adora • lookism

14. Karaoke

Anyway, there wasn't anything to worry about. What kind of thug would accost her in Cheongdam-dong, in the middle of the day?

Ari wandered around looking for a place to make her call, but nowhere seemed good. The hallways were full of noise, the washroom had a small line, and the usually isolated staircase was occupied by a pile of unconscious boys, fresh out of a brawl—seeing that, Ari immediately made a face and evicted the area before any unsavoury characters saw her there.

Eventually she slipped out the backdoor and into the alley behind the building, which was quiet and deserted. Though it smelled of cigarette smoke and also faintly of alcohol, which she figured to be from the recycling bins not too far away, the smell was not so harsh as to be offensive.

"Hello," said Ari, bringing her phone to ear. "I saw that I'd missed your call just now. Is anything the matter?"

"Oh, Ari," sighed the person on the other side of the phone. It was an elegant woman's voice, with a certain rich colour that Ari occasionally felt charmed by. There was a hint of an accent to her Korean. "I apologize for interrupting your time off."

"It must be urgent if you're calling me at this time, Neko," Ari replied, idly rocking back and forth from heel to toe. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's Inu," said Neko, worry thick in her voice. "His headaches are worse than usual, and they haven't stopped since last night. I know Eugene said not to contact you for a while, but... If I bring him to where you are, couldn't you just put the needles in? Just for a few minutes. You could resume what you were doing right away, and I could remove them myself afterwards."

"That," Ari began, then stopped. She knew what Neko wanted, and she understood that Neko was being as considerate as she could, but it didn't quite work like that. Trying again, Ari said, "Even removing the needles can be dangerous if not done by a professional, and any number of accidents could happen in the meantime. So I have to be there for the whole process. Is Inu's headache really so bad?"

"He's conscious, but he can't even open his eyes right now, because of the pain," Neko fretted. "He's sweating cold, and he can't sleep, can't eat, can't drink..."

That sounded very bad indeed. It also sounded like he needed a doctor, not an acupuncturist. But from the very beginning of this all, Ari had instinctively realized that she shouldn't ask questions about the businesses, not to mention that no one ever gave her proper answers even when she did.

As the smell of alcohol grew around her, Ari stared contemplatively down at the slightly scuffed toes of her sneakers. It would be just for a short while. 30 minutes at most. If Inu was having it that bad, she could hardly justify letting him writhe in pain simply because it was a little inconvenient for her. Her bruises didn't even particularly hurt when they weren't pressed.

Besides, her friends were kind, and would certainly understand. She would just tell them something that was more or less the truth. And Eugene... well, she just wouldn't tell him anything at all.

"Alright," Ari finally said, using her sleeve to rub her eyes, which were suddenly stinging like she'd gotten dust or smoke in them. "If you bring him over here, I... mm?!"

Her head shot up; so did her hand, instinctively trying to swipe back the phone that had just been plucked right from her fingers. Ari's nails barely managed to catch against the inside of a heavily tattooed wrist before her own wrist was caught in a large, hot hand.

"She won't be helping you or your little mutt," said the man in front of her, fever-bright eyes staring down at her. When Ari flinched back a little in shock, the grip on her squeezed, painless but as firm as a promise. "Piss off."