Serendipity: The Amazing Journey Of A Soulmate

69. Dance with the devil

INNA

It may be my new state of mind or maybe I've become ruthless after all the shit I've been through, but the way I'm handling the hearing today is not far from unleashing a beast in the courtroom. The accusation doesn't have a chance against my tenacity. I'm literally roaring at the prosecutor in front of me, the poor judge just blinking and watching the show unfolding before his eyes. My closing speech shakes the audience, to the horror of the accusation that's now still on the floor that I was wiping earlier with them.

The moment the judge dismisses the case, I sit up and walk out of the courtroom with a wicked smile spreading across my face. I start to believe that this cold bitch residing inside me lately is a better lawyer than I have been in the past five years. I'm calling the office letting them know how the trial concluded and I head straight to Itaewon. Of course they noticed the change in me. I may be wrecked on the inside, but I pulled one hell of a strong and cold facade, almost cruel. I'm intangible to everyone. I'm sure they are all wondering what the hell got into me, despite my amazing professionalism in handling the cases I'm being given. I work and work and work even more, like I'm caught in a limbo, and when I'm not working for my lawyer bosses, I work for Jonathan. Or against him. If only he knew what's about to come his way! I'll trample over his heart and crush his mind just like he did to me. And when I'm done, he'll wish to never have crossed me.

*******

I have come to Itaewon in the past month more than I did since I moved to South Korea. It used to be my safe haven, my healing place, the only place I felt safe and at ease in this concrete jungle. The familiarity of this place used to strike me, making me feel like home. Walking through its streets used to feel like walking through the streets of my hometown and its people felt like my people. Now it's just another place I hate. I wish I hadn't because its streets are still entrancing, its people are diverse and beautiful as always. Yet I don't seem to find myself anymore in it. Not since Jonathan stole it from me like everything else. He claimed this neighborhood as his own, to set his kingdom, as if he knew exactly what that meant to me.

The chilly air of September is finally making an appearance these days. August warmth still lingers in the air, but it will be gone soon. Even the tree leaves are starting to recognize the signs of autumn. I guess I'm becoming like the weather itself: cold and withering away.

I make my way across the street to the alley taking to the WildCat. It smells bad, as always. These back alleys always do. They know the stench of degradation in these clubs, the reek of easy money and illegal businesses. These streets are witnesses to all their crimes. I stop in front of the iron backdoor and, using my fist, I knock hard into it, announcing the person on the other side that I arrived. There is a sound of a latch being pulled and the huge heavy door opens up, revealing a familiar face. He steps aside to let me in, nodding at me with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Everyone at the club knows me well already, they don't need to turn to look to know it's me. I always use the back door, like most of the employees here. The guy who opened the door for me is one of the men who first brought me to Jonathan and the one whose nose I broke when they almost kidnapped me in that shopping mall. I learned that his name is Sang-Chul and that he is actually a pretty decent guy. After messing with his nose and all the trouble I caused to them in that chase all over the city, along with my presence here in the club that I endured stoically, I gained his respect.

"Not many women could handle this type of situation like you do. Hell, I've seen men cowering and pissing themselves from less, yet you stood your ground and fucked us up really nicely." That's what he said to me once, in one of those rare moments when Jonathan wasn't at the club or had to leave earlier. I wonder what he would say if he knew I befriended his guards.