Paper Dolls

Chapter 43

I'm staring absentmindedly at the little purple dinasour painted on the wall across from me. The three of us fall into a bout of silence, all preoccupied with our own thoughts after studying all these pictures of Dalia and her potential lover. 

Binna finally speaks, her voice cutting through the tense atmosphere. "How did you get these?" 

My eyebrows bunch together. I didn't even think of that.

Hyeon's smile is wide with pride as he drags a finger along the smooth surface of the table. "Someone uploaded these three nights ago on a very exclusive Dalia fan site. They posted them anonymously at 4am and then removed them after thirty seconds. The file was encrypted, you can't simply download them but I've learned a few things over the years. My friend's in the IT department at QBS."

Both Binna and I stare at him incredulously. 

"There were only a select few of us still online at the time but only I was quick enough to get all of them. My guess is the uploader wanted to get these pictures out there even though they were clearly meant to remain hidden." 

"Do you know who uploaded them?" I ask hopefully but Hyeon shakes his head in disappointment. 

"My colleague traced the IP address to an old warehouse in Cheongdam. Paid the place a visit only to find it cleared out. And the user is a new addition, completely anonymous but they were able to answer very intimate questions about Dalia, hence passing the requirements to join as a member." Hyeon is busy looking at his finger, his attention fixed on the imaginary circle he keeps  tracing.

"I'm amazed you were awake and coincidentally on that site at that time," Binna murmurs looking equal parts impressed and horrified. 

Hyeon seems to notice and he clears his throat. "Sometimes it's hard to sleep, you know." 

He looks to me for confirmation and I just shrug in response. If he wants to lose sleep over Dalia fan sites that's his business, at least his obsession came with its benefits like the pictures currently scattered across the table. 

"Anyway," Hyeon quickly changes the subject, looking more uncomfortable by the second. "I know a bunch of pictures are hardly enough to prove anything but I was listening to some of Dalia's songs and her lyrics took a whole new meaning after this revelation." 

Hyeon lists down a number of the solo singles Dalia released over the past year and told me to listen to them. 

"It really does sound like she is talking about him," He says referring to the handsome politician in the pictures. 

Binna side eyes me, not looking all that convinced and I ignore her, hoping Hyeon doesn't notice her skepticism. 

I gather the photos together and then arrange them into a neat little pile in front of us. "So what do we do now?" 

Hyeon pushes his phone towards me and I lean forward to see an SNS post about a club launch this weekend. The club's name is Linger and there are numerous pictures promoting all kinds of alcohol that range from soju to whiskey. 

Even though it's supposed to be a launch, the prices are sky high. I would barely call it a promotion since normal people like us would never be able to afford those figures. 

"It's pretty pricey," I say and Binna leans in closely to take a look. 

"It's a club launch." She states as a matter of factly, looking unimpressed. "And the drinks are more expensive than any club launch I've seen before. I don't see what the point is here."

"Remember Loiter? The club that got shut down after that drug bust in 2018. This one is run by the same company and they plan to run it exclusively for the upper echelon - celebrities, chaebol and those who can afford the prices." Hyeon explains enthusiastically.