The house was too quiet.
Salin threw himself onto the couch, still wearing his clothes from earlier. Didn't even take off his jacket. The weight of what he'd done hung in the air, but it didn't crush him. It was like a lingering smell on the walls, like old cigarette smoke: there, annoying, but familiar.
He wasn't sorry. Just... scared of himself.
He actually did it. On purpose. To torture.
Before, he only did that to cause non-lethal damage, enough to keep the enemy from coming after him. But now? He did it to torture.
The phone buzzed on the table. Screen lit up. A familiar name.
Jun-ho.
Salin answered on the third ring, no rush.
— Hello?
"You alone?" The voice came quieter than usual. That low-key worried tone only Jun-ho had.
— Yeah. The house is... quiet.
Short pause. Noise in the background on Jun-ho's side. Car maybe. People.
"The word's already out here." Jun-ho said bluntly. "The council's pissed as hell about what you did."
Salin gave a dry laugh.
