Miho the Killer
Chapter 62: Juggling

Chapter 62: Juggling

"Old man, we need to talk."

I barged into the break room and closed the door behind me. My heart was thumping with suspicion, confusion, and inexplicable anger.

"Hah. Even YOU are calling me an old man now. That cheeky Miho has been a bad influence on you."

He could laugh, chuckle, guffaw, or whatever, all he wanted, but there were things that I felt needed to be clarified.

"Why did you take in Miho?"

"She needed help and I could help. So I did. Like a Good Samaritan."

"Do you actually know her father?"

"What’s the point of this question?"

"DO YOU ACTUALLY KNOW HER FATHER?!!" I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I felt like the fragmented pieces of Miho’s past were falling into place, and Shin was right in the middle of it that shaped who she became.

"Yes, I do. Didn’t Miho tell you? I was his friend."

"Where has he gone?"

"You heard what I said to Detective Choi. We were partners. He had an unfortunate incident."

The man didn’t even shrug.

"Why did her mother disappear at the same time?"

"I don’t know. And if you are going to ask me - I can answer you already. I don’t know where she went, and I don’t know where she is now."

"So you are telling me, Miho’s father died - and you didn’t tell her what happened to him?"

"She was already having a difficult time with the loss of her sister. It would have just piled on her misery."

The old man went to the vending machine, nonchalantly turning his back on me, and put the coins in.

"Coffee?"

"NO."

He bought two and handed one to me anyway. The cold can of coffee couldn’t calm me down. My hands were trembling. Something was wrong here. I could feel it.

"She thinks she was abandoned by her parents. Did you ever think about how she feels?"

"Would you rather your parents be dead or disappear?"

The way Shin asked me this question while sipping on his coffee, with one hand in his pocket while his cold eyes were fixed on mine with no expression on his face at all, stabbed me right in the heart with absolute terror.

"I... I wish neither..."

Without saying a word, Shin walked to the table and pulled out two chairs. He sat on one and gestured for me to sit on the other one.

"Now, onto something more important." The man spoke.

I felt weak on my knees and sat on the chair as if I was falling onto it.

"The job. We still have time for it, but we need to plan ahead. We can’t just sit on our ass and just go get it done whenever we feel like it."

"I want no part in this."

"Fair enough. Then leave now and never show your face again."

"Wha-"

"It’s been good knowing you, Ms. Han."

With that, Shin downed his coffee, got up from his seat, and tossed the empty can into the bin.

"I’ll be going now then. When I come back. I expect you to be gone."

"Wait-, you can’t just-"

That didn’t stop him and Shin walked to the door and opened it. Just before he took a step outside though, he turned around to remind me.

"Don’t worry about our deal. I will come take what’s promised if Juho ever needs it."

He then left without saying anything further and I sat on the chair shivering in fear.

What... what did I expect?

Did I think we were in some sort of family relationship? Miho and I and Shin?

I tried to get up but collapsed back on to the chair. It took a great deal of resolve and strength to steady myself and make my way back to Miho’s room. I had to lean on the clinically white wall of the hospital to keep going. I haven’t felt such fear for life before.

When I finally managed to get back, I found Miho juggling something. Shin must have given her those. It was probably good exercise for her that help recover some hand-to-eye coordination. And she was very good at it. She was juggling a lot of things. Not just three or four, but perhaps five, six, or even seven.

Miho noticed that I came in and looked at me with the smile of a child who wanted to be praised.

"Look, Sohee! I’m really good at it, right?"

"Ye-, Yes. You are great."

I was still stuttering.

Nevertheless, seeing Miho enjoying herself and clearly recovering her dexterity was a good sign.

But as I got nearer, I realized that she was juggling something rather unusual. They weren’t balls and were rather oddly shaped.

"What are you juggling?"

"Hehe, Shin gave them to me. He always brought me these after his business trips. We had quite a collection at home. You want to have a look?"

Miho skillfully threw one at me while continuing to juggle, and although I was never good with these things, somehow I managed to catch it reflexively.

It snuggly fit in my palm. And it felt cold and hard to the touch.

I opened my palm and my eyes widened as soon as I saw what it was. I was horrified yet couldn’t look away. My hand trembled but I couldn’t drop it. It was as if the thing had a gravitational force of its own that was pulling my mind and body toward it.

There was no way I could tell where it came from, but deep inside my heart, I knew exactly what it was. If I thought it was anything else, or came from anywhere else, I would have been lying to myself.

I dropped to the floor but my hand still clenched onto the object. I couldn’t let go of it. It was sucking me into the hollow hole it had in the middle. Miho stopped juggling and asked me if I was OK. My whole body started to convulse but I still couldn’t let go.

I was melting. I was melting on the ground.

I was breaking apart and my mind was shattering into a thousand pieces.

I fell into the infinite darkness,

Holding Kwon’s vertebra.

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