Even though it sickens me to look at it again, I deliberately make the first move. He's still shaking, face firmly turned away from the corpse.

It's like he wants to deny that he'd caused the body that was now lying lifeless on the ground.

"I'll take care of it," I say weakly. My voice is uncertain— I don't even know if I'm strong enough to carry the body. How was I supposed to know where to get rid of it?

But V looks too shaken. Too vulnerable, and I can't let him put any more stress and pressure upon himself. I'd find a way— I'd figure something out.

This would forever scar him— and he'd done this for my sake, which meant that I had made him murder. Unspoken apologies rush through my mind as I watch him breathe— chest rising and falling in a slight uneven rhythm.

My features twist into a wince as I wrap my fingers around the corpse's collar, feeling the blood smear against my skin. This is reality— the truth. It was something I had to face.

"Stop."

V's voice is cold and icy as he wrenches my grip from the corpse. When I look at him in surprise, I find him staring at the dead man with enough hate and fire to burn through flesh.

"Don't touch him."

Shock numbs my body. But I couldn't just leave the body out in the open— so exposed. Where a police officer or someone else could find it. If V's fingerprints were found on the corpse, then everything would be reduced to ruin.

He might be put in a worse punishment than he was now— and I'd never let myself live to see that happen.

"Then—"

"You," He whispers, pointing at me. Then he asks something that completely throws me off— something completely expected. "What's your name?"

"My..... Name?"

He nods, his eyes filled with such blank intensity that the question is no longer the only thing that throws me off, that confuses me.

My name.

I didn't have to be Chou Tzuyu here. I could be anything I chose to be— not something that my parents had.

Under the fire of his stare, and with blood on my hands— the thoughts race through quick and violent in my mind. There were too many options— too many possibilities for a life-changing decision such as this.

How many times in your life could you choose to be an entirely new person?

I knew it wasn't much, but a remnant of my past suddenly flashes through my head. My only friend— Areum, had used to mispronounce my first name so that it had sounded like Cher instead of Chou.

I'd always liked the sound of her saying it, until she left and moved away to another country that seemed a million miles away.

But at least, this way, I could keep a small reminder of her with me. She'd been the only good thing in my life, had shown me things that I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for her.

"Cher. My name is Cher."

Something in V's eyes deepen. "Cher, then. Listen carefully— you're not going to touch this body for as long as you live. And I'll take care of it, whatever that means."

He doesn't even blink an eye next as he slings the corpse over his shoulder, making it look so easy that it might've as well weighed thirty pounds.

But I catch a flash of a grimace on his lips before it flattens out into the usual emotionless line, the only sign showing how much this was hurting him.

Trying to distract him from the body on his own, I fall in step with his wide strides. "How did you find me so quickly? I didn't think I screamed at all, did I?"

"You didn't," He admits softly, his baritone voice smooth and silky in the dimming lights. "I'd been watching you."

Surprise fills my eyes. I hadn't seen a living thing before the man— how could he have been so stealthy for that long?

But among everything else, I had to confirm this.

"Did you leave because you grew sick of me?"

Even though I'd tried to keep the hurt at bay, it seems to come pouring out when I ask. V glances at me in unexpected surprise as I look at him, my eyes shadowed from the angle.

I wonder if it's just making me look more pathetic than I already was.

"No," He says, and I can't help my face lighting up from relief. "Why would you think that, anyway?"

I find it odd that he seems to know which way to go— even though I myself have no clue where we were going. His question echoes in my mind as I struggle for an answer.

"I don't know— it just worried me, I guess." I say quietly. Now I recognize which way we're going— it's the direction towards the river next to Central Park.

"I've had people leave before because of me— and I was afraid you were one of them."

I can't see his eyes when he looks back at me, darkened into two pools of black. But he says nothing as he continues walking, his posture more tense.

"How do you know where to go?" I ask, something I'd been curious about since he'd started walking. "I thought you hadn't seen the outside world since you were seven."

V looks at me again. "I haven't."

"Then how—"

"What do you think I did while you were fainted, Cher?"

My feet slow— the new name that I'd given myself sounds absolutely stunning on his tongue. It's smooth and gentle, like water cascading.

"Oh. You found the river."

He nods, and I marvel at his memory. All I recalled of the river was that it was far away from the prison, the way there all twisted and curved.

It was impressive how he'd memorized all that— and he wasn't even hesitating which way as he walked briskly.

"You're smart," The assumption is out of my throat before I can stop it, words full of wonder. "More than people give you credit for."

He stops all of a sudden, and I nearly run into him. Then he starts walking again, without a word of reply.

That tells me that I'm right.

__________________________

The waves of the river are pitch black— blending perfectly into the night sky, the darkened ground. I would've fallen into it if V hadn't stopped, signaling that we'd reached the maximum range.

I can hear the waters roaring and clashing against the side of the earth, spraying winter and ice in the dark.

For a moment, I feel pity for the man. This was a horrible way of a burial— a horrible way to be remembered. For a second, I wonder what kind of a person he was, what kind of life he led.

"Do not feel bad for him." V hisses, his voice dark. He'd clearly seen my face falling at the sight of the crashing rivers. "He doesn't deserve anything but death."

It's not hard to see that he wants to get rid of him quickly. His face is ashen pale from the touch, the disgust seeping into his twisted expression.

I'd been selfish.

Once the water swallows up the corpse, I touch a careful hand to his sleeve. To my relief, he doesn't flinch away, doesn't give me a look of pure disgust.

"Are you okay? You're shaking."

My relief washes away to nothing when he slaps my hand off his body. His eyes are angry, lips pressed tight.

"Don't touch me."

A sigh escapes my throat as I watch the clouds obscure the moon, a pleasant second of distraction before I turn back to him.

I didn't know what to do next. It was obvious what he thought I was going to say, and it was obvious that it was something I had to say, too.

But it didn't mean I couldn't give him a choice— take him still by surprise.

My breath is cloudy in the cold air as I meet his eyes, the wind ruffling the dark locks of my hair. This is something I want— to give him a choice, not force anything upon him.

But I don't know if he will say yes.

And if he says no, then I don't know what I'll do next.

But it all depends on him, and I won't change that for whatever reason. He'd been stripped of too many decisions in his life, and I wouldn't be one of those people to use him for my advantage as well.

"So," I start, my eyes showing a faint hint of worry. This could change everything— and it all depended on a single yes or no.

"Are you going to come back with me?"