Chapter 61

Chapter 61

―Aaaah! I didn’t want that person to die. Why did it happen, why?!

Despite the woman’s cries, the man’s killings did not stop.

The workplace superior who had sexually harassed her, the VIP customer who had made her kneel and mistreated her, and even the old man from downstairs who knocked on the front door complaining about the noise every time she did laundry—all of them eventually became corpses at the hands of the man.

At first, she hated such situations to the point of wanting to die, but before long, she began to grow accustomed to the murderer. If she didn’t feel his gaze around her, she would feel inexplicably anxious and even found herself making excuses for him in secret, away from those who cursed him.

They were people who deserved to die.

Goyo could understand the woman’s feelings.

This does not justify murder. However, not long ago, when she was beaten by Lee Yoon-geon, she had been in so much pain that she briefly entertained dark thoughts.

She wished she hadn’t stopped Jae-heon when he said he would kill him. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have to endure this terrible pain.

―The person who makes you suffer is no longer here. Now it’s just you and me.

―……Just us.

―You only need me.

“Ugh.”

Before she could catch her breath, another victim appeared, and Goyo trembled at the brutal scene.

“Looks like you’re not a child after all.”

It seemed that Goyo’s trembling was conveyed to Jae-heon. He took her hand and intertwined their fingers. With his other hand still resting on his chin, he stared blankly at the screen. Unlike Goyo, who flinched every time a bloodied corpse appeared, his expression remained indifferent.

He seemed to have no reaction at all.

“Aren’t you scared, Jae-heon?”

“Why would I be scared of something like that? Oh, I do agree on one thing. I’ve thought that it would be nice if it were just you and me.”

“… What?”

“That  snake bastards who keep eating even when his bellies is bursting, or the dim-witted, stubborn brat…”

As Jae-heon looked at Goyo, he turned his face forward and muttered. His voice overlapped with the man’s voice on the screen like an echo.

–“They might deserve to die.”

The camera shifted behind the man’s head, and soon it became his perspective. From the man’s viewpoint, the victims astonishingly had no faces or were completely mangled. To him, they were not people but mere pests that gnawed at his woman’s body and mind.

The man spoke, claiming he would make the woman’s world perfect.

―Where I am is your paradise.

―Paradise…

The woman, freed from all pain, felt happiness.

What does it matter if she becomes a beast? She was living in paradise with the one she loved.

―Yes, I only need you.

In the end, the woman took the man’s hand. She understood him, comforted him, and ultimately forgave him.

Seeing this, Goyo wore a bitter expression.

The murdered victims and their families had not forgiven him; what right did the woman have to forgive the man? Especially as an accomplice.

‘What is an accomplice?’

‘It refers to someone who did bad things together with another person.’

A fragment of memory floated to the surface of her mind like a buoy.

‘Protecting a murderer is also a crime. An accomplice is just as bad as the one who committed the crime directly.’

Lee Yi-taek had told young Goyo that accomplices could never be forgiven.

Goyo had been bearing the heavy yoke of being an accomplice because of her family, suffering for things she had not even done.

Her heart ached.

“It’s definitely brutal for a child to see.”

The grip of Jae-heon’s hand around hers tightened. Goyo felt a warm sensation and exhaled deeply.

“If it’s hard to watch, just close your eyes. You can cuddle up to me.”

He gestured to his thigh with a nod. It was an invitation to sit on his thigh if she was scared. Goyo’s eyes widened as memories of Jae-heon’s actions in the hallway of KJ Tower the previous night came flooding back.

“D-don’t try to satisfy your desires,” She warned him.

“Satisfy my desires? I’m just worried about you.”

Jae-heon shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s nothing like erotica to overcome fear.”

“P-please, get a grip.”

Goyo bit her trembling lips and managed to say. No matter how scared she was, she promised herself she would never lean on him and turned her gaze back to the screen.

The movie was now heading toward its climax.

The man and the police were in a chaotic chase. The sirens from the police cars chasing the man blared over the sound of gunfire and the screams of citizens. The theater speakers thumped so loudly that her ears hurt and her stomach churned.

The last place the man fled to was somewhere Goyo was familiar with. It was a place where she and her father had lived in a narrow, dark space when she was young.

A place devoid of hope, where despair and sadness pooled like rainwater in a semi-basement room.

The walls were covered in dark mold. An old, shabby turquoise sink. The door, with clear signs of being gnawed by rats, creaked loudly every time it was opened.

Goyo bit her lower lip tightly.

It was strikingly similar to the semi-basement room where she had lived until she was six. The small window close to the ceiling. The silver aluminum bathroom door next to the sink.

Bang! A gunshot rang out.

The man fell.