CHAPTER 19

Right now, everyone is on the edge of their chairs as they witness the final segment of the event tonight – The announcement of places and awards.

And right now, Yujin, who currently agreed to replace Minjoo in her place, also dragged Yuri with her, now have started patching up the final touch for Hyewon’s final show.

Finally, they finished everything; it’s up to Hyewon to do everything in her part.

After that hectic part, the two girls finally got to rest.

“Where is Minjoo going anyway?” The hamster asks the tall girl.

“I don’t know either; she said it was urgent so I didn’t bother pushing it further.”

“Sakura and Chaewon are also gone. They should be back by now.” Yujin added. “Did you call them?”

“I did. But,” Yuri showed her phone to Yujin. “It went straight to voicemail.”

Yujin sighs. “Where could they be..”

Minutes later, Yuri received a message from someone, followed by a sincere smile as she reads the name of the sender.

When she opened the content of the message, her eyes narrowed when she read the whole message.

She elbowed the other girl who was with her and showed her the message. And just like a chain reaction, Yujin also gave a confused look as her eyes narrowed in front of the girl.

“What the hell is she talking about..?”

~*~

“I hope you liked the flower I sent to you.” Kriesha giggles.

That’s right. All those were done by her. The black rose and the message, all those were sent by none other than Kriesha Chu.

And right now, she’s in front of Minjoo, smiling like she had won a lottery for the first time in her life.

And Minjoo gave her the coldest glare she could ever produce from her eyes.

“That’s it! That look on your face right now is exhilarating! I like that!”

Kriesha’s voice boomed as if a microphone has been installed in her vocal cord. Her laughter echoing in the place despite the big open space that they were in.

And Minjoo didn’t find it amusing one bit.

Minjoo tried stepping forward but was stopped when another bullet came flying passing through her face. It grazed her milky skin and she is sure that it will leave a scar.

She wandered her eyes to see who released the bullet.

It was the blonde girl, Hitomi.

The blonde girl saw that Minjoo wasn’t fazed by it. They even made eye contact with each other.

And she regretted looking straight towards Minjoo’s eyes.

She staggered to her feet, getting intimidated by the look Minjoo is giving her. She has to stand strong in her place. She can’t get scared right now.

“You know Minjoo, I don’t really mind if you want to take another step. But,” Kriesha pointed her gun up towards the direction where Sakura and Chaewon is. “I might become nervous and accidentally pull the trigger..”

Minjoo grits her teeth in frustration. “What the hell do you want, Kriesha?”

“Hmm, I wonder about that.” She massages her chin with her fingers, as if she was thinking, “What do I really want?”

Minjoo clicks her tongue and was about to speak but was cut off by Kriesha.

“I know!” Kriesha snaps her fingers, confusing the girl in front of her. “I wanna see your face drowning in despair as I slowly take everything away from you..” Minjoo tensed up. “Just like what Jungmo did to me.”

And the next thing Minjoo knew, gunshots went out, bullets flying towards the girls.

Following that were the deafening cries coming from Minjoo’s unconscious girlfriend, Chaewon, who woke up from the sudden rush of pain soaring through her, as the bullets got buried in her legs.

“CHAEWON!!” Minjoo shouts in the open air.

Chaewon was trying hard to suppress the immense pain she was experiencing right now. Blood was gushing out from her bullet wound in her leg, leaving the lower part of her leg drenched and dyed in red.

Despite the distance, Minjoo could see her clearly concealing the fact that she is in deep pain.

“STOP IT!”

And another gunshot was heard but this time, it passed by Chaewon, hitting the other girl instead.

Sakura’s sanity came back as soon as the bullet had come in contact with her. Although she was not the same as how Chaewon reacted, it was still evident in her face that she’s trying to suppress the pain she was feeling.

“THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!”

“Oh they do. They are related to you. And everything related to you..”

*BANG BANG!

“Get’s to be part of this mess.”

“And it’s your entire fault.”

“DON’T!!”

*BANG BANG!

Feeling hopeless, her legs weakened, letting her knees hit the ground.

It didn’t hurt when her knees dropped and made contact with the brittle ground.

But what definitely hurts is the fact that she is being tortured to death just by making her witness the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

Minjoo, slowly but surely, was losing her cool. Her sanity slowly deteriorating at the sight of Chaewon and Sakura getting hurt in front of her made her lose the capability to think properly.

That monstrous aura that was building up inside of her was slowly crumbling to pieces.

And right now, fear has finally showed up in Minjoo’s face.

“HAHAHAHA! That’s more like it, Minjoo-ya!! I also had that look when I begged in front of your father to not kill mine!”

Kriesha strides her feet towards Minjoo, who is still not moving from her place.

When she reached the girl, she slowly pointed her gun, planting it atop of Minjoo’s head.

“Ah. I forgot one thing to show to you.” Kriesha trailed off and pulled something out of her pocket. “Do you know what this can do?”

Minjoo lifts her head to see what she just pulled out from her pocket.

It was a remote. What is she gonna do with that?

“I just remembered that I ordered my little rat to do a little planting at your school..” Minjoo’s eyes widened as she realizes where this conversation is going. She tensed up as she felt her hopes getting crushed once more. “Wanna see what would happen if I press this?”

“No.. Don’t you dare push that button!!”

She grins in satisfaction. Somehow, Kriesha’s satisfaction rate was skyrocketing whenever she hears Minjoo beg in front of her. “Tsk tsk Tsk! That’s not how you beg, Minjoo-ah.”

She raised her leg and dropped her foot in Minjoo’s head, leaving her beautiful face kiss the dirty ground. “You have to bow whenever you beg for something. Don’t you have manners? Beg properly!!”

Minjoo has no choice but to do it. “Please don’t do it.. Please..”

There was a pause when suddenly Kriesha breaks out in a series of laughter.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now!!” She pauses to catch her breath. “You have become naïve, little girl!”

“Since you showed me something so random,

I will gladly press this button for my own benefit!”

Minjoo didn’t have time to react.

When the button was pressed, she heard a loud explosion not far from where they are right now. Little projectiles went flying towards their place, and the smoke was building up.

“Aigoo~ I just blew up your precious school along with your precious friends!”

“So how does it feel? Everything slowly slipping away from your grasp, not being able to protect everything dear to you.. Does it hurt?”

“Because that’s what I felt when–!”

She didn’t get to finish her speech when suddenly pieces of flash grenade went flying in their direction.

Kriesha moved away from the girl as the flash grenades sets off, emitting bright light that could blind you anytime, and the eerie sound that comes with the explosion.

Everything happened so fast and when the flash fades away, Minjoo was already far from Kriesha as she was carried like a bag in someone’s arms. And she also sees two bodies getting carried by her two figures in black.

“Yah, what are you doing, Minjoo?”

That familiar voice made Minjoo jerked her head up to have a better view of his face. Her now worried face was slowly changing into a look of gladness as she felt a tear rolling down her cheeks.

“Sorry we’re late.”

“Oppa..”

Hangyul chuckles as she wiped the tears of the girl. “This is new – you crying in front of everyone – which you never do at all.”

Minjoo wants to retort but didn’t have the strength to do so. She just continued wiping the remaining tears off of her face and went slowly towards the two wounded girls who were carried away with her.

She slowly swoops her hands towards Chaewon who’s barely unconscious.

“Ch-Chae.. It’s gonna be okay..”

“M-Min..”

“Do