126 — The Road to Hell II

Mia's POV:

Mia straightened her spine.

Su Ah sucked in a quick breath and held it.

And suddenly the entire bed moved. No, they were the ones moving. The entire fucking world had gone topsy-turvy.

Because suddenly it was Su Ah who had the advantage, her legs wrapped around Mia's waist like a snake, flipping the two of them so hard they rolled off the bed and onto the floor, and then rolled a couple more times with Su Ah triumphantly ending on top.

Su Ah glared, her black hair tousled in front of her eyes. "You crazy, stupid Unnie. How dare you? How dare you make those assumptions?!" She choked out. "Coming from you, no less? How the hell can you call me a liar and act so innocent? Where do you get the right, huh? Where?!" Su Ah made a noise like she couldn't control it anymore.

An odd mixture between an incredulous laugh and an indignant bark.

A sign that Mia had crossed the threshold of being crazy, because no sane person should think these thoughts. Even if the truth was all there and laid out so painfully bare for all of the residents of the house to see, as though Mia had pulled off her mask.

She had dug a grave for her brother.

And the last thing any of them needed was for Su Ah to dig even deeper.

Mia clenched her jaw, bared her teeth in a snarl.

Su Ah scowled down.

For a while, none of them spoke. Mia tried not to look too much into Su Ah's strange expression and vice versa. They glared, silently daring each other to say anything. To continue and confirm their shared knowledge or acknowledge the shameful events taking place within the household's walls.

But to be fair, even if the initial motivations and actions were the same, the way these two went about achieving their shared desires was polar opposite.

Mia liked using physical manipulation, whilst Su Ah appeared to have utilized psychological and emotional manipulation to her advantage.

In the end, all three of them had crossed the same damn threshold.

Mia tried to form words, but came out empty-mouthed.

Where was this madness even supposed to go?

How deep did their mutual depravity have to dig down until it reached hell itself, since neither could stop?

It wasn't as if Mia and Su Ah could come out and own their twisted ways with some shameless proclamations about loving their little brother beyond the sister-brother status.

It was like a ritualistic suicide, a game, a no-holds barred duel, that was only amusing up until a certain point, but there was no referee stopping any of the opponents before things got carried away.

No, Mia knew. This was bound to be a game no one would win.

"You—"

And Mia felt a smidgen of pity for her younger sister, because she'd been where Su Ah was.

She'd been in Su Ah's exact same situation and could testify how unpleasant that bitter cup was to drink. And how much sweeter the taste got once you got past that first sip. Once you drowned that niggling feeling of being a hypocrite and a monster and felt all the liberating implications and delicious aftereffects, how pleasant that second and third sip could be.

Mia twisted hard, hips bucking, and managed to shove Su Ah off to the side. They both hit the carpet with a dull thud.

The house was completely silent, save the pounding of her blood in her ears, the ragged gasps ripping her throat, and the panicked wheezing coming from Su Ah.

All she could hear was their breathing. Fast. Too fucking fast.

Shit had been going out of control for a long while now, but this had to take the cake for the night, probably the entire year, century, life.

When neither of them did anything beyond exchanging infuriated stares, Mia slowly got up, knees wobbly. "Fuck this." She gritted, ran her hands over her face, through her hair. She spared Su Ah a glance. Mia didn't know what exactly she had expected her younger sister to show. Defeat, resignation, acquiescence? Well, what she found wasn't that.

If anything, Mia was met with a defiance the likes of which she had not yet witnessed in a very long while.

And she wanted to strangle someone so bad.

Or to stab someone.

Then she was reminded of how close she had come to actually stabbing someone and the idea itself made her shudder with disgust. Yes, Mia had always been a little off the edge, but her moral compass was not entirely screwed beyond any form of redemption.

Until now.

"I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing..." Mia sighed as she turned towards Su Ah, who was still on the carpet. Her little sister glared up at her, unmoving, almost regal, absolutely uncowed. "But one thing, Su Ah. Just one thing. There's no scenario where this ends well for you, or for him. And if you know what's good, you'll keep your distance from him. If you want to ruin your life, that's your choice. Just don't ruin his along the way." Mia exhaled slowly.

"......"

Su Ah lowered her gaze as Mia made her way out.

…

Mia shut the door behind her with a soft click. Didn't slam it. Slamming would've felt better, but her mother could've been sleeping.

Her hands were shaking.

She pressed them flat against the wall until the trembling stopped.

From inside Su Ah's room came no sound. Nothing. No crying, no yelling, no thrown objects. Just silence. That was worse somehow.

"......"

A hypocrite, that's what she was.

And Mia knew it, that was why she didn't stay in that room a moment more than necessary. Everything she had just preached to Su Ah would've been much more effective if the bitch herself hadn't been riding their little brother, but ah.

The most annoying thing was, she meant those words.

The irony.

Oh the irony.

She shook her head slowly, making her way through the corridor.

Was this what her life had become?

Su Ah, as it turned out, wasn't so different from her. The night might have proven she and Mia were much more similar in their nature and urges than either had wanted to believe. And this realization had definitely disturbed Mia. What was she supposed to do? What were they supposed to do?

Her own words kept looping.

There's no scenario where this ends well for you, or for him.

She had meant it. Every syllable. Because she could already see the endings. Mom finding out. Jae-il's career is collapsing. Police. Psych wards. Or worse, quieter things, him looking at both of them one day and realizing he hated them. Realizing he hated himself more for letting it happen. But despite it all, Mia couldn't stop.

She had seen that look in his eyes tonight, just for a second, when she clung to him at the door. That wild-eyed, trapped look. Not quite helpless or even scared, but... startled, maybe. Like he had just seen a new shade of her. Like he'd suddenly found a dark spot of mold on his completely white and pristine wall, except that mold was rapidly spreading.

Maybe she should tone it down a bit.

Just a bit.

In front of him, at least. Be more gentle and caring and don't keep acting like a fucking psycho.

Easier said than done.

Easier fucking imagined, period.

Mia's steps slowly stuttered as a figure emerged from the shadows, shambling past her. Feet that dragged themselves. Thin. A tangle of white fabric and deadweight and disheveled hair. Loafers scuffing on the wood flooring. Like a zombie, she was dragging her legs towards the bathroom, as if some vital energy source was waiting for her there.

"Mom?"

"......?!"

At first she didn't even think she was alive. It looked so... surreal.

Then the ghost heard her voice. Saw her standing there.

Her face turned blank.

But not entirely void of emotion. It was more as if her mother was trying very hard not to feel anything at all.

"H-Huh... Mia?"

Had she been so out of it that Eun Ha hadn't even seen her own daughter half a meter away? Was it sleepwalking? Mia blinked. No, that couldn't be it. The woman wasn't asleep in the first place.

Eun Ha's eyes were open, but they looked…

Ah...

Bloodshot. Puffy and swollen, red. So were the whites of her eyes, as if she had just been rubbing them for a long while. Dark bags rested underneath the lower lids. Bags under bags.

Mia's mouth went slightly open in disbelief as she beheld, for the first time, a woman on the verge of breaking apart.

Eun Ha's lips moved, slowly.

"You're up late..."

It wasn't a question, but a statement that kind of floated there between the two.

Something wasn't right...

Mia stared blankly at her mother.

"Mom, you... are you alright?"

Genuine concern laced her words.

The older woman slowly blinked back. She smiled. At least it was a passable attempt.

The crinkles around her eyes. The dark bags. The puffy eye sockets. The mouth that pulled upwards to display white teeth.

How could she possibly be alright looking like a corpse?

"Of course, I'm always okay. Are you alright, dear?"

Mia nodded uncertainly. "Why are you—"

"Excuse me, dear." Eun Ha muttered, smiling one last time.

She drew her sleep robe tighter around herself.

Then, with stiff, shaky legs, the woman walked past her daughter, towards the bathroom. She emerged from the shadows, just to disappear into them once again.

The darkness engulfed her entire frail-looking body, leaving no trace of her.

Mia was left stunned in the corridor.

What was more, the eerie feeling that something was very off was too strong for her liking.

Because Eun Ha's usually soft, happy-looking countenance had been gone, wiped clean. Leaving only the ghastly semblance of a lifeless shell of a woman.

Never had Eun Ha looked so sickly white and sweaty and flustered.

And haunted.

As if she had done something very, very wrong and had to live with the guilt, carrying an invisible cross no one could help her with.

Mia couldn't get it out of her head.

Even as she dragged herself back to her room.

As she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

How everything had seemingly changed. A single domino had tipped and led to another, and then a few more and a dozen, and now the domino chain had multiplied by the dozens.

Eun Ha's behavior.

Mia and her sick and disgusting desires. And neither could Su Ah escape it now. They rode in the same twisted carriage to hell after all.

Jae-il, the young, perfect son. Where did his patience and tolerance come from?

Or maybe he was just as fucked as they were, undearneath all of that glamor and beautiful facade.

For sure.

"......"