Chapter 15 Elise
FIFTEEN
ELISE
When I make it home for the first time in a week, KD and Priscilla are both waiting for me. I already expect the outrage from KD. That’s a given.
But it’s Priscilla’s hurt reaction that takes me most by surprise.
She nudges her glasses up the bridge of her nose and then crosses her arms. “Eli, where have you been? Do you know we were really worried!?”
I kick off my boots and walk past them on the way to my room like I’ve only been gone for seven hours and not seven days.
“Right… about that… I was out of town.”
“Out of town?!” KD repeats incredulously. His mouth hangs agape at how insane my story sounds.
Both follow in my wake, signaling their inquisition is far from over. I stop midway down the hall and stick to the story I half-assed in my head.
“Yes, out of town. I was visiting my uncle.”
“Bullshit!”
“Your uncle,” Priscilla says, brows knitting. “The one you said was in Thailand for a few weeks? Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yeah, you do,” KD growls in offense. “When you and me go on a mission, then you call it off last second and go missing for seven fucking days—I’ve got a right to know, EQ!”
Shit.
He’s got a point.
I blow out a sigh, avoiding their pointed gazes and running a hand over my thick braids. “Alright, so… that’s kind of fucked up. But just know my phone was smashed and I had no way of reaching out.”
“It’s 2025—there’s always a way to get in touch,” KD says.
“And how did you go to Thailand with all your personal stuff here?” Priscilla asks. She looks me up and down like a mother would. “Aren’t those the same clothes you were wearing the night you left with KD for your job? You’ve been wearing the same clothes all week?”
My natural inclination is to snap at them both.
Tell them I don’t owe them answers. We’re not friends, and I don’t need their over-the-top concern. I don’t want them worrying about me or sticking their noses where they don’t belong.
But then a pang of guilt hits and reminds me they’re giving me an interrogation because they care. KD cares about me as his partner and friend, and Priscilla has basically stopped thinking of us as just roommates and started acting like we’re besties.
Here are two people in front of me who want deeper connections and yet I turn them down.
I push them away just like I did Gun last night.
What’s wrong with me? Why am I like this?
A deep emotion I can’t name pulls at my heart thinking about our fight. I’d immediately regretted everything that happened and convinced myself I had made a terrible mistake.
But what’s done is done, and there’s no turning back.
There’s only moving forward. Only pursuing and completing my mission like I’ve vowed to do.
“Look,” I say cryptically, “I wish I could explain more. But it’s complicated, and I’d rather not involve either of you. I’m okay now; that’s all you need to know.”
I turn and finish the last couple steps to my room. KD pushes back against the door before I can get it all the way closed.
“EQ,” he says sternly. “I hope you know what you’re doing, and I hope wherever you were you’re not getting yourself into something you can’t get out of. I’m your partner for a reason. Never forget that.”
A small smile starts on my face. “How could I? You never let me forget with your emotional self.”
“One of us needs to act like a human,” he says. “I was hoping it’d rub off on you.”
“You might want to be more realistic. Maybe aim for the moon instead. Better chances.”
“You know Hart’s going to have your ass, right? She’s been furious.”
I plop down on my bed with both eyes closed.
The director.
How could I forget I’d have to answer to her when I got back? She makes KD and Priscilla’s interrogation look like cake.
“I’ll deal with her,” I mumble.
KD shakes his head, clearly bothered by my secrecy and nonchalance. “You’re a big girl, EQ. I won’t hold your hand. But maybe get an icepack for that swelling on your jaw. A bruise that nasty after seven days is no joke.”
He shuts the door with those parting words, telling me exactly what we both already know—I wasn’t visiting Uncle Jerald, and I was in trouble.
My eyes wander to my floor-length mirror across the room. I do need to put some ice on my jaw. A week later after the incident in the warehouse, I’m still a little banged up.
That Jeokpa’s right hook was nothing to mess around with.
Since I’ve got no phone—it’s still locked up somewhere in Gun’s apartment—I pull out my MacBook and check my emails.
Sure enough, I have about fifty angry emails and iMessages from Director Camille Hart. I click on her latest, the one she sent me yesterday evening titled, “Clock’s Ticking, Quinn. Report NOW.”
The body of the email only gets worse, with numerous professionally worded threats and admonishments:
Subject: Clock’s Ticking, Quinn. Report NOW.
From: Director Camille Hart
To: Elise Quinn
Sent: [Timestamp—Yesterday, 6:47 PM]
Body:
This is your third unapproved disappearance in under eighteen months, and it will be your last if I don’t hear from you within the next twenty-four hours.
You’ve gone dark mid-assignment, abandoned protocol, ignored numerous encrypted check-ins, and have now officially triggered a level-red internal review. I’ve rerouted your pending contracts and frozen your payment pipeline until further notice.
You don’t get to vanish, Quinn. Not on my watch. Not after everything we’ve invested in you. I don’t care what ghost you’re chasing, what closure you think you need, or who you’ve spread your legs for this time.
Your father earned his respect. You’re burning yours.
Final warning. Respond. Now.
— C.
Director Camille Hart
Vanguard Agency – Executive Clearance Only
A huff of dark, disbelieving laughter leaves me by the time I reach the last line. She’s frozen my contracts and essentially warned I’m about to be released from the agency unless I check in within the next few hours.
…that means I’m off the Cheongryong operation.
…as if she gets to decide.
I snap shut my MacBook and resist the urge to call her up and tell her to go fuck herself.
She—nor anybody else—doesn’t get to tell me how I carry out my revenge. I’m taking out the Blue Dragon Syndicate with or without Director Hart and Vanguard’s permission.
I’ll do as I please, and nobody can stop me.
For all my stubborn defiance, I end up dozing off. It’s no surprise considering I was up all night and then had to make the long trip back to Itaewon after I left Gun’s apartment in Mullae-dong.
I don’t wake ’til hours later when my laptop is chiming with a video call notification. I come to with a start, jerking out of my collapsed position on the bed.
If it were anybody else, I’d ignore the call and go back to my impromptu nap. But Uncle Jerald’s name is on my screen, and he’s the only person alive I truly trust.
“Hey, baby girl,” he says, spitting some sunflower seeds into a plastic cup. Judging by his straw Panama hat and the leafy greens behind him, I’d guess he’s still in Thailand. “What’s this I hear about you going AWOL?”
I scowl. “I’m guessing Hart reached out to you a thousand times too?”
There goes my alibi.
“She sure did. She damn near chewed my ass out. Thought I was the one in trouble for a second.”
“That tracks.”
“So?” he prompts, pouring more sunflower seeds into his mouth from the bag. He sucks on them for a couple seconds and then repeats his routine, spitting those out for new ones. “What’s the rub, baby girl? What’s been going on that you went off-the-grid for a whole week?”
A deep sigh leaves me, making my shoulders sag. “You don’t even want to know, Unc.”
“Bet I can guess—those Blue Dragon bastards involved? Did they give you some trouble?”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
“And now Hart’s pulling you off.”
“Maybe it’s the best call,” I say. “I’ve been letting this whole thing dictate my life. I could’ve died the other day if the wrong syndicate member got their hands on me.”
“A tough girl like you?” he says. “Since when are you afraid of what your missions require? Baby girl, you’re as fearless as Jamie was. Don’t ever forget that.”
“But what am I supposed to do now? Hart’s removed me from the contract. When I read her email, I scoffed,” I explain into the camera. “My immediate reaction was that she wasn’t going to be able to tell me what to do or how to get my revenge—”
“And that’s the truth, ain’t it?” he asks, finally setting the plastic cup full of sunflower seeds aside.
“It’s not the director’s place to tell you how to move forward.
You know why you came to Seoul. You know why you started up with Vanguard in the first place.
Never forget how proud your father would be if he could see you now. ”
A bittersweet smile crosses my face, the closest to showing raw emotion I ever get. “He never did because they took him from me.”
“From us, baby girl,” uncle says solemnly. “The Cheongryong are a cancer and must be taken out. Jamie will never get justice otherwise.”
Any doubt I’ve had fades as I slowly nod. “You’re right, Unc. I’m here now, and it’s time to make it happen. Even if Vanguard wants nothing to do with me.”
“Just stay safe, Elise. Be smart about it. You got this.”
We end our call with Uncle Jerald mentioning he’ll be leaving Thailand soon and returning to South Korea. He signs off by letting me know he hopes we can celebrate when I see him.
“If you get the job done by then, we’ll have plenty to cheers to.”
I power off my MacBook deciding that he’s right. I haven’t toiled away for years preparing for this big moment only to let it slip through my fingers.
I’m avenging Dad and our family and I’m willing to do anything to make sure it happens.
Noir Norae is a trendy and ritzy karaoke lounge in the Cheongdam-dong ward of Gangnam, where the rich, corrupt, and powerful go to disappear behind velvet curtains and drink like fishes.