Chapter Text
One.
“Alright, Miss Bae. How exactly did this happen?”
Irene took a deep sigh. She sat on a treatment couch, her arm sticking out in a weird angle. It throbbed in pain. She had inhaled half a box of tylenol, liver be damned.
“How did this happen?” Irene echoed.
Her lips thinned to a line as she considered an answer.
Someone tried to steal a six pound heavy golden coin from the city museum. I went there, took out two of the three guys. The third ran for his life and I took out my poison arrow, shot him and …
… and … her good boots had been in repair. So she had to use her second best boots with the sole already slightly used up. Grip on slippery surfaces was shaky at best and as she ran after the man, shooting him, seeing him go down, she noticed the “Caution! Wet floor!” sign a moment too late.
The cleaning crew had been late as well. She lost grip as she slid with the grace of a drunk giraffe over the floor and fell on her bottom, bracing herself with her hands. The impact had been too much, she knew, the moment her hand made contact with the floor. The cracking sound of her wrist was subtle - which made it even worse.
The pain shot up, into her shoulder, and was so intense that it almost made her puke.
For a moment, she just lay there, tangled in her black cape, her utility belt digging into her side. She heard Joy in the headphones in her mask. The pain had also shot into her head, making everything fuzzy.
Turning around on her back, she looked at the 18th century ornamental ceiling and fought down another wave of queasiness. Her wrist felt like a long, never-ending explosion of pain. It was just a bad day.
But if there was one thing she was proud of, it was her self-restraint.
And it served her well this moment. It saved her from puking.
“You look like a car has run you over,” Joy said.
And it saved her from snapping at Joy. Who stood there, immaculate in her red and black costume, unimpressed and ready to snark.
“Is he down?” Irene asked and sat up carefully.
“He is,” Joy said. She blinked. “I think he peed himself.” Then she leaned down and pulled a bit on Irene’s cape. Since she sat on it, Joy easily pulled her to the side on it. “There, you are safe.”
“... thank you.”
“I think your arm is broken.”
“No kidding, Sherlock.”
“There was a Caution! Wet Floor ! sign,” Joy said dryly. “It’s yellow. And half as big as you. How on Earth - how could you have not seen it?”
“I was otherwise occupied!”
“Blindness that comes with age,” Joy said a bit too quickly and snickered again.
Irene took a deep breath. She had not enough self-restraint left over to deal with those two. “How about we call the authorities and bring me to a hospital,” she said, a bit too calm and too sharp. Joy tried to help her up but she swatted her hands away.
“Maybe you can get your eyes checked while you are there,” Joy said.
Irene’s jaw rolled. “And your brain, while we are at it. God. Can this day get any worse?”
She proceeded to complain about the day later on in the plane back to Bae Manor.
Joy was flying it and silently suffering.
“First this and … you know we can’t go to Doctor Choi! I hear she moved to Paris . Why on Earth would she move to Paris ?”
Joy rolled her eyes. “Is that a hypothetical question or …”
“We need a new doctor,” Irene said. “Someone who is capable and not annoying. Means, not too talkative, does what’s needed, doesn’t ask stupid questions.”
“Yeri’s big sister is a doctor,” Joy said after moment.
“No.”
“Your old doctor isn’t there anymore and Doctor Kang is, like, the Michael Schumacher of fixing bones,” Joy said.
“That’s not a thing,” Irene said.
“You want a good doctor. We can either do a casting appointment like last time which will take us six months just to find a doctor to treat your sinus inflammation or we could go to one where I actually know that people like her and think she’s good.”
“Joy …”
“Your arm is broken. Doctor Kang! Complain afterwards!”
They exchanged some dark glances and Irene proceeded to sulk.
In retrospect, as present-day-Irene sat on the treatment couch, holding her wrist, it was difficult to say. The nurse still looked at her expectantly and for a moment, she wasn’t sure what the man in white wanted of her.
His name tag said Nam Joohyuk. He looked interested and bored at the same time.
“Yes?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“How did this happen?” the nurse asked again.
“I slipped on the wet floor.”
“On the wet floor?” the nurse asked.
“Yes. On the wet floor.” God, what were they teaching these people in nursing school. “We have lots of floors in my mansion and statistically, some of them are, indeed, wet from time to time.”
The nurse frowned at mansion and checked his writing pad. Then he looked up. “Irene Bae. Of Bae Industries.”
“Yes.” Bae waited for some recognition to dawn. None came.
“Huh,” Nam Joohyuk, nurse at Bae City Hospital , said after a moment. “Never heard of them. I’ll get Doctor Kang.”
“Thank you,” Irene said, icicle hanging on her words.
Irene had always masqueraded her rather exotic injuries with just as exotic sports and travels of a person who was perpetually rich and perpetually bored. Choi Sooyoung had been equally perpetually bored by her explanations and it was what Irene liked: Sooyoung just cared to fix her and Irene just cared about getting it done.
Today, however, on the worst of the worst days, it wasn’t Sooyoung who entered through the door.
It was another doctor. A new doctor.
A doctor that cared.
She had a sincere, friendly kind of smile on her face and her name tag said: “Kang. Seulgi.”
She smiled and waved with the clipboard. “Hello. I’m Kang Seulgi.”
Irene eyed her, suspiciously. “Hello.”
“So, broken wrist, huh?” Seulgi asked as she went through the notes. She frowned. “Yeri’s friend has told me this is age related?”
Irene took a deep breath. Joy. “It’s not. Age-related. I fell. On a wet floor. In my mansion. Just put bandaid on it and let me go. And she is most definitely not my friend .”
Seulgi raised an eyebrow.
“She is my sister . Big difference.”
“Right.” Seulgi didn’t even react to the word mansion . “Let’s answer some questions first,” she said, swiped one piece of paper over the back of her writing pad and clicked her pen. “Do you exercise?”
Every martial art on the planet and some yoga. “I play chess.”
Seulgi made a note. “Any history of mental illness in your family?”
Joy considers escargot food. “My uncle does pilates.”
Seulgi made another note. “Allergies?”
“Cowardice and incompetence,” Irene said. “And I once sneezed when a horse passed me by.”
“Sexual history?”
“I - why would you want to know that?” Irene said, a bit too sharply, trying to fight down the blush to keep this professional.
Seulgi looked up and smiled. It was a patient and way too nice smile. Why was she so nice ? “I see. Let’s get you checked up. Can you lift your shirt a little bit?”
“What for?”
“I’m going to check your heartbeat.”
“You’d have to have a heart for that.”
“Ah, but I’m sure you do. Don’t be so harsh on yourself.” Her smile’s friendliness intensified for a moment and she actually patted Irene’s shoulder, then clipped the pen away and reached for the stethoscope dangling around her neck. “Please?”
Did she do puppy eyes ? Or was that just a general expression on her face ?
Irene gathered her shirt upwards, revealing only a hint of her bra. “Kang Seulgi,” she muttered. “I hope this is worth it.”
Kang Seulgi smiled and listened attentively, made some notes, then nodded. “You have a bruised ego, from what I can tell,” she said so gently and sincere that Irene wasn’t even sure if it was meant as an insult. “And a broken wrist. You’ll get a cast and -” She looked up. “We have to do something uncomfortable - we have to straighten your wrist.” She looked at Irene, her face, right into her eyes, something people rarely did. Her friendly smile slipped off for a moment as she suddenly leaned in, way too close, as something else caught her professional attention.
Irene felt her warmth. More obviously than before that Kang Seulgi was taller than her. That she smelled really good. That concentration was a look that kinda sorta flattered her facial structure. If you went for the dork kind of person, of course. Which Irene didn’t.
“And you seem to have a - have you hurt your head as well?” Kang Seulgi asked, observing the small bump on Irene’s forehead.
Sparring injury, two days old. Irene was about to comment on it, but ...
Suddenly a bright light appeared out of nowhere and before Irene could flinch away, it disappeared again.
“Your pupils react normally, but it seems you have very slippery floors at your mansion.” She leaned back and eyed her, as a whole, as a person. “I want you to come back in case you are dizzy or feel nausea.”
“I don’t feel dizzy or nauseous on principle,” Irene said.
Again that friendly smile. It was driving her crazy. It looked so - so - so genuine . She felt her self-defenses zero in on it. “If you still feel dizzy or nauseous, please call and come in immediately.” She reached into the front pocket of her white doctor’s coat and produced a business card.
Irene took the card mechanically, still staring. She usually was able to read people easily - and her hunches about folks were always right, but this girl - this woman; all she got from her clocked in on things like politeness, genuine care, friendliness and sincerity. It was not something she was used to.
Evade. Find a different tactic. Come back better equipped. “How long does this cast have to stay on?” Irene asked.
“Six weeks.”
“Six weeks?!” Irene asked. “I can’t wear this for six weeks! I - I have things to do!”
“I’m sure you do, but I’m afraid you’ll have to ask someone else to do them for you. Like your sister! She was extremely nice when I talked to her. She requested morphine in case you were too much in pain -”
Joy, Irene silently cursed, this time with more rumbling thunder in the imaginary theatre of her mind.
“- but I assured her some regular pain killers would do the trick.”
“I’d rather die.”
Seulgi smiled gently at her, not taking up on the verbal sparring. “I’m sure you can come up with an alternative. Furthermore, I would like to see you after four, seven and then eleven days to check on your healing process.”
Irene stared at her, not sure if she was joking.
“I can tell that you are lying, you know?”
Irene felt her suspicion rise immediately and she looked at Seulgi maybe a bit too sharply. “I didn’t lie.”
“You do sports. Your body doesn’t look like that by just playing chess,” Seulgi said, still kind. She lifted her writing pad. “I wrote down various , based on the reports Doctor Choi put down on you. If this fracture was, indeed, caused by your physical activities, maybe you want to do something more harmless than chess in the meantime.”
Irene stared at her and just received a happy tiny laughter and eyes that became crescent moons in reply.
“I’ll see you in four days, Miss Bae,” she said. She bowed slightly then left the room.
Irene stared after her and could hear the conversation she had with Joy who was still waiting. “And? Is it a boy or a girl?” Joy asked, mock excited.
Again, that short, sincere, happy laugh. Heuheuheu . That’s how she laughed. “The good news is, despite your grim predictions, your sister will survive.”
“Ah, damn.”
“The bad news is that it is your task to get her back here for the check up. A nurse will pick her up for her cast and she has to come back in four days. Please make an appointment for it. And please,” her voice became even friendlier, if this was possible. “Don’t let her drive, don’t let her even cook and no manual labor. And no chess, if this is what caused it.”
Joy laughed. “You got it, doc. See you in four days.”
Irene got the cast and an appointment set four days in the future, then they were on their way. Their car picked them up and after that they were on their way to Bae Manor.
“I like your cast,” Joy said, playing absentmindedly with her cellphone.
“Shut up.”
“I’m sure among all the pictures of your Instagram account of your yachts and cars and expensive clothing, that cast will be the crowning glory,” Joy continued.
The cast in question was pink and had Pokémon wrap on it, because they had run out on regular wrap when it had been Irene’s turn and so she had to choose between Spongebob, Paw Patrol and Pokémon. That Pokémon was the least offensive of the three options spoke about just how bad this day had gotten.
“Shut up,” Irene said again.
“What did you think of the doctor?” Joy asked, still looking at her phone.
Irene stared ahead, her face an immovable mask. “She was a doctor.”
“I thought she was nice,” Joy said. “Don’t you think so?”
“She did her job. She talked a bit much.” She caressed the cool leather seat between her and Joy. To remove dust? To distract herself? Whatever it was, the coolness felt good. It was a nice feeling under her palm in comparison to the hot, icky feeling of the cast around her arm.
“I thought she was friendly. Especially given that you were on your best Ice Queen behaviour.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Joy shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Was I impolite?”
“Probably not, you didn’t make anyone cry, but - you are the kind of person that people don’t want to meet twice when you are in a bad mood. Doc Kang didn’t seem to care.” She shrugged again. “Or cared too much, dunno.”
Irene stared at Joy; a weaker person would have been frozen to death in a second, but Joy was just too busy with her phone.
Irene stared ahead again. Then, out of frustration, she swiped over the touchscreen in the back of the seat before her. Checked the stock market. Checked her e-mails. Checked the stock market again.
“I can be nice,” she finally said. She could be. She could be the nicest person on the entire planet if she wanted to, because if she set her mind on something, she was always the best at it.
“You can be. Rarely.”
“I can be nice in a way that a person would want to see me again,” Irene said, almost petulantly. “Voluntarily,” she added, just to make sure.
“I know.”
“I’m usually not scary, I’m just professional and most people can’t handle it,” Irene closed.
Joy’s stare at her phone had gone blank, because her attention was drawn towards her sister. “Is this your type A behaviour acting up? Because your desire of always being the best at something is really disconcerting. Why are you suddenly like this?”
“When we go to Doctor Kang in four days, I will be on my best behaviour. Just so you see.”
Joy narrowed her eyes at her. “Not that I care, but - okay,” she said. She opened her mouth and closed it, then opened it again. “Just - just don’t be weird, okay? My knee sometimes cracks and I want Doc Kang to check it out and it’ll be weird between us if you make her cry.”
“Wha - I’m not making her cry!”
Joy took a deep breath and her attention returned to her phone. “Your previous six maids, three butlers and that dude who did your accounting didn’t seem to get that message.”
Irene rolled her jaw and didn’t reply. She just elbowed Joy, having to lean over farther than she wished.
Heuheuheu . The peculiar laughter of Kang Seulgi still echoed in her head. She looked down at her Pokémon cast and sighed.
A nuisance.
Nothing else.
*
Four days later, Irene, more annoyed than usual, found herself again in the waiting room. Joy had found a coffee automaton and had decided to mess with it outside in the corridor.
She and Seungwan had taken the opportunity of Irene having a cast to rediscover her artist talents. Whenever she wasn’t looking - which was mostly when she was asleep - she found yet another less than flattering drawing on her cast along with celebratory and encouraging messages, like:
Suck less next time.
All I wanted was a clean floor and what I got was this lousy cast.
Temporary exo skeleton.
Itch is located here ... and here ... and here ... and here.
Along with juvenile drawings that made her refuse to go to board meetings at the company.
Irene was not alone in the waiting room this time: A girl, younger, sat opposite of her and looked at her with interest. Irene took a deep sigh and hoped that the teenager - she had to be a teenager, she was wearing her school uniform - didn’t want to talk to her, but -
“You have fun friends,” the girl said and motioned towards Irene’s cast.
--- no such luck.
“That is up for debate,” Irene said and tried to use her most final tone, but the girl didn’t seem to be discouraged.
“Are you here to see Doctor Kang?” she asked.
“It’s Doctor Kang’s office, so who else would I be here to see?”
The girl shrugged. “I don’t know - sometimes people just come here to ask her out and such.”
“Which is still a reason to see Doctor Kang,” Irene said and frowned. People came here just to ask Kang Seulgi out? Highly unprofessional to bother her during her working hours.
“Yeah - she’s pretty popular,” the girl said, proudly.
Irene lifted an eyebrow at her. “Are you here to ask her out?”
“What? No! Ew! Gross! She’s my sister!” the girl spluttered.
It gave the girl an immediate new dimension. Kang Seulgi’s sister. Interesting.
Of course Irene had heard of her - she was a good friend of Joy after all - but she had never seen her in person.
They didn’t resemble each other much. Her nose and the shape of her eyes were different - and she was smaller than Kang Seulgi by almost a head. “Are you here for professional reasons?”
The girl shook her head. “No. I’m here to pick her up for dinner. You are her last patient of the day.”
“I see.” Irene eyed her.
“Do you have siblings?”
“You are awfully nosey.”
“I know.”
“I do.”
Silence.
“Boy or girl siblings?”
Irene sighed. “I have a sister. She’s very annoying. Just like you.”
“Hallmark of great siblings,” the girl said proudly. “What’s her name?”
“None of your business.”
“ My name is Yeri. Kang Yeri.”
“I would have been able to deduce your last name, yes,” Irene said.
Yeri stared at her for a long moment. “You aren’t the funnest person, are you?”
Irene directed a gaze fashioned like an icicle at Yeri and summoned all her gravitas to say:
“No. I am not.”
“Yeah. I was able to deduce that,” Yeri said somewhat smuggly. Irene stared at the girl, not exactly surprised, but - impressed despite herself. They really didn’t resemble each other at all.
Like Joy didn’t resemble Irene. But suddenly Irene realized: Joy and Yeri resembled each other. They were both annoying. She thought this was very disconcerting. Especially that they got along.
The door to the office opened and Joohyuk, the male nurse, and Kang Seulgi appeared.
“I’ll get it done,” Joohyuk said. Then he noticed Irene. “Oh. You again. The doctor is available now. Hello Yeri.”
“Hello, oppa.” They exchanged a smile, then Joohyuk trudged outside.
Kang Seulgi smiled, first at Yeri and then at Irene.
“Hi Yeri. I’ll be with you once I have looked after Miss Bae here.”
Yeri shrugged. “‘s okay. I have all the time in the world.” She plopped in her headphones and threw Irene the most critical glance.
Much to Irene’s surprise, the smile Doctor Kang directed at her was pretty identical to the one she gave Yeri. Not dimmed or anything when she looked at Irene. “Please come in.”
She didn’t look tired or moody, given that a work day of eight hours or more lay behind her, but her steps were slightly heavier when she followed Irene inside her office. And her hair was slightly messy. And she was pale. But her smile? It stayed the same; friendly, open, sincere.
“How are you doing? How’s the -” Kang Seulgi looked down at the cast and noticed the art that had found its way onto it. “How’s the - erm, cast.” She laughed. Heuheuheuheu. “Your sister seems to like it. Ad space available . Really funny. Can I take a picture of it?”
Irene tensed immediately. “Why?”
Seulgi pointed. “For my collection.” It was then that Irene noticed, among framed pictures of casts. One looked like a Monet. One had drawn a Picasso onto it. One looked like a Jackson Pollock. Irene didn’t want to know.
“... sure,” she said after a moment.
Seulgi took out her phone and took a picture. “Thank you.” She sat down and turned around the screen on her desk. It showed pictures of Irene’s x-rayed arm, from four days ago and today. “Looks very good. You are healing well. I still want you to come in next week.”
“Is it really necessary?”
Seulgi smiled. “Yes. Did you refrain from playing chess?” Her expression was so sincere, Irene wasn’t sure if Doctor Kang was joking or not.
“I … did … refrain from playing chess.”
“Very good.”
Irene hated how she felt proud at the doc’s words. Could pain killers, administered four days ago, make a person still stupid?
“Please remember to get rehab after your cast is being removed. Your muscles in your hand will have atrophied and you might have impeded movement, therefore it’s important to get training there.”
“Understood.”
Kang Seulgi looked at her, a bit wary. “But not too much exercise. You shouldn’t overstrain yourself.”
“Do you think I don’t know when to stop?” Irene asked, her voice a bit confrontational.
“Yes,” Doctor Kang said immediately.
“You don’t know me very well,” Irene said, hating that she felt cornered. “I know my body very well.”
“I am sure you do, Miss Bae, but I still recommend to take it easy and … and I’m not sure you are the type for that.”
Irene narrowed her eyes at the doctor. The other woman didn’t flinch away, which was quite the feat. Most people flinched away. Supervillains flinched away. “What makes you say that? We don’t know each other very well.”
Doctor Kang managed to still smile, caring and concerned. Wordlessly, she minimized the application that showed the x-rays and opened a browser, entering Irene’s name and then went to the “News”-section. The first three headlines were these:
Irene Bae - First Woman to parachute to Earth from Space.
Multi-Billionaire Irene Bae the first female Formula One Driver?
Irene Bae runs marathon in new personal best - Iron Man next year?
Irene cringed and sat back in her chair. “Oh. That. ”
“Yes. That . Personally I’m impressed by your physical feats, but Miss Bae. If you want your wrist to be the same as it has been before, the keyword is moderation. I’d recommend doing something more relaxing and only mildly taxing.”
Irene tried hard not to scowl. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. How about some light walking?”
This time there was no stopping the scowl. “Light walking is for old people. Do you think I’m old?”
Seulgi laughed. “No. We are only three years apart.”
Irene stared at her. It made sense of course that Seulgi as her doctor knew her age and of course Seulgi would know her own age, but the fact that she compared them struck Irene as … weird.
Not weird.
Not even unprofessional. Not quite. It was just that she compared something personal of Irene to something personal of herself and shared her own age in the process. Irene didn’t know what to think of it. The message was definitely that Seulgi didn’t consider her old, but - but …
Was it pure kindness? Sincerity? Or was it - was it interest? Would Kang Seulgi dare to show interest in Irene?
Again she felt something rage inside her: One piece of her felt flattered, happy even, and the other … how dare she show interest?!
“Anyway. I will see you again in five days,” Seulgi said, smiling, completely unaware. “Take care. No strenuous activities!”
Irene found herself nodding and then Doctor Kang led her out of her office. The girl, Yeri, was sitting there holding a yellow Switch Lite. Slightly older Joy was sitting there as well, holding her red-ish Switch light. There was a tense moment of silence, then Joy said:
“Alright. I give you my Pikachu for your Lapras if I get your Gengar for my Wooloo.”
“Your Wooloo is hardly worth my Gengar,” Yeri said with a huff.
Joy cast her a sharp glance. “Do you want my Pikachu or not?”
“Okay, okay. Geez, geezer,” Yeri said.
“Take that back or no Pikachu!”
Irene took a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting anything, but -”
“Five minutes,” Joy said.
Irene cast her a stern glance. “Joy -”
“Just five minutes,” Joy said again. “Come on. Relax a bit.”
“Relax a bit? And do what?” She motioned at her surroundings. “We are in the middle of Doctor Kang’s office and I’m sure she wants to go home too.”
Kang Seulgi cleared her throat. “I’m actually - I’m - are you hungry?”
Irene turned to Doctor Kang, incredulous, and then noticed her expression. It was a bit unsure, but friendly and … and hopeful.
Doctor Kang continued talking. More like babbling. Irene wasn’t sure if anyone in this room was using their brain. “There’s a small place nearby. They make excellent fried chicken. And they have free wifi.”
“I don’t like fried chicken,” Irene deadpanned.
“I like free wifi,” Joy said, absentmindedly, then, to Yeri: “No, the other Gengar!”
“Oh.” Seulgi’s face fell for a moment, then it lightened up. “They also have other stuff. Like - French fries, burgers … or coleslaw.”
Joy didn’t even look up from her Nintendo Switch. “You like bibimbap.” Then she turned, without looking up to Yeri. “I’m not giving you my Thawkey.”
Yeri snickered.
“How about it?” Seulgi asked, again so damn hopeful. Irene hated her hopeful expression. It was so - so -
“Yes, mom. How about it?” Joy asked.
Irene huffed. “I’m not your mom.” Then she straightened her posture. “Alright. Alright. I’m hungry, you are hungry and Doctor Kang is hungry - and … you are hungry too.” She eyed Yeri, then straightened herself further. “Let’s eat something.” She eyed Seulgi, whose grin was face-splittingly wide. “Does this establishment also offer take out?”
“They do,” Seulgi said, her happy expression dimming for a moment. Then the smile returned even if not full force. “Come on, you.” She gently tapped Yeri on her shoulder and the girl got up, like a robot, shrugged on her backpack and held on to Seulgi’s arm.
The woman gently led the younger girl out.
“Shouldn’t she pay attention to other things?” Irene asked, sharply. “For example, where she’s going?”
Seulgi shrugged. “Yeri. Have you done your homework?”
Yeri nodded, absent-mindedly.
“Emptied the dishwasher?”
Yeri nodded again.
“Wiped the sink in the bathroom?”
Another nod.
Seulgi patted her shoulder. “Well done.” She looked at Irene. “It’s her free time and she has done all her chores. Plus we have family Wednesday together.”
Irene looked at Seulgi then at the girl, who clung to Seulgi’s arm. Then at Joy.
“It’s my free time too, like Yeri’s, so I can play all the Nintendo Switch I want,” Joy said with a smirk.
Irene returned it with a deadly one of herself. “We’ll talk about that at home.”
They left the hospital and Irene’s car, a large Maibach, was already waiting in front of the large, paved path that was usually reserved for cabs.
The vehicle gave Seulgi a start. “That’s your car?”
“That’s one of my cars,” Irene said. “Why? You don’t like it?”
“No, no, it’s just very -”
“Enormous. Gigantic. Probably compensating for someth -”
“Expensive,” Seulgi quickly said before Yeri could end her sentence.
Joy giggled.
“It’s very close. We can walk … if you want …” Seulgi suggested carefully.
“You know, like setting one foot in front of the other,” Joy said. “Like all the peasants do.”
Irene elbowed her younger sister. Joy laughed.
“Sure,” she said lightly with a dark glance going towards Joy. “Let’s walk.”
They did walk. Joy had a conversation about Pokémon with Yeri - and Irene walked next to Seulgi. The doctor smiled.
“I’m sorry that I’m making you step out of your comfort zone so much,” the doctor started, “since you don’t seem to walk much - and if you do, probably not like this.”
“Joy is exaggerating,” Irene said with a pointed glance at Joy. “I do walk. Indeed, I run five miles every morning.”
“Oh, that’s - that’s very impressive.”
“Good health is very impressive,” Irene said. “Do you work out, Doctor Kang?”
“I do crossfit,” Seulgi said. “Whenever I have time.”
“Me too,” Irene said. “I also do boxing and I swim. I’m also on a strict diet.”
She watched Seulgi deflate a bit at the words ‘strict diet’. The doctor seemed to feel bad at making Irene eat something that was apparently not up to Irene’s usual standards - and Irene thought:
Yes. You should feel bad. I’m cornered into eating out at a place that probably does not offer organic food or vegan food or anything remotely grease-free.
But out came: “I’ll manage.”
They arrived at a burger restaurant. It advertised a burger called “Heart Attack”, consisting of three burger patties, between each a layer of bacon, the entire thing held together by mayonnaise. On a general unhealthy scale ranging from “This burger has seen a vegetable from afar” to “this burger contains your body weight in grease” most things on the menu were a cardiac surgeon’s nightmare. Each dish had some alibi greens attached to it, like a sad piece of broccoli here and some salad buried beneath the French fries there, but it was mostly a heart attack served on a plate.
“Strict diet,” Seulgi echoed, slightly worried. She opened the door for Joy, Yeri and finally Irene. “Like - how strict?”
Irene’s eyes narrowed. “Strict.” She shot Seulgi a glance that was sharp like an arrow, then went inside.
“She’s just joking,” Joy managed to inform Seulgi, who produced a nervous laugh.
They entered the place - and Irene looked around. It was filled with small booths for four to six people.
“Is a waiter going to lead us to our table?” Irene asked, because surely, one of the white-aproned, bored looking ladies would be doing their job and accompany them to a seating arrangement.
Joy behind her groaned. “Stop being embarrassing,” she said and dragged Irene away by her arm to a small booth.
Under other circumstances, Irene would have never let herself be pushed towards a small booth, but the new surroundings were confusing her. Families, construction workers, crazy cat ladies, they all seemed to like dining here. It was definitely a different breed of clientele compared to the high class restaurants she usually went to.
A woman passed her by on rollerskates, carrying several trays of food that would probably drive Irene’s nutritionist into hysterics, but the smell was amazing and the physical feat of balance was … quite impressive. For an amateur.
Joy nudged her into a sitting booth of two large … red, faux-leather covered couches basically facing each other. She found herself opposite Kang Seulgi who smiled happily.
Irene eyed her, then Joy and finally Yeri. They all seemed happy, despite the fact that Irene considered the menu itself a health violation. She started rummaging in her bag and then Joy leaned over. She spoke out of the corner of her mouth while maintaining a bright smile.
It was quite impressive, Irene had to admit.
“I swear if you are taking out the disinfectant, I’m going to decapitate you once we are home, because these are the first people that aren’t intimidated, scared or deeply concerned for their safety when you are around.”
Irene lifted an eyebrow and cast her younger sister her completely blank, unimpressed gaze and with a pointed Plop! sound opened the definfectant and started to rub down the table and the four plastic menus.
Joy watched her and Irene could tell she wanted to facepalm right there and then, while Seulgi and Yeri watched her, Yeri’s face the very impression of being judgemental, while Seulgi’s smile was nothing else but confused.
“Hygiene is very important!” Seulgi finally said.
Yeri wasn’t as gentle. She had her feet on her seat, her Switch Lite placed on her knees and eyed Irene over it. Finally she looked at Joy opposite of her. “Your mom is super weird.”
“I know,” Joy said.
“I’m not her mom,” Irene said.
“It’s nice that you are kinda doing our job by rubbing down the desk, but you still have to pay the full price,” the waitress that had seemingly grown out of the ground said.
Irene cast Joy a devastating glance that she repelled like it was a hamster thrown at her. Irene eyed the waitress, picking up the menu. “Yes. We would like to order.”
“Oh boy,” Joy said. “Here it comes.”
Irene took a deep breath, summoning all her haughtiness. “What can you recommend?”
The waitress eyed Irene, wondering if she was making fun of her or not. Then: “This is a burger restaurant so I suggest you order a burger.”
Irene exhaled. “Alright. One would assume you have a burger of the day, but let’s just proceed. I will have,” she eyed the menu in her hand. “As all your salads are drenched in mayonnaise, a … double cheeseburger - what kind of cheese are you using on it?”
“Quadratic cheese?” the waitress said.
“Are you telling me or asking me?”
“Telling you. It is quadratic cheese.”
Irene eyed her. She considered for a moment asking a follow up question, but then decided against it when Joy kicked her against the ankle. “The buns slightly toasted, the meat medium rare, with a salad, the mayonnaise separate, please, and French fries and a large glass of water.” She placed the menu down and eyed the woman. “Thank you.”
The waitress took note of all of it and took the orders from everyone else. She left and cast Irene another confused glance over her shoulder.
“Is this your first time at a restaurant like this?” Seulgi asked, very carefully, but Irene could hear the laughter in her voice.
Irene wiped at a non-existent smudge on the table. “When I was younger, my parents would take me to places like this.” She took a deep sigh. “It was … always very adventurous.”
“At least you had an adventure,” Joy said, somewhat snappy. She punched the buttons of her Switch Lite, a frown on her face.
Irene looked over at her. “You were there too.”
“But I was two. I can’t remember.” She threw her sister a quick and somewhat angry glance.
“Why don’t you go again with your parents?” Yeri asked and shrugged.
“They’re dead. Died when I was three,” Joy answered.
Irene watched as the younger girl’s fingers stopped moving and she peeked over her Switch at Joy, who was staring at her screen, way too concentrated. Doctor Kang next to Irene had frozen up, not sure how to handle the uncomfortable atmosphere.
“It’s the way it is,” Irene was about to say, but Yeri was faster.
She let the Switch sink down and then craned for the waitress, trying to wave her over.
“What are you doing?” Joy asked.
“If that’s the first time eating since … since then , you need a bigger burger,” Yeri said, waving at the waitress.
Joy tried to pull down her hand. “No, what are you doing?” But the smaller girl proved to be quite squirmy, easily avoiding Joy’s grasp, as they wrestled on their seat.
“You ordered a chicken burger.” Yeri rolled her eyes. “Get at least something with mayonnaise. Make it count.”
“I am making it count, God,” Joy grumbled, and each time she managed to grasp Yeri’s hand and pulled it down, it shot up a moment ago. “You are annoying.”
“Leave her be if she doesn’t want to,” Seulgi told her younger sister.
Yeri eyed Seulgi. “If you don’t want to pay for it, then I will.”
“If someone is going to pay for it, then I am,” Irene said. She would not allow strangers that already knew way too much about their personal life pay for her younger sister’s whims. About to brandish her black visa card, Joy’s eyes snapped up to meet Irene’s.
“I don’t want you to pay for it,” she said.
And Irene - Irene struggled to reply, to say something back, something sharp that would put her into her place, but couldn’t. She could only stare back.
The waitress picked the most unfortunate point in time to arrive at their table. “Yes?” she asked, bored. “Anything else?”
Yeri eyed Joy expectantly, who in turn had a stare off with Irene, her chin pushed forward, defensive and angry. Irene’s glance was similarly hard and none of them showed any signs of surrender. Yeri looked at them and then at Seulgi, who had been sitting there quietly.
It was Seulgi’s voice that broke the silence: “One double tornado burger, please. With extra mayonnaise. Thank you. If you don’t want to eat it, I will eat it for lunch tomorrow,” she added when Joy tried to say something. “If you do want to eat it, I can pay for it. Alright?”
Joy eyed her, a long, steely glance, then leaned back. “I’m gonna check out their cupcake selection as well,” she said and with a start got up and marched to the counter.
“Wait up!” Yeri followed her and then they were gone.
Irene, back still ramrod straight, slowly sunk back against the seat, her eyes following her younger sister to get some sweet bakery products. “I apologize,” she said. “That you had to witness this. Our relationship is, at times, a bit tense.”
“I noticed,” Seulgi said, still gentle.
“You don’t have to pay for that burger.”
Seulgi shrugged. “It’s fine. My meager doctor’s salary is able to handle it.”
There was more silence between them as they watched Yeri and Joy pick out cupcakes. Joy seemed a bit stiff, but Yeri managed to drag her along by the wrist - and the older girl started to ease up.
“You are not asking for details or trying to give me advice,” Irene said after awhile.
“That’s correct, I’m not.”
Irene tore her gaze from her younger sister and then looked over at the doctor. Seulgi seemed completely relaxed, a vague smile on her face as she regarded Irene with thoughts that Irene could only take a guess at. She wanted to say Thank You , but couldn’t.
Instead she craned her head to look at the waitress.
“If the mayonnaise is not separate, I’ll buy this restaurant to fire her.”
“As your doctor, I need to remind you of your blood pressure. Among other things,” Seulgi said. The strictness in her voice was coated with so much gentleness, Irene wasn’t sure immediately if it was really there. “Irene-sshi.”
This time, Irene managed to look at the other woman and managed to say: “Thank you,” much sharper than intended.
Seulgi smiled anyway.
*
“So.”
“So what?”
“We can’t have these kinds of conversations in front of strangers,” Irene said.
Joy huffed, while still staring at her phone. They were both in the back of Irene’s car, the Maybach on its way to Bae Manor. “We can’t? Or we won’t? If we don’t have them in front of strangers, we’ll never have them.”
Irene’s voice was sharp and angry: “Yah.”
Joy was still unimpressed. “Yah what.”
“At least look at me and not that stupid phone when you are talking to me,” Irene said.
Joy, with an exaggerated eye roll, set the cellphone on her lap and looked up, batting her eyelashes at Irene. “What do you wish to talk about, oh beloved sister?”
“Do you want to eat hamburgers more regularly? Because I can totally make the chef cook hamburgers for you and -”
“Oh my God.” Joy threw her hands. “This is not about the stupid hamburgers! God. For someone who is supposedly the best detective on the planet, you are incredibly stupid.”
Irene eyed her, critical and annoyed and slightly angry at the same time. Joy didn’t make any sense. She was incredibly well educated, rich, beautiful, could get anything she wanted, would take over parts of the company one day, but she didn’t make any sense. She rarely did, to Irene, but currently it seemed more than usual. “Then what -”
Joy huffed and rolled her eyes. “Just forget it.” She picked up her phone once more and angrily tapped it.
Irene stared at her, the muscles in her throat tense. “Do you want to stop helping me with - the work we do?”
“No,” Joy snapped.
“Do you want more free time?”
“I’m good.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“New car?”
“No, for God’s sake! Just stop it!”
“Then tell me what -”
Joy let her hands fall onto her lap and eyed her. Something disconcerting sparkled in her eyes. “Eonnie.” There was a warning somewhere in there.
“What.”
“Okay. You know what would I want? Movie night. With Doc Kang and Yeri. We haven’t had people over in … in forever!”
“Last weekend, we had people over!”
“That was a cocktail party for work and the Obamas don’t count,” Joy said.
“Why don’t you invite some of your friends from school.”
“Because they’ve met you.” And at Irene’s lifted eyebrow, she continued: “They are scared of you and they think Bae Manor is haunted. Plus neither Yeri nor Doc Kang cried once in your presence, so they can take movie night. And I like Yeri. We are friends. So deal?”
Irene rolled her jaw. Then: “Fine.”
*
Doctor Kang eyed the x-rays and then looked at Irene. Irene was already staring at her and met her glance evenly when Seulgi started talking.
“You are healing up very well,” Seulgi said, got up and rounded the desk. She took the seat opposite Irene and reached out for her arm. Irene offered it to her after a moment of hesitation. “I’m proud of you. We’ll remove the cast in four weeks and until then, still, try to take it easy, okay? I’ll just check for flexibility right now.” Slowly and carefully she started to unwrap the bandage. “Your sister isn’t there today?”
Irene smoothed down her pants. She used the moment to get out the word: “No.”
Seulgi carefully unpeeled the cast and gently stretched Irene’s fingers. “May I ask, why? Yeri has been looking forward to seeing her and I think Joy promised to accompany you.”
“Joy and I don’t get along very well … sometimes,” Irene said. She looked up at Seulgi, daring her to say something.
Seulgi merely tilted her head. “I see. Does this hurt?”
Irene wondered for a moment if they were talking about her hand or about her situation with Joy. With Sooyoung. “Sometimes,” Irene said, “But it’s getting better.”
Seulgi smiled faintly. “That’s excellent news.” In silence she continued inspecting Irene’s hand and Irene, leaning back in the chair, inspected Seulgi.
The other woman was beautiful in her own way - pretty, yes, but also a wonderful, kind and open smile and an unassuming personality. And she didn’t bumble around Irene like an idiot - Irene suspected her of bumbling, but it was not because she felt intimidated by Irene. Probably a character trait connected to other things.
Her hands were soft on her skin, as she gently manipulated each digit and finally re-bandaged her arm again.
“Do I have something on my face?” Seulgi asked, still looking down at Irene’s arm.
Irene felt her own face harden despite herself. “No. I was just - thinking.”
There was a little twitch in Seulgi’s face that Irene couldn’t quite place. Was it good? Was it bad? “About what?”
“Since Joy didn’t - couldn’t - come, I was wondering if Yeri was interested coming by for a … playdate,” Irene cringed at the description.
But Seulgi looked up, smiling. “They are a bit old for a playdate, no?”
“Joy misses her as well,” Irene said. “And the reason why she doesn’t meet her is me … in a way. Would she want to come over? I’m extending the invitation to you as well.”
“So a playdate for Joy, Yeri, you and me?” Doctor Kang asked, looking up. She had finished bandaging Irene’s arm and sat back as well.
“If you don’t want to come …”
“Should I bring food?” Doctor Kang asked. “Or boardgames?”
Irene shook her head. “Just Yeri.”
“And what would we be doing in the meantime?”
Irene straightened herself. “Oh, there’s plenty to do. Bae Manor owns quite an impressive 18th century library. Also our staircase was designed by Kim Taeyeon herself. And I own two Picassos and one Monet - their background story is quite fascinating.”
Seulgi eyed her, frozen for a moment, then broke out of her surprise with a start. “That sounds interesting,” she said and laughed once more.
Irene wasn’t sure if the other woman made fun of her, but elected to nod. “It is. I’ll send you the details via phone.”
“Al-right!” Seulgi laughed, her eyes crescents.
Irene almost smiled. Almost. Instead she kept her face completely blank and echoed: “Alright.”
*
“You invited them to a playdate ?” Joy screeched.
Irene wanted to pull her hair out. Instead she opted for the dignified variation of it, crossed her legs and took another sip of her tea. “You wanted me to.”
“I said movie night, not playdate! God, what are we, six ?”
Irene rolled her eyes. “Yeri will come over, you can skate down one of the corridors or whatever else you guys do in your free time and we can have a movie night in the Green Salon,” she said. “I will order Suisse macarons.”
Joy stopped pacing and narrowed her eyes at the older one. “When you asked Doc Kang, you weren’t weird about it, were you?”
“I was perfectly polite,” Irene said, trying hard not to sound offended. “She smiled and was perfectly polite as well.” She took another sip, holding Joy’s gaze. “What do you even mean by ‘was I weird about it’? I’m perfectly able to navigate polite society, thank you very much!”
“We both know you can get intimidating and strong willed when you want something and the other person isn’t exactly on the same page as you are,” Joy said. “And you really say ‘perfectly’ a lot.”
Irene straightened herself. “Because I am.”
“Oh please. I live with you. I remember when you had diarrhea for three days -”
“We don’t talk about this.”
“- from that chicken salsa thing -”
“We don’t talk about that!”
“- and basically lost your weight in fluids and other stuff.” Joy smirked at her bigger sister’s expression that was completely blank and with the fury of a thousand hells behind it. “I think this could make for an excellent dinner conversation, because doctors love weird medical stuff, no?”
“I hate you.”
“I know. But I’m your sister, so you are stuck with me.” She stuck out her tongue and Irene was taken aback by the motion, because she was dressed like an European Princess and somehow she would have expected that this would somehow prevent Joy’s more ridiculous character traits.
Apparently she was mistaken.
Joy went and left, leaving Irene back at the dinner table, in front of several rolls of sushi that she hadn’t eaten yet. She sat there for quite a while until she had finished, deep in thought, and then went to her personal gym and out of frustration did yoga which she didn’t enjoy at all, because her cast prevented her from doing all the interesting poses..
Then paused and since her frustration hadn’t gone away, she did another round.
Sweaty, exhausted and somewhat feeling better, she made her way to the bathroom. She passed a long corridor, alongside several knight’s armours on small pedestals that her father had bought from Europe.
A faint noise was coming from outside - thud, thud, thud.
She stepped closer to the windows on the other side of the corridor. They gave way to the court in the middle of the manor. Joy was outside, playing basketball, by herself.
She looked bored - balancing her dreadful cellphone in one hand, still clothed in her expensive brand two-set and high heels and threw basketballs all over the court to the other side. Irene watched as each of them went into the net - one. After. The. Other.
Irene eyed the spectacle for some time, then went to the shower, the sounds following her.
Both Irene and Joy had something in common, despite being so fundamentally different from each other:
They both had trouble making friends. Their personalities tended to fill rooms and barely left space for anyone else. Irene was difficult in her absolute ambition, her immaculate perfection coupled with the way she looked.
Joy had some of that, but she was combative and often more intelligent than anyone in the room. It tended to intimidate people, prospective friends, prospective love interests. It made her lonely.
Or even worse, it made her lonely with Irene - and Irene knew that she was not the easiest person to be lonely with.
For a moment, when she turned on the shower, she thought what it was about that girl, Yeri, that resisted Joy’s personality. For starters, Yeri was tiny and she looked like she would die by a single mosquito attack. But she didn’t seem to be intimidated by the taller girl.
The same went for her older sister, Kang Seulgi.
Heuheuheuheu.
Irene squeezed her eyes shut, letting the warm water splash into her face as she let the sweat wash off her body.
It was the strangest situation to meet not one person, but two people, just like this.
She sent a message to Seulgi at night.
IreneBaeCEO: What’s your favorite food?
hi_sseulgi: Is this your company account?
IreneBaeCEO: Is this your company account?
hi_sseulgi: The hospital tells us to give out our private numbers for clients that frequent the exclusive ward. So … well. It’s also my Instagram.
IreneBaeCEO: I don’t have Instagram.
hi_sseulgi: I’m not surprised. ::sweatdrop_emoji::
IreneBaeCEO: … right. So. Your favorite food?
hi_sseulgi: I eat everything that’s generally considered edible.
IreneBaeCEO: Everything?
hi_sseulgi: Most stuff, yes.
Irene cringed. She could name thirty six different types of food alphabetically or chronologically she would even avoid touching with a fork. How could Kang Seulgi eat everything ?
IreneBaeCEO: What about Yeri?
hi_sseulgi: Same.
IreneBaeCEO: This is not helpful. Kang Seulgi.
hi_sseulgi: ::sweatdrop_emoji:: Sorry. Well. We like Bibimbap.
IreneBaeCEO: Bibimbap? Okay. I can work with that. Anything else?
hi_sseulgi: The usual side dishes. Ice cream? Ice cream is nice too.
IreneBaeCEO: You want icecream. And Bibimbap.
hi_sseulgi: Yes! ::laughing_emojI::
IreneBaeCEO: I will arrange for such.
hi_sseulgi: Thank you, Irene-sshi! I’ll see you Friday!
IreneBaeCEO: Yes.
IreneBaeCEO: Until Friday.
hi_sseulgi: ::bear_emoji::
Irene stared at the bear emoji.
What grown-up person used animal emojis if they didn’t work at the zoo?
*
Irene got her cast removed two days later. Seulgi was not at the hospital that day, but the expressionless male nurse, Nam Joohyuk, gave her a lollipop after they removed her cast.
“It’s melon flavor. Your sister said you like melon flavor.”
Irene held the lollipop between her index finger and thumb, her face blank. “Thank you.” Small icicles adorned the words.
“You are welcome,” Nam Joohyuk replied in the same tone.
They stared at each other for a long moment. A figurative tumbleweed blew down the hospital corridor. Then Irene left. “Weirdo,” she mumbled and she could have sworn that she heard him utter the same.
That night, she went on her first patrol again since her injury, high above the roofs of Seoul. It went well, but one suspect was faster than anticipated and he left a painful welt on her face.
*
Seulgi, being the medical doctor she was, immediately noticed the red, swollen stripe in Irene’s face that went from under her jaw over her cheek to the side of her nose. When Joy opened the large front portal of the mansion and Yeri and Seulgi stepped in, Seulgi’s face showed a bright smile. It peeked up behind an enormous amount of potato chip and popcorn bags but faded when she noticed Irene’s face.
“What happened?” Seulgi asked.
“Stupidity,” Joy said.
Irene took a deep breath. “No, I was just being - slow. Come on in.”
They both entered the main hall - and Yeri asked the question that most kids asked when they first saw it: “Are those real?” pointing at the mounted heads of boars and deers and stags mounted on the wall.
Irene’s grandfather had shot them and mounted them on the wall. Irene had never brought herself to remove them, despite them probably being unhygienic and catching dust.
“They - are.”
Yeri turned towards Irene, her face genuinely curious and bearing, as far as Irene could tell, no malice. “Don’t you think they are super creepy?”
Irene stared at her, her own face blank. “You catch Pokémon, grandfather did this.”
Yeri contemplated the answer, Joy biting back a snicker next to her. “You are creepy too.”
“And you are only noticing this now?” Joy asked. She dragged at Yeri’s arm. “Come on, I’ll show you my room.” While she pulled the younger girl away, she cast both Irene and Seulgi a glance, her own lingering on her sister for longer. Then she gave a sharp nod towards Seulgi. “Don’t be weird, okay?” Then they were gone.
Irene took a deep breath, staring at where Joy had disappeared. “I feel like I have to apologize.”
Seulgi, still standing there, in her coat, grinned. “You are pretty similar.”
Irene threw her a glance like a lancet, impaling her, as if Seulgi was a butterfly. “We are nothing alike.”
Seulgi didn’t seem to mind the lancet. She just shrugged and grinned and lifted the bag of chips and popcorn. “Where does the food go?”
“Follow me.” Irene shot her a last glance and Seulgi followed after her, happily.
Irene wasn’t used to people being so chipper around her. So happy. She knew she had a certain aura about her. It helped in company meetings, to repel certain members of the board; and sometimes, it repelled people whether she liked it or not. It was just the way she looked.
Seulgi however seemed completely at ease around her. Maybe she just didn’t notice Irene’s kind of personality? Or she just didn’t care.
Irene had prepared the Blue Salon for their movie night - it was not that big of a room, it didn’t have an echo when you called for someone who was standing at the other side of the room. Plus, blue was a calming color and Joy liked that the TV was 8k.
Seulgi seemed to like the room as well. “I like the chandelier,” she said, her smile happy, but somewhat … confused. “And is that a Picasso over there?”
Joohyun snorted. “It’s one of the boring Picassos,” she said, off-handely. “You can put your food on the coffee table.”
Seulgi wandered over and carefully placed everything down, then turned to Irene. Again, when she regarded her, she frowned. “Irene-sshi?”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to have a first aid kid in your - your castle?”
Irene straightened herself up. “I assure you, it’s nothing,” she said, motioning towards the scratch on her face with her hand.
It was most unfortunate that this injury had happened on her face. It was the hardest spot to hide - make-up made it worse, bandaids drew more attention to it and without them, Seulgi stared at them.
“It doesn’t look like nothing,” Seulgi said, and stepped a bit closer.
Irene stepped back. “It’s just a light scratch.”
“It looks red.” Seulgi stepped forward once more, her pretty eyes intent on the side of Irene’s face. She tilted her head like a puppy. Irene hated her for it. It weakened her resolve considerably, which in turn made her disappointed in herself, which in turn made her grumpy. But Seulgi’s presence made her quite happy - and the resulting cognitive dissonance was most annoying.
“Because it’s healing,” Irene tried again.
“It could get infected,” Seulgi insisted.
“Nothing gets infected on my watch,” Irene finally ground out, Seulgi’s face hovering way too close.
Seulgi didn’t meet her glance. She stared at the injury, her frown deepening. “Do you have alcohol with preferably over eighty percent and maybe some sort of gauze?”
Irene didn’t respond immediately and when Seulgi just kept staring, she sighed and did a small mental exercise, going over the inventory of the room. “I have a Everlin 62 single malt whiskey in this room. It has an alcohol content of over 90 percent.”
Seulgi shrugged. “That will do.”
Irene stepped back and tilted her head as well, her expression - and she was well aware of this - a little condescending, as she crossed her arms over her chest. “One bottle is worth more that six hundred thousand dollars, Doctor Kang.”
Then Seulgi - Kang Seulgi - did something unexpected. She stepped forward, her smile kind and completely unassuming, as she very gently took hold of Irene’s face to turn it to the side a bit. Assumingly to inspect the damage better, but it really wasn’t that bad - was it?
“But your health is priceless,” Seulgi said.
Irene rarely was speechless - or flustered. But that moment, she wasn’t sure what to say. She looked at Seulgi to see if she was joking but Seulgi just let go of her and stepped back. Irene was slightly disappointed.
“But regular disinfectant will do as well,” Seulgi said and smiled.
In the end, Irene found herself sitting on the couch, one leg bend and on top of it, the other draped down its side, while Doctor Kang sat in front of her, cross-legged, leaning in and dabbing her face, before putting a thin stripe of gauze over the red mark, and even thinner, carefully cut stripes of medical tape to fix it.
“Did this happen once again when you were playing chess?” Seulgi said. It sounded light, but there was a small twinge in her tone that made Irene’s eyes move from the wall behind Seulgi to Seulgi’s face.
“Something like that.” She eyed the other girl. If Doctor Kang would find out who she was, if Doctor Kang had suspicions about Irene’s secret identity and her escapades at night that involved crime fighting and other things, then - and Irene paused at her own thought - she had to stop seeing her.
She needed another doctor, again, and she would have to avoid her at all costs.
“I see.” Seulgi applied the last stripe, then leaned back. Her eyes focused on Irene with something akin to recognition. She reached forward and palmed one of Irene’s hands in her own.
Irene braced herself. Very few people had found out her secret identity. It almost always resulted in unnecessary danger for those close to her. And it always created distance, emotionally and physically, between her and that person - and sometimes heartbreak. If Seulgi would find out that Irene was a vigilante, that she fought evil, that she -
“If you are so clumsy that you hurt yourself regularly, you can tell me,” Seulgi said, her voice gleaming with sincerity. Her eyes looked like a puppy’s. “It’s nothing shameful. Many people are clumsy.”
Irene’s process of thought collapsed like a house of cards. “... what?” she managed.
“It’s nothing bad, I assure you! Some people might find it even endearing!”
Irene just continued to stare.
Seulgi mercilessly marched on. “I am clumsy as well! I once stumbled and crashed into one of our plastic skeletons. I also once got lost in my own department. We really do have a lot of staircases. And that one time, I got tipsy from a beer and stumbled into our department head during an after work birthday party. Or once I fell into a pool and got tangled up into a bra someone had thrown into it.”
Irene stared. “I’m not clumsy!”
“Are you afraid Joy will think less of you if she knows?” Seulgi asked, one hand suddenly on Irene’s shoulder. It was surely meant to be a reassuring gesture, but to Irene, it was utterly confusing. “I’m sure she already knows and is just so kind and won’t mention it.”
“You don’t know Joy very well, do you?” Irene asked dryly.
“And if you want to make sure, I can schedule you an appointment at a neurologist,” Seulgi said. “Although I don’t think it’s a medical problem.”
“Yah. Kang Seulgi.” Irene took a deep breath. “I am not, in any way, unable to control my extremities,” she said very, very slowly, to make sure Doctor Kang understood. “I assure you, both of my recent injuries were just the results of mere accidents and in the future, I will refrain from hurting myself like this.”
Seulgi eyed her, her eyes narrowing. She even looked adorable like that. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am sure.”
“Hm.” Seulgi put a last bit of bandaid on the side of Irene’s face, then leaned back. “As your general practitioner, I still have to ask you to be careful.”
“I am not clumsy,” Irene iriterated.
Seulgi was about to reach for Irene’s shoulder - presumably to pat it - but a sudden movement on the couch made both of them jump.
“Nice look.” Joy had plopped down, two pilllows away, Yeri in tow. Yeri was carrying a big box of doughnuts, while Joy carried several cans of Pringles. Seulgi reached happily for one and Irene couldn’t help but frown to the staccato of every bite Seulgi took off one of the potato chips.
“So. What are we going to watch?” Seulgi asked.
“Hashtag Alive?” Joy shrugged. “It’s a fun movie, plus zombies.”
Irene frowned both at another round of Pringles and the mention of zombies. “Or,” she suggested, “we could watch something educational that does not include zombies. Like National Geographic!”
“Booohhh,” came from the younger end of the couch, along with thumbs pointed downwards.
“You don’t even like most animals,” Joy pointed out.
Seulgi looked at her, her expression devastated. “You don’t like animals?”
“I do like animals - from afar,” Irene said.
“She’s scared of most, if not all of them.” Joy rolled her eyes and popped another piece of popcorn into her mouth.
“Which is why I live in a city where most dangerous animals are humans and the furry ones can’t just jump on you,” Irene said pointedly, trying to end the topic, but Joy wouldn’t let her.
“That sloth wasn’t even moving, it was literally hanging around, and yet you were beyond yourself!” Joy said.
“I -”
“Sloths are cute,” Seulgi said.
“Right? I think so too!”
She and Joy exchanged a high five over Irene’s head, whose general mood seemed to drop by the second. “I hope your movie isn’t that scary.”
“She’s also scared of all supernatural elements in movies,” Joy continued to embarrass her. “But then again, it’s super boring to watch mysteries or thrillers with her, because she always figures out who the murderer is within, like, the first four seconds.”
“Well, I do … but it’s not exactly super boring.”
Joy threatened to throw a box of Pringles at her and Irene ducked, yet nothing came flying. “You spoil the murderer every time!”
“Because it’s so easy! Everyone can do that!”
Yeri eyed Irene, braver than most. “You must be fun at parties.”
Joy groaned. “She’s … the worst.”
Seulgi shrugged. Her words resounded even more in the moment of silence after Joy had spoken. “I’d like it if you explained to me who the murderer is. I’m always surprised at the twist.”
They all turned to look at her. There was a smirk on Joy’s face that made Seulgi press harder into the couch.
Seulgi bore their glances valiantly, but her ears turned red. “What? I do never get the twist.”
Yeri somewhat deflated. “Yeah, it’s true. She never does. Not even the Detective Pikachu one.”
“Yah.” Joy nudged her. “That one wasn’t easy to guess!”
Yeri nudged her back. “Are you kidding me? I caught it like during the first five minutes of that movie!”
They continued to bicker happily, leaving Irene and Seulgi to their own devices. “Can you really identify the murderer during the first five minutes?”
“Usually,” Irene nodded. She watched as Joy and Yeri decided on Despicable Me and the movie studio logo appeared on screen.
“That’s like a super power.” Seulgi eyed her and didn’t seem to notice that Irene froze for a moment. Instead, she looked at the older woman with something like admiration.
“Do you have a super power?” Irene asked, trying to divert the subject.
“I can tell at first glance what’s wrong with people,” Seulgi said, a bit proud. She shrugged again. “I guess this makes me kind of a decent doc, no?”
“I guess so.” She looked at Seulgi and still looked at her when Gru and the minions made her laugh. Then she eyed Joy, who threw happily some M&Ms at Yeri and Yeri who threw some back.
The dear doctor next to her and slid down the couch so far that her chin pressed on her clavicle. She fought to keep her eyes open, but at the end of their movie, with dancing chimney sweeps and an older man firing a cannon at his neighbours, she had fallen asleep.
Irene knew immediately she had. She felt her heavy head against her biceps, her arms crossed over her chest, staring at the movie. In the end, she was the only person still away, watching how Mary flew away after having fixed the Banks Family.
She watched the entire credits and six rounds of the animated DVD movie. Not because she liked someone breathing against her arm, because this was, of course, unhygienic, but mostly because … because … Doc Kang was a doctor and in her occupation, sleep was probably a hot commodity.
She dared stealing a glance at the younger woman. Seulgi gave a small semi-snore. Just a tiny sound of the smallest of rustles, her arms crossed as well, her legs spread farther than Irene would ever allow herself to do.
She looked content and happy.
Irene eyed her and then sighed, impatiently.
Carefully, she got up, rounded the couch and then unlocked the mechanism the couch featured, letting the backrest go down very slowly, transforming it into an enormous bed.
She pulled all three sleepers with some effort onto the newly transformed bed and then threw blankets over them.
The logical part of her told her that she had to take the Segway down the hall to her bedroom and sleep there; in her perfectly scented, almost empty, zen-like bedroom with her sleeping mask on and the faint sounds of sea noises coming from her dolby surround system.
Instead, just to make sure nobody was confused when they woke up, or started to wander aimlessly through the mansion to places they didn’t belong, she stretched out the armchair the same manner as the bed.
Then brushed her teeth and changed into pajamas - because she was awake and not a savage - and then went to sleep on the armchair, no two steps away from her two guests and her sister. The last picture she saw before drawing down the sleep mask was how quiet they all looked.
She hadn’t seen Joy this relaxed and quiet since her early teens and she quite never had seen Yeri this quiet. Seulgi, on the other hand, always seemed to be relaxed and somewhat quiet, but at least she looked happy.
It was a disconcerting look she had to get used to first. Then she pulled down her mask and all was gone.
*
She was wearing another mask the next night, standing on a building, watching a group of people trying to move a box of chemical weapons into their van that Irene had glued to the ground with a special kind of superglue only one hour earlier.
It was quite fascinating how hard they tried and how much the box wouldn’t budge. They also got a kind of glitter onto their hands, that was not removable for at least six months, was pink and had a peach scent. Joy was particularly proud of that one as she stood next to Irene and took pictures of the struggling wannabe criminals.
The police were only six blocks away and they came unannounced - no sirens; Irene wouldn’t even have to move a finger for this one.
She eyed Joy, happy under her mask. Now was as good a time as it was always.
“We can’t see Doctor Kang anymore, and by proxy, Yeri,” she said and watched the smile slip from Joy’s face.
Joy turned very slowly towards her. The warning colored her voice in the same yellow infected wounds had. “Say’s who.”
“Says me.” Irene said.
“And why, exactly, do you think that’s a good idea?” Joy asked. She very carefully without making eye contact, put the camera away. It was almost as if she took extra time doing it, giving Irene the possibility to save herself.
“I think Kang Seulgi is able to find out what we do in our free time,” Irene said. “It’s dangerous for -”
“- for her and for us and the city needs us, yadda, yadda, yadda … this is bullshit,” Joy said.
Irene straightened herself further, if this was even possible. “ Ex cuse me?”
“Doc Sooyoung would have found out eventually as well,” Joy said and she made a circular motion with her hand, describing some sort of imaginary hamster wheel. “And I’m not going to give up my friendship with Yeri just because you want to stay a hermit your entire life.”
“We have a responsibility towards the city,” Irene said. “How can you be so -”
Joy cast her a sharp glance. She knew that glance from her own face. “So what?”
“So selfish ,” Irene shot back. Her anger rarely became hot or bubbling. Instead it became cold, a sharp breeze, filled with icicles that ripped your sin open. “Mom and dad died because …”
“Don’t bring mom and dad into this,” Joy said, stepping angrily towards her sister. “That guy will never see daylight again, you made sure of that, and I’m grateful that you -”
“It was not enough -”
“He got sixty three years -”
“It is not enough -”
“- and the world if save from him -”
“- It’s not enough! There are so many of them and you want me to stop this and you are calling me selfish! How dare you,” Irene seethed. “People. Are. Dying .”
Joy let silence follow, her lips a thin, angry line as she eyed her sister. “You got injured twice last month. You are not like me, you are fragile,” Joy pushed her and ignored the angry ‘hey’ that escaped Irene. “Way more intelligent than what’s good for you, but fragile - and one day you are going to be too fragile and you know what will happen then?”
“I don’t have to listen to this.” Irene was about to turn around but Joy stopped her, a tight grasp on Irene’s forearm.
She was so close that the smaller girl couldn’t move away. “One day you will be too fragile and then I’ll be all alone - and a hermit. Who doesn’t even have friends. So don’t tell me to stop seeing Yeri or Doc Kang.”
Then she stepped off the building, elegant, like a diver dipping into the ocean and Irene refused the urge to look down into the abyss that was the city. It would be empty anyway.
*
The first three days after her argument with Joy, she didn’t see the younger woman at all. Her credit card receipt said she had taken a hotel room at the Seoul Four Seasons and given that she had booked the cartoon channel and ordered enough junk food to feed an army, Irene assumed she was there with Yeri.
Doctor Kang also a bunch of texts that she tried to ignore and instead went on watch three days in a row, staying up long enough that when she arrived at home, she was so tired, she fell asleep the moment her cheek hit the pillow.
She didn’t need Joy. She could take care of herself. She was young and fast and quick and she was not fragile. She was not going to die like her parents had and she would take out all the people who had made her parents die the way they did.
It was a hot, slow anger she felt, like molten lava that surely but steadily burned its way into the ground, unstoppable, untouchable.
The fourth night, it wasn’t then, anymore. Untouchable. Unstoppable.
It was humiliating, really. The guy hadn’t even aimed correctly, just into the general direction and Irene was wearing bullet proof armor that was more expensive than an apartment in the Im Tower. The stupid bullet managed to wedge itself right inbetween the seam of two plates and had enough force left to …
Well.
Irene looked down at herself. Everything was still where it belonged. There was just a small, strange dent there, where it shouldn’t, and she felt something inside herself deflate.
She couldn’t say what it was, but …
Half of her brain was still active, because she lifted her arm, without even looking up, and fired the gun in her hand. A net emerged and wrapped itself around the guy responsible for the strange dent in her armor.
When he complained, the net emitted an electrical charge and he went down.
Irene however didn’t notice much of this - instead she looked down and couldn’t understand what she was seeing or feeling, as her legs buckled and gave way like matchsticks. Then something wet and dark started to pour out of that dent and Irene realized:
It wasn’t a dent, it was a hole. And blood was coming out of her like out of a leaky balloon. She had a few seconds time, before losing consciousness, to be angry at herself for not ducking in time, the manufacturer of armor to produce such a failure of a product and at the guy for his ability to find the single flaw in her entire get-up, aim at it and shoot.
It was an embarrassment in its incompetence, even more so because she didn’t even have time to press the emergency button to summon Joy. Her vital signs would start to die down, setting off the alert, but until then, given the amount of blood that had left her, it could already be too late.
Irene managed to roll her jaw once in annoyance, before she went down. Further final thoughts were spent as to her funeral, which Joy would use to broadcast a big “I told you so” towards the mourners present - who would probably only attend to make sure she was dead.
Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by her upper body being lifted. She managed to blink into a face - Joy’s face - that told of anger and disappointment.
“You are such a fool, unnie,” she whispered.
Then darkness.