Strange Encounter (2)

Warning! This chapter has adult-restricted contents such as the use of vulgar languages, violence, intercourse, and might even show the portrayal of harmful activities. Continue at your own risk.

...

"Ah, yes!"

Young Mirae jolted in surprise. Before she realized it, the cigarette she was holding between her two fingers fluttered and flew in the air. It went from her hand across the steel railings of the balcony.

Young Mirae watched the cigarette as it silently touched down on the ground level from the seventh floor of the building. The whites of her eyes exhibited shock and sadness in her eyes.

What a shame, it was a freshly lit cigarette.

"...Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the person who was the reason for the incident apologized.

Young Mirae averted her gaze and looked at the woman beside her; the niece of her fake grandfather.

Her dark coaled threads of hair on her forehead and neck soaking with sweat; the sounds of her abnormal speed of breathing; the niece showed up wearing a sports bra matched with tight leggings and revealing the effort she poured to shape her body.

This niece could have just finished exercising...

If someone else startled her, perhaps Young Mirae would have been angry.

Well, who would dare disturb her during her leisure time? This was the only chance she could hang out with herself. Moreover, she was enjoying an expensive cigarette she stole from the old man's office.

'Steal is not the right word. I would say "borrow" is the correct one to use, he-he.' She snickered at herself. She lied when she said that she found the box laying on the kitchen counter.

"It's fine. I'm, I'm just unraveling my thoughts here and there."

Young Mirae displayed a clumsy smile on her lips. She immediately hid the box of cigarettes which she 'borrowed' and inserted it into the back pocket of her jeans.

"I was not smoking at all," she defended. She began waving her hands in the air and reasoned, "I just lit up fake grand-gran's — I mean my real grand-gran's cigarette since it looked expensive and I wanted to compare it to the others I used."

"So, you were smoking."

"Am not! I'm just—"

"Trying it out? Yeah, that is what you call smoking," asserted the niece. She squeezed the towel in her possession. Afterward, she wrapped it on her neck and grabbed both ends with her hands.

The soft blow of the wind in the open balcony played in the background alongside the silence that swiftly messed within them. As minutes passed by, Young Mirae started contemplating whether to break it or let it be.

But in the coordinated moment, while she was having a crisis on how to begin a conversation, the niece started a topic. "Oh right, how was your… um, job at the bar?"

"I'm doing fine. I'm managing," Young Mirae hurriedly answered the moment she heard the question. With the strong desire to further extend the discussion, she unhesitantly queried, "How about yours?"

"Mine? I don't have a job."

"Oh."

And they both went silent again.

The conversation that Young Mirae was rooting for died before a minute. It neither went good nor bad. At least that was what she believed.

Why would this woman she once described as a snake talk to her? It had been a week since they first met, and she just decided today was the right time to begin a conversation.

'Does she know that "everything" is staged? Maybe yes, maybe not. Should I ask her?' Young Mirae thought to herself.

A day after her appearance, she discovered the niece was living here with the old shitty man. But Young Mirae's attendance had created an undeclared conflict and required the niece to move out.

Young Mirae knew that this niece hated her ever since, considering that she suddenly appeared out of thin air and took her place.

"I don't have a 'real' job. It's a sideline — plus — a hobby of mine. I don't mean to brag, but I could get a great sum in one night."

"That... sounds cool."

Young Mirae deliberately changed her words at the last second. She could not say what she was about to tell the niece. The keywords were there: a sideline and a hobby that could give her a tremendous amount of money in a night.

This much was questioning!

'Is she a hitman, does she kill people for fun? She looks like she could kill anyone with a throw of her glare!'

She brought a hand to cover her lip. Preoccupied with her thoughts, Young Mirae caught a muffled laugh coming from the niece's direction.

"You are not as what I thought you were. When I first heard about you, I thought you would act like a thug or something."

"...What do you mean?"

Since when did she hear about Young Mirae? No way. Did she know all along about her true identity? That would not be possible, right? Given the fact that she and her fake grandfather were careful to not let anyone find out the truth.

"I mean, you seemed pretty ragged when you came in. Like, you just fought with a whole gang or something."

'Oh, that is what she meant.' Young Mirae released a sigh of relief, knowing the secrecy of her identity was safe.

"No, no. I was in an accident, he-he."

"You're tougher than you look. Can you do martial arts, or are you able to shoot down someone in a blink of an eye?"

"I can do both!"

When she realized what she had done to herself, Young Mirae saw the glint of amusement in the niece's eyes. Fuck, now Young Mirae was certain that this niece was aware of her true identity.

"That sounds cool." Young Mirae heard her say, and a smile crept on her lips. "Don't worry. I just thought you seemed like someone who knows how."

"Ha-ha, is that so?"

Young Mirae stealthy released a nervous sigh between her response. At least, she was thankful that the niece did not discover the truth.

"Anyway, my name is—"

"I know who you are. Nice to meet you, Baek Sunhi. I'm Kang Mirae."