19. Seojun

CHAPTER 19

SEOJUN

A School of Rock Joan Cusack lookalike floods every screen in the room, even the glass surface of the desk, and I take a step back.

Damn it. Of all the times to get busted it has to be when Jack isn't under my control? Now he's gonna be in trouble with his agency for trying to be a good human being and a good boyfriend.

If that is, in fact, what he is to me. Boyfriend. Boy-friend. B-O-Y-F-R-I-E-N-D. Bo-yfriend. Boyf-riend. I've never had one of those before. It's quite weird to say it. Or think it. Or even imagine it. But unless my signature has side effects long after it's gone, I think he means it. Then again, he did say he'll see this through to the end with me, so it's more than likely he's just trying to appease me until I find my family so he can have the perfect excuse to jump ship. And who could blame him? He's a goody-two-shoes. He's got no business being in a relationship with a supervillain.

"Well? I'm waiting," the Joan Cusack impersonator, who I assume is the infamous April, says.

Leave it to me to get us into hot water and in even bigger trouble. Why did I think sneaking into April's office and hacking her computer would be a piece of cake? All I've managed is to get caught and delay poor Jack's escape from my evil clutches.

"I can explain," Jack stutters.

Even hearing his voice hurts. Seeing him cower before the digital presence of his boss. And I've put him in that position. If it weren't for me, Jack would still be a clueless little CREEP doing his work, and I…I'd be my usual old self. Cheating, stealing, and scamming my way through life like I've always done.

"You don't need to say anything." I reach for the pen in my pocket and twirl it in my fingers like the weapon it can be. "You must be April."

I put my hand on Jack's shoulder with authority and confidence I don't even feel in my pinkie and push him away from the desk. The chair rolls to the end, and I lean forward, focusing on the central monitor above the glass desk.

"Who are you?" she asks, her sour expression turning sourer. More sour? Whatever. She's practically a lemon.

"I am the Sinister Seomyeong."

"Sinister Seomyeong? I've never heard of you." She raises an eyebrow.

I gasp.

"You've never heard of me? How is that possible? I'm the biggest supervillain in New York City."

Jack rolls back into view and addresses the same April I'm looking at.

"He's not a supervillain, April. He's hardly even a villain."

"H-how dare you? My supervillainy knows no bounds." I stare at Jack for a few moments before I turn to April.

"Well, your reputation must be marginal at best if I don't even know you. And believe me, Mr. Seomyeong, I know everyone ."

Everyone, huh?

"Mr. Lewis, may I please know what you're doing affiliating with a purported supervillain? In my office, no less?"

Damn it, Jack. If he hadn't rolled back to "defend" me, she wouldn't be questioning him right now.

I kiss my teeth, and in one swift motion, I step back and put my arm around Jack's neck, using my free hand to point the pen at the spot behind his ear.

"Mr. Lewis is my prisoner, and if you don't do as I ask, I will hurt him."

Jack huffs.

"I'm not a prisoner," he says.

"Yes, you are!" I tug at him. Why isn't he playing along? Does he want to get in trouble?

"I'm not. And you're not going to hurt me."

Oh, Jack!

"I don't see how he could. He's holding a pen," April says, not a hint of emotion in her expression or voice.

Is this woman a robot?

"I'll have you informed my pen can be lethal. I am the Sinister Seomyeong!"

Her eyes narrow.

"You keep saying that. Am I supposed to think or feel something when you do?"

"Yes. Fear!" I tell her.

"I told you to go with the American translation. How do you expect non-Korean-speaking people to understand your moniker?"

"Jack!" I growl in his ear.

"Care to enlighten me, Mr. Lewis?"

Jack wraps his hands around my arm and puts it down easily, since I never really put strength behind the move, and sighs.

"Seojun here is looking for his family. We thought you might know where they are."

I gasp. "Jack!"

"So you're working with him," April says.

"No, he's not. He's my prisoner!"

Does he want to be in trouble with his boss? What is wrong with him?

"Mr. Lewis, are you his prisoner?"

Jack lifts his shoulders and rocks his head from side to side.

"Only sorta."

"Meaning?" April asks.

"Meaning Seojun here did use his pen to bind us together, but the effect wore off earlier tonight."

I punch his arm.

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

Jack turns to me and smiles.

"Telling the truth."

"Why?"

"So let me get this straight, Mr. Lewis. You're now willingly working with a…purported supervillain?"

"I can explain."

"Please do. I'm all ears."

Jack glances at me and nods at the door. Is-is he serious?

"You want me to step outside? Seriously?"

His smile turns kinder and his eyes sweeter, and even though I pout, I do as he asks. I walk out of the room and into the janitorial-looking elevator, pressing my ear to the door.

Only the elevator rumbles, and I find myself back on the ground floor, Betsy staring at me as if I'm the newest weirdo to have stepped through her pizza place. Which, I guess, I am. Although, in my defense, her restaurant is a cover for a secret organization, so I don't know if she's one to talk.

"Another Hawaiian?" she asks when I step out.

I collapse into a chair at one of three tables and grimace.

"Make it two. And a Dr Pepper."

How the hell have I managed to screw things up again? Maybe Jack is right. Maybe I really am no villain. Maybe I'm just a joke. I mean, it's taken me four years to uncover any clues to find my family, and even then, I've still managed to fuck it up. Royally. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this life. Maybe I'm worse at it than I think I am. Maybe I just need to accept I'm a terrible supervillain just as much as I am a terrible son and brother for letting my family slip through my fingers.

"That was quick. Another?" Betsy asks, and I clear my head so I can look at her.

She's staring at my plate, which is now empty, and my half-empty cup of Dr Pepper.

I shrug.

"Might as well," I answer her and glance at the private door to my right.

What the hell is taking them so long? Is he getting an earful on my account? Is April suspending him? Or worse?

Is it possible she's sent people to arrest him and make him disappear, like Omma and Min?

"Here you go." Betsy puts another slice in front of me and a fresh, ice-cold cherry cola with barely a smile. "When you're done, you may go back up."

I get up, but before I can do anything, Betsy tuts at me and points at me to sit back down.

"I said when you're done. Are you done?" I shake my head. "Then sit your ass down and don't waste my food."

"Yes, ma'am."

I pick up my slice of pizza under her watchful eye and try to work through it, but be it the anxiety or the anticipation, it's like chewing cardboard. A very sweet and sour-tasting cardboard, but cardboard nonetheless. After what feels like an eternity, I've cleared my plate and my cola, and Betsy taps some buttons on the register, making the elevator door open again.

The rumble of the mechanism threatens to bring all the food I've consumed back up when April's office appears before me.

Jack is still here, thank God.

But there's someone else in the room, sitting behind the desk. Jack is standing on the other side of the desk, staring at me.

I approach with caution, narrowing my eyes, trying to see through the gaps between the screens, but it's not until I stand beside Jack that I can finally see the other person.

"Hello again, Mr. Bae," April says.

I lean forward, looking side to side at all the monitors, but they're all blank now. No, there's no illusion going on. April is in the room with us. How the hell did that happen?

"H-hi," I answer.

"Please, take a seat."

Jack takes one of the chairs, and April gestures at the other for me. I step back with shaky legs and sink into it, the lower position hiding April behind the monitors again. Which isn't a concern for long since she taps a button and the screens move to the side, putting me back in her field of vision.

"Mr. Lewis here has explained your predicament to me." She gestures toward Jack but continues to stare at me.

"I…um…okay."

"While I may disagree with your actions, Mr. Lewis has assured me you're no threat to SPAM."

I shake my head before I realize what I'm doing.

"I can be a threat." I correct myself.

"But you're not." Jack reaches for my hand and taps it.

"What did you tell her exactly?" I whisper at him.

"Mr. Lewis has told me everything."

"Everything?" I gasp. "Everything everything? Like, even nighttime shenanigans everything?"

I stare at him, shouting what the fuck with my mind.

"Seojun!" he snaps, and I jump in my seat. But just when I think his good boy persona has expired, he smirks.

"Yes, I'm aware there have been personal…relations between you two, although, thankfully, Mr. Lewis has kept the details from me.

"I understand the reason for reaching out to us was because you believed we took your mother and brother?"

"I know you did!" I tell her with my most assured and villainous expression.

I may have been busy and distracted the last few days, but I haven't forgotten what I've read about SPAM and its covert activities.

"We haven't," Jack mumbles.

"We may have," April interjects, and I don't know who to look at first. April, to express my shock and horror for finally admitting how evil SPAM is, or Jack, to give him my I-told-you-so pout?

I don't get a chance to do either. Jack beats me to the punch.

"We may have? Since when do we abduct people?"

April turns to Jack and purses her lips.

"We don't abduct people, Mr. Lewis. We take dangerous people off the streets."

"And turn them in to the authorities."

"Correct. Most of the time. Sometimes, other precautions might be necessary. Like top-secret prison facilities that may or may not be on the moon."

"The moon?" I grimace. "My family is on the freaking moon?"

April clears her throat, although I'm unsure if it's because she just slipped up and gave more information than she ought to have or to dismiss my accusations.

"Your family is not on the moon, Mr. Bae."

"You killed them?"

For the first time, April breaks her tough exterior and rolls her eyes.

"He is insufferable, Mr. Lewis. How do you tolerate him?"

I turn to Jack, waiting for his answer, but he chuckles.

"I don't find him intolerable at all."

I bite the inside of my cheek before I smile or reach out to him and focus on April.

"What have you done with them?"

"Nothing, Mr. Bae. Your mother and brother have never been on our radar."

"Lies."

"Oh, I assure you. This is the truth."

"Then what happened to them? Did the earth open up and swallow them?"

April pouts and shakes her head from side to side.

"It wouldn't be the first time. Were they anywhere near Stony Swamp in Ottawa in 2006? What a tragedy. And we never caught that man."

"Didn't he call himself the Stony Swamp too?" Jack asks her.

"No. Just The Swamp. It was a whole thing," April answers.

"Um, hello! What are you talking about? My family disappeared in 2020."

April shakes her head.

"Then they've not been swallowed by The Swamp. Honestly, Mr. Bae, I don't know where your family is, but I can assure you they're not in any SPAM facility on Earth or otherwise."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine. Here. What are their names again?" She places her fingers on her glass desk and a keyboard lights up like a laser under her fingertips.

"Hana and Min Bae," Jack says before I can open my mouth. "Hana with one N, no H at the end."

As April types, one of the monitors swivels around, and we can see the results of her search.

1 result found .

"Oh, that's strange," she says.

"I told you. Stop lying."

April frowns as she clicks on the result and a file opens.

"Ah. I knew it had nothing to do with SPAM. This is an FBI file linking Hana's and Min's details to a forger they apprehended last year. They're believed to be among many people he created new identities for."

"New identities?"

That can't be right. Why would they create new identities? And why wouldn't they reach out all this time?

"Yes, indeed. Let me check…something." She types some more, but I'm not even looking at the screen anymore. I'm trying to make sense of what I'm hearing. "Yes. There you go. The FBI has managed to find their new names, and we have a known address for them in New Jersey."

"New Jersey?"

Jack reaches for a Post-it Note and writes down the details while I stare at the names. Hey-jin and Moon Yang.

Is that really them? What happened to Omma and Min? What did they get themselves into?

"I got it. Let's go." Jack bolts out of the chair and runs toward the elevator but stops when he realizes I haven't moved.

"Seojun?"

"Please tell me you're not lying to us to get rid of me." I look April in the eyes and hold her gaze without blinking.

"I'm not lying to you, Mr. Bae." A hint of warmth tints her white skin, but it's gone as soon as I notice it. "Now get out of here before I change my mind about you two and have you arrested."

Nothing like the threat of arrest to get me to move. Not that I couldn't get myself out of it, but the last thing I want right now is to further delay finding Omma and Min.

I join Jack, and we get into the elevator, which takes forever to get going, so we have no option but to stand there, stared down by April until the door closes.

"What exactly did you tell her?" I ask Jack, still staring at the door.

"The truth, Seojun. Nothing but the truth."

I grimace and turn to him.

"And she doesn't want to have me arrested?"

He shrugs.

"She probably does, but considering your work in destabilizing the supervillains in the city and my vouching for you, I think she's willing to give you a chance."

"You vouched for me?" I slap his chest. "Why would you do that? You're gonna get yourself into trouble, idiot."

"Too late for that," he answers, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. "I'm in deep, deep trouble."

I shake my head, and I feel the weight of my actions sinking into me, thinking of all the ways I've led this man astray and into a life of crime.

"Besides," he says. "It didn't hurt proving to her you're not a supervillain."

"I am a supervillain. Don't start again." I push away from him. "Wait, how did you prove it to her?"

"We simply went through the accounts of every person you haven't paid since I met you and found some very generous donations from an SS."

I bite my lip as Jack drags me back into his arms.

"See? Not a supervillain."

I roll my eyes.

"That proves nothing. What kind of a villain steals from poor, innocent people?"

"Everyone. Every villain, Seojun."

"Oh."

Well, that sounds horrible. So maybe…maybe I'm not…

"Whatever. I'm still a supervillain."

"If you say so, dear." He smiles, and with one hand, cups my cheek and aims right for my lips with his.

A phone rings.

Jack sighs and pulls away. I'm left unkissed. Which is sheer cruelty.

"Lewis," he answers his phone and nods as the person on the other end goes off. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Let me guess. April wants us back up to have me arrested."

Jack shakes his head.

"That was Bob. There's been another victim."

"Oh."

The elevator door slides open and Betsy is there, behind the register, staring at us.

"Don't tell me you're back for more. You've cleaned me out, kid."

I ignore her and turn to Jack.

"Let's go," I tell him.

"Are you sure? What about your family?"

What about them indeed. I take a deep breath and try to focus. I've already made things worse for him, for everyone in his life, really, by being a horrible supervillain and human being.

"I'm sure they're not going anywhere any time soon."

The FBI has known their location for a year. I doubt one more night will change anything. Although, that begs the question again. What kind of trouble have they gotten themselves into?

Jack takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, then pulls me out of the elevator and the restaurant, and we immediately hail a cab.

Turns out the crime scene is only a few blocks away, in the same neighborhood. There's already police tape when we arrive at an abandoned Brownstone, and Bob is standing by the entrance, taking deep breaths into a paper bag.

I climb the stairs with Jack, and he makes it inside but pauses.

"Are…are you coming?" he asks.

"I…I think I'm good, thanks." That one dead body was more than enough.

"I was talking to Bob." Jack looks behind me at his partner.

"Oh," I reply.

Jack reaches for my hand and kisses my knuckles.

"I'd never put you through that again, sweetheart."

I smile at him as the warmth of his kiss crawls up my arm and down my chest, finding solace in my dark hollow heart.

How does a horrible person like me get so lucky to find a person like Jack? And when do I wake up from this?

"What about me?" Bob offers Jack his hand, pushing mine away, and sniffs dramatically.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing, and Jack chuckles, dragging his partner back inside.

"Come on, princess. Be the CREEP I know you are," he says.

And just like that, the hint of femininity in Bob's face and stance disappears, leaving just a cowardly agent on display.

Not that I can blame him. Those crime scenes are horrific. I don't know how anyone has the stomach for it. Except, of course, for Jack.

I wait for them at the top of the stairs, but after a few minutes, I get bored, so I go down to the sidewalk, where a couple of police officers are chatting.

"Do you think they'll find this guy?" asks one of them.

"Doubt it. He's been killing people for months now, and they haven't even found a shred of evidence. They can't even find who owns the buildings his victims die in," answers his colleague.

"That's weird. You'd think getting a house deed wouldn't be so hard."

"You'd think, but every time they open them up, they find shell company after shell company. I was in charge of finding the owner of a warehouse a couple of months ago. I kept going around in circles. It's like the paperwork tripled itself when I wasn't looking. I felt like I was going crazy."

I stare at the officer talking and can barely breathe. Did he…did he just say paperwork? Mountains of it?

"Hey, you okay?"

I jump, clutching my heart, before I turn to find Jack behind me.

I nod.

"I…I think I just solved your case," I tell him.