Miho the Killer Chapter 62: Juggling

"Old man, we need to talk."

I barged into the break room and closed the door behind . My heart was thumping with suspicion, confusion, and inexplicable anger.

"Hah. Even YOU are calling an old man now. That cheeky Miho has been a bad influence on you."

He could laugh, chuckle, guffaw, or whatever, all he wanted, but there were things that I felt needed to be clarified.

"Why did you take in Miho?"

"She needed help and I could help. So I did. Like a Good Samaritan."

"Do you actually know her father?"

"What’s the point of this question?"

"DO YOU ACTUALLY KNOW HER FATHER?!!" I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I felt like the fragnted pieces of Miho’s past were falling into place, and Shin was right in the middle of it that shaped who she beca.

"Yes, I do. Didn’t Miho tell you? I was his friend."

"Where has he gone?"

"You heard what I said to Detective Choi. We were partners. He had an unfortunate incident."

The man didn’t even shrug.

"Why did her mother disappear at the sa ti?"

"I don’t know. And if you are going to ask - I can answer you already. I don’t know where she went, and I don’t know where she is now."

"So you are telling , Miho’s father died - and you didn’t tell her what happened to him?"

"She was already having a difficult ti with the loss of her sister. It would have just piled on her misery."

The old man went to the vending machine, nonchalantly turning his back on , and put the coins in.

"Coffee?"

"NO."

He bought two and handed one to anyway. The cold can of coffee couldn’t calm down. My hands were trembling. Sothing was wrong here. I could feel it.

"She thinks she was abandoned by her parents. Did you ever think about how she feels?"

"Would you rather your parents be dead or disappear?"

The way Shin asked this question while sipping on his coffee, with one hand in his pocket while his cold eyes were fixed on mine with no expression on his face at all, stabbed right in the heart with absolute terror.

"I... I wish neither..."

Without saying a word, Shin walked to the table and pulled out two chairs. He sat on one and gestured for to sit on the other one.

"Now, onto sothing more important." The man spoke.

I felt weak on my knees and sat on the chair as if I was falling onto it.

"The job. We still have ti for it, but we need to plan ahead. We can’t just sit on our ass and just go get it done whenever we feel like it."

"I want no part in this."

"Fair enough. Then leave now and never show your face again."

"Wha-"

"It’s been good knowing you, Ms. Han."

With that, Shin downed his coffee, got up from his seat, and tossed the empty can into the bin.

"I’ll be going now then. When I co back. I expect you to be gone."

"Wait-, you can’t just-"

That didn’t stop him and Shin walked to the door and opened it. Just before he took a step outside though, he turned around to remind .

"Don’t worry about our deal. I will co take what’s promised if Juho ever needs it."

He then left without saying anything further and I sat on the chair shivering in fear.

What... what did I expect?

Did I think we were in so sort of family relationship? Miho and I and Shin?

I tried to get up but collapsed back on to the chair. It took a great deal of resolve and strength to steady myself and make my way back to Miho’s room. I had to lean on the clinically white wall of the hospital to keep going. I haven’t felt such fear for life before.

When I finally managed to get back, I found Miho juggling sothing. Shin must have given her those. It was probably good exercise for her that help recover so hand-to-eye coordination. And she was very good at it. She was juggling a lot of things. Not just three or four, but perhaps five, six, or even seven.

Miho noticed that I ca in and looked at with the smile of a child who wanted to be praised.

"Look, Sohee! I’m really good at it, right?"

"Ye-, Yes. You are great."

I was still stuttering.

Nevertheless, seeing Miho enjoying herself and clearly recovering her dexterity was a good sign.

But as I got nearer, I realized that she was juggling sothing rather unusual. They weren’t balls and were rather oddly shaped.

"What are you juggling?"

"Hehe, Shin gave them to . He always brought these after his business trips. We had quite a collection at ho. You want to have a look?"

Miho skillfully threw one at while continuing to juggle, and although I was never good with these things, sohow I managed to catch it reflexively.

It snuggly fit in my palm. And it felt cold and hard to the touch.

I opened my palm and my eyes widened as soon as I saw what it was. I was horrified yet couldn’t look away. My hand trembled but I couldn’t drop it. It was as if the thing had a gravitational force of its own that was pulling my mind and body toward it.

There was no way I could tell where it ca from, but deep inside my heart, I knew exactly what it was. If I thought it was anything else, or ca from anywhere else, I would have been lying to myself.

I dropped to the floor but my hand still clenched onto the object. I couldn’t let go of it. It was sucking into the hollow hole it had in the middle. Miho stopped juggling and asked if I was OK. My whole body started to convulse but I still couldn’t let go.

I was lting. I was lting on the ground.

I was breaking apart and my mind was shattering into a thousand pieces.

I fell into the infinite darkness,

Holding Kwon’s vertebra.