The road was silent and drowned in darkness,lit only by the restless blinking of roadside lights.
He was speaking on his phone,so absorbed in the voice on the other endthat he never sensed me standing just behind him.
I slid the knife from the sleeve of my leather jacketand lifted it forward, toward him.
I counted the seconds until I would reach him,counted the warmth of my breath dissolving into the night air.
Memories I could never rewrite.Regrets that squeezed my heart.The same questions echoing again and again—
What if I had let Mike go with that girl?What if one day came when he told me he had found someone?What if he invited me to his wedding,and his children knew me only as their father's old friend?
If fate had taken that path,would this ache in my chest have been lighter?
But those were useless questions.
I had never been able to change my own fate.I was the one who let anger blind my eyes.I was the one who took Souh's hand.
I cannot judge destiny.But I will not let Kai's destiny become mine.
It was time to leave.Time to change the fate of someoneI envy…because he has someone like me.
My eyes fell on the footprints echoing along the road,his shadow stretched thin and long.
A wide smile spread across my face,and I ran toward him—toward Souh.
For one moment, he looked at me.Just a moment before the knife struck.
Shock filled his eyes.The same Souh who once claimed he could count the demons in a roomnow stared at me as if he had found one standing before him.
I pressed my hand to his chestand drove the knife in with all my strength.
It was the most exquisite pain I had ever felt.Perhaps because it was for a good reason.
I thought I had been careful not to let the blade truly hurt him…but maybe I rushed too much,intoxicated by the cursed pleasure of doing something right.
I leaned close,my lips near his ear, and whispered softly—
"Your father found Kai.I don't know if he plans to kill him…Protect him."
When I said that, his eyes widened,glossed with tears.
Then I pushed him toward the ground.
"Souh!"
A trembling voice came from behind him.Kai.
He ran forward, face filled with panic.
I would bet anything he would forgive him.How can you look at someone with such sadnessif you truly hate them?
When he reached Souh, tears began to fall.Men aren't supposed to cry, are they?
A broad smile carved itself across my face.
I turned and walked toward the police station,ready—after so long—to confess to my crimes.
In the very country where my sins had once forced me to my knees,I wanted, this time, to set the weight down.
In a strange way, I was happy.Happy that after all this timeI could smile like this—a smile born from relief,not grief.
At last, I had broken free from those chains.
In the end, they were wrong.Time does not heal pain.We are the ones who decide to step beyond it.
—
"I have nothing more to ask.You understand your sentence will likely be execution, don't you, Miss Sora?"
When he said that, I wondered how I could not know—when this was exactly what I had been waiting for.
Moments later, hands pulled me up from the chairand led me toward the light pouring through the gate ahead.
"Miss Sora…"
Suddenly, the officer's voice called from behind me.The sound alone made my feet stop.
"That boy… Mike.We investigated him.He's out of the coma.
If you survived… go see him."