His face shifted from fear to anger as he dropped the flashlight and ran around the house, reaching the door. It swung wide open with snow drifting in as he noticed wet trails of footprints the size of a grown man leading inside. He ignored that detail and went inside, not even taking off his shoes and all while screaming his family's names:
"Yeon-Hee! So-Hee! Hyun-Su!" He yelled, reaching the center of the house.
"Honey! Behind you!" Yelled the wife sitting on the floor, clutching her hand full of blood from catching the intruder's knife head-on to protect Yeon-Hee. He whipped around just in the nick of time as the tip of a bloodied hunting knife was about to enter his back, side-stepping it and catching the intruder's hand.
Anger radiated in him as he delivered a swift and heavy jab to the culprits face with his fist, causing them to stagger backwards a bit into the coat rack. The intruder released a low grunt and then lunged at him with a tackle, sending him backwards and tripping on something heavy. They fell to the floor with a loud thud, quickly rolling away from each other. He stood up on one knee, facing the armed intruder while shielding his wife and children who began crying.
He got up on one knee, about to get up as the knife came straight for his neck, instinctively catching it with both his hands. A painful mistake. The sharpness of the knife allowed it to cut through his palms like butter, making him scream in pain and stagger backwards. He tried to get a proper look at the culprit's face, only seeing two eyes that were unnaturally calm in this situation between a black cap and mask with the help of the soft shine of the flashlight his wife dropped. It was behind the intruder on the floor and was pointing to the duffle bag with large jars full of white Chrysanthemums.
'White Chrysanthemums?! The killer' He thought, eyes wide as he was distracted by the jars, not noticing the killer delivering a low upper-cut to his solar plexus that knocked the wind out him and weakened his grip on the knife, which the killer mercilessly exploited by pushing him to floor with a grunt.
The knife was now a centimetre close to his Adam's apple, threatening to pierce deep and kill him painfully. He struggled and struggled but to no avail, failing to push the knife as the killer was strong. He was slowly starting to lose strength in his arms.
The thought of dying pierced his thoughts, about how nothing would stop the killer from ending the lives of his family after him. He began pushing harder, the knife slowly but surely drifting back with frequent grunts. But the killer exerted more pressure, pushing the knife even closer than before. The tip grazed his throat as he locked eyes with the killer, feeling certain that he was going to die.
Appearing in the edges of his peripheral vision, his wife slammed an empty vase on the killer's temple that sent him sprawling to the floor. She picked her husband up, staring at the still dazed killer, reaching for something inside his jacket. The husband noticed the movement, stepping in and driving his foot into the killer. Taking this opportunity he turned to his wife and said:
"Honey, grab the kids and go wait outside."
"W-What about you?" She asked in an unstable voice.
"I'll join you guys soon, alright," He replied, pulling Yeon-Hee to her mother, "Take care of your brother." He pushed them out and turned to the killer, already up and raising a small black revolver.
Yeon-Hee never saw what happened next because she was already outside the house, hand in hand with her mother and brother. It was silent for the first few seconds as they were halfway across to the gate. Then it wasn't.
*Bang* *Bang*... *Bang* Three deafening gunshots lit up the house, causing Yeon-Hee and her mother to stop as they reached the gate. Already feeling the cold seep into their bones along with the fear of death, they turned around staring at the dark doorway in crushing anticipation.
A figure slightly appeared from the darkness, limping as they approached the door. Yeon-Hee recognized the grey sweatpants and jacket as her father reached the door, leaning on it as a bullet had grazed his cheek, with his leg not being so lucky as it bled profusely.
"Dad!" Yeon-Hee yelled, running to him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran as fast as possible, just to hug him. However she couldn't. Swift and quick, and hidden by the darkness, the black barrel of the revolver appeared and let out a loud shot that punctured a hole from the back of Yeon-Hee's father's head and through the front. Yeon-Hee completely stopped as blood and bits of brain splattered on her face, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her scrawny legs buckled and she fell to her knees. Her father was dead and bleeding out right in front of her.
She tried to cry, but no tears came out. She tried to speak, but her voice was gone. So she tried to move but her body gave up. Only her head moved as she gazed at the killer.
He looked as old as her father, but with a clean shaven face that had a cold expression and blood falling down from his head. His familiar eyes were cold as if he was immune to the cold and pain.
Yeon-Hee forced her voice to come out, asking the killer:
"Mr.Doctor. W-Why is my dad lying on the floor? Why a-are you d-doing this?" She stared at him as he didn't answer back.
The man who was friends with her father. The man who she visited when she got sick. The man who brought her gifts for her birthday. That was the same man standing over her with the gun that killed her father with no guilt or anger, excitement or anything. He was like a statue.
"Why! Answer me! Why!" Fear and anger mixed as she yelled again and again and again, tears finally flowing out this time. And this time she got her answer and the most neutral and unnerving voice.
"Because…" He went silent, staring at her as a smile crawled onto his face, "He was a good person." He said, not elaborating any further. The barrel of the gun went up again, aiming straight for Yeon-Hee.
"No!" Her mother yelled, running towards them. The next words he uttered would haunt Yeon-Hee for the rest of her life:
"I like that expression of yours, Yeon-Hee." He said.
The barrel swiftly shifted from Yeon-Hee to her mother. *Bang*
And just like that, Yeon-Hee heard her mother's body tumble and slump to the floor.