Chapter 89
Crash!
The non-bulletproof glass window shattered too easily. The sound was loud enough to be heard even in the next room. The setting sun cast a deep glow over the shards of broken glass.
Several faces flashed through my mind.
In the novel, they were extras without names, but here, they were living people just like me.
And Jiwoon.
I wouldn’t know for sure until I confirmed it, but my vision blurred. If Jiwoon had really died trying to protect me…
We hadn’t crossed paths often, but he was the first person I saw when I came here. Although he was one of Baek Ha-won’s men, in hindsight, he had always been the one to help me.
Even at the very last moment.
I held back the breath that threatened to escape my lips and turned around.
Just as I reached the door, before I could touch it, the locked door swung open violently.
It was as I had expected. Like a robot moving according to pre-programmed instructions, my body moved just as I had imagined it would several times before.
Click.
“….”
The wind rushed in through the broken window. The sunlight pouring in with the wind tinged the bright blonde hair with an orange hue.
Angel stood still, not even turning his head. The look of bewilderment on his profile was brief, quickly replaced by a cold, emotionless expression.
I moved the hand gripping the gun. The muzzle pressed against the temple where the blonde strands of hair draped down.
I felt the illusion that the barrel I was gripping was burning hot.
“Is this what you wanted?”
The red light intertwined with his long lashes. The emerald green eyes beneath them were calm.
With my vision soaked in red, my heart pounded loudly. I stared at Angel without blinking.
“Take out your gun and throw it away.”
Angel still didn’t move. I bit my lips, which kept drying out, before speaking again.
“I won’t say it three times.”
There was no tremble in the hand holding the gun, stained red by the light.
“I think I’m ready to kill you.”
* * *
In the restricted area behind the central hall of the casino, Yuhwa quietly walked down the empty corridor. She had already taken down everyone who tried to stop her with her bare hands.
As she made her way to the VIP elevator, someone grabbed her ankle.
“N-No…”
Seeing the man clinging to her like a dog only made Yuhwa feel even better. She could have ensured he never used that hand again, but she decided to let it go since she was in a good mood.
She kicked him in the face, knocking the large man out cold.
After taking care of him, she clenched her fist and rotated her wrist as she continued walking. Just then, she saw the elevator doors beginning to close from a distance. She hurried over and stuck her arm between the doors.
The closing doors opened again, and when Yuhwa saw who was already inside, her expression briefly stiffened. But it was only for a fleeting moment, like a hallucination.
As if she had never tensed up, Yuhwa smiled naturally and nodded her head.
“Father. It’s been a while.”
The man stood with three strong men behind him. His face was lined with wrinkles from the passing years, but his sharp eyes were still as clear as ever.
Standing tall with a straight back, he appeared as though he had many years left, despite his doctor’s diagnosis that he wouldn’t survive another year.
Yuhwa stepped into the elevator and stood beside him.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you attend an event like this. You’re still hand-feeding a grown man his prey.”
Yuhwa smirked at the closed doors, her scarred mouth twisting along with the smile.
“How insolent. Don’t mock me with your vulgar remarks.”
His deep, low voice carried an unmistakable weight of authority.
“You don’t know your place…”
Yuhwa’s smile faltered for a moment.
But she soon raised the corner of her mouth into a crooked grin once more.
She turned to face her father, who stood about a half-head taller than her.
Even in his youth, he had been tall, and though his frame had shrunk with age, he still stood stiff like an old tree.
“What should I do?” she asked, smiling with her teeth showing, though her eyes were filled with suppressed emotions. She stared at him, but he never once looked at her.
Her dark eyes sank deep. Yuhwa cast her gaze downward for a moment, then raised it again.
And then, she suddenly burst out laughing as though her lungs had been filled with air.
“The only way to win your approval is to be born again, right?”
She couldn’t stop laughing. It was ridiculous—how she still sought his pathetic approval like a dog.
There had indeed been a time like that. When she had thought, ‘I must be lacking,’ and waited for the day she’d finally be recognized.
Instead of holding dolls or learning how to sew, she had wanted to do the same things her brothers did—work with her father.
The admiration she had felt for him as a child still lived within her, refusing to die, even though there was no firewood left to fuel it.
Though she had buried it under countless deaths, it remained as the most vivid scar that could not be erased. Among those deaths had been that of the girl who had yearned for her father’s approval.
Yuhwa found it both amusing and not so bad.
After all, that unquenchable desire was what had brought her this far. Now, what truly mattered was right before her, close enough to reach if she fell forward.
Ding—the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.
As she stared at her father’s graying back, Yuhwa muttered under her breath.
“So I’ve made my choice, Father. I’m going to do what I can.”
* * *
“I won’t say it three times.”
When I’m prepared to kill, it will be at a moment like this.
I remembered what Baek Ha-won had once said. I also remembered how afraid I had been, imagining this very moment when the barrel of my gun would be aimed at someone.
“I think I’m ready to kill you.”
The gun was loaded; all I had to do was pull the trigger, and the bullet would be fired. Angel would die instantly, without a chance to stop me.
I didn’t think about whether I could do it. That decision had already been made when I drew the gun from the holster.
Had I ever killed someone with my own hands before? No, I had never shot anyone.
But now, I was not the same person who had awkwardly held a gun at the shooting range.
I feared the sight of someone stepping in front of a gun aimed at me more than I feared pointing my own gun at someone else.
If I wanted to avoid losing anyone, I couldn’t hesitate. I repeated that to myself again and again.
“I don’t have a gun.”
Angel smiled faintly as he slowly raised both hands. His hands moved closer to the side of his head, where my gun was pressed against his temple. The distance between us grew dangerous.
“Don’t move.”
Angel obediently froze. Growing more anxious, I gripped the gun even tighter as I continued.
“Fine. I won’t ask unnecessary questions anymore. What really matters is something else.”
I couldn’t sustain this tense situation for long. Now that I had drawn my gun, escaping from here had to be the priority. I didn’t have time.
“Right now, I’ve decided to think of you as nothing more than a bastard who betrayed me. So you better answer carefully.”
Angel turned his gaze to meet mine. His expression was blurred by the deep red of the sunset.
“Where are we?”
Without showing a hint of fear, even with a gun pointed at him, Angel spoke calmly.
“The Yugyeom Casino Hotel.”
As I thought, we were still in the same hotel. It was a relief, yet it made me uneasy.
I decided not to pay attention to Angel’s attitude or expression. There was no time to be swayed.
“Whose side are you on? Kang Tae-jun and Yuhwa, right?”
“Right. I’ve been with them from the start.”
“What are you planning to do with me?”
Angel, who had been answering with a faint smile, fell silent for a moment. I waited patiently, though there was no patience left to gather.
“Answer me.”
I pressed the muzzle harder against Angel’s temple. He didn’t budge. Our strength clashed, tense like a tug of war.
“I’m going to kill you.”
Angel stared at me clearly as he spoke.
His sharp gaze, free from any trace of deceit, made my hand tremble slightly as it gripped the gun.
“Baek Ha-won, and Yukyeom too.”
My heart pounded faster.
Angel lowered his gaze as his words trailed off. The red light of the sunset pooled at the corners of his eyes like tears.
“And…”
When his eyes met mine again—
“…!”
Before I could react, his hand shot out and grabbed the gun. My vision blurred. The muzzle was yanked upward by his strong grip, aiming at the ceiling.
Bang!
The recoil sent my mind spinning. His grip was impossibly strong, overwhelming me.
“Let… go!”
I struggled to keep hold of the gun, but my strength was already failing.
Desperate, I fumbled with my other hand, reaching out blindly. I grabbed something solid without knowing what it was and swung it at Angel with all my might.
Thud! With a dull sound, Angel staggered.
Startled by the louder-than-expected noise, I dropped whatever I had been holding. There was a sharp sound as glass shards scattered on the floor. It seemed to have been an empty flowerpot.
Even in the midst of all that, Angel still hadn’t let go of the gun. Trying to wrest it from him was futile given the difference in our strength.
I kicked Angel’s right leg, which had shifted its balance, with all my strength. He groaned quietly, and in an instant, his body lost its balance and toppled forward.
Freed from his grip, I stepped back several paces. Broken glass crunched beneath my feet, but I didn’t feel the pain.
Clenching my teeth, I gripped the gun again. There was no tremor in the muzzle pointed at him.
If I hesitated, it would be too late.
Bang!
My vision turned redder than the setting sun.
