“An excuse to give you things. Like the tea. I knew about the gender reveal because you were so excited, you told Kelly right away. She of course mentioned it to others in the faculty lounge without even realizing what she was doing.Isent theflowers,” he boasts. “The eyes you’ve felt watching you? That was me. The run-in at the grocery mart? Sang-cheol wasn’t the only one following you that afternoon. The car parked outside your window? Me. Always me.”
“Including the masked men,” I say, my stomach roiling. “You sent them to my apartment.”
“Who else would? More associates I paid for the evening. I’d heard how well you defended yourself against the Bulgeomhoe, and I wanted to see for myself. Research for when I finally took you.” He tilts his head, studying me almost admirably. “You fought well, you and your mother. It was almost impressive.”
The knot on the rope is loosening more now, starting to give way. I just need a little more time.
“You’re pathetic,” I spit in distraction. “Thirty years. You’ve spent thirty years nursing this grudge. Hunting down a man for his father’s sins. Jin was a child when his family died. He didn’t betray anyone. He didn’t do anything to you.”
Myeong-su’s smug amusement vanishes, replaced by sudden hot rage. It breaks through in the angry snarl he releases as he stalks toward me, raising his hand like he’s about to strike.
I flinch instinctively.
He stops before he reaches me, catching himself before he truly loses his temper. His smirk returns along with the chuckle.
“How could I forget? Your taunting means nothing because I’ve already beaten your Jin-tae,” he says. “At the warehouse, when we fought—I had him bleeding and broken and could’ve ended him right there. But at that very moment I was also taking his son from him. So he had to survive. Just long enough to experience the devastation. But now? Now I’m going to destroy him completely. By taking you.”
My heart beats faster at the ominous threat, and I blurt out, “Jin’s a better fighter than you. That’s why you have to cheat. You play these sneaky games and go after the people he loves instead of facing him directly. You’re nothing but a coward.”
“You’re trying too hard to anger me now, rabbit. Isn’t that what he calls you?” he goads. “Making me mad isn’t going to trip me up. I’m not your fiancé, who is led so easily by emotion.”
I’m on the verge of panicking as he starts toward me.
Intuition tells me I’ve stalled as long as I can.
Myeong-su has provided explanation for everything and there’s little else to distract him with. The knot on the rope hasn’t loosened enough, and there’s no way I can hold my own against him in a fight.
My mind goes to Jin and the ache inside me deepens. It’s the fact that I won’t ever get to speak to him again if Myeong-su has his way.
He’ll kill me and then finally succeed in his revenge against Jin and his father.
Jin will be destroyed in a way that’ll be irreparable. Myeong-su knows this, and that’s exactly the point.
…to destroy a man in the worst way.
My fingers work desperately at the rope as Myeong-su closes in, not even hiding the fact that I’m trying to free myself anymore.
He watches on with a gleam in his dark, crinkled eyes, his smirk spreading as if my desperate attempts couldn’t be funnier.
“How does it feel?” he asks, stopping in front of me. “What is it like to have that little bit of hope? It will be your last, little rabbit. You think I didn’t know what you’ve been doing this whole time? How you’ve been trying to distract me? I’m sorry to tell you it’s over.”
Before I can react, he grabs me and shoves me into theopen wardrobe. The same wardrobe Jin was once hidden in as his family was murdered.
I scream, thrashing, trying to claw my way out, but he’s stronger than he looks, his grip ironclad as he forces me back into the cramped space.
The last thing I see is his cold smile, then the lid slams shut, plunging me into total darkness.
26.Jin
If you wishto finish this, you can find me where it all began.
The invitation turns over in my head so many times the words lose meaning and the panic infests my brain instead. I’ve already solved the cryptic message, but that only makes the long drive to the very outskirts of Busan more torturous.
It all began thirty years ago at my family’s hanok. The night Black Shell and his minions slaughtered my family in cold blood and I was forced to watch it happen. It was a dark night I buried for a long time, shoving the childhood trauma down as far as it would go.
Little did I know some day the man responsible would return to finish the job.
Only this time, it would be the woman I love he’s after.
