Chapter 91.2

Chapter 91.2

The green-haired man winked at André and rehooked the rope behind him.

He passed through the gate with ease, and as he stood before the old church, the doorman opened the door for him. Bass thumped as soon as they entered the corridor. Lorraine turned back and wagged her finger at him.

[André de Lafayette, you owe me one. Just like I got you in here, I can help at the shareholders’ meeting. Time’s running out.”

Lorraine teasingly clicked her tongue like a clock, then turned away.

[Lorraine.]

After provoking him with such glee, Lorraine glanced back nervously when he finally called her name. She looked ready to bolt at the slightest sign of trouble.

[…Where’s the Shampoo Room?]

Lorraine’s mouth dropped open. She’d expected a torrent of venom in return for her provocation, but instead he asked where the Shampoo Room was?

[Leftmost at the end. André, I really can’t figure you out.]

André brushed past Lorraine, who stood there looking stunned, and walked into the club without a second glance.

–

The chapel, with its church interior and stained-glass windows still intact, had become a massive stage. Dazzling laser beams swept over the undulating crowd like waves, pulsing to the beat of the DJ’s techno music.

The club was hazy with spilled liquor, nonstop cigarette smoke, and the acrid stench of m*r#ju@.n@. The irony of decadence and debauchery unfolding within a church, and the resulting sense of moral transgression, hung thick in the air.

André quickened his pace. He prayed that Miran hadn’t wandered off from the Shampoo Room. The thought of searching for her aimlessly in this vast space made him anxious.

As he walked down the stairs towards the Shampoo Room, he saw a space filled with pure white foam reaching up to an adult’s waist. Quite a few people were practically rolling around inside, dancing while covered in soapy suds.

At the center of it was Miran. Her soaked long hair and tank top clung tightly to her body, and bubbles clung to her skin as her body bounced up and down the water.

It was then. As Miran danced with her arms raised, someone behind her dumped foam over her head. Startled, she turned around, wiped the foam from her face and hair, then threw her head back and laughed out loud.

Lights poured over her in the dimness. Miran’s image seemed to etch itself into his eyes. Her movements felt like slow motion.

André slowly descended the stairs and stepped into the foam that rose to his thighs. He wanted to keep watching her a little longer. Afraid of shattering the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to go any closer.

He stood frozen, as if nailed in place, just watching as his heart contracted painfully. Miran, wrapped in white foam, dancing and laughing freely, was so blindingly beautiful that it made his eyes ache. A dull ache spread through his chest, and André firmly pressed on it. He could feel his eyes turn red.

Then Miran staggered as if she was about to slip. André’s heart dropped as he pushed through the foam to reach her, but a man, whose back had been the only thing visible, grabbed her by the forearm. The moment André saw his profile, his eyes caught fire. He recognized that face.

That was the guy she once had crushed on. Now that he thought about it, the unpleasant voice he heard on the phone earlier must have been his.

His anger boiled. Only then did a fragmented memory surface: Hyunjung had been Miran’s dorm roommate, and her cousin was Seunghyuk.

“Hah.”

André came up behind them, André grabbed Seunghyuk’s arm and yanked it off. Both of them turned to face him at once, startled.

“André!”

As soon as she called his name, Miran flung herself into him. Soaked in suds, she crashed into him with her whole body. Reflexively,  André wrapped his arms around her, arched his back slightly, and lifted her up.

The moment he looked into Miran’s face, André completely forgot Seunghyuk. Her beautifully folded eyes held honey-brown pupils, sweet as sunlight, met his gaze at eye level.

Her eyes revealed pure joy at seeing him, crying out how happy she was to be with him. They shouted that she loved him, to the point his heart felt heavy.

Gazing into those eyes, André pulled the noose tight around his neck. And decided.

To marry Lorraine Carbot as soon as possible.