Chapter 31.2

Chapter 31.2

“You crazy b!`tch! Let go!”

Even as I fought desperately to guard my waistband, Yera managed to drag my pants down to just below my navel. She groped between my legs, lifted her hand, and sniffed it as if confirming something. A heartbeat later, she glared at me like she wanted to kill me.

“You filthy b!`tch, so you finally did it.”

“Ngghk!”

She seized my collar and hauled me upright.

“You b!`tch. You slept with Deputy Ki, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about, you lunatic!”

“You smell like c0.ck between your legs and you’re going to lie? You’re soaked in it and think you can lie through your mouth? You screwed Deputy Ki in the post, didn’t you? Say it straight, b!`tch!”

So she really had sensed something. I thrashed, but I didn’t shove Yera or grab her hair in retaliation.

I must not cause an incident. Absolutely not. I forced myself to stay controlled, maintaining a calm that meant nothing in front of a rabid dog.

“…I don’t know what you keep talking about, but nothing happened.”

A sharp crack rang out as my head jerked to the side. With one hand fisted in my collar, Yera slapped me hard with the other and shook me by the fabric.

“Don’t lie to me, b!`tch. I knew what you were the moment you flashed your tits at Deputy Ki. You filthy whore. I ought to kill you.”

Yera’s frenzy was unbelievable. She had always been wary of me, but she had never shown this level of hostility. It was shocking. Her palm cracked across my cheek again. The sting was blinding, as if she had hit me with a shovel.

“You sly fox. You wag your tail at Deputy Ki like that and think I won’t say anything? I warned you, you stupid b!`tch.”

My head rocked sideways under the blow. I didn’t fight back at all. The more passive I stayed, the more frantic Yera became, until Eyes rushed in and grabbed her from behind.

My cheek throbbed with humiliation and fury, and because I hadn’t been able to hit back, the words slipped out.

“Fuck… you can have him. Deputy Ki wouldn’t touch trash like you anyway.”

“You b!`tch!”

Just as she swung again, Eyes barely managed to catch her arm. At that moment, a heavy pounding rattled the steel door. Through the small square window of bars, the very cause of this chaos let his voice drift in, calm and unhurried, and everyone froze on the spot.

“Return to your places and sit.”

“……”

“I will not warn you twice. Backs against the wall.”

It was Deputy Ki. I had no idea how long he had been watching.

Yera shot me a threatening look before releasing my collar. I collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut before slowly lifting myself back up.

I brushed off the front of my uniform, crumpled and missing a button, then leaned my back against the wall.

Across from me, Yera still glared, vicious and unblinking. I couldn’t win a physical fight, but I refused to lose with my eyes. I met her stare with my own, full of contempt, when the steel door clanked open.

Deputy Ki stepped inside, the polished toe of his shoe tapping against the floor as he crossed the room. A few strides brought him directly to me.

He bent one knee, lowering himself in front of me. Under the brim of his cap, his gaze moved from my burning eyes to my flushed cheek. His long arm reached out, and the tip of his thumb brushed gently across my skin.

“Ugh…!”

My cheek hurt, and on top of that, what he was doing was practically throwing oil on an open flame. I hurried to push his arm away.

Deputy Ki rose again and turned toward Yera.

“5983. Stand up.”

Slowly, hesitantly, Yera lifted herself to her feet. It was absurd to see how prim she looked now, so different from the way she had acted moments ago, ready to tear me apart.

Up until that moment, neither Yera nor anyone else in the room had truly feared Deputy Ki. I hadn’t, either. I assumed he would give a warning and that would be the end of it.

A sharp crack split the air, followed by Yera’s short scream as she crumpled to the floor.

“……”

No one spoke. Not the one who’d been hit, not the ones who watched. Moments like this weren’t rare in prison. What shocked everyone was that the one who’d done it was Deputy Ki.

He glanced down at Yera, sprawled flat on the floor, then headed toward the small sink in the corner of the cell. It was where we washed our faces and rinsed dishes, and sometimes the drain smell rose up. He reached for a towel hanging carelessly on a hook, soaked it under the tap, and wrung it tight.

In the moment I watched him, thinking no, no, he wouldn’t, time felt impossibly long, stretching out like it had no end.

Without wasted movement, he finished wringing the towel, then returned to me and bent one knee just as before. The cold cloth pressed against my swollen cheek.

“……”

Four days until the Christmas service, a week until the new year, and not long until I was supposed to leave this place.

Time I thought was nearly over suddenly felt remote, unreachable. A sinking dread crept through me, warming the cheek he had cooled.