"Dressing Zico"

The next morning, I watched Zico sleep for a long time. He was so beautiful when he slept. So peaceful. The pain was gone for a blissful few hours as well as the heavy burden of the fame that he carried everyday. I silently got out of bed and left the room. I needed to shower and change clothes and I thought today was a good day to get Zico out of this hotel. We could go eat and maybe just walk around. As long as we were outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I also thought it might be good for him to do some kind of work. Work can be a good distraction.
I got into the elevator and hoped it wouldn’t wake him. My room was just outside of the elevator and I expected to see Marco standing in the hallway since he couldn’t get back into Zico’s room but he wasn’t. Maybe he was still asleep. There was a man and woman standing a little ways from my door which I thought was odd since I thought I was the only one on this floor. I also didn’t recognize them but Zico had so many people working for him that it wasn’t that strange.
I didn’t want to sneak up on Marco and catch him unawares or, heaven-forbid, naked so I yelled “Marco” through the door and listened. The couple gave me a strange look and I smiled at them. I heard a soft sleepy “Polo” and I knew he had been asleep. I put the keycard in the door and waited for the lights to turn green when I felt something poke me in the back and heard two creepy clicks. The couple were now standing behind me. The woman wrapped her hand into my hair and pulled my head back. She whispered into my ear, “You need to come with us honey. And be very quiet or my friend here is going to put two bullets into you.” She licked the inside of my ear and I shivered.
I felt cold chills running through me and my stomach felt sick. I left the keycard in the door and turned around. The woman put her arm around my waist and started walking me down the hallway while the man kept the gun jammed into my back and walked closely behind us. My mind began racing. I thought of the death threats and how I had shrugged them off. I thought of Marco asleep and unaware that anything was wrong. Then I thought of Zico. Strange but I the thought that came to my mind was that he would blame himself when he had done everything in his power to protect me.
Instead of taking the elevator, the woman led me to the stairs. I had been hoping someone would see us and know something was wrong but no one took the stairs. Three floors down, we went back into the hotel and took the elevator. On the fifth floor, Mya the makeup girl got on and smiled at me. She gave us a strange look but otherwise didn’t say anything. She was the last person I saw before I was walked outside and forced into a car. I hope Mya got a good look at these two.
In the car, the girl drove while the man sat beside me, holding the gun against my side. He kept calling her Red which I thought was strange since she was a bleach blonde. His name was Jack.Jack the Ripper? Jack the Raper? Jack the Killer?
After just a few miles, we turned up a small alley street between two obscure buildings and it led to a dirt road. We traveled another mile when she pulled over and they told me to get out. I started to feel panicked. Are they just going to shoot me and leave me here? I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and I stumbled when I got out of the car. Jack immediately shoved me hard up against the car. I wished that I had worn pants. My skirt kept blowing up in the strong wind and I felt completely vulnerable.
Red came up behind me and pushed her body against mine, pulling my head back again. “She’s such a pretty little thing,” she said and slowly licked my cheek. “But not pretty enough for Jiho. He needs a real woman.” She wrapped a cloth around my eyes and tied it tight. My hair got caught in the tie.
“Don’t call him that,” I said.
“What? Did you say something honey?” asked Red.
“I said, YOU don’t get to call him that. He’s Zico to you.” On top of being afraid, I was also getting angry.
She laughed a tinkly witch laugh. “Jack, give me the gun and you tie her hands. I can’t get them tight enough. Cut off the bitch’s circulation if you have to.” She moved away from me and Jack grabbed my wrists. He pulled my arms back and wrapped plastic handcuff strips around my wrists. They cut into me. Then he wrapped them in duct tape. My arms already began to ache. He reached around and squeezed my left breast. I wiggled out of his grasp.
“Ooo, a squirmer. I can get into that,” he said as he pushed his arousal against my backside. I REALLY didn’t want to be raped before I was shot.
Jack didn’t move away from me but Red told me to open my mouth and she stuffed something silky between my barely open lips. Then Jack put duct tape over my mouth and finally moved away from me. “Put her in the trunk,” I heard Red say and I started to panic again. I had a severe case of claustrophobia. Just being tied up this tight made me want to scream. In the trunk I would wish I was dead.
Jack picked me up and I heard the trunk pop open. He wasn’t gentle when he dropped me inside and slammed it shut. My mind started to work as I heard them get in and start the car. I could smell exhaust and I knew that if the trip was too long, I was going to be in big trouble. Like I’m not anyway! I also knew that some cars had an escape pull but this was an older car and probably didn’t have one. I tried my best to feel around for one but with no luck. The next best thing was to push the lights out and put your arm through. My arm was out of the question but I might be able to use my foot. We kept hitting holes in the road and I kept bouncing hard against something metal. I was having a hard enough time breathing and not freaking out without dealing with a concussion too.
I felt around with my foot and found the light. I kicked as hard as I could and I heard a crack. I waited to see if the car would stop but they didn’t seem to have noticed. I kicked again and I felt the light give. I tried with everything I had to push my foot through but there was only a tiny hole in the metal and it was no use. My only hope was that the light was hanging out and a cop would see it and stop us.
Breathing the exhaust was making me sick and sleepy. I wondered if the boys had realized I was gone yet. They had absolutely no way to know what happened to me. Maybe the hotel had security cameras. I hadn’t seen any but I hadn’t looked for them either. It wasn’t like Red and Jack had tried to hide their identity. Were they really that stupid? And why was the security at the hotel so lax?
My thoughts were interrupted when the car stopped. I heard the car doors open and shut and then the trunk opened.
“Hey Red! Did you know you have a taillight out?” I heard Jack yell. He pulled me out of the car and threw me over his shoulder. I tried not to move at all. I didn’t want to give him any ideas. I could feel the sunlight leave my skin when we went inside and I wondered if I would ever feel it again.
“Just put her in there and lock the door. She’s not going anywhere,” Red said.
Jack laid me on a bed and left. I heard the door lock. Where am I now? Did they bring me home? Why haven’t they killed me yet?
After a little while, Red came in and sat on the bed. Then she laid beside me and twirled my hair in her fingers. “So, what is it about you that Jiho likes so much?”
I tried to yell at her not to call him Jiho but it was no use. She couldn’t understand me. So I tried to pull my hair away from her. She just dug her whole hand in my hair and pulled. I stopped struggling.
“Has he fucked you yet? I’ll bet you gave it up quick. A little nothing American like you would be lucky to be with Jiho and you know it. He’s had a real woman right in front of him for months and he has to go for the new piece of fluff. That’s all you were you know,” Red said as she began to run her hand up and down my arm. “You were new and simple and innocent. He always jumps all over that.” She got close to me and kissed my cheek, scraping her teeth against my skin. I felt like throwing up. “We’ll see how interested he still is tomorrow. How much will he pay to get his new toy back in one piece? I’d be worried if I were you. He gets bored quickly.”
She sat up and got off the bed. “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
I nodded. She helped me up and took me to pee. It was humiliating having her do the necessaries for me but it would be more humiliating to pee on myself. She took me and sat me on the bed and left. I laid down and cried until the cloth on my eyes was soaked and irritating. I had a terrible headache and felt like throwing up but I knew if I didn’t hold it down I’d have to swallow it. My mouth was dry from the silk in my mouth and my arms felt like they were pulling out of their sockets.
I laid there for hours trying to sleep to ease my aching head but I couldn’t. I could hear Red and Jack talking but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I got tired of laying there so I got up to move around. I tried to see if I could find something sharp to rub this tape against so I could get my hands loose. There was nothing. Nothing I could find anyway.
After a few more hours, the door opened again. I heard boots and knew it was Jack. I tensed up. Jack could do a lot more damage than Red could and I didn’t want to encourage him in anyway. My skirt was silk and I didn’t know if it was covering everything. Please just leave. Please just leave. Please just leave. I hoped that if I pretended to be asleep, he would leave me alone. But no.
Jack laid down on the bed beside me. He just laid there for a few minutes and I still pretended to be asleep. I felt his hand doing something around my stomach and then realized he was putting it inside of my shirt. He ran his fingers across my skin and up to my bra which he moved to the side. He began to caress my breast and I started to cry and whimper. I knew what was coming and I didn’t know if I could stand it. I felt stomach acid began to rise in my throat. I moved back away from his hand and he laughed a scary little laugh. It was like he was trying to be quiet. If he wants to be quiet then I’ll be loud!
He pushed me onto my back and half laid on top of me as he ran his hand from one breast to another. He raised my shirt so he could look at me so I started to scream. I screamed as loud as I could with my mouth full of silk but it must have been enough because Jack put one hand over my mouth and nose and the other on the back of my head and squeezed. “Shhhhh!” he said. “Be a good girl and stay quiet or I’ll have to cut you.” He moved his hand away and I felt cold metal touch my stomach. Then my neck. It was all I could do not to throw up. I tried to stay quiet but I couldn’t help but to cry. I think that turned him on actually.
His hand went back to work on my breast and then he replaced it with his mouth. His hand slowly moved down and I could feel the heat and roughness of it as he rubbed my thighs. His breathing became labored and he stuck his hand inside of my panties. They must have been too tight for him to maneuver because he paused to pull them down around my thighs. He pushed one finger inside of me and then another. I know he was watching as he moved his fingers in and out. He pulled them out and I heard him lick them. I turned over to my side away from him and heard him unzipping his pants. “You want it from behind sweetheart? That’s just fine with me.” I tried to get off the bed and I knocked the knife in the floor as I struggled.
“No you don’t!” He said and grabbed me and pulled me back.
I heard the door open and Red yelled, “Jack! What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” She came over toward the bed and Jack tried to get up. I heard her smacking him and yelling, “That’s not why she’s here you asshole!”
“Ow! Why do you care? Ow! Ow! Stop fucking hitting me! I was just having some fun.”
She smacked him out of the room and slammed the door. She came to me and helped put my clothes back to right. She never apologized but I didn’t really expect it. For the rest of the night I could feel Jack’s fingers on me and in me. I wanted to think of Zico but it always became Jack so I stopped. I decided they didn’t plan to kill me. They just wanted money and I wasn’t so sure Zico would pay it. I guess it depended on how much they wanted. I wanted to be with Zico so much at that moment. I wondered what he was doing.

Hours later, Red came into the room and helped me back to the bathroom. I was exhausted and sore. When I was done, she had Jack come in and take me back to the car. I shivered in revulsion when he touched me. He slapped my backside hard before he popped the lid of the trunk and I tried to kick him.
“Wait, Jack! Put her down a minute,” Red said as she came toward us. “We need to give Jiho more of an incentive to pay up.” That’s when I felt like my head exploded. Red had punched me in the face. She pulled me back into a standing position and hit me again. “That should do it.” Jack put me in the trunk and I screamed as he slammed the lid.
We rode for a long time when we came to a sudden stop and I hit my head on the metal again. I heard them get out and then I heard voices. It all sounded like I was under water. I think the exhaust fumes had messed with my senses. The trunk lid finally opened and I felt a cool breeze. Jack jerked me up roughly and pulled me out to a standing position. The cloth was removed from my eyes and I had to squeeze my eyes shut from the light. Everything was blurry. The gun was jammed into my side once again. Red grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me along to the front of the car. My eyes adjusted and looking around, I saw we were in something like a parking building or a construction site.
“I said you were to come alone!” Red yelled.
“Yeah right, bitch! Like that was going to happen!” It was Zico. I had to squint to see him but his white hair was unmistakable. I also saw Pyo Jihoon and Park Kyung beside him.
“This still has to go down the same way Jiho! Money for the girl!” yelled Red.
“It’s Zico to you bitch and I have the money. Let her go!” he yelled back.
“Here’s what’s going to happen! I’m going to point this gun at your little American slut’s head and Jack is going to come over and get the money. When we are far enough away, we will leave her and you can come and get her.” I kept my eyes on Zico.
“She’s not getting back into that car!” he yelled.
Red grasped my hair at the scalp and shook my head. I cried out. “You will do this my way Jiho or I’ll take her and let my brother have her. He’s already had a small taste and he would love to have more.”
I saw Zico throw down whatever he had been holding and start to take off his jacket. P.O. and Kyung held him back, talking him out of being irrational. “Let her go now and I’ll take her and go and leave the money here for you.”
“You think I’m playing? Or stupid?” She hit me in the back of the head with the gun. It hurt so bad I heard a high pitched ringing sound and saw stars. I also heard Zico yell, “You fucking touch her again and I’ll rip your fucking heads off with my bare hands!” They were having more trouble holding him back this time.
“I’m sending Jack over for the money,” Red yelled.
“He better bring Elizabeth with him or he won’t be coming back!” yelled Zico.
I saw Jack smile as he reached over and squeezed my breast. Then his hand ran down between my legs. I screamed and twisted away from him.
“Fucking get away from her! Come and get your fucking money!” I heard the defeat in Zico’s voice as his last words went from a yell to an almost sob.
At this point, things seemed to go in slow motion. Jack walked over to get the money as Red held the gun to my head. He walked back with a huge smile and handed an envelope to Red. “Thanks Jiho! You can have her now! If you still want her.” I watched Zico’s face become alarmed as he ran toward me and I heard the shot before I felt it. I saw blood come from my chest and I looked down. There was a red ragged hole there. I looked up at Zico and he was saying something I couldn’t hear because the loud ringing was back. I looked over as Red started to run but an identical hole to the one in my chest sprouted from her forehead and her blood splattered me. Her eyes were wide and staring at me as she fell to the ground, her blonde wig falling away, revealing long red hair. I turned and looked at Jack who was yelling something to Red that I still couldn’t hear. Then a hole appeared in his head as well. His blood dotted my face and I felt a scream rip from my throat as I started to fall. I was caught by Zico before I hit the ground and that’s when the pain started.
I looked up at Zico and my hearing started to come back. He was sobbing and screaming, “Help me! Someone help me!” He looked down at my chest and covered the spreading blood stain with his hand. He rocked me and kissed my head.
“I’m sorry Zico,” I said. My breathing was ragged and getting worse. I felt like I was drowning. It was getting harder to breathe.
“No! Don’t you dare say that! And don’t call me Zico! Please call me Jiho! Please!” he stared into my eyes as people scrambled around us. I looked up at him and with the last breath I could force in I said, “I love you Jiho.”
I felt my eyes closing and I knew that Zico’s face was the last thing I’d ever see. The last thing I remember was hearing him screaming, “Elizabeth! Noooooo! Elizabeth! Come back! Come back! Don’t leave me! You can’t leave me too!” Then all was silent.

It was hard to open my eyes. They felt like they were taped down but I finally managed and the first thing I focused on was Zico’s white hair. It was tinged with a brownish orange now. His head was laying on the edge of the bed and he was holding my hand. His hand was the same brownish orange as his hair. He was sound asleep and snoring softly. I heard more snoring to the right of me and I found Marco on a couch, his head against the wall. He would be so upset to have fallen asleep. He would blame all of this on himself when it was really all my fault. I had to make sure he knew that.
I raised my arm to put my hand on Zico’s head and pain shot from my chest to my hand. The mixture of bullet wound and pulled shoulder muscles made for a bad combination. I laid my hand on his head anyway and scrunched my fingers in his soft hair. I looked at the dried blood on his face and the tear marks that left white streaks down his face and I wondered, What kind of man is this? Who is the real Zico? He’s too good to be true. And too good for me.

Notes