The Space We Created, The Space We Used to Create, The Space We Were In – 2

“Didn’t you tell Mina?”

Her father asked about the still-unpaid living expenses, and her mother, who was ladling bean sprout soup, shook her head.

“I did mention it…”

“And suddenly a hospital? It’s all because she doesn’t take care of herself, tsk.”

He rummaged through the side dishes with his chopsticks, grumbling as if displeased.

“Don’t be too hard on her. It seems like she’s swamped with work.”

Her mother, watching her husband’s expression, continued.

“She’s the only one earning money for the family right now. It’s not good to criticize her too much.”

“…”

Perhaps it hit a nerve, as her father said nothing.

-Buzz

The woman’s phone rang.

She finished serving the side dishes and checked her phone.

“She sent it. Huh? Why did she send so much?”

“Why? How much did she send?”

“Four thousand…?”

“Four thousand? Forty million won?”

A KakaoTalk message accompanied the deposit notification on her mother’s phone.

[It’s all my assets.]

“Why would she suddenly send such a large sum of money?”

Why all of a sudden? Only the questions grew.

Monday. 8 AM.

The director had come to work early to prepare for the monthly executive meeting.

He needed to review the materials and finish preparing his presentation.

“Haa…”

Looking at the well-organized materials, he thought.

‘Team Leader Lee Mina is good at her job.’

It would be better if she were a little more compliant, but he didn’t like the way she questioned everything.

“But what should I do about this accident?”

Inho’s death. Moreover, it was an accident that occurred while he was traveling to Busan for work, so it was classified as an industrial accident.

He even went to the encoffining to show his sincerity, in case the bereaved family filed a lawsuit.

People’s hearts are as fickle as boiling porridge, so he was worried about what they might do after the funeral.

He should have just told him not to go.

It was a problem that could have been solved locally in Busan if he had just made a phone call.

He had stubbornly insisted on sending Inho to Busan because he didn’t like the way Lee Mina was acting like a queen, trying to give her a hard time.

He also had the purpose of taking care of his close friend, Hye-young.

“Ugh…”

What should I do about this?

-Knock knock.

“Come in.”

He heard a knock.

Lee Mina opened the door and entered.

“Oh? You’re here early?”

Lee Mina, with dark circles under her eyes, brought an iced Americano.

“I woke up a little early, so I came in. You have an executive meeting today, right?”

She asked kindly, handing him the coffee.

‘Huh? What’s with her?’

The director thought for a moment but soon understood.

‘Well, she’s in a precarious position now. She’s probably trying to get on my good side.’

She’s good at her job, so maybe I can use her for a while and break her spirit?

Thinking that, he drank the coffee.

“I’ll go back to my desk. Have a good day.”

As he watched her leave, he took a few more sips of his coffee.

Ten minutes passed.

The director, who was looking at the materials, rubbed his neck.

“What… why is it so stiff?”

He also felt a little dull.

“Uh… uh?”

His tongue was also numb. He couldn’t speak properly, even when he tried.

Huh? What’s wrong? What’s wrong with me!

He hurriedly got up to go outside, but he tripped and fell.

-Thud.

A heavy sound echoed through the office.

“Ughhhhh…”

He continued to make a sound that was somewhere between a human and an animal.

Quick! Someone come!

“Lee Mina…!”

He squeezed out the name of the person who might be in the office.

“Lee Mina…!”

After several cries, someone knocked on the director’s office door.

-Knock knock.

“Ughhhhh!”

-Tap tap

He heard footsteps slowly approaching.

The fallen director could only see her shoes.

“Oh my, what’s wrong?”

“119… 119…”

“Did you enjoy the coffee?”

Her voice ran down his spine.

“Ugh…?”

Unable to lift his head in his fallen state, the director made a sound of incomprehension.

“It’s not good for your body to be lying like this. I’ll help you up. Don’t worry, it’s not a deadly poison.”

She struggled to lift him up and sat him in his chair.

The director’s eyes rolled in his chair.

Now, the only part of his body he could move was his eyes.

“Haa… you’re heavy. You should exercise more.”

Perhaps because she had lifted almost twice her weight, Mina wiped away sweat.

Now that he was facing her, he saw the blade in her hand and struggled.

“The world is a scary place these days. If you pay enough money on Telegram, they’ll send you drugs like this by quick delivery, you know?”

Mina’s eyes flashed as she spoke as if she were saying, ‘The weather is nice today.’

“It’s a drug that paralyzes the body but doesn’t kill the senses. It’s some kind of narcotic. I don’t know the exact ingredients.”

She taped his body to the chair.

This was to prevent any possible accidents.

“Wha… t…”

He barely managed to speak, but he received no answer.

A chilling sensation was felt around his navel.

“!!!!!”

A knife stuck in his navel. And Mina was holding it firmly.

Mina brought her face close to the director’s and said.

“How is it?”

“Ughhhh.”

As the weight shifted onto the knife, his eyes rolled back.

-Slap!

Then she slapped him on the cheek.

“How is it? Oh, you can’t talk, can you? I’m sorry. I wasn’t considerate.”

“Is it chilling? Does it feel like you’re being caressed by the wind? Do you feel a burning sensation?”

-Press

The blade dug deeper inside.

“That’s how I feel right now, you son of a bitch.”

“We shouldn’t make a mess of the office.”

A lump of blood welled up, but a towel blocked his mouth.

The towel was stuffed in, blocking his throat.

He struggled with all his might, suffocating.

-Scratch scratch.

With an unpleasant sound, her hand moved up to his solar plexus.

“Ugh…”

“Come to think of it, you gave me some advice, didn’t you? To work with enthusiasm?”

His own reflection in her lightless eyes was too grotesque.

The fear of death loomed.

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

-Scratch scratch.

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

-Crack crack

“Let’s go, let’s go hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

She threw back her head and burst into wild laughter.

Listening to her laughter, his consciousness slowly faded as if sinking into the water.