Dancing in the dark

Chapter 13

Tzuyu and Jeongyeon had to grapple Nayeon to stop her from stepping out the door.

"Nayeon!!" Jihyo commanded, "Please calm down and think about the situation using your head. You could make things worse for Mina."

That stopped her.

She sat on the couch next to Mina who had her knees drawn to her chest and face buried between them.

"Jihyo," She said in a composed tone after a while, "Go pick Ari up from the house and bring her back here."

She stood up, and gave a reassuring look to her. "I'm going to meet Chiyu-san."

Chaeyoung clapped her hand excitedly. "How did I not think of this before!"

"Because when Nayeon focuses on something, she's the smartest of us all." Sana exclaimed, looking at Nayeon admiringly.

Nayeon took Mina's hand in hers. "You'll be safe here. I'll sort everything out." Mina looked up at her and the heartbreak she saw in those brown eyes made her heart twist in its chest.

Nayeon walked to Jeongyeon and indicated that they should leave. "Momo, Sana be with Mina." They sat on either side of Mina not needing to be told twice.

"Dahyun, call my assistant. Tell him to hire a movers and bring Mina's belongings here and set it up in our spare room." Dahyun gave her a thumbs up and began to type in the familiar number on her phone.

"Tzuyah, can you make sure the spare room is ready?" Nayeon swiveled to her side and looked at the younger girl.

Tzuyu gave her a smile, patting her shoulders. "Nayeonnie, go on. We'll take care of things here, you can trust us."

Nayeon nodded her head gratefully.

An hour later Jeongyeon and Nayeon stood in front of an older man in his fifties who might have looked threatening and dangerous to others, but Nayeon knew he was a kind man despite being the biggest player and leader of the underworld.

They told him everything there was to tell and waited quietly as he mulled over their words, smoking his pipe.

All those after parties and socializing did connect them to big and powerful names and he had become their acquaintance at one of the A lister's party.

"Nayeon-chan, get comfortable in the lounge." He said with a smile that was warm in spite of the wrinkled skin that had hardened on his face and a scar covering almost half of his forehead. "I'll deal with this."

Nayeon sat in the lounge as she was told, tapping her feet impatiently. Twenty minutes later a man dripping with sweat rushed into the room, followed by Chiyu-san.

"Nayeon-san." He began, panting for breath. "You could have come directly to me, I'd have given you the tapes."

Nayeon's face scrunched in distaste when she understood who this man was.

The urge to punch him overwhelmed her, but she needed to sort the situation, not have someone with vengeance come after Mina again.

Jeongyeon held her arm gingerly as if to tell her to restrain herself.

"You will have all records of her gone from your agency." She grabbed the hard disk that had the photos from his hand, "Is that understood?" She didn't make it sound like a question, it was an order and his wide eyes told her he understood that.

"Of course." He assured breathlessly wiping another thin line of sweat above his brow. "Word would never get out, I'll have her past erased. It would be like it never happened, I promise."

"If it did Hyu," Chiyu-san guffawed, "You know I'll come hunting for the last one in your bloodline."

He shivered and bowed down.

"Get out before I change my mind and feed you to my dogs."

He bowed again to step out of the room.

"Wait." Nayeon barked and he stopped obediently. "Take this with you."

There was a cheque in her hand that was written for twenty-two million won. "The debt is now settled."

"You don't have to Nayeon-san, I'll wipe her records anyway." He stammered.

"I don't want Mina owing anything to a lowlife like you." Nayeon said through clenched teeth, "Now get out."

He bowed his head and stumbled out of the room.

Nayeon turned to the older man with a thankful smile on her face. She tore another cheque and handed it over to him without writing any specific amount on it.

"Nayeon-chan, I don't need this." He thrusted it back into her hands, "I too have a daughter around this girl's age."

Nayeon's faith that things weren't always black and white, people weren't either good or bad and couldn't be put into neat little boxes only cemented that day.