Chapter 11

[Geirald the Coward]

“It’s no use. Her feet and arms are chained to the cement beneath the pond. We have to find someone to break her chain first,” Kibum gave his comment to Donghae. Donghae was about to lift Seohyun’s body, but Kibum’s words halted his movement.

Seohyun’s body remained beneath the tranquil water. Pain was not (or no longer) visible on her pale face. Donghae gritted his teeth. He never knew about Seohyun that much, but he knew she was a good girl with a pure heart. He stared at the mocking white feather floating on the surface of the water.

White Feather.

Donghae averted his eyes from the scene. Thinking that somebody had the heart, no, the lack of it, to do it made him sick. He then stared back at Kibum. “Call somebody to break the chain then. We can’t let her like this.”

“Eunhyuk Hyung already called the police,” explained Kibum.

Yuri’s voice cracked when she questioned the truth that nobody truly wanted to accept. “So Seohyun is…dead?”

Kibum sighed. “Judging from the color of her lips, there was a high probability she was drowned there for more than an hour. What other possibility could arise?”

Nobody could answer. Nobody wanted to answer.

Sobs from the ladies broke the silence of the night. Sooyoung was probably the most vocal about it, as her sobs turned to wails of misery. Tiffany fainted. A lady named Kim Hyoyeon had run towards the bathroom, possibly to let out the content of her stomach.

Jessica was stunned, standing like a rock on its spot.

The police siren was heard from a far. Not so long after, the police officials crowded the scene. Two polices were breaking the chain that bound Seohyun to the bottom of the pond and together they all lifted her lifeless body up and laid it on the ground beside the pond.

The members of Der Märchenclub were soon requested by the police to gather around in one room. In a convoy, the ladies and gentlemen returned back to the Bluebeard Chamber. They all sat in silence. The police was interrogating Park Jung Soo as the Manager of the club. Three young police were placed inside the Bluebeard Chamber, although none made any actions.

Silence.

Tick.

Tock.

Do you enjoy the game thus far?

Tick.

To –

Anxiety reached the limit and one male member of Der Märchenclub angrily slammed his wine glass onto the table. Sounds of broken shards nearly echoed in the room. Sunny, who sat beside Jessica, gasped in surprise. Jessica weakly looked at the trembling Sunny, before she averted her attention towards the person who attempted to create the scene.

It turned out to be a man named Shin Dong Hee, although Jessica often heard him to be referred as Shindong. She was not close to him (well, she was not close to anybody), but she often witnessed how Shindong’s role was usually to be the mood lifter of the group. Perhaps it had something to do with his chubby cheeks, his bowl-cut chestnut hair, and his rather large body proportion that just made him looked like the usual good, smiling guy. However the smiling guy was no longer there. He was replaced with this furious-looking, insecure young man.

“Shindong Hyung, just sit down,” spoke a man who had a deep voice. Jessica learned to memorize it as Choi Siwon’s voice.

“No,” Shindong firmly asserted. “This is not funny anymore. I quit.”

“What?” someone asked.

“I quit!” he yelled throughout the room. “I quit this ing club!”

A man with bright blonde hair rose to his feet and tried to calm Shindong. “Hyung, you can’t do that. We’re still bound by the rules of this game –“

“Game?! Hyukjae, you seriously are still thinking about the game?! Are you all that blinded with money and authorities?! Don’t you ever care of your own life?!” shouted Shindong in frustration. “ this. You are all… you are all…sick.”

“Hyung… come on, just sit down first. You’re just…panicked. We are all. But –“

“I’m not risking my life for this,” declared Shindong.

“Seohyun’s death probably doesn’t even have anything to do with this club! You know that she’s the daughter of a mafia family. She knows, well, we all know that her life is never safe ever since she was born!” argued Eunhyuk.

“I don’t care,” announced Shindong. He grabbed his car’s key from the wooden table and walked out of the club. Donghae almost rose to help Eunhyuk in calming the outraged male, but Shindong suddenly halted his steps. Hesitation colored his movement, but…the hell, he had nothing to lose anyway. Having that thought affirmed in his head, Shindong then slid his hand inside his suit’s pocket to take out a piece of folded paper. He then tossed it to Eunhyuk’s chest.

Eunhyuk’s eyes darted from Shindong to the folded paper back and forth. Eventually, the blond-haired guy decided to unfold the paper. His breath hitched upon noticing what the content was.

It was the invitation.

The similar one which he had received as his entry pass card into this club.

Dear –

“The Ugly Duckling,” Shindong snickered. “If you’re all still interested in playing the game, there, I give you a free hint. My role is as The Ugly Duckling.”

The whole room was silenced, but in contrary, Shindong laughed maniacally. “The Ugly Duckling!!” he exclaimed as if it was the most hilarious joke he had ever heard. “This ing club already sets me as a joke from the very beginning! Why? Because I’m fat?! Because I’m ugly?!!”

“Hyung…” Donghae took more steps to support his best friend, Hyukjae, but Shindong roughly shoved his hand away.

“Don’t touch me,” Shindong warned Donghae. “I…I don’t want to have anything to do with any of you anymore,” he declared. And with that, he turned around towards the door. The young policemen tried to prev