A local thief and outcasted police detective, Park Seonghwa, become unlikely partners in crime to solve a string of murders.
START: 3.31.2020
FINISH: 2.20.2021
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record 29...SEPTEMBER 9
6:32 PM
LEVI SCREAMS as she wakes up.
The nightmare doesn't stick with her for long but she can guess what it was about. Herself. The basement. Maya. The fear clings to her skin as she sits up, throwing the fuzzy blanket off of her legs. The room is silent aside from the muted blabber of some random rerun on the television. She doesn't remember falling asleep, but she does remember the panic attack she had beforehand.
She remembers the argument.
Her head falls into her head, fingers ensnared in her tangled locks, now cut blunt and short. The stitches are gone and the bruises have lightened slightly, but the last few months have left her with a nasty scar. She was far from okay.
Almost as bad as she had been when Maya passed, but this time, there are no distractions. No theft, just silence crackling with the noise from her brain.
The days bleed together into a muddled mess. She had thought that after the trial, after her sister's killer was put behind bars, everything would go back to normal. It hasn't.
Seonghwa finds her there like that on his couch, back hunched. He rounds the corner, lips tilted downward in a frown. Exhaustion tugs at his shoulders and eyebrows.
Levi's been waking him up in the middle of the night. He lets her stay at his place most days, the idea of being in her trailer for too long enough to send her into a spiral of panic and anxiety.
Guilt pushes and pulls at her stomach as he plops down next to her. He is nice and so caring–but he is human. And he's tired.
"Another nightmare?" he asks gently, brows arched in concern. His hands hover over her shoulder, the warmth so close but so far.
"How long are we going to do this, Seonghwa?" she asks bluntly, voice cracking as she lifts her head. Her gaze sends ice shooting up his spine. He flinches a little, hand dropping back to his side instantly.
"Do what?" He tenses, giving her a frown that is nothing but foreign. They both know it, that the hurt is turning them into different people. Strangers.
She stands, her chest seeming to collapse on itself. His presence fills the room. Every bit of him is too close and too far away at the same time. His eyes follow her on her way up, every bit as wary as she feels.
"Pretend that we're okay." She doesn't feel like a piece of glass with him anymore. The transparency, the vulnerability, has been shattered. She feels like a deep, turbulent black sea that is seconds away from swallowing him whole. "You don't have to stay by my side like this. I'll be fine."
"Bullshit." It's her turn to flinch. She can't recognize him anymore and she knows there's no way he knows who she is anymore either. "You're hurting. I want to be there for you. Let me help–"
"–But you're not. Don't you get it? You're not helping." Her eyes flash with an unknown emotion. She pins him in place with her glare alone. "You make me feel fragile. I don't want your fucking pity."
Venom spills over her lips. The anger is misdirected, but she can't help but to feel so angry with the world. It took everything from her.
"You know that's not my intention. I care about you."
She hates that. How he puts her needs so far ahead of his own that he's lost sight of himself. His friend is in the hospital. He lost his job. He never liked Cape Freewell to begin with. So why is he still here?
Just for her? She's not worth it.
"I'm suffocating. I can't breathe with you around me anymore." Levi runs a frustrated hand through her hair, the wooden floor creaking as she paces around the room. "If you care, then leave. Go back to Newhurst."
Seonghwa's face falls, becoming a crumpled mess of emotion.
"How can you say that?" The tone of his voice is dry, hurt.
"Because I give a shit Seonghwa! Your friend is in a hospital room dying and you're fucking around with me of all people."
Each word stings, striking him in a place where it hurts most.
Seonghwa stands, the motion shaky as he marches toward her. He gets close enough that she can see the red tint to his eyes, the way they shine under the lights a little too much to be natural.
He swallows, voice weak. "Fuck you Levi. That's not fair and you know it."
He gets closer, her heart and resolve breaking a little more with every step. His hands come up to cup her cheeks. His thumb wipes away a tear she didn't know was there. Hurt swims behind his lashes. "Please don't do this."
He wants her to take the words back. She can't.
She shakes his touch off of her, a hole the size of him forming in her chest. "We're going to destroy each other. We need to heal. Alone."
His eyes narrow and he takes a shuddering break. When their stares collide, he has masked the hurt. Shut her out. A chill rushes up her spine. "Get out then. Go."
Levi listens, snatching up her bag from the coffee table. Hesitating would only hurt the both of them even more.
She knew her connection to him would be severed eventually. It was inevitable. She is like a raging fire, everything that she touches turns to ash. She just hadn't expected their goodbye to be so bitter.
The door slams behind her as she leaves the bungalow behind for good, the sun dipping toward the horizon line above the distant blue sea. She sets off toward it, looking back only once.
"I'm sorry," she whispers then to the dark windows of the house. The memories of him flash behind her eyes for only a moment before they fade away.
And then she is gone.
//
Sorry this part came out shorter than expected. It's really more so a lead-in for the next and final chapter.
