I ran desperately, trying to escape from his suffocating arms.
I ran down the blood-stained hallway and grabbed the dagger hanging on the wall.
My heart was pounding and my vision was dizzying.
“Pretty—.”
The voice coming from behind was low, but had a strangely excited tone.
The sound a hunter makes when he finally drives his prey to the edge of a cliff.
I leaned against the wall, catching my breath, my hand gripping the tip of the sword trembling.
"I have to end this nightmare with this person."
He walked slowly, as if he saw everything.
Her golden eyes shone brightly even in the darkness.
“You ran away well. But… how far do you think you can go?”
Taking a deep breath, I raised the dagger high.
The moment he reached out—
I thrust the dagger into his chest with all my might.
“Ugh…!”
The tip of the knife tore through my clothes, dug into my flesh, and a hot sensation spread through my fingertips.
Blood spurted out and soaked the back of his hand.
I closed my eyes tightly.
‘It’s over now…’
but-
“…….”
He grabbed my wrist tightly.
The sword could not go in any deeper due to the strength of his grip.
Slowly, very slowly, he took the dagger from my hand.
Even though blood was flowing, his expression did not break at all.
Instead, he was smiling.
A laugh that was mad, yet seemed coldly sane.
“Pretty….”
His voice was low, flowing with his blood-tinged breath.
“You are really… just what I wanted.”
"……what?"
My lips trembled.
He bowed his head, pressing his bleeding chest with his hand.
"Now... you're showing your true heart. Not love, but hatred that would kill me. That is the deepest love."
I stepped back in despair.
“You’re crazy…! I was going to end you. I don’t love you anymore!”
He gave a blood-stained laugh.
"Yeah. You keep repeating that. And yet, you ended up stabbing me."
He picked up the ring that had fallen on the floor and forced it onto my finger.
"This is the proof. No matter how much you deny it, you and I can't end."
The moment the ring was put on my finger amidst the smell of blood, a chill ran down my spine.
I stabbed him, but he didn't die.
Rather, he became stronger.
His golden eyes looked down at me as if they were piercing through me.
“So now, pretty girl… there’s nowhere for you to run.”
A cool smell wafted from the hem of his clothes, which were soaked with blood.
The sensation of the dagger still lingering in my fingertips, but it offered no comfort.
He was smiling.
The very fact that he wasn't dead was terrifying, and at the same time, that laughter made everything helpless.
“Pretty… you aimed for my heart.”
His voice was low.
“That means you want my heart.”
“You’re crazy… You’re crazy…!”
I trembled and stepped back, but the wall blocked my back and I had nowhere else to go.
He stroked my cheek with his bloody hand.
The hot, sticky sensation sent goosebumps down my spine.
“Look. You still can’t avoid my touch.”
“That’s… because I’m scared…!”
“Fear is love.”
He whispered in my ear.
“If you didn’t love me… you wouldn’t have stabbed me like this. There’s no reason to get your hands dirty for someone who doesn’t care.”
My heart felt like it was freezing.
I desperately pushed his hand away, but his huge, wall-like physique didn't budge.
He threw the dagger to the floor and grabbed my wrist.
“Pretty, don’t ever say you’ll leave me again.”
His eyes burned golden.
“No matter where you run, no matter what you say… you will always be by my side.”
Under the suffocating pressure, I felt helpless, as if I were trapped in a prison.
The ring that had been put back on his finger was sitting heavily.
No matter how hard I tried to pull it out, I couldn't even move an inch due to his strength.
He looked straight into my eyes.
The eyes were filled with madness, but at the same time, they were terrifyingly sweet.
“Now admit it. You are mine for life.”
It was as if my lips were blocked and I couldn't say anything.
Cold sweat ran down my back and my whole body trembled.
But his arms were getting closer and closer.
He hugged me.
The moment my body was trapped in those strong arms, I realized.
That there is no more escape.
.
.
.
After that day, the bodies in the hallway were cleared away.
The gunshots, the daggers, the cries were gone.
Only the man's mad smile and the ring on my finger remained.
He still called me “pretty.”
I didn't answer any more, but he didn't care.
“…my pretty one.”
He chuckled softly.
“You know better than anyone that you can never leave.”
I realized once again that I could not escape his embrace as long as I lived.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Epilogue follows.
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