Miho the Killer
Chapter 39: Protector

Chapter 39: Protector

"Good morning, Mr. Hong." I greeted my colleague whose desk was next to mine.

"Oh, good morning, Ms. Han. How do you feel today? You look happy."

"Thank you. I’m feeling great."

Something changed inside me.

When I got to work I felt light-hearted, almost in a good mood. I greeted everyone I met with a smile and I think people could sense that I was feeling much better compared to the gloom I wore on my face for the past days.

"It seems some rest has done good for you. I’m glad to see that you look better."

Mr. Kim also commented as he passed me by.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Kim. I’m grateful that the company has been patient with me. I will strive to work harder."

"No worries, Ms. Han. We want the best for our employees. We are family."

I couldn’t go as far as to affirm that we were family, but I did appreciate the sense of togetherness this place offered.

Perhaps I was wrong.

Not being an integral cog in the corporate machinery wasn’t as bad as I thought.

What I should appreciate was that they still considered me as part of the team even if I wasn’t a key member. There were more things other than the internal mechanical cogs that helped operate a machine. Cable ties that reduce the clutter and help the airflow. Labeling stickers that helped the maintenance men easily identify the parts. A printed paper of parts list. The machine could function without them, but it helped with the operation.

I sat at my desk and concentrated on work. It was a good productive morning.

After lunch the men went off to smoke.

I took a little walk.

And I texted Kwon.

"Good morning, Mr. Kwon. Thank you for the other night."

I waited a few minutes looking at the screen. He read the message but did not respond.

I had to lure him out but he seemed to be intent on push and pull now because I did draw clear distance between us on our first meet-up. I figured trying to push him now would make him stay longer with his pull game though, so I decided to ignore him, committing myself to not contacting him again until he messages me back.

By 3 PM I was pretty much done with my work for the day. It was getting increasingly more difficult to hold back from thinking about whether I should text Kwon again or not. Shin said he would start the preparations from today. He had the business card of our target so he’s probably digging up some information. He also said he had to procure the materials. It sounded horrible considering what I knew they were going to be, but there was no use in overthinking it now. But the most disturbing thing was what the old man said about where all this was going to take place - at his ’studio’. He gave no further explanation on what his studio was or why he called it a studio, but the word just had a creepy ring to it.

Around 8:40 PM Kwon finally replied to me as I was laying in my bed after dinner already.

"Hi, sorry about the late response. It was great to meet you. Are you free tonight?"

So this is how he plays. Wait until the time that is too late for dinner. Meeting at this hour could only mean one thing.

"It’s OK but it’s a bit late tonight."

"Where do you live? I can drop by."

"I live out of the city. It’s not exactly near."

"No problem. I can be there in an hour at most."

"Would be nice to see you again, but really, it’s a bit late tonight and I’m rather tired from work."

"I see. Maybe some other day then."

"Thank you for your understanding. Have a good night."

"Good night."

That was the brief conversation we had. Nothing special, but enough to reveal where we were at now. He already wants to fuck. Regardless of how cocky he might be and wants to waste time doing push and pull, he was on my palm now. The man can discard me after one night but he won’t give up until he gets that one night. Such is the psychology of men.

It was a bit odd hour to explain to Miho how Dr. Yang managed to come visit her so late, but I really wanted to see her before I sleep. So I went and knocked at her door.

"Come in!"

Miho shouted from inside, cheerfully.

As I walked in I saw that Miho was doing push-ups on the wooden floor.

"Good evening, Ms. Jin."

"Oh, Dr. Yang? You are coming to see me at this hour?" Miho did another three push-ups, got up, and asked me, brushing sweat off her forehead.

"I’m sorry, I was held up with work and couldn’t make it earlier."

"Heh, that’s not what I meant. No worries."

"Why were you doing push-ups?"

"I need to become stronger."

"Any reason for that?"

"The woman. I realized it was a premonition."

"Please elaborate."

"The horrible woman that I keep seeing in my dreams. The one that kills. The murderer. I believe she’s coming to kill me."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, better than ever. I feel so pumped up now. Look at this!"

Miho lifted her arms, bent her elbows, and showed off her biceps.

Perfectly toned muscles, yet not bulky.

"You do look very healthy indeed. How does your head feel?"

"Ah, pain comes and goes. But it’s mostly alright. I suppose all this will be over soon?"

"We will continue to monitor your progress, Ms. Jin, but please tell me more about this woman you see"

"I can’t see her face. I can’t really make of how she looks. I always see her from behind. But she’s always killing someone. I was horrified at the beginning when these dreams started. But not anymore. Now that I’m feeling better, I bet I can beat her when she comes."

"What makes you think she will come after you?"

"She told me."

"She told you?"

"Yes."

I started to feel nervous.

"Do you recognize her voice?"

"Not really."

"What did she exactly say?"

"Well, she didn’t say she’s coming to kill me - not directly, but it sounded like she was coming after... someone close to me."

"Someone close to you?"

"Ye... yeah. Hehe. Don’t think about it too much. But I just felt she holds some grudge against my friend."

"Who is your friend?"

Miho then looked down at her toes, blushed a little, and scratched the back of her head.

"You... you are my friend, no?"

I had to think quickly. I had to decide whether to draw the line here, stay in character and remind her that I was her doctor, or say that I was indeed her friend to build a closer connection with her in this state. But my answer was never going to be anything else.

"Yes. We are friends. I think."

"Haha. I’m so relieved to hear that!"

Miho broke into a laughter of happiness - and relief.

"So what exactly happened in your dream?"

"It was quite horrible. Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

She hesitated a little and then revealed what she saw.

"OK, here it goes then... She’s just burnt someone alive. A woman I think - judging by her screams. I was powerless. Just watched it all happen before my eyes. This killer woman still had her back turned toward me so I didn’t get to see her face. And then she was done, the victim was fully burnt. Absolutely horrible. I was kneeling on the ground in complete shock. Then the woman approached me and walked past me, and said this."

I had to hold my trembling hands together.

"What did she say?"

"You have bad tastes in friends."

My mind was breaking apart.

"I figured it could only be you because... I don’t have any other friends! Haha! But don’t worry, Dr. Yang. I will protect you."

And my heart shattered.

"I will protect you no matter what. Don’t worry."

Seeing that I was visibly shaken, Miho gave me a comforting hug.

She mended my broken pieces and glued them back together.