(Hey everyone! PR here. Thank you all for your patience with this series. Your reward is... this will be a two-parter! Hooray! Special thanks to RootoftheStory for editing this and sharing a sexy hiatus with me.
Don't forget, I'm a big slut for comments and feedback, positive or critical. Let me know what you think!)
A Whore With No Name
Chapter Three: Sun-young, Part One
"Ms. Ko, what will it be?"
It was good to leave them guessing. Blank face, unblinking. Let them look at her. "All in," she said, sliding her chips to the center of the table. The men around the table responded in their own ways, with smirks or sighs or nothing at all. She had a tell just like anyone else, but thankfully she had a way around it.
"You haven't looked at your cards," said one of the old socialites. "I've seen a lot of kids like you lose millions that way."
She didn't bother to look in his direction. "Mr. Wilcox was it?"
"That's right."
"Mr. Wilcox, perhaps in your business it is common to encounter arrogance at every turn. In mine, those people are left behind before they even have their first million."
More smirks around the table. Whatever his business was, the others found that very funny. She didn't care to know exactly what he did. She could have said it about any one of them. "And what is it that you do, Ms. Ko? Who are you representing tonight?"
"Myself," she said simply. "While you're busy at the spa, the new generation is entering the stage. And I'm afraid a lot of us don't have much in common with you."
They found that amusing as well, of course. These were your average millionaires, white and aging and desensitized to human emotion. Baying wolves living atop a mountain of cards. It took so very little to send them tumbling to the solid ground far, far below. And yet they truly believed they sat atop the world.
"Well, let's see it then," another wolf howled. "This new generation."
She wasn't the type to drop a witty line for a moment like this, but if she had then
Read 'em and weep
would have been very appropriate. "What the hell is this," growled Wilcox. "Your sleeves, let me see -"
He stopped when he realized she had no sleeves at all. She wore a sleeveless white U-neck blouse, and had never taken her hands away from the table. Even when she pushed the chips, she kept contact with the red baize.
"Listen you," Wilcox said, standing and grabbing the dealer by the shirt collar. He tried to grab Wilcox by the wrist, but the man was off of him before he needed to. The other men at the table were up and keeping him away at an instant.
One of the smaller wolves yelled in a nasally voice, "God damn it Carl, that's the same guy we have every week. You know him."
"Nobody wins that way," he said, pointing an accusing claw at Ko Sun-young. "This little bitch waltzes in here - who the hell invited her? - and takes it all in one hand?
She didn't look at the cards, you morons!
"
The game was over, and she let her face breathe again. Sun-young smiled mockingly at him, and snapped her fingers, pointing at the pile of poker chips. Another man in casino attire walked to the table, collecting the chips at once and carrying them in a dark oak box out of the room. His colleague, still shaken from the attack, left the room with him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wilcox. I'm sure you're not used to failure. Well, not like
this
, anyway."
"What the hell do you know about it you little ch..."
Ah, there it is.
The slur was on his lips, but he had the restraint to hold it back. The men he played with, some variety of "friends," looked embarrassed to be near him then. They stepped away as if to signal their disapproval. "You think you've got
me
figured out?"
"You believe in stereotypes, it seems," she said to him. "So do I. Carl Wilcox. I think Moe Greene might be a more fitting name."
He swung an arm out, pointing at her with a wild gesticulation and looking to his pack. "You're going to let her walk out of here? With all that money? Do you realize how much we all threw in there?"
"We'd let any one of us walk out," said the oldest of them. "That's the agreement when you let someone sit at the table. If she's walking, then she's walking with what she earned."
"She just threatened me, William. Did you hear her? Did you hear what she called me?"
Old William tapped his cane on the ground in frustration. "Act like a man, dammit!"
"It's all right," Sun-young said. "Nobody likes to lose their milk money."
The dealer returned, eyes to the ground, with an unremarkable black briefcase in hand. He passed it over to her, sharing a furtive glance as if to say,
Thank you.
"Hold it," Wilcox demanded as she turned to leave. "Nobody walks out after one hand. I'll put double that on the table right now."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wilcox. I'm not interested."
Bang!
His fist fell to the table. "What's the matter? No confidence?"
"On the contrary, Mr. Wilcox... I have exactly enough confidence not to be goaded by a desperate man."
**********
Nights in Manhattan were lovely in a lot of places. The Financial District, for all its claustrophobic streets, was best on a night like tonight. The air fresh and clean after a gentle rain, the street glistening, footsteps echoing off the buildings. Ko Sun-young felt like she saw it for the first time every day, and today was no exception. Only this time, she walked with a briefcase of an uncertain but vast fortune.
Not a dent in their pockets,
she surmised.
Just their pride.
Still, it was nerve wracking to be carrying that much in cash. She wasn't even certain that it was really in there.
But if it is... maybe I ought to hire a bodyguard for next time.
She truly did think about going home, but decided against it. The look on Wilcox's face implied a quick response. No response at all would have been most appropriate, but clearly he wanted some sort of vengeance. Sun-young pulled out her phone and called a safe bet for shelter.
"Good evening, Ms. Ko," chirped her assistant. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I need a place to stay tonight," she said bluntly. "It's probably nothing serious. Just want to be sure. And before you ask, a hotel is not an option tonight. Not a good one, anyway."
"Oh, no Ms. Ko! I wasn't going to ask - I would be very happy to host you tonight. Would you like to come now?"
"Yes, it's getting late," she said. "I'm going to hail a cab. You were sure to put your address in my phone, weren't you?"
"Yes, Ms. Ko."
"Good. We'll talk more when I arrive."
"Of course, Ms. Ko."
"Thank you, Hearin. I'll be there soon."
**********
"Don't turn the lights on," Sun-young ordered. "Not yet."
If Hearin Seo had any qualms about working for a woman even younger than she, then there were no signs. The brief time since she'd taken the position proved the hiring to be a magnificent decision. She was diligent, quick, and most importantly, motivated. Sun-young gave herself a little credit - most people in her position preferred a meek and obedient assistant who would only speak when spoken to. Hearin had room to speak, to think, even to advise. Although most of her time went to the normal humdrum of office work, occasionally she would be able to answer tough questions and provide interesting insights.
And that made her the best friend that Sun-young had. There wasn't time for anyone else.
"I'll need to borrow some clothes. Do you have anything like a college sweater?"
"I do," she said, turning to find it.
"Wait," Sun-young said, pushing the heavy briefcase into Hearin's hand. "Hide this. I'm going to undress so don't forget the clothes." As her assistant walked carefully into the dark apartment, Sun-young sat on the floor and started to unstrap her heels, dig into her purse for makeup remover, and strip into her undergarments.
Hearin followed instructions exactly, and in less than two minutes, Sun-young looked like a college girl again. It hadn't really been that long since she graduated, but it felt like a lifetime ago. She stretched, took a few loose dance steps across the living room, and plopped onto the couch like she'd lived there all along. The curtains were open, and the show could begin at last. Thankfully, it didn't have to be too perfect. They just had to act with confidence.
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you," Hearin said when she turned the lights on. "So I apologize for the mess."
The place was practically spotless, save for a few unclean dishes. Sun-young looked around and scowled anyway. "This is where you're living?"
"Um, yes," Hearin answered. "Is it all right?"
"Remind me to give you a raise. It's cute, you deserve spacious."
"I'll look into new places soon, Ms. Ko."
Hearin knew what was a joke and what wasn't. This wasn't. If Sun-young needed to be
this
careful about angry businessmen, she would require her hideaway to be more difficult to infiltrate. Hearin's little apartment in Brooklyn had no doorman, not even an elevator. Sure, it might be inconspicuous. But it was too easy to break in.
"Have you eaten yet, Hearin?"
"No, ma'am. I was getting carried away and lost track of time. Would you like me to get dinner started?"
Carried away,
Sun-young mused. She wouldn't ask. Hearin's business was her own.
"Don't bother, we're ordering in. And in case anybody is watching, we'll need to look very inconspicuous. Thankfully, we're already halfway there."
"Halfway?"
"We're two young Asian girls in a cute little Brooklyn apartment. And it was a heavy makeup day for me. Now..." Sun-young took a few dancing steps across the living room and gracefully plopped onto the couch like she'd lived there all along. "Feet," she said. And without a moment of hesitation, Hearin walked to the couch and knelt beside it, taking one of Sun-young's sore little feet in her hands and starting a firm foot massage.
"Thank you, Hearin. I feel like I was walking around the city all day."
