77. The Real You

"Why do bad things keep happening to our family? Whom did we offend? It's like a constant never ending roller coaster....When will this case ever come to an end?" Yeon's father spoke looking discouraged. After meeting with the police for an interrogation in the presence of Elric's mother, they were advised to head back home.

As per the update, not much damage had been done from the fire. There was however an intentional attempt that was initiated by the casualty, who was captured through the camera. He come in as a guest seeking to enroll but decided not to check out post his walk around. He'd later requested to do a self familiarization of the spacious facility, since it was also equipped with executive rooms for members who sought rest and physical therapy post a straineous session. However, the gym closes early on Mondays and the guest could not be found afterwards therefore, Suzzie and Mijin's mother assumed he'd left but never did.

Post investigations, a cigarette bud was discovered to have started the fire and the smoke detector had been intentionally obstructed in one of the singular executive washrooms. There was a smoke buildup for a while and since the facility had already been locked early, the culprit was trapped inside, taking in a lot of smoke with him. Soon afterwards, the fire grew and spread out to other rooms setting off the unobstructed smoke detectors.

Suzzie and Mijin's mother had not been far off when they received the dreadful news. It was a mistake on their part to have rushed in to try and salvage the situation but the thick dense smoke would not have gotten them far. Good thing the fire alarm system prevented the situation from getting worse and the fire department got there in time but by the time they fully controlled the situation, the victim was found unconscious. They had to be taken in since they previously informed the fire department that no one had been inside when they left however, upon Elric's mother taking over the situation, they were later cleared and rushed to the hospital for further check up together with the victim.

Mijin showed up later at the hospital claiming one of the bystanders, whom she was familiar with informed her via cellphone of what had happened to her parents gym and which facility they'd been taken to. When she got to the hospital, her mother and Suzzie were still being questioned of the identity of the casualty. Luckily, Suzzie remembered his name since she was the one who did his walk around. Upon hearing the familiar name, Mijin confirmed his identity as Mora's brother.

It was no news to the police that he was discovered to have the SC drug in his system however, it surprised Mijin further that he was free to roam around despite getting out from prison recently through bail.

They went back home afterwards, fatigued physically and mentally. Mijin glanced at her demolarised parents and Suzzie for a while before excusing herself to use the bathroom.

Once alone, she checked her phone to find numerous calls from Mora and a text message to call her back in urgency. As much as she hated doing so, she had no choice. Mora had been on her neck recently about keeping her promises, claiming to hold her freedom in her hands.

"What do you want?"

"Mijin dear, what happened? Ignoring my calls again? You know it hurts my feelings..."

"Cut the crap Mora. Why was your brother at my parents gym? I warned you..."

"Mijin calm down please." Mora seemed concerned but Mijin knew far too well to not fall for her innocent act.

"I warned you not to mess with my family anymore..."

"...And I kept my word but you know my brother."

"Your brother is insane you dimwit! He needs to be locked up for good! He is a manace to society! " Mijin shook from anger as she spoke. She wanted to scream at Mora but had to whisper, lest anyone discovered she had an idea of why everything seemed to go wrong within her family. "Can't your father control him as he always did?"

"I was put in charge of him today but I was careless and for that, I'm sorry. I was studying when one of our helps informed me of his disappearance and..."

"He had SC in him yet again! Doesn't your family give a shit about his addiction?"

"He's prescribed a small dosage to keep him sane but he keeps abusing it..."

"Mora, stop lying to me! I know for a fact that the one your stupid brother is taking is contaminated otherwise he wouldn't be the way he is!"

"It's not my fault he sees only you after taking it..."

"Go to hell!" Mijin shouted then regretted loosing her temper and hoped her parents had not heard her. Whispering back, she continued. "I've been patient all this while and you promised me your brother will be off my back for good. You all are the ones who ruined him...fuck! ...He used to be a good guy."

"He is a loose end just like you. Both of you will get us in trouble Mijin unless you hear me out."

"What is it again? Don't tell me bullshit about your family holding some meeting over your brother's predicament yet again. At this point I don't care. You threatened my parent's livelihood and you've crossed the line. I know enough and if any harm becomes of me, I've planned well to expose to the world what kind of family you have so don't underestimate me and what I can do."

It surprised Mijin when Mora laughed casually at her threat. "Look Mijin don't loose it. All I want is to be recognized by my parents just like my brother but they never seem to let him go no matter what he does. I can never win when it comes to him."

"Your family affairs is none of my business Mora.."

"Even so, I want you to be on my side regardless. We make a good team you see."

"Mora, with every word you utter, you give yourself away and everything becomes clear to me. How you purposely set him free, how your family bribed lawyers and judges to cover up things, all the crimes you've gotten away with..." Mijin stopped when Mora didn't interrupt her as she often did whenever she felt cornered. "Why aren't you denying anything or confirming if it's true?"

"If I were to deny your allegations, will you believe me?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what's the point in saying anything? It hurts me when you get like this you know."

"Your family keeps shattering my expectations every single time. You never keep your promises with regards to your bother that is why I always have to watch my back. All those times I've spent trying to understand why you all act this way except for your brother! Fuck...! It was wrong to have gotten involved with all of you from the start. What was I expecting, that you will all let me be?"

"We've lived in a completely different world from you and Yeon Mijin. Both my brother and I that is. You have no idea the kind of expectations our parents have on us and that's why my brother was forcefully wedded. My parents would go to extremes...my father specifically would do anything just so our family name doesn't go down the drain. Unfortunately, you had to get entangled with my brother. What I've showed you of myself up until now is me trying to escape a maximum prison with my little rebellion.

Besides, everyone has something they do not wish to take responsibility for like what my father did to my elder brother. He messed up and now your fated will never be the same again. Even if his pathetic life were to have ended today with the fire, nobody will ever know what my father did to him. Whatever evidence you have against us will be wiped off the internet or any source as soon as it comes out. I myself is surviving. Just like you, I don't want to get caught neither do I wish to compromise my freedom for anyone including my family. Whenever I see my parents loose their minds over my brother's actions, it makes me happy and I feel better. Just like my brother, I want to ruin everything. Kill them all and then kill myself. The little excitement from tonight is just a mare entertainment that gets my anger temporarily out of my system and for a while, I can act like a normal person."

"The hell..." Mijin wasnt sure if this was the same Mora she knew for she sounded unfamiliar to her, almost like she was talking to someone else

"Let me let you in on why I'm intrigued by you. When I saw Yeon, he looked innocent, untouched, free and pure. Despite his somber self, I thought he would be someone who understood my difficult life however after watching him for a while, it dawned on me how protective I've become of him. His way of living caught my attention and I found him intresting. Who becomes at one with loneliness as such? I wanted to learn the art of utter solitude.

Yeon became my savior.

I neither needed to go on a riot or rebel anymore. I began watching him and watching those that watched him Mijin. I felt at peace stalking him but then, you were marely playing with me when you promised to introduce us officially. You bought a lot of time and had your fun that I got angry. That's when it dawned on me how much I had already liked him.

You think you're responsible for the drugging incident at the party? Remember I got there before you did. The drinks were already spiked by the time you and Yeon arrived..."

"You little shit..."

"I wanted to show you how serious I was with your brother since you thought I was jocking and the only way to do that was to ruin him and be the one to heal him afterwards. He'd depend on me forever but that fucking Stan showed up and meddled. Who would have thought they'd end up being fated? I wasn't going to mess with him after he became fated since from my brother's experience, that just complicates the situation and becomes a burden.

Mijin, I wish someone would hear me just as you are now...please...break me up from this cycle. You didn't give me Yeon therefore you've become my interest now. I've done everything you asked of me and I'll continue to do so even if that means we'll eventually end up dead. Haven't I been good to you so far?"

"Stay away from me you psycho...you're creeping me out..." Mijin hadn't realized she was shaking at Mora's confession. She grabbed on her hand that held her cellphone and squeezed tight to stop her shaking. "Mora, is what you are saying true? All this time...all this time you..."

"You thought wrong. All of it. You may be smart but I'm smarter. You're a narcissist that's for sure but I hardly know who I am you see. I act well when I'm supposed to and I can be anything you want me to be. I pity my altruism for not only does it erase my existence, it makes me selfish, I wonder why that is...it's quite funny if you think about it."

Mijin flinched at the sound of Mora's calm laughter. It sounded normal but not so normal at the same time. It was then that Mijin began to realize exactly who she was dealing with.

"You are not just a psychopath Mora, you're a sociopath as well."

"That's why you should tread carefully. I enjoy my brothers suffering, it feeds my soul and quenches my desires for revange. I've lost a fraction of my interest in Yeon and I can't bring myself to cause him any more harm. It makes me...sad whenever he looks at me as if I've betrayed him. However, a promise was left unfulfilled and that bothers me. I'll willingly give you time until you can find a way to pay me what you owe otherwise, I'll continue to use my brother to get your attention."

"He is your brother..."

"I don't care. It's you I want now therefore, pick up my calls when I reach out. If you continue to ignore me, who knows what I might do next?"