Killing Yuki

Chapter 1.7 - A Stranger at the Funeral

Yuki couldn't resist the urge to snoop as he inched closer to his target. He tried to come up with theories about the lady's motive while darting glances between her and the couple. 

None made sense. He began to suspect that there was more to the situation than mere curiosity. Could it be jealousy? Sibling rivalry, perhaps? Anything seemed possible.

Then, it hit him.

"Is she planning to hurt the wife?"

In came evil thoughts, sending never-before-felt shivers down his spine. The sudden rush of paranoia petrified him briefly, his eyeballs on the verge of popping out, and his original plan higgledy-piggledy.

"Is she the guy's mistress or something? And if she is, shouldn't he tell her to leave or pull back? He doesn't look aware of her presence and how she looked at his wife," he debated.

Yuki twitchily shifted his attention to the lady again when he snapped out of it. To his horror, she was now looking right at him. Blankly. With a murderous glare.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

Almost jumping out of his skin, he slowly backed up and headed in the opposite direction. He moved further out of the crowd as the lady's image blurred into the background. 

He also tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone so as not to look suspicious, as the lady seemed to think.

Yuki kept a watchful eye on the couple while attempting to deduce their mysterious stalker's motive. His guess was that the lady must have been involved in the death of the deceased and was now zeroing in on the couple. 

Quite far-fetched but not implausible, considering the lady's peculiar behavior. If he was right, lives could be at risk, and he was the only one who knew.

Those close to Yukiwouldn't be surprised if he pulled away and didn't meddle. He wasn't the typeto confront others. 

Even in conflicts where he held the moral high ground, hewould be the first to walk on eggshells to diffuse the tension. He preferred tokeep to himself, stay out of other people's affairs, and err on the side ofcaution. 

So, it would shock them to see Yuki taking an interest in thesestrangers' dorama. Being the onlyperson aware of the impending crime, perhaps he felt compelled to at least tryand stop it. 

The couple was lucky to have experienced Yuki's genuine altruism.That side of him was supposedly reserved for his family, Ren, and a few of hisfriends. Yuki's acts of kindness, sadly, were mostly obligatory. 

He rarelyvolunteered to help, even when he could, not because he was bad but because hewasn't comfortable interacting with others. He kept his circle small and onlyengaged with them when absolutely necessary. 

This time, however, he chose to bea bit more outgoing. His newfound confidence was most likely driven by hissense of danger. After all, humans are innately compassionate. When we see ablind person innocently walking into a ditch, we don't just stand and watch. 

Weinstinctively pull them to safety. That's the humanity within us taking charge.Some might hesitate to act, but only because external factors, such as self-doubt,fear for their own safety, and distrust of people, are at play. 

If you peelthat layer off, you'd be left with an innocent and empathetic spirit—humannature, as we call it. That was probably where Yuki's one-off motivation tointervene had come from.