Ch.67White Mountain Range 2

Heavy air and musty lighting.

The killer, carrying the bartender on her back, stood in front of the counter.

The woman, somewhat tall for her gender, lowered her head and asked the motel owner.

“Do you have a room available?”

At her words, the manager who had been watching TV turned his head.

He looked up and glanced at Siho who was being carried.

“I only have a one-bed room. Will that be okay?”

The Red Assassin sighed deeply at his words.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally answered.

“I’ll take it.”

She adjusted Siho on her back with all her strength.

Then she took the jingling keys and entered the elevator.

The door lock opened.

The Red Assassin staggered into the motel living room.

She placed the heavy Siho down on the bed, almost throwing her.

Her back was already drenched with sweat where their bodies had touched.

The killer immediately took off her jacket and tossed it aside.

Then she fidgeted with the hook of her sweat-soaked bra.

A hiccup escaped her.

She sat on the edge of the bed and lit her lighter.

Most motels had been fully booked, so it took 30 minutes to get here, and during that time, she couldn’t suppress her urge to smoke.

But just as she was about to light up, her gaze suddenly turned to Siho.

“…”

Her entire body flushed pink like a peach.

Her white shirt unbuttoned defensively.

The curves of her thighs clearly visible despite wearing slacks rather than a skirt.

Her eyes were drawn to the chest that rose and fell with each gentle breath.

Seeing this, the Red Assassin stuffed the cigarette she was about to take out back into the pack.

Instead, she slowly approached Siho.

The killer’s hand moved toward the bartender’s collar.

Soon her long fingers reached for the black mole on her chest.

“…!”

But at that moment, she abruptly stopped her gesture.

It was because Siho’s eyes, which she thought were asleep, had opened slightly.

“Don’t misunderstand. I was just going to button you up.”

Despite the killer’s words, the small bartender still looked startled.

She covered her chest with her small hands and avoided the killer’s gaze.

“Really…? Back then too, you said you were just wiping me…”

“That happened because you suddenly jumped on me.”

The killer’s voice grew louder at the mention of “back then.”

The small animal before her couldn’t remember what she had done, only what had been done to her—a cunning creature.

Feeling embarrassed instead, the Red Assassin retreated to the far edge of the bed.

The two of them savored the awkward motel air with distance between them.

“W-why did we come to a motel?”

“Why else? How could I carry you all the way home at this late hour?”

“I see…”

Eyes like those of an animal looking around for predators.

Looking at those eyes, the Red Assassin asked:

“Is this your first time at a motel?”

At her question, the small bartender’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Soon Siho nodded shyly.

“Yes…”

The killer swallowed hard.

She loosened her tie and coughed as if something was caught in her throat.

“Anyway, we’ll sleep here tonight… and you can go home by yourself tomorrow.”

The Red Assassin looked toward the entrance door.

She had already draped her soaked jacket over her elbow, apparently planning to leave soon.

“Are you leaving? At this late hour?”

Siho looked at her with a worried expression.

She was taking care of others first, even though she herself was quite drunk.

“It’s dangerous. You don’t have a car, and I doubt anyone will come pick you up…”

“It’s dangerous for you if I stay here.”

The Red Assassin looked down at Siho with cold eyes.

But the small bartender didn’t back down.

“Why is it dangerous…?”

“This is the Association’s territory. And I’m officially their enemy.”

The killer pointed to the bottom of the motel with her long finger.

“If you’re with me, you’ll be considered an accomplice. Then you won’t be able to become the Potion Master you’ve always wanted.”

The Red Assassin calmly got up and prepared to leave.

Seeing her, Siho abruptly raised her drowsy body.

“It’s okay. There’s more to life than just that one thing.”

The small bartender pulled out the motel’s thick blanket and quickly spread it on the floor.

Then she lay down on it demonstratively.

“Sleep on the bed before you go. I’m more comfortable on the floor.”

She looked like a flying squirrel.

The Red Assassin smiled slightly at the sight of Siho.

Who exactly was worrying about whom here?

But Siho wasn’t joking.

Having once had a younger sister, she was more serious than anyone.

Wandering alone at night, you never know when a monster or robber might appear.

Even if it was the Red Assassin, she had come in her real body and was drunk—there was no guarantee she wouldn’t be harmed.

Seeing Siho looking up at her with tightly sealed lips, the Red Assassin finally stopped in her tracks.

She sighed deeply and said to the squirrel:

“Get on the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No, you worked hard carrying me…”

“Should I just leave then?”

The killer cynically cut off Siho’s words.

At that, the small woman quickly got up.

She climbed onto the bed, hugging the pillow tightly.

Still, she smiled broadly, thinking her persuasion had worked.

How cunning.

The Red Assassin calmly threw her clothes on the chair.

Then she leisurely lay down on the floor.

Already quite drunk, she had no energy to wash up.

She simply used her interlocked fingers as a pillow.

“—.”

The two women looked up at the same ceiling.

Siho counted the flower patterns embedded in the ceiling tiles one by one.

Perhaps due to her first motel experience and what had happened with the Red Assassin a few days ago,

Her body felt chilly as she hugged the pillow tightly, having counted up to 100 flowers.

But soon Siho forgot the number of flowers she was counting.

It was because the Red Assassin spoke to her.

“Asleep?”

“No…”

Her body became sensitive at the single word.

She trembled as if responding to her master’s command.

“I won’t visit you often from now on. And you shouldn’t contact me unless it’s for business.”

“Why so suddenly…?”

Siho reflexively asked at the killer’s cold voice.

“Remember that guy you were flirting with earlier?”

“Flirting… I didn’t do that.”

“Playing drinking games, subtly touching his body, don’t you remember?”

Siho’s thoughts froze at her sudden question.

The bartender tried hard to recall her memories.

And soon she began to remember bit by bit what she had done.

Having rarely experienced blackouts in her life, she was unaware of her drunk behavior. Her face hardened as she realized she had been playing with men.

“That man you flirted with is an Association ranker. What do you think would have happened if he had picked a fight with me there?”

“…”

“Probably all the nearby rankers would have swarmed in.”

“What did you do wrong…”

The Red Assassin snorted at Siho’s mumbling.

She covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Why else, because I’m a bad woman.”

But soon the killer removed the hand covering her eyes.

What Siho said next bothered her.

“You’re not a bad person.”

A firm, confident statement.

Siho’s voice, which had been crawling on the floor until now, became loud and clear in that moment.

Following that voice, the Red Assassin looked at the bed with her red eyes.

There was a woman looking down at the floor, her head turned.

With eyes more serious than anyone else’s.

The Red Assassin maintained an indifferent gaze at those eyes.

“Remember your expression when we first met? You looked terrified, as if you’d seen a ghost.”

The killer spoke calmly, as if recalling the past.

But the small bartender immediately refuted:

“That’s because you came as a scary dummy.”

“What about when we first met at the office?”

“At that time…”

Siho briefly recalled her first meeting with the Red Assassin’s real body.

Red eyes that flashed intensely even under the warm sunlight.

Beautiful hair and a sensual figure.

And a human side that longed for her father more than anyone…

“I was a little scared at first. But…”

“When you showed me your family photo, I could tell you were a warm person too. I haven’t been scared since then.”

The Red Assassin’s eyes trembled subtly at the mention of the family photo.

She slowly drew in her outstretched legs.

“Actually, I like those eyes now. They’re so pretty.”

The face half-hidden by the bed smiled gently.

The Red Assassin’s eyebrows twitched at that smile.

It was a first.

Since her father, no one had told her that her eyes were pretty.

At those words, the corners of the killer’s mouth twitched.

Her life had been a series of hardships.

Far from praise, life in the organization was so harsh that even indifference was appreciated, numbing her emotions.

But in front of this woman, those hardened emotions melted hotly.

Like her father who welcomed her home after finishing grueling modeling jobs.

She made her feel alive again in this gloomy world.

“So don’t blame yourself too much. Even if everyone says you’re a villain, you’re still a good person to me.”

Siho stretched her wobbly arm into the air.

The Red Assassin stared blankly at that arm.

A good person…

The Red Assassin had a few brief dating experiences.

But in those processes, she had never been called a “good person” by her partners.

She never expected to hear those words for the first time from a woman she’d met just two months ago.

A beautiful smile untainted by the world.

It was so pretty that she felt guilty for savoring it.

That emotion was soon accompanied by fear.

Fear of losing such a being to the world again.

Perhaps due to that possessiveness, the killer raised her unsteady body.

And staggering, she climbed onto Siho’s bed.

“What, what are you doing…?”

Siho hugged the pillow tighter at the dark shadow cast over her.

The killer carelessly pushed the pillow away.

And she roughly grabbed her tie.

Like a leash.

“Shouldn’t you have some sense of caution?”

Led by the leash, Siho came close enough to feel the killer’s breath.

The killer’s lips, faintly smelling of alcohol, moved.

“I’ve killed dozens with my own hands. I’m a killer.”

Despite her calm words, Siho didn’t yield.

She looked up at the Red Assassin firmly and said:

“Still… you’re not a bad person.”

In this ruined world, who hasn’t killed someone at least once?

Among rankers, almost none.

“Whenever I was in danger, you came to save me. Always in your real body, not as a dummy…”

The Red Assassin’s face contorted at the word “real body.”

It reminded her of that sensual memory from that day.

“Don’t misunderstand. I only came looking for you because you’re a business partner…”

The Red Assassin muttered, trying to shake off the memory of that day.

But when she couldn’t, she started shouting loudly instead:

“So stop pretending to be nice. If you get kidnapped again…”

The woman with the leash tilted her head.

She squinted her tear ducts and whispered:

“If I do… you’ll come save me again, won’t you?”

Eyes that shimmered faintly in the dark motel room.

And the subtly wafting flower scent tickled the killer.

The breath seeping into her ears made the Red Assassin lose focus.

She muttered to herself:

“See… flirting again?”

At that ominous soliloquy, the woman’s seductive smile disappeared.

Siho looked flustered, wondering if she had misspoken.

But it was too late, far too late.

Siho’s provocative question had unleashed the lust from that day that had been held back.

“You probably give this kind of seductive smile to others all the time, don’t you?”

The killer’s hand roughly grabbed Siho’s chin.

“With this loose body of yours.”

The Red Assassin’s gaze voyeuristically observed Siho’s plump body.

She soon realized why she wanted to torment Siho.

In this dangerous world, smiling easily at others, treating them kindly.

Even giving bewitching smiles that make others misunderstand.

How utterly impudent.

The Red Assassin felt her body heating up.

And it was the same for Siho.

As if her body remembered that day, her heart pounded wildly.

The chills covering her body swelled like the mucus applied in Chinatown.

Both of them were already conditioned by Wichungsan’s drug.

Soon the killer muttered, breathing heavily:

“I need to teach you a lesson. So you’ll never flirt again.”

White breath tickled Siho’s nose.

Sweet liquid dripped from the killer’s mouth.

“W-wait… we’re both women. This isn’t right…”

Siho mumbled with a plaintive voice.

But that voice only sounded like a female waiting to be violated.

“Shut up.”

Before she could finish her excuse.

The leash was pulled violently.