EPISODE 93 – The First Tear
The muffled scream from inside the minister's mansion was a sound that chilled Minjae to his core. The line to Micha was dead, and he knew, with a terrible certainty, that the worst had happened. He was standing a short distance from the room's entrance, two burly guards posted just outside. A plan, cold and brutal, formed in his mind.
"Alex, I can't get any response from Micha," he said into his earpiece, his voice a low growl. "I need to go inside. Turn the music up high. We can't have anyone listening to what happens next."
"Understood," Alex's voice replied, and the music in the mansion's main hall suddenly swelled, a tidal wave of sound that drowned out all other noise.
Minjae looked at Dohee, who had finally caught up to him, a bottle of chloroform clutched in her trembling hand. "Now, noona," he said, his eyes filled with a terrifying, cold fury. They moved as one. Dohee, a lawyer by trade, surprised herself with her swiftness. She expertly sprayed a stream of chloroform onto the cloth of one guard, who crumpled to the floor with a soft thud. The other guard barely had time to turn before Minjae's fist, a blur of raw power, connected with his jaw. The guard was out cold.
With the guards neutralized, Minjae didn't waste a second. He took two steps back and launched two powerful kicks at the thick wooden door. The sound of splintering wood and groaning hinges was swallowed by the booming music. The door broke open, revealing the horrific scene inside.
Minjae's blood ran cold. He and Dohee froze in the doorway, their eyes wide with disbelief and shock. Jung-woo had Micha pinned on the floor. Her dress was ripped at the sleeves, and her neck was exposed, barely covered by the remaining fabric. Her hands and mouth were tied, and Jung-woo, his face contorted in a predatory snarl, was about to force a kiss on her.
Minjae's face, usually a mask of playful malice, contorted into a monstrous image of pure, unadulterated rage. He was a demon. He flew across the room, grabbing Jung-woo by the collar and pulling him off Micha. He began to beat him, his fists a relentless blur of violence. Dohee, tears streaming down her face, rushed to Micha, her hands shaking as she tried to untie her.
"Alex!" Dohee sobbed into her earpiece. "He's... he's going to kill him! Alex, you have to tell him to stop!"
"Stop Minjae! He'll kill him!" Alex's panicked voice echoed in Dohee's earpiece.
But Minjae couldn't hear. His rage was a blinding fire. He continuously beat Jung-woo, screaming, "How dare you touch her?! You jerk! I'll kill you!"
Micha, finally free from her restraints, stumbled to her feet. The fear was still in her eyes, but it was being replaced by a steel resolve. She saw Minjae, the man who had tormented her, now a living weapon of vengeance, his face unrecognizable with fury. She knew she had to stop him.
She ran to him, throwing her arms around his back and holding on tight. "Please, Minjae, I'm okay! Please stop!" she begged, her voice filled with a desperate plea. "If you kill him, we can't succeed in this mission. All our work... all our efforts for that girl... will be for nothing. Please don't do this!"
Her words, sharp and clear, cut through the red haze of his anger. His fists stopped. His body went limp. He turned around slowly, his eyes, still filled with tears and a raw, untamed sorrow, finding hers. He hugged her back, his arms crushing her against his chest. This was the first time Minjae had cried since the death of Miran. His heart was a storm of raw grief and guilt, a pain so profound that it manifested in a single tear that ran down his face and onto her hair.
"The guards are trying to break down the control room gate!" Alex's voice was filled with a sense of urgency. "You need to get out of there now!"
Minjae, still holding Micha, his face buried in her hair, spoke into his earpiece. "Cut the power. We're leaving."
The mansion was plunged into darkness. Minjae grabbed Micha's hand, and they, along with Dohee, ran into the night. They jumped into the car, and Alex immediately sped away, leaving the chaos behind.
In the car, a traumatized silence fell over them. Micha was in a state of shock, but she was alive. Dohee, still crying, draped her own suit jacket over Micha's ripped dress.
"I'm so sorry, Micha," Dohee sobbed. "It's my fault. I... I should have never involved you."
Micha, her voice surprisingly steady, shook her head. "No, unnie. It's not your fault. We all wanted to help that victim girl. It was the only way to get justice for her. I'm okay, unnie, really. I can even bake you cookies when we get back home." She offered a small, brave smile.
"I have something, though," Micha said, her voice now full of a quiet resolve. She gestured to the floral brooch on her chest, a piece of sophisticated tech that no one in the room would ever expect. "The video. I placed my hidden camera here. It recorded everything that Jung-woo did to me. His face, his words, his actions. I have the evidence we needed."
Minjae, who had been silent, turned to her, his face a mixture of shock and admiration. "You have it?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Yes," Micha replied, her eyes filled with a new kind of fire. "You can present me as your one more evidence."
Alex, his voice still shaken but regaining control, spoke from the front seat. "The trial is tomorrow. Can you go to court, Micha? Are you strong enough?"
Micha looked at Dohee, a silent plea passing between them. "Yes, I'll go to court. Dohee unnie, show this video in court. And tell everyone that it's a part of our official investigation with the police. That way, nobody will get to know about CHIPER. We'll be fine."
Dohee, wiping her tears, nodded, a new strength in her eyes. "I'll take you to my place, Micha. We'll go to court together tomorrow. Minjae, Alex, you two can come to the court tomorrow."
Minjae, still reeling from the events, managed to speak. "Dohee noona, please. Give her medicine and first aid. Take care of her."
"I will," Dohee replied, her voice firm. "I'll take care of her."
The car sped into the night, carrying the four members of CHIPER, all of them forever changed by the events of the evening.