Capítulo 17: Punishment befitting his crime
"Aera, I feel suffocated by the crowd. I'm leaving for some fresh air," Ji-ho told the slightly tipsy woman.
"What do you mean you're leaving for fresh air? We're surrounded by fresh air, Young-mi. I'll come with you. Don't wander off alone or you might get followed by a creep," Aera told her.
Being followed by a creep was what Ji-ho was hoping for. "I have to make a phone call, Aera. I'll be back soon." Without giving her friend a chance to say something else, Ji-ho got up and left the table.
A night breeze from the ocean was blowing towards the island and it chilled Ji-ho's skin when she was out of the cocoon of warmth that came from being surrounded by warm bodies.
The party area of the island was on concrete and gated inside tall walls that separated the inner region from the forested part of the island. Ji-ho walked out of the gate and weaved her way between tall palm trees that grew thick on the island.
The sound of the waves crashing on the shore was loud, so loud that Ji-ho couldn't hear the soft padding of a pair of footsteps that came from behind her. She had a sense though she was being followed. Ji-ho hoped it was Blue.
The young lady kept calm as she continued to get farther away from the crowd. When she finally reached the shore where white surf and sand moved, Ji-ho took her mask off and dropped it on the sand.
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" A male voice asked from behind her.
"It's as ordinary and common a night as every other one I've seen," Ji-ho replied. "People like you who romanticise everything annoy me."
Blue chuckled at her insulting reply. Jessica had changed so much. If this was the Jessica of his past, she would have surely agreed with him and simpered about how romantic it was, just the two of them on a beach under the moonlight.
"Why did you come here, Young-mi?" Blue asked her as he closed the gap between them. Ji-ho was still facing the ocean when Blue came to stand beside her. "Was it because you wanted to get away and spend some time with me?"
"Not even if you were the last man on Earth," Ji-ho dryly answered. "Just standing next to you makes my skin crawl after what you did to me."
There was no weakness or shame in her words. The person who had to be ashamed was Blue, not Jessica.
"It wasn't me who leaked your pictures," he told her. "Iris found them in my laptop and she was jealous. I never wanted something so terrible to happen to you, Jessica."
So it was Iris that did it. Both of them deserved comeuppance then. Blue had no idea that Ji-ho was recording the conversation on a device hidden in her bodice. It was the only reason she was tolerating his proximity. What she'd said about him being too powerful and wealthy to ever be caught by the law had been a ploy to have him lower his guard. And when Ji-ho would have enough evidence to make a strong case against him, she planned to come out with it to the public.
"Why are you here?" She abruptly asked him. "I needed to get away from the crowd so I decided to take a walk, but why did you have to follow me like a creep?"
"Young-mi, don't be like this," Blue softly told her. "I've missed you. Haven't I made it obvious to you? I miss you so much and I want you back."
Ji-ho wanted to gag. Not even his handsome face was enough to make up for how horrible and disgusting of a person he was.
"What are you doing?" She said in distress when Blue turned her towards him by the waist. Ji-ho could have punched him but she was acting for the recorder. "Don't touch me!"
Blue was buzzed on alcohol and it made him more reckless than he would have ordinarily been. Jessica was being a tease, and he knew it. She was waiting here for him. She wanted him. And right now, he craved to kiss her.
"Don't you dare!" Ji-ho let out through gritted teeth as she placed her hands on his chest and pushed with all her might. She was getting ready to absolutely wreck him up but someone else beat her to it.
A taller figure came to stand behind Blue. The next thing she knew, her saviour had put the attacker in a chokehold so that he was forced to let go of Ji-ho.
"Are you alright?" Seung-ho asked her as he effortlessly held down the other struggling man. Ji-ho was shocked by how much strength he had, so much so that Blue stood absolutely no chance against him. And why the hell was he so calm while he was choking someone half to death?
"I'm fine. Thank you, Seung-ho. I don't know what I would have done if you-" Ji-ho began to work the tears at that moment. She let out little sniffles, a sob here, a hysterical cry there. It was all for the recorder. And all the while she acted, Seung-ho remained cool, choking Blue just enough to have him pass out completely. Ji-ho was crying but she was frankly concerned about the man. She didn't want Seung-ho to accidentally commit manslaughter. When her saviour carelessly dumped Blue face-first into the waves, the young woman completely forgot to continue her act.
"He'll drown if we just leave him there," she urgently whispered to Seung-ho who was wiping his hand on a handkerchief as if the notion of having touched Blue disgusted him. "Ya! Drag him back!"
"He won't die," Seung-ho merely replied. He sounded entirely too composed for someone who had just choked a man senseless. "Let's leave, miss Sun. My sister must be losing her mind right now."
"Right, you're right," Ji-ho replied as she saw the surf touch Blue's head before rushing back out to the sea. If he died, the karmic retribution would not fall on Jessica because it was Seung-ho's decision that put him in the water. But was death an apt punishment for his crime?
"Sun Young-mi," Seung-ho called out to her. "Let's go."
The young woman was torn between wanting to pull Blue out of the water, and just leaving him to his fate.
"The beach is at high tide," Seung-ho informed her. "That's the farthest the water can come ashore. He won't die."
"Oh," she replied. It made sense. "Okay, we should go then." Before someone discovered what they had done to Blue.
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