But the
hiroppong
gave out soon after she reached the alley shop. She came crashing down from her high all at once, and all the darkness of her life closed in around her. She felt like weeping, but she was too tired for even that. She was no longer immortal or beautiful. She hated her loathsome, ugly self.
Somehow she made it through the cleaning shift, but then fell into a deep sleep. Her friends could not wake her for night work. Fortunately Mr. Choy was not on site that evening, and the technicians took pity on her by allowing her to rest. When Il-sun came to, their neighbor was knocking on the door for cleaning duty the next day. She got out of bed with a terrible headache and overwhelming thirst. She hurt all over. She remembered being violated by Mr. Choy and she seethed with anger and embarrassment. Her skin still stung where he had struck her. Her throat was sore where he had throttled her. Her vagina ached. She felt dirty inside and out.
Cho and Gyong-ho stared at her wide-eyed. She was bruised in the places where she had been hit, and there was a red and black ring around her neck. They asked her what happened, but she did not feel like talking about it. She was hungry, but all she really wanted was more of Susie’s
hiroppong
. She needed to feel that way again.
55
G
YONG
-
HO
WAS
LYING
ON
her side, facing Il-sun’s back, watching her shoulder rise and fall with her breath, counting. Could she dare touch her again? This time the urge to do so was not entirely selfish: Il-sun looked in terrible shape, and Gi longed to offer comfort. Il-sun was beaten and bruised, and even though her body was filling in quickly from three weeks—twenty-four days, by her count—of better nutrition, she appeared to be deflating. Something of her essence was draining out of her, leaving her hollow. Gi once again felt a stirring fury, like when Foreman Hwang had told her he was going to marry her, and was once again disappointed that such a strong emotion—like her love—could be so useless. There was nothing she could do about it. Her greatest fear was not of the damage that this life could inflict on her, but for what it could do to Il-sun. If Il-sun lost the power to attract sunlight, then there would be no light left for Gi—the sun did not shine for her.
Gi waited until she was almost choking before getting up to spit. It seemed that the substance of her blood was slowly being replaced by something thicker, each day she worked behind the curtain. If she spit enough, maybe her veins would not solidify with it. And spitting was the only outlet for her anger. She spit, not only to clear her blood, but also to spit
on
something. She wished it could be Mr. Lee or Mr. Choy, but she would never dare. Between breath six hundred eighty-one and breath six hundred eighty-two she fell asleep.
The next morning, they performed their cleaning routine as normal, and then went back to the apartment to get ready for night work. Jasmine was still in the habit of coming to help them get ready, even though they did not really need the assistance anymore. She enjoyed their company. When Jasmine saw what Mr. Choy had done, and once she had drawn the story out of Il-sun, she fumed.
“He seems to be getting worse all the time,” she said. “When I first started working for him, he never lost his temper. He was always a cool manipulator, not an outright bully. Mr. Lee, on the other hand, isn’t above hitting a woman, but Mr. Choy would never do that. Now he flies into a rage at the littlest thing. It’s like he can’t control himself, and he’s always high.” She paused thoughtfully, looking out the window, and then added, “There has to be a way out.”
“What can we do? I don’t think I can carry on,” said Il-sun. “I don’t want to do it anymore. I just want to go home.”
Jasmine sighed, then hoisted a stiff smile to her lips. “Let’s see what we can do about those bruises,” she said to Il-sun, reaching for the makeup.
56
T
HE
NEXT
NIGHT
,
J
ASMINE
burst into the apartment and closed the door behind her. Gi was accustomed to seeing her in the evenings, but tonight she could tell that something was different. Jasmine called them into the living room, and they gathered on Cho’s futon.
“I’m getting us out of here,” Jasmine said, in a whisper.
“
What?
How?” asked Il-sun.
“I’ve been chatting online with a man from Kwangju, one of my regular Internet clients. He has offered to marry me.”
“But what does that have to do with us?” asked Cho.
“I agreed to marry him if my mother and sisters could live with us. You’re my sisters!”
“What about Mr. Choy?” asked Il-sun. “How can we leave? We’re guarded all the time.”
“I have a plan, but before I tell you, I need to know that you’re willing to take a risk. Will you leave with me?”
“I’m not sure,” said Cho. “We have been here for almost a month and I have been working really hard. I must be getting close to paying off Mr. Choy, and then he’ll help me get papers and start paying me real money. Who’s to say if Kwangju will be better?”
“Look, I didn’t want to tell you before because I didn’t want you to get discouraged, but Mr. Choy is never going to help you get papers. He isn’t keeping track of any tab because he has no intention of ever letting you go. I have seen a lot of
Chosun
girls come and go, and none of them have ever been allowed to go free. Honestly, I think he sells off the ones who don’t earn well.” Jasmine lowered her head, and then said, in a barely audible whisper, “I have seen this happen too many times without doing anything about it. I can’t live with it anymore.”
“But he said—” Cho began, defensively, but stopped herself. “I was wondering about that,” she continued in a low, defeated voice. She sighed heavily. “Okay. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“Me, too,” said Il-sun. “I can’t keep doing this.”
“Gi?” asked Jasmine. All eyes turned to Gyong-ho, who did not speak right away. Her life in Mr. Choy’s empire was unbearable, but facing even more uncertainty might push her past the breaking point. At least she knew, more or less, what to expect where she was. This was not the kind of decision that growing up in
Chosun
prepared her for. Where was the wisdom of the Dear Leader to guide her?
“Gi, we can’t leave without you,” said Il-sun. Then she added, “I don’t want to lose you.”
That was the one thing that Gi needed to hear, and it propped her against her fear. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go.”
“So what’s the plan?” asked Cho.
“As soon as you come back from cleaning tomorrow, one of you will go into the restroom and wait there for me. I will come up right after you’re done with the cleaning—that’s when there’s the least activity in the building. Razor will be at the gate, and I’ve seen how he looks at me. He sits there bored all day, and I know he wouldn’t mind getting laid. I’ll come to the gate and seduce him. He’ll let me in, and I will take him to the restroom and let him have his way. When we get into the restroom, whoever is in there will leave and let the others out of the apartment. Then all of you will go out the gate and down to the street level.”
“What if Razor locks the gate after you come in?” Il-sun asked.
“I won’t give him the chance. As soon as he opens the door, I’ll be on him, kissing him and squeezing his ass. He won’t be able to think straight. It should work just fine; but if it doesn’t, then . . .” Jasmine swallowed, then cleared her throat. She did not want to say the next part, but she had to. “Whatever the outcome, I have to be on that bus to Kwangju. My mom is already on her way.” She looked down with a guilty look, but she did not linger on it. “You need a code to get out the front door. The code is thirty-seven thirteen. That’s three, seven, one, three. Then you hit the Pound button. That’s the one that looks like this,” she said, drawing a pound sign on the window with her fingertip. “The door will make a buzzing sound when it unlocks. As soon as you’re out the door, turn left and run to the next block. From there, turn left. Walk two-and-a-half blocks, and you will see an alley across the street on the right. Go down the alley to the little noodle shop. Wait there for me. Any questions?”
“Where will we go from the noodle shop?” asked Cho.
“From there we will walk together to the bus station—about fifteen blocks. Our bus for Kwangju leaves at nine, which should give us plenty of time. Agreed?”
“What will happen to us if we get caught?” asked Gi.
“Let’s not think about it,” said Jasmine.
57
C
HO
DID
HER
NIGHT
work with a knot in her stomach, but with proud resolve knowing that she was taking an active step to escape her captivity. It was much easier to put up with the work knowing that it was her last night on the job. She slept fitfully when she got home, trying not to think of all the things that could go wrong with the plan. It seemed far-fetched and cobbled together. There was no way to know for sure what would happen, in the end.
The morning came all too slowly. Their neighbor arrived at the usual time and the women went off to clean the building. Cho felt a twinge of guilt knowing that they were escaping, leaving the young woman behind with Mr. Choy. She would have to fend for herself. The day would not go quickly enough, even though she dreaded the danger of escaping. She wanted to get it over with.
When the women finally climbed the stairs at the end of the day, they were met with a shock—it was not Razor at the gate, but one of the other bouncers. He was older and, by appearances, less gullible. He was one of Mr. Lee’s bullying friends, and all the women feared him. Already it was not going according to plan. The women looked at each other with uncertainty as they were let in. Did this mean that the plan was off? Cho decided to play her part through and went directly to the restroom to wait for Jasmine.
She sat in one of the stalls for what felt like an endless quarter hour. The door swung open and someone walked inside, but it was only one of the other women who lived on the floor. She came and went. Cho continued to wait. After another quarter hour, the door opened again, but it was only the bouncer, without Jasmine.
“What’s taking you so long?” he said in a gruff voice.
“Some things just can’t be rushed,” Cho replied, trying to sound sweet. Her heart was beating in her throat. He closed the door and his footsteps receded down the hall.
Cho was becoming quite anxious and, after several more minutes, decided to peek into the hallway. She opened the restroom door a crack and peered to the end of the hall. Jasmine was standing at the top of the stairs. She was dressed to seduce—in a miniskirt, a low-cut blouse, and strappy stiletto heels. Cho saw the shock register on her face as she realized that the man behind the gate was not Razor.
“Oh, hi. Where’s Razor? He’s usually minding this floor,” said Jasmine with a slight quake in her voice.
“Day off,” replied the bouncer.
“Well, I can’t say that I’m upset by it. You’re awfully handsome,” she said, recovering herself quickly. “You know, I’ve had my eye on you for some time.”
Cho was relieved—Jasmine was still going forward with the plan.
The bouncer either grunted in response, or mumbled something that Cho could not hear.
“I’ll bet all the girls try to go home with you,” Jasmine said, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously.
“I’m married,” he responded. It sounded more like a command. A command to leave him alone. Cho felt her heart sink. It wasn’t working. But Jasmine was not so easily deterred.
“Well, she sure is a lucky woman. I’ll bet you please her all night long,” she said, reaching between the bars of the gate to run her finger down his chest. “I wish someone would please me all night long.” Her voice was syrup. Cho could not see what effect it was having on him.
“I told you, I’m married,” he said again. It sounded like he was beginning to weaken, but perhaps Cho was only imagining it.
Jasmine pulled her hand back quickly with a hurt look in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” Her voice was suddenly cold and injured. Cho admired Jasmine’s subtlety. Now the bouncer felt like he had to apologize for something, even though he did not know why. He was flustered, losing his edge of gruffness.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s just that, a girl like me doesn’t get many chances to have a strong, handsome man like you. You’re a great lover. A girl can tell these things, you know, just by looking at a man. I haven’t been pleased by a real man for such a long time . . .” Jasmine let the thought trail as she offered a steamy look through the bars. “Maybe you could let me in and we could . . .” She allowed that thought to trail also.
The bouncer unlocked the gate. It was working! They were going to escape! Jasmine charged inside, causing the bouncer to step back. She put her arms around him and kissed him hungrily on the lips. He kissed back. She pressed herself into him, grinding with her hips, pushing him away from the gate. “I’m so hot for you,” she said. “I want you so badly.” She put one of her hands on his buttocks and squeezed. “Take me right now,” she commanded. The bouncer started unfastening his belt. “No, not here,” she said. “Someone might see.”