Miho the Killer
Chapter 40: Back Home

Chapter 40: Back Home

I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. Obviously, it could only be Shin.

I checked the time and it was only 5:20 AM.

Why so early?

I winced and got off the bed, slipped into my slippers, and headed to the door rubbing my eyes.

"Coming."

The door then opened and Shin came in.

"Hey, you can’t barge into a lady’s room like this." I protested.

"You said I can come in."

"I said I was coming."

"My apologies."

"What is it?"

"Pack your stuff. You are moving back to your flat now."

"Oh? Why? What about Miho?"

"She will stay here."

"But-, I thought I was staying here to take care of her?"

"We got work to do. I will get it done in three days. Saturday evening."

"What’s that got to do with me staying here?"

"Don’t be daft. As soon as he disappears the police will be on you. They will track you down. Miho and I will relocate somewhere else too for a while."

"I... can’t see Miho again?"

"Not for a while."

Even in my sleepy mind, what Shin was saying did make sense. I knew there was no point in protesting or arguing here.

"Let me go see Miho once before I go."

"Don’t wake her up."

"OK."

I felt sad that I had to suddenly leave. If I couldn’t see her for a while, Miho would certainly wonder why Dr. Yang, her only ’friend’, stopped coming to see her. But after checking on Miho for the one last time and seeing her sleep like a baby, I knew I couldn’t insist on my own selfish needs and had to do what was best for her.

About thirty minutes later, I was in Shin’s car, driving back to my flat in Seoul this time.

"So what’s the plan now?" I asked Shin.

"Seolleung Station Exit 4 is the nearest exit to your office."

"So?"

"You will have your bag stolen in the evening after work."

"That wouldn’t be very nice."

"I’m telling you, you will get it snatched."

"You became a psychic?"

"Keep your wallet and the phone in the bag. You will lose them in the evening so make sure you contact Kwon in the morning to arrange for a meet-up on Saturday evening."

"Wouldn’t I need my phone to keep in touch with him?"

"After your bag gets stolen, go to Gangnam Police Station to make a report. You can get a new phone tomorrow."

Shin then reached into his pocket and handed the business card of Kwon back to me.

"Keep this on your office desk so you can call him the next day with a new phone."

"What’s going on?"

"Just listen to me till the end, will you?"

"Fine."

"When you ask to see him, make sure you meet him in Apgujeong again."

"Same restaurant?"

"Get him to pick another one. Just make sure it’s in Apgujeong."

"I can do that."

"Good."

"What then?"

"Obviously he won’t turn up. The police will be on you by Monday or Tuesday because you were the last person he was going to meet."

"Isn’t that bad?"

"Yes and no. But there is no avoiding it. You were there when Miho killed your ex-boss. You were there when Miho killed your friend. You were a witness to two murders and another one that you were about to meet disappears - of course, they will call you in for an interview."

This made me nervous. It wasn’t going to be McDonald’s anymore.

"At least you have a perfect alibi. You were there to meet him at the place he picked. The restaurant staff can confirm you were there, waiting. We just need to make sure they don’t see you as part of a bigger picture. Just an extremely unlucky girl."

"You always said I was a lucky lady."

"Your luck is a curse."

Maybe there was some truth in that.

"Anyway, don’t worry about the police interview for now. When you go to the office today, use the company computer to search for a ’pension in Yangpyeong’. Click on a few and browse through them. And make a reservation on one called Lily Garden, from Friday night to Sunday morning."

"I don’t get this at all."

"Just think of it as a nice getaway."

"What am I getting away from?"

"Don’t be daft. Just keep listening, please."

I said nothing more and just nodded my head although Shin was looking straight ahead at the road and didn’t glance my way.

"I will come pick you up at 2:00 AM on Saturday at the pension. We will have a short drive and go to my studio."

"What the heck is your studio?" I had to ask this time.

"What do you do in a studio?"

"As in recording studio? Photo studio?"

"Exactly. A soundproof, light-tight studio. A lot of great work has been accomplished there."

I shuddered.

"We will stay there for the weekend. Sunday you go back to your flat."

"And then?"

"You lay low for a few weeks. Get Miho’s medication during that time. What happens after the studio we can discuss it when we are there."

"Understood."

I arrived back at my flat around 6:50 AM after Shin dropped me off about two blocks away. It smelled stale so I opened the windows to ventilate a little. I then remembered I was going to lose my phone so just checked once again to make sure all my photos were safely stored on uCloud. I didn’t want to lose them. I still had about 30 minutes before I had to leave for work. I was really tired from waking up so early, but felt like if I went to sleep now I might sleep through the alarm and be late to work. So I sat on my couch reading a book. I haven’t read for a while.

When it was time to leave, I grabbed my bag feeling a little sad that I had to part with it later today. I quite liked it and had been using it for a long time. I suppose some sacrifices were necessary. No pain no gain.

For Kwon, it will be lots of pain and lots of loss.

Just as I was about to leave, I remembered Miho’s territorial mark.

I opened the shoe closet and found the spot that Shin pointed at before.

It brought me a smile.

Even before she had the accident, Miho could be quite cute.

Sometimes.