A hole opened up in the table without question and Bhuwakul sat himself down.

  Soo-Young stage whispered, “Seulgi, where have you been hiding this one? You have to learn to share, girl.”

  It was a sight to see, which one of them blushed harder, much to the amusement of everyone else. Even people at other tables joined in the ughter. Which just made the pair in question blush harder.

  Seulgi tried to gre at the table to get them to stop. It was about as ineffective as expected.

  Bhuwakul gred at the tables around them. It was immediately effective. And the silence around them was a study of the effective uses of a gre.

  Both Seulgi’s father and Soo-Young noticed this but for completely different reasons.

  The normal noises came crashing back in, things went back to normal. Soo-Young had gotten everyone’s order and went back into the kitchen to get things started.

  Yeji gave Bhuwakul an inquisitive gaze and he gave a solid nod back. The only one who noticed this was Seulgi’s father. But he seemed to be picking up everything, anyway. Granted no one was trying to hide anything, so it was not too difficult.

  He was watching his daughter more than anyone else. That was to be expected. He already knew most of her quirks, ticks, and tells. But there was a new one that made him most unhappy.

  Whenever a csh of dishes, a dropped gss, or an overly loud voice came from behind her, she jumped. The volume did not matter as much as how close the sound came from. She hid it well, but he knew her.

  Someone dropped a coffee mug right behind her and she let out a quiet, startled yell, half standing up in a fight or flight reflex. Everything at the table stopped. Everyone was looking at her. She half ughed in embarrassment and pyed it off to the group as being surprised was all. Yeji, Bhuwakul, and Seulgi’s father knew the lie for what it was.

  Everyone had different responses to her reaction. Everyone knew something happened, but not what. They knew whatever it was, it was not the coffee mug.

  Nayeon knew it was a lie as well, but not why. She would be finding out, soon. Very soon, by the look in her eye. But she took the hint and started the table’s conversation again, drawing attention away from Seulgi. Still, there was some fire in her eye that did not bode well. Nayeon may be a clown, but Seulgi was family.

  Basically, everyone took the hint and got back to as ‘normal’ as their group ever got.

  Seulgi’s father was impressed with this group of people. Their loyalty to his daughter was unquestionable, unshakeable, and absolute. Even the ones that were not what he called The Inner Cadre, would follow her lead. Even this super quiet one - JooHyun? - was still more reliable than some combat teams he had been in. He was also pretty sure that he did not want to take them on.

  This pleased him greatly. He could also use this to convince her mother to let her be. He could also use this to bully her brother into dropping some of his no-good, deadbeat friends.

  The somber atmosphere continued until dinner arrived. Things got joyous again. Things got lively again. The manager got annoyed again.

  Things wound down. Dinners and drinks were finished. Seulgi made sure anyone driving was OK to do so before she let them go. Her father was surprised that they willingly lined up to be checked out before attempting to leave. Even those not under her jurisdiction – such as Katie – submitted to being checked.

  Gillian started to get up, but at Seulgi’s nod, Yeji put her hand on the other woman’s arm. Gillian asked a question with her eyes, but she also knew all night that something was up. She figured out that she was about to find out what that was.

  After everyone else left, only Seulgi, her father, Yeji, Bhuwakul, and Gillian and child were left.

  Seulgi said to Soo-young, “Can you move us to a quiet corner? We,” motioning to those who were left, “need to talk.”

  Soo-young nodded and prepped a table for them to move to. Once resettled, Seulgi took over the conversation again.

  Looking at Bhuwakul, she asked, “Is there a room?”

  He nodded.

  “OK, Gillian, I have some good news, but you have to wait for everything to be said before you do anything.”

  “Seulgi, I love and trust you, but you are scaring me.”

  “Jackson was found. But, he was hurt. He was also drugged out of his mind, so he was taken to a hospital to be checked out. STOP. I’ll tell you everything that I know, OK? Good.”

  She took a sip of water and then continued. “So far, they cleared him from the ER, but he was still sedated. So, there would have been nothing for you to do there. Now, he is in a room in the hospital, sleeping a normal sleep. Bhuwakul has the room number…”

  At this, he gave the hospital name, floor, and room number.

  “We would have told you everything good or bad. But, we wanted to give you as complete information before we sent you off to go get your man.” Famous Seulgi smile that would get her forgiven for anything. “What we know is that everything is as OK as he can be. He has bruises, but nothing broken, nothing permanent.” We hope, she silently added.

  “We know that Jackson’s mother is staying with you.” Gillian didn’t ask them how they knew this. She figured that Seulgi just knew stuff. This was also why she was not currently demanding answers about how they knew all this. Being held as a precognitive is a handy tool. “So, now the choice is if you go to the hospital with or without the little one. If you go alone, we can take him to your mother. Or, you can call her and give her where he is to have her join you. She does deserve to know too.”

  Pns were made from there. Just quietly, away from prying eyes and ears.

  Seulgi said that she would tell everyone else tomorrow at the office.

  Gillian started to ask how they knew where he was, what happened to him, and all of the other pertinent things. Seulgi held up a hand and stopped the torrent of questions.

  “I just told you everything that I know. I doubt that I have been told everything. I might not learn everything either.” She pointedly did not look at Bhuwakul or Yeji. “But, I promise you that I’ll pass on to you what I find out.” She did not add that there will probably be things that she cannot officially know, so what she can pass on might be subjective.

  Once everything was said, decisions made, and approval given, Gillian left so fast that she nearly made a sonic boom in her wake.