Beyond the gasps and audible expressions of pity, inconsolable sobbing could be heard.
A young lady, who appeared to be in her early adulthood, stood in her mother's embrace, listening to her comforting words. Her eyes were already swollen, yet her tears continued to flow.
"Sister. Sister..."
She wept pitifully. Even the bystanders felt distressed at the sight of such a heartbreaking scene. Her family was even more devastated.
"Min Min, my poor baby," the middle-aged woman said as she tried to console her daughter.
The middle-aged man on the other side could only sigh. He glanced at the center of the commotion and shook his head in regret.
"She's gone. There's no need to break your heart over it, my child."
He then turned his attention to the pair of young men standing side by side near his daughter.
Perceiving the signal from his father, Myun simply nodded. He glanced at the man beside him before uttering,
"Let's go."
The young man didn't even lift his head. He continued looking at Min, feeling distressed. Nevertheless, he followed Myun toward the center of the street to deal with the aftermath of the accident.
Lying in the middle of the road was a young woman. She had exquisite facial features, and her snow-white skin was accentuated by her fairy-like black dress. If it weren't for the blood surrounding her, one might have thought she had merely fallen asleep or was in the middle of filming a scene.
Such a shame that she was already dead.
"She suddenly ran across the road while the light was green. She was obviously distracted," Witness 1 said.
"I actually saw her stop in the middle of the road and look somewhere. I thought she was going to the center aisle to wait, but no. She just stood there like a lunatic," Witness 2 added.
"If she wanted to die, she shouldn't have dragged innocent people into it. Just look at the driver! He looks traumatized!" Witness 3 exclaimed indignantly, clearly pissed off by how inconsiderate this suicidal woman had been.
Words of pity and criticism continued to circulate as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. The woman's body was left there for everyone to see, becoming a topic of discussion among the gossipmongers.
The two young men didn't even bat an eye at her. They simply stood on either side of the scene, occasionally warning the crowd not to take pictures.
Deep down, they felt annoyed at how such a joyous day had turned into such a cumbersome affair.
The annoyance that flashed in their eyes didn't escape someone's notice.
She stood motionless within the crowd, witnessing everything that was happening. The annoyed older brother, the apathetic fiancé, the seemingly uncaring parents, and the sly smile the weeping girl concealed within the embrace of her biological parents.
The young lady stood there unmoving and gave a wry smile.
"I was a fool."
Looking at her bloodied self lying on the road, she couldn't help but reminisce about the five years she had spent in her new home.
Her supposedly real home.
Five years ago, they had found her.
It turned out that Min and she had been switched at birth. Min had lived a comfortable life, bathing in affection all year round, while she had lived in a rather sorry state.
Her adoptive parents might not have been rich, but they had treated her as their own daughter. Unfortunately, when she was six years old, her parents had died in an accident, leaving her all alone.
Her custody was then transferred to her aunt, her mother's sister and the only remaining relative she had.
Living with a single mother of three children was manageable at first, but as time went on, financial difficulties strained what had once been a harmonious relationship.
It was then that they began searching for her whereabouts.
Myun had inherited a liver disorder that required a liver transplant, and the best candidate for the procedure was his sibling, Min. However, during cross-matching, they discovered that the two weren't biologically related at all.
This prompted them to investigate the whereabouts of their biological daughter. They eventually found her and brought her back into the family.
The naive girl had been ecstatic that day.
She thought she could finally experience the warmth of having a family again. She actually had a mother, a father, an older brother, and a sister of the same age.
She was so happy, so excited, that she failed to notice the subtle signs that she was actually unwanted. That she was nothing more than a necessity to save their son.
She couldn't see beyond the facade of warm affection they showered upon her, nor did she realize that the sweet sister she adored was actually so sinister.
Suddenly, the sound of a siren jolted her out of her reverie.
Her body was taken away, and the crowd finally dispersed. However, she remained standing there, watching the personnel clean up the aftermath of the accident.
"Sis, please don't cry anymore."
Myun's voice caught her attention.
She raised her head and gazed at her family.
"I just can't believe that Sister is gone. Today is our eighteenth birthday. How could she leave us? I don't understand how this could have happened."
Min's weak voice trembled, and her red, puffy eyes continued to shed tears.
If a beautiful lady clad in a white, fairy-like dress wept so pitifully, it would certainly tug at anyone's heartstrings.
[Sister is really an amazing actress.]
She thought.
Amid everyone's efforts to cheer Min up, her fiancé suddenly leaned toward her and whispered something.
She was so distracted by the glint of happiness in Min's eyes that she couldn't even catch what her fiancé had said.
Her fists clenched unknowingly.
Then, Min finally stopped weeping, and a small, innocent smile bloomed on her face.
Her family seemed relieved that their precious girl had finally been consoled.
They were all smiling.
[Why?]
[Are they so happy that I'm finally dead?]
She closed her eyes, feeling exhausted.
She was already dead anyway. What was the point of feeling angry? Of feeling wronged? Of feeling that everything was unfair?
They were so happy living their lives. Should she continue grieving even in death?
She walked to the spot where she had died.
Though the concrete road was wet, it was already devoid of blood. She lay there, not knowing what to do.
Finally, she decided to close her eyes and pray that she would reincarnate soon, hoping it would free her from her pain.
But, to her disappointment, the smiling faces of her so-called family kept appearing in her mind.
Those happy faces they had shown earlier were the same ones that had welcomed her five years ago.
(Drip.)
(Drip.)
Realizing that she had been crying, she couldn't help but laugh.
[I'm already dead, so how come I can still shed tears?]
She sighed.
[Well, at least they tolerated my existence for five years. It must have been hard for them to keep it all in. Mom and Dad definitely did their best. I should understan—]
She stopped and placed her arm over her forehead.
[I'm doing it again, huh? Habits really do die hard.]
She then smiled wryly.
[She was right.]
[My kindness is just stupidity, and such stupidity really did kill me.]