Nalia, an exchange student from Chicago to Seoul, gets an unlucky break when she can't move into the school dorm and is forced to find her own accommodation. She ends up in Eden Residence and meets a few interesting characters, including one mysteri...
Trigger warnings for violence/blood/murder (#justmoonjothings)**
**Moon-Jo's perspective, about 2 weeks have passed**
"I'm so sorry," Moon-Jo said delicately in English. He lightly brushed the boy's cheek with his gloved finger. "I hate to tell you this... but your teeth are in bad shape." He leaned in close to the young man's ear. "It must be all that boba you drink."
The boy thrashed his body against the chair, but the shackles were too tight. He couldn't budge them. Moon-Jo smiled sardonically and picked up his pliers.
"Shhhh," he whispered, as the boy tried to scream against the rag in his mouth. "If you make a sound, it will hurt more. Will you be quiet?"
The boy nodded miserably. He once again tried to shake his hands free, but the metal cuffs were bolted. Moon-Jo had learned his lesson with the last patient, who had managed to rip the duct tape off. Now he used the steel restraints... there was no breaking out of those.
He carefully took the cloth out of his patient's mouth. The victim stared up at him, tears in his eyes.
"Please," the young man pleaded. He was out of breath from fighting back. "I'm sorry for what I said to you... please just..." He closed his eyes and wept. "Please spare my life..."
"Aha!" yelled Deuk-jong, who was directly behind Moon-Jo. "I win! He said it!"
"I won too," challenged Nam-bok, who was on Moon-Jo's left.
"No you didn't," retorted Deuk-soo, on Moon-Jo's right. "You bet that he would say 'Who are you?'"
Nam-bok rolled his eyes. "Why would I bet that? He already knows who Moon-Jo is. Doesn't he, hyeongje?" [brother] His last comment was directed at Moon-Jo.
Moon-Jo stayed bent over the young man, but turned his head to look back at the pervert. In Korean, he said softly, "All of you leave now. I need to focus on my work."
"No." Moon-Jo turned back to the person in his chair. "I want total concentration."
The three Eden residents left, and Moon-Jo and the boy were finally alone. He adjusted the plastic sleeve of his protective jacket. Nalia would be home later, and he knew she liked him in his white shirt. He couldn't afford to stain another one.
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"Please..." The young man repeated. Blood dripped from the cut on his forehead from where Moon-Jo had hit him with the hammer. Nam-bok and Deuk-soo had picked him up in the SUV and taken him to the warehouse. It was an abandoned spot close to Eden that Moon-Jo had rented out for this very purpose. Nalia had the fourth floor now, so they needed a new art space.
Moon-Jo regarded him pitifully. "You could have had 50% off, you know," he said in an amused voice. Tears again rolled down the boy's cheeks. "I'm a really good dentist. The best in Eunhye-dong, they say." He grinned. "But you had to open your big mouth."
