Chapter 65
“Don’t get hurt.”
She watched the figure moving away, clutching the gun tightly with an anxious expression.
Her heart fluttered like ripples spreading in a pond.
Is that face real? Her gaze sought out the differences between the face that used to look at her and the one in front of her now.
Perhaps it was because of her black hair, but today her skin seemed paler. Amidst the grim alleyways, the woman, as clean as fresh snow, seemed both alien and captivating.
The lone woman nervously bit her red lips, as if it were a habit.
Despite sharp features, she seemed infinitely delicate. When speaking to others, she would undoubtedly stare sharply, unable to avoid their gaze.
Those eyes that looked deep into without avoidance were both unpleasant and inviting.
Yugyeom changed direction and turned on his phone.
[Heading to Zone B.]
He sent a brief text and leaned back between the buildings where she wouldn’t notice. Since he had contacted the nearby organization member, they would arrive here in a few minutes.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky above was cloudy. Like smoke rising from a fire. Yet, he didn’t feel bad about it.
As the approaching footsteps drew closer, Yugyeom grabbed Cha Yeonbyeol’s wrist and pulled her towards him.
“…”
Her small body came into his embrace without resistance.
Long, dense eyelashes fell downwards. Her iris, drained of color, held a myriad of hues.
Her black hair brushed against his chest. A sky-blue silk skirt fluttered around his legs in the wind. The closeness made him fearful that she could hear his heartbeat.
The wrist in his hand seemed like it could break with just a little more force.
Being in the same world, in the same place, could there be such a difference?
Once again, he realized the difference between you and me. If I’m an endless night, you must be the rising sun.
Every time he heard the voice of the organization member, tremors accompanied warmth.
His lips formed a curve.
The eyes looking at the woman in the darkness glowed white. Like the eyes of a languid predator.
“It’s a coincidence.”
The moment their faces met, the determination he had made coming here vanished like an illusion.
“Or is it fate?”
Instead, he recalled the desires he had gained.
I want to know.
How would you look a little more broken? Would you still look at me with such a straight gaze? How far could you go with apologies and silly words like “don’t die”?
If you were completely broken beyond repair, would you become like me?
“I wanted to see you, miss.”
For countless reasons, just like this time.
Yeonbyeol looked at him without hiding the uncertainty in her eyes. She bit her lip again before speaking as if murmuring.
“Why…”
The gun gripped in her trembling hand was still unloaded. Her knuckles were pale from how tightly she held it.
Yugyeom chuckled and lifted his gaze that had briefly touched her hand.
“Because.”
“…”
“I was here first.”
As he approached her two steps, the distance between them narrowed again. It was so close that until he reached out his hand, he couldn’t tell whether he would touch her or not.
She didn’t step back any further and opened her mouth.
With the boundary and anxiety in her eyes not concealed, she continued to gaze at him intently, whether she knew that all of those things were visible.
“Why did you help me?”
“Because I had something to ask you, miss.”
Yugyeom brushed his hair back. With his pale face devoid of color, he didn’t look like a living person.
“The answer I couldn’t hear back then.”
Yeonbyeol paused for a moment.
“Wasn’t it because you liked me?”
“…”
“Wasn’t even that sincere?”
The wind that came like waves stirred up his thoughts. Memories of that day rushed over the two of them at lightning speed.
The alleyway where the wind passed became quiet again. With no sound at all, it felt like time had stopped.
Yeonbyeol met his gaze without avoiding the eyes that seemed to devour her in the darkness.
“No, it wasn’t sincere.”
Although her cracked voice trembled thinly, it was firm.
“Not even those words.”
There was no room for avoidance.
How much strength did he exert to not stutter, not shake, not be swept away? Just reassuring himself that it was just a passing breeze.
There was still no trace of a crack on his smiling face. The curve of his lips seemed as natural as a painting.
But the dark circles under his lifeless eyes and that smile felt strangely unsettling, like pieces of a puzzle put together wrong.
“But are you going to keep holding onto that?”
Yugyeom asked softly.
“Even though it seems like you won’t even shoot.”
At the end of his words, there was a particularly thick chuckle. Yeonbyeol raised the gun to her waist. The muzzle was pointing towards the ashen sky.
“You don’t think I’ll shoot?”
With a self-deprecating smile, Yugyeom looked at her.
“No.”
As he took one step closer, her heart pounded to the floor. Every sensation in her body sharpened.
Once again, she remembered. The scene of him dying.
Finally, one step. He stopped, standing on that precarious distance.
“If you lie, miss, it’ll show.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Yeonbyeol stepped back. But Yugyeom grabbing Yeonbyeol’s hand was a little faster.
“I like you too.”
The black barrel was deeply embedded in Yugyeom’s chest.
He stared into her eyes, which were filled with tears as her lowered eyelids were as red as trampled petals.
“Tell me you like me.”
He tried to let go of the hand holding the gun, but the strong grip wouldn’t allow it. His lips, bitten until they bled, formed droplets of blood.
Yeonbyeol pushed Yugyeom’s shoulder with her other hand. When he didn’t move, she began to strike with her clenched fist.
“Let go.”
“Tell me you love me.”
The words that rushed in breathlessly choked him. His vision flickered black. Yeonbyeol stopped pushing and looked up.
“Don’t leave me.”
Her bloodshot eyes seemed like they could shed tears at any moment. The hand of the man who had buried the barrel in her chest was chilling to the bone.
She couldn’t even look away.
Thump, thump. It felt like his heartbeat was transmitted through the barrel.
“Ha.”
A low laugh fell from above.
Yeonbyeol was stunned as if she had just awakened from a dream. Only her body didn’t stiffen outwardly.
“It’s obvious.”
A bitter laugh erupted like a drop of black paint falling on a white canvas. The voice echoing in the silence was excessively heavy and clear.
Her heart was still pounding from the lies she had just told and the face she had just made up.
“Don’t you remember what I said back then in the fire?”
The black pupils surrounded by thick eyelashes were like stars in the night sky.
“It’s all just a nightmare.”
It keeps giving false hopes. Making me want. It makes me bite my lips, clench my fists, close my eyes, and bear it.
“When you wake up, it’ll all be over. I’ll help you.”
I don’t understand.
Why would you…
“That was sincere.”
If you were in pain.
“Just keep looking at me like that.”
So you hated me. If only you had hated me as much as I did.
“Until the moment I die by your hand.”
“…”
“Your end should be then.”
That was the only way he knew how to hope. Saying you like or love someone was just an illusion.
Because when you wake up, it’s all over. It’s more futile than forgetting the dream.
Yeonbyeol forcefully pushed Yugyeom’s hand away. Yugyeom let her go.
The gun that had left both of their hands flew and rolled on the ground.
“I don’t want to.”
A crack appeared on his face, which had been as firm as a mask.
He exerted force on his fingertips, which had stopped in mid-air. Yugyeom met her gaze unavoidably as his breath stopped.
Thump, thump. His pounding heart felt like it was being touched.
Did I hear wrong? A stupid question surfaced in his static mind.
“Are you telling me to die by your hand after watching me?”
Each word carried a clear voice.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Amused suspicion shattered him. His ears felt stuffy as if something had been pulled up from deep water. His mind didn’t understand the words coming through his ears.
Like a storm, like a tidal wave.
No, at least to him, the gaze that encompassed him was harder to avoid than any disaster in this world.
“Do you remember what I said back then, in the fire?”
The black pupils surrounded by thick eyelashes were like stars in the night sky.
“This is all just a nightmare.”
It keeps giving false hopes. Making me want. It makes me bite my lips, clench my fists, close my eyes, and bear it.
“When you wake up, it’ll all be over. I’ll help you.”
I don’t understand.
Why would you…
“That was sincere.”
If you were in pain.
“Just keep looking at me like that.”
So you hated me. If only you had hated me as much as I did.
“Until the moment I die by your hand.”
“…”
“Your end should be then.”
That was the only way he knew how to hope. Saying you like or love someone was just an illusion.
Because when you wake up, it’s all over. It’s more futile than forgetting the dream.
Yeonbyeol forcefully pushed Yugyeom’s hand away. Yugyeom let her go.
The gun that had left both of their hands flew and rolled on the ground.
“I don’t want to.”
A crack appeared on his face, which had been as firm as a mask.
He exerted force on his fingertips, which had stopped in mid-air. Yugyeom met her gaze unavoidably as his breath stopped.
Thump, thump. His pounding heart felt like it was being touched.
Did I hear wrong? A stupid question surfaced in his static mind.
“Are you telling me to die by your hand after watching me?”
Each word carried a clear voice.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Amused suspicion shattered him. His ears felt stuffy as if something had been pulled up from deep water. His mind didn’t understand the words coming through his ears.
