KILL THIS LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 144

Jennie

I looked up, idly glancing at the corridor that as bustling with people as it was in the moment, seemed oddly deserted. Perhaps it was the fact that most of my peers had either moved out, or were in the process of doing so. With Professor Lee's death and Hanbin's arrest, push had come to shove and now the university was sending the students back home for the semester.

I, of course, did not have a home. I never did, really. The place I grew up in was but a skeleton of wood and cement that was bursting at the seams with the pain and anguish of two little girls. I shook my head, shaking off the despairing thought as I checked my phone for the time and realized I had to be down in the yard by my dorm building.

The Seoul sun was high in the sky, the springtime noon every bit as comforting as it ever got in the city. As I walked to the spot, I could feel my fatigue catching up with me. I had barely eaten or slept in the shit storm that was the last four days. My gaze found a familiar head full of light blonde wisps and I stumbled towards his direction. "Hey," I not-so-expressively mumbled.

Mino swerved around, "Hey." His smile, as ever-radiant as it had perpetually been, visibly fell a little when he realized I was not smiling back. He parted his mouth open, perhaps to say something about it, but then decided against it. Mino could guess that I was not completely over the fact that he'd kept Hanbin's little side job from me, and understandably did not want to stir the pot.

"So," It was me who spoke, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between us, "Um, did you talk to your father? About you moving back."

He merely scoffed, "Yeah right. While I was at it, I asked if him and I could have a sleepover where I could make him friendship bracelets while I paint his nails."

I shot him a knowing look, one that was filled with equal parts incredulity and sympathy. Mino did not talk about this a whole lot, but from what I knew he was not on speaking terms with his parents since the whole vandalism thing. They were paying his tuition, but that was it.

"I'll figure it out, don't worry about it Jen." He waved his wrist in the air casually, "Hey by the way, a bunch of us are going to Nami Island to spend the night, you in?"

"I'll pass." I said in one breath, looking away.

"Why not? It could be the last time us friends see each other in a while. Come on, it'd be fun! I mean, unless... you're scared of some lurking haunting spirits." He teased, elbowing me.

I could almost laugh. Phantoms and spirits were the least of my worries right now. "There are bigger problems than whatever haunting spirit there is out there. I have bigger things to take care of Mino." Like avoiding an insane serial killer.

"Like looking for a place." I sighed, "It's all so freaking expensive at Jeju."

"Nah, you just got to know the right areas. Besides if you need help with the money just..."

"Mino, hey!"

Both Mino and I turned around at the same time towards the source of the pitchy voice. Seolhyun sauntered in her practically reflective white sneakers, right towards us. She was all smiles as she greeted Mino, only offering a quick nod of the head to me, before quickly latching her tenacious arms to Mino's side. "So are we on for tonight? Mark and Jackson are coming too, they told me."

I could only presume she was talking about the Nami Island camping trip, and thus decided to zone out from the conversation, instead observing the melting frost on the grass. A flash of my body lying limp on the snow hit my mind, but I blinked it away. To distract my own self, I decided to take out my phone and pretended to text someone. I could keep the act up for a few minutes, before it struck me that I had an actual call I needed to make.

My fingers scrolled all the way down my contacts list, until I found the name I was looking for, pressing the device to my ears as it rang.

"It's Nancy. If I'm not picking up and you got something to say, it better be worth my time." I ended it, exasperated by the fact that Nancy had been refusing to pick up my calls for a week straight. All I wanted was to return a necklace that probably ended up in my stuff when we changed rooms.

It was about then that I could swear I heard my name being uttered, making me look up quickly. "What?" I breathed, wide eyed and disoriented.

Mino grinned, "Seolhyun was asking about the fête and I said you'd know more about it since you're more aware of it."

Shooting him a brief glare, I looked at Seolhyun, "Um yeah, it's being cancelled now, because uh, you know, the... the murders." I could facepalm myself at how stupid that sentence came out of my mouth.

"I meant what is it, like, about?" Seolhyun pressed, her tone vexed.

Taking in a shallow breath, I shook my head, "Dano Festival is mainly sort of a shamanistic ritual worshipping the sky deity to celebrate the end of sowing season." It was as if as soon as the words left my mouth, I paused in my tracks. I found myself spiralling deep into the webs of time, falling into a memory from just about twelve years ago.

Ella and I were celebrating Dano Festival with our mother, who in turn had brought us to see our grandmother in a place that I could not quite remember. I clamped my eyes shut; feeling overwhelmingly caged somewhere that felt dark and dank. I remembered Ella being scared and holding onto me for dear life. As I strained my brain to dive deeper into the recollection, I could see my mother signing in the visitor's book. I could now see the front cover, in ochre binding, embossed bold letters – Yongin Psychiatric Hospital.

My eyes fluttered open. Yongin Psychiatric Hospital, I remembered that name. It was all over the news just a few days before Ella's death, for having burnt down to the ground. And just like that, the missing pieces of the puzzle, for once and all, began falling into place.

"She said she woke up in the hospital with the burn scars." I said dumbfounded, my jaw going slack.

"What?" Mino turned to look at me perplexedly.

"I thought she meant like a real hospital. What if it was a psychiatric hospital?" I mumbled to myself. "She was always known as the Seoul Ripper, so they never looked for her in another town. They never looked for her in Yongin."

"Oookay, now you're officially starting to scare me Jen."

"Mino." I turned to look at him with dazed eyes; "I think I need to borrow your car one last time."