Minsoo withdrew slowly from Himi's embrace, as if retreating from the last safe haven in the midst of his chaotic life. His movements were heavy with shame, gathering the scattered pieces of his wounded pride while avoiding her eyes—the eyes that had just witnessed the moment of his collapse. Himi gestured toward the sofa with her palm, sitting down to wait for him with the patience of a mother for her son and the soul-crushing anxiety of a lover who has lost all hope of ever truly possessing her beloved.
Minsoo sat beside her, but the space between their bodies surged with silent storms. He spoke in a tone he tried to keep steady, but it emerged trembling:
"I'm fine now... there's no need to worry."
Himi turned to him, fixing her gaze upon him for a long beat—a look that pierced through all his defensive walls.
"It has been more than twenty years that I've known you, Minsoo... don't even try."
Minsoo attempted to escape through a pale joke, averting his eyes toward the scattered musical instruments.
"Twenty years? Really? I didn't know we had aged that much!"
But Himi's face remained stern, filled with a gravity that brooked no evasion.
"Minsoo, please... do not change the subject. You are not fine; you are crumbling before my eyes. The hallucinations that used to visit you every few months have now become a heavy, daily guest. I know well that the 'Jaybird' only appears when your tension has reached its absolute limit... What is really happening to you?"
She gripped his hand firmly, with a sincerity that made his heart shudder, and whispered with a plea that filled her eyes:
"Talk to me... tell me. I am here; I will hold your weakness before your strength. Just... do not stay silent."
Minsoo bowed his head, overcome by an oppressive silence. Deep down, he realized she was his only "safety," yet he did not fear her judgment. Rather, he was terrified of himself. He had begun to see a predatory beast in the mirrors of his soul, and he feared that one day, in one of his episodes, he might hurt her without even realizing it. To him, silence was not an escape; it was a means of protecting her from him.
Himi realized he would not speak tonight. She smiled with a mixture of bitterness and tenderness, then rose to leave.
"I won't force you to talk now... but remember, I will always be here, waiting for you."
The moment the door closed behind her, the monster returned to prey upon his mind. He stood in the middle of the studio, his eyes pinned behind the computer screen, where the necklace of the announcer, "Lee Woo-jin," lay.
A question was nearly killing him: How did it get here? It was in the car before. How did it travel to my car, and then to the studio?
Memory suddenly flashed back to their last meeting. He remembered clearly how he had admired that unique pendant, and how graciously Woo-jin had offered to give it to him as a gift. But Minsoo had firmly refused, feeling embarrassed at the mere thought of coveting someone else's possession.
Woo-jin had insisted on gifting the necklace to Minsoo, telling him that the letter W (for Woo-jin) could be flipped to become an M (for Minsoo), yet Minsoo had continued to decline out of shyness.
"If the necklace is here... did I accept it from him later and forget? Or did I...?"
His heart constricted as he recalled that godforsaken hallucination: the sound of pouring rain, the groan of an electric saw tearing through the silence, and that distorted song echoing in his ears. Memories blurred until he could no longer distinguish fact from delusion.
Had he accepted the necklace as a gift, or had he done something far worse, only for his memory to erase the crime? Or was he merely a victim of deceptive hallucinations, with the Jaybird manipulating him into believing he was a monster?
Minsoo remained alone in the darkness of the studio, staring at the necklace that now looked like an iron shackle tightening around the throat of his future. No matter how hard he tried to understand or remember, it was futile. The Jaybird's question continued to echo in his mind:
Are you the criminal... or the victim?