Page 26 of Lay It Bare

“Why?”

“They’re not going back to BBB3, their old management company. The owner is Merchari and tried to sell Jun.”

Lisa grimaced. Rei shrugged and pushed on. “That’s Jaewoong, the second youngest. Lead rapper. He’s good.” He tapped the space by Jaewoong’s face. He had rounder features than the rest of the group. Where Jun, Geun, and Yoihei had the corner market on long and lean, Jaewoong had all the signs of someone who could have become a bodybuilder if he wanted. His shoulders were softened with muscles, and his thighs were the largest in the photo.

“And that one?” Lisa pointed to the member standing to Jun’s left.

“Geun. Officially lead dancer. They all do everything, though.”

Lisa had been moving subtly closer as they both looked at the photo. They were lying side by side now.

“Do you wish you were with them now?”

“I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”

“Even if you were free?”

Rei touched his face, the motion reflecting in the dark parts of the photo for Lisa to see. He swiped the screen to another photo, this one of Geun doing handstands on a porch. “Those aren’t questions that are good to ask.”

“I can’t seem to stop asking them. There’s nothing for me to go back to.”

“You said there were horses.”

“The farm I was raised on, after I was adopted. There’s nothing for me there. I left for reasons.”

Reasons. Lisa’s voice brooked no questions.

“Where did you go?”

“The closest big city. I got training, was a paramedic. It was good, for a little while.”

“You liked it?”

Lisa nodded. “What’s there not to like? Saving people. Being the hero.”

Rei turned his head, giving Lisa a look of quasi disbelief. There was something off in Lisa’s tone. “Would you do it again? Since you’re trained.”

Lisa shrugged. “Did you always want to be an idol?”

Rei stretched his arm up in the air, fanning out his fingers. “I always wanted to dance. My mother was a dancer. She told me to do well in school, do anything other than dance. But it was all I wanted. You have to be beautiful to dance.”

“You are beautiful.”

Rei turned towards Lisa. There was an ocean of calm in the other slave’s face. Lisa reached out and touched the scars on Rei’s cheeks, the slightly melted flat places, the red marks down the side of his neck. Plastic surgery, laser treatments, and more had softened what had once been raw open wounds. The initial scars had been large and dark, the skin resistant to expression. Sometimes those first marks were still visible, even in the mirror, stronger than the present reality. The worst was on the back of his upper arm and across his shoulder, where Lisa couldn’t see it.

“Everyone has different faces,” Lisa said. “This is yours.”

“It doesn’t make it beautiful.”

“You could dance with makeup.”

Rei shook his head. “We both know that's impossible.”

Lisa sighed and looked away. Then he looked back. He put his hand on Rei’s thigh. Rei covered Lisa’s hand with his own. They were in dangerous territory, thinking about futures that couldn’t happen. Perhaps they were both flirting with the end.

“Would it be so terrible if I just stayed here?” Lisa whispered. “Right here. Until it ends.” His lips curved up a little, but his eyes were a mix of longing and sadness. “It wouldn’t be that long. I only have a month or so until I have to see Alexi again, or the chip takes me out.”

“Cut the chip out,” Rei whispered. He swallowed, frightened by his courage. “Then you can talk about a future again.”