The Bar (2)
A girl was falling past the window.
It lasted only an instant, but Han Yuhyeon's eyes met hers. Fear and fury were knotted together in her gaze.
Crunch—!
"Aaaaaah—!"
The scream tore through the lecture hall.
"H-huh…? Just now…? S-sunbae, did you see that?"
Song Yu-na was so shaken she could barely get the words out. She tried to look outside, but Han Yuhyeon caught her by the shoulder and sat her back down in her chair.
"I'll check."
He opened the window and leaned out.
The woman who had hit the ground lay with her skull split open, blood and brain matter spilling from the break. Her body twitched now and then, as if in seizure.
Han Yuhyeon looked into the dying woman's eyes.
She was looking back at him.
Blood running from her forehead mixed with tears and traced the line of her jaw. Then the light left the girl's eyes.
The university erupted. A girl had thrown herself to her death in broad daylight, and every class was canceled on the spot.
Police and an ambulance arrived at once, and the body was cleared away quickly.
The victim's name was Oh Yu-ri. She had been a freshman in the same department as Han Yuhyeon.
Everyone connected to her was questioned. Han Yuhyeon, who had no tie to her at all, took Song Yu-na—driven into a panic by watching someone die in front of her—and brought her to the department lounge.
"Suicide… H-how could something like this…"
Seated in a chair, Song Yu-na stared at nothing. She hadn't seen the victim's last moment the way Han Yuhyeon had, but she already knew how it ended, and simply witnessing the leap was a shock too large to hold. She trembled like an aspen and bit down hard on her lower lip.
Han Yuhyeon watched her in silence, then steeped a cup of the green tea kept in the lounge and held it out. Song Yu-na managed a strained smile and took it.
"Th-thank you. You must've been just as startled, and now you're wearing yourself out looking after me."
"No. I'm fine."
He really was. Ever since he had killed Kim Jeong-sik with his own two hands, his revulsion toward corpses and blood seemed to have vanished. Even when he watched Oh Yu-ri's head break open, he felt nothing at all. All that rose in him was the thought that he would have to look into this.
Song Yu-na, taking his calm for a composure he was forcing for her sake, smiled.
While she drank, Han Yuhyeon opened the university community board on his phone.
Han Yuhyeon scrolled in silence. Most of the posts were nothing but curses heaped on the dead Oh Yu-ri.
Song Yu-na, just beginning to settle as she drank her tea, caught something snagging at the edge of her vision.
"Huh…? What is this? I-is this blood…?"
The color drained from her face. Han Yuhyeon picked up the sheet her eyes had locked onto.
She was right. The paper was soaked in blood. It was a blood testament, injustice and rage pressed stroke by stroke into every line.
Han Yuhyeon and Song Yu-na read the will written in blood. She clapped a hand over her mouth. Deep inside him, something stirred.
Ding-a-ling—!
The door burst open.
"God, that fox of a bitch. Look at the mess she's dumped on us."
Three freshman girls piled into the lounge. The moment they came face to face with Song Yu-na and Han Yuhyeon, they flinched and ducked their heads.
"O-oh. Hello, sunbae."
Han Yuhyeon stared straight at them. At the girl in the middle, most of all.
Kim Ji-hye felt the weight of his gaze fixed on her.
Why's he staring like that? Don't tell me he fell for me at first sight.
She put on an awkward smile.
"Hello, sunbae. We left something behind, that's all. Campus is a real mess today, isn't it. Even if she did something awful, I hope that girl can rest easy up there."
Then her eyes landed on the will in Han Yuhyeon's hand. Without a flicker of concern, she sidled right up against him.
"Oh…? Would it be all right if I looked at that with you, sunbae?"
Watching Kim Ji-hye pour the words out in a coaxing lilt, Han Yuhyeon readily showed her the will.
As she read down the page, her pupils shook.
"Wh-what is this…?"
"A suicide note."
At his flat answer, Kim Ji-hye's shoulders jumped.
"Ah, r-right… O-of course."
"A s-suicide note? For real?"
"Is that bl-blood? She wrote a will in blood?"
Her friends couldn't hide their horror at the blood testament.
"That note… we should show it to the police. I don't know whether what's written is true or false, but if they investigate, it'll come out."
When Song Yu-na reached for the will, Kim Ji-hye startled and jerked back.
"Th-this! I'll turn it in to the police! We're the same year as Oh Yu-ri, so we were just on our way to be questioned anyway."
"Oh, really? That would be a help."
"Yes! Don't worry. I'll make sure it gets there, I promise. Well then…"
She tried to hurry out, but Han Yuhyeon's voice caught her by the ankle.
"Didn't you say you left something?"
"Ah, r-right, of course! I was so shocked I completely lost my head."
Kim Ji-hye snatched up a bag sitting in the corner of the sofa.
"We'll be going first, then."
She bobbed her head and slipped out of the lounge. From there, the three of them headed straight for the wooded hill behind campus.
"J-Ji-hye, where are we going? And w-we already finished with the police. We were on our way out."
"D-does it have our names on it too?"
At her friends' words, Kim Ji-hye's face twisted hard.
"All of you, shut up. People can hear. Only my name and the boss's are written on it. That doesn't mean the rest of you get to walk away clean. So don't you start scheming in front of me."
She delivered the warning low and even. Her friends shut their mouths and hung their heads.
"I'm not turning the note in. Even if those sunbaes run their mouths about a will, without evidence nobody's going to believe them in the end."
Kim Ji-hye took out a lighter and set the will on fire.
Crackle, crackle— the testament curled into ash.
She lit a cigarette off the flame still eating the page.
"Watch your mouths until the school quiets down. If either of you lets one weird word slip, you die with me. Understand?"
"Yeah… we understand…"
Late at night, with the dark lying low, Kim Ji-hye passed between the faint pools of streetlight. She was on the phone, her voice dripping with aegyo.
"Oppa, did you get in all right? Today must've been rough, with all that questioning."
Shopping bags hung heavy from both her arms, every one of them stuffed with luxury goods a college student had no business affording.
"Mm-hmm, I'm fine. I took care of the will for sure. So you can relax."
"Ah, oppa, I miss you already. When do we get to see each other again?"
Brrrr—!
Her phone buzzed.
"Huh? Hold on a second, oppa."
She checked the caller and frowned. It was one of her friends from school.
"Ugh, what's this bitch scared of now, blowing up my phone. Haah."
She hit the call button, and a sobbing voice came through the speaker.
"J-Ji-hye… w-we have to apologize."
"What? What the hell are you saying. I told you. Keep your mouth shut. You want your life ruined like this? Huh!?"
"Hic—! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Crunch—!
Beep. Beep. Beep—
The call cut off without warning.
"What? Ha! Did she just hang up on me? Where does this arrogant bitch get off!"
Kim Ji-hye moved to call her friend back.
Brrrr—!
This time the call came from her other friend.
"W-we're trash. Ji-hye. We're trash! Sob! P-please. Please!!"
"Hey! You two are together right now, aren't you? Have you crazy bitches taken something? Where do you get off spewing this shit? You already scarfed down the money, so shut your mouths like you promised!"
Crunch—!
Something shattered on the other end.
Beep. Beep. Beep—
That call died too.
"These bitches, I swear!"
She dialed again.
"The number cannot be reached. Connecting you to voicemail…"
In that instant a foreboding she couldn't name closed over Kim Ji-hye. Her mouth went bone-dry. Her lungs seemed to shrink. The fear that something was watching her came rushing in.
She glanced around, then broke into a run.
From the dark, a red light flickered—watching Kim Ji-hye's back as she fled.