Chapter 16.2

Chapter 16.2

But strangely, even the next day, Heejin was nowhere to be seen. Yeongshin fidgeted anxiously for a while before saying something completely incomprehensible.

“Well, actually, what happened was… you see…”

He said her sister was dead. At first, Heeju thought Yeongshin was telling her a terrible, cruel lie. It didn’t make sense. Why would her sister be dead? How could that be possible?

“Don’t lie. Why would you say something like that…?”

It wasn’t until the police officer investigating Heejin’s case visited the hospital room that Heeju finally realized the shocking and horrific truth: while she had been lying unconscious in the hospital, her sister had jumped from the rooftop of their apartment building, and she only learned about it days later.

The police concluded there was no evidence of foul play based on their investigation of the scene and interviews with witnesses. The investigating officer concluded that Heejin had committed suicide out of despair for not detecting the assault on the stairs quickly enough to protect her sister, but Heeju couldn’t accept this explanation at all.

It was hard to believe that her sister, who had said they only had each other, her only family and blood relative, would leave her behind like that.

She wanted to grab her sister’s leg and ask how she could do this. But the person who could answer was already gone from her side.

Heeju gathered all the money she had and hired the most expensive lawyer. The lawyer was confident that the perpetrator wouldn’t escape severe punishment, saying that regardless of how powerful his family’s backing was, they could definitely secure a prison sentence of at least 10 years.

Did that bring any comfort? Well…

All that remained was piercing regret. If only she had woken up a little sooner in the hospital, couldn’t she have prevented it? If only she hadn’t stupidly gotten caught that day and had escaped properly. No, if only she hadn’t gotten involved with that bastard in the first place…

She felt disgusted with herself that all she could do was harbor such regrets.

“Huhk…”

Heeju took a breath and leaned against the wall. Cold sweat had already soaked her forehead. Her vision alternated between darkening and turning white.

“Whew…”

As she took deep breaths and shook her head from side to side, it felt like her brain was churning inside. Just smelling the autopsy room made her dizzy, and they want her to come back? What could she possibly do here when she was busy trembling and breaking out in cold sweat?

Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, making it laughable that she had briefly hoped she might be fine now, that it might not affect her anymore.

Clatter.

Heeju resolutely pulled over a mobile trolley. She placed the necessary tools on the shelf. As her pale fingertips twitched with a spasm, a medical tweezer fell to the floor with a clack. Just as Heeju reached out to pick it up, a low voice was heard.

“Here you are, doing this again.”

A long hand with thick knuckles picked up the tweezer. Gukhyun blew off the dust on the tweezer with a puff and set it down on the autopsy table with a clank.

“Can’t take my eyes off you. So annoying.”

He turned on the faucet while looking with interest at the water tap attached to the upper part of the autopsy table. The trickling water flowed into the drain at the top. Heeju reached out and abruptly turned off the water.

“Why did you follow me in? I told you I’d bring everything to my lab where you were supposed to wait.”

“Because you have a habit of collapsing anywhere and everywhere.”

Gukhyun plopped down on the autopsy table. Then he stared intently at Heeju’s face.

“Your face was so pale and trembling, I thought you might have met a ghost in here.”

Heeju clenched and unclenched her lowered hand. Then, speaking as if with a sigh, she said:

“I’m not afraid of ghosts. I’m afraid of people.”

“Smart. Humans are the most vicious, aren’t they?”

“Let’s go out. I’ll remove your stitches outside.”

She pointed towards the exit while pulling the mobile trolley. However, a strong hand suddenly grabbed Heeju’s wrist.

“Why? I like it here. It’s nice and creepy.”

Gukhyun’s lips curled up as he looked around, as if he’d found a place to his liking. A damp chill circulated through the basement autopsy room. His low voice resonated eerily in her ears, as if they were alone in a deep cave.

“I like dark, secluded places, you see.”

Of course you do.