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CHAPTER TWO — ❛ ANGER AND OTHER INTENSE EMOTIONS ❜
I was ten years old when my sister introduced me to death for the first time. We were in the middle of a bleak winter, but my heart was full of newfound warmth. I had just brought home Ame, a dog that got abandoned at the edge of a junkyard. My mother always warned me how animals weren't safe in our household, but in my childish naivete, I foolishly hoped that perhaps this time, things would be different.
I knew what happened as soon as I saw the traces of red on the white snow. Navi tried to hide what was left of the dog, but blood seeped from the freshly dug home and trailed down the hill behind our house. By the time that another spring came around and the snow melted, flowers had already bloomed over the grave, but I never forgot her brutal act. I was too young and my view of the world was too narrow to understand that the worst was yet to come.
I didn't understand why Navi did a lot of things, but I knew that she couldn't change herself, so I tried to accept her for who she was. A loving big sister, a missing person, a wanted criminal-
'' There's a point where family needs to stop being an excuse. Not everything deserves to be forgiven, simply because my blood is your blood. '' I paused and let out a tired sighed. The phone in my hand felt heavier than it really was, even if I knew that there was a very small chance that my voice mail would ever reach its recipient. '' We need to talk. Call me. Please. ''
I threw my phone on my desk and picked up Navi's message again, the one that she left in that family clinic after she called me and asked me for my help. Written on the back of an old box of sleeping pills, were the words crows are coming to eat my guts. The cryptic message had a sinister ring to it and I had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but I was beginning to wonder if perhaps it was something more than just an elaborate way of saying fuck you.
Did Navi get involved with a cult or something?
That would be something new to spice up my daily worrying over her. My sister was somewhere out there, I didn't know what she was doing and I had no idea how to help her. Not a day went by that I didn't think about her, dwelled on the past or hated her for the manipulation, abuse and trauma that she put me through.
'' Did you hear what happened to Hyunbin? I wish that my boss would lose one of his eyes like he did. '' I tossed Navi's note in one of the drawers of my work desk, closed it with a loud slam and looked at the two traffic cops that were standing nearby and gossiping about my team leader Ri Hyunbin. '' Imagine how much easier it would be to sleep at the job. ''
As of cue, my phone started buzzing and Hyunbin's name appeared on the screen. I quickly jumped on my feet and grabbed the army jacket that was thrown over the back of my chair. I accidentally knocked over a pile of old case files and an empty cup of vending machine coffee, but I didn't bother picking them up before I rushed out of the busy police station.
