Neon Street: Red Herring

🎭47: The True One

"Stop talking nonsense. Why do you want to go with him?!" Mirae furiously shouted. Winnie feels better now, and the doctor said she could return to her room. She just needs to keep herself from getting stressed. 

Because of that, Mirae couldn't understand why Winnie suddenly asked France to take her to her room. France was okay with it--more than happy to do it, but Mirae found it ridiculous. "The doctor just said not to stress yourself. That guy only gives you the stress! Are you really okay?!"

"Rae, you're the one giving me a headache." Mirae scoffed at what Winnie said and pointed at herself. "Yes. You. I want to clear some things with him, and that's it." Winnie looked at France and gulped. Let's swallow our fear for once, Winnie. At least, this once. "It won't take long. It'll take five minutes or so."

"Winnie..." Mirae looked at her with worry. "If he does anything, call me immediately. I really have no idea why you're doing this."

"You don't have to." Winnie walked ahead, followed by France behind her.

Mirae was left in the clinic all confused. Everyone from last night returned to their rooms after Winnie woke up. They decided to keep the confrontations private from now on. 

"Why did you want to talk to me?" France asked. "It's the first time you initiated this."

"Do you still don't remember?" Winnie's lips trembled. She will bring up her terrible past to the same guy who caused her pain. It was a tough decision, but she had to clear her thoughts. "I was the one who sent you letters--"

"I know." France cut her off, lowering his head in shame. "I remembered it not too long ago, but I didn't want to tell you. It won't change anything anyway." He stopped walking and faced her. "I'm sorry. I was rude and insensitive. I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"You know that what you did was wrong. I'm relieved. I thought you'd still defend yourself and convince me that I deserved it."

"I'm all grown up to--"

"But, I wanted to ask you something else. I wouldn't want you to take this the wrong way. I'm just curious." Winnie clenched her fists and seriously looked at him . "Did you treat Kane the way you treated those other girls? Did you even love her?" 

France sighed. "Why would you care about that? What does it have to do with you?"

"Because she must have died without meeting someone who loves her truly. I feel bad for Kane. She had someone like you as a fiancé. You got older, but you're still doing everything as you wish without considering the other person's feelings. I do wish I'm wrong about that."

"Do you also think I killed her?" France asked with doubt in his voice. "I didn't want to spend my life with her, so I killed her. Is that how you see it too?"

"Did it ever cross your mind, though? I don't think the same as Mirae and the others because I had hope in you. I'm just not sure if I should keep it that way. Someone died, and she happened to be your fiancée. I really hope you did nothing to hurt her in any way. I didn't want anyone to go through what I went through. Especially because Kane isn't the type to cause anyone inconvenience."

France went to her side and assisted her to the elevator. "She met someone sincere to her. It wasn't me, but there was someone else."

Winnie flashed a confused look at him. "Someone else?" she asked. "I wasn't referring to a friend when I said that."

"Yeah. They're not friends. Kane and I didn't agree to get engaged, so we agreed on something. I can date whoever I want, and it's the same condition for her. We just shouldn't get caught. I don't know who she was dating, but she was happy with him."

They arrived at Winnie's floor, and France escorted her to her room. "Just so you know," France continued. "We didn't have the relationship most of them think-- yes, it was all arranged. But we still gave each other freedom. There are things we disagreed on, and we argued a lot. But I had no reason to kill her. You're probably the only one who would believe me. That's why I'm telling you this."

"I'm hopeful--not confident. We don't know what happened unless they catch that person. I'll keep believing you had nothing to do with it." Winnie smiled bitterly before closing the door.

France clicked his tongue and nodded. "She's talking to me now. I feel relieved." He faced ahead and suddenly remembered the necklace he was supposed to give her. "Winnie's gonna accept it this time, right?" He asked himself and ran to his room.

Swan, who was waiting behind the wall, saw France leave and took that chance to apologize to Winnie. Her guilt has been bothering her, and she can't delay this any longer. Winnie probably sees her as a terrible person already. She pressed the doorbell and waited.

Winnie turned to the door in surprise. "Did he come back?" She nervously thought. "Talking to him for five minutes was already suffocating enough. What does he want?" She walked to the door and opened it, only to see Swan wearing her worried expression. "Swan Kim?"

"Are you feeling better?" Swan asked. She took out a box of chamomile tea and handed it to Winnie. "I drink this when I feel stressed. Y-You should have some. I have lots of this in my room." 

Winnie raises her brow at the other. Swan had never talked to anyone in the hotel like this before. She never cared for anyone other than Hansel Yoon, making Winnie feel suspicious. "Is this because of what you said about me?"

Swan lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry. I was too harsh and didn't think of what you would feel."

Winnie smiled and took the box of tea. "You were looking for other possibilities. Anyone could be the killer, and we're only anxious. I understand you in a way. The situation was just too inconvenient for me."

"I see." Swan bit her lip and then faced Winnie. "You're really feeling better now? Does your head hurt or..."

"I'm all right. Thanks for checking on me, Swan. You don't seem to be this type of person, so I feel twice thankful. Thank you for the tea too. I'll drink one after this."

"Swan." The two suddenly turned to the stairs and saw Lloyd approaching. "I just spoke to the former manager about France--" Swan quickly gestured to him that she was talking to Winnie, making him stop. "Oh. A-Are you okay now, Ms. Park?"

Winnie furrowed her brows. What about France? She thought, hearing Lloyd mention his name.

Winnie wasn't answering, so Lloyd cleared his throat and faced Swan. "I need to speak to Swan Kim for a while. Will you please excuse us?"

"Of course," Winnie replied and stood there as Lloyd pulled Swan to the stairs.

"What was that about? Does Lloyd have something against France?" Winnie quietly said. She looked at the box of tea that Swan gave and sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She tossed the box to the couch and left her room in a hurry to follow the two.

Seconds later, France arrived outside Winnie's room with his gift in hand. He was going to press the doorbell when he saw the narrow crack in the door. "Winnie?" He asked and immediately pushed it open. Winnie wasn't in the living room, causing him to panic. "Winnie?!" He called and checked the kitchen and the bedroom, but Winnie wasn't there. "Did she go anywhere? Why didn't she lock the door?" He looked at  the jewelry box and pushed his hair back in disappointment. "Some other time...again."

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I'm so sorry for not updating😭 I'll try to post another chapter later today to make it up to you🙏 We're getting close to that part I'm scared to put out BUT it has to happen for the plot to make sense🥴 Please understand and trust me when it's out🤍 Again, thanks for coming today!! One more chapter later hehe..