A Woman's Heart Is Impossible to Figure Out

Suzy tossed her blood-caked samurai sword carelessly onto the table and sank deep into the sofa.

"What the hell happened this late at night?" she sighed heavily, settling into the chair at her desk.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her fingertips trembled faintly, as if the nerves she'd been suppressing with drugs hadn't fully settled yet.

"Confusing, isn't it?"

At my question, Suzy lifted her head and stared straight at me. Who could have predicted that overnight, one of her own men would join hands with a rival gang and betray her?

"Yeah, it is. If my brother were still here… none of this would have happened."

She murmured the last part almost to herself.

Her brother. That was the former boss Lucia had told me about.

Suzy stared up at the ceiling for a long while, then straightened herself and locked eyes with me.

"Jinwoo, thank you. I mean it, I'm truly grateful." She cleared her throat awkwardly before continuing. "But how did you know?"

There was suspicion woven into her voice. No matter how talented a pharmacist I was, predicting Jack's betrayal and the exact timing of the Blood Bone infiltration, then loading the sprinklers with neuro-corrosive agents, demanded an explanation.

I pulled out the answer I'd prepared in advance.

"Chemists have good instincts."

"Instincts?"

"That bastard Jack — the look in his eyes when he handed over the lab to me was anything but normal." I let out a light chuckle and added, "Plus, I saw him briefly that afternoon. Communicating with one of the Blood Bone guys."

"Then why didn't you tell me first?"

"Because knowing your personality, I figured you'd cut my head off if I did."

Suzy made a skeptical face, but soon nodded as if she understood.

"I'm not that reckless… Well, I owe you my life, so I won't press further."

She pulled a small terminal from her desk drawer and slid it across to me.

"What's this?"

"Your first reward. Five million credits. And that terminal is a device that connects to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Nemesis Gang's private comm network. As of now, you're officially the exclusive pharmacist of Nemesis."

"Exclusive pharmacist, huh. Not bad treatment at all." But credits weren't what I was after.

"Suzy, there's one more thing I want to ask of you."

"Name it. I'll grant just about anything."

I looked her dead in the eyes as I spoke.

"Let me help you get your revenge."

Suzy, who had been buried deep in the sofa, sat upright. Her crimson eyes flooded with bewilderment and wariness.

"Help me with my revenge? Why?"

"Because I want to get to the Upper District."

At my blunt, matter-of-fact answer, Suzy let out an incredulous, hollow laugh.

"I heard it from Lucia. They say you fell from the Upper District? So you're planning to use me to get your own revenge, is that it?"

That woman Lucia — I can't believe she already spilled my entire past.

Suzy's gaze was shifting from suspicion to outright conviction. Fair enough. If a man with no ties to her suddenly appeared and offered to help with her revenge, anyone would think the same.

'I didn't want to use Ghost Signal if I could help it.'

Prying into someone's inner heart is a convenient thing — and a dirty one.

But right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now, I needed to turn Suzy's suspicion into conviction. Because I had to win over her heart.

'Scan.'

'Is this man too just after the power I hold? Or could he really…?'

Suzy's complicated inner world came through to me.

"Revenge, then. That could count as revenge, I suppose." Suzy murmured, then caught herself. "But don't get the wrong idea, Suzy. I'm not trying to use you as a tool."

"Then what?"

"I want to be your partner. You take the heads of the bastards who killed your brother, and I climb up to the Upper District. Sounds fair, doesn't it?"

I took a step closer to her. Her shoulder flinched, but she didn't reach for her blade.

"You saw it today, didn't you? What the drugs I make can do for you. And how those same drugs melt my enemies."

Suzy said nothing. Her eyes wavered, unable to find their footing.

'If what this man says is true… No, even if it isn't, I need the drugs he makes.'

I watched her dependence tick upward, just barely. Time to drive in the wedge.

"You're terrified you'll go cyberpsycho before you finish your revenge. Am I wrong?"

At those words, Suzy's face turned noticeably pale.

"How… how did you…?"

"Like I said. Chemists have good instincts." Then I added, my voice firm and steady, "As long as I'm here, you will never become a cyberpsycho. Because I won't let you become one."

Silence settled over the office. The only sounds were Suzy's ragged breathing and the low hum of machinery running somewhere.

"And I want to go up to the Upper District to develop a drug that can fully cure cyberpsychosis."

'Develop a drug? That's his reason for helping me?'

Suzy stared at me for a long time. Her red eyes traced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every corner of my face, as if trying to weigh the truth of my words.

At last, she let out a deep sigh and leaned back into the sofa. The faint tremor drained from her fingertips, as if the tension had finally loosened.

"…Fine. I saw what you're capable of today, plain and clear. But—"

Suzy tapped the table twice as she continued.

"Your drugs only worked on Lower District trash wearing garbage chrome. Up top, they won't cut it. Not even close."

She gave me a warning look.

"You won't be thrown directly into combat, but you'll still need to be able to protect yourself, won't you?"

Suzy opened the table drawer and pulled out a hefty pistol, laying it down in front of me. A silver barrel paired with a black grip — even at a glance, it was clearly a well-maintained piece.

"It's a gift."

"A gift?"

At my question, Suzy answered offhandedly, "Once your pharmacist duties are done for the day, you'll be training with me."

Her tone was gentle, as if she were offering to help me out.

But her true thoughts told an entirely different story.

'I can't trust him yet. Best to keep him close and watch what he's up to.'

She planned to keep me within arm's reach — under surveillance. For my part, there was nothing bad about that. It was a chance to learn how to protect my own body in this hellhole of a world.

"Then may I take this gun?"

Just as I reached for it, Suzy added, "It was my brother's."

My outstretched hand froze midair.

"What? Are you sure it's okay for me to use this?"

"It's fine. I was always more of a blades-and-throwing-weapons girl anyway."

"No, that's not what I mean. It's a keepsake from your brother, isn't it?"

I was flabbergasted. The woman who'd said she couldn't trust me and planned to watch my every move was now readily handing over her dead brother's memento?

It was behavior I simply could not comprehend.

"I told you. It's a gift." She smiled faintly.

Truly, a woman's heart is impossible to figure out.

"I'll accept it gratefully. And I won't skip a single training session."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Good. Then we start tomorrow. Don't be late — you know what happens if you are."

Suzy tipped her head back and closed her eyes again. It was her way of saying get out, we're done here.

I tucked the heavy pistol safely away and left the office.

'Now I've even got a gun.'

Yoo Jinwoo, the overworked pharmaceutical company overtime demon, was now a gunslinger in a cyberpunk world. What would my old supervisor have said if he could see me now?

The next day, I finished my morning work and headed for the training grounds set up in a corner of the abandoned factory.

"You made it?"

Suzy was already there. She was dressed in a simple T-shirt, and the cyber sockets embedded across her exposed arms caught the eye immediately.

"Draw your gun."

I pulled out the pistol I'd received the day before.

"We'll start with your shooting stance. That gun's hard to control on the recoil, so grip it tight with both hands."

As Suzy stepped in behind me, a sweet peach scent drifted over. Lucia smelled of roses.

The two of them smelled exactly opposite to the image they projected, which struck me as funny. Peaches would've suited Lucia better, and roses Suzy.

Anyway, Suzy took hold of my arms and corrected my stance.

"Relax your shoulders. Eyes on the sight alignment. Mm—"

Suzy suddenly let out a soft groan.

The cyber parts scan flagged a red defect around Suzy's shoulder.

"Hold on a second."

"What? Is the stance too hard for you already?"

"No — your right shoulder. It's bothering you, isn't it?"

At my words, Suzy's eyes went wide.

"How the hell did you know that?"

I set the gun down and reached a hand toward her shoulder.

"May I take a look? Machines aren't my field, but I can ease neural pain with drugs."

Though her expression stayed dubious, Suzy readily offered her shoulder.

"Take a look then. It's been getting stiff and creaky lately — I was thinking of paying Lucia a visit, actually…"

I placed my hand near her shoulder.

'If I fix this, her dependence will climb even higher.'

I fished a small spray canister out of my pocket — one I'd made in the lab, just in case.

Ssshh—!

The mist seeped into the gaps between her shoulder sockets.

"Oh…?"

Suzy swung her arm around, then made a stunned face.

"It's so smooth now. And I can't feel any pain at all."

Just as I'd predicted.

"Consider it payment for the training. Now — will you teach me again?"

Suzy marveled at her own shoulder, feeling it over with her hand, then broke into a playful grin and ruffled my hair like she was handling a rag.

"You know, you're a pretty useful guy to have around?"

She spat out whatever that was — praise or otherwise — and took up her position behind me again.

The warmth radiating from her body was so tender that it was hard to believe this was the same woman who, only days ago, had pressed a blade to my throat like she meant to kill me.

Even if her purpose was to keep tabs on me, having someone by my side down here in the Lower District didn't feel bad at all.

'Not me, you old man!!!'

Lucia's voice rang in my ears like an auditory hallucination.

Yes, it was true I'd been neglecting her lately. But the fire that needed putting out right now was Suzy. We'd shared a bed, for crying out loud — what's the rush?

Either way, the more trustworthy people I had in this dog-eat-dog world, the better.

Lucia, Suzy — I'd have to rack up as many bonds like these as I could.