Kim placed his hands against the wall, his body trembling as the ringing of the bullet still echoed in his ears. He slumped toward the ground, his hand touching the shattered glass that sparkled like fragments of hell. His breaths were jagged... but there was something else.
Heavy footsteps approached slowly.
He lifted his head, and the darkness shifted slightly to reveal a sinister smile.
"Rouen."
His eyes narrowed, and his voice seeped into Kim's ears like poison:
"Kim... I hoped your story would end there, but perhaps it failed. It seems you are more stubborn than I expected."
Kim tried to stand, but his leg betrayed him. He screamed, his voice shaking with blood and fury:
"Why... why did you kill my family? You wanted me too, didn't you? Why won't I just die?!"
Rouen let out a dry laugh, sounding as if it came from a grave:
"Because, Kim, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"What do you mean?" Kim froze in place.
Rouen stepped forward, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it slowly, and blew the smoke into Kim's face. His eyes gleamed in the flicker of the flame:
"Haven't you understood yet? I wasn't just a neighbor, Kim... I am not a 'good person.' I am a thief who leads a gang, and that mall you were at? That was exactly what I intended to rob."
Kim's heart stopped beating; he felt the blood freeze in his veins. Rouen continued in a voice like a devil's confession:
"That night... it wasn't a random accident. We were there to steal everything. Me... and the others, by my boss's orders."
Kim backed away, staring at Rouen as if seeing a ghost. "You... you were with them?!"
A black laugh burst from Rouen's throat, echoing through the night:
"Yes. And everything went according to plan. But you appeared. You are... the only witness. That is why we sentenced you to death that night."
He leaned in, his face inches from Kim's, whispering as if stabbing him with words:
"Kim... your family's death was a coincidence. Your mother... and that woman with her... they opened our escape route. They helped us without even knowing it."
The air choked in Kim's chest. The images returned—his mother's face, the blood, the screams. He tried to shout, but his voice came out hoarse:
"You... you are the reason! You are the one who killed them!"
Rouen's smile widened like a tattoo on the devil's face: "Now... you're beginning to understand."
Suddenly—
The metallic click of a safety being disengaged. Kim turned to see the driver standing behind Rouen, aiming a weapon at him. Rouen nodded: "Do it."
A cold chill swept through Kim's body. He felt the bullet before it was even fired. But inside him, there was no more room for fear. He whispered, his voice soaked in blood...
Then, suddenly, everything collapsed. Sounds distorted, and the ground shook beneath his feet.
He turned—and froze.
"Jack."
His body was sprawled on the ground, blood pouring from his chest like a red fountain. His eyes were half-open, searching for Kim... pleading.
"JAAAAACK!!!"
Kim crawled toward him, but a dark shadow blocked his path. Rouen. He was smiling coldly, a pistol glinting in his hand under the moonlight. He raised it slowly, aiming directly at Kim's head.
"Your game is over, Kim."
Kim looked at him, then at Jack. Tears mixed with the blood on his face. A heavy silence fell over the night, as if the whole world had stopped to hear the click of the trigger.
Kim's heart screamed: Why Jack too? Not yet... it can't end like this.
Kim prayed: "Please, stop... someone... I want to save my dear friend." He looked to the sky: "Oh world... you negative world... this is all I have left."
Suddenly, the cold air was pierced by a loud sound from the road—the wail of a police siren.
Rouen: "Damn it... not now."
The two exchanged quick glances. Rouen lowered his weapon slightly, leaned down, and whispered:
"You won't survive the next time."
They vanished quickly into the darkness, leaving behind blood-stained earth and shattered glass. Kim crawled slowly, his hands shaking, his eyes fixed on the empty gate. His heart beat like war drums.
Kim whispered: "Rouen... you and everyone with you... I will tear you apart, piece by piece."
The air was freezing... but it carried a fire inside his chest.
Kim: "Why... why did you have to suffer because of someone as useless as me?"
Jack reached his hand out to Kim's face, watching him cry.
Kim: "Don't say that. You were always my brother. I tried... at least... to kill one of them."
A flashback flickered in Jack's mind—scenes from their childhood together. They were true friends, not for money or to pass the time.
Kim: "Don't talk. Just stay silent. Wait, I'll call an ambulance."
Jack: "It doesn't matter... I just wanted to tell you..."
Kim, desperately crying: "I told you not to talk!"
Jack: "Kim, my brother... I am not truly strong, and I couldn't help you with anything. But I wanted to be with you. Please leave, Kim. I want you to leave... leave this house."
Kim: "Huh? What are you saying?"
Jack: "Just do it. Find another path for your life. This road is bloody and dark. Your whole life, you were afraid of blood... accept reality. Is there no law for them, and one for us? The law is applied only so they can control us; we are just tools to them. If you kill them, you will change and become just like them. That is not what you believed in. You always told me you wanted to be someone important, to lift the injustice from this world. Now, if you want to be one of them, do not let others change who you are, my brother..."
Silence.
Kim realized those were his last words.
In that moment, the rain did not stop. Had the sky cleared? Kim touched his eyes. "Ah, damn... my eyes... they've gone dry. That's why the rain stopped."
He wanted Jack to speak more; he had always completed himself through others.
Kim screamed with a voice full of regret: "No, no, no, no... I am the one at fault, my brother!"
"Why did I believe in good in a world created to be ruled by evil? No one will survive my hell... I will drag you all to the heart of hell, to taste its true flavor."