Chanmi stood aside Jungkook and her brother, looking with concerned eyes at the house where the doctor lived. She herself didn't know what she was afraid of, but she felt a strange fear of meeting this man. Perhaps because she finally had a chance to learn the truth behind her past?
She took a deep breath as Seokjin pressed the intercom button, and a man's voice sounded on the other end.
- Hello?
- Hello, I am the man who called you this morning and asked for a meeting. Is it still on? - He asked, and then the gate opened. The young man looked at his sister and Jungkook, then nodded to them to enter. Sam followed them in, preparing for the conversation. This was the time when he was to learn about his parents' dirt.
The house was large and lavish. The garden was beautifully manicured, and it was clear that the doctor had the right people to take care of its appearance.
The interior of the house was in dark colors. It was predominantly graphite, so the young people felt as if they had entered a morgue.
There was no question of the coziness of the place.
Chanmi still remembered the moment when Jungkook returned to the apartment and announced to her that the detective had found the man who had performed the operation twenty years ago. Her heart beat hard from both fear and excitement that she could finally know the truth.
It was the same when she saw the retired man show them with his hand that they could sit on the navy-blue couch in the living room.
- I'm glad you agreed to share information with us about the operation I mentioned on the phone. I was afraid you would refuse - Jin began, carefully mirroring the doctor with his eyes.
- I wouldn't have been able to refuse, especially since remorse has been gnawing at me ever since - he replied, nervously correcting the glasses on his nose. His gaze rested on Chanmi, but quickly shifted it as her brother began to continue the conversation.
- Can you tell us what is behind the fact that the documents show a successful heart transplant operation, yet my biological sister is dead?
The man pulled off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. He looked devastated.
- In fact, your sister is still alive - he announced, and the faces of all three turned pale. This struck Chanmi the most, who remembered that in her dream she had met a girl who had asked her to let her die.
- If she had lived, this girl would not have had to become her replacement product! - jumped on him Jungkook, with his hand pointing to the redhead sitting next to him.
The man stuck a sad look in the young girl's face.
- So you are the innocent child.
- Can you get to the point because I'm becoming very nervous over this! - Jungkook was unable to be calm. Only Jin's chastising look let him know that he should calm down.
- I will tell you everything I know. From beginning to end because this is my fault. I will die with remorse.
Jungkook crossed his arms over his chest and fixed an angry gaze on him.
- I don't care if you die with remorse. I just want to know what's threatening this girl and do everything possible to help her, so please get to the point.
Chanmi fixed her frightened eyes on the doctor, and then he began to speak.
- Twenty years ago we received a girl who needed a heart transplant. Her parents were very distraught and ready to do anything to keep her alive. A heart was needed right away. Unfortunately... it was not possible. - The man looked at them with apologetic eyes. - They were in such disarray that I couldn't look at it. The girl's mother was desperate to the point that she hired people to kidnap a three-year-old child. I, for money, agreed to kill the girl and donate her little heart to a sick child, even if there was no certainty that the transplant would take.
Rudy became weak. Tears streamed into her eyes as she assumed that the speech was about her.
- What then happened next? - Jungkook asked, embracing her hand. He could see how much she was experiencing.
- The girl's condition suddenly deteriorated a lot, and I refused the operation, especially when I looked at this innocent child who was unaware that she was about to die," he announced, looking at Chanmi with broken eyes. - I was not in a position to do that. I told the parents that at this point the operation was risky, and their child might not survive it.
- Why, then, do the documents show that my biological sister is alive? - Seokjin asked, clenching his hands into a fist.
- To get out of this situation, I gave the distraught parents the idea of their daughter's only rescue. - The man pressed his lips together, and Jungkook furrowed his brow. - I had a friend who belonged to a sect. I was grateful to him because he helped my son survive when he already had one foot in the other world.
- Is this a joke? - Asked Jin, looking furious. - What are you talking about?
- I'm serious. This man helped them keep their real daughter alive. With no choice left, they went to a sect follower who worshiped Satan. There they performed a ritual, and the girl lived in a coma. - The man looked carefully at the confused faces of the young people. - I know it sounds absurd and to many people it may seem like fiction, but it really takes place in real life. Thanks to this, I got my son back.
Jin lowered his head, staring at the floor with terrified eyes.
- Was this something like a contract with the devil? - Jungkook asked, nervously moving his leg.
- Something like that - replied the man. - During the ritual, they offered the soul of a surrogate girl to the devil in exchange for keeping their real daughter alive. A follower of the sect revealed to them that when twenty years pass, the surrogate girl will die, and the real one will recover, having been filled with her energy all these years.
- That's why in days to come I am to die. My time is coming to an end. He wants to take me with him - Chanmi spoke up, looking very pale. - That would explain why they have kept me at home so far, treating me like a daughter. Now they got rid of me like trash because they know that my time is coming to an end, and they will get their biological daughter back.
Seokjin put his arm around her, and she snuggled her face into his shirt.
- Is there any way to stop this? - He asked the man.
- Why did you even reveal this to us? Shouldn't you keep it a secret? - turned to him, Jungkook.
- You have a chance to help this girl before it's too late - he declared, looking at the terrified face of the redhead. - After my experience, I now know that it makes no sense to help a person who was about to die. A few years later, my son lost his life anyway, but what he experienced was something much worse than a nightmare.
- So, how can we help Chammi?
- You can't let her die. You must protect her until the very end. If you succeed, she will survive, and her biological daughter will go where she should have gone long ago.
*
Her legs buckled under her as they headed for the car. Her brother put his arm around her to keep her from falling. She was so torn that she felt like crying.
- Don't give up, Chanmi. We'll protect you. - Jungkook spoke to her as he opened her passenger side door. She sent him a weak smile and got into the car.
- I beg you to watch her twenty-four hours a day. You and Chansung are my only hope for her safety - Seokjin stated in a worried voice, looking at Jungkook.
The brunet nodded his head.
- You should know by now that I'm ready to do anything for her, so you don't have to worry. She is in good hands.
He sat behind the wheel and Jin went to his car. Chanmi looked in the mirror behind her departing brother, then shifted her gaze to the man who accompanied her.
- Until now, I thought that maybe by some miracle this would all turn out to be a figment of my imagination, so I don't know now whether to laugh or cry. On the one hand, it amuses me that such things are happening in the real world, and on the other hand, I'm deathly terrified that every minute could be my last.
Jungkook clenched his hand on the steering wheel while he rubbed his lips with the other, looking confused.
- No minute will be your last because I won't allow it. If you survive, the real Chanmi will die, and then you will begin to lead a normal life.
- To make it so simple, Jungkook.... We are only pawns of the afterlife.
- However, the doctor said that we still have a chance to save you, and that's what I will stick to. I won't let you die, not while you are with me.
His words somehow made her heart grow warmer. She was nailed, and yet forced a slight smile.
- Are you saying that because you hope to sleep by my side every night now, with the excuse that you are keeping an eye on me?
The brunet stopped the car at a red light and looked at her, smiling wryly.
- You got me.
The girl opened her eyes wider in amazement as Jungkook took her hand.
- Don't you allow yourself too much? Just because I'm close to death doesn't mean I'll be docile as a lamb all the time.
- Just let me enjoy every moment with you - he replied, starting the car as the light changed. - Give me a chance to prove to you how good a boyfriend I can be to you. I want you to see that I'm worth loving - he said.
He made Chanmi smile once again. She turned her face toward the window to avoid showing him her true feelings.
- As much as I feel like saying that, I saw what a great boyfriend you could be when you were in a relationship with my sister. But I won't do it because I know you never had sincere feelings for her. After all this time, I even dare say you could have hurt her more - she said, still looking at the window.
Jungkook looked shocked.
- Miss Kim, you amaze me more and more. What do you say we both show Jieun where she belongs? In my imagination, I can see you throwing her into the muck, and she comes out with that wry look of hers, about to pout like a crow.
- You get carried away with your imagination too much.
- That's why it's better if you don't know what images I have when I think of you - he declared, and then she looked him in the eye.
While once his quips irritated her, now she was able to laugh it off, even if every minute could be her last minute before death.