A Murder in the Realm (5)

Soma was crying loudly in his sister's arms. Aimee tried to calm him down but the child's cries were only increasing by the minute.

"SHUT HIM UP!" Beomsoo bellowed from the other room. He lay on the couch, high on drugs while Aimee was left to deal with her brother.

"Stop crying!" she yelled at Soma with tears in her eyes. It had been hours since they escaped her parents' home. When they had planned the murder, they thought of the life they were going to have after gaining freedom. Beomsoo promised that they would run away to another city and get married. He also told her that his parents were going to support them until they became adults. Soma was going to have a good life too.

But it had been hours and Beomsoo was dead high.

"Beomsoo, when are we going to leave town?" she asked desperately. "The police might come looking for us!"

"Soon!" he mumbled. "But shut that kid up! I can't sleep!"

He turned the other way to sleep. Aimee shook him with one hand.

"Beomsoo, we have to get going!" she exclaimed. "The cops-"

"Shut it!" he snapped at her but Aimee was not done.

"The cops are going to arrest us!" she yelled. "Aren't you afraid?"

Beomsoo got to his feet and grabbed her hair, pulling at it. Aimee screamed, her eyes watering up by the pain.

"Bitch!" he cursed. "Why are you asking me? You're the one who failed to get the money out of your parents' accounts! If you had gotten the money, we could have left!"

"I didn't know that my father changed his signature!" she protested. "He must have done it to prevent me from accessing it! But we have to-"

A tight slap landed on her cheek, making her stagger backwards. "BITCH!" he yelled. "You dare to backtalk me? You are useless Aimee! You were supposed to get the money so that we could have bought more drugs! And now, we have nothing but this crying kid!"

He glared at Soma who was still crying for his mother. The boy's little heart was confused and dazed as he tried to cope with what was going on.

"Just shut him up!" Beomsoo warned. "Otherwise, I'll kill him!"

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my brother!" Aimee shouted.

"Oho!" Beomsoo sneered. "Now you've got such love for your family? Where was it when you were killing your own parents with the axe?"

"I did it for you!" Aimee claimed. "Because I love you!"

"Love is useless to me!" he shouted. "I need the drugs, man! I need money for them!"

He was deranged and shaking. Pacing to and fro, Beomsoo was mumbling nonsense to himself. There was no money for drugs left and he must get some otherwise he was going to die. Aimee winced at him, feeling disgusted. How could someone be so heartless?

Beomsoo strode over to the window and to his shock, there were a couple of police cars parked outside. A group of cops had gathered and were about to enter the building.

"Shit!" he cursed. "The cops are here!"

"I told you!" Aimee shrieked. "I told you we should have-"

But he slapped her so hard this time that she fell back. Soma fell on her chest and was crying even harder. Seeing the child gave Beomsoo an idea.

Without a word, he snatched Soma and ran off.

"Beomsoo!" Aimee cried. "Give me back my brother."

But Beomsoo was already out of the door and heading for the roof. Aimee staggered behind him, trying to reach her boyfriend.

At that moment, Jina and Hobin appeared in the corridor only to see the couple running towards the roof with the child.

"Stop!" Jina yelled, taking out her gun while Hobin headed for the apartment. He glanced around and noticed a fire escape outside the window. Climbing outside the window, he looked up. The fire escape led to the roof…

Aimee did not stop and rushed to the roof, prompting Jina to follow her. To her shock, Beomsoo was holding the child hostage while Aimee pleaded for her brother's life.

Jina took out her gun to take aim but Beomsoo was standing near the railing with the kid who was crying hard.

"I'll drop this kid to his death!" Beomsoo warned. "I'm warning ya, cop! I'll kill him!"

"Beomsoo, just let him go!" Aimee begged. "He's just a kid!"

"Shut it!" he screamed at her. "If the cops don't leave, I'll kill him."

"Beomsoo, let the child go," Jina warned. "Even if you kill him, you won't be able to get out of here! The cops have surrounded the area!"

"Tell them to let us leave then!" he demanded. "Otherwise this brat will die!"

"Beomsoo, you love me, right?" Aimee pleaded. "Let Soma go! For my sake!"

But to her shock, he spat at her. Aimee was stunned, the spit dripping from her face.

"Whe the fuck would love you?" he sneered. "I was only with you for the money you gave me. Your parents were loaded and you were their only daughter! So I used you for my pleasure and money. And now, you're worthless!"

Aimee was still as a statue, her heart crushed to pieces upon hearing that. She truly believed that Beomsoo loved and understood her. She even went to the point of murdering her own parents for him. And now, he was claiming that it was all a lie…

Jina wanted to pity Aimee's situation. But the girl's actions were preventing even an affable person like Jina from feeling any sympathy for her. There were more pressing matters.

"You really didn't get his deception, did you?" Jina asked her. "He was using you for money. That's it. There's no love involved on his part."

"That's right!" Beomsoo laughed. "You can arrest this bitch. I don't need her. Besides, she was the one who did the killing. I didn't even leave any evidence behind. It's all her-"

He froze mid-sentence as a hand hit his head, attacking a critical point. Beomsoo went still for a few seconds as Hobin approached from behind him and grabbed the baby before the drug addict fell on the roof, unconscious.

"Well, the kid wouldn't have died from the fall considering that there's a fire escape right below," Hobin casually commented as he climbed over the railing with the child.

Jina could only stare at him in wonder but Hobin handed her the child.

"I believe he's your headache now," he said and was walking away.

"How...why…" Jina gaped but decided not to waste her brain cells on the details. The child was safe and the culprits were caught. That was what mattered.

"Aimee you are under arrest-" she was saying but paused midway. "Aimee!"

Hobin, who was walking towards the exit, stopped upon hearing Jina's cry and turned around.

Aimee was standing on the railing, ready to jump off the fifth floor.