Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 98

Lee Know POV

As the gunshot echoed around us, I held Han close to my chest. He'd seen enough death because I hadn't stayed away from him all those months ago; it was the least I could do.

I didn't even need to turn around to know that she was dead. The stillness in the air was proof enough of her demise.

I heard the metallic clink of the gun as Changbin threw it to the ground. It was followed by his footsteps heading back down the hallway. It must have taken great effort on his behalf to not break down right then and there.

Chan and Seungmin reappeared, likely due to the sound of the gun, and discovered us all in a group psychosis...unmoving and silent as we all processed what Mrs. Seo had said, what she had done...and what Changbin had done in retaliation.

"You're okay, pretty boy," I mumbled before kissing the top of Han's head. I knew that I didn't need to protect him. All of the threats (except possibly Jeongin) had been extinguished. But I was grateful that he let me hold him anyway despite the fact that he had flinched when I'd said his pet name.

"Lee Know..." Chan began again. I knew he felt guilty, but I waved his apology away.

"It's not your fault," I told him, and he nodded knowingly. We both were able to do this job because we counted our kills as the Seo's and theirs alone. I couldn't hold him accountable now, especially when he hadn't known a thing about who she was.

"Can I show you something?" Chan asked hesitantly. I nodded and released Han who looked exhausted and ghostly white. He slowly dropped to the floor against the wall and stared ahead at the pool of blood seeping out of the room.

I followed Chan down the hall, leaving Han and Seungmin to support each other. Apparently, whatever Chan had to show me wasn't for Seungmin to see yet. I could've brought Han, but he didn't look like he wanted to move let alone walk all the way to wherever Chan was taking me.

We ended up going to Chan's office. I hadn't been here in ages, but it was still just as organized as before. The faint scent of orange and whisky hung in the air from the late nights he'd spent here doing work for the Seo family.

Chan rushed in and flipped through his old files in his cabinet. He eventually pulled out a manilla folder and laid it open on the desk. His folders were usually in pristine condition and slightly dusty from many months of being unused and forgotten.

This one, however, had been torn at the edges, its pages bent from having been gone through many times before. I knew before he told me which case it was.

"I don't want to see it," I told him, ready to head back to Han. Whatever the file said wouldn't make her come back, and I already felt no animosity towards Chan. It would do nothing but make me sad.

"The file is not what I'm showing you," he said as he rummaged through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

Inside of a simple clear sandwich bag was a Polaroid. "I found this picture in her purse that day." Chan shook his head in frustration, "I feel so stupid that I didn't recognize you before..."

He stared at the image for a moment before handing it over to me. The picture was of me from so long ago before my mother had left our family. I noticed the stars on the walls first. My parents had wanted to put them on the ceiling, but I'd argued that I wouldn't be able to reach them. My dad had always told me to reach for the stars, and I couldn't believe that my parents had wanted to put them so far away.

I had on my favorite denim hat that my dad hated and a bright yellow vest. I didn't remember the day or the reason for the layers of clothes or the photo itself, but I looked happy.

"It's yours," Chan whispered. My eyes had begun to sting, and I looked at Chan with a soft, grateful smile.

"Thank you."

"If I'd known, I never would have..." he began another round of apologies, but I shushed him.

"If we start apologizing for things they made us do, we'll never stop." My heart ached as I realized my part in so many people's pain. In a roundabout way, I'd even caused my own mother's death by taking on this work in the first place.

Chan just nodded silently. He still looked like he wanted to apologize, but I didn't need it. It wasn't his to give.

"Come on," I ushered him out of the office and back down the hall. I could see no reason to hover around the file any longer than necessary.

We rejoined the others, and I was surprised to see that Jeongin was placing a towel around Mrs. Seo's body. It was absorbing the blood that flowed from her fatal wound. I nodded to him in acknowledgment, and he waved back.

Changbin returned soon after Chan and I. His eyes were puffy and his face was red, but he seemed to be handling everything well enough...or as well as one could handle this. He sat beside Han silently.

"Are you okay?" Han asked him. A question with an obvious answer.

"No," he replied. His voice was empty and his eyes were cloudy. I knew that it would be a while before he was ever okay again.

"What now?" Seungmin asked. He sounded perfectly fine. Perhaps since his parents died when he was so young he was less affected.

"Where are the guards?" Hyunjin looked around. "Shouldn't they have found us? We've had her here for over a week."

"I dismissed them of their duties until Mr. Seo arrived home back when we took in Jeongin. I didn't want any of them leaking information to the Hwangs about his whereabouts."

Changbin ignored the mention of his father and stared blankly at the wall ahead of him.

"I say we find and divide the assets from both of our households, bury this body, and move on with our lives," Jeongin advised.

The fact that he was being so rational and cold was a little frightening. He'd killed his parents just hours ago. The contrast between him and Changbin right now was palpable.

"What about the Hwangs' guards?" I asked.

"They've probably found our parents by now and are ransacking the house before leaving. They were loyal, but they won't defend corpses."

I realized that we were trusting Jeongin's word on the fact that his parents were dead. None of us had bothered to check the footage yet for proof of it. I didn't say anything though. We had too much to deal with here right now without Jeongin being enemy #1 again.

"Okay, let's identify and divide the assets. Han, you stay here with Changbin," I suggested.

Han nodded and slumped his head onto Changbin's shoulder while the rest of us went to retrieve what we had decided we were owed.