Rule #34: When you finally make mistake in deducing, own up to it. That's how you learn and grow

Mark thought that the hardest thing he'd ever have to do in his life was get out of bed.

That extracting himself from Saera's warm little body, leaving her softness, leaving the limbs that were tangled with his and bracing the cold chill of his apartment would be the hardest thing he'd have to do.

But then he knocked over her handbag while trying to make her breakfast and a small notebook fell out, open.  

Picking that notebook was probably the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"Mark."

"What the hell is this?" He growled, furiously while holding up her notebook.

Saera's eyes darted frantically, her mind searching for an excuse or an elaborate lie, but then she locked in on his face.

His eyes looked confused, scared, broken and betrayed.

She did that.

That was her fault.

"I didn't want you to find out this way." Her voice cracked as tears lined her eyes, "I was going to tell you myself."

Mark shook his head, his voice sharp, "Tell me what? What were you going to tell me?"

"Mark," She said brokenly, "None of it was true. I…I'm not psychic. I lied to you."

Mark stared at her for a whole minute before he started to laugh, "You're joking. You're just messing with me, right?"

Her lip quivered but she couldn't find a voice to speak.

"You are a psychic. You proved it. You proved it a hundred times. How is that possible?" He barked as his face turned dark.

Saera shrugged hopelessly, "Every vision I had were just deductions, me following clues and coming to a conclusion. I just pretended to be a psychic. It's always been an act. With you, with my clients…I con people."

"You're telling me that everything, all of this, was a lie? Everything you said about seeing visions were all just…made up?" His eyes were blood shot and hardened.

Saera met his eyes, "Y-Yes."

"But…but you gave us a physical description of Sang Min and it was right. How could you do that if you weren't a psychic?" He asked, the veins in his neck throbbing.

It broke her heart how he kept trying to find a reasonable explanation, like he was trying to find an excuse for her.

But she was done with lying.

She would take every consequence that came her way.

"I saw Cham Ji's murder. I went out looking for Youngjae one night and I saw him kill her. I saw him do all those horrible things with my own two eyes. That's why I knew what he looked like and where the murder happened."

"And you what?" He said while shaking the notebook, "You stole her purse and waited a whole day before telling the police? Did you need that time to perfect your vision?"

Saera gulped, "I was scared. It..it was horrifying. Traumatizing. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to pretend like it never happened but then th--"

"The reward." Mark breathed out as if he was hit with a realization, "Holy , the reward. You did this all for that money."

Saera took a step towards him but he jerked back, not wanting to get any closer, "Mark, my was on the line. If I didn't get money fast, the bakery would go under and then I wouldn't be able to provide for Youngjae. I was running out of options and I was ready to take anything that came my way. This…this was just an opportunity."  

"So why didn't you just say you were a witness? You could've still gotten the money. Why did you have to lie!?" He screamed.

Saera flinched and looked at her feet, "It was second nature. I thought that if news got around about my abilities that I'd get more clients after we solved the case. And I thought I could make more if I was a consultant and got paid everyday on top of the reward. This was my ticket into the green."

"You're a damn genius." He said with a fake laugh, "You used our desperation to make a career for yourself."

She looked like she was getting beaten by every word. She never knew Mark could be so angry at someone who wasn't The Collector, but she was wrong.

"It's not like that. I just wanted to make ends meet. That was it." She begged.

"You're incredible." He said with a dry laugh, "It didn't even bother you, did it? You just lied at everyone's expense just to pay your bills."

Saera frowned, "You're acting like I had a choice! Do you think I knew what was going to happen between us? You think I would've done any of this if I knew I'd hurt you?"

"Don't play the victim." He hissed, "You had a lot of chances to tell me the truth. You could've come clean a long time ago, but you wanted to have your cake and eat it too."

"I was scared. I didn't want to ruin everything."

"Do you know how much of our case you could've jeopardized?" He snapped, "You were revealing clues whenever you wanted us to know. You were playing the whole goddamn precinct."

Saera couldn't help but scoff, "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten nearly as close to The Collector as you did."

"You're right." Mark said, his breathing evened out, "If you weren't just a liar, you might've actually been a really good cop."

Saera shook her head, every emotion draining from her system, "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Then why did you just tell the truth?" He boomed, "You could've gotten the money and witness protection. If you just said that you saw it with your own eyes none of this would've happened. We would've just sent you and your brother away and that would be the end of that. Why did you lie? WHY DID YOU MAKE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU?"

His voiced boomed off the corners of the wall as he picked up a mug and whipped it across the room, making her jump when it hit the wall and shattered.

Saera covered with her hand to hide her sobbing, she wasn't supposed to be the one that was allowed to cry, but the tears still filled her eyes.

"Because I'm selfish." She rasped out, "Because I wanted you to love me even though I knew everything was a lie."

He gave her a wary smile, "You're sadistic."   

"Mark I--"

"I trusted you. I shouldn't have. That was my biggest mistake, wasn't it? I'm a cop. I'm trained not to blindly trust people. I'm trained to seed through the liars and pick out who's telling the truth but for some ing reason you slipped through my fingers. I didn't even notice how close you were getting to me and I didn't realize how much I needed you and when I finally decide 'why the not,' and let myself love you, I learn that your job is to lie. To lie and use to people for yourself." His voice was so dry and hoarse like he couldn't even muster up the energy to be angry.

Saera clenched her fists, "I might've lied about my abilities or how I got my evidence, but I never lied about anything else. When I was around you I was my real self and you saw parts of me that no one else knew. My feelings about you were all real."

"Pitying me right now is the worst thing you could do." He growled.

Saera wasn't fazed, "I love you. I love you so ing much but I knew I screwed everything up. I was going to fix things. I swear."

 "After doing all of that, if you still have the nerve to tell me that you love me just because you feel bad, you're just as horrible as I thought. Unbelievable." He snorted.

Saera shook her head, feeling like the worst form of herself, "I'm not saying it because I feel bad. It's true."

"Don't you dare  lie to me. I'm not one of your stupid clients. So do me a favour and show me enough respect to not lie to me." His glare faltered for a moment, "Mireu and Youngjae. They know too, don't they? They were in on it the whole time."

Saera panicked, "Yes, but they were against it. Especially Youngjae. He warned me. He wanted me to tell you the truth since the day he found out."

"And that wasn't enough to tell me?" Mark asked, his voice sounding vulnerable for the first time in their fight. "Why didn't you feel like you could tell me?"

Saera opened and closed without a response and Mark just shook his head and sighed.

"I ed up. I should've never let you in. I should've never treated you more than a consultant. That was my mistake." He said snidely.  

He grabbed a sweater off the chair and picked up his keys and phone before turning away. Saera's eyes widened before she ran after him.

"No. Mark, please don't go. We need to talk about this."

"Talk about what!" He exclaimed, spinning around. "I get it Saera, you didn't have a choice, you need to provide for Youngjae. I get it. I get that you care so much about your brother that nothing else matters. I get that, not once did you think about sparing me your bull. I get it. But I don't think I could get over the fact that you lied to me that many times without blinking."

Saera felt desperation cling onto her lungs as she grabbed his arm, "I know it's bad, but if you just give me a chance I can make it up to you. If I knew I'd fall in love you I would've never done any of this."