Mental Asylum || PURINZ

015

I laughed, but Yunjin's intense gaze persisted, her expressions unchanged.

"Me? Get married to you?" I quipped.

Her arched eyebrows challenged, "Why not?"

I retorted, "What kind of weed have you been smoking today?"

Ignoring my question, she plunged the spoon back into the lasagna, taking another bite. "I want to marry you, Chaewon. Just think about it. You shouldn't worry about bills or keeping a job."

Laughter bubbled out of me. "And what about the police, Yunjin? Should we live our lives watching our backs? What would you say to our future children? That their mother is a psychotic killer?"

"I'm talking about marriage, and you're talking about future children," she laughed. "You have everything planned for the future."

Frustrated, I rubbed my temples, watching her devour the lasagna like a cavewoman. "You have to let me go, Jen. The police will start looking for me, and you'll have more problems than you think."

She halted her meal, wiping her mouth with a towel, fixing her attention on me. "You've been missing for the last forty-eight hours. Do you think the police and the authorities are sitting on their hands? Obviously, they've knocked down all the other places where they think they can find me," she said, drinking a whole bottle of cold water. "As for you, you can try to beg me and crawl at my feet. My decision will not change. You will stay here with me. That's final."

I stepped closer, taking her hands in mine. "If you keep me here, it will be a double crime. Instead, we can go to the police together. You can confess your crimes, and I'll make sure you don't go to jail. I'll be your alibi. I won't even mention the kidnapping. The most you would get is a few years in the mental hospital."

Yunjin laughed, a mocking sound as if I had just recited the best joke in the world. "Chae, do you know who I am?"

I swallowed hard. "I know what I've been told, that I should be careful with you, that you're not someone to trust."

She smiled in the same devilish way. "Well, since you don't know who I really am, I think I would like to continue being your mystery woman."

Regret seeped in as I wished I had heeded Kkura's advice and Googled her. I had been too closed to see Yunjin as more than an assigned patient, and now I was paying the price.

"I'll find out one way or another," I promised.

She laughed. "I hope you do, but I must also add that what you read online is almost never true."

"Give me the TV remote control," I demanded, raising my hand towards her with my palm up.

All humor vanished from Yunjin's face, and she stared at me expressionlessly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the television remote control lying on the couch. I lunged towards it.

Yunjin arrived too late; the remote control was already in my hand.

She stood aside, staring at me. "Chae, please."

Before she could say anything else, I turned on the huge television and continued changing the channels until I had the right one.

The police have yet to find out who committed the murder, but they suspect that billionaire psychotic murderer Huh Yunjin is involved.

Since the suspect, Yunjin escaped from the asylum, it was discovered that she had an accomplice, a nurse...

Accomplice.