“Because,” pants Hwanung, “I was afraid. I heard what was broadcast over the ship, but I wasn’t there! I was on Deck 9, looking for you, because my father hadn’t been returning my calls. I thought you might know where he was. This is the longest we’ve ever fought and I was worried…It was my voice on the speaker, but it wasn’t me—but I know how you fucking work, Uncle, and it’s ‘kill first, ask questions later.’ I ran because I was afraid. Part of me thought it was you—and part of me still thinks it is—but you’re all I have. Please, Seokga, help me. I know I’ve been horrible to you, but you have to believe that it wasn’t me!”

Seokga grips his phone and glares at his reflection in the mirror. “I’ll remind you of what you said the last time we spoke,” he spits.

“What?” splutters Hwanung.

“Your allusions to the murder, you whimpering ninny, weren’t as subtle as you thought.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Hwanung cries. “I was angry at my father, and you told me that he was crying and napping! At the time, I didn’t take that to mean he was a baby again…I thought he regretted our fight!”

“And your statement that you didn’t plan on giving the throne up anytime soon?”

“I don’t even remember saying that!”

“Give it up, Hwanung. I know about Soo-min,” Seokga snaps. “I know all of it. Now, I’ll ask again: Where are you hiding?”

There’s a beat of confused silence. “Soo-min?” Hwanung asks carefully.

“Don’t play dumb,” Seokga snarls. “Lee Soo-min. The woman you had an affair with, the woman Hwanin didn’t approve of. You went to couple’s therapy with her. Dr. Jang told me everything.”

The line is silent until Hwanung, very slowly, says: “I went to couple’s therapy with Ungnyeo.” Seokga freezes. The immortal bear-shifter is a far cry from Soo-min. She and Hwanung have been on and off for centuries, even after (accidentally) having a son together—Dangun, who founded Korea’s first kingdom. “I don’t know anybody named Lee Soo-min. I never have.”

Something awful is beginning to prod at Seokga’s mind. He takes a thin breath through his nose. “Do you have any proof?”

“Ungnyeo will corroborate it,” Hwanung says desperately. “Call her, Uncle. But if Dr. Jang lied to you, that means she’s part of it. She knows I never brought in Soo-min. And—” He starts breathing heavily, as if realizing something of great importance. Sweat slides down Seokga’s bare back. “I saw her. Today. She was the one who told me you were on Deck 9. She walked with me as far as Deck 8.”

Deck 8. Where the bridge is. But it doesn’t make any sense. Dr. Jang said that Hwanung had slipped away—