Chapter 1

• "Let him go!" I yell at the three men defiantly. They're dragging my older brother, Kai to their tinted black SUV. I don't know if I should call the police! "Let him go or I'll call the police on you, I know your plate number."
• One of the men who looks like a bulldozer roar out in a sarcastic laughter, as the other man nudge him on the arm to stop laughing. I guess the fats on his tummy have gotten to his brain and clogged it. Thoughtless fool, how dare he mock the police authority.
• "Stay out of this, girl. Your brother will have to answer to the boss." The third man says, while he keep pushing Kai's head into the car. Kai is fighting back, but the men are all huge and absolutely more powerful than Kai.
• That's it! They'll have to take me too. I throw away my crossbody bag and lunge at one of the men; the bulldozer, trying to bite off the chunk of flesh on his arm, but he push me away so quickly and I fall flat on my butt.
• "Hana ya, don't fight. I'll be okay, don't worry about me. I'll come home by tomorrow." Kai yells through the little opening of the door, but I see the fear written in his eyes right before the door closes and the men enter the car and quickly drive away.
• I keep my eyes on the plate number again. It's a customized plate number written '9146 Alfonso'. The name sounds like spanish or Italian, and I'm sure that one among the men is not even a Korean. What has Kai gotten himself into? Who are those people and who the heck is their boss? I'm going to report to the police if Kai doesn't keep his word and come home by tomorrow.
• I grab my crossbody bag and get back on my feet. Darn it! That bulldozer has ruined my dress, I've got mud all over me, I won't be able to walk into the coffee shop looking like garbage.
• "Ya, look at that woman, she looks like a skunk doesn't she?" One among the four group of high school boys is pointing at me and laughing at his remarks alone. They have the same blue and white uniform, they must be from the nearby high school where I work part time as a librarian on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Those naughty kids!
• "Hey, stop laughing. It's senior Hana, the school librarian. Don't badmouth her again." Another boy from the group says as he smack the head of the boy who's gossiping. "I'm sorry, he's a new student. He doesn't know you're our school librarian, sunbae (senior)."
• They all shamefully nod their heads before walking into the alley on the opposite, occasionally glancing back to sneak a look at me who's immovable. I'm standing like a robot, unable to properly process my thoughts or go anywhere. Should I just call the police right now? I'm afraid that my brother will get hurt. He's the only family I have, the person who pays the bigger share of the house rent and electricity bill. If something happens to him, I don't want to imagine. I love Kai too much to let him get into trouble.
• Maybe I'll go seek advice from Min Oppa, Kai's best friend who lives very close to the laundry shop where I work part time to deliver customer clothes during the weekends. I manage to walk my legs pass the fence of the basketball court in our neighborhood. We live on the outskirts of Seoul, we're use to seeing loan sharks and landlords mercilessly beating up people over money, because the people who reside in this shanty neighborhood are helplessly poor. It's called the last urban slum in Seoul, where most families use bicycles as a means of transportation. Because cars are a high luxury most people cannot afford to buy here.
• I almost bump into the trash can in front of Min's apartment, thank goodness I'm able to realize it. I side step the trash and reach for the door and knock. I hope he's in there.
• I knock four more times before Min opens up the door, looking like a drunk frog as usual. His honey brown eyes are the only good feature he has, very bright and reassuring, and at least, he doesn't have the under eye bags like I do. But Min is a lazy guy always at home getting himself drunk while his restaurant business is slowly dying. He starts running his fingers and untangling his messy brown hair immediately he sees me. "Urm, sorry I got wasted Hana. Don't mind my look. Why. . . are you here anyway, when you're supposed to be at work?"
• "This won't be the first time I'm seeing you wasted, so don't take it to heart Oppa. Do you know what my brother has been up to lately? I just got out of home for work, and some men showed up in an expensive SUV and took Kai away. They claim that he has to answer to their boss. Do you know anything about this?"
• "Urgh. . . No, not really. Just that he's, urgh. He told me he gotten a new job yesterday and he's going to buy a house in gangnam very soon. He said not to tell you though, so I'm only saying this because I don't want you to be clueless."
• "A new job?" I press my hand on the doorframe, using my other hand to remove the whips of my greasy brown hair sticking like gum on my face. This is quite frustrating, I don't know what to do. "This is somehow strange though, I don't know why he never said anything to me about the new job. Kai doesn't keep secrets from me, you know. I'm the only family he has, and then you, Oppa."
• "Come in and have water first, Hana." Min says, holding my arm as if to support me so I won't crash to the ground. It's like he's seeing right through me, my legs feel so shaky. I have a bad feeling. Is Kai into something dangerous and illegal? Because older brothers take a lot of risks to take care of their family, even Eunnie's older brother is currently in prison for being an accomplice in women and child trafficking business.