12 REASONS WHY | LOONA

𝙖𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at your place?" Vivi asked, head peeking out of her car's window as she watched the woman walk away.

"No it's okay, I will walk," Haseul replied with a smile, bag over her shoulder after reaching to find her keys "It's, like, four seconds away. You don't have to drop me at my door every single time we go out."

Vivi laughed, fingers tapping on the wheel as she watched the short female push a few strands of her hair behind her ear. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face when Haseul turned to bow at her and thank her for the meal, shyly announcing she will text her before bed.

"Be careful," she reminded "Talk to you later!"

Haseul nodded and hurried to her home, leaving Vivi to decide whether she'd like to go home and take a shower or rush to the office and get the many work she has done. She looked at the clock, it was still early and she really needed to get the papers she was given filled out. The woman was close to getting promoted, finally being recognized by her boss.

Starting her car, she used her phone to play some relaxing music. Her window was rolled down and she would occasionally stretch her hand out of it, letting her sweaty palms (the leather on her steering wheel always made her hands clammy) dry as the wind gently blew on them.

Vivi smiled again, she had been feeling great the past few months. Her job was going good, she moved into a better house, got closer with people she so much desired, and many more. The woman liked it, not having to be worried all the time, scared.

Her phone vibrated loudly and as Vivi stopped on a red light she reached out to check the notification. Her head tilted in confusion and she sighed when she read it out loud.

"please.accept wants to send you an audio file."

Shrugging and watching as the light turned green, Vivi's fingers pressed accept before leaving the device to rest on the cupholder. She guessed the audio file wasn't something that could distract her. Besides, she was great at multi-tasking and the road was nearly empty— Vivi was rather happy with that.

"I hope you're not listening to this while driving,"

Oh the irony! Vivi's eyes widened when the giggle she had so much missed hearing echoed inside her car, makig her heart beat faster and her feet on the pedals shake.

"Even if you are, please wear a seatbelt."

The voice of Jiwoo's sounded sweet and caring. However, Vivi couldn't focus on that now. Not when her whole body shivered, mind travelling back to the day of her death and the terror written on everyone's faces. The pain and tears. The woman could never forget that.

"You aren't scared, are you unnie?" Jiwoo laughed "Having someone dead talk to you is kinda creepy, but I know you can handle it. Death, having killed someone, all of that. Right?"

The red head's voice was getting deeper as she talked, Vivi had never heard her talk like that. She was usually laughing and squealing in her high-pitched tone, annoying everybody else. Now, it was different. As if she was a completely different person, making Vivi realize how much pain can change you.

"How do you feel about murders, Kahei unnie?" she asked lowly, her heavy breathing sounding loudly "I personally think they're weak. Killing someone just to feel like they've done something most people can't. It gives them the strength they were missing. You know what I mean? I've been slowly losing the ability of putting my thoughts into words."

Jiwoo using her real name along with the words coming from her mouth, the wicked laugh after every sentence, and the slow breathing against the microphone twisted Vivi's insides, who stopped by the side of the road and flung open the door of her big, red Jeep. She stumbled out and fell on her knees as she emptied her stomach to the ground.

It was a waste, the steak she had with Haseul and the very expensive red wine were all on the ground, some even on Vivi's shoes, and near the wheels of her car. Her stomach had exploded, Vivi felt disgusted. Not because she had puked everywhere, not by Jiwoo's words, but by the vivid memory that replayed inside her head for so long, the memory she recently got rid off and could finally enjoy the little happiness in her life.

The memory was back and Vivi felt like she could never escape.

"I've thought about this for a long time, whether you're a murderer or not."

Vivi would never escape.

"I always thought you weren't weak, what you did wasn't to prove your power," Jiwoo spoke "But turns out you are. Weak. You didn't have the balls to own up to the mistake you did. You ran away. And I guess the person suffering from the consequences is waiting for me in hell."

Vivi wanted to smash her phone. Even if still on her knees, head throbbing and stomach twisting at Jiwoo's every word, she could still hear her breathing. It was low yet loud, creeping at the back of her head, hovering over her ear. As if Jiwoo's spirit was around, wanting to drive her crazy.

"Even if you didn't mean to do it, you still did nothing to stop it. Even if you didn't want to prove your power, you let your weaknesses guide you," it sent chills down Vivi's spine, who pressed her back against her red car trying to stop herself from throwing up again "You are a murderer. So am I. At least we have something in common."

Work was long forgotten, Vivi didn't care a bit about promoting at the moment. Not when Jiwoo went on to explain what this audio file was for, why she needed to finally let all her feelings about before she ended her life.

"If you're listening to this, you're on of the reasons why," Jiwoo announced "Welcome, Wong Kahei, to the path of the truth."

-kimwig