Đồng Hân seemed a little quiet. I didn’t dare explain that I had something to do with her sister’s death. It was all because that night, I’d gotten drunk and accidentally stumbled into her sister’s room. There was no one else there with her.
The phone on the table kept ringing. I’d answered Trịnh Hưng’s call. After he cursed me out, I got angry, messed up her sister’s clothes, and took a bunch of pictures to send to Trịnh Hưng.
I was the one who made Trịnh Hưng believe Tưởng Hân Đồng was cheating on him, which led him to publish those pictures out of revenge.
I remembered that Tưởng Hân Đồng had a lot of scars on her body. They seemed to be the result of Trịnh Hưng’s bizarre tastes…
I was the one who had caused Tưởng Hân Đồng’s death…
On the way back, I held Đồng Hân’s hand. She seemed a little reluctant, but she didn’t pull away.
After the seven days were up, I would tell her everything. From then on, I’d take good care of her, because she was the person I loved most in the world.
When I got back to the dorm, I saw that Little Fatty seemed to have asked someone to find the pictures Trịnh Hưng had published. Just as I remembered, Tưởng Hân Đồng had a lot of scars on her body. Trịnh Hưng really was an abusive man, and Tưởng Hân Đồng had been his victim.
Those pictures had been exposed, and her life had been ruined.
Little Fatty was so furious he wanted to kill Trịnh Hưng, but we stopped him in time. After all, Trịnh Hưng was practically insane by then…
I tucked the protective amulet inside my shirt and slept peacefully through the night.
We were woken by a knock at the door. To our surprise, the police were standing outside.
Little Fatty and I were taken in because Trịnh Hưng was dead. He had been burned alive in his apartment. The fire had broken out on the same night Đồng Hân and I had gone there, while Little Fatty had stopped by a few days earlier.
According to the neighbors, he had been engulfed in flames, as if wearing a red wedding dress. He’d thrown himself from the twentieth-floor balcony, smashing into the ground. Not a single bone remained intact; his body was mangled into a bloody heap, spread across the ground.
My whole body trembled with fear, because I didn’t know if I would be next…
My hand slowly slipped inside my shirt and touched the protective amulet. I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Đồng Hân had reminded me to seek out the abbot.
12
Later, Little Fatty and I were both released, since quite some time had passed between when we left the scene and when the fire broke out. So the police still had to determine whether it had been arson or whether Trịnh Hưng had gone mad and killed himself.
As soon as I walked out of the police station, I saw Đồng Hân waiting on a street corner. I called goodbye to Little Fatty and immediately headed toward her.
When she saw me, she smiled sweetly and took my hand. I slowed down half a step, seeing nothing but her glossy black hair, my nose filled with the sweet scent of almonds that clung to her.
Before I knew it, I’d followed her back to her dorm. It was the women’s dorm, and she told me all her roommates had gone home, leaving only her. It was my first time inside a women’s dorm. The conditions were much better than in the men’s dorm—every room had its own bathroom, which made me envious. But the room seemed rather dusty.
During the holiday break, we ate and stayed together without anyone disturbing us.
Our relationship progressed quickly, but unfortunately, she still wouldn’t let me touch her. Thinking of the seven-day deadline, I knew what mattered most right now; everything else could wait.
Time flew by. Đồng Hân seemed happier and happier, as though she was happy because of me.
The seventh and final day finally arrived. That evening, Đồng Hân and I ordered some wine and delicious food to celebrate, looking forward to the good life ahead of us.
I felt like the food that day tasted different from usual, much better. Maybe I was just in a good mood.
That night, Đồng Hân drank a little too much and spilled water on me.
She apologized as she helped me take off my shirt, telling me to send it to the laundry.
When I came back after washing it, she had used a dryer to dry my clothes. I put my shirt back on and lay down.
Night fell quickly. Before going to sleep, I even texted Little Fatty, telling him I’d take good care of Đồng Hân.
After all, she was his cousin.
That night, we fell asleep in each other’s arms, and I slept very well.
In the middle of the night, half-asleep, I sensed that Đồng Hân had gone to the bathroom. By instinct, I felt inside my shirt pocket. The protective charm was still there. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked out the window. The sky was turning a pale blue, as if these were the last moments of night before dawn.
Just as I was about to fall asleep again, Đồng Hân returned. She lay down with her back to me, and a lock of hair slipped from her shoulder.
For an instant, I saw a red mark on the back of her shoulder, like a birthmark, and heard something inside my head snap like a taut string.
My reason and composure finally abandoned me. It wasn’t a birthmark, but a burn from a cigarette butt. A fresh scar.
I knew that scar very well, because I’d seen it a few days earlier in the picture Little Fatty had found.
It was a scar on Tưởng Hân Đồng’s body…
My mouth fell open, but I couldn’t make a sound. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, Đồng Hân had suddenly vanished from beside me.
The night grew frighteningly quiet. It was as if all of Room 403 had been cut off from space and time. All I could hear was my breathing growing heavier and my teeth chattering.
My ear suddenly began to itch, as if someone were leaning close and breathing softly into it. The air carried a horrifying, heavy stench of blood.
A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out: “I’ve found you…”
I saw a flash of silver. Blood spurted from my throat, gradually staining my white shirt red. I tried to pull out the protective charm, but it was no longer a charm—just a blank sheet of paper.
Đồng Hân stood in front of the bed, looking at me coldly. She dropped the old charm to the floor.
The hope I’d once had now only made the despair all the more brutal. This was the real revenge…
I tried to reach for my phone, but blood was everywhere. Everything before my eyes grew blurry.
Through the overlapping images, I saw a message from Little Fatty on my phone screen: [Brother Vu, what are you talking about? My cousin……was an only child…]
I slowly fell to the floor. Blood kept pouring out of me, just like the red wedding dress Tưởng Hân Đồng had worn that day.
Hân Đồng… Đồng Hân…
Just like in my dream, a woman gently caressed my skin. Her slender hands slowly moved along my neck, circling it, making me shudder…
I felt my feet lift off the ground, my whole body swaying as if I were on a swing…
“Hey, have you heard? A guy died in Room 403 of Building 3 in the women’s dorm. It used to be Tưởng Hân Đồng’s room. After she killed herself, everyone else in the room moved out, so it was abandoned…
They say he died horribly. He was hanging in the middle of the room, the cut in his neck so deep his head was almost severed. Blood soaked his whole body. At first glance, you’d think it was the red wedding dress Tưởng Hân Đồng used to wear…
The strangest thing was the plate of food on the table in the room—it was full of dead mice and cockroaches…”
In my daze, I seemed to see a woman in a red wedding dress slowly walking through the noisy crowd. The corner of her mouth lifted in a faint smile.
She sang, “So love, or don’t love; whoever is here, whoever isn’t, all who should be here will come…”
—THE END—