by Purple Hazel
* * * *
When they finally finished dinner, as well as a nice bottle of wine, they headed back to Min-Pharma headquarters. Dinner was paid for by the company of course—Zero figured she could explain it later to Kwang-Min when he heard about their successful commercial shoot. And with sales of Enimen increasing exponentially month after month, why would he question it?
That’s probably why, the next morning, when she was called to his office at 09:00 hours, she expected nothing more than to brief the boss on what they’d accomplished. The global promotional tour for Enimen was just about finished. One more stop to make—in Shanghai—and the whole thing was “a wrap”. That’s what she looked forward to telling him anyway. She never expected the boss to ask her about anything else that might have...arisen...during the trip…
“Welcome back Zero. Please pull up a chair and let’s chat about Mallorca shall we?” Kwang-Min was sitting back in his chair, smiling. He looked well rested and in good spirits. He was looking directly at her, too! She silently pulled back one of the big guest chairs at his desk and sat down.
“So...what can you tell me about Spain? Did the shoot go well?” he asked. Zero nodded, smiling confidently.
“Yes boss. No trouble at all. We’re almost finished now, have you heard? Just one more commercial to do in China, then we’re done.”
However, Kwang-Min seemed to be probing for more information. He was sitting back with his hands clasped in front of him and elbows resting on the chair arms. Plus he was still looking directly into her eyes. She figured the best she could do was wait for him to ask whatever it was he really wanted to know.
“And what of my brother? How is he uh, working out? Any news of him to tell me?”
Now she knew what he was driving at. He was clearly suspicious that they’d been sleeping together—which they had—repeatedly—and what’s more, Young-Min was quite decent in bed—fast learner, considerate, good stamina, limitless libido. But she wasn’t about to talk to her boss about things of that nature. It would have been stupid to do so.
First of all, it was not appropriate, professionally speaking. Secondly, no matter how the boss had seemingly encouraged the relationship—that is, he certainly never told her not to and had no apparent interest in her himself—it was still his twin brother they were talking about.
“No goddam way I’m telling the boss that I fucked his brother, that’s for sure,” she mused privately, “and boy did I ever. Mmmm-hmmm. First time I actually enjoyed fucking a guy in years.” Then again, when she thought about it a second or two more, she wondered if she’d ever really, really liked sex that much in the first place. That is until now.
So she took the high road. “He’s a natural-born actor, boss. Real ham,” she said in reply. Then, when the boss said nothing in response—just looked at her smiling as if she should elaborate further—she added, “I think he missed his true calling...maybe he should audition for a movie or something.” Kwang-Min nodded and continued to smile...still didn’t seem like he’d gotten all he wanted from her.
That was certainly not everything, and she knew it. There was more she could report on the matter. Plenty more. No, not the sex. She wasn’t going to discuss that. If Kwang-Min suspected she’d slept with his twin, well, congratulations, he’d guessed right. She’d even sucked his brother’s cock on a transatlantic flight from Spain to Canada. Swallowed him down to the base and drained his balls like a pro—which she once was, by the way. And on top of that—it had been her idea! They’d started getting romantic on the flight and then…she suddenly felt like gobbling him down until he erupted into her mouth. Which he did: to the delight of their curious flight attendant.
What concerned her however was the conversation afterward—as well as a few since then—which had occurred with her hot young lover. And it wasn’t because he’d told her he loved her. He did. Sincerely! But then again, this sort of thing never fazed Zero. “So what, asshole,” she’d have quipped when she was only a little bit younger. “Boys always say shit like that when they want pussy. And even when they’ve just had it, they’ll say they love you only ’cause they wanna make sure they get more next time.”
Now to be fair, he certainly hadn’t said anything like “girlfriend”, “boyfriend”, “engaged”, “dating”, “wedding”, “marriage”, “husband”, or “wife”. But he had said “WE” just a few times too many, and that had begun to get on her nerves. She wanted so many times to say “Hey fucker, what’s all this WE shit about?” However, he never crossed the line with it when he started talking about “the future”. Where she took issue was when he kept on about it like he meant their future. And that was a big, big no-no.
“Look, pal,” she desperately wanted to say, so many times, “I fucked you, okay? It was good...all three times! You learn fast—congratulations. Most guys...well, never mind that; but...I came. Really did. Didn’t have to fake it either. Honest! Thought about faking it. Almost did once. Then you came through for me and I got off anyway. Fucked me hard and fast. Thanks for that. Licked my pussy. Seriously, you did great. When we go to Shanghai, I’ll probably fuck you again. In fact, I’ll definitely fuck you again. Count on it. But...Baobèi...you gotta understand something. You’re just a pretty piece of ass, alright? You’re cute. You look like the boss. Hell, you look a lot like the boss. But you ain’t him. So fuck off. Nǐ tīngdǒng ma?”
But there was no reason to be rude to him. He was too polite and gentlemanly for that. She’d never really had to tell off a guy before anyway, even when she was a prostitute. So she controlled her temper and patiently listened to him. It was what he said about the company, the product, and what they were doing, that truly concerned her. That’s what she needed to tell the boss.
Chapter 14
The Bund
“And there’s something else I think you should know boss...about your dear brother,” continued Zero. She then noticed Kwang-Min Jo getting a look of humored interest on his face. Seemed like he was just itching to hear about all the dirty sex they’d had. Zero hesitated to begin, worrying he was expecting something far different than what she was about to tell him.
What’s more, she wasn’t about to sugarcoat it either. This was her job as security chief, and if she thought she knew something that was important to the boss, and to Min-Pharma, she wasn’t about to conceal it. Her opinions, her theories, hearsay, rumors, everything. She always divulged things like that to him. Now was no different. Seeing his look of deep interest, all refreshed from his morning workout with the guards, which she’d heard he conducted by himself in the compound’s front yard, she continued speaking.
“I no longer believe he’s completely on board with all of this...with what we’re doing here, I mean,” she stated flatly. Kwang-Min’s eyebrows raised, then as she elaborated, she noticed him slowly leaning forward in his chair until his elbows were resting on his desk.
“He doesn’t think the product is for real, boss,” she then said, and Kwang-Min’s suspicions peaked as he began to imagine that Young-Min might have some way of knowing about the investigation by the G.U.! That was quite impossible, but he had to consider it. “Hell, what if he did know?” he mused to himself. But that’s not what Zero was intimating. She was talking about the product Young-Min thought he’d understood. He of course had no idea the manufacturer was secretly substituting synthetic HGH for Nicotinamide Mononucleotide.
“He complains about it from time to time. Talks like he’s fed up with all the bullshit we’re saying in our ads. He sells it well—when the cameras are rolling—but in private, when he thinks we’re alone, he sings a different tune. Says we’re lying. NMN won’t give people results like this—not like we’re claiming. And down the road, perhaps a year or two, he says we’ll be having angry customers figuring out it’s basically nothing more than vitamin B3. He showed me, too, on the flight home. Read off some scientific article he’d found on the macronet. Made me listen to all that science crap that idiots always write...reme
mber how you taught me? Those articles they write to try and sell you some product they’re touting instead?”
Kwang-Min heaved a sigh of relief—trying not to seem too relieved of course—when she said this. Obviously, his arrogant, Space Programme-educated twin brother had fallen for the ruse he’d been perpetrating all along, just to get everyone at corporate headquarters excited about the product. Kwang-Min knew what was really in it—no one else in that building had a clue. His suppliers in Afghanistan created the compound. His vendors in China did the packaging. His employees in Toronto handled the distribution and marketing. Otherwise, no one knew what was actually in those capsules. Not even Zero.
“Ah yes, I see what he’s doing,” commented Kwang-Min with a dismissive smirk. “Same thing with regulators testing the samples we sent. They hear all that crap from the scientific community and it perks up their ears as if we’re tricking people. I get it.” But after saying that, he thought he should clarify, “But there’s more to it then isn’t there? I can see you’re concerned. What else is he saying? He’s disillusioned, you think?”
“Oh yes, boss. Clearly. He’s talking about returning to Space Programme in a couple months. It’s like he’s changed his mind about sticking around to help us. And no matter how I try placating him with assurances that consumers will keep on buying the drug...thinking they’re getting healthier...he just waves me off like I don’t know what I’m talking about. I tell him that people will start exercising, get back in shape—like you did for instance—and believe it’s ’cause the drug is helping them. I try telling him it’s actually good for them anyway...they just need to get off their big, fat...well, you get the idea.”
Kwang-Min snickered. “Get off their asses and work out, in other words, right?”
Zero laughed nervously, realizing she’d probably said a little too much before catching herself. She didn’t want to imply that her boss was just like all those out-of-shape consumers who’d let themselves go. But Kwang-Min knew full well he was no different than most everybody out there. Reality was millions of consumers had fallen into the same trap as he: focusing their time and energy on their careers or daily lives without minding their personal fitness. It was an easy mistake to make for people over thirty.
“Yes, I see what you’re saying,” he added. “And I appreciate the way you explained it to my brother. That’s precisely the theory behind this campaign, by the way. Get people to exercise, then nature will handle the rest. Testimonials from happy customers who’ve seen results...even if it’s just because they, as you said, got up off their butts and made themselves exercise...stop drinking, stop smoking, eating better, etcetera...that’s going to be our next phase in the campaign. It’d be a shame if my dear brother gave up on us, just when things are starting to take off.”
After that, he launched into his idea to gain Zero’s further cooperation in helping him stage his own disappearance. She couldn’t know everything. That would be dangerous. But he knew now he could rely on her to aid him. Scanning Young-Min’s palm print: that’s where he planned on using her services next.
He told her to shadow Young-Min night and day—as much attention as she could devote to him. “Stay close to him, Zero,” he advised her, and Zero nodded obediently. “From here on out, watch where he goes, and who he talks to. Keep tabs on where he wanders about inside headquarters, too. And just in case you find yourself detained with other more pressing matters, I’ve looked into something else that might help you even when you can’t see what he’s up to.”
Kwang-Min logged into his computer again, and showed her the product he’d researched the evening before—the palm print duplication system.
“See this, Zero? This is a palm print scanner. The system is easy to use. Has a remote device for scanning a person’s palm print. Now, if you might recall, identical twins do not have identical fingerprints. Same DNA, but not the same palm print. Remember me telling you about this?”
Zero nodded, smiling as she looked at the pictures from the vendor’s macronet site. It was actually Young-Min who’d told her this, but why argue the point? This device she was looking at would be perfect for the job, she could already tell.
“Once we’ve scanned his palm...and by the way, please get it from him discreetly, however you need to go about things, I don’t care. Find him sleeping if you have to—whenever you might have occasion to do so, that is—and just place his hand on it. Activate the mechanism...wait a few seconds...then do the other hand for good measure. I’ll log it into my computer using the rest of the system, and voila, we’ll have a way of retracing wherever he’s been—and whatever he’s touched.”
Kwang-Min then got a grin on his face. “By the way, it won’t detect finger prints on bare skin, unfortunately,” he added playfully. “It only works on solid surfaces, it says.” Zero gulped, when she realized he might be referencing where he believed his twin brother’s hands might have been placed recently—and might be placed in the near future.
“Can you do that for me?” asked Kwang-Min Jo. Zero sat back in her chair and sighed, smiling confidently. “No problem boss. I’ll have it for you within a day. I’ll uh, stay close to him. He’s gotta sleep some time, you know?”
* * * *
Good old Zero. Always reliable. Always had been. Having delegated that little task to his trusted servant, Kwang-Min could now direct his attention to the next phase of his plan: staging his brother’s—that is his own—death. That likely wasn’t going to be terribly difficult. There were many people, especially in the Far East, who still wanted him dead. All they needed to know was where he was going to be and when—plus have just enough advanced notice to set up...an assassination attempt.
An hour after Zero left his office, Kwang-Min set himself to precisely that task. Setting up his brother to be bumped off while away on business would be easy—in Asia especially. There were entire organizations, run by fierce rivals of his, who’d literally leap at the chance. Now that he’d had a good night’s sleep, and a decent workout that morning to feel refreshed, he felt no remorse whatsoever for planning such an inauspicious fate for his handsome twin. Not anymore. Zero’s input about Young-Min’s comments only made it easier.
“Well,” he chuckled to himself, as he searched through Zero’s email for recent security alerts. “I guess, to be fair, he was all in—all inside Zero’s vagina yesterday afternoon that is. Comes back from space. Falls into this golden opportunity. Next thing you know he’s getting laid, thinks he’s got the girl...but the very moment he feels disillusioned with things, he’s ready to bolt...ready to run back to Space Programme where he feels important. On top of that, I bet he’s thinking he can take the slut with him.”
That of course hadn’t been stated, only implied, but Kwang-Min was already thinking that might be on his brother’s mind.
“It’s going to make things so much easier for me,” he said. Then he chuckled heartlessly as he sifted through a few notices of his old rivals’ recent movements, and where their operatives might be located in Shanghai. That’s where Zero and Young-Min were headed next. Only issue was what to do about Zero potentially getting caught in the crossfire.
“Those bastards back there in China. They don’t give a rat’s ass about collateral damage, not when they’re pursuing a target,” he muttered. This could very well mean Zero might get taken out right along with his brother. That would truly be unfortunate and he hated to think about such a thing. However, he had to admit, that would make things much cleaner in the aftermath.
“Of course, then again…dead men tell no tales, as they say,” he snickered to himself callously. He realized if she perished right along with Young-Min Jo, despite the tragedy of it all, this could only aid his cause. “No one left to shed any light on whose body they’re examining during the autopsy—especially if it’s burned badly enough.”
He’d known that fact for years: Fingerprints are not a viable option if the victim is charred beyond visual recognition. The only soluti
on then is either dental records—of which there’d be none on Young-Min anymore—and DNA samples. Those would match up squarely with Kwang-Min Jo. Case closed. They’d bury the body and no one would ever know a damn thing. Not with Zero dead as well.
“That settles it then. Too bad, Zero,” he said with a sigh. He gazed over at his fish tank again, and thought about what might happen to her in Shanghai if a rival gang staged a hit on his brother, thinking it was him. In fact, he sat for quite a while like that, staring at the exotic sea creatures floating or meandering about. It was time to face facts. Zero was only an asset, just like everything else in his world. A valuable one, sure, but a resource to be utilized as long as she was useful, nothing more.
Thus, the rest of his day, for the most part anyway, was spent figuring how to let his enemies in Shanghai know when and where Young-Min would be—and what vehicle they’d be riding in. With a little luck (and some skilled maneuvering behind the scenes), Kwang-Min anticipated he could easily get his rivals over there in China to handle the rest.
* * * *
It was now Friday; four days after Monika’s messages sent from Darmstadt. Shamiso and the Rudo Love Tour had arrived that morning in New York City—the newly relocated downtown that is—just to the west of the original site on Manhattan Island. Over the century, as the waters of the Hudson River encroached, skyscrapers, hotels, and apartment buildings had been dismantled and moved over to what used to be called “Jersey City”. And within decades, the city was a sprawling metropolis once again.
