11:59 (27)
11:59 (27)
I'LL GIVE MASS RELEASE IF WE REACH 500 COINS!
....
Gayoon slowly opened her eyes. At first her vision was shrouded by darkness and she panicked. Startled, she tried to get up but her head felt heavy and her muscles were slow to move.
"Ugh!" she groaned and tried to sit up but she realized that something light was hugging her tightly. Slowly, her blurry vision began to return and she glanced aside to see Jina sleeping beside her.
"Wha-"
The memories from the past few hours began to rush into her mind. Kanji crashed into her and she fell, hitting her head and lost consciousness. What was I doing at the hospital again? She frowned inwardly. Then it hit her.
She was there to take another look at the comatose patient!
"Right!" she realized. Quietly, she slid off of Jina's embrace and put the sleeping girl in a more comfortable position. Taking out the saline from her palm, she hissed. Blood was oozing out and she quickly grabbed some tissue from the nearby table to stop the flow. Bending her hand to control the blood flow, she quietly crept out of the bed. Making sure that Jina was still fast asleep, she headed out of the room.
She made her way towards the room where Nam Daewhi was kept in. The room was quite dark except for the lights from the machines attached to Doctor Nam's body. He was still as a rock as Gayoon approached him.
"This man is connected to the CCK," she muttered. Twenty years ago, he tried to operate on himself and lost so much blood that he fell into an unending coma. Additionally, the CCK also disappeared around that time. And then two decades later, his daughter was killed by the CCK.
Was this current serial killer really the CCK? She wondered. The MO is the same. Copycat killers usually made some kind of mistake but the murders were executed exactly how the real CCK used to do it. Was it an accomplice?
But given that Minho and Kanji only faced one CCK, she doubted there was any accomplice. No, this killer was the real deal.
Then why was Doctor Nam's name popping up so often in this case. As she kept on thinking, the area behind her became darker and darker. It was quietly observing her, as she kept on muttering to herself.
Silly girl, it thought to itself. It crept closer to the detective who was unaware of the danger lurking towards her. The dark shadow was increasing its pace, eager to take a taste of the delicious meal which stood before her…
"Lady Cop!"
The shadow disappeared as Jina stood in the doorway, looking fearful. She was panting heavily as if she had been running all around the hospital.
"Jina!" Gayoon exclaimed. "Weren't you sleeping? How did you find me?"
But Jina did not reply and grabbed her hand. Gayoon was surprised as the little girl pulled her out of the room, not talking at all.
"Jina what-"
But Jina kept her mouth shut. Her face was as white as a sheet and her lips would not move. She only wanted them to get out of that room. Gayoon was confused by her sudden reaction and no matter how many times she tried to coax the little girl, the latter would not speak.
Once they were back in the VVIP ward, Jina turned around and hugged her around the waist.
"Jina what happened?" Gayoon demanded but to her shock, Jina was crying.
"Don't go back there!" she pleaded. "Just don't!"
Gayoon was stunned at the little girl's words. Why was she saying that?
Jina only clutched on tightly as she recalled the dark shadow which was about to take Gayoon away. She had woken up to see that the detective was gone. The little girl was about to call her father, who was at the cafeteria, when she felt the presence of something sinister.
Unlike Casper or Yumi, this one felt different. It was not a ghost nor a living being but was a shadow, stuck in a limbo. There was a dark and dangerous coldness emitting from it which only she could feel. Was it the same shadow Yumi had told her about?
"Just don't go back to that room!" she insisted. "Don't!"
Gayoon was at a loss. Why was Jina acting so strange? What did the little girl see that scared her so much?
She knelt down and faced the scared girl. "Jina," she said in a gentle tone. "What happened? Did you see something? Why are you so scared?"
"I…"
Jina could not explain it. No one ever believed her whenever she told them that she saw things they could not. Everyone dismissed her words as the wild imagination of a child and she felt ashamed to admit her abilities to Lady Cop. What if she thought her to be crazy as well?
"I saw a nightmare," she lied. "Where a big bear attacked you in a room which looked like the one we were in. So when I woke up and didn't find you, I was running to the cafeteria to find dad but saw you on the way! And brought you back! That room might have a large teddy bear lurking in the shadows!"
Jina crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that Gayoon would buy her lie. To her relief, Gayoon let out a laugh.
"It was just a nightmare!" Gayoon assured her. "Don't worry. There are no giant teddy bears lurking there."
She patted Jina's head, who looked down in guilt. The little girl could not meet her dear Lady Cop's eyes.
Just then Minho entered the room to find Gayoon wide awake and out of bed. He glanced at her arm which was blood stained, making him narrow his eyes.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked in an icy tone. Gayoon straightened up and gulped under his stern gaze.
"I-I suddenly woke up and was thirsty-" Gayoon began to lie but Jina cut across her words.
"She's lying!" Jina piped up. "She went to that room on the third floor! I woke up and found her gone. So I was heading to the cafe to find you but ran into her in that room!"
Minho frowned and looked at Gayoon who made a face. Jina did not regret telling the truth at all. She was going to do anything to keep Gayoon away from that room and if her father can keep the Lady Cop from going there, then Jina did not mind to bust her at all.
Gayoon looked at the floor as Minho stepped towards her. Putting his finger under her chin, he made her face him and towered over her.
"I'm sorry!" she mumbled, widening her innocent looking eyes. It was time to unleash her cuteness on him. "I will never run off like that again."
She blinked her eyes several times, trying to make his heart melt. After all, it worked on Junho ahjusshi a lot so it should work on this guy as well.
Unfortunately, her charms did not affect him at all.
"You better not," he threatened. "Otherwise, I will make you pay for each and every penny I have spent on the VVIP room especially for you."
"B-b-b-but…"
"And charge rent," he added.
"Throw in the food too," Jina suggested.
"Yes," Minho agreed. "Food too. And mind you, the food at our house is exported from abroad."
"WHAT?" Gayoon bellowed but Minho did not care about her protests.
"If you don't get back to bed within ten seconds, I'll start charging by the second," he warned.
"B-b-but I was only-"
"Ten," he counted. "Nine."
"I was only checking up on a possible suspe-"
"Eight," Minho continued. Gayoon yelped and sprung back on the bed. Pulling the blanket over her, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. Jina climbed next to her, settling by her side.
"Don't be angry at me," Jina whispered. "I just don't want you to go to that large teddy bear."
Gayoon did not reply but put her hand around the little girl, pulling her closer to indicate that she was not mad at the little girl. Minho sat on the couch and watched over them until they fell asleep. A little while later, he leaned back and dozed off as well.
Once the others were asleep, Jina opened her eyes and glanced at her dad and Gayoon. The dark shadow she had seen was flashing in her mind. For some inexplicable reason, she knew the dark shadow was about to harm Gayoon if Jina had not interfered on time. It was connected to Yumi's murder as well but Jina could not tell that to Lady Cop without being laughed at.
I have to let them know of this shadow, she decided. Somehow.