“For somebody who just made a getaway,”

Minkyung mutters while bearing the cold wind around the intersection that is making her headache worsen. “You surely picked an inferior vehicle.”

“I can kick you off anytime and let you wander on the streets with your sprained ankle.” Kyungwon grumbles. “What’s wrong with the bicycle? No plate, no GPS, portable…Who can track it?”

“Can’t you take alleys? My head’s blowing up because of the icy air.”

“Alleys are not safe, and don’t forget we are running for our lives at this midnight hour.”

“…It’s me, not we.” Minkyung gazes at the back of Kyungwon’s head. “You have nothing to do with this. You didn’t even have to help me and get yourself in trouble.”

“Who said I got myself in trouble? I am the daughter of the current police chief, I learn.” She suddenly puts down one foot and stops the bike. “And how dare you to say that I didn’t have to help you?”

Minkyung sees the rage in her eyes when she turns to her. She is slightly taken aback and keeps silent because she doesn’t know how to react.

“You want to stay there?”

“…...”

“Did he knock you into an idiot?”
 

“W-What?”

“Do you know what you are saying!? You wouldn’t be able to get out of that ing hotel if I was not there, how could I let that happen? You would be beaten and even rap…”

Kyungwon shuts in time (not exactly) and turns back, leaving Minkyung who is still staring at her without any words. She takes a deep breath to calm herself.

“Sit tight. I’m gonna speed up.”

Kyungwon knows she lost control because of Minkyung. She also saw astonishment in her flickered pupils when she blamed her. She holds the handles tighter and steps the pedals rapider, not wanting the situation to become more awkward.

After turning to the left and passing the park which is in the same district with her apartment, Kyungwon feels a tug on her clothes. Minkyung moves her hands to her lower back, the grip feels similar, just like the way she gripped her and asked her not to leave when they first met.

Kyungwon doesn’t shake her off, and Minkyung keeps tugging till they stop in front of an apartment building. They enter the elevator and before Minkyung figures out what is going on, Kyungwon already unlocks the door and Minkyung’s now inside her home.

Technically, they are not strangers, but it still feels weird to be in a home which happens to belong to a certain someone who comes from her past. Each time they met recently started with unpleasantness.

“Look, you really don’t have to do this.”

Minkyung gulps when being pulled into a room. “It’s not that severe as it looks, I…”

“I won’t take advantages of you, Miss Kim.”

Somehow Minkyung winces when being called like that. Kyungwon doesn’t know because she doesn’t even bother to turn, she’s busy fishing out something from the cabinet.

“That’s not what I mean, I…”

“You are not going anywhere tonight.” Kyungwon says sternly, as if she’s warning her to obey. Minkyung frowns, but the pain on her forehead cuts off what she is about to say.

“Yes, I’m kidnapping you.”

Kyungwon walks to her and presses her on the shoulders. “Shut up and sit still.”

She clutches her jaw with her fingers, holding her head in place and uses another hand to grab a cotton swab.

“You were much gentler.”

Minkyung stops resisting and murmurs. Kyungwon shoots her a glare before sticking the swab into a bottle of iodine.

“So were you.”

She presses the swab on her wound and smears, earning a yelp and a hidden curse she doesn’t need to hear.

“Ouch!” Minkyung hisses. “You hate me that much?”

“Oh, it hurts?” Kyungwon does not spare her one look and focuses on cleaning the wound. “Then don’t risk yourself again.”

Minkyung is sure she heard concerns in Kyungwon’s tone. Her expression is grim but her moves become more careful. They are merely inches from each other, Minkyung can see the veins on her hands and hear her breaths, which is a feel that calms her nerves and surprisingly, makes her wanna stay at this moment for a bit longer despite her forehead is stinging like hell.

“How…” Minkyung breaks the silence when Kyungwon picks up some gauze. “How did you find me?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Kyungwon breathes out and looks at her. She knows she wouldn’t quit unless she gets what she wants. Just as stubborn as she used to be.

“My dad was invited to a dinner meeting for police related parties, he brought me with him. Song Jungki and his family were also invited.”

“And?”

“And I overheard he said to his wife that Shannon kept pestering him to go to an anime, so I told my dad I got to go first. The moment I saw him entering the hotel, I knew I had to stay and watch and…You showed up.”

Sensing Minkyung’s uneasiness, Kyungwon adds, more like changing the focus: “Come on, taking a baby to a movie at almost 10pm? What kind of moron would believe this? ”

Minkyung sneers. “His wife did.”

“Nah.” Kyungwon cuts the extra medical tape. “I think she knows. She just chooses to ignore.”

“Wait. She watches her daughter walk away with that hoodlum?” Minkyung raises her volume in disbelief. “She doesn’t care what her husband’s been doing behind her back, she doesn’t care about her daugh…Ouch!”

“Calm down. My dad’s not coming home tonight but that doesn’t mean I don’t have neighbors.” Kyungwon has finished bandaged her forehead and moves to check her ankle. “You seem to care for that kid a lot.”

“…No. I just couldn’t believe she was there.”

“She reminded you of yourself?”

As expected, Minkyung ignores. “Did you leave her there? What did you tell her?”

“I said her daddy was too tired and fell asleep on the floor. I even put a blanket on him to make it more convincing. And I asked if she could promise that she would wait in the room till he wakes up, she said yes.”

“She believed you? What if he wakes up and vents his anger…”

“You should worry about yourself, Miss Kim.”

Minkyung bites her lip, this time Kyungwon notices her expression, but she still doesn’t know what makes her upset.

“I borrowed your mask before I talked to Shannon in case she recognized me or described my features to her father.” She puts a cold pack on her ankle. “Guess what she said?”

Minkyung simply gives her a glance. “She said, we wear the same mask, but you are prettier. She likes you more.”

“She wouldn’t say that if she knew what I was about to do to her father.”

“But you didn’t.”

Kyungwon takes a seat on the nightstand, drawing a short distance between herself and Minkyung. “You hesitated because of her. And if you were aware, you had a chance to walk out of that room if you did not stop and tried to fight with him when he locked her up.”

“You’re telling me that I was stupid? I was damn lucky you were there?”

“No, I’m saying you are never heartless enough and YES, you were damn lucky.”

You are never heartless enough. Minkyung avoids her eyes, finding her injured ankle is more interesting to stare at. She wraps her body tighter in the coat which doesn’t belong to her.

“I’m right about it.”

Kyungwon speaks out of blue and Minkyung lifts up her head. “Right about what?”

“This is not you.” Kyungwon looks straightly into her eyes. “The one I met and spent the week together is the real you.”

No. Minkyung struggles to stand up. “I’m leaving.”

“I told you, you are not going anywhere.”

Within a swift move, Kyungwon locks the room door and blocks in front of her, making Minkyung fall back on the bed on her . She sighs, shoulders slump in defeat and glares up with irritation.

“What do you want!?”

“You.”

Minkyung trembles, and it’s not because of the coldness or the pain.

“I want you back.”

“Back to what?” She feels something in her brain is about to snap. “I have no such thing named back, my life now started ever since…”

“I know what hate can do.” Compare with her agitation, Kyungwon is calm but she’s always able to paralyze her tongue. “And I know you think revenge is sweet.”

Minkyung can feel cold sweat starts to spread on her spine. “But you should’ve learned. It’s not, not at all.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“It’s about your mother, isn’t it?”

Minkyung clenches her fists.

“7 years ago, July.”

Kyungwon’s voice softens, but the persistence is evident. She wants to pull the buried past out.

“Your mom jumped from the fifth floor of a hotel. The case file wrote that she committed suicide. But it wasn’t, right? Women usually choose a neater or a more peaceful way to leave. Even if they choose to jump, they tend to take off their shoes first.”

“Stop.”

“And I don’t believe she would leave her 17-year-old daughter behind like this.” Kyungwon’s words stab into her heart, little by little. “Song Jungki was the detective in charge of it, he wrote the case file, I saw his signature. Park Taejun, his owns a Public Broadcasting Service, I think he made sure his journalists and anchors released the right news, making the public believed it was suicide. They both got Senator Son Hanmin to support their backs.”

“Shut up.” Minkyung’s voice and body are both shivering.

“I haven’t thought of the connection between Han Sungwo and this case, but he must have something to do with it, jus