Whispers of Refuge Box Set

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

“Get out of here fast.” Mee-Kyong reached under the bed and pulled Sun out, ignoring her shocked expression and scooting her up onto the mattress. The rich man wasn’t happy. Mee-Kyong had tried her best, but she had failed. She needed to get Sun out of the room, but the child was frozen in place, her unblinking eyes as wide as the nozzle on a National Security agent’s revolver.

Mee-Kyong gripped the girl by the shoulders and pushed her to the door. “Go to my room and get in bed. If anyone comes in, just pretend to be asleep. I’ll take care of everything.” Mee-Kyong swore under her breath. She hadn’t planned on making the inspector that angry. Mr. Lee would find out what happened right away, if he hadn’t already. He would be furious. Mee-Kyong braced herself, preparing to absorb as much of Mr. Lee’s rage as she could.

She went to open the door for Sun but heard heavy footsteps sounding down the hall. There was no time. She pushed the girl back toward the bed and shoved her down. “You’re asleep,” she hissed. The door flung open.

“Where is she?” Mr. Lee barged into the room and shoved Mee-Kyong aside. By the time she caught up with him, he was already at Sun’s bed. Mee-Kyong lunged for him as he grabbed a handful of Sun’s hair and yanked her on to her feet. The child didn’t even cry out. Mee-Kyong threw her arms around Mr. Lee, grasping at his clammy neck and cheeks, and tried to tackle him from behind. The fat man didn’t lose his footing. While one hand still clutched Sun’s hair, he slapped the girl across the cheek with his other. “Do you know how much yuan you just lost me?” Sun brought her arms to her face but couldn’t block Mr. Lee’s fist in time. Blood spurted out from her nose.

Mee-Kyong grabbed as much of Mr. Lee’s wide frame as she could and scratched at his fleshy neck. “She’s only a child! Let her go!”

The proprietor ignored her. “Do you have any idea how long it will take you to work off that kind of a debt?” The sweat from Mr. Lee’s armpits leaked all the way through his collared shirt as well as his suit coat. Mee-Kyong felt his weight shift. His next punch came from below, collided with Sun’s chin, and snapped her head back. She dropped onto the bed. Why didn’t the child try to protect herself? If they were in Mee-Kyong’s room, it would only take a few seconds to yank the knife out of the nightstand drawer and end Mr. Lee’s brutality for good.

“I was the one who met with the inspector.” Mee-Kyong grabbed Mr. Lee by the hair and shouted in his ear. “I was with Inspector Wong this evening.”

A drop of sweat splashed onto Mee-Kyong’s forearm. She cringed involuntarily when Mr. Lee snarled, “This was never your business to sniff around in.”

“Sun told me about the inspector coming. I wanted out of here, so I made her give me her dress, and I pretended to be her.” Mee-Kyong backed up toward the door. She wanted to be as far away from Sun as she could when Mr. Lee grasped the severity of her transgression. “It was my idea. Sun went along with it because I roughed her up a little bit. You know she’s too scared to go against any of us. She’d never come up with something like this on her own.”

Mee-Kyong’s one goal was to get Mr. Lee next door to her own room. Then Sun wouldn’t witness whatever it was that Mr. Lee chose to do to her for costing him the richest customer in the province. And if she was lucky, she might have a chance to reach for that knife. As soon as he let her go for just a moment, she slipped free and was to the door before she heard his lumbering steps behind her. He was panting by the time she reached her room. He overtook her in the entryway.

“You filthy pig,” Mr. Lee roared in her face.

She covered her head, clenching her teeth and trying not to make any sounds. She didn’t want Sun to hear from the other room. At least for now, the girl was safe.

“You’ll regret this. You’ll regret this for the rest of your short, miserable life.” He punched her so she fell back on the bed and was against her in a second. Mee-Kyong could smell the soju on Mr. Lee’s breath and on his clothes. A wet crumb dropped from his mouth onto her cheek. She tried to push his heavy torso off. He leaned so hard into her that her lungs only worked in shallow bursts. “Nobody disrespects me or my customers.” He maneuvered his weight just enough to punch her in the ribs, blasting a splintering pain up her side.

Mee-Kyong’s body ached for air. Just tell him what he needs to hear. Make him think you really mean it. Get out of this alive, for Sun’s sake if nothing else. “I’m sorry for making you angry.” The words came automatically, the same apology she doled out to Pang dozens of times. She had freed herself from Pang. If she could just reach the nightstand, she could free herself from Mr. Lee as well. She lowered her eyes. “It won’t ever happen again.”

“I know it won’t.” His grin sent waves of panic shooting out from her throbbing side. He bent his elbow and pressed his forearm against her neck. “In fact, I guarantee it.”

She thrashed. With Mr. Lee’s full weight on top of her, his arm planted against her throat, Mee-Kyong stretched her arm out as far as it would go. Her fingers just barely brushed the handle of the nightstand drawer.

***

Sun buried her head in her pillow and tried folding it around her ears. She didn’t know what was happening to Mee-Kyong in the room next door but couldn’t bear hearing Mr. Lee’s angry shouts. This was all Sun’s fault. Mee-Kyong had only been trying to help. If Sun had agreed to go with the ugly Inspector Wong and marry his wealthy son, if she hadn’t been so stubborn and scared, her friend wouldn’t be in danger right now.

She heard a crash next door and bit down on her blanket to keep from screaming out loud. Suddenly chilled, she hugged herself tight and shivered under the covers. Why had she ever left Chongsong? How could she have been so foolish to trust a complete stranger? Had she been so blinded by a new dress and a promise of an easier life for her family? Her ignorance had cost her freedom. Now Mee-Kyong was paying the price as well.

Sun wished she could change into a man, someone strong and courageous like her brother Jae. She would rush into Mee-Kyong’s room and free her from Mr. Lee’s anger. If she were brave enough, she would kill Mr. Lee if that meant she could save her friend. But she was just a little girl, nothing more than a child. A child who could never dream of fighting off a man as big and heavy and angry as Mr. Lee. She slowly rocked beneath the blankets, begging the night to end, begging Mee-Kyong to return safe. She wished there was a way to make herself black out. She would give just about anything to forget.

When all was silent, she lifted her head off the pillow and strained her ears. Nothing. Did that mean Mr. Lee was finished? Was he going to come into her room next? For a moment, she thought about jumping underneath the bed again. She was working up the courage to force her legs over the side when her door flung open. Sun sucked in her breath and envisioned herself pulling the blanket over her face, but her body didn’t respond. She sat staring, her paralyzed muscles not even bothering to tremble.

It was Mee-Kyong. From behind her back she pulled out a blood-stained knife. Panting, she grasped her side with one hand, staggered into the room, and shut the door. “Mr. Lee won’t bother us anymore, little cousin.”