Chapter 165
Chapter 165
"Young lady."
Yang Hye-in took firm hold of Sara's shoulders.
"Are you with me?"
Sara's eyes had been swimming, and she hadn't been able to pull herself together, but she managed a faint nod. At that, Yang Hye-in let out a quiet breath.
"You're safe now."
She began peeling away the tape that restrained Sara.
The legs came first.
It wasn't just the ankles—they'd been bound again at the knees to make sure she couldn't resist. That way, even thrashing would have been nearly impossible.
She drew a box cutter from her pocket and sliced through the tape with care. The binding hadn't been panicked and hasty; it had been wound layer upon layer, almost methodically.
That thought sent a chill through her.
Sara wasn't the only one who had been broken. Choi Na-kyung was just as broken as Sara was. Whatever the reason, even if that were true—it didn't make this any less of an unforgivable crime.
And when it came to forgiveness, Yang Hye-in had no right to decide.
Everything, everything would follow what Sara decided.
Even after she cut away all the tape, Sara's legs were still limp and strengthless. The tight binding must have cut off her circulation, and after holding the same position for close to two hours, it was only natural.
"Excuse me for a moment."
She turned Sara's limp, sagging body over.
Her arms had been bent at a right angle and fastened so that her wrists touched her opposite elbows. There would have been no way to use them from that position either. Because this binding was even tighter than the one on her legs, Yang Hye-in checked with extra caution and sliced the tape slowly, making sure not to hurt Sara in any way.
And again, the moment the restraints were released, Sara's arms fell slack.
"......."
As a result, Sara ended up facedown on the backseat, her face pressed into the cushion.
Lucky maybe, but the shattered glass didn't seem to have reached this side. Yang Hye-in examined Sara's body here and there, anxious that she might have been injured somewhere.
There were no visible wounds.
There might be injuries under her uniform, but at least to the eye—
No. One place.
Sara's head.
Her forehead was swollen bright red.
"......."
Was this a mark from Choi Na-kyung's assault?
What Yang Hye-in had seen when she got out of the car was Choi Na-kyung pressing tightly over Sara's mouth and nose.
Maybe that was it.
With trembling hands, she brushed back Sara's damp hair. The angry red forehead looked certain to bruise.
"......."
No matter how much forgiveness was Sara's affair—
Just as Choi Na-kyung was trying to push herself upright,
"Help me!"
Someone shouted.
At the same moment, a car swept past beside them.
"......."
Yang Hye-in straightened and stepped out of the car.
Choi Na-kyung was already far down the road, bolting barefoot. She apparently hadn't gotten back into Yang Hye-in's car—since she'd shut the door when she got out.
A passing sedan pulled up beside Choi Na-kyung and stopped. Choi Na-kyung opened the door, said something, and climbed in.
The car fled the scene as if escaping.
"......."
Was it a car Choi Na-kyung had called?
Unlikely. As deranged as this was, Yang Hye-in doubted anyone would willingly go along with it, even if Choi Na-kyung was the company chairwoman. Even the school officials' faces would turn bone-white once they learned what had happened today.
Yang Hye-in looked down at herself.
Thick black clothes, work gloves. Choi Na-kyung's car sat in the middle of the road, window smashed in, door hanging open.
And although the passing car probably hadn't seen it, Yang Hye-in had been carrying a crowbar when she'd gotten into this car.
On top of that, she was wearing a black cap. To anyone, she would have looked exactly like a thug robbing a foreign car.
The barefoot Choi Na-kyung who'd scrambled out would have looked like nothing but the victim.
The police might come storming here any minute.
"......Nngh......."
A groan came from inside the car.
Sara still couldn't move properly. She was trying to lift herself, but her restrained limbs still wouldn't take any strength.
Maybe she'd hit her head somewhere and had a mild concussion.
"Don't push yourself."
Yang Hye-in climbed straight back in, turned Sara over, and laid her down properly.
"You're safe now, young lady. You can relax and close your eyes for a while. I'm right here."
"......Hye-in......."
"Yes, I'm right here."
Yang Hye-in hesitated, then laid her hand over Sara's.
......This much should be all right.
She knew perfectly well that Sara's friends would be far more helpful in this situation than she could be, but they weren't here right now.
Just for a little while. Just until everyone arrived; it would be okay to stay like this.
"......Right now, the situation......."
"It's all right now."
Yang Hye-in soothed Sara, who kept trying to look around.
"It's all over now."
Choi Na-kyung had fled. If Yang Hye-in got behind the wheel now and gave chase, she might be able to catch her.
But right now, Sara was more important.
She couldn't leave Sara alone here just for that.
"......."
Sara's chest, which had been heaving harshly, eased a little.
Choi Na-kyung had run, but she would be caught soon enough. After pulling something like this—the police were already investigating her, and the district office had even sent staff once.
It was over.
Yang Hye-in believed that.
*
"Ah, over there!"
Inside the speeding car, So-hee shouted, her voice carrying like her sister's name.
Where she pointed, two cars stood side by side.
"......Ah."
The rear car's driver-side window was shattered. At a glance it looked as though the window were simply open, but shards of glass lay scattered outside the car.
The reporter parked a short distance away and sprang out first, so fast you couldn't tell where he'd been hiding his camera.
And he earnestly began taking pictures of the car.
The other three got out right after.
"Sara!"
Who had cried out like that? It didn't really matter—all three would have called for Sara no matter what.
And all three could soon breathe easy.
Sara was in the backseat with Yang Hye-in, asleep in her arms.
Even though Sara's face was a mess of tears and sweat.
And—
"Huh?"
The first to notice something wrong with Sara's face was Yu Ha-neul.
"Sara, what's wrong with your face?"
She opened the door and asked Yang Hye-in, who shook her head.
"I don't know either. Perhaps......."
She trailed off, but Yu Ha-neul could guess what name would come next.
"......Choi Na-kyung."
Yu Ha-neul ground the name through her teeth.
"Where is she?"
At Yu Ha-neul's question, the reporter who'd been busily taking pictures pricked up his ears. Yang Hye-in answered in a calm voice, as if she didn't care about any of that.
"She got a ride from a passing car and fled."
"......What?"
Su-a, who had been listening alongside her, repeated the question with a dazed look.
"Most likely, the driver thought she was the victim. I don't believe they were an accomplice helping Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung."
"Ah......."
Yu Ha-neul looked at the driver's seat again.
......The driver's seat was still littered with bits of glass that hadn't been cleaned up. Anyone could see the signs of a window being smashed one-sidedly.
On top of that, Yang Hye-in was dressed all in black from head to toe.
"What state was Sara in......."
She'd been about to ask what state Sara had been found in, but Yu Ha-neul hastily shut her mouth.
She didn't think Sara, asleep in Yang Hye-in's arms, would hear, but you never knew.
Right now, whether the being inside Sara's body was Sara or 'Sara', she had just been through something horrifying and skin-crawling. She'd barely escaped that situation; there was no reason to drag the memory back up on purpose.
"......."
She turned her gaze and slowly surveyed the area.
Tape had fallen on the floor of the car. It had been cleanly cut in the middle as though with a knife, but the tape itself had been layered thick several times over. Just looking at that was enough to tell how tightly Sara had been bound.
How scared must she have been?
How despairing?
She should have followed 'Sara' back then. Even if Sara refused, she should have forced herself along.
"......."
Standing beside Yu Ha-neul, So-hee and Su-a were both silent. They just stared quietly at Sara lying inside the car.
Click, click. Through that sunken silence, only the small sound of the camera could be heard.
"I'm not letting this go."
Yu Ha-neul muttered it without realizing.
"Not the person who did this to Sara, not the school that let Sara end up like this. All of it."
She still had no concrete idea of what to do, of course.
But whatever it took, she wasn't letting it go.
At those words, So-hee and Su-a beside her quietly nodded.