up with. This would either save him or kill him.

"I was hired by Mrs. Seo," I coughed, "...my mother to investigate Lee Know. She believed him to be working with the Hwang family."

"You see," Jeongin began, "I knew you were working for somebody, but Mrs. Seo has high standards. She hires strong people. You, as Lee Know so kindly informed us, have nightmares because of a little fight in an alley."

Fuck. I hadn't thought this through. My mind scanned itself for a suitable answer.

"Well luckily I do my work like most people...while I'm awake, not asleep," I argued. I hoped I sounded sincere and witty, or he'd question me further.

"And when you're awake, are you always so weak? So fragile?" He knew repeating Lee Know's words would sting, and make me less inclined to help him.

"In what way am I weak Jeongin?" I asked. "Even chained I was able to knock you on your ass," I recalled the moment I'd kicked him and smiled to myself. I assumed he wouldn't want to admit I was weak because of the connotation that admitting that would mean he was weaker.

"In the alley, you hadn't seemed so tough," he argued.

"5 on 1? I don't think anyone else would've stood better chances."

Jeongin seemed to think over my answer. "Lee Know took down over a dozen of my men to get in here."

That surprised me. He'd broken in here on purpose? Had he been trying to save me?

In trying to find an answer to that I thought about Felix. He wasn't a fighter either.

"And that's why I was hired to investigate. Not guard. Not fight. Just find information," Jeongin seemed to be believing me.

"And you were only investigating Lee Know?"

I nodded. Who else would it have been?

Jeongin exhaled heavily facing Lee Know. He raised a hand and motioned for someone to enter. Mr. Hwang walked into the room. Unlike the other day, he looked proud.

"Well done, Jeongin," he complimented. The hair on my arms stood up. Mr. Hwang being proud of him could not be good.

Lee Know visibly flinched at the sound of his voice.

"Take Lee Know to his room. Your brother will be back shortly."

Lee Know's head shot up at the mention of Hyunjin. Jeongin lifted Lee Know by his tied hands, and the moment they were out of frame of the camera, I heard Lee Know speak for the first time in weeks.

"I'm sorry, Han."