WILL: A Wonderful World Part #16

Part 16: Little Lamb Billy

_{content warning: sexual harrassment}

[BGM: My Mexican Guitar Gently Weeps]

”Little Lamb Billy”

Hong Kong was a strange city. It was quite small, but it felt like such a big city.
While it was busy and rich there were also many poor people, including numerous homeless people wandering the streets.

I had hoped to go to America, but I ended up being kidnapped and brought to Hong Kong.
I didn't have any money on me.
I didn't know if I could even survive here, not to mention go to America.

I began to look at the hiring flyers on the walls.
Teamsters, engineers, masseurs... A lot of places were hiring, but I didn't know how to do any of the jobs.

But one day, I saw that there was a night club looking for a pub singer.

The club was called Melody Hall. It sat in the middle of the most popular location on Portland Street in Mong Kok.
The club was huge, and the guests were all dressed like royalty.

Everyone that came to audition for the job was sitting in the lobby, waiting for their turn.
Several middle-aged men were sitting below the stage, looking terribly bored.

I chose to sing one of my favorite songs when it was my turn.
It was a folk song from my hometown. It's called “Little Lamb Billy”.

After my parents had passed away, my brother and I were soon sent to the orphanage.
For a long time afterwards Carlos seemed to have shut down entirely.
He could sit there for an entire day without saying a single word.
He was only three.

There was nothing near the orphanage but hills and mountains.
I liked to take him hiking and would talk to him on top of the mountain, or sing to him.
We would stay there for a whole day sometimes.

However, he still wasn't talking.

One day, when I was singing, I suddenly thought to myself...
Was this going to last forever?
Would Carlos never ever talk to me again?
I had to stop the song. I couldn't stop myself from thinking depressing thoughts; I cried.

“Why are you crying, Alicia?”
Carlos was pulling on my arm, and I saw him looking at me with his clear eyes.

That day, he had finally returned to me.
The song I had been singing that day was “Little Lamb Billy”.

I stood in front of the elevator.
I was thinking about the song that I had just sang, and the days when we had lived in the orphanage.
I couldn't help but hum the song again.

I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder.
It was one of the men who had been sitting below the stage earlier.

“Miss, there is something that you should know.”
His eyes were almost shut as he smiled at me.

“It is quite a hassle to hire a foreigner like you who has no papers. You won't be able to find another job in all of Hong Kong. However, I think you are... really terrific. I would love to hire you, as long as you...”

As he was speaking, his hand was moving down from my shoulder along my back, and it kept moving down even further...

I was taken aback and tried to move away, but he grabbed my wrist.
I had never been in a situation like this in my entire life.
I was horrified.

I tried to shake him off with all my strength.
I scratched his face with my nails, leaving a red mark.

He felt his face with his hand as I was running away.
”You ungrateful little bitch! You people! Go grab her!”

I ran into a small alley and hid behind a dumpster.

After what seemed to be an eternity, I could no longer hear the people who were running after me.
I fell to the ground. I felt violated and ashamed. Tears were rushing out of my eyes, as if all of my suffering had come back to haunt me.
Carlos, I miss you so much.

Alicia

[BGM: Days Go By]

The Cargo Shorts and the Beach

I had been assigned here for a week.
For the past few days I had been trying to find an opportunity to write my transfer application and submit it to Lieutenant Kang.
Yet every time when I sat down and tried to fill out the form, Lieutenant Kang would throw a bunch of paperwork at me and make me file them.
It was almost like he knew what I was up to.

None of this made any sense, any sense at all!
As a police officer, shouldn't I be patrolling the city to stop crimes, and helping people with everything I had? Even be ready to sacrifice myself for justice at a moment's notice?

But this was so boring.
Thank God I could still sometimes chat with Officer Min-Jun, a more senior officer in Unit 4, or I would have exploded out of boredom by now.
Usually at this point, Min-Jun would say, “I'll lend you a grenade, then.”
Min-Jun liked making these kinds of morbid firearm jokes, although I rarely found them funny.

Life sucked...
I poured myself another glass and chugged it.

I was at a bar called “Crash”, where I would always come whenever I was feeling down.
Every day after midnight the bar would turn into a carnival.
But around sunset the atmosphere here was actually really nice, and it was the best time to come here and drink alone.

I was sitting by the window and staring at the street blankly.
Some words from the conversation at the next table suddenly caught my attention.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

A bald man in a Hawaiian shirt raised his bottle and said, “Bro, have you heard about what happened to Group Gangmun a few days ago?!”

His buddy, who was wearing a pair of beach shorts and sporting the most ridiculous hair style, laughed, “Of course! It's been heard all over our group, Yuseong. That was really brutal for them to blow off half the head of Choi Yo-Han's son. Only Kang Baek-Ya has the balls to do that.”

My ears perked up when I heard Lieutenant Kang's name out of the blue like that.

The bald man continued, “I think it was pretty rad! That bastard was always so fucking annoying. He would come to our turf all the time, looking for trouble, just because of his good old daddy.”

The crazy-haired guy interrupted him, “Shut the fuck up, you idiot. Don't let anyone hear you say that. You're gonna get Boss Joo into trouble.”

The bald man immediately concurred, “Oh sure, sure. By the way, I've also heard that... Choi Yo-Han is setting up a trap for Kang Baek-Ya... It is going to be epic... hahaha...”

The crazy-haired guy sounded surprised. “Hey, watch it! Don't get so close to me. Wait, what did you mean by setting up a trap?”

The bald man explained, “I heard that they had something on Kang Baek-Ya, and they'll use it to force him to turn himself over. You can guess what they're going to do to him next. I think it is supposed to be going down tonight, over at the warehouses by the port.”

The crazy-haired guy didn't seem like he was buying it. ”Really, you think that would work? Kang was tough enough to take out a whole team all on his own.”

The bald man got excited. “We'll find out. Apparently, they've prepared barrels and concrete, and I've heard something about some other 'big surprise'. Anyway, no matter which side loses, our Boss Joo will be happy either way! I bet he's been looking forward to this day for a long time, hahaha!”

I sobered up completely. I quickly checked my cellphone.
It was 9 PM.

Now that I thought about it, Lieutenant Kang had gotten a delivery earlier today, and he had left the office soon afterwards.
Did the delivery have anything to do with the trap?

I knew I didn't quite get along with Lieutenant Kang.
But no matter what, he was on the side of justice.
Now that I knew he was in danger, there was no way I could just sit aside and let it happen!

I sneaked into the bathroom and immediately called the lieutenant.
Nobody picked up.
I then called the police station.
Someone told me that nobody from Unit 4 was available.

I had a really bad feeling.
If I didn't get in touch with the lieutenant as soon as possible...

The door opened and a person walked out.
My reaction had been slowed down because of the alcohol.

The young man who had just come out of the stall grabbed me by the hair and slammed me into the mirror above the sinks.
“Clink!” The mirror was smashed, and there was broken glass all over the ground.

Just before I passed out I heard someone say,
“You dirty cop, are you trying to snitch on our own turf? Screw you!”

When I woke up I found myself lying in a big, empty warehouse.
The gate was locked from the outside. I could see the evening stars through the windows high above the wall.
Oh man, how long had I been out for?
Was Lieutenant Kang already at the port?

Chang Gyeong-Min

The game decided to throw us a bone and give us a pretty straightforward section this time around.

There's only so many ways this can really shake out, so let's go ahead and start with the worst outcomes and go up from there.

My reaction had been slowed down because of the alcohol.
The young man who had just come out of the stall snatched my phone out of my hand.
I was about to take it back when I felt my hair get pulled from behind, along with something sharp and cold on my neck.

“Don't move... Don't make any sounds... Otherwise... You know the deal...”

The voice sounded extremely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

They blindfolded me and I felt myself being led outside the bar.
I felt myself being thrown into a vehicle. Then I passed out as soon as I smelled something strange.

When I woke up I found myself lying in a big, empty warehouse.
The gate was locked from the outside. I could see the evening stars through the windows high above the wall.
Oh man, how long had I been out for?
Was Lieutenant Kang already at the port?

[BGM: My Mexican Guitar Gently Weeps]

A few days later, I came back to Melody Hall.
They had put a list of the people who had been hired up at the entrance. My name wasn't on it.

I hadn't eaten anything in two days. My stomach didn't even have the energy to rumble any more.
I dragged my drained body with me, wandering along the Hong Kong streets like a ghost, and kept looking for a job.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

And another one for Chang, if you switch the order of the cards, will let us see who came up behind him...

I turned around. It was Officer Min-Jun!
“Thank God you are here...”

Before I could finish my sentence, the young man who had just come out of the stall had sneaked up behind me.
He grabbed me by my hair and slammed me into the mirror above the sinks.
“Clink!” The mirror was smashed and there was broken glass all over the ground.

Just before I passed out I heard someone saying,
“You dirty cop, are you trying to snitch on our own turf? Screw you!”

I could still see Officer Min-Jun out of the corner of my eye.
He was standing in the bathroom next to me, and he just stared at me without any expression on his face.

When I woke up I found myself lying in a big, empty warehouse.
The gate was locked from the outside. I could see the evening stars through the windows high above the wall.
Office Min-Jun wasn't here with me.

Why hadn't he helped me?
I reached into my pocket, hoping to check the time on my phone.
But it wasn't on me. It had probably been taken away by someone.
Damn it!
Was Lieutenant Kang already at the port?

This, potentially, adds another layer to the hostage situation Kang was involved with earlier, and how that ended up "resolving"...

There's a pair of endings that aren't bad, but also aren't S endings, so let's get those out of the way here.

I turned around. It was Officer Min-Jun.
“Thank God you are here, sir!”

Min-Jun seemed shocked after I told him about what I had just heard outside.
He said the lieutenant might still be at his own place.
It wasn't too far from here. We should hurry over and see if we could catch him in time.

With Min-Jun leading the way we were running as fast as we could towards Lieutenant Kang's home.
Then we came across a small, dark alley without any lights.

Min-Jun seemed to be out of breath and he slowed down.
He pointed at the two-story apartment building not too far in front of us and told me that it was the lieutenant's building.
I decided to keep going ahead.

But before I could run more than a few steps, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of my head.
I felt dizzy and lost my balance. I couldn't even see the road any more.
I fell to the ground and blacked out.

When I woke up it was almost daylight.
Officer Min-Jun was lying next to me.
Neither of us seemed to have our wallets.

Oh man, how could this happen?!
Was Lieutenant Kang already...

[BGM: My Mexican Guitar Gently Weeps]

Someone unusually tall had just walked out of the elevator wearing an even more unusual ensemble.
A pair of red high heels, a pair of tight leather pants, a lavish fur coat...
I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

I walked past this person into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.
The person kept walking into the lobby.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

Wow, what a strange coincidence that Chang would get knocked out and then robbed! And that Officer Min-Jun also got knocked out and was next to him all night! It's a good thing nothing bad happened while Chang was unconscious!

In any case, here's the real solution for both of them- obviously we want both pieces on Alicia's side, so that nothing interferes with Chang's attempts to get help, but we also want to make sure that the unusual person appears WHILE the sleazy old guy is harassing her...

I checked the time again. It was already 9:30 PM.
It wasn't safe to go straight to the port, as I didn't know how many people the enemy had.

I hadn't received my weapon yet, as this was only my first week. It wouldn't be terribly useful for me personally, but it would still be better than nothing.
I should at least go back to the station and check out a gun. Perhaps I could even find some back-up.
I hoped I could make it in time.

[BGM: Evolving Mood]

I left the bar.
A cold breeze blew over my face. I shuddered and felt myself sobering up a little more.
I hailed a cab.
I kept urging the driver to speed up. In the end, it took me 30 minutes to arrive rather than the usual 60.

“Barf...”

As soon as I opened the door, I threw up all over the ground.
The old driver looked at me emotionlessly and handed me the bill and a napkin.

“I just ran through three red lights for you. I'll give you a discount for being a police officer.”

[BGM: My Mexican Guitar Gently Weeps]

“Miss, there is something that you should know.”

One of the men who had been sitting below the stage earlier tapped on my shoulder.
His eyes were almost shut as he smiled at me.

“It is quite a hassle to hire a foreigner like you who has no papers. You won't be able to find another job in all of Hong Kong. However, I think you are... really terrific. I would love to hire you, as long as you...”

As he was speaking, his hand was moving down from my shoulder along my back, and it kept moving down even further...

I was taken aback and tried to move away, but he grabbed my wrist.
I had never been in a situation like this in my entire life.
I was horrified.

I tried to shake him off with all my strength.
I scratched his face with my nails, leaving a red mark.

He felt his face with his hand as I was running away.
”You ungrateful little bitch! You...”

[BGM: A Mexican Girl]

“Hey! That was embarrassing~”

Someone who had just got out of the elevator stood in front of me.
A pair of red high heels, a pair of tight leather pants, a lavish fur coat...
If it weren't for the voice, no one would have guessed that it was a man wearing them if they saw them from behind.

“For the manager of Melody Hall to dare do something like this in public. What would your big boss say if he heard about this? Hmm?”

“Fine. Just not my lucky day, then!”
The manager shot me a stern look, turned around, and walked back into the lobby.

The cross-dressing man turned to me, smiling wildly.
“Hello, pretty little girl. Would you like to go get a drink at my place?”

[BGM: Cat Pound]

Cough! Cough, cough! Hmm!

(Deep breath...) You ask me... you ask me~ How deeply~ I love you...

What on earth are you doing?

I'm singing...

Huh? I didn't know you sing... What is the name of the song?

'The Moon Represents My Heart.'

(Hmm? How does she still know this song? I thought I had...)

What are you mumbling about?

Hahaha, I mean, of course! This song... everyone in China knows this song.

Why are you suddenly in the mood to sing?

When I read Alicia's story about her singing, all of a sudden a lot of music just popped into my head out of nowhere.

So I was thinking...

Maybe I was a singer before I died?

Before... before you died?

I've heard stories of how some people become gods when they die with unfulfilled wishes. That must be why I know these songs, right?

(Aren't those usually ghost stories, not “god" stories...?)

Although, if that had been the case, wouldn't my power have something to do with singing?

What do you mean?

For example, what if my singing has healing powers? Or maybe my song can bring peace to people at war.

(How imaginative...)

We have been alive for a long time; there is nothing strange about us knowing some songs. Gods are supposed to know everything. If it weren't for your memory loss I'm sure you would remember even more.

Well... that makes sense...

I guess I was never a singer... Now I feel sad...

I didn't know you wanted to be a singer so much...

Look, I made you some osmanthus cake.

Wow!

(Hmm, nothing's more powerful than sweets.)

Enjoy the cake. Remember to do your work after you finish your snack. I'll see you later.

Wait! I haven't heard you sing yet.

Before you go, sing me something, haha.

(Sternly) I, will, not.

(Mumbles with mouth stuffed) You are my serbant! You cannot zay no to my reqwuest!

No, no, no... As your servant, my duty is to supervise your work, and saying no to you is one of my rights.

...

Well then, what if I serve you some tea?

I made the tea...

How about I wash your feet?

I just washed them myself.

Well... would you like me to brush your fur?

What would you like to hear? Name it!

(Your face looks almost twisted...)

Well... Let me think...

'I Only Care About You'.

These are all songs by Teresa Teng. Why wouldn't you pick something more exciting, more hardcore? To be fair, you've liked her music ever since you were little...

Since I was little?

Oh no. I mean, you have always liked her music.

Anyway, I happen to know this one. Listen up, I'm going to sing now.

If I never met you~ where would I be? My darling~ Can you hear me~ Please don't leave me~ Without you nearby, I no longer feel love in the slightest...

What do you think? (Satisfied)

…

I've been curious, why is it that the only sound we make when we talk is a single 'beep'? Even the tone is always the same.

Even when we were singing, it was nothing more than some rhythmic beeping.

(You are only now noticing that?)

:allears:

Well, we are gods, after all, not humans. We have our own unique qualities; we should focus on them. Speaking of which, how's work been recently?

Oh, it's been going pretty well. My only complaint is that there are so many letters. I've been pulling a lot of all-nighters to finish them.

You don't have to work that hard...

We are not on the same timeline as the humans. It doesn't really matter to them when we handle their letters. The most important thing about being a god is to enjoy yourself.

That's okay. I am enjoying myself! It feels so great to be able to help people. I am really happy.

Okay, then... as long as you are happy.