Seulgi was still in shock. She had never seen death dealt with so explosively. She had seen death at funerals, in vilges sughtering livestock, and that sort of thing, but she could never remember viewing such a violent death up close and personal.

  While Yeji was stripping her, she finally came back to her senses and was confused about where she was and what was happening to her. She just saw that she was on a bed and someone was removing her clothes.

  Her completely understandable shriek brought her father running in and her cat running out. Yeji tried to stay and expin, but Seulgi was having none of it.

  Her father gathered her up in a protective bear hug. And Yeji wisely exited the bedroom. It was not his litany of words that calmed her down, it was just hearing the calm voice that finally broke through her panicked state. After what had happened, being in her father’s arms was where she felt safest. It was odd, as she had not felt that need for this particur form of protection since she was a tiny child. It had been a long, long time that she had been this hysterical. After what had just happened, it would have been odd if she had not freaked out.

  After what seemed to be an eternity, though it really was about an hour, she finally struggled to be let go. It did not take much effort, he let her go easily. Somewhere in that hour, Yeji had slipped back in and put a protective bnket around her. She knew that her friend would not want to be naked around her father. He accepted the bnket for her and put it around his daughter, nodding his thanks to her.

  He knew Yeji. He knew that she would never harm his little girl. He did not trust her fully but knew that his daughter did, so he accepted her presence in this…interesting…time. But, there would be words. Oh, yes. There would be words. And soon. He was a patient man, but someone had hurt his daughter and that was not acceptable. Whomever it was, he thought, would answer to him. Not necessarily with words.

  Finally, Seulgi fully returned. Her memories of the st few hours were still fuzzy. But, she had an instinctive need for a shower. An almost obsessive need to clean herself. Even though between Jeong-Hui and Yeji, she had her face almost completely cleaned, she still felt the blood, brains, and other debris on her.

  She needed a shower. She might be in there for a while. She adjusted the bnket to cover herself a bit better and pulled away from her father.

  “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered. She leaned forward and bumped her forehead against his. “Thank you.”

  He reached up, tilted her head down, and kissed her forehead. It was oddly how alike Jeong-Hui he had done it, too.

  She pulled back again, smiling this time.

  “Please excuse me. I really need a shower.”

  He nodded, got up off the bed, and went into the living room.

  “Yeji? Please come here?”

  Yeji popped like some mythical djinn. She looked a question at her.

  “I am not steady yet. Please help me to the shower.”

  Yeji complied with the request. She knew that this was also a way for them to talk, semi-covertly, without involving Seulgi’s father.

  “What have you told him?” Seulgi whispered while holding onto her friend’s shoulder.

  “Nothing. Yet. Your father is too smart. And too observant.”

  “Yes, he is. Normally, that’s a good thing. Today? Not so much.”

  Yeji just nodded in agreement. Yeji knew that she was smart. Smarter than most. But she knew that she was not smarter than Seulgi. And her father was smarter than her. So, it was going to be interesting to concoct something to tell him without resorting to lies.

  Seulgi leaned against the sink while Yeji started the shower. On any other day, she would not want anyone else in the bathroom with her, naked, getting ready to shower. She had her modesty, after all.

  Today, was obviously not a normal day. She shuddered to think that this might be normal for anyone.

  Yeji got the water warmer than normal, but not yet hot, and then helped Seulgi over. She fiddled with the water temperature a bit more, making it hotter than Yeji had it. She stripped the rest of the way with the other woman still present and got into the shower.

  Yeji stepped away and started picking up the scattered clothes and bnket. She tossed everything into the dirty clothes and then took it out to start a load of undry. Normally, she’d separate out lights, darks, and delicate. But today, everything got lumped together with twice the soap as well.

  She was busy enough to avoid talking to Seulgi’s father who was busying himself with amusing the cat.

  After starting the undry, she went back into the bathroom. “So, what do we tell him?”

  “We can’t lie to him,” came back the reply under the hiss of the shower. “So, the best thing is to say nothing. I’ll tell him that I cannot tell him anything, yet, and will expin everything when I can.”

  “Will he accept that?”

  “No. Absolutely not. But, he will be patient for answers. He’ll give us time and be exceptionally unhappy about it, but he will give us the time.”

  The conversation stalled there. So, Yeji went back to the bedroom and got some underwear and clothes to y on the sink for after Seulgi dried off. She intercepted the furry missile, to keep the clothes fur-free. She unceremoniously tossed the menace back out into the living room and scolded the cat for being a pest. She went back into the bathroom in case she was needed for anything else.

  Seulgi was standing in the hot stream, reliving what had happened only an hour ago. She saw the knife ready to ssh down and take her life. Her friend tried to protect her, but she knew with certainty that she was about to die. She could almost feel her lifeblood flowing over her with the water. The heat from the water was as hot as she could stand, but she still shivered with a chill that had nothing to do with the water.

  While Seulgi was reliving these moments, Bhuwakul and about thirty of his friends were getting ready to knock on the door of an address that he was given.