015: MURDERER'S FLOOR

"Everyone puts on a mask. They put it on to get ahead of everyone, some put it to protect themselves. I use it to protect my family." 

- Ha Eun-bi pov

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

015: MURDERER'S FLOOR

Seok-kyung pov:

My hand sweats.

My body gets Jittery.

And I feel like throwing up.

With my eyes closed, I rang the doorbell.

The door opened with Eun-byeol drying her hair with a towel while looking at me with a blank stare.

She looked at me with her wet hair and a robe covering her naked body, but even still, she remained unfazed.

I still can't believe that this is Eun-byeol now.

Her sharp gaze and confident posture.

I'm not familiar with it. I am not familiar with this Eun-byeol.

"Why did you want to see me?"

The cold tone of her voice.

The serious vibe she has.

Even her expression is blank and unreadable.

She opened the door for me to come in.

I followed her inside, closing the door myself before going to her living room, where she waited for me.

"So. . . ."

"I know I did a terrible thing."

"You know. . . . ."

She continued to dry her wet hair with the towel, not looking at me at all.

"I must have gone crazy."

"I'm sure you did."

"I'm sorry, Ha Eun-byeol. . ."

I keep my head low and stare at the floor as I apologize.

"I will do anything for you to forgive me."

I hear her footsteps going forward, and as her shadow looms on me, she lays her hand on my back and gives me a tap.

"Good job!"

I raised my head and saw her smile at me.

"I want you to remember this always."

"Asking for forgiveness is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength."

She raises her hands sideward, asking me for a hug.

I obliged and hugged her tightly as if she were someone I hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Seok-kyung-ah!"

"If I did something you don't like in the future, I hope you can forgive me too."

I gazed at her seriously as she only smiled at me with lonely eyes.

I held her cheeks and made her look at me.

"Should I give you a free forgiveness pass?" I smiled at her.

The two of us hug each other as I become more aware of my feelings.

"Ha Eun-byeol, if I can be born again, I want to be sisters with you!"

. . . . . .

Jenny pov:

It didn't even take them long before they got back to being friends with each other. I think their friendship is even stronger now.

Eun-byeol and Seok-kyung kept their eyes on their screen and browsed the internet.

"Who do you think got the highest views?"

"It's already quite obvious. They're already being dubbed as a power couple, after all."

Min-hyuk smirks while playing the game, not even looking at anyone.

"Right!"

"That firework kiss. . ."

"The home page was noisy for days because of that kiss. They're actually still noisy."

Min-hyuk smirked at them, but none of them took a bite at his words.

Seo-jun and Seok-hoon continued playing pool while Seok-kyung and Eun-byeol kept browsing online.

"Is that kiss real? or was it just for show?"

I smirked at them when they looked at me.

They only stared at me for a short time and then returned to doing what they were doing before.

'Am I air here? Why won't anyone take notice of me?'

"Instead of being curious about that, you should be curious if you made it to the last round."

Seok-kyung said while she was browsing the net with Eun-byeol by her side.

That used to be my place, but when Eun-byeol changed, Seok-kyung stopped hanging out with me.

Like an old toy she got bored of, she cast me aside.

"The announcement is posted."

I immediately look at my phone to see my name but. . .

"Oh! You passed Seok-kyung."

"You too!"

"It means all four of us did! Yes!"

They high-fived each other while I slumped in disappointment.

"Don't worry, Jenny, this thing is held yearly; you'll get your chance next year."

"Hmpphh!!" I left the room in anger and even closed the door loudly, but no one even tried to follow me.

"I'm always being left out!"

. . . . . .

Eun-bi pov:

I watch Jenny leave in anger.

This thing is rigged anyway. 

The winner was already decided from the get-go.

The process is just a big show to "show" authenticity and fairness.

"Yah! Yah! Big news."

We all turned to Min-hyuk, who connected his phone to the television.

Several men are carrying pieces of luggage and boxes to Hera palace.

"A neighbor?"

"Could it be the woman we saw?" I looked at Seok-kyung, who said that.

"Woman you saw?"

I looked at Seok-kyung, but Min-hyuk spoke again before she could say more.

"Look. . ."

"That is. . ."

"Oh Yoon Hee."

My eyes turned serious at the sight of her.

After finding out what she did to Min Seol-ah, just hearing her name makes my blood boil.

"I didn't know Bae Rona's mom is rich enough to buy a place in Hera palace?"

Seok-kyung stood up and smiled at all of us.

"Should we pay them a visit. . . to congratulate them for making it big."

I only looked at the television where Oh Yoon-hee is seen ordering men.

"Eun-byeol?"

I turned to Seok-kyung, who looked worried at me.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head and smiled.

I put on a smile, masking the bubbling anger inside me.

"Sure, let's go visit them."

"What should we bring for a housewarming party?" Seok-kyung excitedly browsed the phone, looking for gifts for late.

"Hmm. . . should we buy them new furniture? Or home decors?" Min-hyuk suggested.

"Ohh! That's a good idea."

"Hera palace has its own interior designer."

"Ah! That's right!"

"Then how about food?"

. . . .

Seok-kyung pov:

I keep thinking of Eun-byeol's reaction earlier.

The way she looked at Oh Yoon-hee on the screen worries me.

Ever since she changed, it's been hard for me to read her.

It's like there's a mask glued to her face. However, there were times when I saw expressions that I'd never thought I would see on Eun-byeol's face.

This time is one of those.

The way she looked at Oh Yoon-hee with pure anger worried me.

'Did Oh Yoon-hee do something to Eun-byeol?'

'Should I get involved?'

"Oppa, I'm ready."

I covered my nose when he came.

He literally bathed himself with perfume.

"Oppa, go easy on yourself. You're pompously acting like a boyfriend now."

"We already dated, even kissed. What are we called if we're not in a relationship?"

"Does she know that she's actually a girlfriend of somebody now?"

He shrugged as I shook my head in disapproval.

"Girls want to be courted. Give her some flowers or chocolates; make an effort before asking her out!"

I raised my brow when I saw him intently staring at me.

"What?"

"Is it okay if I date someone?"

I rolled my eyes and then turned back to him with a smirk.

"If it was somebody else, I would have destroyed that bitch."

"Since it's Eun-byeol, I'm fine with it!"

I smiled and then glared at him after.

"If you hurt her, I'm going to castrate you."

. . . . .

Rona pov:

"We've come to visit."

I smile as I see Seok-hoon visiting me. I welcomed them home as I helped prepare food for them.

Seok-hoon came near to us with food.

"Ah right, we brought something. Welcome to Hera palace."

"Thank you."

I prepared the food they prepared along with some snacks from ours.

"We prepared something too."

"Do you actually eat something like this? You're a singer, right?"

I felt small while hearing Jenny humiliate the food we prepared but Seok-hoon took a bite and said it was delicious, so I felt content.

"Can I go to the veranda?"

Eun-byeol left for the veranda and stayed there for some time as I smiled and tried to join their conversation.

"Where's your restroom?"

"Ahh. . . It's over there."

I pointed, and Seok-kyung left for the restroom as the others talked about something else.

I smiled at Seok-hoon, who was eating the food we had prepared for them.

'Maybe he did that for the sake of the live show.'

'It's probably not even a real kiss.'

. . . . .

Eun-bi pov:

I looked down from the veranda.

'It's possible.'

'What are you thinking, aunt Su ryeon?'

I close my eyes and imagine seeing Min Seol-ah here, running for her life.

"What are you thinking?"

I turned to Seok-kyung, who was at the entrance of the veranda.

"I just thought that the sky was very empty tonight."

"Let's go. Everyone is heading back." She lifts her arms and reaches for my hand.

I took her hand, and we left Rona's house together.

"We'll go down then."

Jenny and Min-hyuk went down together as they belonged to the lower floors, while the twins and I headed for the upper floors.

"Ahh! I need to buy something out, so I'll leave the two of you first, okay?"

Seok-kyung left immediately as if she was being chased.

"Umm. . . about that night. . ."

"That's for the viewers, right?" I cut him off, and he smiled awkwardly at me.

"It's not."

. . . . .

Seok-kyung pov:

Our class is in quite a turmoil right now. Jenny's diamond pin is missing, so there's an inspection right now inside the classroom.

I patiently wait for our teacher to inspect Rona's bag. Excited about the drama it will cause.

"Open your bag Bae Rona."

Rona opens her bag, then her pencil case. A cigarette appeared right inside it. I stifled a giggle and covered my mouth with my hands.

"Oh my!!"

Everyone gasped at what they saw.

"What is this!! What do you think you are bringing to school!"

"That's not mine!"

Rona denied it with all her heart as our teacher played his role of making sure to punish Rona for the simplest thing.

"What do you mean not yours! Let me see your entire bag. Did you steal Jenny's diamond pin as well?"

Ma du ki threw all her things in the bag, and another surprise came out, even to me.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE BRINGING IN SCHOOL!!!"

He shouted at Rona, who was denying it with all her heart.

He drags Rona out of class. I watch Ma Du-ki drag her out by force, yanking her hand and pushing her out of the classroom.

My lips twitch into a smile as I watch her get dragged out.

I skipped to the club room, happy with how she got dragged away.

'Eun-byeol is probably at our club room, so I'll just head there.'

"It was you, wasn't it?"

I turned to my brother, who was glaring at me angrily. I stopped and seriously stared at him as well.

"So what if it is?"

"What are you doing! I thought you've already changed, but this is what you do?"

"An eye for an eye!"

I angrily told him as I walked away.

. . . . .

Seok-hoon pov:

I sighed deeply as I tried to peek at the discipline room where Rona was being interrogated.

Eun-byeol came by as well and listened too.

"A cigar and porno were found in her bag?"

"Uhh!" I replied, looking away.

"Who did it?"

"I did."

I looked her straight in the eye before going in and confessing that it was my work.

"It was mine!"

Both girls looked at me while I looked straight into the teacher's eyes.

The teacher told me to tell the truth, but I kept repeating that it was my work.

"I really did it! I put the cigarette in her bag and also the pornograph."

. . . . . .

Rona pov:

I pace back and forth in front of the discipline office as I wait for Seok-hoon to come out.

'There is no way he would do something like that.'

I turned around when I heard the door open, and Seok-hoon averted his gaze from mine.

"You didn't do it, right?"

"I did it."

"There's no way you would've. . ."

"I already said I did it. Are you deaf!"

An unfamiliar voice and coldness.

'Has he always been like this?'

He left in a hurry, and I got left behind, hearing his cold tone over and over again.

. . . . .

Eun-bi pov:

I held his arms while he walked the hall, stopping him from walking.

He turned to me and stepped forward. We both lean to the wall, side by side, without anyone talking.

"Are you okay?"

"That much is nothing."

"I know. Mom will bury it, don't worry about it."

"You're disappointed, aren't you?"

I looked at him and smiled at him.

"How could I?"

I know very well why you did those.

"Seok-hoon-ah, doing this will not help her at all."

I raised my hand to my side, welcoming him for a hug.

"My arms are starting to hurt."

He moved slowly into my arms.

He rested his head on my shoulders before pulling me into a tight hug.

I could feel his breathing on my neck.

'He's tired.'

"If you say no to me after I confess to you properly, I really will end up doing something bad, okay?" He ran away after saying those cheesy lines while I could feel my cheeks heating up.

. . . . . . .

Seok-kyung pov:

I watched them from afar and smiled.

"I guess your show helped the two of them to be together, right?"

I turned around immediately and saw Min-hyuk smiling at me.

He showed me his phone, a photo of me going out of Rona's phone was captured there, and that's where everything clicked.

"You put the porn."

He only smiled at me.

"Why?"

"Vengeance, I guess. Same with you."

I glared at him . . . .

Flashback. . .

After I left the room, I pretended to go to the bathroom and instead went inside her room. I noticed a journal on top of her table, and when I read about her undying love for Seok-hoon,

I laughed.

She even made a poem about it.

I stifled my laughter and took a photo of her confession to Seok-hoon and the poem she made about him.

I took the cigar from my pocket and put it inside her pencil case.

'Let's just hope she never opens it tonight.'

I smirked and left her room.

End of flashback. . . .

Don't think you can threaten me with this.

"I am Joo Seok-kyung!"

He smirked at me and whispered.

"Don't worry. It's not as if you don't know who I am."

I pushed him away and left him.

'Everyone knows who you are, Mr. Leon.'

. . . . . . .

Su ryeon pov:

I want to give her one last time.

I want to meet her and confess everything.

"Unnie!"

I smile in front of her as he lets me in the house.

This is the same house that min Seol-ah fell from. My eyes are fixated on the veranda where she fell from.

"Is something wrong, unnie?"

I shake my head as she fixes the living room while I head near the kitchen. I got tempted by the knives and contemplated holding one.

'If I kill your daughter, will you finally know what it is like to lose a child?'

'If I kill your child, will you finally feel what I'm feeling now?'

'I want to punish you so bad!'

'Why did you do it?

To a fragile and broken child!'

I held the handle, but when she called my name again, my hand loosened, and I followed her to the sofa.

"What did you come here for, unnie?"

"I want to tell you the reason why I help you move in."

I smile at her as I start my story.

I observe every reaction she makes.

Everything feels so real; it's like she really didn't know.

"I didn't know something sinister had happened like that!"

"How can they ever do something like that to a child!"

I cried in pain as I remembered my daughter. I looked at her in mixed agony and anger as she comforted me in pain.

'Do you really not remember?'

'How dare you forget my daughter!'

"Eomma!"

The two of us turned to the door, and I wiped my tears as I averted my eyes.

Every time I see Rona, I feel like seeing my daughter.

"Ahh, Rona-ahh. . . why don't you spend your time in your room?"

Yoon Hee tells her daughter as I look at her.

"I'll tell you the rest next time. See you again, Yoon-hee-shii."

She leads me out carefully. After the elevator door closed, my eyes went back to being dead.

"You forgot!"

"How dare you forget my daughter!"

"You murderer!!"

. . . . . .

Yoon-hee pov:

I've been feeling unwell ever since I heard the story of Su-ryeon's daughter. My head keeps hurting, and I keep seeing flashes of odd things.

I headed to the refrigerator and drank some water and medicine before heading to the water when the dog my daughter brought home suddenly barked a lot.

I went to the bathroom and tried to stop the dog from barking, but he kept barking repeatedly.

His barking made my head hurt even more.

Suddenly these flashes made my head hurt even more. I collapsed to the floor, putting my hand on the wall, breathing very slowly.

I noticed a collar on the dog's neck, two pendants on it.

I tried to separate the two and saw a familiar name on the pendant behind the first one.

"Min seol-ah. . ."

I crawled away from the dog, with my head feeling like it was spitting. All these images that I didn't understand made me feel even more pain. As I look at the veranda, the appearance of a woman pushing someone keeps on showing in my mind.

"Who are you. . . ."

. . . . . . .

Yoon-hee pov:

I ran to the bathroom and vomited a lot on the sink.

The memories of me pushing Seol-ah runs through my mind as I look at the mirror.

"It was me?"

I killed . . . . Min Seol-ah. . .

I cried as I remembered that night. The way I looked at her, the way she looked at me. When she begged me for help.

I walked to her and pushed her until she fell.

"How can I. . ."

"How can I do something like that!!"

I slumped to the floor, crying as I remembered my stained hand.

"No! No! No!!"

I shouted as I stood again, washing my hand in the sink.

"No! No one can ever find out!"

"Min Seol-ah is actually my daughter."

The voice of Su-ryeon claiming Min Seol-ah as her laughter rang in my head.

"NO!!!"

. . . . . .

TO BE CONTINUED