Echo || NCTau ||

21 - About phone calls

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Yeoreum?" Dr. An's overly friendly voice scraped Yeoreum's ears the second she accepted the call. "You seem to be busy these days!"

Yeoreum halted in the middle of the street. She had just finished a very promising lesson with Jisung and Haechan. They had practiced basic punches and Jisung definitely had a knack for boxing. When she pointed out her observation at the end of the lesson, the boy had beamed as if she had just promised him a princess and a half of a kingdom for his efforts but had been too shy to say anything. He simply shrugged awkwardly and skipped out of the room like a frightened deer as if she might take the compliment back.

"He really needed that", Haechan whispered to Yeoreum with a soft smile and touched her shoulder before following Jisung out of the practice room.

Yeoreum stood in the middle of the room for a long while, squeezing the boxing gloves against her chest and her body feeling oddly restless. "Whatever", she grunted to herself when a belated shiver ran down her spine.

Considering her unusually light mood, declining the call had been her initial reaction to the call from the client but she had decided against it simply because Dr. An knew too much to be ignored. Still, the saccharine sweet voice carrying through the phone made her immediately want to trash her phone and punch the wall.

Talk about mood swings.

"If you know that I'm busy, why did you call?"

Dr. An let out a chuckle. "I've been expecting to hear news about you finishing my order but it still hasn't happened. According to my sources, instead of killing him, you've started teaching Park Jisung self-defense. You must understand how that makes me feel."

"I'm taking care of it", she said through her teeth. "You told me to be careful so I'm prioritizing details over speed, and I can't help it if that bothers you."

"Yeoreum, don't make this sound like you're doing me a favor when both of us benefit from this deal." Dr. An clicked her tongue "Don't forget that if you do this, you'll walk free from the organization and your little friends and family will be safe. Isn't that a good enough deal for you?"

Yeoreum barely swallowed the curse words attempting to escape her mouth. She despised Dr. An for threatening her loved ones so easily. She despised herself for being too weak to shut her up. She despised Jisung for being so naturally gifted at boxing that it made her curious to see how well he would do in the next class.

She despised Haechan for having such an expressive smile, for being so good at talking with her mom (she had invited him over for dinner the next time he would have time, and then gushed to Yeoreum about what a good-looking and kind friend she had) and for ruining all of her plans. She hated the fact that when he had touched her shoulder earlier, she hadn't considered the best way to kill him – she had been captured by the gentleness of his touch.

"I've told you already that I will finish the job as I promised. I just need more time to make it happen."

"For Sungchan and Shotaro's sake, I truly hope so", Dr. An had the nerve to feign worry. "You are aware of all the dangers facing their kind, don't you? I'm sure that you don't want hunters to find out about their secret. It would be a pity for you to lose them!"

Yeoreum wanted to scream but instead she forced herself to spit out: "I'll handle it."

It wasn't good enough for Dr. An. "And, to my surprise, I heard that your mom works as an elementary school teacher! Don't they run any kind of background checks on the employees these days?"

"I already said that I will handle it!" Yeoreum could no longer control her voice. People walking past her eyed her, alarmed by her shrill tone.

Mom had barely managed to fake enough information to pass the background checks when she started working but if she ever was reported, she would be in trouble. Mom had already lost so much; she didn't deserve to lose anything else.