Chapter 20: The Girl

Alex's gaze was marked by an unusual blend of terror and confusion as he looked at Chin. "Chin, I believe there's a misunderstanding here," he stammered. "We can talk this through, and I can explain everything."

With an air of calm determination, Chin moved closer to him, her eyes betraying a potent blend of confidence and betrayal. She addressed Alex firmly, "Mr. Patrick Alex, I had my suspicions from the very beginning. You see, it's quite amusing how I knew. The real Alex was of French-British descent with brown eyes, a far cry from your blue ones. I'm quite certain that Devil assigned you the task of studying him, but your handling of this task reveals your immaturity. At the very least, you should have contacted me to gather details about him. On the first day you arrived as 'Alex,' I knew you were an imposter, but I remained silent because I believed you could aid in locating Devil. Regrettably, it turns out you are rather useless."

Alex, visibly overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation, knelt before Chin, his voice laden with desperation, "I'm deeply sorry; I was coerced into this deception. Devil threatened my family and forced me to gain your trust, all in pursuit of extracting information about the map. I beg you, please spare my life. I genuinely know nothing about it."

Chin, undeterred, retrieved a revolver from her pocket and directed it toward Alex's forehead. She informed him with a chilling calmness, "This firearm, Mr. Patrick, belongs to Devil—a Ruger LCR, to be exact. It carries only five rounds, which means your body must endure five separate instances of agony. But rest assured, I am proficient in its use, and your suffering will cease after the first headshot."

The fear in Alex's eyes escalated as he pleaded earnestly for his life. Chin considered his plea and proposed a grim bargain, "Very well, let's negotiate. Answer two questions truthfully, and I shall spare your life. If one answer is incorrect, a single bullet will end your existence. If both answers prove false, you shall face all five bullets. Now, for the first question: where is Devil?"

Alex responded with uncertainty, "I don't possess precise coordinates. I encountered him in a house adorned entirely in black and red. Inside, a man continually inhaled the scent of a black rose. The darkness within was so profound that I could not discern his face. This house was situated in the heart of a forest."

Chin's disappointment was palpable, "As I suspected, you remain ineffectual. I was already aware of everything you've just revealed. Tell me something beyond this."

Interrupting her, Alex added a crucial detail, "Wait, there was a girl standing beside him, and I believe I know her."

With a hint of a smile, Alex continued, "Now, answer my question: where is Alex? What happened to him? Did Devil take his life?"

Alex disclosed a heart-wrenching revelation, "No, Devil did not end his life. I was investigating him and his personality when I discovered that he took his own life four years ago. This aligns with the period when he ceased sending you emails, coinciding with his time under the torment of cruel foster parents who subjected him to relentless abuse. Before his tragic end, he penned a letter for you, which his guardians discarded along with his belongings. I suspect Devil retrieved these items from Alex. To be honest, from that letter and his diary, I comprehended the depth of his love for you."

Tears welled up in Chin's eyes, mirroring the moment at her mother's graveside. Overcome with emotion, she lowered the gun and posed a final, straightforward query, "Do you possess that letter?"

Alex pointed towards his cupboard, signifying its location.

Meanwhile, in the heart of the forest, the man within the secluded house, engrossed in his artistry, received a fateful call. The caller informed him of Alex's apprehension, to which the man responded nonchalantly, "I wish I could adopt Mark and Chin as my hounds; the rest are mere strays. Execute him." He promptly terminated the call.

Simultaneously, the same girl, clad in a blood-stained white tracksuit, entered the dimly lit room. She reported her grim deed, "I've already taken care of him; there's no need for further interrogation."

A sinister smile played on the man's lips as he said, "Excellent. I've been thinking about you."

The girl approaches the table and selects one photograph from a trio. She gazes at it with a fierce anger burning in her eyes and inquires, "Is she next?"

The man replied, "No, these three players will meet their end at the conclusion of this game. Right now, they're aiding me in finding the map." Laughter filled the room as they contemplated their sinister plans.

Elly contacts Chin, suggesting they go out for a meal, but Chin declines, expressing a need for solitude. Elly persists, growing concerned, and asks if something is wrong. Chin reassures her, "No, nothing's wrong. I just need some time alone."

After ending the call, Chin retrieves the letter that Alex had written for her before his death. It reads:

"Chin, I hope this letter finds you in peace, the peace you always sought, the peace I used to promise you would eventually find in your life. But you know what? I was deceiving myself at that time. When I told you those things, I wasn't motivating you; I was motivating myself. Sometimes, we say things we know are impossible, but we say them to hold on to hope.

Chin, when you used to ask me if I had found peace in my life, and I smiled and said 'yes,' it was all a facade. I never found peace in my life. But when you told me about the last 10 minutes of a person's life before death, it became my last hope. Now, I'm going to try. I hope what you said wasn't a lie.

Chin, you told me the Devil killed your mom, and now you seek revenge. But let me tell you, there's not a single Devil in this world. The world is full of Devils who pretend to be good on the outside. And the worst part is, you can't get revenge on them. You can only free yourself from them.

Chin, I love you so much. You were the only pure thing in my life. I found peace when you were around me. But I'm afraid that, by the time we meet again, you'll have turned into a Devil because of the rage and revenge in your heart. I hope to meet you again soon…

Your friend,

Alex"

As Chin finishes reading the letter, she feels as though the world is on the brink of collapse. Tears flow uncontrollably from her eyes, and she drops to her knees, clutching the letter and shouting, "It's too late, Alex. It's too late."

In another turn of events, Taewoo received a call from headquarters confirming that Alex was absent from his university on June 15th and, in fact, was in England. Rushing to Alex's apartment with Hazel, they made a grim discovery: Alex's lifeless body lay on the floor, bearing signs of brutal violence. Beside him, written in blood and black rose, were the chilling words, "Chin killed me," a message that seemed to come from Alex himself.