Couple of Mirrors (Imagined Sequel)

Chapter II

I drew a deep breath before stepping out of the prison. Detective Jiang was beside me and insisted to escort me home.

"I'm sorry about what happened with the chief earlier," he apologized.

Before I got out of prison, he talked to the head of the police department. Of course, he wasn't happy that some guilty murderer would be in the same team as them.

He talked a lot about public relations, and all those shits but luckily, the detective managed to talk it out with him. It seemed that he had taken a fascination with my skills in combat and sense of justice (if I have any).

I'd be under the direct supervision of Detective Jiang and he made me swear that if ever I do something not aligned with the department's vision, I'd be given a life sentence with no chance of parole.

It's a heavy responsibility and quite annoying on my part. For one, I hate being tailed and constantly watched.

I loathed following orders and asking for permission before I move.

But between the annoyance I might feel and not seeing You Yi, I'd rather choose the former.

I inhaled the fresh air that hit my skin.

It was nice to be out.

Inside the prison, I was constantly suffocated due to the lack of windows and humidity. It was so cramped that it was hard to meditate and think of beautiful moments in my life that would make me want to finish my sentence.

It was so hard that I would have given up.

"It's okay," I answered, a bit later. "I understand where he's coming from."

The man stared at me for a moment before nodding with agreement.

"You pretty much heard everything that you need to know. Work is on weekdays, and I'd get to supervise you. The rest of the days, you're free to do whatever you want," he reminded me. "But no violating the laws."

That wouldn't be hard, I supposed. After all, the moment I surrendered to the authority, I already planned to throw that life away.

I know, it wouldn't be easy but I want to change. Besides, I'm not some kind of antisocial that kills for the sake of adrenaline rush. So it shouldn't be difficult to deviate from my past.

I wanted to be a better person that could stay confidently with You Yi, and the only way to do that was to change the way I live.

After almost half an hour of travel time, we finally reached the studio. Detective Jiang left right after he dropped me off, citing the loads of paper works that needed his attention.

Once his car disappeared from my line of sight, I turned to the abandoned place in front of me.

Despite the broken glass and the apparent lack of maintenance, the place still felt nostalgic.

It brought back a lot of memories in my mind.

You Yi in her beautiful dress when she first came here to take a photo with her unfaithful husband and friend.

That night when she was drenched out of the pouring rain but still insisted to cook dinner for us to eat.

The day she decided to live here. Yes, decided, because it didn't matter to her whether I agreed or not.

When she hugged me for the first time before leaving with her ex-husband.

That night when she leaned on my shoulder.

Or the day when we celebrated Lily's first month.

It was all rushing into my mind as if all of them happened just yesterday.