criminal love; jungwon

27

A week had passed since the incident. The whispers around the school had begun to die down, but the weight of the unsolved mystery still lingered.

Chahyeon’s death remained under investigation. The police had found no clues, no evidence that pointed to anyone in particular. They searched high and low, asking questions, interviewing students, checking surveillance footage. Yet, everything seemed to slip through their fingers. The investigation was stalled.

Chahyeon’s father, a powerful and influential figure, had pressured the authorities to continue searching, demanding answers for his son’s untimely death. He used his connections to keep the case alive, but no one seemed to know what had truly happened.

Nanhee had heard the rumors, the hushed conversations among her classmates, but she pushed them away. She didn’t want to think about it.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care. It was just that everything felt too much. After Chahyeon’s death, she had found herself strangely numb, like the world had stopped spinning, and she was just drifting. But there was a strange comfort in it. A peacefulness. A relief.

She hadn’t seen Jungwon act any differently. He was the same as always—calm, collected, and kind. He still teased her, still made her laugh with his dry humor. They spent time together after school, just like before. Nothing had changed.

Except, in the quiet moments, Nanhee would catch herself looking at him, feeling that knot in her chest tighten. He was different. But it wasn’t because of what had happened. No, it was because she had changed. She had started loving him. She loved him so much that it hurt.

But the thought of Jungwon being involved in something so dark, so violent—it never crossed her mind.

She couldn’t imagine it. Couldn’t even entertain the idea. The man she loved, the person who made her smile, who made her feel safe—he could never do something like that.

As she walked beside him, her heart fluttered. She had never been this sure about someone in her life. Jungwon was the only person who had been there for her, who had shown her what it meant to truly care. He was everything to her.

One evening, as they walked home together, the sky painted in hues of deep orange and pink, Nanhee stole a glance at him. “You know,” she began, hesitating, “it feels like everything’s finally starting to settle. The investigation... the rumors… It’s all fading away.”

Jungwon didn’t reply immediately, his eyes scanning the horizon. Finally, he shrugged, his voice light. “Yeah. Things always calm down eventually.”

For a moment, Nanhee just watched him, wondering if he had any idea how much he meant to her.

She reached out, lightly brushing her hand against his. He didn’t pull away. He never did.

“Do you ever think about what happened?” she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper. “I mean… about Chahyeon?”

Jungwon’s gaze flickered briefly toward her, but he said nothing. He just kept walking, and Nanhee, feeling his silence, let it go.

They were fine. They were together, and that’s all that mattered.

But deep inside, Nanhee couldn’t shake the feeling that something—something dark—was lurking beneath the surface.

She couldn’t explain it, couldn’t put it into words. It was just a sensation. A knowing.

But she would never suspect Jungwon. Not in a million years.