Lines Crossed - Volume 1 Chapter 32 32

I stared after her for a moment.

‘What just happened Mark? You were just trying to extend out a hand in thanks. How did it end up with her running off angry?’ I looked around the room, everyone at the other tables were staring at me, their faces a mixture of alarm, concern and confusion. A few younger couples further away even had their phones out, one or two of them trying to hide a smile as the great Mark Wang got publicly rejected.

I bowed apologetically, people turned away after nodding and went back to their dinner. I looked down at the fork; she had barely gotten to enjoy her wonderful meal with, less than a few bites, really. I sighed with regret. It didn’t seem like this was something she could have experienced on her own.

“Hey, you.” I pointed at a gentleman on the wait staff. The boy came up to me.

“Do you know who I am?” I asked carefully just below normal level.

The boy nodded immediately.

I nodded approval. “Good, I am taking this fork, get me a bag to put it in” I waited for the boy, he ran off and came back so quickly that I thought maybe he hadn’t left at all. Except his chest heaved, and he was holding a small plastic bag. I dropped the fork from the napkin into the bag gently, that was all I needed.

I nodded my thanks to him, then speed walked after her so as not to cause any alarm.

I paused in the hall, the warm lights accented the light creamy yellow paint with dark red carpeting. Making the environment feel lush and private, despite the halls rather large girth. I looked down towards both exits wondering which way she went. After a moment of attempting to think like this strange girl whose actions had yet to make a single lick of sense, I took off towards the hotel lobby. They propped the large, heavy dark stained doors open, and the hustle and bustle of the lobby leaked into the hall.

I stepped into the room and looked around for her out-of-place clothing in all the fancy, posh, people. She should have only been a minute or two ahead and should have stuck out like a sore thumb in this environment, but I just couldn’t see her anywhere.

“Sir, do you need anything.” A lady wearing a dark navy blue vest and cream yellow shirt with flared sleeves walked up to me. I shook my hand at her in clear dismissal and headed for the front doors.

“If she isn’t inside she has to be outside. Right?”

‘God this girl is weird How is it I am always saying something that sets her off in anger or some other random emotion? What kinda person yells something like that in a restaurant? Wait, why are you even chasing her? Haven’t you already done enough, just like she said?’ I paused, waiting for the front bellmen to open the doors of the hotel, then stepped back out into the night air. I looked at Jaemin.

Jaemin stared at me with interest.

“Who are you looking for?”

“The girl, Mina Did she come out here?” I asked.

Jaemin shook his head.

“No, I haven’t seen her.”

“Dang it.” I said, slightly annoyed, she had somehow eluded us when we were standing in front of the only way in and out. The annoyance evaporated as I watched Jaemin ask the hotel staff to look for her. I put both of my hands on my h.i.p.s.

“Because if you get close to me, you will only end up Dead.”

Her words echoed through my head, sending a chill down my spine. She didn’t seem capable of it, or sinister like she was planning a death, but rather as if she was stealing herself, ready to witness another occurrence the next time we met.

It was a disconcerting thought.

“Forget it guys, we actually don’t need to locate her.” I said after a few moments.

I nodded gratefully to the staff who looked at me slightly confused by the sudden withdrawal of the request. But then they all naturally dispersed and went back to what they were doing.

“Did she leave?” Jaemin asked, coming up beside me and leaned back against the car.

I looked up at him.

“Yeah, she left, why would I ask where she is if she was in there with me?” I asked him snarkily.

“Ah, she probably got a taste of your temper and came to her senses.” He said nonchalantly.

I stared at Jaemin incredulously.

He watched me with a completely straight face.

“Are you joking around with me right now?” I glared, my mouth twitching into a shocked yet annoyed smile.

“Only you could have millions of dollars, look the way you do, and still have girls run away from you.” He said, while looking at his phone screen with disinterest.

I walked up to him and glared before punching him in the arm gently.

“Sleep at your apartment tonight. I am telling your mom, and you are not allowed to come home tonight.” I snapped playfully.

“Mhhhm, makes no difference to me. I sleep at my apartment every night.”

I scoffed annoyed.

“Why is it so hard to outwit you?” I asked testily then got into the back of the vehicle.

“I’m older and know more than you I dunno why you still try.” He shrugged indifferently.

“Yah, who says you can bully me like this, just because you are older? Take me home.” I demanded.

“You’re dead when your mom finds out.” I quipped happy to get the last word in.

He closed the door, ignoring me then walked around the outside and got into the driver’s seat, started the car and pulled away down the street.

After a few minutes of silence, I sensed he was debating on whether to ask me something. I looked up to see he was watching me through the rearview mirror. I ran my hand through my hair gently and put down my phone.

“Did you get a sense of her? Do you think Do you think she had something to do with it? Did you fully rule her out?” He asked slowly. I waited for him to finish.

Because after all, that had been the true purpose of this meeting. Because at her house there had been too many odd things.

‘The furniture, why had it been dusty if she had been living there for a long time? Why had I never in all the times of passing by that house seen anyone living in it? A light on? Smoke from the chimney?’

‘And why if she was never home much, why then had she been there, on that night? Of all times.’

I crossed my legs gently and ran my fingers along my chin.

“She had nothing to do with it.” I said calmly. She wasn’t able to answer all the questions I had wanted to confront her about, but after tonight I was absolutely sure she had nothing to do with my uncle’s plot for my future. Nothing could be more black and white. She couldn’t stomach the idea of killing anyone. Ever.

“But there is something off about her, something more than her weird personality. Mark aren’t you the least bit concerned?”

“Did you look into what I asked for?” I pointedly asked Jaemin, avoiding his last statement.

Jaemin nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

“The house is under a lease, but it’s not in her name. It’s in the name of that famous author who writes and draws the most popular romance comics series The Girl I fell next door.” The mysterious man no one has ever seen.

I looked outside the window.

“I didn’t see any signs of a man living there when I was in the house.”

“I wasn’t in there for long, but I didn’t either.”

“For what I was awake for, I didn’t really see much, heck it didn’t even look like she had been living there long.”

“Could she be his daughter?” Jaemin asked.

“I heard he was an older gentleman, but I didn’t hear he was old enough to have a kid around our age I don’t think she is his daughter.” I rested my chin in the palm of my hand.

“I will look into it more. But as for your question. There is no Mina Taylor in any of Seoul’s medical records. And there are no records of her coming in on a flight from anywhere else in the world either.”

“At any point in time.” He stressed.

I turned to look at him, shocked.

“You mean she has no identification number?… She is illegal?”

Jaemin nodded slowly. “It looks that way.”

I looked back out of the window a sour grimace and surly disposition setting in as the rain that seemed to be falling almost uncannily too often poured outside the window yet again.

“Things just got a lot more complicated than they already were.” I stated aloud, for as much my own measure as Jaemin’s. He said nothing in response to my announcement, but then I hadn’t really expected him to.

“They are already so complicated” Jaemin remarked offhand. I nodded my assent.

“Just who are you Mina Taylor?’ I wondered as I watched the brightly lit buildings of the Gangnam district go zooming by.