who's the one that takes you higher than you've ever been?
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"Revels?"
I was echoing the event that had just been revealed to me, accompanying a plan for some kind of Lee party we were going to crash. So much for moving into enemy territory. We were apparently going partying.
"Crazy, right?" Yeeun said, though she didn't sound like she thought it was crazy at all. "Drinking, dancing, the works. When I first heard of it, the first thing that came to mind was that one scene from Titanic. You know." She shrugged. "It's hard to believe, so I won't be surprised if you choose not to believe me at all."
"No, no, it's not that hard to believe," I muttered. "In fact, I've been to one of those before, I think. When I was back in Daejeon."
She raised an eyebrow. "A Lee clan celebration?"
"Of course not." I only remembered bits and pieces of the experience, with lots of women and men and a lot of kissing, on all kinds of places. "A small-time affair. It was a biker thing, mainly just showing off."
She smiled a thin-lipped smile. "Sounds a lot like the one we'll be going to," she said. "But it's not something that happens among the clans commonly, so Jungkook believes it's just happening because the heir wants you there."
I raised an eyebrow. "If he had wanted me there, he would have called me."
"That's not how things work around here," she said. "People want to keep their mysterious reputation."
"Hilarious."
She smiled. "Anyway, these revels are part of an auction," she said, smile dropping as she took on a more serious topic. "Of people. Usually, there'd be more families to bid for possession, but the clan is big enough so it's just branches."
"Bidding for people?"
Yeeun paused, considering her words before she spoke. "Sex workers. Escorts. Toys." Her voice had gone quieter, even though there was no one around to hear us. "It's a common practice for mob bosses to keep one around for certain purposes."
The first thing I thought of when she explained the purpose of the auction was the blond escort who had helped me find Taeyong. And the girl I had seen in the bedroom... I swallowed against the dryness in my throat, remembering how Jungkook had called me the heir's 'toy'. Things were taking a turn, and not for the better. "And we go in as bidders?" I asked, surprised at the sharpness of my voice. "We're not celebrities, but if I really do have a bounty on my head, I'm pretty sure we'll be easy to recognize."
"Not all of us are going in. Just a spare few." She looked at the half-empty glass of water in her hands and shook it gently, watching the water rise and fall slowly. I watched her warily, wondering why she had taken such a long pause. "You'll be the one being sold."
