Chapter 3: Cooperate

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, staring out the window to see if we were in a familiar part of town. We weren’t. Hearing them laugh made me suddenly very aware that I was in a car with complete strangers who were potentially dangerous.

They looked back down at their phone, flicking through messages. “My name is Yujin, and I use they/them pronouns. I’m not used to meeting people who don’t know who I am. Bit annoying, actually.”

I squinted over in their direction, trying to place their face. Between not being in town long and not caring much about celebrity culture, I had no idea why they seemed so self important. “Am I being kidnapped?” I asked bluntly.

They chuckled without looking up from their phone. “It’s only kidnapping when minors are involved. For adults, it’s abduction.” They shot a sideway glance in my direction. “Is there someplace you’d rather be?”

I quickly averted my eyes back down to the coat on my lap. Something about the way they looked at me made me incredibly nervous. “I have people expecting me,” I said shakily.

“Bullsh*t,” they retorted without skipping a beat. “Try again.”

I swallowed, trying to keep calm. Could they really tell I was lying? How was I supposed to answer that question when I didn’t actually have anywhere to be? I thought for a moment before starting over. “I need to find a place to stay before it gets any later.”

“Mm Hm,” they muttered and pointed their gaze back down to their phone. “I saw your search. Extended stay in an embarrassing price range.” A wide smirk crosses their face. “Whatever happened must have really stung to have you drinking like that, all by yourself no less. Wanna talk about it?” Despite the offer, they don’t look up from their phone.

“Not really,” I mumbled.

“Good,” they answered quickly. “You’re coming home with me. It’s far nicer than any of the sh*tholes you were searching through.”

My eyes widened at how forward they sounded. “That’s not necessary. I can just-”

“Shut the f*ck up,” they said simply without looking up from their phone. I quickly cut off my words and continued staring down at the coat on my lap. They hit send on a message, then slid the phone back in their pocket. “Look at me.”

I rubbed my face with nervous hands, then looked up at the gorgeous, terrifying person. I didn’t know what they wanted me to say, so I didn’t say anything. They looked down at me with a calm smile, tilting their head to take in my features. “You’re a witness. I thought it would be a shame to dispose of you entirely, so I’m taking you in.” They reached over to brush some dull brown hair behind my ear. “I would prefer it if you came willingly.”

My mind raced at being called a witness. I started worrying about the guy that made my noodles and blurted out, “What happened with the noodle guy? Did he do something bad?”

They raised an eyebrow at the questions. “Would it make you feel better if you thought he did something bad?” Their sour expression made it clear they weren’t used to fielding questions.

“Maybe,” I replied, letting my eyes drift down to their hands. They slowly started popping their knuckles.

“Five minutes out, boss.” Sergio called from the front. “Not too late to swing by the canal.”

Yujin let out a quiet laugh and shook their head. “No need for that, Sergio. She’ll come around. You know how the big man’s been on me to bring home a nice Italian girl.” Hearing their words made my heart beat harder. Was that why they were taking me in? Of course I knew my name was Italian, but I never really identified with it since I was estranged from my family at such an early age.

Sergio replied, “You know this isn’t what he had in mind, boss.” He started rattling off in one of the languages I'd heard in the noodle shop. After listening to him ramble for a minute, Yujin cleared their throat which caused him to stop talking. “Home it is, boss.”

I stayed quiet, speculating about what his objection was. It didn’t feel great hearing him suggest a detour to the canal, but I was past the point of panicking. Between the noodles, the soju, and the events of the evening I was exhausted. Home sounded nice, wherever that ended up being. I could always sort things in the morning when my head was more clear.

The city lights started to get more sparse, and I had no idea which neighborhood we’d ventured into. The hills were steep and the long, gated driveways were few and far between. When Sergio pulled the car into the driveway of our destination, I started to gain an understanding of just how much nicer my accommodations were compared to the hotels I’d been searching though.

The driveway itself had to be at least a few city blocks long, winding through rows of dormant grapevines and leading to a huge mansion. Maybe they really were some kind of celebrity, to have a place like this in what I'm guessing were their twenties like myself. I reminded myself to do an internet search as soon as I had some privacy.

Sergio pulled the car to a stop alongside a few other expensive looking vehicles then stepped out to open the door for Yujin. After stepping out of the vehicle, they crooked two fingers motioning me to follow them. I clumsily climbed out of the back of the car, still hugging my coat instead of actually wearing it.

Someone emerged from the front entrance and called out in a thick accent, “Seriously, Jinnie, you couldn’t take ONE night off?” His voice was high pitched and annoyed.

“You know my work is time sensitive, it couldn’t be helped. Truly. Besides, we still have a couple hours. It’ll be fine.” The way Yujin spoke to him sounded kinder than I thought them capable of. They motioned toward the approaching person, speaking lowly in my direction. “This is Paolo, he’s my butler.”

“Estate Manager, don’t be a d*ck just because you have a friend over. You’re cutting it closer than usual, this is why my hair is turning gray.” When Paolo got closer, I could see that he couldn’t have been much taller than me if a bit rounder. He looked quite a bit older than us, somewhere in his fifties I imagined. He produced a pair of glasses from the front pocket of his shirt and placed them on his tired face to get a look at me. “Che schifo, are those sweatpants? Where did you find her?”

My shoulders dropped, suddenly feeling very under dressed. When I left the storage unit, I was only planning on going for a short walk to figure out where to stay for the night. Even if I had been wearing my nicest outfit, it would probably have gotten the same reaction.

Yujin placed a hand on top of my head, speaking to Paolo as though I wasn’t right there. “She’s quiet. And she checks a lot of my boxes. Just get her ready. We need to wrap things up at the office, but I promise I’ll make it back in time.” They tilted their gaze down toward me and asked, “You’re going to be a good girl and cooperate, yeah?”