NOVEL NEXT Chapter 155: Past And Present (7)
Ding.
The soft chime of a bell rang in a small café as a young girl wearing a black cap, a face mask, and a neat black gown walked in.
Her eyes swept across the room until they landed on a man waving at her.
"Good day," she said with a bow, slipping into the chair opposite his.
The air smelled of coffee and cakes, which felt soothing to her after going through a mental breakdown.
The man across from her studied her face, once beautiful, now pale, with claw-like marks etched into it.
He turned his coffee cup once, then again, the soft clinking sound lingering between them.
"How have you been, Mi-kyong?"
The girl shrank into her chair as though she wanted to disappear.
"Not so good, I guess."
The man nodded. "So why did you want to see me?"
Mi-kyong hesitated for a moment, then pulled a flash drive from her bag.
"This is?"
She gave a slight nod, as though expecting him to understand.
"Beom-seok was always afraid something would happen to me without his knowledge, so he installed hidden cameras on the roof."
The man examined the evidence for a while.
Mi-kyong twisted her fingers nervously, almost like an addict in withdrawal. "So… will this be enough?"
The man closed his eyes briefly, then sighed. "It would have been in a normal case, but we're talking about the Kim family here."
Mi-kyong had already guessed as much, but she wasn't planning to stop.
"Then, would it be enough to get him bail, or at least let him leave prison for a while?"
The policeman lingered in thought, then nodded. "That is possible."
Mi-kyong's face suddenly brightened as she smiled warmly. "Thank you, sir."
Before he could reply, she rushed out of the café.
The man sighed. "Such a strange pair."
But something told him things were about to get busy.
Because in all his seven years of working with the police, he had never seen eyes like the ones that girl had.
He pressed a hand against his face. "Let's hope nothing bad happens."
The truth was, not even prayer could stop Mi-kyong now.
She was determined to save Beom-seok, destroy her family, and end her life.
And for that, she needed Beom-seok released, even if only for a day.
The first thing she did was locate the cameras in her house and gather proof that her family had neglected, manipulated, and abused her over the years.
In their eyes, she was now an empty shell, which made all of this easier.
Afterward, she planted suicide notes throughout her house and inside important belongings her father used.
While he was in the shower, she sent messages showing images of what her father had done to her and begged for help.
Slowly, she began tightening the trap.
Shaking in public so people would notice the abuse.
Provoking her brother until he struck her.
Within a month, she made it clear to the world that she was falling apart, and that Beom-seok had been the only pillar of her life.
Slowly, her parents' and brother's carefully built social circles and reputation began to crumble.
And when they finally discovered she was behind it all, it was already too late.
Because that was the very day Beom-seok was being released for a week before his final trial, and the day she had chosen for her final bow.
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"It's nice to see you, Beom-seok."
The familiar voice of the officer rang in the ears of the boy being uncuffed.
The boy offered a gentle smile. "Nice to see you, sir."
The man couldn't help but smile back. "You may not be a free man yet, but at least you can breathe some fresh air."
Beom-seok nodded.
As soon as he did, the old man opened his car door, and the tension among the officers escorting him eased.
Everyone in juvenile detention knew his name.
Beom-seok.
The boy who had entered because of his lover and was constantly bullied.
Until one day, someone called Kim Mi-kyong a bitch and said she had betrayed him.
That was the day he snapped and defeated every boss in the prison.
The old cop knew Beom-seok and Mi-kyong dabbled in shady dealings.
But he never would have guessed that the seemingly innocent boy carried the strength of a gang leader.
Beom-seok, however, was lost in thought.
He had heard from the old cop that Mi-kyong was the one who handed him the evidence.
That alone had made his day.
And now, after four months apart, on the one-month anniversary of that revelation, he was finally going to meet her again.
The old cop drove for a while before pulling up at a construction site.
It looked like a skyscraper, midway through its final stages.
"This is the place, kid," the old man muttered, turning to him. "Your lover is waiting for you."
But the expression on Beom-seok's face wasn't happiness—it was fear.
He pushed open the door and bolted up the stairs.
'No… no… no.'
She wouldn't, right?
Why would she?
He burst into an apartment on the eighth floor and rushed to the balcony.
Mi-kyong had always told him that whenever she was sad, she would go to the eighth floor of their old house.
It had been an empty apartment.
And she had always loved the view from there.
She would say she often thought about how great it would be to jump from there.
Seven was said to be the perfect number, and six incomplete.
So wouldn't that make eight the number that tried too hard, or someone who should have been perfect but lived the most flawed life?
And just as he feared, there she was, on the balcony, standing atop a metal pole serving as a pillar.
She wore their school uniform, the very one she had worn the day they first met.
Her hair fluttered in the wind, and a soft smile framed her face.
Her hands were clasped behind her back, as if she didn't care how high the building was or how slick the rod beneath her feet might be.
When she saw the panting boy, her smile softened even more.
"You're finally here, Beom-seok."
His lips parted, but before he could speak, she cut him off.
"Welcome to Mi-kyong's final mad dance."
─── ✦ End of Chapter ✦ ───