· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 10 « strange addiction »
♡
To me, one of the more gruesome things about the Red light district, was the way that horrible things were happening in plain sight, but everyone ignored them. The flashing signs, smiling promoters and the smell of cotton candy easily concealed the real horrors of the illegal establishments where people were forced to do bad things for money that in the end they never even saw. People walked right past the shadowy entrances in to what was essentially their prisons, took pictures, bought souvenirs, went back home and forgot about them forever.
Lady L's massage parlor was perhaps one of the worst establishments in the entire district. Not necessarily because of the conditions that the girls worked in or the things that they were forced to do, but because of their madam - a bitter old woman who didn't hesitate to beat them if she was in a bad mood. I always turned around when I saw her at the entrance, but that day there was no sight of her. Another man was sitting behind a window that was covered with old newspapers to give a false sense of privacy to the customers. They thought that they were safe, but they were still being filmed by a hidden security camera. I still got a bad feeling when he gave me my change back and I caught a glimpse of his eyes, watching me through the cracks that were between the newspapers.
My old friend Kanako was surprised to see me, but she didn't hesitate to give me a hug. Her and I knew each other from the mental hospital where I was locked up for a while. She was there too, trying to get past a particularly horrible manic episode. I met her on the balcony of the hospital, where she tended to smoke cigarettes from morning to night and her and I quickly bonded over our common views at the world that we liked to describe as a wretched place that people deserved to be saved from. A couple of months after Seulgi took me away from there, we met each other again, right here, in the most horrible place of all.
'' You should be careful, Kirin. I heard that a former gangster just got shot from Kazuo's people. He's in a bad mood because of the deaths of those prostitutes, '' Kanako explained and sighed. '' The district is overflowing with undercover cops because of them. ''
'' Do you really think that he is not responsible for those murders? '' I curiously asked. '' It would make sense for him to order their deaths. Call girls are always the ones that end up accidentally knowing too much about things that they shouldn't. ''
Kanako lit up a cigarette and explained: '' Rumors are that they are targeted by one of the regulars at the host club Lovers 100. The girls all used to work there and people are saying that their services probably got booked by the wrong person. Someone important, but also sick in the head. ''
The massage parlor was separated in different rooms, but Kanako's was undoubtedly the prettiest. She was the most popular girl who worked there too, she got a lot of important customers and when I paid her a visit, she always had some new information that she could give me. I admired the way she never forgot to curl her soft blonde hair or spray apricot scented perfume around the pink room where she worked. Even the sheets on the bed that was sometimes used for massaging, other times for different things, were always neatly folded.
Her mental illness didn't disappear and it never would, but she undoubtedly got good enough to lead a somewhat structured life, where she managed to go from sunrise to sunset without losing her mind. It took her a lot of pills to stabilize her behavior and even more effort for her to drag herself out of the dark place that she was stuck in, but now that she was holding the reins, she wasn't determined to lose control again.
'' Kirin, I don't know what you're doing right now, but have you thought about going back to the hospital? ''
I raised my head and looked at Kanako. In front of someone who went through the same thing as me, I couldn't hide the reality of my situation. '' I'm okay. ''
'' That place is not as bad as you think that it is. You just looked at it from the wrong perspective. If you want, I can accompany you and make sure that everything will be okay- '' the girl was going to continue talking, but I quickly interrupted her.
'' I'm the only one who can make myself okay, '' I stubbornly protested.
'' That's true, but there's nothing wrong with asking someone for a little help when you aren't sure that you can do it on your own. '' She sighed, almost as if she could tell from the look in my eyes that it was useless to try to help me.
After a glass of wine and a good half an hour of chatting, I left Kanako's room and directed myself down the hallway that lead out of Lady L's massage parlor. A light was buzzing on the ceiling, clicking and giving out every couple of seconds. The artificial illumination that it gave at the walls, covered with posters of burlesque shows, advertisements for establishments similar to the massage parlor and notices for different health centers, made the place seem that much eerier. I was looking at the fading faces of smiling girls and their eyes, watching me from the old paper when I suddenly noticed the group of guys that was standing at the exit. One of them was holding a baseball bat and as soon as they saw me, their conversation died down.
Trouble, huh?
I'm not in the mood to deal with them nicely.
'' Why did you come here, night guide? '' one of the guys called out, raised his baseball bat and blocked my way. I tried to ignore them and walk past them, but now I knew that they really were here because of me. '' There's only girls here. You like that type of fun? ''
'' What do you care about the type of fun that I like to have? ''
The gangster man grinned and rested his baseball bat on his shoulder. '' I don't, but my boss does. ''
Shit, Kazuo is not going to be happy when he'll hear that I was spotted at Lady L's massage parlor.
'' If you do something for us, we might decide to not pass this information on to our boss- '' one of the men suddenly suggested, smiling viciously and stepping forward. He was still in the middle of his sentence when his hand touched my shoulder and I instantly reacted. The blade of my knife shined under the artificial lighting, I pulled it out of my pocket in a flash and sliced without hesitation.
Blood spilled out of the fresh wound that appeared on the man's arm and I flung the weapon at one that was holding the baseball bat. I heard them screaming and cursing behind me, but by the time that they actually prepared to chase after me, I was already long gone in the shadows of the district.
I found Baekhyun while he was in the middle of a raid. The information that I gave him, helped him and some other policemen bust yet another bad person, this time a drug supplier. He didn't seem all that surprised when he saw me appear out of nowhere, leaning against the wall in the very apartment that him and the others just broke in and gathering some of the pills for myself to take. '' How did you get here? ''
'' One of your friends didn't want to let me pass, so I broke in to the apartment that's right next to this one and hopped from their balcony to this one, '' I seriously replied and gestured over my shoulder before I went back to thoughtfully examining the mysterious pile of pills that I found on one of the tables in the apartment that got turned in to a drug lab. They didn't have any words or symbols on them, but to me, they looked like benzodiazepines. Either way, they were worth a try.
Baekhyun cringed when he saw me pop one of the pills in my mouth and dry swallow it. '' Seriously? You're going to do drugs right in front of me? ''
'' Hey, I know that you also don't always obey the law, so don't even bother trying to act all high and mighty. We all do small and big terrible things sometimes. Humans aren't perfect creatures. Deal with it, '' I mumbled. I managed to swallow another pill before Baekhyun took them away from me. One of the others asked him who I was and the detective quickly confirmed that I was with him and that it was okay that I was there. His coworkers still didn't seem convinced and I decided to go wait for him outside, but not before I told him: '' How much time are you going to need to take care of everything here? I got some new information that I want to share with you. ''
Baekhyun's eyes grew wide with surprise. '' Information? How did you get it? I told you that I don't want you to do anything dangerous! ''
I dismissively waved with my hand and turned my back to him. '' We'll go hunting for information together on some other day. Trust is not something that can come all at once, detective. ''
It turned out that my suspicions about the mysterious pills were correct, because when the detective found me, I was completely drugged out and barely capable of talking. It was a nice kind of numbness that completely silenced all of my thoughts and dulled my emotions. I was standing under the rain that began to pour a little after I stepped outside, until Baekhyun grabbed my wrist and started pulling me towards his police car. He didn't say anything until he started the engine and we were already on the road.
'' Why do you do this to yourself? ''
'' I don't know. I'm just tired and scared because I think that I might be at a point where I'm beyond saving and I don't want to come to terms with the fact that life could only go down and get worse from here. ''
Baekhyun was silent for a long time until he eventually mumbled: '' I don't know why I was expecting that perhaps you'll say something that's not crazy or depressing. ''
The detective stopped the police car in front of the police station, but he didn't try to step outside. I didn't move from my seat either. The rain was still pouring, the skies almost as dark as if it was the middle of the night. Every now and then, thunder cut through the clouds and faint flashes of light illuminated Baekhyun's eyes, showing the traces of the battle that he was having in his head. At one point, he sighed and closed his eyes.
Did he win the battle or lose?
'' Do you want to come home with me? I can make sure that you stay safe. ''
For a moment, I was caught off guard. He didn't believe me when I first told him that we were in danger, so why was he suggesting that all of a sudden? Then my face got serious and I quietly responded: '' That's not a good idea. ''
He was about to rest his forehead on the steering wheel of the car, but my words made him straighten himself again and look at me. His eyes were dark, almost tempting. '' Why? ''
'' You know why, '' I calmly responded and stared at him, without showing a reaction to his sharp glare. He knew that he was wrong to suggest things like that, but he didn't want me to be the voice of reason. '' If you want me to ruin your home life, we can do it another way that's a lot more fun that having an emergency sleepover. ''
He was about to say something in response, when he suddenly noticed something. I was still looking at him, but he was gazing somewhere past my head, at another cop car that was parked in front of the station. Raindrops were falling on the fogged up mirrors and street lights weren't giving off much illuminations, but he still instantly recognised the woman that was sitting in the vehicle. Not sitting - straddling a cop that wasn't him and kissing his lips.
My eyebrows slightly furrowed together with confusion, then I followed Baekhyun's gaze and turned my head in the direction that he was looking at. My eyes slowly grew wide in disbelief once I recognised the woman too, the cheating housewife that liked to nag the detective for not giving her enough attention. It looked like she eventually cracked, took matters in to her own hands and decided to go look for it in another cop. '' No way... That's Yasuko, isn't it? What are you going to- ''
It was at that moment that Baekhyun suddenly started the car again. Veins appeared out of his arm when he grabbed the steering wheel, holding it so tight that it wouldn't surprise me if it would break under his fingers. He clenched his teeth together and a shadow fell over his eyes. He hesitated only for another moment before he stepped on the gas and the police car flew forward.
I sucked in a breath with surprise and looked in his direction. He was blinded by rage and I wasn't sure what to do. Try to talk some sense in to him? Encourage him? Jump out of the car?
'' Baekhyun... '' I seriously began once again, but my voice died down when I realised what he was planning to do. It was a decision that he made in the spur of the moment and I was certain that he would come to regret it as soon as the wave of adrenaline would fade away, but I couldn't stop him. Perhaps I didn't want to do it either. The image of his girlfriend Yasuko kissing another man was still flashing in front of my eyes and a loud voice was screaming in my head and trying to convince me that both her and the cop that hooked up with her, deserved to pay the price for abandoning reason and indulging in the lust. '' Baekhyun! ''
Baekhyun made a sharp turn across the parking lot and brought the car to a stop. He took a deep breath and hesitated for another moment, but the anger was still there and it was stronger than any other part of him. That was why he hit the pedal for the gas again and the car flew forward. Yasuko and the other cop barely managed to turn their heads in time to see the danger. The woman's scream got silenced by the sound of thunder, then our car smashed directly in to theirs.
Glass shattered and I felt the shards that rained on my body, but Baekhyun's adrenaline was contagious and instead of focusing on the pain, I felt my heart racing in anticipation. The sound of a blaring car alarm began to echo through the air, but the detective didn't seem to hear it. He was still holding on to the steering wheel, staring straight ahead and catching his breath. I slowly raised my head and blood trailed from the fresh cut on my forehead.
I felt dizzy and everything was blurred when I looked towards Yasuko and the other cop, but the moment that I saw their terrified faces, laughter rose from the bottom of my throat.