The New Devil [The Devil Judge]

The Very Next Day

In the quiet of the night, as Yohan sat on the couch in the living room, nursing a glass of whiskey, he heard a thud in the distance.

"Elijah?" he called.

But there was no reply.

Getting up, he went to investigate. Unlike the mansion back in Korea, their current home wasn't uselessly voluminous. A quick trek across the house was enough to find the source of the noise. One of the windows on the first floor was open and the wind had blown the curtains in, knocking over a fixture.

Placing his glass on the table, he bent to pick it up when he heard the door close behind him.

"Hello, young master."

Yohan's breath caught as he froze in place, standing slowly to look back, because his mind... no, his ears had to be playing tricks on him.

"Surely, you didn't think you were the only one with an escape plan."

Standing there, her legs crossed at the ankle as she watched Yohan from beneath the covering of a green and pink hoody that hid her hair, while the lower part of her face remained behind a face mask. Yohan started towards her.

"Na ah," she said, swiping the screen of the phone in her hand as it came on, showing a sleeping Elijah.

Yohan stopped in his tracks.

"You had me, for a second." She dropped the phone on the table and walked away from the door, leaving her back to Yohan, without a care in the world, as removed her face mask. "I really thought you were gone."

"The feeling was mutual."

She scoffed.

"As soon as those fools started running behind my back, I knew it was time to retreat into the dark again. It's easy to protect your back when everyone else is in front of you."

"So, you planned to fake your death."

"Yes," she smiled at him. "And it wouldn't have worked if you blew up the building first, so I had to act before you did."

"What do you want?" he asked through clenched teeth.

The smile faded from her face.

"A clean slate. I wanted you by my side, but you obviously do not want that."

"An understatement."

"I killed your man, you killed my woman."

Yohan clenched his fist.

"We're nowhere close to even."

"I'm trying to bury the hatchet here."

"By breaking into my home and holding my niece hostage?" he asked. "Again?"

She walked over to her phone, made a call, and put it on speaker.

"Unnie," a woman answered.

"Leave."

"Excuse me?"

"Leave the girl. Take everyone and go."

"What of Kang Yohan?"

Her eyes met Yohan's.

"I'll be fine."

She cut the call and tossed the phone at Yohan.

"You expect me to believe-"

"A clean slate. You stay on your side, I stay on mine and we won't harm each other."

"It's that easy?"

"That easy."

Yohan reached her in one stride, catching her by the neck. He slammed her against the desk, as she held on, keeping herself upright.

"If I kill you now, are you saying your people won't retaliate?"

"I could have killed you if I was sure your people wouldn't."

"Haven't you heard? I don't have any people anymore."

She laughed in his face.

"Don't be cruel, young master. We both know you have cockroaches in every corner. These days, some of them are in the limelight, too."

Gaon.

He tightened his grip on her neck as she flinched.

"That wasn't a threat."

"How else am I supposed to take it?"

He let go of her as she collapsed on the ground, coughing.

"I mean you no harm. Do you not hear me?" she asked, rubbing her neck. "We have hurt each other in the past and there's no reason to continue the cycle. I do not wish to get in your way, but I knew that you would come after me, so I came here first. Can't you see?"

Yohan could see. But every time he closed his eyes, all he heard was the sound of K's body as it slammed against the ground. The dead look in his eyes as he lay there, a lost soul, a destiny unfulfilled. Right at the finish line.

He turned away; fist so tight his nails broke skin. He couldn't. He'd vowed vengeance for K, and yet Sunah had survived. Yohan's revenge was futile. But if he attacked, there was so much more to lose. Elijah. Gaon. Ko. Miss Ji. A war that could go on forever because he didn't end it.

"What do you say, young master?" she asked.

"Get out," he replied.

She got up from the floor, dusting her behind as she headed for the door.

"I'll take this as an agreement."

"Leave."

"Don't be too rude, young master," she warned. "I'll be nice to you but only if you return the favour."

She waited until he looked back at her and when he did, he knew why. She wanted him to see the look in her eyes. She wanted him to recognize what her face was saying. Because he'd seen it before. The desolate look of nonchalance that preceded K's death. She was very breakable, but she wasn't delicate. She may have been the one with the olive branch, but she was very also capable of carrying thorns in the other hand.

Yohan understood that.

Slowly, he nodded at her.

She smiled, once again, bowed in his direction and disappeared through the door. By the time Yohan ran into the corridor, it was empty. He didn't follow her, instead, he ran up the stairs to Elijah's room. As he opened the door, there she was, fast asleep with her teddy bear in her arms.

Weighed down in relief, Yohan fell to his knees as tears flowed from his eyes. Elijah was alive. She was safe. That was all that mattered. At least, mostly.

Crawling to the landline by Elijah's bedside, Yohan pulled it down to his lap as he dialled Gaon's number.