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Jinwoo’s eyes rested on the city skyline and its lights reflected on the river’s surface. In the midnight chill, his fingers pressed Heeju’s borrowed phone against his ear as he waited for Seonho to answer. This might have made headlines a year ago. The divorced CEO of J One Holdings, alone with a woman, after midnight? Jeonghun would have warned him to consider what it would look like to other people. Maybe even teased him about moving on too soon. But that was a year ago when Jinwoo couldn’t fathom his reality collapsing further beneath his feet.
And if Jinwoo believed he could not fall any lower before, it was not true now.
“I think it’s best for you to leave the country as soon as possible,” Seonho said.
Jinwoo’s hand tightened around his cane as he contemplated the words. Leaving was tempting. Leaving was easy. But leaving meant abandoning Jeonghun, cursed to appear when he was at the brink of death. It meant Hyungseok would haunt him every day.
“You want me to run away.”
“If you’re investigated for murder, people will believe you’re actually guilty of killing him.”
“People already believe I killed him. What difference does it make?”
“Rumors and a police investigation are not the same things! The fact that they’ve reopened the case means the board of directors have some kind of proof against you. They’ve probably planned this since you were gone and waited for you to make their doubts come true. This means Professor Cha is coming after you.”
The phantom sensation of a slap across his cheek returned. Cha Byunghun had called his name gently to wake him, like a parent to a child. But when Jinwoo stirred, his head jerked and his cheek throbbed. He hadn’t been aware of what occurred until he met the cold stare of the man he saw as his father. Hyungseok must have felt like this, Jinwoo had thought. The same words Professor Cha had used to oust his son from the company were now directed at him. The company would only follow suit with its new CEO.
“And you?” Jinwoo bit out. “You’ve decided to believe that I killed him, right? You wouldn’t be telling me to leave if you didn’t. I guess it’s safer for the company and easier for you now that you’re CEO—”
“I’m telling you this because I don’t want to think you killed him!”
The hot weight in Jinwoo’s chest spread upwards and his throat tightened. Could he blame Seonho for this? What did he honestly have to show for after a year he was supposed to spend recovering?
“Jinwoo... I don’t want to see headlines of my friend being the suspect for the murder of another friend. I’m not CEO because I wanted to be. I’m CEO because one of us died and the other one was kicked out and I’m the only one left.” His voice faltered and Jinwoo heard him sniffle. When he spoke again, Seonho was stern and brittle. “Leave. I’ll make it look like you left for treatment. Take my advice. Please.”
The call ended. Jinwoo dropped his arm holding up the phone. His arm felt heavy. His entire body felt heavy. It was as though he was falling for infinity and gravity made it so that he would shatter on impact.
He felt the rain and waited for the music to come.
It was Heeju’s voice that brought him back.
“Don’t stand there in the rain.”
Jinwoo blinked, the world snapping into focus. The pitter patter of the rain crescendoed. He exhaled, some of the tension leaving him. To his right, Heeju held an umbrella by the car and she approached, hurrying to bring cover from the rain.
“What did he tell you? Is it bad?” The words rushed out in one breath. Heeju raised her arm so the umbrella could cover him. For a moment, Jinwoo stared at her, reminded of the time when she had unknowingly shielded an attack from Hyungseok outside the hospital. Had he been religious, he would have called it divine intervention. But whatever he thought it was, his hands had acted before he realized what he was doing and they held her close to keep the terror away. Stay, he had urged, just for a moment.
Jinwoo’s eyes trailed over her features to reassure himself of reality but lingered longer than he intended. His hands twitched, the desire to hold onto her rising inside him, to have her stay as she did before.
He tore his gaze away from Heeju. No. He wouldn’t do that to her. He promised her that he would finish what he started. That he would bring her brother back once he returned from Granada. But he had returned alone, no Jung Seju. And no Seo Jeonghun. He had considered that maybe one person wouldn't return but he never imagined that it would be only him standing here. He failed another person.
“Professor Cha is opening Hyungseok’s investigation again. With me as the prime suspect.” He handed her phone back. “Seonho is telling me to leave the country because of it."
"Leave? Where?"
He fell quiet, not wanting to acknowledge questions he had no answer for.
“Have I ever told you about my family?” he blurted out.
“No." Jinwoo felt her eyes study him but he firmly faced the skyline.
“My parents died when I was a kid. No siblings. No wife or kids. I was alone until I met Hyungseok in college. Him and Seonho. Hyungseok’s father taught business—Professor Cha. They took me in. Hyungseok was a brother to me.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “You could say they were like family to me. Like you and that friend of yours.”
“Sangbeom overstepped the last time you saw him,” Heeju said. “It would be wrong to call him that now.”
“In a way, he’s right. You have no reason to trust me.”
“You almost died on the quest trying to find Seju.”
“And I failed and lost my secretary who was like my brother.”
In the silence that followed, the rain was deafening. However, Jinwoo could not find it in himself to stop the words pouring out of him.
“Hyungseok died hating me,” he admitted quietly. “The man I looked up to as a father called me a traitor and is pushing a murder investigation on me. The company I founded abandoned me. Even one of my friends can’t decide if I’m lying or I’m crazy so he’s telling me to leave. People want to hear that I’ve killed him or that I’ve gone mad. But neither is true. What can I say? That the game brings Hyungseok back to kill me? The only other person who saw the bug was Jeonghun because he allied with me in the game and I—” His voice cracked. “I was foolish enough to involve him.”
“What happened in Granada?”
“The same thing that no one can believe. He died because the game killed him. Because I couldn’t save him."
A long moment passed before Heeju spoke again. “Will you leave?”
“If I leave then I’ve accepted everything they’ve said about me. A crazy person or a murderer. Whatever they prefer.”
“But will you?”
“Maybe I should. I’m alone now. No one believes me.”
“I believe you.”
At this, Jinwoo’s breath hitched and he turned his head to stare at her. It returned: the instinct to reach and pull. He tamped it down. When it was just the two of them in Granada, he was asleep or too unaware. But one night, when the medication wore off, the lamplight greeted him and washed her in a pleasant glow. Her hair was loose, had shone slightly gold in the lamplight. She gave him an easy smile when she noticed him staring and, amidst the hell he had been living, he was at peace. He had been in awe that she was still there with him. Again, she put him in awe.
“Why?” he said.
“Because I need to believe Seju is alive.” She lifted his head and met his stare. He was right about before, about how she had changed. Where there was glass before, now there was steel.
“Seju was last seen on the Granada train. And you said the glitch in Seju’s game is causing deaths to happen in real life, right? If what you’re saying is true and if he’s gone, we would’ve found his body. But we haven’t. He’s missing—or he’s hiding. And I have to believe that... I’ve given up on him if I don’t.” Heeju shook her head. “You went on a quest for him. You have some connection to him.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy? That I’m a fraud? I lied to you about Seju. I said I’d find him but until now, he’s still missing. I haven’t done anything for you to believe me.”
“But everything is different now. If I had known that this was at stake? That people could die? I would have never signed the contract and taken your money.”
“You wouldn’t have known. I didn’t know what I was getting into. Having you sign off ownership without you knowing was because all I thought about was getting an advantage over Hyungseok”
Heeju's features tightened.
“I should have involved you earlier.”
“Yes. You should have. But we can't change that anymore.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I'm glad that it at least helped you pay off your family’s debts. But beyond that, you don't have to feel sympathy for me. It's wasted on me.”
“But I do! This is my brother’s game and I find out that it’s killing people! It’s taken Secretary Seo, Cha Hyungseok and Marco and—and who knows what happened with Seju. And what about you? You drink so much. You’re exhausted. Aren’t you close to dying every time you play this game?” A look of clarity passed over her features. “In Granada. The day it was raining outside the hospital. I found you outside. You asked me to stay even if I didn’t understand before you passed out... you saw Cha Hyungseok, didn’t you?”
Any response he had died on his tongue but whatever look he had on must have answered the question for her. She took a step closer to him. She had a tender expression on her face and his heartbeat pounded in his ears. Did she look at everyone like this?
“How long has he been appearing in front of you?”
He swallowed.
“Jinwoo-ssi?”
“A year,” he breathed. “Since I fell from the sixth floor.”
Heeju shut her eyes, shoulders sagging. She spoke carefully.
“I want to believe that whatever is happening to you might have happened to Seju. Maybe Marco for Seju was like Cha Hyungseok for you. Maybe he was haunted by him. Even an investigation might have happened with him and Marco—you said that going to the police would complicate things. I can't imagine what happened to Seju if I'm seeing you like this."
She inhaled deeply, steeled herself, and met his gaze.
"I... I know everything is falling apart for you. Secretary Seo was like a brother to you and he's gone. You would probably put yourself out of misery if you left. I won't blame you if you do. But... I need to find Seju and find out if he’s okay. We deserve an explanation for this and you’re the last link I have to him. And if no one believes you, then I will.”
In the time Heeju spoke, the space between them had shrunk. Whether by his or her own volition, Jinwoo wasn’t sure. It was now small enough that her body heat was palpable and that if she leaned in just a breath, she could press against him. Her eyes were earnest, determined. And if no one believes you, then I will. Her words were singing inside him. Then, her jaw slackened when their proximity to each other dawned on her. She inched away, blinking at their newfound closeness and maybe, maybe he wasn’t imagining the flush on her cheeks. His hand flew up to clasp the hand around the umbrella before she further widened the gap. She stilled.
“Do you mean it?” he murmured.
Jinwoo licked his lips and watched her gaze drop to follow the movement before she met his eyes again.
“Yes.”
"Then I'll stay."
He let instinct guide him: a hand caressed her cheek before he brought his lips to hers. The clatter of his cane went unnoticed as his other hand found the small of her back to pull her flush against him, to steady himself and to be certain that this was true rather than a dream lured out by drinking too much. A part of him half-expected that she was a wisp. That he would awaken in his dark hotel room with empty bottles and a void in his chest. Instead, he was grounded in her warmth and softness. The split-second of hesitation ended. Her lips parted beneath his and Heeju kissed him back. He deepened the kiss, almost desperately, as if she would slip through his fingers and he wanted to ensure she was here. In response, she met him toe for toe, molding her form to his, stirring something lovely within him.
He broke away, though his forehead still pressed against hers, unwilling to lose the connection. Warm breaths were shared in the scant space between them. Neither registered the umbrella joining his cane on the ground nor the rain upon them. She clutched his sleeve, fingers trailing up to the nape of his neck; he shivered. Heeju’s round eyes flitted between his own, silently asking, then fluttered close as she leaned in. The sight spread a tingling sensation throughout his body like a comforting balm. Jinwoo angled his head and met her halfway.
He would savor the next kiss. After all, they were in no rush: she was staying and he wasn’t leaving.