LIA'S POV
"Jisu-ah!"
No riches can buy happiness, no wealth can bring peace.
"Everything's over."
For the last four years of my life, I had thought I was blinded by love. And maybe I was.
Hwang Yeji was never a saint, not even close to one. Her father had always been involved with the underworld, and so was what he had taught his daughter, made her follow his footsteps all along. She trusted him more than herself, but he was not the best person for that.
"Here! Now you'll be fine."
The one she had worn that day-- that dress was her favourite. The sun had shone brightly on her brown hair, making it almost hazel as she had played around in the garden of her house. Her little fingers had held a bloom, a calla. She was ten, I was nine, and we were best of friends.
I had a camera, the one I used to carry everywhere. Why?
"Yeji eonnie, smile!"
Because it held our memories-- of mine and Yeji's.
"I don't wanna do this, Jisu-ah..."
She was thirteen when she had finally realised her father's foul play. But it was already too late for her to back out then. She'd cry in her room, asking the gods of her sins, for what had she done to receive such a fate. Against her will was she dragged into the mercy of wrong hands, and had she already committed forbidden crimes, although she wasn't aware.
How can one's own father be like this? So heartless?
But it was back then when I realised my feelings for her that weren't just limited to being best friends. It was much more.
At first, I defined it as admiration-- it didn't fit well. Soon did I realise that I had fallen actually fallen for her. My world revolved around her and hers around mine. We only had each other whom we could trust, and that's all we asked for, really. Her family raised me, and gave me shelter, food and clothes to wear but Yeji? She gave me a reason to live.
Years passed away like the shedding leaves of autumn, and a lot of things changed...
... Changed for the worse.
"Leave me alone!"
She started to keep a lot of secrets, and grew to be more...aggressive?
"Why do you even care?"
As the gap between us widened day by day, fear started to reign over my thought. I was clueless about my mistakes, and she refrained to tell me any.
Then came Shin Ryujin, destroying everything we had.
"Promise me something, Jisu-ah."
"What is it?"
"Please never breach my trust."
And I did one thing I had promised not to. I broke her trust.
I knew that telling the police about Huening Kai would cost Yeji's safety as well, of course, I knew. Yet I did just that, just for the greed of money.
I thought my love was the greatest, but as I had laid my eyes on the riches encased in a briefcase, I didn't think twice about it.
And now all I see is a traitor in that mirror, staring back tauntingly as if to say, "You lost."
In a matter of an hour or two, Yeji would be in her grave. What reason do I have now to continue living? None. I really have lost everything.
No riches can buy happiness, no wealth can bring peace.
And so, I choose death at last.
I slowly let my eyelids fall shut, a small grieving smile curling my lips.
"Forgive me, eonnie."
A loud bang is all that is heard thereafter.
KAI'S POV
"It will be fine again. We will be fine again."
"KAI PLEASE—"
"The darkness will go away, the stars will shine again."
My breathing is uneven, my hands shaking violently. My eyes are blown wide but the one I see is not Hwang Yeji in front of me, it's not her blood on my hands.
It's hers.
"Oppa, it hurts."
Hiyyih.
I blink once, then twice, but it's only her I can see, a deep gash running down the side of her cheek.
"You are just like her, Oppa."
What have I done? This is not me. I can never... I can never hurt my sister, not Hiyyih, not anyone. This has to be someone else. I can't...
"She always had a liking for you, Oppa. No wonder you are just like her."
No. I am not like her, am I? I am not like my mother. I am not doing any of this.
"You are no different."
No.
My eyes wander to the other corner of the room, and there stands Lea, disappointment written all over her face. I look back at Hiyyih who takes a step back.
"She was a psychopath, and so are you. She killed dad, you will kill us."
"No!"
And before I know it, my fingers wrap around the girl's throat. She chokes, lets out a cry for help and I try to stop myself...
...But I've already lost all my control over my body.
THIRD-PERSON
Yeji tries to free herself from Kai's grip but to no avail. She is weak enough with the low food consumption and sleep deprivation, and now her struggle for every breath isn't much of a help.
Of course, she knows that survival at this point is just a dream and that even the ropes that tie her hands behind her back were dipped in drugs beforehand. Now, there is no way out of the impending doom as she slowly feels herself losing her consciousness.
Tears threaten at the brim of her eyes and she feels her world crumble down. Her entire life flashes in front of his eyes. Those crimes, those dark days, the memories and Lia.
In the end, it is her dying alone, leaving the other girl. She'll see that friend ever again, and it hurts more than any other cuts or wounds.
'At least she'll be alive.' Is what she thinks as her vision turns blurry. 'She'll be happy without me.'
Yeji lost her will to live a long time ago, the prolonged torture being the only thing keeping her alive. She knew she'd give up someday.
And that day happens to be today.
But, as if on cue, the door to the room bursts open. Yeji limply falls to the floor as those hands let go of her.
'She'll be fine.'
BEOMGYU'S POV
I am late.
"Beomgyu?"
I know I am.
"Beomgyu why are you here—"
"Where is he?"
Choi Yujin stares at me with an unreadable expression, her hands not letting me go. "Jagiya..." She trails off, her gaze slowly falling to the floor. "Go home, you are not safe here."
But I protest out of her hold and go past the plight of police cars and ambulances that line up in front of the old Huening residence.
My heart goes haywire at the mere sight of the house-- the childhood of the person I loved and no wonder he still gets those nightmares.
Because the scene isn't so different from all those years ago, just as I had imagined it to be. But worse.
I take in a shaky breath and climb the first step, the old plank creaking beneath the sole of my boot. My head feels dizzy as my gaze lingers over the police tapes that cover the entrance. I can hear nothing but my own breaths as the hair on my neck reach for the ceiling.
I am late.
And just as I take another step, someone appears at the door, someone I had expected but never at all.
Shin Ryujin stands there, her face devoid of emotions. I don't know what to say as she wordlessly holds her place.
Then I dare to look behind me, slowly and calmly, only to be met with two medical personnel carrying a stretcher, an unconscious Hwang Yeji lying upon it as if she is in her good night's sleep.
I look back at Ryujin, in hopes that she knows what exactly I am here for. And maybe she does, as her head-- that once touched the clouds-- slowly falls and a tear escapes her eye.
"They can't find Kai. He is nowhere to be seen."
My knees give out.
Darling Daisy, don't you cry
Darling Daisy, don't say goodbye
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
A/N ¡! ❝The one thing I live about Kai and Yeji here is that they are the most contrasting yet the most similar characters here. Like the two sides of the same coin.
And so, I was wondering if I should write a separate book about Yeji. I had already planned an extra chapter but now I think it'd be better if you all actually knew about her childhood and her and Lia's relationship. Of course, it would be relatively shorter than this book and the second book planned after this (the Hawaiian love story). Let me know if you think you are okay with a special chapter or two.
Hope you are enjoying it so far, final showdown is coming soon~❞