Chapter 87
Tae-Jun was delighted by Yugyeom’s attitude. His heart raced with excitement, like when he was about to clear the next stage of his favorite game.
“Why?”
The knife made a clinking sound as it was placed on the plate.
“Yugyeom-ah.”
“……”
“Do you want to be happy?”
With a gentle tone, Tae-Jun whispered as he stood up. The chair scraped back with a chilling sound.
He walked around the table and approached him.
“You’re always like this.”
Stopping right in front of Yugyeom, Tae-Jun tilted his head. His dark red hair brushed his eyelids.
The red glare of his eyes sparkled like flames under the lighting.
He reached out and brushed away the tears from his eyes. The dry eyes were beautifully red like flower petals.
Yugyeom still swatted his hand away with a smile.
“Even at the bottom, you don’t bend and yearn for the sky.”
He had seen a dandelion growing through the asphalt.
At that moment, he wanted to pluck the white dandelion and blow on it. It was unique and intriguing, and he wondered what made it different from the others.
So he acted on his desire immediately.
“So I want to break you.”
To Tae-Jun, Yugyeom was exactly that kind of thing.
Rare, intriguing, and beautiful. It was tempting to look at.
But at the same time, he was infuriated by how he was constantly struggling to do something he could never achieve.
“What if I break your wings and legs so you can never rise again?”
It would be enough to pull him out of his original place and hold him in his hand. Everything would be perfect then.
Unlike a pathetic creature that couldn’t even resist, a dandelion felt empty after being blown away, but Yugyeom would be different.
He believed that Yugyeom would bring him pleasure that wouldn’t disappear for a long time.
“That’s all I want.”
Tae-Jun placed a shattered phone and a new-looking phone in front of him.
His scarred lips curved up in satisfaction.
“So this is a game I’m going to win, Yugyeom.”
* * *
As soon as Tae-Jun went outside to answer Yugyeom’s call, I collapsed.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding. I stood up but then my vision spun and I sank to the floor.
Every time Tae-Jun mentioned Yugyeom’s name, my heart plummeted. It was an uncontrollable force.
Even though a considerable amount of time had passed, the scene of Tae-Jun killing Yugyeom was still vivid.
I had chewed over it for days when I read it in the novel. It even appeared in my dreams one night.
I had assumed that the story would end happily.
I wanted Yugyeom to be happy. It was more than just a wish; it was a certainty. He had to be happy.
But why?
Why did it have to end like that?
‘Could it be that you’re crying?’
I remember Yugyeom dying in the arms of his loved one.
Countless colors and lights pouring over his pale face beneath the stained glass. He shone more brilliantly than ever.
‘Please smile, boss.’
It was so bright it seemed eternal.
‘I like it when you smile.’
He smiled so brightly.
It wasn’t a fake smile; he was truly happy.
Was dying instead of his loved one so fulfilling?
I can’t understand. I couldn’t have died like that.
Too many things would have terrified me, and I wouldn’t have been able to take the leap.
If it were Yugyeom.
‘But the ending is still a sad one. No matter what you do, it won’t change. What will you do then? Will you still love Juliet?’
Even if I knew all that, it wouldn’t be any different.
‘How could I not love?’
Returning to the beginning, I would experience a love with a predetermined end and face the same conclusion. I had already heard the answer before.
I had won the game and earned the chance to ask questions. If I met those questions again, I wanted to ask them.
How could you throw away your life so easily?
“……I can’t let this go on.”
I grabbed the edge of the dining table and stood up.
To ask what I wanted to ask, I needed to see Yugyeom. There was no more time to hesitate.
‘Yugyeom-ah. Every time I see you broken……’
Unable to do anything,
‘I feel like I’m going to go crazy from wanting.’
I couldn’t let Tae-Jun kill Yugyeom again this time.
If things were really flowing towards that conclusion, I had to change it. I could change it.
This might be the only chance I have now when no one else is around. I looked around for something useful.
The kitchen knives seemed too conspicuous to carry around. No matter how thoroughly I searched, I couldn’t find a gun or even a bullet.
“Where’s the door……?”
I muttered and then found the front door. I unlocked it and tried to open it, but it didn’t budge, as if there was another lock.
‘Should I use this?’
The only way to break the door was to use a gun. But if I shot the gun, it would make a noise.
I hesitated, considering the gun in my thigh holster.
‘I guess there’s no choice…….’
Deciding that I had to do something, even if it didn’t work, I was about to take out the gun when I noticed some scattered papers on the living room table.
An unfamiliar face on one of the papers caught my eye, so I picked it up.
“……Angel?”
It seemed to be information about someone. And the name written in the name field was Angel.
However, the child in the photo was definitely a girl. She resembled the blonde Angel I knew.
A possible thought crossed my mind.
“Could it be Angel’s sister……?”
Was his sister named Angel?
I quickly read through the contents of the document. The similarities were striking: appearance, age, and most importantly, the name.
It seemed that this was indeed Angel’s sister.
If I knew about Angel’s sister, I could understand why Angel was the way he was.
I quickly skimmed through the first page. But before I could read it in order, the content written in red letters immediately caught my eye.
‘……Huh? What’s this?’
At that moment, the paper I was holding was suddenly snatched away. I was startled and turned around.
I almost screamed.
“…….”
Angel was standing right behind me. His gaze was chilling.
“Don’t touch anything.”
He crumpled the paper he took from me in his grasp.
“I’m watching everything, so don’t do anything strange.”
Angel pointed to the living room ceiling with his other hand. Only then did I see the CCTV cameras attached there. Not just the living room ceiling but also scattered in various places.
Had he been in the room all along while I thought he was gone? My face flushed with embarrassment.
Regardless, Angel lost interest in me and sat down at the dining table, which was filled with untouched food.
“Oh, that……!”
“It’s not poisoned.”
When did he hear that too?
Without waiting for Angel to intervene, I took a bite of the steak I had cut earlier. I observed him nervously, but he seemed fine after chewing and swallowing.
So it really wasn’t poisoned.
Relieved, I sat down opposite Angel and picked up my chopsticks.
“Are you going to eat?”
Just as I was about to eat the pasta, Angel asked suddenly.
I reflexively stopped using the chopsticks.
“……Why?”
When I asked with a serious face, Angel responded with a serious face.
“The poison might be in the pasta, not the steak.”
I blinked rapidly and then put the pasta I had picked up back down.
I was hungry. I lowered my head and sighed, hearing a sneer from across the table.
“It’s a lie.”
Clink. I was so dumbfounded that I dropped my chopsticks.
I wasn’t going to eat out of spite.
I folded my arms and stared at Angel, who sat with his legs crossed.
Angel seemed oblivious to my glare and continued to cut and eat his steak.
When he showed no reaction, my anger subsided, and other thoughts began to surface.
What should I do now? I had thought it would be too easy to leave, but it was clear that I wouldn’t be left alone.
I glanced at the crumpled paper that Angel had placed next to him.
“Don’t look.”
Even though I only glanced at it subtly, how did he notice so quickly?
I chewed on my lip, contemplating.
Should I ask or not?
Had I read it wrong? Or was the content manipulated?
Or was it just an astonishing coincidence that the person looked exactly like the one I knew?
My mind was a mess.
So I decided to ask. There didn’t seem to be time to postpone it for later.
“Is that your sister?”
Angel stopped mid-bite, his fork poised to pick up more steak. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes and avoided his gaze.
There was no response. The silence made the thoughts I most dreaded to have even clearer.
I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them.
“Angel.”
And I faced Angel, who might not even be named Angel.
A person who might be nothing but lies about what I know.
“What’s your real name?”
I was curious but also fearful. I stared straight into his emerald eyes.
Why isn’t he answering?
The silence was so sharp that it became unbearable.
“Did you really…….”
I wanted the words I let slip out to flow very slowly.
“Did you kill our mother?”
I recalled the red letters I had read on the paper.
Angel,16 year old. Baek Hyun-Woo intentional murder, confessed and committed suicide.
