𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗

𝟐𝟐 | 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇

"Oh!" She seemed surprised to see (Y/N) standing there. "Pardon me, miss."

Closing Haru's door behind her and giving the girl a small nod of her head, the woman then scurried away before anything more could be said.

(Y/N) glanced back at the room.

She shivered in disgust when remembering how brazenly Haru was acting towards her when she caught him and that girl one time, hoping to never again suddenly walk in on a sight like that. But just as she was about to walk away, she faltered, her mind throwing her back to the previous night when she caught Haru looking at a locket.

She swallowed.

I'm not curious.

I'm not going back into that room again because that would be stupid. I don't care about Haru's past or what Kai has done since that's not who he is now.

I don't want to know.

But...

Would anything happen to me?

Her (E/C) eyes dimmed as she thought of how close she and Kai were becoming. If what Eun-ji had told her about Kai's past was true, if what Haru was saying wasn't false, and if Kai truly were a dangerous individual, she should know, right? If she didn't, she could very well end up hurt next.

(Y/N) stilled.

It's stupid...

But now I can't help but want to know.

Her hand trembled as she reached for the handle, sucking in a deep breath before swinging the door open to see nothing but darkness. Flicking the light on, she searched quickly, finding nothing after five minutes until a soft glimmer beneath the floorboards caught her attention. When pushing down on that specific section, she found that the boards were loose and easy to pull away.

Her lips parted.

There it is.

Picking up the locket and examining it, she could tell that it was old, but it was also one anyone could buy from any jewelry shop. Opening the necklace, all that was inside was a picture of a pretty girl with ebony skin, striking emerald eyes, and curly black hair that framed her face. And underneath was her name: Mia Vives. Letting out a hum, (Y/N) turned her attention back to the small hideaway, ignoring the stack of bills and a couple of small liquor bottles to the right to instead focus on what looked to be a picture machine photo strip.

Every picture had different poses, but they all contained Haru, Mia, and Kai.

Despite his portion of the photo being scratched away, (Y/N) could still tell it was Kai, her gaze traveling down to the way his hand was holding onto Mia's own tightly.

"(Y/N)?"

Said girl gasped as she turned around, expecting to see Haru yet Kai being the one to greet her. She had already known that he was cleaning out his bar for the night, so she hadn't expected him back so soon. His eyes flicked from her in the middle of the room, to the picture strip in her hand, his stare lingering when noticing just who was in the photos. Letting out a brief sigh, he gestured with his head for her to follow him before disappearing.

She didn't move.

But then, ever so slowly, she began to put everything back to the way it was before so she could follow Kai out.

They stopped in his room.

(Y/N) followed his line of sight to a single picture on his wall that contained him with an arm around Mia, both laughing while Haru stood beside them with a smile. Yet, while the other twos' eyes were on the camera, his were only on Mia.

"Mia was my girlfriend," Kai's voice broke the tense atmosphere, his tone low and deep—as if remembering something painful. "She, Haru, and I were all friends at some point. She... was truly the best person I've ever met. I shouldn't have taken her out that night. We were just driving, having a good time, laughing... until we weren't. The crash wasn't my fault since the other driver was drunk, but Haru has always blamed me for her death since we weren't even supposed to be there."

"I... see..." (Y/N) looked away, guilt flowing through her after thinking that Kai might've done something to Mia.

It was... an accident.

And while Haru might have been devastated, I know Kai must have felt worse.

Because he was there.

And he couldn't save her.

"I'm sorry," she then shook her head as she turned away from the man, expression crumpling. "This was personal, and I shouldn't have pried, no matter what I was thinking. You've been kind to me since I got here, and yet I... I'm sorry."

Kai didn't answer.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to a tight hug.

"Don't be," he mumbled softly, his chest reverberating with each word that made her stiffen. "I'm sure Haru must have told you about my past. It's only natural you were cautious. But now you know why I can't help but wish to protect you. I don't want anything like what happened to Mia to happen to you. I won't ever allow that."

His grip tightened.

Never.

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