CHAPTER 155: TREMENDOUS STRESS

Yun-Ha sat up straight in her bed, her hands clutching her phone.

A myriad thoughts were coursing through her head, reflected in the comments.

- It couldn’t be right?

- There’s no way, can’t be.

But the source wasn’t a third-grade tabloid but a respected crime journalist, and a simple search on the internet showed many such articles popping up.

"Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions," Yun-Ha mused. "They are in the UK, so it can’t be him."

She opened the article.

An hour after midnight that heralded the 24th, Patricia Kim, the daughter of Weisin Conglomerate’s CEO, was found sprawled in her room.

According to the shocked servant, who had clocked in only an hour before and found the body, the victim had ’bled out, with a blade protruding from her chest.’

The doctor who arrived only half an hour later declared her dead.

Yun-Ha bit her thumb. "What in the world is going on?"

She was desperately hoping that this wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain violence-prone man.

The authorities have begun investigating the scene, which was found littered with the victim’s belongings, and the initial assessment suggests foul play.

Our sources reported that the crime scene was ’messy and alarming,’ reminiscent of sacrificial rituals.

Yun-Ha felt her stomach churn. There was something very odd about the wording. It made her feel sick.

Although the victim was naked, no evidence suggesting sexual assault was found.

Police haven’t made any formal declarations yet, but we believe that before noon, a press conference will be held.

"They are seriously reporting all this without any announcements from the police?"

Yun-Ha clicked her tongue.

"This will be a public clown show from now on."

She could smell the scent of trouble.

It was the kind of story that attracted the attention of the whole nation, the sort of thing that began conversations between strangers.

But unlike the others, her concern involved something different.

- Oh, lord, no! Please don’t tell me it’s him.

- Who else could it be?

- Is this why we haven’t heard anything about his projects?

- Oh, shit... Oh, shit. Oh, shit!

- Please tell me it ain’t so.

- Oh my god, what have I done that you have caused such pain to our humble community?

- Don’t overreact, guys, there is a good chance that it could be someone else.

- I mean, cmon, it can’t be him. He wouldn’t go so far, would he?

As if to answer their questions, another post went up.

Attached to it was another article.

’[Ol’ News] The servant who found the body of Patricia Kim admits that her "mistress was under tremendous stress" for months leading up to her death.’

"Oh, no. Please no," pleaded Yun-Ha.

But the article ignored her pleas as she reached the meat of the story.

When asked about the clutter in the room, Mrs. Choi, who had served Ms. Kim for over a decade, responded, "We weren’t allowed in the room."

"Only rarely, once in weeks, would she allow someone to come inside and clean for her," continued Mrs. Choi when asked for details. "I happened to be the one cleaning for her once or twice, always in the afternoon. She would not allow cleaning at any other time."

When asked if this had always been the case, she gave a firm "No."

"She was afraid."

Mrs. Choi looked unnerved and uncomfortable.

Yun-Ha shivered. "Are they reporting or writing a novel?"

"You hear things on TV and the girls gossip, so that’s all I know about. But, well, how should I put it? Mrs. Kim has always been confident."

But she lost all her usual tendencies. She was known for her frequent donations to charities and involvement in high society, but all that stopped after a certain incident.

"Since those robberies, she stopped leaving her room."

The burglaries that saw the entertainment journalists linked with Walter Dean, arrested for his alleged crimes against a roster of celebrities, finding letters spelling the name of the late victim, seemed to have caused her great stress.

"She started drinking heavily and stopped eating healthy. No matter who tried, she would not leave her room. Since that day, she stopped socializing altogether."

We asked Mrs. Choi about her physical condition. "She looked pale. I even thought that she looked like a ghost."

The article continued, talking about Patricia’s fears.

"If you ask me what she was afraid of, I think it would be that masked individual. I think she was afraid that he would find her."

We asked whether the victim suspected anyone specific as the masked burglar, and a familiar yet unsurprising description came out of her quivering lips.

"That devilish man from that devilish show."

The name that we suspect the victim feared is none other than actor Averie Quinn Auclair, suspected to be behind the assault on Walter Dean.

"It’s done," muttered Yun-Ha.

Her legs lost all their strength, and she nearly collapsed.

"They are not afraid of lawsuits, are they?"

But that wasn’t such a ridiculous attitude. Unlike other actors, Averie, in many ways, was a vulnerable celebrity.

"He doesn’t have an entertainment company to support him."

If he had, no article would have dared to publish his name as a suspect.

Yun-Ha, in her stupor, turned to the comment section.

- Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

- It can’t be.

- He did it! He did it! Oh, god, he did it!

- Someone, please say I am dreaming.

- Is this the project you have been working on? It isn’t as entertaining!

- Why would he do this?

- Oh, my dreams...

Yun-Ha stroked her phone as if she were patting a horse.

She could feel the confusion and despair through the cracked screen.

It wasn’t long ago that she thought she had found a phenomenal performer in the violent show that was Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell.

She had thought that a century-defining actor had graced the Earth. She didn’t know much about acting, but that is how she felt, strangely enough.

And now, he had gone and shattered that faith.

The rest of the AQuinn community felt the same way.

The country saw them as a bunch of misfits and troublemakers. But for them, the reverence for their actor wasn’t something defined by anything as shallow as hot looks. Although they did like his hot looks.

To them, he represented an enigma, a true bewitcher.

Now, they felt the rush of their suppressed emotions in different forms.

There was worry.

- Is he alright? He didn’t go mental, did he?

There was sorrow.

- It’s so over. This has his name written all over it. I would like to deny it, but who am I kidding? I like him for it.

There was confusion.

- Why? Why? Why?

There was anger.

- We defend you at every turn, and is this how you repay us? Did you not once think about your fanbase before doing this?

Some who found it hard to vocalize their frustrations directed it at the post that said he was in the UK.

- You still think he is in the UK, you lying bitch?

- You chose the wrong time to lie.

- You stinking pig, is this your idea of a joke? Did you read an article before posting this? Was that your plan? To see us suffer?

- Why would you lie like this? Do you have no shame?

- Were you hoping to farm interactions? Are you that lonely, you loser?

At some point in their worry and fear, they had lost all reasoning and considered Averie the prime suspect.

Within three hours, the news was everywhere.

"This is going to be such a shock when people wake up in the morning," Yun-Ha muttered.

She was having a hard time sleeping, so instead, she had decided to stay glued to her screen.

Her mother was going to be mad at her, but she wasn’t worried.

"She will understand when I show her this."

At that moment, another post went up.

It was an official statement from the Seoul police.

"So, they announced it as a murder."

"Currently, while we are chasing certain leads, we do not have any prime suspects," said the deputy chief. "The corporation has been informed of the matter."

"No prime suspects at the moment?" Her brows furrowed. "At least, they are not shaming his name, unlike these journalists."

"The signs at the scene show that a ritual had taken place prior to the murder. Such methods align with certain unsavory groups, but at the moment, we cannot link them to it."

"He’s talking a lot."

Her phone rang, and she picked it up before her parents could wake up and scold her.

It was her short friend.

"Did you see it?" she screamed through the phone.

’What’s the point of letting it not ring if she is going to yell like that?’

"What do you think happened?"

There was uncertainty in her voice.

They talked for two hours straight when her parents woke up.

"It’s everywhere," Yun-Ha’s mother muttered, changing channels.

"Yeah," uttered her father.

The media, the entertainment world, and the public alike had only one man as the suspect.

"We lost the war before it even began," Yun-Ha whispered melodramatically.

She refreshed the AQuinn forum page, fearing the worst.

Another title with an attached article was posted.

’[The Moon] BSPH actor Averie Quinn Auclair arrested in Birmingham, England on the charges of motor racing.’