Chapter 122

Thud! Crack! Snap!

Big Bear’s body twisted in unnatural directions.

Both wrists and ankles, both arms and legs were broken.

Blood streamed from her mouth, and she could only make choking sounds, unable to breathe.

“I should have dealt with you earlier.”

As Red Shadow flicked his hand, Big Bear floated in midair, her neck fully exposed.

He took measures on Big Bear’s mouth and hands.

Now she wouldn’t be able to go around talking about Giselle being White Hands by any means.

“I won’t kill you.”

If it were up to him, he would kill her and erase every trace, but if Giselle found out, she would clearly reject it.

He didn’t want to incur her hatred.

He hated the thought of her looking at him with terrified eyes.

Blood flowing from Big Bear dyed the seawater red.

Red Shadow immediately moved to the police headquarters.

“Why is Red Shadow here, not Black Pistols….”

“Is this an attack?”

“No way.”

“More importantly, doesn’t that look like Big Bear?”

“I-it’s Big Bear!”

He threw Big Bear into the yard in full view of the Organized Crime Division office at the police headquarters.

Because of her ability, Big Bear wasn’t dying so much as writhing in pain from her injuries.

He smoked nearby and spoke to the startled police officers, “The day I hear Big Bear escaped, I’ll take your heads.”

Big Bear, dropped on the ground, was clearly in a state that couldn’t be recovered with hospital treatment.

Even if her body healed, living a normal life would be impossible.

Reporters gathered at the entrance of the police headquarters and frantically pressed their shutters, photographing the ruined Big Bear.

Photos of Big Bear with her limbs broken would sell for a very high price.

Two Star fell in an anticlimactic way.

After checking both trains and buses, Johan expanded the search to the harbor.

On a sleepless night, he could see the city that never slept between the skyscrapers.

The night, which would end in a few hours, felt unbearably long.

When he met Giselle again, this time… this time?

“Haha. Hahaha!”

Ah. No, this won’t do.

“Respect and all that, it’s all bullshit.”

He couldn’t be without Giselle.

So he would keep her by his side no matter what.

Even if he had to threaten her or break her legs.

‘Giselle. I wagged my tail like a dog for you.’

He had already given up the position of master of his own life long ago.

Even after giving her everything, he was cast aside—

“This is what you brought on.”

If a dog bites its owner, it’s always the owner’s fault.

If only she had trained him properly and kept him by her side, there would have been no problem.

In the darkness, Johan bared his claws.

***

Through this not-quite independence, I realized I was an idiot who didn’t even know how to change a lightbulb.

“So I was the gorilla. I almost changed the bulb without even flipping the breaker.”

“It happens when it’s your first time.”

In Mandy’s defense, Noah gave a sharp evaluation.

“If you did that, you’d be in a coffin instead of the shopping center right now. Jean. Be careful. I’m scared I’ll suddenly hear news of your death one day.”

“I’m scared of myself too.”

While browsing the clothing store, I stopped in front of a white shirt.

“They have men’s sizes too.”

I picked up a very large shirt.

Raphael usually wore colored shirts in case blood splattered.

The one who usually wore white shirts was….

“…Johan.”

The size was exactly the one Johan would wear.

The shoulders and fit would probably suit him well if he wore it.

I’d been trying hard to forget, but just one piece of clothing brought it all back.

I miss the musky scent that lingered on him.

His elegant way of speaking, his low voice, those vivid blue eyes….

The clear image of the smile he wore when he looked at the crudely made bracelet and spoke as if he’d been confessed to.

The moment I saw that smile, my heart dropped.

Because he looked so happy, enough to make my own heart race.

Who could be that happy over a bracelet roughly woven from string?

A man who isn’t a parent or family, liking me that much.

“Please tell me you want me.”

I left that man behind, alone.

Not dragging him into a life like a gutter.

That was my way of loving him.

But the life I thought would be exhausting, always watching my surroundings because I had to live as a fugitive, turned out better than expected, so I feel endlessly sorry toward Johan, and because this life is more ordinary than I expected, I regret leaving him behind.

If this new start in Blue City had been horribly difficult, I would have thought leaving alone was the right choice.

If I’d known a single white shirt would make it this hard to breathe, I would have come together with him.

“…Jean?”

Noah was looking at me with concern.

“Ah, yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

I put the white shirt into the basket and moved to buy other clothes.

‘I’m not missing Johan.’

I just need to hang at least one piece of men’s clothing in plain sight so no burglar breaks in….

Mandy was looking at dresses.

“Isn’t this pretty?”

“It’s pretty, and the color suits you well. Try it on.”

“Hey. Noah. Watch my stuff.”

As Mandy went into the fitting room, Noah squatted by the wall holding her things.

We’d already been shopping for two hours, so he looked exhausted.

“I thought I was keeping up pretty well, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Most guys do get tired.”

“Your brothers?”

“My brothers too, and….”

Tristan tended to just toss things in without even properly looking at what he was going to eat, and Johan also got quietly bored when we went to the mall together.

The day we bought a dress for a wedding, our eyes met in the mirror.

I was conscious of him.

I hid the awareness of those feelings under fear and tension.

The way he peeled off the price tag felt strangely suggestive….

I tried desperately to keep my pounding heartbeat from showing through my breathing.

Then a terrorist attack happened.

“Come to think of it, he didn’t like shopping.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Not exactly… but we liked each other.”

“Why didn’t you date?”

A member of Two Star broke into the house and I nearly died.

The one who saved me was Johan.

Whatever reason Johan had for approaching me, I couldn’t help but notice him and think about him.

Every moment we faced each other, the more threatening he felt, the more I also felt him as a man.

Even when I was bleeding after being beaten by a robber at the department store, the way he checked my safety, the feel of his large hand wrapping around me when I was terrified.

The moment our hands overlapped, a seed sprouted and pushed out a shoot.

So I reached a point where I could no longer hide my feelings under fear.

“They say first love never comes true.”

I miss Johan. I miss him so much.

If I run into him, I might be the one to confess this time.

“For that, you still look like you haven’t forgotten him.”

Noah said it plainly.

Johan’s voice repeats like a broken radio.

“Please tell me you want me.”

You wouldn’t know. That I already wanted you.

“You won’t forget him for the rest of your life.”

Even if I stop seeing Johan as a man, there’s no way I can forget him.

He’s someone who saved my life more than once.

And he wanted me, a villain’s sister, more desperately than anyone.

Men who followed me around just because they liked my face would run away as soon as they found out my family was Oscar or Raphael.

‘Who would ever like me that much?’

The sincerity Johan showed still feels vivid in my heart.

I smiled weakly, then asked Noah to shake off the heavy mood, “But in Blue City, things like terrorism don’t really happen, right?”

“What? Haha. Jean! You really are from Black City! That kind of thing doesn’t happen here! Terrorism is something you only see in movies. So don’t worry.”

“Really?”

As someone from Mist Island, the fact that terrorism only happens in movies feels more like a movie.

Just then, Mandy came out wearing the dress.

“Mandy! That’s it! That dress was made for you!”

It suited Mandy so well that I strongly urged her to buy it.

After buying Nelson’s food and a leash, we were leaving the mall when we passed by the electronics section.

News was playing on a new color TV.

― The Mist Island branch of <Daily Issue> has been attacked. The culprit is one of the city’s vigilantes, Red Shadow….

The content stopped me in my tracks.

On the news screen, footage from <Daily Issue> played.

On the office CCTV, Red Shadow appeared along with a mist.

He assaulted the director on the spot and turned the office upside down.

Shelves were embedded into the ceiling, and flowerpots flew through the windows and shattered them.

After intimidating them like that, Red Shadow grabbed the director by the collar and disappeared somewhere.

― …Red Shadow, who had disappeared, reappeared five minutes later and abducted social desk reporter Daniel Humphrey.

― <Daily Issue> director John Milton was found at the site of the clash between Two Star and Death Adder and has been confirmed to be in stable condition. Police are searching for Daniel Humphrey’s location….