CH 17.2

While contemplating what kind of stimulating thing to take, Kid suddenly thought of the woman living in the mansion.

How would the bold woman react if he brought her here? He thought it would be fun.

Kid left the piano alone and moved on. If there was something he wanted to do, he had to do it.

***

I found within myself all the gods I knew. I also prayed to my Mom and Dad to save me.

Suddenly, the door opened. I took a deep breath as my body froze. I reflexively pretended to be asleep and closed my eyes. I heard there was an animal that pretended to be dead in a crisis, and now that animal was me.

The footsteps were rough, and I had a hunch.

‘Today is my last day.’

No wonder I felt happier than usual today. This was my last day, so such a brief happiness had come.

Kid’s eerie voice came into the quiet room.

“Pretending to be asleep again.”

“…”

“If you’re going to pretend, do it right. You’re terrible.”

As soon as he arrived, he praised my acting skills. However, when I didn’t get up, Kid threatened me.

“I can’t afford to be generous right now. If you don’t wake up right away-“

“I-I’m awake!”

As soon as I got up, I slid my hands under the pillow while Kid laughed at me.

“Go somewhere with me.”

W-Where are we going? You never asked me where to go anywhere. Where are you trying to send me? My eyes trembled wildly, betraying my will.

‘Is he going to kill me somewhere other than here?’

Is it because Seniel will be suspected if you kill me here? You said you’d spare me for a while! Of course I shouldn’t have believed anything you said!

It had been a long time since I had lost my composure, but I tried to hold on to my reason as much as possible. I grabbed the shocker under the pillow.

Suddenly Kid turned around. A terribly low voice pierced my ears. “I have no intention of killing you. But I might want to kill you right now if you keep moving so slowly.”

“L-let’s go.”

I put the shocker down again and followed Kid. It felt like I would stimulate him further if I had the shocker. Besides the shocker, I still had many weapons at my waist, so I was relieved.

Kid took two steps ahead of me. Although the moonlight lit the way with the window, it was not so bright that it did not secure a good view. I could barely see Kid in front of me.

‘I can’t believe I have to rely on my blackmailer.’

It was contradictory. But I couldn’t resist, so I followed.

‘I think this is the first floor…’

Don’t tell me you’re leading me to the secret room. My eyes went blank.

Should I run away now while he’s turning around, or should I follow him quietly and then strike him if something is suspicious? An arrogant method popped into my mind.

I didn’t know what would happen, but I still begged for my life.

Without knowing where I was heading, only the sound of footsteps echoed grimly in the hallway. Suddenly Kid’s steps stopped. I stopped abruptly and nearly smashed my face in Kid’s back.

‘Oh, you crazy…’

The accident gave me goosebumps. I was sweating at the prospect of dying in a ridiculous accident.

But Kid opened the door to an unknown room.

When the door opened, I saw a large room with a piano and a couch beside it.

‘Piano?’

I was relieved as soon as I saw the piano. At least it wasn’t the evidence room on the first floor.

I relaxed my overly stiff body and looked around the room. An expensive grand piano was glaringly reflecting the moonlight.

‘Did that noise come from this piano?’

Bang, bang. I recalled the sound, which was very similar to the sound of a piano.

‘So, why did he bring me here?’

Tense, I asked Kid carefully with my eyes what I should do now. But he didn’t look at me and crouched on the couch.

I guess I’m the only one struggling here. I looked into his eyes, stroking my stiff fingers with tension. I wanted to honestly ask why he brought me here, but I couldn’t say anything because I thought my neck would fall off if I did.

Then, Kid crossed his legs and rested on his chin, sitting very comfortably on the couch. Then he looked at me and spoke indifferently. “Hit it.”

When I heard him telling me to ‘hit it’. I immediately questioned. Hit what? Your face?

Kid sighed as I did not understand him. Then he nodded toward the piano.

“That. Hit that.”

I forgot my fears for a moment and looked at Kid and the piano bizarrely. Usually, wouldn’t someone ask if you could play the piano? But I had no choice but to follow.

“You don’t want to?”

“I-I’ll hit it.”

I sat down in front of the piano with a sad heart.

It was a well-maintained piano. The keyboard was smooth with no dust. It seemed like he wanted me to hit the keys to see if it was well-tuned.

‘But what the hell do I have to play?’

The blue moonlight reflected off the slippery keys. I felt strange seeing that.

‘I never thought I’d play the piano again like this…’

Before Kid asked again, I sat and put my hands on the keyboard.

‘Wh-What should I play…?’

It’d been a long time since I’d sat in front of the piano without preparation, so my neck was stiff from tension. I skimmed through the songs I knew and intuitively chose one.

‘Even in competitions, they give you time to loosen your fingers.’

I thought that if I loosened my fingers leisurely, he would cut me off as I was, so I immediately performed.

Because it was not my body, the sensation in my fingertips differed from what I knew. But I pressed the keys one by one. As my fingers rolled as I intended, the tension began to ease little by little.

It reminded me of myself in the past, who’d born the piano until I got cancer. I’d tried so hard to follow my father’s job and go to a music school blindly without money.

‘Sometimes I didn’t want to even look at the piano when I was busy preparing for the entrance exam or competitions.’

But right before I died, I’d wanted to play the piano.

Even though it was not my body, I pressed the keys as if I was accustomed to it. Although the feel of the hard and soft keyboard felt unfamiliar, it couldn’t be more familiar.

‘Never expected I’d play Debussy’s ‘Moonlight’ here.’

When I looked at the moon reflected on the piano, I could only think of playing that song. Actually, I remembered Chopin’s Ballad No. 4, which I’d practiced the last time. But I was not confident that I could continue the song for more than 10 minutes.

Before I knew it, the room was filled with piano melodies. My heart was pounding.

Concentrating on the piano, I forgot the existence of Kid for a while. Right now, it was only me and the piano in this space.

After I finished the song safely, my body shuddered. Tears were in my eyes at some point. The longing to live was soaring.

‘I want to live.’

I stared blankly at the keyboard, soaked in the afterglow, and then I remembered an audience I had forgotten. I shrugged and wiped away my tears.

Kid was watching me in the same posture as before. It was dark everywhere, so it was hard to see what expression he was making.

I glanced at Kid’s eyes and gently lifted my hands from the keyboard. I was disappointed because I wanted to play more, but I didn’t express it.

There was silence in the room.

When I tried to reach out to the self-defense supplies on my waist…