They stand meters away from each other, heads held high, eyes glued on one another, a coy smile playing on both their lips. She tries to keep her breathing steady as she holds the gun in her hand. It is pointing straight at him, but he doesn’t cower away.

“This has been your plan all along, huh?” Kyungsoo’s tone is light, b with confidence like it always has and almost mocking even, but there’s bitterness in his voice.

“This has been my plan all along,” she agrees, her smirk growing wider. He thinks she looks pretty even in his current situation, with her ruby coloured lips and thick eyeliner, her raven hair falls flawlessly just below her shoulder.

It’s a date night for them. At least, that’s what it should have been. The restaurant he booked for the night has turned out to have been taken over by her group of accomplices, so even if he manages to somehow escape there is no guarantee that they wouldn’t be able to catch up. He knows that there is no escape now, especially since he sent off his bodyguards away for the occasion.

He thinks of the girl in front of him, the Minah he thought she was, the one with endless positive energy and beautiful crescent eyes that always curve upwards for him. She was his rock to lean on during the hard times, but he never imagined the same rock will someday crush him down. But perhaps, he did expect it in a way. He did notice something in the way she always refused his offer to pick her up from work, always hesitant to let him into her place, always secretly typing away on her phone when she thought his attention was elsewhere. He knew there was something when he found his photo from his school days hidden behind her shampoo cabinet even though he never gave it to her, but he just didn’t want to acknowledge it, did he?

“I planned everything. Right from the moment we first met, and second, and third. Do you really think such obvious coincidence exists? Do you actually believe in such thing as destiny?” she snorts, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t, but I believed in you.”

“You’re more stupid than I thought you are.”

“I guess I am.”

“This is not the time to joke around, Kyungsoo.”

“I’m not joking. I know that much.”

Her smile withers and her eyes grow darker. Minah clasps the gun tighter as she takes a step forward approaching him. Her black dress embraces her small figure impeccably, and it doesn’t quite match the metal accessory in her hand.

Her expression softens a little but her grip on the gun stays unchanged. “I’m sorry it turned out this way, Kyungsoo.”

“Why?” His voice falters.

“You see that bridge over there?” she gestures at the window. His eyes follow the direction and from where he stands he can see the bridge bursting with lights across the majestic Han River. “That’s where my dad jumped after yours fired him for a mistake he didn’t do and thought he did.”

He stares at it for a moment, imagining a man standing overlooking the river while contemplating on throwing his life away, before he turns to Minah again. Her gaze is on the bridge, and even under the dim lights he can see her misty eyes. I’m sorry it turned out this way, he wants to say but knows the words won’t reach her the way he means it, so he says nothing.

“I was okay with it―I tried to be okay with it but whenever I saw other kids, other daughters with their father I couldn’t help but to feel lonely. And whenever I saw you with your dad on television and newspapers, how happy and content you seem to be like you’ve done nothing wrong, I couldn’t help but to feel angry.”

“I think you would’ve known by now that I’m not as happy and content as I seem to be.”

“But your dad still comes home to his family, doesn’t he? My dad doesn’t, no matter how long I wait up to eat dinner with him.”

Kyungsoo exhales quietly and waits for more from her.

“I thought I’d want your dad to feel the same.”

His eyes burn into hers, soft versus fiery. Somehow he doesn’t feel betrayed, but instead he feels like he’s the one who has wronged. He shoves his hands into his pockets and takes a step towards her. “Okay.”

She scoffs. “You’re really more stupid than I thought.”

He smiles at her. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

She returns his smile as she approaches him more but he can see her lips wavering. Her trembling finger is now on the trigger. “Hey, Kyungsoo?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope you have a fond memory of me.”

“I do,” he returns.

Before he can say it back he hears a deafening sound and feels something sharp cutting through his ribs. He falls on his knees and eventually to the floor. Through his blurry vision he manages to check his chest, but strangely the front of his shirt stays clean, and he thinks he see her running towards him. He thinks he hears his name falling from her lips as well. His vision darkens before long and the last thing he remembers is her touch. The ghost of his smile remains on his lips.