Paradox (Red Velvet FF) | ON HOLD

Intruders

At first, Yerim couldn't move. It was as if the lilies' stench had rendered her entire body useless, and she blinked at the vase as if she couldn't comprehend what it was.

Numbly, her limbs found themselves in locomotion, and she crossed the room to the coffee table. Part of her considered just what this breakin meant - her computer was still sitting like a diligent sentry upon her desk, and that was the only item she owned worth stealing. And yet, the rest of the room was untouched, every wrapper and speck of dust exactly as she left it over a week ago. She tried to recall putting it there - had some acquaintance given it to her and she'd brought it home? Surely she'd remember something like that, right?

The more she thought about it, the more obvious her current position became. Someone had come into her apartment, not to steal anything, but to leave something. Something with a stench that had vomit rising in the back of Yerim's throat. Forcing down the sensation, she stepped around the vase like it could hear her, waiting for it to sprout fangs. As she moved around to the far side of the bouquet, she noticed a small white note attached to one of the flowers with a clear plastic clip. Hands shaking, she bent down to retrieve it, holding her breath to stave off the odor of the lilies.

There, in neat black handwriting, was scrawled the message the flowers were meant to send.

₩205,000,000

Yerim gagged, dropping the paper with an anxious exhale. Not only had someone been in her apartment, they'd been in there today. She did the math quickly in her head just to be certain, and that was definitely the case, for that was the amount she owed as of right then. Just the thought of someone watching her close enough to know when exactly she'd be home was enough to make her stumble to the only window the lounge had to offer and jerk the curtains closed. But even that wasn't enough to stave off her nearing panic attack, so she haphazardly snatched magazines, Post-It notes, snack wrappers, anything she could find, and piled them up over the glass, as if that would protect her. A haphazard wall of trash and paper.

Nowhere near satisfied but feeling slightly more at ease, Yerim grabbed the vase - she hesitated at first, sucking in a breath before diving in like the flowers would sting her skin - and carted it to the door before chucking it out onto the street. The glass of the vase shattered, little chunks bouncing outward from the epicenter in glittering shards, and Yerim slammed the door shut and gulped in a breath. She'd really like to open the window to exhume the offending stench left by the bouquet, but the idea of someone else crawling into her abode was enough to scare her away from that idea. The kimchi in her stomach roiled, and a quiet thought tickled the back of her brain. No, not a thought, not necessarily. It was more like a realization, one that grew until it was monstrous, and her stomach followed the behemoth's suggestion with obedience wrought by a life of servitude. Yerim just barely made it to the bathroom, feet tumbling about as if attached to the legs of a newborn deer, before her dinner was coming up in bile-tainted chunks, some even coming out through her nose and burning like a line of coke. This thought led her to a subdued moment of want, though she hadn't touched anything stronger than tobacco or soju in years, and never had she dipped into the dark, no-turning-back-now world of harder substances such as cocaine or heroin. Well, that wasn't entirely true - sometimes the burst of focus offered by a few prescription Adderall kept her alert enough to finish a particularly long round. But why was she even thinking about drugs right now?

Why wouldn't she be thinking about drugs right now? Now, when she was certain someone was watching her. Her brain conjured the sensation of eyes on her back, studying her like an insect, and it was enough to send her crumpling over the toilet bowl again to empty even more of her stomach lining into it. Her food was all but gone now, so the only thing that came up was bile tainted with the mixed colors of her meal, and the stench of it was enough to make her dry heave a few more times just for good measure. Was that a throb she was feeling in that abused organ? She didn't even know a stomach could throb. The entire experience conjured a pulse in the front of her brain, harsh and insistent, just to really drive home that this was, without a doubt, the shittiest day ever. When she was certain she was done, she fumbled for the lever with weak, immobilized fingers before flushing the offending contents of the bowl, sniffing and then flinching as said sniff made the bile burning in her nose suck into the back of her throat. Her entire body shook as she pushed herself to her feet and shuffled to the sink. If Sungjae's death wasn't enough to reduce her to a shell, she certainly felt empty in that moment. The coppery water that sputtered out of the faucet did little to staunch her battered nasal cavities, but it cooled the fire burning in her throat and so she dredged it in fervent gulps.

Blinking tears out of her stinging eyes, she made her way back to the lounge, snorting and rubbing at her raw nose. But her torture wasn't over, it seemed, for the instant she stepped back in the room, her phone lit up from where it lay on the sofa. Hesitant, she weighed her options. Logically, it was better to just go see who had messaged her. Whoever she'd pissed off was a very powerful person, and she was never one for dark games. But emotionally, she wanted to smash the stupid thing with a hammer and hole herself away to pretend that all of this was just one fucked up dream.

Logic got the better of her, and she made her way to sit beside the device before mustering up the courage to pick it up.

Surprising no one, the name that lit up in her messages was ss_Wann1e. Yerim groaned, rubbing a hand down her face. Why had she insisted on playing that round? Sure, if she'd won, it would have been amazing. Maybe so good that she'd never have to gamble again, and wouldn't that make Sooyoung ever so happy? But she'd lost, and now she was being stalked by someone she didn't even know - maybe multiple someones. Her skin accumulating a thin sheen of nervous sweat, Yerim unlocked her phone and clicked open the chatroom.

ss_Wann1e: My boss asked me to offer you a proposition.

Yerim chewed her bottom lip, heart rate spiking. There was very little doubt in her mind that these people were the ones responsible for the flowers, and that made what little contents her stomach still held settle into a sour puddle at the base of her gut. Who <i>were</i> they?

But still, two could play this game, and Yerim was pretty good at games.

k.yeri99: How'd you get in my house?

ss_Wann1e: Unimportant.

k.yeri99: I could call the cops

Yerim could almost hear whoever was on the other side of the chat release a bark of laughter.

ss_Wann1e: You won't. You're too afraid of what comes when authorities dig into what you've been doing yourself.

Yerim squirmed, not liking just how well this person seemed to know her. Deciding it was best to change the subject, she asked the only question to come to mind.

k.yeri99: What's the proposition?

ss_Wann1e: My boss finds enjoyment in psychological experiments and would like you to partake in one.

Something about the words "psychological experiments" coming from this person didn't make Yerim feel any better, but she knew it was best to play along. A game. This was all a game, and she knew games. She could play games.

k.yeri99: What kind of experiment?

ss_Wann1e: Orientation takes place one week from tomorrow. You will be briefed on the proceedings then.

k.yeri99: Don't I get any information now?

ss_Wann1e: Not until you sign the necessary paperwork. All you need to know now is, if you're smart about this, you could stand to not only pay off your debt, but also make a lot of money.

A psychological experiment she didn't get to learn about until she met with these people? Her aching stomach rumbled with nerves.

k.yeri99: Can I have some time to think it over?

ss_Wann1e: You have a 24-hour period to make your decision. Message me here with a yes or no by that time. My boss doesn't appreciate tardiness, so I'd advise against not responding.

Just to test her limits, Yerim typed out one last question.

k.yeri99: Can I at least know your boss's name?

The answer came almost too quickly, as if ss_Wann1e had planned for the inquiry.

ss_Wann1e: Her name is Bae Joohyun. Now hurry, Yerim. The clock is ticking, and you have decisions to make.

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