Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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36.
A surge of intense pleasure that seemed to shake Hui-ju from her very core. The strange weightlessness beneath her feet—as if the ground had fallen away—meant anticipation and instability all at once.
“What are you thinking about? Your face is all red.”
“My face? Who said my face is red?”
“Why? You won’t tell me?”
“It’s nothing like that. My cheeks must be flushed from the cold, that’s all.”
Hui-ju shot back tersely. That was precisely the problem. Words that wouldn’t matter coming from anyone else became infuriating when they came from Liam’s mouth.
He unsettled her with remarkable ease.
A single remark from him disturbed the still surface of the lake she’d become, sending ripples outward and stirring the sediment that had settled on the bottom to rise again.
Perhaps that was why she was angry—because he drew to the surface, in an instant, the things she kept hidden in her deepest places, things she didn’t want exposed.
Liam gave a faint smile and roughly dried his hair with a towel. Then he pulled on the t-shirt draped across the sofa.
“Let’s get some sleep. We need to move early tomorrow.”
Hui-ju nodded and lay down on the sofa. As he had for the past few days, Liam locked up himself.
He tested the front door handle, then threw the bolt. Moving to the window, he checked each lock in turn before drawing the curtains.
At the last window, he pulled it open. It yielded easily. Hui-ju’s expression turned sheepish as she made excuses.
“I opened it while I was on the phone. I forgot to lock it again.”
Liam simply nodded once, then secured the window. Hui-ju sighed in resignation.
“You don’t really think those men who crawled on all fours are coming back for revenge? They’re probably not even healed yet.”
“There’s no harm in being careful—”
Liam stopped mid-motion toward the curtains. He gazed downward through the window in silence, then spoke in a low voice.
“Turn off the lights.”
Hui-ju, who’d been complaining just moments before, rose quickly and switched off the living room light. Her expression hardened visibly even in the darkness.
“What is it?”
Instead of answering, Liam gestured toward the window. Hui-ju walked carefully to the glass.
Liam parted the curtain slightly for her. A man approached from the left, another from the right. She couldn’t make out details, but they appeared to be wearing suits.
“Are they the people from the Airport?”
Liam nodded at her question.
“They look familiar, so probably.”
The two men examined the lit storefronts carefully as they advanced slowly.
At last, they met in front of Noel’s Pawnshop. One of them said something; the other shook his head. The second man did likewise.
They looked back the way they’d come. In that moment, one of them looked up.
!
Hui-ju started and stepped back. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest.
Had they been spotted? Surely not?
She exhaled slowly and lifted her head. Through the darkness, she could see Liam standing behind the wall.
Of course. He’d been behind the wall from the start—careful not to cast a shadow beyond the curtain.
That was the difference between him and her. Or perhaps between field work and office work.
Liam met her eyes and spoke in an untroubled tone.
“They won’t see anything from below. The interior is darker than the street.”
Hui-ju nodded, crouched low, and moved toward the sofa.
Liam peered through the curtain again. After a moment, he walked back to the sofa.
“They’re gone.”
Lost in thought, Hui-ju suddenly spoke.
“How did they even find this place?”
It was a question that cut to the heart of the matter. Liam was wondering the same thing.
How had they found this location? He’d changed his mobile phone.
As that thought reached him, something flickered across Liam’s eyes. He looked at Hui-ju.
Hui-ju simultaneously frowned. She shook her head firmly.
“Only my mother and Han Sang-jin have this number. I called them on this phone, and neither of them could possibly be involved.”
“But isn’t the timing a little too convenient?”
Liam was right. The men appeared almost immediately after the call ended.
“But…”
Hui-ju’s eyes grew troubled in a way they’d never been before.
She couldn’t suspect either her mother or Han Sang-jin. Or rather, she didn’t want to. They were the people who transformed her extraordinary circumstances back into ordinary life.
Hui-ju spoke, almost as though making excuses.
“Maybe they’re eavesdropping. Right?”
Liam nodded without objection. Personally, he’d put his vote on betrayal over eavesdropping.
Eavesdropping isn’t as simple as it sounds. Especially if the other party is a team leader from the National Intelligence Service. Han Sang-jin would be meticulous about security.
So if anything, the odds were higher that Han Sang-jin had willingly provided information to the other side.
Yet Liam said nothing. He didn’t want to see disappointment in her eyes.
She would say she was fine.
A glass full of water overflows at the addition of a single drop. And Liam had no intention of being the one to add it.
He asked in an even tone.
“You didn’t tell either of them where we are, did you?”
“No. I just said we’re staying at a different Hotel.”
“Good.”
Liam settled into the wingback chair, folded his arms, and closed his eyes.
“Sleep now. We move early in the morning.”
Hui-ju shifted restlessly on the sofa. Though her eyes were closed, sleep wouldn’t come.
“Could it really be Han Sang-jin?”
If it was one of the two, Han Sang-jin seemed more likely than her mother. Her mother was an ordinary housewife with no connection to any of this.
“We’ll know soon enough.”
Hui-ju tossed through the night and finally closed her eyes in the predawn hours. Once suspicion had bloomed, it was like a drop of ink fallen into a glass of water.
It seemed to disappear, but as drop after drop accumulated, the clear water would eventually turn crimson.
***
“Thank you, Noel.”
At Hui-ju’s gratitude, Noel fidgeted with her fingers, hesitant. Watching for her reaction, Noel asked carefully.
“Will we see each other again?”
When Noel said she wanted to see someone again, she truly meant it. Knowing how much it meant to her, Hui-ju couldn’t help but smile warmly.
“Of course.”
She pulled the smaller girl into an embrace and said goodbye.
“I’ll stop by once more before I go to Korea. Oh, and I sent a file to your phone.”
“A file?”
“A video of Masha apologizing to you. If she bothers you when I’m not around, threaten to upload it online. She’s so proud—she won’t be able to bear it.”
“Really!”
Noel’s eyes sparkled as she nodded eagerly.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of the first-floor shop. Bang, bang, bang! The sound rang out loudly.
Liam walked to the window and parted the curtain slightly. Frowning faintly, he moved to the opposite wall’s window to look out at the street.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Noel Ridley!”
Someone shouted Noel’s name. Returning to the living room, Liam whispered urgently.
“It’s those men from yesterday.”
“Government agents?”
Liam nodded at Hui-ju’s question. His smile vanished. That alone was enough to convey the gravity of the situation.
“They’re already at both the front and back entrances. Breaking through would be troublesome.”
“Government agents?”
Noel interjected suddenly. Hui-ju offered an apologetic smile.
“Looks like we’ve stumbled into something complicated.”
Bang, bang, bang!
“Noel Ridley!”
Liam drew the gun from his waistband.
“Are you going to force your way through?”
“We don’t have another option.”
Noel, listening to their exchange, asked with sudden seriousness.
“So those people are your enemies, then?”
“Probably?”
“And you need to escape and hide from them?”
“Probably.”
“All right. Wait a minute.”
Noel ran off tousling her hair with both hands, opened the window, and looked down. Then she spoke in a drowsy voice.
“I’m Noel Ridley. What’s this about? The shop’s closed today—it says so right on the sign.”
The two men who’d been preparing to break down the door looked up at her. They cleared their throats and straightened their clothes in an attempt at propriety.
“Noel Ridley?”
“I’m the only person around here with that name.”
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
One of the men pulled out an ID card from his chest. Noel frowned and spoke in a flat tone.
“What is that? I can’t see from here.”
“Just open the door for a bit.”
“Ugh.”
Noel heaved an exaggerated sigh and shrugged.
“I’ll change out of my pajamas and come down, so wait. If you’re important enough to wake me up, this must be serious business.”
Noel closed the window and whispered to Hui-ju and Liam.
“Follow me. Don’t make any noise.”
Liam and Hui-ju followed Noel quietly. She led them down to the first floor and into the computer room.
Walking straight to the desk, Noel reached across its surface. There was a Hero Figurine holding a Hammer in its hand.
Noel pulled the Hammer free from the figurine’s hand and carried it to the center of the room. As she placed it against the floor and pulled back the carpet, there came a click—and the Hammer clung magnetically to the ground.
“A magnet, apparently.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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