Miho the Killer
Chapter 56: All She Wanted

Chapter 56: All She Wanted

The rest of the evening went rather smoothly, thanks to the way Shin set out the context of my ’interview’. In the end, I was just a poor girl with a string of misfortunes and genuinely had no idea what happened with Kwon. My meeting with him was set up by Suyoung, whom I’d always found very hard to decline due to her pushiness. All these accounts were verifiable if Choi wanted to check any further, with Dr. Yang having official records of my visits. It was also an added nice touch that I was now a somewhat ’unreliable witness’ thanks to my ’mental condition’. I felt like I was officially one of those crazies I saw at the clinic now.

After that Shin sent drunk and stumbling Choi off on a taxi with an envelope to cover the fare, which was bulky enough to be clear that it could probably cover the cost of an intercontinental flight.

Once the Detective was gone, Shin lit a cigarette and spoke. He didn’t sound drunk at all, sounding as sharp and alert as always. This old man could really drink.

"Don’t let your guard down, Ms. Han."

That was a little unexpected for little old me who felt proud about how I had handled the questions tonight.

"Did I say anything wrong?"

"No. You did well."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"Don’t take Choi as stupid. He’s a smart guy. He will be on your tail from now on for the considerable future."

"You think so?"

"I know it to be so."

That led me to ask something I’d been wondering since the day Shin came to bail me out at Gangnam Police Station.

"Say, how do you know all these cops anyway?"

"I can’t tell you. Just old friends and acquaintances."

"It seems more than that."

"Do you think you can keep your mouth shut against a potato peeler?"

I shuddered at the thought and a sudden flashback of the wounds on Kwon’s body made my stomach turn. I almost puked out all the nice meat I ate tonight.

"No..."

"That’s why I won’t tell you anything more than it is safe for you to know."

"Can YOU stand a potato peeler?"

"No."

So Shin was a human too after all.

"Here comes your taxi. Take care and I will get in touch with you in a few days. You’ll need to visit Miho by your own means for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"I have some work to do."

It could only mean one thing and that sent another shiver down my back.

"Right. You take care too, old man."

"Don’t call me that."

I said nothing and got into the taxi.

The next day went by uneventfully at the office. No knife on my desk, no weird post-it notes in my drawer, no vomiting. I was starting to appreciate these peaceful days when nothing much happened. Perhaps my life was already too full of the extraordinary, and now I didn’t crave anything more than what I already had to juggle.

Evening came and I went over to Miho’s hospital, but as I reached the fourth floor I noticed something was wrong. The whole place was unusually quiet. No nurses were in sight, and all the doors to the patients’ rooms were closed. As I turned the corner at the end of the straight path I saw that there was a small crowd gathered around the door of Room 403. I couldn’t fathom what was happening, but I knew it had to be something bad so I hurried to her room. Once I arrived and squirmed my way through the crowd and got to have a look inside the room, I shouted out in panic.

"Miho! No!"

There she was, sitting precariously on the windowsill. There was shattered glass on the floor, suggesting that she had somehow managed to break the windows that were designed to be safe for a hospital like this considering the kind of patients it accommodated.

Miho said nothing and just looked at me - for the first time in a long while - with wistful eyes. There was infinite sadness, longing, and heart-breaking loneliness.

"Sohee."

So she remembered.

She finally remembered me.

But it was no time to feel happy.

My mind was on overdrive trying to process what was happening and diffuse the situation.

"What’s going on here?!" I asked the nearest nurse.

"We heard the glass smashing sound and came to check on her. Maybe 5 minutes ago."

"Did you call the police? Emergency service?"

"No, she says if she sees a single cop she’s going to jump."

I then turned to face Miho. She was still sat at the windowsill, her body leaning dangerously outside, looking like she could fall down at any time.

"Miho, listen to me."

I took a step toward her.

"Don’t... don’t come close to me..."

"It’s OK. I’m here."

"You are not Dr. Yang."

"I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to lie to you."

"Where’s Uncle?"

"He has some... work to do..."

I wasn’t sure if Miho also remembered what ’work’ that Shin - or herself - actually did.

"I see... always busy... never around..."

"Miho, it’s not your fault."

"Nobody... nobody cares about me."

The little kitten looked like she could burst out crying at any time. Tears swelled up in her big eyes.

"That’s not right. I care about you, Miho. I care about you very much."

"Who... who are you exactly?"

"I’m Sohee. Your friend."

"I... don’t have any friends. Why do I know your name...?"

"Even if you’ve forgotten me, I really don’t mind. We can make new memories. We can be friends again. Miho, please calm down and get off the ledge."

"No... No... I can’t trust you. Trust no one. That’s what I’ve been told. Trust no one."

"I don’t know who told you that but don’t trust that person either if that is the case. You are who you are. Please, come down from there."

I took another step closer.

"I know you. But I don’t know you. I’m so confused. I can’t trust you."

"Shhhh. It’s OK. Take your time then. Just be careful OK? I won’t get any closer, I will wait here."

I stopped about two steps away from her. I stood with my hands clasped together in front of my chest. Miho’s eyes were wandering all over the place. Occasionally meeting mine, only to divert them away quickly.

And suddenly, a familiar voice screamed.

"MIHO! GET OFF THE LEDGE! NOW!"

Miho’s eyes widened as she looked over, and I turned to see Shin rushing into the room as well.

No, this isn’t good.

"Stop it! Don’t provoke her!" I yelled at the old man.

"Enough! Get off the fucking ledge, right now!" Shin was losing it.

"The suit... you are... wearing the same suit... the black suit... black tie... AAAAAHHH!!!!"

Miho started to scream, shaking her head violently. Then she lifted her hands off the windowsill to grab her head, and that movement made her lose balance, making her fall backward - out of the window.

"Nooooooooo!"

As I screamed in desperation, Shin launched himself and grabbed Miho’s legs which still hadn’t fallen out of the window yet. He managed to hold on to her and with incredible might, he pulled her up back into the room and threw her on the ground. All the nurses by the door gasped.

"Snap out of it now, Miho! This is no time for you to be like this! Think of Juho!!!" Shin yelled at the helpless girl.

"Ju... Juho?"

Miho stopped crying and looked up at Shin, and then at me. I knelt and embraced her.

"Yes, Juho... do you remember him?"

"AAAAAHHH!!! No! No! No! I don’t know who he is!!! I don’t want to know!!!"

She shoved me away and crawled to a corner of the room, rolled herself up into a ball on the ground hugging her knees and shaking.

"I don’t know him... I don’t know him... I don’t know him..."

Shin looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. I hurriedly crawled over and stroked her back, trying to comfort her.

"I... I don’t want to know... I don’t. I don’t want to know..."

It was at this moment I realized.

Miho never wanted to kill.

In a world without Juho, she would have lived her life as a wacky, funny,and happy girl.

He was her precious one, yet, he was a burden that this broken Miho could not bear.

She didn’t want to remember him.

My Miho just wanted to live a happy life.

That was all.