I Love Yoo, Maybe

Chapter 130: Between Crosshairs (Part 1)

YEONG-GI:

A tapping on my window startles me back to the present.

KNOCK    KNOCK

Oh, it's only Nana's neighbor. I turn off the ignition, grab the wings I bought, and open the car door. "Hello, Mrs. Travis." Standing to my full height, I close the car door behind me and lock it. "Can I help you?"

Dressed in a pink fuzzy robe, rollers, and bunny slippers, she's the spitting image of a retro nosy neighbor. "Yeong-Gi," she says, only my name sounds like "Yawn-jee" in her odd American accent. She pulls me to the side and not so discretely points across the street. "Don't look ov'r yonder. But I think that black car was follow'n you and, bless your grandma's heart, she don't need none of that trouble."

I glance across the street and recognized the car immediately. Dammit. There are only two people I know that would waste money on a security detail. I look back down to Mrs. Travis. "He's probably just lost, ma'am. I'll go see what they want." As I head towards the direction of the 'mysterious' black car, my elbow gets pulled aside.

"I got a bat back home, cher. We can use it to take out them intruders." Her accent makes it hard to take her seriously, but no-nonsense look on her face tells me otherwise.

With a shaking smile, I try to placate her. "Let me see what they want first, ok Mrs. Travis?"

"Fine," she humphs. But then wags her finger in command, "But you give me signal if ya need back up. Ya hear me, cher?"

Her fierceness reminds me of someone I know. "Yes ma'am. I hear you." I smile back at her.

Once across the street, it's not hard to see who's in the car. Kousuke.

I approach the passenger's side and older brother rolls the window down. With the take out back in my hands, I lean my forearms on the windowsill. "I thought we had a deal," I remind him.

 "Tch," he grunts, but doesn't even turn his head in my direction. "Which one? Where you obey me for the rest of the year, or where you stay out of trouble?" But before I can answer, he gets in another dig as he finally turns to face me, "Or did you forget how you got your tattoo?"

My jaw clenches as I shove off the car's windowsill. "What is it that you want? You and Father promised to leave me with Nana if I - "

"We have a problem, Nol." He unlocks his car. "Get in."

My grip on the takeout bags grows tighter in growing my agitation. I take a big inhale when I realize something. I have a way out. "No."

"What do you mean no?" Kousuke asks angrily.

"I mean no. No I'm not getting in the car with you."

His knuckles tighten on the steering wheel. "This is not up for debate, Nol. So Get. In. The car." He grounds out.

KOUSUKE:

My knuckles tighten on the steering wheel at little brother's impudence. "This is not up for debate, Nol. So Get. In. The car." I ground out.

While I'll never admit it to him, Nol was right not to get in on command. After the incident in Ireland, Father made an agreement with Nol - Nol obeys Father on the condition that he stays with his Nana far away from the Hiraharas. From me. And tonight, my presence (without Mrs. Lochlainn's permission) violates that agreement.

When Nol doesn't move, I hit where he's weak. "If you care about Shin-ae, you'll get in the car."

There. That does it.

The self-righteousness that puffed out Nol's chest starts to seep out of him. In a way, I'm right. What I'm about to tell him could very well involve Shin-ae. And neither of us want that.

Nol finally gets in the car and slams the door shut. "Alright. Talk," he says curtly.

I give him the file I spent all week compiling. "Father is up to something. And it involves the Kims and..." I take a strong steading breath. "...and Yu-Jing."

Her name, above all things, gets his attention. "Yujing? She's back?"

"Yes. And unfortunately, that's not all. She is also Shin-ae's sister. And her stalker."

Nol scrubs a hand down his face. Pushing his hair back, he turns to me and asks (for once) a valid and an intelligent question. "But what does Yujing have to do with Father?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Against my better judgement, Father is still purchasing the majority of the Kim's "K-mall" shares. I tried to find a paper trail, anything to explain his reasoning, but nothing.  That is, until Yujing showed up.  Since discovering her current residency, I've found more and more inconsistencies within the financial department."

He stays silent, hopefully digesting the gravity of the situation. "That sounds like a you-problem, Kousuke. So far, I have yet to hear how any of this affects Shin-ae." Typical. Of course, he proves me wrong.

"Then let me spell it out for you: what do you think will happen if Father finds out Shin-ae and Yujing are related?" This time I don't give him time to digest this information. "He'll use her as leverage. And you more than anyone know what that's like."

The drop of color in Nol's face is the only response I get. Good. Maybe now he'll take the problem seriously. After a few beats of awkward silence, I finally relent and offer a temporary truce. "Whatever issues you have with me, put them aside. For Shin-ae's sake. For - "

Nol stops me with a raised finger. "I need to think," he tells me. For once, I agree with him. "And you're coming with me."

Excuse me? 

FUN SLANG TO KNOW:

Cher/ mou cher =  used by  American Cajun (located in Louisiana) or ex-French colonies as a greeting

yonder = old American South slang for "over there;" a bit of distance away.

"Bless [person's] heart" = American southern phrase to either express pity, or to soften/sweeten an insult to seem polite