Chapter 7
The door was closed.
It had only been about ten minutes since Seobin stepped away, saying she needed to make a call. In that short time, the entrance back to the outdoor lounge had been blocked.
The guards who had been standing there were gone, and only a red safety bar stood in front of the shut doors.
Through the tightly closed doors, the music sounded louder than before, along with cheers from the crowd. After Yoo Inha’s speech, the mood of the party seemed to have changed.
What should I do?
Standing alone in the dim hotel hallway, Seobin hesitated. Then she took out her phone from her clutch.
Executive Director Kim Sa-hyuk.
She sighed softly at his name and pressed the call button.
The ringtone echoed.
But he didn’t answer.
As the ringing continued, she looked around. A faint light seeped out from the end of the hallway.
Maybe a side door.
She hung up and walked toward the opposite end of the corridor.
The closer she got, the louder the music became. It must lead near the DJ booth.
Relieved, she quickened her pace. She couldn’t just stand outside like someone who had been kicked out of the party before doing anything.
The vibrations from the speakers thudded through her body as she approached.
Just as she reached for the narrow door—
A couple burst out first.
“Ah! Fuck! You scared me!”
The woman, dressed extravagantly, clutched her chest and nearly fell.
The man behind her caught her shoulders. With the party lights behind him, his face was hard to see, but he was tall and heavily built.
“Mina, what’s wrong? What is it?”
“I almost twisted my ankle! Damn it!”
“You should watch where you’re going.”
Supported by the man, the woman stood up unsteadily. Whether from her 12-centimeter heels or the alcohol flushing her cheeks, she seemed slightly off balance.
“…I’m sorry,” Seobin said calmly.
The woman glared at her irritably. Under the dim hallway lights, the smudged mascara and eyeliner under her eyes were obvious.
Seobin didn’t want to get involved. She waited quietly for them to leave.
But then the man’s gaze fixed on her.
“Bae Seobin?”
He pushed Mina aside and stepped closer.
Both Seobin and the woman frowned.
“It’s you, right? Bae Seobin. Bae Seohyun’s sister… Yeah! I didn’t recognize you with the different hair.”
He stepped under the hallway light.
Dark skin, sharp double eyelids, pronounced cheekbones, a muscular body shaped by years of swimming.
Jang Jaegun.
One of the people who had entered the swimming pool that day.
The third suspect in her sister’s death.
“Oppa, you know her?”
“Yeah. Same high school.”
He answered casually, as if meeting a friend’s younger sister.
Seobin felt hollow.
Did he even remember her sister’s death?
How could he so easily say her name otherwise?
“Hey, what are you doing here? Yoo Inha still looks like he’s chewing shit whenever Seohyun’s name comes up, so he wouldn’t have invited you. Who’s your connection? Someone I know?”
Her expression hardened.
Why is everything so easy for you?
Her time had stopped eight years ago.
But to him, her sister was just an old memory.
“Why do you look like that? You still suspect me? I’m not that kind of guy.”
His words crossed the line.
A faint smile formed on her lips as she stepped closer and looked up at him.
“Right. I don’t think you’re smart enough for me to suspect. Not everyone can kill someone.”
He stared at her in disbelief, then burst out laughing.
“Wow. Seohyun’s little sister’s got a mouth on her. Hey, Mina. She’s worse than you. No respect at all.”
He laughed loudly with the woman beside him.
Then his face changed.
“But you’re not normal either. Blaming innocent people because your sister showed off and got herself killed.”
Alcohol reeked from him.
Seobin didn’t back down.
Holding back her rage, she forced an even calmer smile.
“You keep bringing up my sister. Makes me wonder. What were you doing at the pool that day?”
His pupils trembled.
His face darkened instantly.
“What the hell did you just say?”
He stepped closer, his face flushed.
He jabbed her forehead with his finger, pushing her back toward the wall.
“What? Huh?”
Even as her face was shoved aside, she didn’t look away.
That only made him angrier.
He shoved her shoulders hard.
Her back hit the wall with a dull thud.
Trapping her between his arm and the wall, he sneered.
“Why are you blaming me because your sister died chasing Yoo Inha? You want to die too?”
“So you do remember. Funny. You said you couldn’t remember anything before. I almost thought you had amnesia.”
During the police investigation, Jaegun had claimed he went to the pool but couldn’t remember details due to panic disorder.
“Be careful around Jang Jaegun. He’s bad news.”
“Weren’t you close?”
“Close? I refused to introduce him to some trainee idols and he started swearing.”
Seobin remembered her sister’s words.
It wasn’t a deadly conflict.
But Jaegun was someone who got easily agitated.
“Are you insane? Want to die?”
“Or were you lying because you were afraid a hidden camera would be found?”
“Fuck!”
Veins bulged in his neck as he grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall.
Her head hit hard.
Pain shot through her.
Blood rushed to her face.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Oppa! Stop! That’s too much! You’ll kill her!”
“Let go, you crazy bitch.”
Mina tried to pull him away but was shoved aside.
I need evidence.
Proof that he remembered what happened that day.
She glanced around for CCTV.
A dome camera blinked near the main entrance.
But they were in a dark corner of the hallway. It might not capture clearly.
She fumbled for her phone.
He noticed and twisted her wrist painfully.
“Trying to record? My uncle’s a chief prosecutor and my other uncle’s a police chief. You should know how the world works.”
“…So… you did do something…”
“You crazy bitch!”
His grip tightened.
Her breathing faltered.
Her vision darkened.
Just like that day in the water.
Powerless. Sinking.
“Bae Seobin. Get a grip… Seobin!”
A voice echoed faintly.
She blinked slowly.
Then—
Thud.
Jaegun’s face disappeared from in front of her.
“Ah, shit…”
She heard him groan.
“Ha…”
Air rushed back into her lungs.
As her knees buckled, someone caught her shoulders.
“Bae Seobin. Breathe.”
She looked up.
It was Sa-hyuk.
With the same eyes he had the day he saved her long ago.
He was looking at her.
