Page 82

By the time I reached the minibus, I could see Ace slumped against the tyre, clearly half-asleep. The group around him were mostly women, hovering, and chattering with the excited energy of a group of people doing something they knew they shouldn’t.

“Guys, leave him alone,” one of them said half-heartedly.

“I just want a selfie” another woman whined, already kneeling down beside him and pulling a phone out.

I pushed through the group and stepped between her and Ace.

“Back off,” I barked. “Now.”

“Yo! Chill out,” the selfie-woman laughed, getting to her feet. “We were just making sure he was okay.”

“Great,” I said tightly. “I’m here now. You can go.”

“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but you don’t get to tell me what to do,” the selfie woman scoffed.

I pulled out my press pass and held it up, flashing it quickly enough that no one could read the details.

“I’m with his company,” I said. Not entirely a lie. “You’re filming him without consent, and he has a reasonable right to privacy–”

“Not in public, lady,” she interrupted me, giving me the curious urge to bare my teeth at her. I refrained. Just.

“He’s clearly not well, and you’re filming him without consent,” I repeated slowly, “and we are in a privately owned car park. Notice the ‘do not trespass’ signs.” I pointed to the wall of the club, where there were, indeed, several signs warning that trespassers would be prosecuted. I lifted my phone and started recording, moving it slowly enough to catch their faces. “So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to delete anything you took, and you’re going to leave before security gets here.”

The woman with the phone narrowed her eyes. I held her stare.

“If you post anything, you will be sued.” I put my phone back in my pocket. “Now, fuck off.”

There were a few grumbles, someone flipped me off, but one by one they backed away, drifting towards the barrier that separated the car park from the street.

The moment they were far enough away, I dropped to my knees beside Ace.

“Ace.” I shook his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

His eyes opened, unfocused, and he grinned at me.

“Noona,” he slurred, “you rescued me.”

“Are you hurt?” I checked him over, but I couldn’t see any injuries.

“Sleepy,” he whined. “I wanted to sleep in the bus. But it’s locked.”

“So you decided to sleep on the ground?”

He shrugged, unconcerned.

Running footsteps sounded behind me, and I looked up as Minjae reached us first, closely followed by Youngsoo, and a member of security. Minjae dropped down next to me.

“Is he okay?” He ran his hands over Ace, who tried to shove him away, muttering incoherently.

“He says he wanted to sleep in the bus, but it was locked,” I said, shifting away to give him space.

“Sleep?” Minjae repeated, incredulous. He exhaled heavily, shaking his head.

“Noona saved me,” Ace muttered, opening his eyes to stare at me.

Minjae shot me a look, and I got to my feet.

“What happened?” Youngsoo asked.