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墨書 Inktalez
"No, brother, I have thought this through clearly. I know where our problem lies. It is you who has forgotten how we spent our time in Australia. Without Brother Canlie, I have no reason to live," Kim Mi-kyung said as she looked at Park Chan-yeol.
Kim Mi-kyung's gaze shocked Anna. She had always thought Kim Mi-kyung was very beautiful, but her somewhat domineering personality made it hard for Anna to feel any fondness. However, this time, the way Kim Mi-kyung looked at Park Chan-yeol sparkled with infinite deep affection and warmth. Anna had never seen this side of Kim Mi-kyung before. What kind of bond did they share that allowed such deep feelings to flourish?
"You can live well without me, and you can live even better. How can you not understand that your life does not need to depend on me? You are you; you are so beautiful, knowledgeable, and graceful. You will definitely meet someone who truly cherishes you."
"You are lying... If you think I am so good, why don't you want to be with me?"
"Miki, love isn't about good or bad; it's about right or wrong. I can see your merits, but for me, you are not the right person."
Tears clearly welled up in Miki's eyes, yet she still smiled as she spoke to Park Chan-yeol, her deep affection always evident.
"Brother Canlie, this time you are wrong." Kim Mi-kyung glanced at the USB drive in her hand and said, "I will prove to you that I am right."
"Kim Mi-kyung, what do you really want?" Park Chan-yeol asked, his fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white.
Seeing Park Chan-yeol's restrained state, Anna could sense that although he did not like Kim Mi-kyung, there was still some kind of bond between them. Under this bond, no matter what Miki did, Park Chan-yeol would not have the heart to be overly harsh. Perhaps as Miki said, there was a hidden warm history between them—one deeply affectionate while the other remained indifferent to love.
Kim Mi-kyung slowly walked around Park Chan-yeol and approached Anna. She bent down and waved the USB drive in front of her.
"This contains the evidence you've always dreamed of that can prove Yoo Jae-suk's innocence." She smiled and then stood up straight to address Park Chan-yeol. "Brother Canlie, let me ask you a question, and you must answer me truthfully."
"What question?"
"Do you really love this woman named Anna Zheng?" Kim Mi-kyung's voice was surprisingly calm.
But Anna gasped.
Park Chan-yeol did not respond.
Kim Mi-kyung continued, "As long as you say you don't love her, I will immediately give this USB drive to Miss Anna. If you truly love her, then you would be willing to help her get what she wants. Calmly, in exchange, you must return to Australia with me and never come back."
"Miss Kim Mi-kyung, are you crazy? Park Chan-yeol has his career in Korea, his stage, and so many people who like him. How could he possibly go with you? Besides, why do we have so much interaction? You know it's because of Sister Yura; he won't like me," Anna said to Miki.
Hearing this, Kim Mi-kyung smiled happily and looked at Chan-yeol, saying, "Brother Canlie, is what she said true? I believe in you; just one word from you and all three of us can get what we want and be free."
Park Chan-yeol, who had been silent, sighed and cupped Kim Mi-kyung's face. The scene was incredibly beautiful.
"Miki, I love her..."
The atmosphere dropped to freezing point with Park Chan-yeol's words. Anna felt as if she had been struck hard; her heart stopped for a long moment as she forgot to breathe.
Miki's calm expression finally began to crack. She shook her head and grabbed Park Chan-yeol's hand tightly, as if afraid he would disappear.
"Brother Canlie... can't you lie to me just once? As long as you say you don't love her, everything you want can be easily obtained. You wouldn't even want to tell a little lie to me? How long have you known each other? Love isn't that simple."
"I won't lie about this. Miki, just like you said, love isn't that simple; it can't be simply defined by how long you've known someone... I also forgot when it started; maybe it was the first time I greeted her or the first time I accidentally held her... In any case, it's like a habit that can't be erased from my mind."
Anna stared blankly at Park Chan-yeol's back. Why is he saying such lies in this situation... Is this really a lie?
Kim Mi-kyung struggled to maintain her smile, but tears streamed down her face, making her makeup a mess. She looked like a love-struck clown desperately trying to please her lover only to find that someone else was already by his side, watching the clown's performance together...
It is too sad; she does not want such a tragic ending.
Kim Mi-kyung wiped the tears from her face, raised the corners of her mouth, and said, "Alright, there is still a second path to take. I will give the things to Anna Zheng and let her go, and you will come back with me to Australia."
Park Chan-yeol replied, "I will take the things, but I won't be going to Australia."
Kim Mi-kyung sneered and said, "Nothing comes that easily." She slowly backed away until she was behind two Suit Men. At the same time, two tall and sturdy Brutes emerged from a room, wielding metal baseball bats. "First, break that woman's hand."
"Kim Mi-kyung?! Are you crazy?" Park Chan-yeol tried to step forward but was instantly restrained by two men who pinned him to the ground.
"Chan-yeol!" Anna wanted to escape, but the knots in the ropes that Chan-yeol had struggled with for a long time were still tight.
The baseball bat was raised high. Anna closed her eyes, and with Chan-yeol's shout, she seemed to hear the sound of bones breaking. The intense pain nearly made her faint; from her elbow to her fingertips, her left hand slowly lost all sensation.
"Ah!!!" Anna screamed in agony. Her cries were wrapped in the thick walls and endless night, echoing in this not too big nor too small space.
"Kim Mi-kyung!! You are insane!!" Park Chan-yeol struggled desperately against being pinned down, but how could one person resist two capable bodyguards?
"It hurts..." Kim Mi-kyung smiled and said, "That's good. I saw that there is a flight to Australia tomorrow. We can go together; my father can handle things here in Korea."
"Kim Mi-kyung, don't make me hate you!" Park Chan-yeol lifted his head to look at Kim Mi-kyung, his eyes tinged with blood red.
At this moment, Anna felt the pain intensifying; she felt half of her body going numb and had difficulty breathing.
"I have given you the best choice; why didn't you choose... Brother Canlie, you forced me..." Miki said, "Break another of her legs!"
Anna's ears were ringing from the pain, and in the next moment, the agony in her right calf overshadowed the previous numbness. Anna couldn't remember if she had screamed; as she slipped into darkness, she vaguely saw her twisted calf and Park Chan-yeol's expression as if he were facing death.
Another bucket of cold water was splashed over her. Anna had no idea how long she had been unconscious this time. She hoped that when she woke up again, it would be close to midnight. That way, Jung Kook and the others could arrive and change this isolated and helpless situation.
The two people who had been restraining Park Chan-yeol released him. He quickly got up and rushed over, his only thought being to check Anna's injuries and get her out of there as soon as possible; everything else was unimportant. "Anna, Anna, wake up!"
Her swollen hand throbbed with pain at the slightest touch, causing Anna to break out in a cold sweat again upon waking.
"I won't let you leave; you can't escape," Kim Mi-kyung said, looking at them. She suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction; the pain of longing that had plagued her for so long was finally released at this moment.
The ropes were not just knots that could be untied with strength. Watching Anna nearly faint from pain, Park Chan-yeol spotted a knife on the dining table and wanted to grab it, but a man holding a baseball bat caught him.
Seeing Anna on the verge of death, Kim Mi-kyung's cold smile slowly turned into triumphant laughter, sharp and piercing.
"I've just realized, Brother Canlie, you don't love this woman at all. Otherwise, seeing her in such agony, you still refuse to meet my demands."
Park Chan-yeol stopped moving; now free from his restraints, he could not allow himself to fall into a passive position again. At this moment, they needed more than just luck and passion; they needed some openings and counterattacks.
"No, Miki... it's just that I won't lie to Anna Zheng anymore!" Before he finished speaking, Park Chan-yeol grabbed the baseball bat from the man's hands. Taking advantage of the man's momentary surprise, he landed a heavy punch on his face. The other three men rushed forward immediately; Park Chan-yeol swung the bat fiercely, knocking down two of them while one managed to dodge. The man who had just been punched regained his composure when Park Chan-yeol's bat struck his face again, rendering him completely unconscious.
"Park Chan-yeol!!" Seeing Park Chan-yeol's resistance made Kim Mi-kyung grit her teeth in anger. Her hair had come undone at some point, making her appear almost deranged. As the situation suddenly shifted, Kim Mi-kyung pointed at Anna and said, "Kill her first!"
Another man with a baseball bat heard this and immediately raised it to strike down at Anna's lowered head. It was unclear how such reflexes occurred, but like a flash of lightning, Park Chan-yeol dashed in front of Anna, crouching down as a dull thud echoed when the bat ultimately struck his back.
"Ah!!" Kim Mi-kyung screamed.
Anna, still in a daze, finally mustered the effort to lift her head and open her eyes, seeing Park Chan-yeol's pained and furrowed face in front of her. "Chan-yeol..."
Because Kim Mi-kyung had instructed them not to harm Park Chan-yeol, the three men were momentarily stunned, exchanging glances.
This blow, however, made Park Chan-yeol's eyes turn completely red. He mouthed the words "Don't worry" to Anna and quickly turned around. This time, he didn't even know where his baseball bat had landed on those men; he just kept swinging it as if wielding a knife, desperately trying to carve out a bloody path in this apocalyptic world.
When he looked again, they were all lying on the ground, curled up and completely losing their will to fight...
Anna could hardly believe the scene before her. Was it the intense pain that caused her brain to hallucinate? The always clean, peaceful, and warm Park Chan-yeol was like a fierce cornered beast fighting for its life in a massive cage. In her mind, Park Chan-yeol had always been that beloved idol, untouched by the mundane world, only occasionally coming down to Earth for a visit. And now, she finally felt that Park Chan-yeol truly existed beside her...
Panting heavily, Park Chan-yeol had blood splattered across his face at some point. It seemed he had used all his strength as he glanced over; Kim Mi-kyung was leisurely walking on the second floor with a bottle of liquid in one hand, slowly pouring it down along the railing...
"What are you doing?!... It's gasoline!" The strong smell hit him immediately, and Park Chan-yeol realized what it was. He threw away the baseball bat and picked up a knife from the table to cut the ropes binding Anna.
"Just go first, don't worry about me," Anna said. Even the slightest movement intensified her pain.
"What nonsense are you talking about? We're leaving together." He knew that moving Anna at this moment would cause her unbearable pain. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, he said, "Just hold on."
Anna watched as Park Chan-yeol prepared to pick her up, biting her lip hard and nodding slightly.
"Okay..." Anna endured the pain without crying out. Her throat couldn't hold back anymore; just as she was about to make a sound, she quickly pressed her lips together to stifle it.
Still puzzled about why they needed to leave when Kim Mi-kyung showed no signs of stopping them, they finally understood at the door why she seemed so composed.
All doors and windows were locked tight; they were like fish caught in a net with no way to escape.
"There is no way out. Before you all came, I thought that if the three of us could safely leave this room, that would be best. If not, then dying together here wouldn't be so bad." Kim Mi-kyung put down the gasoline canister and took out a lighter, flicking it on once, twice, as her gaze began to fade.
"Miki!" Park Chan-yeol said, "Calm down!" At that moment, he caught a glimpse of something quietly lying on the ground beside the chair—a USB drive that Kim Mi-kyung had accidentally left behind.
Park Chan-yeol carefully placed Anna on the ground and sat against the pillar by the door. He softly said to Anna, "Wait for me."
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry," Chan-yeol replied as he stood up.
He looked up at Kim Mi-kyung and slowly approached her while also inching closer to the USB drive.
"Miki, I remember you said you really liked being with me. But being together doesn't have to be just in a romantic way; it can also be friendship or family. Isn't it better to view our relationship from a different perspective?"
"Yes, I regret it so much. Why didn't I just tell my brother 'I love you' back then? If I had, he wouldn't have given me such a wrong definition until now... Brother, do you know? When I first saw you on the Blue Mountain Cable Car, I finally found a reason to want to live in my broken life. If I can't have your love in this lifetime, then my life will just be a joke."
Park Chan-yeol gently stepped on the USB drive and noticed Kim Mi-kyung was distracted. He forcefully kicked the USB drive toward Anna. The moment Anna saw it, she finally understood Park Chan-yeol's intention and quickly picked up the USB drive that had rolled to her side and tucked it into her pocket.
"Miki, you've managed to survive so easily; is it really worth giving up like this?"
Kim Mi-kyung shook her head helplessly, her mental state nearing complete collapse. "There's no way... I can't... It's because you all won't let me live."
"Miki, come down first; there will definitely be a way," Park Chan-yeol said, hoping to calm her emotions.
"There’s no way... no... I can't go on living, really..."
“Miki, if you want to believe me, come down. I’ll give you a reason to live,” Park Chan-yeol said.
Kim Mi-kyung looked at Park Chan-yeol's determined expression, her unfocused eyes slowly beginning to regain clarity. But just then, the man whom Park Chan-yeol had first struck suddenly woke up. Smelling the gasoline in the room and seeing Kim Mi-kyung on the second floor holding a flickering lighter, this Brute, driven by his instinct to avoid being engulfed in flames, rushed towards Kim Mi-kyung, trying to snatch the lighter from her hand.
“Don’t!” Park Chan-yeol shouted, but it was too late. The lighter fell, and Park Chan-yeol quickly retreated to the door beside Anna. In an instant, flames erupted violently, turning the room into a sea of red.
“Kim Mi-kyung!” Park Chan-yeol wanted to rush upstairs to save her, but the flames had already blocked his path.
“I don’t want to die with you!” The man attempted to charge through the fire but was instantly surrounded by flames, becoming a writhing fireball. His piercing screams echoed throughout the room until he collapsed in a stiffened position, motionless… The other three men lay unconscious in the flames, struggling slightly before losing their lives in confusion…
The scene here was nothing short of hell on earth.
Kim Mi-kyung remained standing quietly on the second floor, the heat from the rising flames distorting her face.
In a daze, Kim Mi-kyung seemed to smile… because for the first time in a long while, she finally saw concern and care in Park Chan-yeol's eyes as he looked at her… If she had to continue experiencing the indifference of the past, she would rather die in such a gaze.
“Miki! Kim Mi-kyung!” Park Chan-yeol called out, trying several times to rush forward but was always blocked by flames.
“Miss Kim Mi-kyung!” Anna exclaimed.
The smoke thickened, and the temperature rose to a point that felt like it could melt a person away. Kim Mi-kyung gradually disappeared from view…
Park Chan-yeol finally walked despairingly to Anna’s side and sat down weakly.
“I never expected it would be me who got you into this…” Anna said with a helpless smile.
"It's okay, I know anyway," Park Chan-yeol said.
"What do you know?"
"I know you like me."
"What?"
"You can't fool me. From the very beginning, your expression has already given you away, so I know, and I'm willing to wait for you to untangle your feelings."
Anna didn't deny it this time and said, "Can I ask why?"
"What?"
"Why do you like me? It's really not..."
"Don't overthink it. You are you, not anyone else. As for why I like you, I don't know... cough cough..." The fire was getting closer to them, and both of them started coughing.
"Right now, cough cough... it seems like I really don't want to die," Park Chan-yeol said with a smile, tears forming in his eyes from the smoke.
Death was slowly approaching.
"Do you think if I die, I'll become a lame ghost? No, wait, a disabled ghost?"
"What are you thinking? When a person dies, they no longer have pain; your arms and legs will be fine."
"You listen... I think I heard someone knocking at the door... and it sounds like Brother Kwangsoo and Haha Brother," Anna's eyes suddenly sparkled.
"How is that possible? You must be imagining things. How could they be here?" Park Chan-yeol said.
Anna looked at her watch; indeed, it was just past eleven. She regretted not telling Jung Kook to come a bit earlier...
A watch? Looking at the blue button on it, Anna suddenly remembered what Andy had said about pulling out this button in case of danger...
Anna said to Park Chan-yeol, "Help me pull out this blue button." She pointed to the swollen watch on her left wrist.
Knowing it must have some significance, Park Chan-yeol glanced at her without asking further questions. He carefully tried not to touch her painful wrist and pulled out the blue button. The watch face flashed brightly for a moment before dimming again.
"What is this?" Park Chan-yeol asked in confusion. Before Anna could respond, there was a loud crash as the front door burst open. Jung Kook, Brother Gary, Kwang-soo, Haha, and two or three people Anna didn't recognize—presumably their friends—appeared at the doorway.
It wasn't an illusion... they really came, and they arrived more than an hour earlier than scheduled.
"Anna!" Kwang-soo rushed in and immediately tried to grab Anna, but Jung Kook had already noticed her unusually swollen hands and feet, so he quickly stopped him and said, "She’s injured; let me handle this."
"Brothers, thank you for coming... my bones are broken..." Anna forced a bitter smile, already feeling extremely weak.
Kim Jong Kook carefully picked her up and carried her to the car. The grim scene left everyone present shaken as they hurriedly left the house engulfed in flames.
Although everyone was surprised to see Park Chan-yeol there, no one asked why; after all, ensuring everyone's safety was the most important thing at that moment. After driving a distance away from the villa area, Haha finally had one of his friends call the fire department.
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