the naked face || bts

eleven

The phone rang. It was his answering service. They had been able to reach all his patients except Jung Hoseok. Yoongi thanked the operator and hung up. So Hoseok was coming here today. He was disturbed at how unreasonably happy he was at the thought of seeing him. He must remember that he was only coming by because he had asked him to, as his doctor. He sat there thinking about Hoseok. How much he knew about him... and how little. He put Hoseok's tape on the tape recorder and listened to it. It was one of his first visits.

'Comfortable, Hoseok?'

'Yes, thank you.'

'Relaxed?'

'Yes.'

'You're clenching your fists.'

'Maybe I am a little tense.'

'About what?' A long silence. 'Tell me about your home life. You've been married six months.'

'Yes.'

'Go on.'

'I'm married to a wonderful woman. We live in a beautiful house.'

'What kind of a house is it?'

'Country French... it's a lovely old place. There's a long, winding driveway leading to it. High up on the roof there's a funny old bronze rooster with its tail missing. I think some hunter shot it off a long time ago. We have about five acres, mostly wooded. I go for long walks. It's like living in the country.'

'Do you like the country?'

'Very much.'

'Does your wife?'

'I think so.'

'A woman doesn't usually buy five acres in the country unless she loves it.'

'She loves me. She would have bought it for me. She's very generous.'

'Let's talk about her.' Silence. 'Is she good-looking?'

'Areum's very beautiful.'

Yoongi felt a pang of unreasonable, unprofessional jealousy. 'You're compatible physically?' It was like a tongue probing at a sore tooth.

'Yes.' He knew what he would be like in bed; exciting and masculine and giving. Christ, he thought, get off the subject. 'Do you want children?'

'Oh, yes.'

'Does your wife?'

'Yes, of course.'

A long silence except for the silky rustling of the tape. Then: 'Hoseok, you came to me because you said you had a desperate problem. It concerns your wife, doesn't it?' Silence. 'Well, I'm assuming it does. From what you told me earlier, you love each other, you're both faithful, you both want children, you live in a beautiful home, your wife is successful, beautiful, and she spoils you. And you've only been married six months. I'm afraid it's a little like the old joke: "What's my problem, Doctor?"'

There was silence again except for the impersonal whirring of the tape. Finally, Hoseok spoke. 'It's... it's difficult for me to talk about. I thought I could discuss it with a stranger, but' - he remembered vividly how he had twisted around on the couch to look up at him with those large, enigmatic eyes- 'it's harder. You see' -he was speaking more rapidly now, trying to overcome the barriers that had kept himi silent - 'I overheard something and I- I could easily have jumped to the wrong conclusion.'

'Something to do with your wife's personal life? Some man?'

'No.'

'Her business?'

'Yes...'

'You thought he lied about something? Tried to get the better of someone in a deal?'

'Something like that.'

Yoongi was on surer ground now. 'And it upset your confidence in her. It showed you a side of her that you had never seen before.

'I- I can't discuss it. I feel disloyal to her even being here. Please don't ask me anything more today, Dr. Min.' And that had ended that session. Yoongi switched off the tape. So Hoseok's wife had pulled a sharp business deal. She could have cheated on their taxes. Or forced someone into bankruptcy. Hoseok, naturally, would be upset. He was a sensitive man. His faith in his wife would be shaken. He thought about Hoseok's wife as a possible suspect. She was in the construction business. Yoongi had never met her, but whatever business problem he was involved in could not, by any stretch of the imagination, have included Taehyung, Ara, or Yoongi.But what about Hoseok himself? Could he be a psychopath? A homicidal maniac? Yoongi leaned back in his chair and tried to think about him objectively. He knew nothing about him except what he had told him. His background could have been fictitious, he could have made it all up, but what would he have to gain? If this was some elaborate charade as a cover to murder, there had to be a motivation. The memory of his face and his voice flooded his mind, and he knew that he could have nothing to do with any of this. He would stake his life on it. The irony of the phrase made him grin.

He went over to get the tapes of Shin Teri. Perhaps there was something there that he might have missed. Teri had been having extra sessions lately at her own request. Was she under some new pressure that she had not yet confided to him? Because of her incessant preoccupation with sex, it was difficult to determine accurately her current progress. Still- why had she suddenly, urgently asked for more time with him? Yoongi picked up one of her tapes at random and put it on.

'Let's talk about your marriages, Teri. You've been married five times.'

'Six, but who's counting?'

'Were you faithful to your husbands?'

Laughter. 'You're putting me on. There isn't a man in the world who can satisfy me. If s a physical thing.'
'What do you mean by "a physical thing"?'

'I mean that's the way I'm built. Scientifically, I need to get laid as often as possible.'

'Do you believe that?'

'That I gotta keep getting laid?'

'That you're different, physically, from any other woman.'

'Certainly. The studio doctor told me. It's a glandular thing or something.' A pause. 'He was a boring fuck.'

'I've seen all your charts. Physiologically your body is normal in every respect.'

'Fuck the charts, babe. Why don't you find out for yourself?'

'Have you ever been in love, Teri?'

'I could be in love with you.' Silence. 'Get that look off your face. I can't help it. I told you. It's the way I'm built. I'm always hungry.'

'I believe you. But it's not your body that's hungry. It's your emotions.'

'I've never been fucked in my emotions. Do you want to give it a try?'

'No.'

'What do you want?'

'To help you.'

'Why don't you come over here and sit down next to me?'

'That will be all for today.' Yoongi switched off the tape. He remembered a dialogue they had had when Teri was talking about her career as a big star and he had asked her why she had left acting.

'I slapped some obnoxious jerk at a drunken party,' she had said. 'And he turned out to be Mr Big. He had me thrown out of the industry.'

Yoongi had not probed any farther because at that time he was more interested in her home background, and the subject had never come up again. Now he felt a small nagging doubt. He should have explored it further. He had never had any interest in movies except in the way Harry Potter or Tom Cruise might be interested in the natives of Patagonia. Who would know about Shin Teri, the glamour star?

Norah was a movie buff. Yoongi had seen a collection of movie magazines at her house and he and Namjoon had teased her lightly about it. Norah had spent the entire evening defending them.

He picked up the receiver and dialed. 'Hello,' said Yoongi.

'Yoongi!' Her voice was warm and friendly. 'You called to tell me when you're coming to dinner.'

'We'll do it soon.'

'You'd better,' she said. 'I promised Ingrid. She's amazing.' Yoongi was sure she was. But not in the way Hoseok was amazing. 'You break another date with her and we'll be at war with Sweden.'

'It won't happen again.'

'Are you all over your accident?'

'Oh, yes.'

'What a horrible thing that was, really.'

'Norah- do you know who Shin Teri is?'

'The Shin Teri? The star? Why do you ask?'

'I- I saw her on the street this morning.'

'In person? Honestly?' She was like an eager child. 'How did she look? Old? Young? Thin? Fat?'

'She looked fine. She used to be a pretty big star, didn't she?'

'Pretty big? Shin Teri was the biggest- and in every way, if you know what I mean.'

'Whatever made a girl like that leave acting?'

'She didn't exactly leave. She was kicked out.' So Teri had told him the truth. Yoongi felt better. 'You doctors keep your heads buried In the sand, don't you? Shin Teri was involved in one of the hottest scandals ever.'

'Really?' said Yoongi. 'What happened?'

'She murdered her boyfriend.'