It was nine in the morning when the train arrived at Mokpo. The fine drops from the sky did not obscure the sun, which radiated its bright energy. Donghae smiled as soon as his feet hit the pavement of Mokpo. His smile was so contagious that Suri would smile after seeing that. They came out of the station and the car stopped by them, Donghae opened the door in the front seat.
"Let me give you a ride Suri ssi." Donghae said, putting his bag in the car.
"No thanks. Someone will pick me up here."
"Is that so? Well, call me if you need anything." Donghae moved closer to her and whispered, "or if Jeremy Lin needs a tour guide." Suri chuckled , soon they said their goodbyes and she was left standing there. It did not take long for another car to appear in front of her. It was a volvo, Suri knew it was Jeremy Lin. The driver clambered out of the car, it was a young man.
The man bowed to her and spoke, "You are Jang Suri?" Suri just nodded "Mr. Lin asked me to pick you up. He is waiting at the hotel, he wants to have a lunch first before going to Yudal Mountain. Please get in." The young man said, gesturing Suri to get inside the car. The young man's face was overflowing with innocence and his politeness had overwhelmed her, when he took her bag and opened the car for her. It was hard refraining herself to gaze at the man. The man had an ineffable aura, Suri couldn't figure out. He was intriguing.
"May I know your name?" Suri asked after she buckled up.
"Kai."
Silence filled the car when the engine was started, Suri just busied herself staring at the buildings and establishments they passed by. She thought that Kai was taciturn and would prefer a mute company. The engine had ceased when Kai spoke for the second time.
"Ms. Jang, I think there is a flat tire. I'll check." Kai said formally and got out. Soon, Suri found Kai checking the tires in front of the tinted side mirror. In a bit, Kai knocked on her window and Suri lowered it down. His youth and innocence had beguiled her, in his quck movement he had suffocated her with his handkerchief. When Suri lost her consciousness, Kai scanned the place again, making sure no one had witnessed. He climbed in the car, raising the window and brought back the engine to life. He made a U-turn going to the place where his master was frantically waiting for them... in excitement.
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Her eyes were too heavy, it squinted at the bright lights. She had no idea how long was she asleep and totally clueless on how did she end up tied up to a chair. Her hands were rested on her lap but were handcuffed. When the picture had finally sunk in, she felt her heart would burst out in fear. She tried to calm herself and looked around. The room was empty but she knew she was not alone, it was confirmed later with a smoke coming from her back.
"Did you like the flowers?" The man said approaching her from behind. Suri lowered her head, denying the identity of that voice. The man stopped and faced her, held her chin up. "My Jang Suri?"
"Kibum?" Suri murmured, her breathing pattern in a chaos. "What am I doing here? What do you want from me?" She said, trying to equip her voice with valor but it betrayed her, she was trembling.
"Everything." Kibum smirked. He took another puff on his cigarette and walked like a drunk towards the wall. "I have something to show you. This is my masterpiece." He said, pulling the black cloth attached to the wall. It revealed Suri's pictures, all were marked by a cigarette.
Suri gawped at what she had seen. It was her in New York, when she came back after three years, and there was one picture her eyes focused on. Her picture at the cemetery, in her recent visit to her dad. She recalled the sound of the camera shutter, it was not an illusion. It was Kibum. This guy had been following her every step for three years.
"Is it beautiful?" Kibum asked her giving every word a melody. A frightening melody.
"You're crazy?!" Suri yelled at him, moving with all her strength in hope of freeing herself.
"Crazy?!" Kibum pursed his lips with the word. "Well, artists are crazy. That explains." Kibum slid his foot towards Suri, touching her cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm crazy for you." He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "I'm crazy to kill you." Then, his face expressed anxiety that bordered on anger and fear. "But how can I kill my muse... yes! You are my muse. My artistic muse. My inspiration for making this wonderful work of art." From fear and anger, he burst out laughing. It soon faded and he suddenly cried.
"I did something bad. So bad, my conscience won't let me sleep." He was sobbing but he chuckled. "Would you like me to tell you about it?" He asked and stroked Suri's hair, combing it with his fingers. "You know Kai, the one who drove you here?" Kibum chuckled again, in one moment he resumed his serious voice. "Ara believes that the kid likes her. In fact, I'm paying him to fool around with her. Say this cheesy lines, follow her, bring her to rose garden. And you know what, Ara fell for it. So pathetic!"
"You did that?" Suri said feebly, the revelations were draining all her energy.
"Yes. I need to distract the hopeless romantic director and make sure she's preoccupied by the time of Siwon disappearance."
"Siwon? You-" Kibum cut her off by placing his finger on Suri's lips. He flashed his white teeth, it was brighter than the light that Suri had to closed her eyes.
"I don't want to harm him. However, Hyung has been getting on my nerves. I had no choice."
"Did you kill him?" Suri asked, she felt the intense beating of her heart.
"Did I kill him? Hmmm... No? Yes? No? I don't know!!!" Kibum screamed, pulling his hair. He walked back and forth incessantly, his body was shaking. He looked so afraid and he was crying again. "I followed him one night, he must have noticed me and stopped his car. He got out so I did the same. He was surprised to see me but he was even more surprised that I was holding a gun, I pointed it at him. He was scared!" Kibum laughed again, really hard that he crouched down holding his stomach. "I won't forget his face when he saw the gun!!! He stepped back, and back, and back, and OW!!! He fell off the cliff!!!"
Kibum was down to his knees, sniveling. "I didn't mean to do that! Believe me!" He paused and wiped off his tears. "But you can't blame me, he really likes you for Heechul! He doesn't care about me! He doesn't care about my feelings?!"
"I planned for it actually, all of them now are searching for Siwon. Nobody will notice you, my Jang Suri. No one. No one will stop you from going to Mokpo. Everyone is busy looking for Siwon. Hahaha! They must be really worried, seeing the wrecked car. Well, I had to push that car until it fell off too. So heavy!"
"Had I been successful in killing your sister, they would not suffer. Ara wouldn't meet Kai. Siwon wouldn't fall."
"Why my sister?" Suri asked, her eyes spilled the tears she tried to hold back for a long time.
"Kini dies, Suri dies. The only family you have is Kini, losing her would make your life miserable. But unlike you, your sister is lucky. When I put a rape drug in her drink, Sungjoon was there. When I asked her out to the movies, Sungjoon stopped her. When we were in the bar and she was drunk, Sungjoon took her home. That Sungjoon! You should thank him, your sister's knight in shining armor." He stopped and kicked the wall in frustration. Soon, he was smiling again as if remembering something.
"Speaking of knights. Lets call your knight in shining armor." His eyes glittered in excitement as he dug into Suri's bag. He raised his hand when he found her cellphone and immediately called Heechul. "Pick up the phone, asshole!" Kibum shouted, in frustration he lit another stick.
"Jang Suri, where the hell are you?"
"Hyung?!"
"Ya?! Who are you? Where is Suri?" Kibum set it to loudspeaker
"Calm down. Its me Kibum. Did you miss me?" Kibum giggled. "Hyung, I showed Suri the masterpiece I have made for three years. It is a collage of her pictures from New York up until now. What sets it apart from the ordinary collage is that I use cigarette to mark it." He exhaled the smoke at Suri's face.
"Ya?!! Where are you?"
"Hyung, I've heard you like kissing her knuckles." Kibum said, his voice was plain and blank. But it was scary and ghoulish. He stroked her knuckles with her fingers, touching it gently and softly. It did not take long for his cigarette to touch her knuckles. Suri yelped in pain, Heechul on the phone heard it clearly.
"Motherfu****!!! Where are you?!!!" Kibum turned off the phone.
