26 A killer's world

The traffic investigation staff arrived and immediately went about interviewing Ji-ho and the driver about what had happened. The one talking to her was going on and on, wasting her precious time with his repeated questions.

"Why am I being detained here?" She asked the lead officer. "You have no reason to keep me from leaving." She wasnt aware of the law pertaining to such situations but Ji-ho was fairly certain that she was being unfairly held hostage by the officer.

What she didn't know was that she had a tail who kept watch over her house, her activities, and had followed her, thus witnessing the accident. This spy had reported back to his mistress and the woman had made a few phone calls to the law enforcers who were more than eager to comply with her request that they waste Sun Young-mi's time.

"If you're a law-abiding citizen then you'll cooperate with us, miss," the officer sternly told her as he thumbed his notepad. "Don't force me to handcuff you and take you to the police station."

"You have no right to!" Ji-ho responded angrily. She was getting late for the concert and her stress was getting to her.

"So uncooperative. It seems I'll have to take you to the station then," he said with an ugly smile at Ji-ho. Leering at the teen, he reached out to grab her hand but she avoided it.

"Don't touch me," Ji-ho coldly told him. "I'll come to the station if that's what you want."

"Pulling such a cold look like that won't win you any points with me, miss. Follow me to the car and we won't have a problem."

"After I make a phone call," she said with a sudden calmness that surprised the man.

"One minute," he told her.

Ji-ho understood that Tae-Hyun was very busy with last-minute concert preparations. He would have called her back if he'd seen the missed call from her. Now she was left with only one solution, a phone call she didn't want to make but was compelled to. He'd come to her aid once. Would he do the same again?

"Hello," the deep voice that she had become familiar with answered on the fourth ring.

"Seung-ho, I hate to impose on you like this but I need your help right now," she whispered into the phone, not wanting the policeman to hear her conversation.

"What's wrong?" Seung-ho responded.

____

After hanging up on his phone call, the handsome man tucked his phone into the pocket of his elegant suit jacket. At his feet lay the semi-conscious form of a woman in a figure-hugging red dress.

He knelt by her and examined the dark bruising that was already forming around her neck. The woman blinked up at him like she was stirring awake from a nightmare.

"I'm sorry, Amy," he calmly told her. "I was interrupted by a phone call." Seung-ho spoke with a composure ill-suited to the horrifying situation that was playing out under his direction.

Two drops of warm liquid fell from the woman's terrified eyes as she looked up at the handsome apathetic face that hovered above her. He was a glorious merciless angel of death come to end her life with his bare hands.

"Please... Oh god.." She begged in a shaky voice. How was this happening? She couldn't believe that she was going to die. "Don't kill me-"

"Close your eyes and I'll make it quick," Seung-ho softly told her. His amber gaze was bereft of any emotions as he comforted the parasite whose life would end at his hands.

"No-" she began choking and thrashing against the actor's grip around her neck but the mansion was empty save for her and the man whose thoughts had begun straying to Sun Young-mi.

____

Ji-ho sighed in relief when she walked out the doors of the police station. Seung-ho hadn't failed her. His lawyer, a serious-looking man in his thirties had all but shown up when the police officers began to collectively shit their pants. It turned out he was a hotshot young lawyer from the country's most highly regarded law firm.

"Miss Sun, I suggest you sue the police," he told her as they headed to his car. Seung-ho hadn't just sent him to lawyer her up but also to act as her escort to the concert. "I have enough material to help you serve a malfeasance case."

"Can I really?" She asked, looking at her watch. The concert would have already started. She had fifteen missed calls from Lee Tae-Hyun, five from Aera, and a couple more from other people at S.S.

"I'll take care of it," he told her as he opened the passenger door of his gleaming black Bentley.

Ji-ho was conflicted because she couldn't possibly pay the man for his services when even his car was worth more than her organs on the black market.

"Don't worry about payment," he said to her as if he'd read her mind. "Mister Seung-ho has lent me to you for a while. It's pro bono since my fees are taken care of by him."

Ji-ho could not express the depth of gratitude she was feeling toward Seung-ho. He had patiently listened to her problem and then assured her with his calmly delivered instructions underlined by an imperishable self-confidence that rubbed off on her. Ji-ho prided herself on her independence and self-reliance but there were times she had to accept that the world was unfair and it wasn't a weakness to rely on someone stronger. This was one of those times.

Thoughts still on the actor, she dialled Lee Tae-Hyun's number and he answered immediately.

"Sun Young-mi!" His worried voice came through the phone, "are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. Has the concert started?"

"It has. But don't worry, I put your name down for the last slot. If you're hurt though-"

"No, I'm perfectly alright," she assured him. Pictures and videos of her post-accident activities were already circulating the net. Ji-ho didn't know that the netizens were all praising her for her decisive actions. The reward for saving the man was a huge uptick in fan numbers. Many of them had gushed about how cool and serious she had looked while doing CPR.

"That's a relief," Lee Tae-Hyun softly told her. "You did good, Young-mi. I'm so proud of you."

Ji-ho smiled, feeling the praise go straight to her head. Something about Lee Tae-Hyun made her feel like a junior back in high school, getting the attention of the popular handsome and gentle senior who everyone wanted to talk to.

"Are you on your way right now?"

"I am. I'll get there in half an hour."

"Just barely enough time, Young-mi."

Ji-ho wouldn't have time to do her makeup and get a glam up. It worried Tae-Hyun because the other artists had gone to great lengths to look extra fabulous for their performances. Music was music but to the audience, visuals were also very important. Ji-ho understood that as much as he did.

"I'll just have to blow them away with my singing, boss," she told him.

"That you will. I do not doubt your abilities to capture hearts with your voice, Young-mi. I'll be waiting for you."