"You sound so tired, Mi-rae. Have you slept at all?"
Ji-pyeong's brow furrowed with worry.
The green of Central Park stretched before him as he stood before his hotel window with her voice pressed to his ear. Ji-pyeong had turned to this view often since Mi-rae hugged him goodbye on Sunday.
"Have you?"
He could not fib.
"Not really."
"We will both sleep after this is over, Ji-pyeong."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Well, one way or another that will be tomorrow."
Ji-pyeong hated how defeated his voice sounded. Mi-rae clamored to bolster him.
"We have so much already! The labs are owned by four tiers of dummy corporations that we traced back to GenOne. The turn over rate of lab technicians is insane! There were apparently anonymous tips called into the state board of health. There's a lawsuit by a vendor that's under seal. I can take this to the US Attorney. And that's only what we've dug up just this week, Ji-pyeong!"
It's not enough.
Ji-pyeong sighed and loosened his tie. It was nearly six in the evening and he had come back to the hotel to clear his head after an insufferable day of calls with GenOne. If Ji-pyeong was placing a wager on tomorrow's final ruse, he would not bet on them.
"Mi-rae, we may understand what that all means but it's too complicated for everyone else. An investigation will take months. So will a lawsuit. In the meantime Dusk will just shout even louder and come at us with everything he has. And the media will eat up the circus because that's easier than digging deep."
Ji-pyeong had known men like Dusk his entire life. He was just another version of the man who had shouted at his orphanage for daring to be in line ahead of him at a baseball game. He expected to get what he wanted as if by right no matter who got in the way. And the media would just stand by like all of those silent spectators when he was a boy. Ji-pyeong did not yet have what he needed to punch back.
"He has the platform to do plenty of damage to us with a few tweets. Especially when he gets wind of who you've been talking to. We need something bigger than a trail that merely points in one direction or we will just have to quietly wait it out. We can't risk him retaliating."
Ji-pyeong winced at the thought of those photographs flooding social media. It made him sick to his stomach no matter how brave Mi-rae was. But Ji-pyeong also knew that he did not need to varnish the truth with her. Mi-rae was his partner in every way.
"All of the former employees I've talked to are terrified, Ji-pyeong. Dusk has used every trick in the book to tie them in knots. Non-disclosure agreements, severance agreements with extended health care coverage, you name it. No one is willing to talk publicly. If he has threatened us, then just imagine what he's done to them."
Ji-pyeong clenched his fist.
"It has taken everything in me to grovel to that asshole this week, Mi-rae. He was insufferable on the calls with Yoon Seon-hak today. Even she almost lost her cool. If I have to walk into that meeting tomorrow and just fold, I don't know what I'm going to do."
"We are not folding."
Mi-rae's voice echoed through her speakerphone. Ji-pyeong smiled despite himself at her determination. He could picture Mi-rae's face now as if she was still standing in Chris's office — like they alone could take Dusk on. Every conversation with her while they had been apart was like this. He expected the worst. Mi-rae was unwavering in her hope. And though he had not believed it possible, every day Ji-pyeong loved her even more for it.
