Close To Midnight

Epilogue 1

The district known for chaos and madness was buzzing with life around her. Cars drove by in the street behind the cemetery as people rushed to get home from work. Chaeyoung felt detached from all of it. The sun which was setting formed a halo around the headstone she was staring at.

Nayeon

The cool evening breeze brushed her bangs away from her pained eyes.

Six months of living with what ifs. What if I had stopped Jeongyeon from pulling the trigger, what if Jiwon hadn't tried the last move, what if Nayeon had ducked.

Six months of sleepless nights, waking up in cold sweats trying desperately to erase the images of Nayeon's hauntingly beautiful face lying in the bottom of the river, lifeless and pale.

Six months of hearing her melancholic voice uttering Mina's name as she fell to her death, playing on a loop in her head.

Chaeyoung's digital watch announced it was five.

Her team was about to bust an international drug ring, and it should have excited someone her age, but she had become a stranger to feelings.

The only feeling she felt these days was guilt.

As she slowly treaded towards the entrance where Jeongyeon was waiting for her, an inscription on a random person's headstone caught her attention.

The story is not over.

What an interesting choice of words, she thought. She couldn't deny the truth behind them.

Death could take away the physical form, but  the story always continued in someone's memories. Chapter after chapters revisited, words which were said, memorized and never forgotten.

"We'll have to make a quick stop at the rehab before we go to the precinct." The taller detective murmured.

She knew Jeongyeon didn't intend to shoot Nayeon dead. She knew it was an accident. Despite knowing all that she couldn't push away the images of her pulling the trigger on her gun every time she looked at her. 

"Karma hits us where it hurts the most."

Chaeyoung snapped her head to her side.

Jeongyeon spoke in a low voice, almost as if she was talking to herself.

It hit Nayeon in the chest, in her heart, Chaeyoung thought. Right above where she had Mina's name tattooed.

"We all have to pay for our sins." Jeongyeon kept her voice to a near whisper as they walked down the empty corridor, heart wrenching sobs of some girl in a ward the only sound keeping them company.

Chaeyoung didn't interrupt her. After a few moments of silence, Jeongyeon abruptly stopped in the middle of the corridor.

"You see that boy over there." She pointed at a ward, where a boy was sleeping on a woman's chest. He looked clearly distressed. From their similar features, she could tell they were mother and son. "His name is Seok. Mina adored that boy, so much so that her father decided to have him transferred to this centre. Got the best doctors from around the world to give him treatment. He was originally given only two months to live."

"Whose sin is he paying for?" She tried to keep the bitterness away from her voice.

A sad smile danced upon the older girl's lips. "His father's."

Chaeyoung looked over at her partner, her heart squeezing at the sight. She looked miserable, broken, and she realised she hadn't seen the fire in her eyes in a long time.