ONE WEEK LATER

I sat in the shade of a huge aspen tree as I waited.

The pea soup in my flask had cooled down and congealed hours before, but I drank it anyway. The only sound was the wet squelch as the thick green gelatinous substance fell from the flask into my waiting mouth. A blob of green mulch falls onto my overalls, and I wipe it up with my thumb before sucking it off my finger.

** If Seo-yun saw you right now she’d be so disgusted**

I try to ignore Brendon as I twist the cap of my flask closed. He doesn’t let me and speaks louder.

**YOU’RE SO DISGUSTING. SHE’D NEVER GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO GET CLOSE TO HER. YOU’LL NEVER GET TO KNOW HER BETTER.**

“Shut up. You don’t know anything.”

**Ohh, now you respond? Do you want to know how to get her to notice you?**

I try not to respond, but the words are out of my mouth before I’ve registered them. “How? What do I have to do?” I ask, my voice the only sound breaking the night besides the crickets.

**Her brother.**

“What about him? Should I ask him for permission before I approach his sister?” That doesn’t seem like a bad plan.

**Hehehe. No, you fool. He loves his sister too much to let her fraternise with a loser like you. That’s why he is a problem. If you don’t get past him, there is no way you will succeed in getting to his sister. Hehehe.**

The high frequency of his laughter grates at my nerves. I say nothing. He only laughs like that when he wants to annoy me. Unsurprisingly it always works.

“What then?” I force myself to ask. I know that I won’t like what he says next.

**Her brother goes to sleep around two in the morning. He usually stays up late working on his laptop. Hee hee hee.**

Brendon pauses, breaking off his chuckle abruptly. I know he wants me to comment but I don’t. He always plays me like this, leading me with his words until I’m trapped and say something I never meant to.

**When he is done, he checks to make sure the front door and the balcony door are locked.**

I wait. Silent. Patient.

He continues.

**Did you notice that the balconies in that block of flats are less than a meter apart?**

I nod. He continues.

**The apartment to the left of theirs is empty.**

I wait, mouth dry. This time he takes his time before continuing.

**You will break into it.**

I cover my ears, wanting him to stop.

**Wait on the balcony.**

“Stop. I don’t want to hear any more!” I bend over, placing my head between my knees and covering my head with my arms.

Brendon doesn’t stop.

**At around two o' clock at night he’ll step out onto their balcony. You’ll have to have jumped across onto their balcony at the right time, so that you’re there when he exits. Not too early or else you’ll be caught.**

I hum out a nursery rhyme, trying to drown him out.

He continues on as if I’m listening with rapt attention. I’m not.

**You’ll have to be quick. He can’t see you hiding on his balcony.**

I repeat the rhyme again, over and over.

**Remember that knife you bought last time? You’ve never had a chance to use it yet.**

My heart is a racehorse in my chest.

**You can’t make it too bloody, otherwise someone might notice before you’re ready. You don’t want Seo-yun to be sad before you’re ready for her , now do you?**

I shake my head, no. He chuckles before continuing

**You’ll come up to him silently from behind.**

I hold my breath, nursery rhyme momentarily forgotten.

**You’ll take that sleek, sharp knife.**

My mouth waters in anticipation.

**You’ll slide that knife fast, but gently in.**

“Where? Where do I put it in?” My voice trembles with barely restrained excitement. I giggle and decide not to guess as I wait for Brendon to reply.

**Why, between his fifth and sixth vertebrae of course!**

I smile as I picture it.

**His body will immediately go limp, so you have to be ready.**

“I know! I know! I won’t let him fall.” I can’t keep myself from shouting out loud. A few students coming from the cafeteria hear me and immediately look away when they meet my eyes, their steps quickening as they walk away.

**Yes. You have to catch his body.**

I laugh out loud as I imagine the feeling of his body in my arms. His huge frame slowly losing warmth as the most important connection in his body is cut off.

As I’m laughing I notice her enter the cafeteria. Right on time.

Brendon sees her too, and then he whispers a few lines from the nursery rhyme I’d been humming. I can’t help but join in.

“All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men.”

**Couldn’t put Jin-ny together again.**