[story] "Trouble by Six" (Shinhwa; PG-13; gen; A/U)
Trouble by Six (2799 words; Shinhwa A/U; gen; rated PG-13 for bad language, non-explicit naughty references, and gunshots)
An A/U inspired by Shinhwa's "Run" video.
"But it's a dry heat," the old geezer at the front desk wheezed through his toothless grin. His chipped black eyes glinted for a moment. "You boys like something cool to drink while you're waiting? Got some stuff in the back. Only 50 dollars."
Andy glared at the old man and his hand slid to his shoulder holster. Hyesung patted Andy's arm to calm him down. Junjin sat back in the rickety chair and propped his feet on the table. He moved the toothpick he was chewing to the other side of his mouth and folded his hands behind his head.
"Old uncle," he said, "take a good look. We look like we got 50 dollars to give you? We'll take those drinks, though."
The geezer regarded them through hard, beady eyes before shuffling away into a dark corridor, muttering to himself.
"Be quick about it!" Junjin called to him with a grin.
Hyesung produced a handkerchief from his vest and mopped his brow. "What's taking them so long? I want to get as far away from this godforsaken place as soon as possible."
Junjin glanced at the dusty clock above the desk. The hands moved so slowly they could've been going backwards. The blazing afternoon sun slanted in through the rust scraped windows. From the back, he heard bottles clinking; he hoped they were cold.
Andy took off his sunglasses and turned them around to stare critically at the lens. "There's no rush, is there? Everyone who was after us is now a corpse," he said with a satisfied smile. He blew dust from his sunglasses and replaced them.
Hyesung looked at him for a moment but didn't reply. He shot a glance to Junjin, but Junjin shrugged back. If Andy was slightly trigger-happy, well, so much the better, wasn't it?
The geezer shuffled back, carrying three old-fashioned bottles of cola. Hyesung sputtered a disbelieving chuckle. Junjin let the rickety chair drop to the floor and stood up to loom over the man.
"This is the stuff you were asking 50 dollars for? What the hell's this shit?"
Unperturbed, the geezer held a bottle out to him. "It's cold, ain't it?" He clapped the bottle to Junjin's palm. It was ice cold, deliciously burning.
"And you're getting it for free," the geezer spat out, slamming the other two bottles onto the table.
Andy calmly pried the cap off of one bottle and took a drink. "It's better than dust."
Junjin sat down, still holding the bottle. He leaned back and rolled the frosty wet bottle over his forehead and cheeks. Yes, it was better than dust.
The room was draped in late afternoon shadow, only half a degree less oppressive than the sunlight, when Minwoo strode in, beaded with sweat, snapping his chewing gum.
Hyesung stood up. "Finally."
Minwoo patted Hyesung's shoulder, urging him to sit down. Junjin glanced out the windows at the deserted street. "It's just you?" he asked.
Minwoo pulled a chair from the table and turned it around to sit back to front. "Eric had to pick something up. He's on his way. Should be here soon. Dongwan stopped for a fuck."
Hyesung groaned. "Great. That's all we need."
Junjin eyed Minwoo suspiciously. "And what've you been doing all this time?"
Minwoo grinned and popped his gum. "Dongwan wasn't the only one who wanted to stop."
"Bastard," Junjin muttered good-naturedly, but Hyesung said bitterly, "That's hardly fair. We've been sitting here like monks and roasting."
"We were roasting, too," Minwoo said with an air of indignance, and Hyesung gestured 'fuck you.'
An hour later, despite the heat, they'd taken eight empty bottles outside and lined them up on the crumbled remnants of a plastered brick wall for target practice. Andy stayed inside, preferring not to waste bullets on "things that don't bleed." Hyesung had just shattered his third bottle when Dongwan ambled up the empty dirt road. He drew his gun and scurried up to them. "Let me try."
Junjin elbowed him away. "You had your fun." He took aim at the fourth bottle and fired. Glass exploded across the dirt.
Minwoo clapped an arm across Dongwan's shoulders, and they watched Junjin blow out another bottle. Junjin bowed to Minwoo in invitation.
Dongwan held onto Minwoo's arm. "Let me have a go."
"Why do I feel that's the second time today you two have had this conversation?" Hyesung said, and Minwoo grinned at him. Hyesung rolled his eyes. "Oh, fuck this." He raised his gun and blasted another two bottles.
"Hey!" Minwoo protested, drawing his gun. Before he could aim at the final bottle, Andy whistled to them from across the road. "Eric's here."
Eric sat on the steps of the old hotel, holding a small hard-sided suitcase. He grinned at them as they gathered round. Minwoo chuckled and rubbed his hands together.
Junjin peered into the hotel window. "Wait a sec, where's the old man?"
"Don't worry, he won't bother us," Andy said mildly.
Junjin stared at him, slightly alarmed.
"Tch," Andy made a dismissive sound. "Like I'd waste a bullet. I told him to stay in his office with the door closed until we knocked."
"Did a little persuading?" Hyesung murmured.
"I may have mentioned how much shorter his lifespan would be if he interrupted us." Andy smiled, showing teeth.
"Ladies," Eric cut in, patting the suitcase.
"What's that?" Junjin asked.
"This," Eric said dramatically, "is the price on our heads. A cool one million, courtesy of the Peruvian. While I was waiting for you to rescue me, I overheard him on the radio, telling his hired guns where he'd left their fee. They won't be needing it now."
"A million won or a million pesos?" Dongwan asked.
Eric scowled at him. "Dollars, of course." He sat back and popped the catches on the suitcase. The lid flung open, revealing a gorgeous array of greenbacks in crumpled stacks. Everyone grabbed a stack for themselves at once.
Beneath the top stacks, however, the other layers were fake: cut-up old phonebooks, newspapers, porn magazines. The total haul was about a thousand bucks.
"Not even a million won," Dongwan said, tucking a stack of bills into his jacket.
Eric tossed the suitcase on the ground and kicked at it with the heel of his boot. "What an asshole! He hires out to do his dirty work, doesn't even spring for the best, and he was gonna rip them off?"
"Or tie up loose ends," Minwoo said thoughtfully. "And I thought I hated the guy before he tried to kill us."
Junjin paced around the suitcase. "You said you heard him radio the hired help?" He paused and exchanged a look with Hyesung.
"And you're sure it was the Peruvian?" Hyesung asked.
"Not a voice I'm likely to forget," Eric said. He glanced from Hyesung to Junjin, his eyes lighting up. He smirked. "Nice thing about being in the middle of nowhere? Not a lot of places to hide. And the locals notice strangers."
They started with the old geezer, but he swore up and down he hadn't seen any other strangers and hadn't heard of the Peruvian. He kept to his story after Andy's nonchalant mentions of torture and maiming, and Junjin was inclined to believe him.
"I know who we can ask," Dongwan said, sharing a look with Minwoo.
Junjin arched an eyebrow. "This place far?"
"Not too far." Minwoo smiled at him.
The last, faint orange glow of day blushed behind distant mountains by the time they reached the gravel drive curving up a small hill to an old trailer. Dongwan slowed his steps and said, "Guys, stay back or we'll be here all night, okay?" He and Minwoo crunched up the drive against the blackening night.
Junjin lit a cigarette and raised an eyebrow at Hyesung over the lighter. Hyesung bummed a light from him, smirking. The trailer was a dark shape against the purplish blue of the early night sky. The trailer door opened and a lopsided trapezoid of light spilled out. Junjin watched Dongwan's silhouette step up to the door and share an intimate greeting with a silhouette inside; from this distance Junjin couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.
"Randy bastards," Hyesung murmured. Eric cooed fake sympathy and slung his arm across Hyesung's shoulders.
Minwoo returned first, striding unhurriedly down the drive. At the trailer door, Dongwan was making lingering, intimate good-byes.
"Night before last, the Peruvian's hired guns were here," Minwoo said. "Apparently they didn't tip well."
"Their last taste of pleasure on earth," Andy sighed. "How depressing."
Junjin caught the light of Minwoo's smile as Minwoo said, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."
"This isn't helping us," Eric grumbled. "That's all you found out? We've been here twenty minutes."
Gravel slid down the drive as Dongwan returned. "The Peruvian himself hasn't been here. But his driver has."
"Yeah?" Eric prompted.
Dongwan's grin flashed in the night. "The driver said he's been staying at an old ranch house past the dry creek bed."
Junjin whistled softly. "That's not too far from here, but at night? I don't like it."
"Night's the best time," Minwoo countered. "They won't see us coming."
"The Peruvian may know by now his trap didn't work," Hyesung said meditatively. "He could be waiting for us."
"All the more reason to strike fast," said Andy. "If we're doing this at all, do it now."
Eric clapped Junjin on the back. "Andy's right. We have to do this now, or not do it at all. Ladies?"
"The chance to rid ourselves of the Peruvian problem once and for all? Not much of a choice, is there?"
Eric squeezed Junjin's shoulder. "That's my man. Syung?"
Hyesung sighed. "The day I met you I knew my life expectancy would be cut short. Dongwan?"
"One for all, all for one. But I get to shoot something this time, okay?"
Eric's pleased laughter was a touch maniacal.
The stars had come out by the time they reached the dry creek bed and followed it to the old ranch. There was a light on in the house but no sounds, no movement within. They crouched in the darkness to wait and watch. After a few minutes a man came out, carrying a metal suitcase to an old sedan parked near the door. He placed it on the front passenger seat and went back inside.
"Looks like the Peruvian's leaving. Or not," Eric whispered grimly.
They split into pairs. Andy and Hyesung slipped off to the back, Minwoo and Eric took the front. Junjin and Dongwan arced around to approach the house from the side, covering the car as they closed in.
Gunshots stopped them in their tracks: four quick shots inside the house. They raced to the door and followed Minwoo and Eric in. Guns drawn, they fanned through the rooms, finding no one until they reached the kitchen.
Andy and Hyesung stood back-to-back, guns covering the entrances. Slumped at a small table in front of them was a beefy man with a gun dangling from one limp hand. Blood from a mortal wound seeped through his shirt.
Andy and Hyesung relaxed slightly as the others joined them. "That's the driver." Hyesung nodded toward the dead man at the table. "And before you ask, he shot at us first. Badly."
"We haven't found the Peruvian yet," Minwoo said, glancing around gingerly.
Eric frowned. "Check again. Quick!"
Junjin and Dongwan rushed back to the car, but there was no sign of anyone. Junjin opened the passenger side door and pulled out the suitcase. At a quick encouraging nod from Dongwan, Junjin tried the latches. One flipped aside. Dongwan whacked the other with the butt of his gun, and the suitcase opened. For the second time that day, they stared at rows of greenbacks.
Dongwan lifted out a few stacks to check the rows beneath. Junjin flicked through a stack. All genuine. "He had the money for the payoff after all?"
Eric and Andy came out of the house. "No sign of him in there," Eric said. Minwoo and Hyesung came around from the back, shaking their heads. "And if he's out here, he's on foot, in the dark."
Junjin held up the cash. They all stared at it. Dongwan tapped his lower lip thoughtfully and went around to pop the trunk. He stepped back as he lifted it. Hyesung peered in and grimaced. "Oh."
They gathered to look at the Peruvian, folded into fetal position in the trunk, very obviously dead. Andy clicked his tongue. "If the driver had left a little earlier, he would've gotten away. If he hadn't gone back to finish his dinner. A waste, really."
Junjin wasn't sure if the waste was life, dinner, or best laid plans, and didn't ask.
Their next steps were up for debate; eventually they all agreed on the plan, however grudgingly. Under moonlight Junjin dug the Peruvian's grave with Minwoo, who muttered bitterly that it was more than the Peruvian deserved. Dongwan and Eric dug a grave for the driver while Andy and Hyesung did as much clean-up in the kitchen as a bottle of bleach could accomplish.
After the burials, Junjin sat on the front step with Eric and smoked. Hyesung stepped out of the house behind them, carrying two bottles of beer. "I found these in the fridge."
Dongwan edged onto the step next to Junjin, and they shared one of the bottles with Eric. Andy, Hyesung, and Minwoo sat on the ground in front of them and shared the other bottle. Junjin closed his eyes, exhaustion filling the void left by depleted adrenaline rushes.
"Going to sleep?" Dongwan nudged him.
"Yep."
"Out here? Not inside?"
"Yep."
"No reason to be superstitious," Andy said. "There's nobody and nothing in there anymore." But he didn't go inside, either. Junjin dozed off shoulder-to-shoulder with Eric, Dongwan leaning against him.
Silently and sleepily at dawn they divided the money evenly. They squeezed into the car, Junjin holding onto an uncomfortable corner of the backseat with Andy forced into the middle by Minwoo. Dongwan drove, and Eric was drowsy enough not to mind Hyesung partially sitting on his lap.
The closest border was hours away, a few towns and a couple of cities between here and there. One by one Dongwan dropped the others off. They waved, smiled, and walked off down dusty, unfamiliar streets to melt into the shadows.
Junjin was the last passenger, bidding good-bye at a gas station on the outskirts of an industrial town.
"You know where to ditch the car?"
Dongwan nodded. "Know the perfect place."
Junjin gave him a quick one-armed hug. "Be careful. Take care."
Dongwan kissed his cheek. "Yeah. You, too."
Junjin watched the car drive off into the dust before he went into the gas station's convenience store to pick up the essentials: newspaper, smokes, and beer.
-----
Macao. A year later.
Junjin cashed out of the blackjack table -- not his lucky night, anyway -- and moved to the bar, keeping his gaze on the two men who'd just entered the casino. He sat and nursed his drink and waited for them. He hadn't been sure of the taller one at first, but the other one... There was no mistaking Minwoo, even from across the room.
Junjin smiled as they made their way toward him. Minwoo and Hyesung wore matching white suits with black open-necked shirts, Minwoo accessorizing with more bling, of course. Hyesung's fashionable haircut and little mustache made him look more gigolo than Junjin suspected he wanted to look.
Minwoo grinned and pulled Junjin into a hug. Hyesung and Junjin bumped fists. "What're you drinking?" Junjin asked.
Someone elbowed him and said, "I'll get this round." He turned to see Eric grinning at him, holding up a glass in a silent toast. He wore a shiny grey suit jacket over a black shirt and jeans and could've been mistaken for a fashion model.
Junjin tapped his glass to Eric's and said, "We're missing two."
As if on cue, Dongwan's voice floated loudly, "There they are!" He shouldered his way through the crowded casino, Andy calmly following. In pink shirt and black jeans, Dongwan looked curiously like a bodyguard on vacation, while Andy, in expensive black from head to toe, looked like he owned the place.
A few hugs later, into the cross-currents of a year's worth of chatter, Junjin asked, "Who's got money left?"
They looked at Andy, but it was Minwoo who sheepishly pointed to himself. Andy shrugged. "I made some bad investments."
Hyesung glanced around at them and smiled. "And who's got trouble?"
Everyone raised their hands.
Eric chuckled. "Ladies, I've got something good lined up. Right up our alley. A little dangerous, a big payoff. Whatdya say?"
(the end)
Also available at AO3.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth at http://sakana17.dreamwidth.org/82967.html.
An A/U inspired by Shinhwa's "Run" video.
"But it's a dry heat," the old geezer at the front desk wheezed through his toothless grin. His chipped black eyes glinted for a moment. "You boys like something cool to drink while you're waiting? Got some stuff in the back. Only 50 dollars."
Andy glared at the old man and his hand slid to his shoulder holster. Hyesung patted Andy's arm to calm him down. Junjin sat back in the rickety chair and propped his feet on the table. He moved the toothpick he was chewing to the other side of his mouth and folded his hands behind his head.
"Old uncle," he said, "take a good look. We look like we got 50 dollars to give you? We'll take those drinks, though."
The geezer regarded them through hard, beady eyes before shuffling away into a dark corridor, muttering to himself.
"Be quick about it!" Junjin called to him with a grin.
Hyesung produced a handkerchief from his vest and mopped his brow. "What's taking them so long? I want to get as far away from this godforsaken place as soon as possible."
Junjin glanced at the dusty clock above the desk. The hands moved so slowly they could've been going backwards. The blazing afternoon sun slanted in through the rust scraped windows. From the back, he heard bottles clinking; he hoped they were cold.
Andy took off his sunglasses and turned them around to stare critically at the lens. "There's no rush, is there? Everyone who was after us is now a corpse," he said with a satisfied smile. He blew dust from his sunglasses and replaced them.
Hyesung looked at him for a moment but didn't reply. He shot a glance to Junjin, but Junjin shrugged back. If Andy was slightly trigger-happy, well, so much the better, wasn't it?
The geezer shuffled back, carrying three old-fashioned bottles of cola. Hyesung sputtered a disbelieving chuckle. Junjin let the rickety chair drop to the floor and stood up to loom over the man.
"This is the stuff you were asking 50 dollars for? What the hell's this shit?"
Unperturbed, the geezer held a bottle out to him. "It's cold, ain't it?" He clapped the bottle to Junjin's palm. It was ice cold, deliciously burning.
"And you're getting it for free," the geezer spat out, slamming the other two bottles onto the table.
Andy calmly pried the cap off of one bottle and took a drink. "It's better than dust."
Junjin sat down, still holding the bottle. He leaned back and rolled the frosty wet bottle over his forehead and cheeks. Yes, it was better than dust.
The room was draped in late afternoon shadow, only half a degree less oppressive than the sunlight, when Minwoo strode in, beaded with sweat, snapping his chewing gum.
Hyesung stood up. "Finally."
Minwoo patted Hyesung's shoulder, urging him to sit down. Junjin glanced out the windows at the deserted street. "It's just you?" he asked.
Minwoo pulled a chair from the table and turned it around to sit back to front. "Eric had to pick something up. He's on his way. Should be here soon. Dongwan stopped for a fuck."
Hyesung groaned. "Great. That's all we need."
Junjin eyed Minwoo suspiciously. "And what've you been doing all this time?"
Minwoo grinned and popped his gum. "Dongwan wasn't the only one who wanted to stop."
"Bastard," Junjin muttered good-naturedly, but Hyesung said bitterly, "That's hardly fair. We've been sitting here like monks and roasting."
"We were roasting, too," Minwoo said with an air of indignance, and Hyesung gestured 'fuck you.'
An hour later, despite the heat, they'd taken eight empty bottles outside and lined them up on the crumbled remnants of a plastered brick wall for target practice. Andy stayed inside, preferring not to waste bullets on "things that don't bleed." Hyesung had just shattered his third bottle when Dongwan ambled up the empty dirt road. He drew his gun and scurried up to them. "Let me try."
Junjin elbowed him away. "You had your fun." He took aim at the fourth bottle and fired. Glass exploded across the dirt.
Minwoo clapped an arm across Dongwan's shoulders, and they watched Junjin blow out another bottle. Junjin bowed to Minwoo in invitation.
Dongwan held onto Minwoo's arm. "Let me have a go."
"Why do I feel that's the second time today you two have had this conversation?" Hyesung said, and Minwoo grinned at him. Hyesung rolled his eyes. "Oh, fuck this." He raised his gun and blasted another two bottles.
"Hey!" Minwoo protested, drawing his gun. Before he could aim at the final bottle, Andy whistled to them from across the road. "Eric's here."
Eric sat on the steps of the old hotel, holding a small hard-sided suitcase. He grinned at them as they gathered round. Minwoo chuckled and rubbed his hands together.
Junjin peered into the hotel window. "Wait a sec, where's the old man?"
"Don't worry, he won't bother us," Andy said mildly.
Junjin stared at him, slightly alarmed.
"Tch," Andy made a dismissive sound. "Like I'd waste a bullet. I told him to stay in his office with the door closed until we knocked."
"Did a little persuading?" Hyesung murmured.
"I may have mentioned how much shorter his lifespan would be if he interrupted us." Andy smiled, showing teeth.
"Ladies," Eric cut in, patting the suitcase.
"What's that?" Junjin asked.
"This," Eric said dramatically, "is the price on our heads. A cool one million, courtesy of the Peruvian. While I was waiting for you to rescue me, I overheard him on the radio, telling his hired guns where he'd left their fee. They won't be needing it now."
"A million won or a million pesos?" Dongwan asked.
Eric scowled at him. "Dollars, of course." He sat back and popped the catches on the suitcase. The lid flung open, revealing a gorgeous array of greenbacks in crumpled stacks. Everyone grabbed a stack for themselves at once.
Beneath the top stacks, however, the other layers were fake: cut-up old phonebooks, newspapers, porn magazines. The total haul was about a thousand bucks.
"Not even a million won," Dongwan said, tucking a stack of bills into his jacket.
Eric tossed the suitcase on the ground and kicked at it with the heel of his boot. "What an asshole! He hires out to do his dirty work, doesn't even spring for the best, and he was gonna rip them off?"
"Or tie up loose ends," Minwoo said thoughtfully. "And I thought I hated the guy before he tried to kill us."
Junjin paced around the suitcase. "You said you heard him radio the hired help?" He paused and exchanged a look with Hyesung.
"And you're sure it was the Peruvian?" Hyesung asked.
"Not a voice I'm likely to forget," Eric said. He glanced from Hyesung to Junjin, his eyes lighting up. He smirked. "Nice thing about being in the middle of nowhere? Not a lot of places to hide. And the locals notice strangers."
They started with the old geezer, but he swore up and down he hadn't seen any other strangers and hadn't heard of the Peruvian. He kept to his story after Andy's nonchalant mentions of torture and maiming, and Junjin was inclined to believe him.
"I know who we can ask," Dongwan said, sharing a look with Minwoo.
Junjin arched an eyebrow. "This place far?"
"Not too far." Minwoo smiled at him.
The last, faint orange glow of day blushed behind distant mountains by the time they reached the gravel drive curving up a small hill to an old trailer. Dongwan slowed his steps and said, "Guys, stay back or we'll be here all night, okay?" He and Minwoo crunched up the drive against the blackening night.
Junjin lit a cigarette and raised an eyebrow at Hyesung over the lighter. Hyesung bummed a light from him, smirking. The trailer was a dark shape against the purplish blue of the early night sky. The trailer door opened and a lopsided trapezoid of light spilled out. Junjin watched Dongwan's silhouette step up to the door and share an intimate greeting with a silhouette inside; from this distance Junjin couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.
"Randy bastards," Hyesung murmured. Eric cooed fake sympathy and slung his arm across Hyesung's shoulders.
Minwoo returned first, striding unhurriedly down the drive. At the trailer door, Dongwan was making lingering, intimate good-byes.
"Night before last, the Peruvian's hired guns were here," Minwoo said. "Apparently they didn't tip well."
"Their last taste of pleasure on earth," Andy sighed. "How depressing."
Junjin caught the light of Minwoo's smile as Minwoo said, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."
"This isn't helping us," Eric grumbled. "That's all you found out? We've been here twenty minutes."
Gravel slid down the drive as Dongwan returned. "The Peruvian himself hasn't been here. But his driver has."
"Yeah?" Eric prompted.
Dongwan's grin flashed in the night. "The driver said he's been staying at an old ranch house past the dry creek bed."
Junjin whistled softly. "That's not too far from here, but at night? I don't like it."
"Night's the best time," Minwoo countered. "They won't see us coming."
"The Peruvian may know by now his trap didn't work," Hyesung said meditatively. "He could be waiting for us."
"All the more reason to strike fast," said Andy. "If we're doing this at all, do it now."
Eric clapped Junjin on the back. "Andy's right. We have to do this now, or not do it at all. Ladies?"
"The chance to rid ourselves of the Peruvian problem once and for all? Not much of a choice, is there?"
Eric squeezed Junjin's shoulder. "That's my man. Syung?"
Hyesung sighed. "The day I met you I knew my life expectancy would be cut short. Dongwan?"
"One for all, all for one. But I get to shoot something this time, okay?"
Eric's pleased laughter was a touch maniacal.
The stars had come out by the time they reached the dry creek bed and followed it to the old ranch. There was a light on in the house but no sounds, no movement within. They crouched in the darkness to wait and watch. After a few minutes a man came out, carrying a metal suitcase to an old sedan parked near the door. He placed it on the front passenger seat and went back inside.
"Looks like the Peruvian's leaving. Or not," Eric whispered grimly.
They split into pairs. Andy and Hyesung slipped off to the back, Minwoo and Eric took the front. Junjin and Dongwan arced around to approach the house from the side, covering the car as they closed in.
Gunshots stopped them in their tracks: four quick shots inside the house. They raced to the door and followed Minwoo and Eric in. Guns drawn, they fanned through the rooms, finding no one until they reached the kitchen.
Andy and Hyesung stood back-to-back, guns covering the entrances. Slumped at a small table in front of them was a beefy man with a gun dangling from one limp hand. Blood from a mortal wound seeped through his shirt.
Andy and Hyesung relaxed slightly as the others joined them. "That's the driver." Hyesung nodded toward the dead man at the table. "And before you ask, he shot at us first. Badly."
"We haven't found the Peruvian yet," Minwoo said, glancing around gingerly.
Eric frowned. "Check again. Quick!"
Junjin and Dongwan rushed back to the car, but there was no sign of anyone. Junjin opened the passenger side door and pulled out the suitcase. At a quick encouraging nod from Dongwan, Junjin tried the latches. One flipped aside. Dongwan whacked the other with the butt of his gun, and the suitcase opened. For the second time that day, they stared at rows of greenbacks.
Dongwan lifted out a few stacks to check the rows beneath. Junjin flicked through a stack. All genuine. "He had the money for the payoff after all?"
Eric and Andy came out of the house. "No sign of him in there," Eric said. Minwoo and Hyesung came around from the back, shaking their heads. "And if he's out here, he's on foot, in the dark."
Junjin held up the cash. They all stared at it. Dongwan tapped his lower lip thoughtfully and went around to pop the trunk. He stepped back as he lifted it. Hyesung peered in and grimaced. "Oh."
They gathered to look at the Peruvian, folded into fetal position in the trunk, very obviously dead. Andy clicked his tongue. "If the driver had left a little earlier, he would've gotten away. If he hadn't gone back to finish his dinner. A waste, really."
Junjin wasn't sure if the waste was life, dinner, or best laid plans, and didn't ask.
Their next steps were up for debate; eventually they all agreed on the plan, however grudgingly. Under moonlight Junjin dug the Peruvian's grave with Minwoo, who muttered bitterly that it was more than the Peruvian deserved. Dongwan and Eric dug a grave for the driver while Andy and Hyesung did as much clean-up in the kitchen as a bottle of bleach could accomplish.
After the burials, Junjin sat on the front step with Eric and smoked. Hyesung stepped out of the house behind them, carrying two bottles of beer. "I found these in the fridge."
Dongwan edged onto the step next to Junjin, and they shared one of the bottles with Eric. Andy, Hyesung, and Minwoo sat on the ground in front of them and shared the other bottle. Junjin closed his eyes, exhaustion filling the void left by depleted adrenaline rushes.
"Going to sleep?" Dongwan nudged him.
"Yep."
"Out here? Not inside?"
"Yep."
"No reason to be superstitious," Andy said. "There's nobody and nothing in there anymore." But he didn't go inside, either. Junjin dozed off shoulder-to-shoulder with Eric, Dongwan leaning against him.
Silently and sleepily at dawn they divided the money evenly. They squeezed into the car, Junjin holding onto an uncomfortable corner of the backseat with Andy forced into the middle by Minwoo. Dongwan drove, and Eric was drowsy enough not to mind Hyesung partially sitting on his lap.
The closest border was hours away, a few towns and a couple of cities between here and there. One by one Dongwan dropped the others off. They waved, smiled, and walked off down dusty, unfamiliar streets to melt into the shadows.
Junjin was the last passenger, bidding good-bye at a gas station on the outskirts of an industrial town.
"You know where to ditch the car?"
Dongwan nodded. "Know the perfect place."
Junjin gave him a quick one-armed hug. "Be careful. Take care."
Dongwan kissed his cheek. "Yeah. You, too."
Junjin watched the car drive off into the dust before he went into the gas station's convenience store to pick up the essentials: newspaper, smokes, and beer.
-----
Macao. A year later.
Junjin cashed out of the blackjack table -- not his lucky night, anyway -- and moved to the bar, keeping his gaze on the two men who'd just entered the casino. He sat and nursed his drink and waited for them. He hadn't been sure of the taller one at first, but the other one... There was no mistaking Minwoo, even from across the room.
Junjin smiled as they made their way toward him. Minwoo and Hyesung wore matching white suits with black open-necked shirts, Minwoo accessorizing with more bling, of course. Hyesung's fashionable haircut and little mustache made him look more gigolo than Junjin suspected he wanted to look.
Minwoo grinned and pulled Junjin into a hug. Hyesung and Junjin bumped fists. "What're you drinking?" Junjin asked.
Someone elbowed him and said, "I'll get this round." He turned to see Eric grinning at him, holding up a glass in a silent toast. He wore a shiny grey suit jacket over a black shirt and jeans and could've been mistaken for a fashion model.
Junjin tapped his glass to Eric's and said, "We're missing two."
As if on cue, Dongwan's voice floated loudly, "There they are!" He shouldered his way through the crowded casino, Andy calmly following. In pink shirt and black jeans, Dongwan looked curiously like a bodyguard on vacation, while Andy, in expensive black from head to toe, looked like he owned the place.
A few hugs later, into the cross-currents of a year's worth of chatter, Junjin asked, "Who's got money left?"
They looked at Andy, but it was Minwoo who sheepishly pointed to himself. Andy shrugged. "I made some bad investments."
Hyesung glanced around at them and smiled. "And who's got trouble?"
Everyone raised their hands.
Eric chuckled. "Ladies, I've got something good lined up. Right up our alley. A little dangerous, a big payoff. Whatdya say?"
(the end)
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