Fair Trade

Sei, who was just putting on lipstick, turned her head and looked at him. She was wearing the dress he chose. Though the dress hid both her neck and wrists, the back plunged deep just above her hips.

The woman’s eyes quivered as he approached. Unlike before, seeing her terrified eyes, a strange sadistic thought came to his head. Yuri looked her up and down as if savoring the sight of her, then held out the earring that he had pulled out of his pocket.

“When you enter the game room, your whole body will be scanned. It’s just a contingency measure to ensure every possible scenario. No guns are allowed, not even cameras. But this won’t get detected. I programmed it myself.”

The thing dangling in his arms was a real diamond earring. Sei accepted it with a suspicious look.

“What is this…?”

“A miniature camera.”

“A camera?”

“Don’t worry. The image is stored on the chip inside it without any electronic signal, so it won’t get detected.”

“Would it… would it really be okay?”

“Ha, what do you see me as? Is your faith in me so low?”

Sei muttered at his words, “Faith, my foot.”

Frowning at the string of Korean words that flowed out of her lips again, Yuri brushed aside her hair and began to put on the earrings on her himself. Sei’s body tensed at the vivid, small sting on her earlobe.

They were so close. She felt like she could brush against the man’s face with the slightest movement of her head.

Standing before the mirror, unable to breathe, she saw her ears adorned with a pair of dazzling, shiny earrings. And behind that, she could see Yuri Petrov with a satisfied smile on his lips.

“It’s better to tie your hair back. Then it wouldn’t be a hindrance.”

She wanted to check the man’s ID card if possible.

She really couldn’t believe it.

How could someone with a face like that kill a person? How old was this man? Was he really Yuri Petrov?

Even though she was a materialistic person obsessed with looks, she would never judge a person’s morality just by looking at their face. But this man frequently clouded her judgment. Somewhere in her head, the hypothesis that ‘it can’t be true’ kept coming up over and over again.

“There is nothing to be afraid of.”

The voice coming from behind her was somewhat muffled.

Sei looked at him through the mirror. The man who ripped off the label on the dress with his teeth kissed her pale back, then took a step back and continued, “When you enter the game room, follow Giulio Parenti’s instructions. You can convey our conversation in Russian without missing a word.”

“… Have you really been invited to the game?”

“Yes, I have been.”

“Then your face will be revealed. Then, how….”

“No, no one would know.”

Would he disguise himself? Even so, the risk was too high.

Sei wished to escape for a while. Giulio Parenti and Yuri Petrov. If these two men, who made her feel like a patty in a sandwich, were going to be in the same place, then maybe…

But if she ran away, it was clear both her mother in the hospital and her father in the prison would be in danger. Moreover, there was no way that she could run away from this man who knew her face.

Eventually, the moment came where she had no choice but to choose.

Giulio Parenti and Yuri Petrov…

She clenched her fist several times feeling the surging tension and eventually faced the man standing against the wall. Then she put her hand on his pants belt as if she was determined to do something.

The man’s eyes narrowed seeing her loosening his belt.

“I have said it before, after this there will be no turning back.”

“The moment I saw your tattoo and had your identity confirmed, I already knew that there would be no turning back. Since my life will be on the line, I want to check you myself. I would rather be prepared for anything that might happen along the way than end up being unexpectedly surprised.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

“Even if you let me live, Giulio will certainly kill me. So please let me double-check. To be honest… I don’t believe it. That you’re actually Yuri Petrov.”

Lowering the man’s zipper, she slid her hand into his underwear the way he did with her.

“Ha, are you really fearless or is it that you don’t know fear?”

He took a shaky breath and grabbed her by the waist. The two people were awfully close. Even if they were not conscious of it, they could feel the touch and heat of each other’s skin.

Sei felt her palms become clammy.

Sei lowered her gaze, tracing the position of the tattoo as she brushed past his half-erected penis. But, since it was so dark, other than the tattoo, she couldn’t make out anything.

Grinning, he grabbed her black hair and pulled it back. In an instant, his lips closed in, and he whispered, “I’d love to put it in your lips, but I’m sure it’ll ruin this pretty face. So let’s stop here. In return…”

The man while saying the vulgar words grabbed her wrist and let her hold his manhood. Surprised by his thickness that couldn’t be held in one hand, she tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but it was futile. His cold grayish-blue eyes held her body immobile.

“Sei.”

She snapped out of her reverie when she heard his low voice calling out her name.

“I’ll repeat it only once. Don’t you dare believe Giulio Parenti is a bigger man than me. Because if I don’t kill you, that means that Parenti won’t be able to kill you either. Do you understand?”

* * *

There was a long line to enter the casino.

A familiar arm crept over her shoulder from her back and fiddled with her auricle. Hugging Sei’s shoulder, Giulio put out his cigarette by rubbing it against a pillar and pulled her out of the long line.

“It’s not the dress I chose for you. Hmm?”

“Oh… I tried it on and it didn’t look as good on me as I thought it would. Should I say it was a bit long?”

“Really?”

She could feel other people’s eyes on them. Julio and his party, who were given prior instructions, went straight into the casino. Giulio cut through the line of people without any hesitation.

Do these people know? That a criminal who may have murdered their family, friend or acquaintance mercilessly was sauntering around the same place masquerading as a regular person just like them?

“I’ll let it slide this time. But don’t do it next time. Though I like how you rebel, I don’t like people not following my instructions.”

Guessing that he was talking about her dress, she nodded her head as an answer. Then Giulio’s lips touched her stiff side face. He stroked her hair and kissed her temple. With a smile as if appeasing a frightened child, he grabbed Sei’s chin and whispered, “Smile.”

She forced the corners of her mouth to curl up.

It was when they were about to enter the game room, she saw in front of them a jet-black-haired man leaning against the pilaster looking at her.

The man alternatively kept looking at her and Giulio, while rubbing his lips with his thumb as if habitually.

It was none other than Yuri Petrov. The damn mafioso looked great with black hair.

Sei, avoiding his gaze, said while looking up at Giulio, “Keep your promise. Four times the fee and in return, I will tell you everything without missing a word.”

He grabbed her hand, his nails digging into her skin.

It hurt, but she sobered up instantly.