By the time Beren entered the hotel lobby, Jae In had already arrived, just as Naz said. Jae In was playing with his wristwatch in annoyance, once in a while he would raise his head and check around to see if anyone was coming. Beren had already spotted his face in the not-so-crowded hotel lobby. She walked there.
Although Jae In was surprised to see that it was not Korean who was coming towards him, he did not showed his surprised faced to her. He kept his serious face and asked, ''Where are the photos?'' in English. Jae was so impatient, he even got to the point without waiting for the poor girl to sit down yet. Also, Jae's accent was considered correct compared to many Koreans. Beren was surprised by this too, but she focused her attention on Jae's tone and movements. Jae's tone was numb, his demeanor far from polite. Beren did not expect him to be polite anyway, instead of caring it, she held out the beige envelope she took out of her bag and sat in front of him. After she sat, she started to observe Han Jae In's face. Jae was more prominent with the black t-shirt in which he wore lightly burnt white skin. His features looked taut, his filter mask lowered under his chin. On the other hand, Beren was wearing unobtrusive pieces which looked very casual and classic.
While Beren stopped looking his face and looked around, Jae carefully analyzed the photos. They were taken in various places. The contents also varied with the venues. If Beren had decided to spread the photos, all of Han Jae In's reputation would have died out in that moment. It might not even end in such a simple way... The possibility of going to jail was also seen in Jae's eyes.
There was a glass coffee table between Beren and Jae In. Tired of Jae's review process, Beren leaned forward and put her elbows on her knee, with her movements to give Jae the feeling that he should rush psychologically.
When Jae was done with the pictures, he calmly put it back in the envelope and placed an irritating smile on his face as if not the alarming thoughts just before had passed through in his mind. "Well shot." He said, was still speaking in English. Beren reacted to Jae's saying by rolling her eyes, so it was a banal move for Beren to smile as if it was okay, but Jae ignored her. For him, it didn't matter what she thought or felt in such a situation like this. All he could think of was to get rid of this woman in the easiest way, as he did before with another evidences of his crimes. And of course why would he want to hold back from annoying his enemy while doing this?
Jae In put the photos back on the coffee table. It could be more right to say that he threw it. "How much do you want?" He said, kept himself calm. Actually, this attitude was not an ordinary situation for Beren. Often their customers would experience bursts of anger, amazed at how she had attempted such a thing like that, and laugh hysterically until they grasped the gravity of the situation. Beren decided to act annoying like Jae In. She tapped her chin with her index finger in slow and rhythmic movements. "Hmm... $2 Million maybe?" Said Beren, while thinking that he is acting much more experienced than she expected.
Jae In laughed, as a degree of laughter.
The famous hysterical laughter seemed to have begun, but Beren wasn't sure. Beren couldn't tell if he laughed because she spoke Korean or because of the price of the photos. Still, his smile remained sincere.
At the same time, Beren thought; I think the reason why he's so successful at looking so cold and so sincere is that he is an actor. Well, at least they didn't get him famous for nothing.
Jae In seemed to be in a race, trying to take his irritating behavior to the next level, "It's cheap." He said. Then he wrote and signed a check with pen and paper from his brown leather jacket pocket. "It takes a few days for you to have." He added.
If she hadn't gotten that money, it was obvious that what would happend, so Beren take the photos and got up from the table after taking the check.
***
"Come on, Beren!" Said Naz, in the other line of the phone. She was impatient and whining to persuade Beren. Beren tried to intervene, saying "Naz, plea-", but her sentence was already interrupted. "We are talking about racing cars, you know I've been a fan for years! Imagine I came side by side with a Lambo." A car exhibition was to be held in a hall in the middle of Seoul at 11:00 pm and Beren did not want to go. Taking a bite of the apple in her hand, she turned her head to a wall clock. Beren, "We have only an hour remained, how are we going to catch up?" she made up excuses.
This excuse didn't work.
Naz was immediately thrown "I rented a car." As she said this, she was scratching her neck. She usually did that when she was nervous. Beren couldn't take it any longer. After all, how bad could it be? "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for newly polished Lambos." She said. But that was definitely not the case. Unlike Naz, Beren was not interested in cars. She just saw cars as a convenience tool. Her goal was to behave in a way that would make Naz happy. After all, they weren't attending a car show in Seoul everyday!
As soon as Beren accepted, Naz hung up the phone and in a hurry stood at Beren's door. They were staying side by side rooms in the hotel. Beren got up swinging from the bed she was lying on and headed for the door. When the door opened, Naz went in without waiting and sat down on the bed. "Come on! Don't waste your time, get ready now. We are going to wear a dress." Beren turned her face to Naz, widening her eyes. "Dress?" She must be kidding! Beren hated wearing dresses and skirts, and Naz could not say that she liked very much either. Nevertheless, Naz nodded and shrugged, as if trying to say she could do nothing. Beren was about to regret having agreed to go to the exhibition.
Beren began to dress, suppressing the urge to hit her forehead with her palm. "We're going to buy clothes then." Said. She was still not willing, but behold, she thought again; after all, we don't attend a car show every day in Seoul. Naz shook her head excitedly at this question. In order not to seem more dissatisfied and not to lose Naz's enthusiasm, she smiled at Naz and, after checking herself for the last time in the mirror, "I'm ready, we can get out." she said. She didn't really care about her current look as she would change her clothes in the store anyway.
When they got into the elevator and got down to the parking lot, Naz pressed the key in her hand to unlock the car. Beren was in shock after what she saw. The car Naz rented was a very expensive sports car. "Did you really rent this? Before we got the money!" Said. Beren's voice echoed in the parking lot, although she didn't yell too much. But Naz ignored what Beren said, and accelerated her steps and rolled around the driver's seat. "Tell me if you're jealous, I can set up something for you too." Beren left the absurd thing she said unanswered and got into the car.
"How was Han Jae In? Is he as handsome as in the TV? I watched you from afar, but his face was not very visible." Naz asked, was running the car. "He wasn't handsome at all and he was very arrogant." Naz's lips curved up sarcastically by Beren's answer. "You are saying the same thing for all of them. Also this time he is a really famous actor! His face is as smooth as a stone statue in the photos and…" Beren rolled her eyes again against this banality. Rolling eyes was her habit. "How many of his TV series have you watched? I hope you don't admire the man that we blackmailed?''
"No, not at all! I just took a peek fastly like a wind!" Beren laughed, having difficulty believing the phrase.
Suddenly, Beren had a very important question in her mind. In fact, normally she should have asked this question in the first place, before coming to Korea. "What does the Min guy want from Han Jae In?" Naz was the person who bind the business. She would stalk people and find out where they ready to be caught. So Beren would take pictures, would communicate and threaten that person. "I couldn't find much information about Min. Not a businessman, not an actor, not a singer... I could only find very limited information about him. As I've seen, he lived a normal life. Maybe there is some animosity between them, but I couldn't explain how he got the money to rent us with a normal life." Beren pursed her lips and began to think. She would involuntarily make this move whenever she think something suspicious. So, this was an another habit that she has. "Naz, once you know what happened because of not investigating the employer. We were almost dying! Are you sure we won't be in trouble?" Naz nodded slightly, keeping her eyes on the road. "Trust me." Beren would trust Naz in everything but when they pass through something dangerous before, she thought Naz wouldn't act careless again. And there she go, doing the same thing again... Also now, they were already involved. She had no choice but to trust her.
"Here we are." Said Naz, after a while. Her sound splited the thoughtful clouds around Beren. Two of them got out of the car and started toward the entrance to the store, which's lights were flashing. When Beren realized that the models of the dresses in the showcase looked more charming than she expected, she was sprinkled with water.
This view took her focus fully to tonight, she forgot how they could be in danger right now. Half an hour was left to the exhibition. Beren could already imagine that Naz would whine for days after the exhibition for not to have a Lamborghini. She also seemed to hear that Naz wouldn't stop saying that she had to work harder for it.