„She smells like lavender,” DooSan thought, deeply inhaling the scent of SolHi’s hair. They were both in the elevator at that moment, heading toward their office on the eleventh floor. Yet, while DooSan was dreaming about her again, drunk because of the scent of her hair, SolHi was staring at the red arrow that was pointing up, indicating which floor they were already on. And, because the speed was too slow, SolHi felt that she was about to explode. That elevator was too small for both of them to be alone there, especially after the last night. Better to say, after the hot kiss, which they had the night before.

Eventually, SolHi winced when DooSan asked her, „Are you ok now?”

„Mmm,” she mumbled without looking at him.

Because of this, DooSan frowned, because he asked that question to break the ice between them and chase the awkwardness away. Yes, he asked that because he felt so weird next to her, with that pleasant scent of lavender around them.

Unlike him, who wanted to make things work between them at least as colleagues, SolHi wanted to be as far as possible from him. She wanted that not because she was afraid of him but because she felt the same as he felt: awkward and clumsy. That kiss made them both act like that because it had definitely been a good kiss, one that both destroyed because of stubbornness and hatred. In the end, when the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, SolHi jumped out and, without even looking back, took the stairs to finish climbing what was still left to climb to get to their office.

***

„I’m definitely stupid,” SolHi kept mumbling while climbing those stairs. She did that not because she hated climbing the stairs, but because she felt that she acted weird while being next to DooSan, because, when she entered the elevator and saw him there, her first thought hadn’t been to run away from him after what he did to her the last night, but she remembered the kiss. „As though you have never kissed anyone else before,” she hissed through her teeth eventually. „How the hell could you think about this so intensely, Ian SolHi? Are you an idiot or what? That man tried to asphyxiate you last night. He wants you dead while you… Ah, I can’t believe you can think about such things right now,” she yelled, making the entire space of the stairs room resound.

In the end, she stopped and, sitting on one stair, she breathed in and out so fast that she felt a strange buzz in her ears. It wasn’t the only thing that made her nervous. It also happened because of the images she was seeing in front of her eyes at that moment, fragments of the hot kiss they had last night. Then, when she remembered that DooSan saved her too, SolHi frowned while saying, „Still, he also helped me last night. In that warehouse, even if I thought he was gone. And… he’s damn sexy, this motherfucker. He’s definitely a vampire that sucks blood because… Ah, Ian SolHi, how the hell could you fall so down? To kiss him? It’s the last thing you should have done, even if it saved your ass. And… why exactly a kiss? You could have slapped him, pretending a fight between you two. This would have helped too not to be suspicious, but… no, you chose a kiss in the end. You are definitely dumb, thinking about the impossible when the only thing that can be between you two is death.”

Yet, the moment she remembered that DooSan held her to his chest and had been the one to kiss her first, SolHi winced. Then, raising an eyebrow too much because she remembered that the hot kiss had been because of him and not because of her, she jumped to her feet eventually, growling again, „Damn, idiot! I didn’t imagine that. He definitely kissed me. Yes, he was who kissed me first when I was just pretending. So… if something, he can’t blame for anything. Why? Simply because we are both guilty for what happened last night.”

The moment she heard Kan’s voice behind her, when he asked her, „Are you talking to yourself lately or with the ghosts?” SolHi winced and, frowning, looked behind her. She saw the detective about 10 stairs upper, staring at her while frowning because he was definitely confused seeing her there and talking to herself. Something SolHi didn’t expect at all: to see him there. Because of this, she was staring at him with pumped-eyes, wondering how much he heard from what she said. Yet, she had to leave this thought for later because of Kan, who said in the end, „I was sure you are here. Moreover, after seeing you and Han DooSan in the same elevator. Something damn suspicious in my opinion.”

„What’s suspicious to me, sombe, is that you are here. What? Are you trying to find out all my secrets or what?” She asked this not because she was curious, but because she was trying to buy time while her eyes were looking for a chance to hit the pike.

A trick that didn’t deceive Kan because, seeing her acting like that, Kan understood that there was something stinky there, something he had to find out for sure. That’s why he added, „What’s suspicious to me is that you disappeared last night so suddenly, Ian SolHi! Not alone, but with the monster Han DooSan! Something that makes me wonder if you two hide something or just try to exchange hatred for passion. For a hot kiss, to be more precise. So, tell me, when that kiss happened: before or after he saved your ass?”

„Are you a zombie?” SolHi asked, frowning. A question that made Kan smile.

„Why? Are you hiding something if you started to insult me right now?”

„To insult you? No, sombe, I just call the things by their name. Why? Because… you are everywhere, aware of everything, and seeing all that happens. So, tell me, are you a ghost or only an owl to know everything?” After that, seeing Kan looking around, SolHi suddenly turned her back to the detective, trying to run away.

She had to put on her brakes eventually when she felt the neck of her anorak tightening around her neck. This happened because of Kan, who, seeing SolHi decided to run away, grabbed her by the hood, and pulled her back. Thus, he let her know that she wouldn’t be able to escape from him, not until revealing that secret she was hiding from him. Something true for sure because SolHi heard right away in her right ear, something that made her cook her nose in the end, „Don’t even think of running away from me, Ian SolHi! Why? Because, besides being an owl and a ghost, I'm a damn good hunting dog! So, if you want to breathe freely, you must tell me what you know! And now… puppy Ian SolHi, be obedient and follow me!” After that, in a slow step not to hurt her while still holding her hood to be sure she wouldn’t escape, Kan forced her to follow him in the end.

***

„What did you say? An abandoned warehouse? Are you sure about this?” Kan asked SolHi after finding out what happened the last night. Both of them were on the Prosecution Building’s roof at that moment, looking in the distance of the city.

„Absolutely, sombe, I’m sure of this. Just as I’m sure that there is a lavender field there. And, I don’t know why, but I have the feeling that what happened to me and to Han YuSan that night happened namely there and not in the warehouse where you found us.”

„What makes you think this?”

„The hole from the ceiling or from the floor if you are on the second floor. One I mentioned before when you interrogated me before the trial. Do you remember this?”

„Yeah, I remember something. You said then something about the scent of mold and a pylon from the middle of the room. Something we didn’t find at the crime scene.”

„Yet, it was still something that made you all consider me crazy and thought that I was lying. Especially Yun Marie, who dragged me to the Court because of that testimony. Actually, after many years of looking for something similar to the place I remembered, but without result, I started to think that it had been only a product of my imagination, but… no, it’s real, sombe. It’s there. I saw that place with my own eyes last night. And not only me but also Han DooSan saw it.” Kan stared at SolHi with pumped eyes. „Yes, he also saw it. Yet, he doesn’t know anything about this. Even so, I don’t know why, but… something makes me think that this case is more about personal revenge than killing the prosecutor in charge.”

„I understand what you say, SolHi. Yet… I don’t think that’s revenge. Why? Because… nothing personal connected you and Han YuSan. Only the case he was investigating and you were a witness.”

„Maybe it’s as you say, sombe. Or… at least it had been so until last night. Why? Because I remembered something else when I had a new asthma crisis. Thus, in my delirium, I remembered something that bastard told me that night… „You must die for him to suffer”… or something like this.”

Listening to her words, Kan frowned again. Not because he didn’t believe her, but because her words worried him. That’s why, to have some time to think about what she said, Kan turned his back to her and, as though in a trance while walking back and forth next to SolHi, he repeated in a whisper what she said, „You must die for him to suffer.”

Kan stopped eventually when he spotted SolHi watching him. Moreover, he became attentive when she said, „It’s what he said, sombe. Word by word.”

„Something that makes me think the attacker considered you Han YuSan’s woman. Yet, it doesn’t make sense because that child wasn’t his. Or… he was, SolHi?”

„No, sombe, Han YuSan wasn’t my child’s father. I’m sure of this, even if I don’t remember the face of that man. Yet, I’m also sure of this because… I asked Han YuSan about this.”

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„What?” Kan yelled, widening his eyes. „Did you ask Han YuSan if you and he spent the night together?”

„Yes, I asked him because… I had to do this. It’s because of something he mentioned once. Yet, he wasn’t.”

Staring like a perfect dumb at SolHi, Kan suddenly shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Eventually, when he could focus again, he asked her, „And? What did he say to you?”

„That he spent that night home. Actually, he showed me the evidence, sombe. His GPS records, which showed me that he’d been home.”

„And you believed him? It could have been only a good strategy to make you think so.”

„I don’t think that’s the case, sombe. Anyway, he didn’t have a reason to lie to me because… I don’t know why, but I had the feeling that if he had been my child’s father, he would have accepted him. He seemed to be a good man, sombe. Something that gives me the feeling that he wouldn’t have shrunk from his responsibilities.”

„Then… let’s check if what you suspect is real!”

„The question is how to do this, sombe?”

„Simple: checking that warehouse again. I’m sure if we go there, we can find something for sure.”

Listening to Kan talking like that, SolHi shuddered from top to toe. She was definitely terrified of that lavender field. Especially, she started to fear those flowers after the last night when she’d been about to die because of them. Yet, she had no other choice than to follow Kan because she trusted his cop instinct. He was definitely a good police dog, one that solved many difficult cases, and she was sure that Kan could help her to solve her case too.

***

The lavender flowers were slowly shaking their violet heads in the sweet embrace and rocking of the wind. In their dance, the lavender flowers were also touching SolHi and Kan’s feet while they were crossing that field. And it was weird for SolHi… to be there, surrounded by lavender, which, in most cases, was deadly for her. Yet, she was so calm at that moment. Yes, she was calm and she didn’t even feel that sensation of suffocation she generally felt during her asthma crises.

Suddenly, Kan stopped and, turning toward her, he forced her to stop too. „Will you be fine after this walk?” He asked her, preoccupied. „Not the other, but… I definitely don’t need you having a crisis right now.”

„Don’t worry, sombe,” said SolHi, smiling. „I took the medicine before coming here. Nothing will happen for sure.”

„I hope so because… I’m too old to carry you on my back!” Saying this, Kan turned his back to her, advancing toward the warehouse that was seen in the distance.

Two steps behind him, SolHi smiled. She knew very well everything related to Kan’s „elderliness,” because, not only once, she witnessed a scandal that had been made by one of Kan’s women. „Social visits,” as SolHi often named them, and something that made her murmur in the end, „Of course, sombe, you are definitely old.”

Eventually, both stopped in front of the warehouse. In the daylight, that building didn’t seem as scary as the night before. Yet, carefully looking at it, SolHi understood that she wasn’t sure anymore if she saw it before that night or if it had been only her dizzy brain that played a prank on her.

When Kan told her, „Here is where Han DooSan saved you last night, right?” SolHi winced. „It’s weird in fact,” the detective added.

„Why exactly?”

„Because, as far as I remember, he wants you dead. Yet, last night, he even made you mouth-to-mouth breath. To bring you back from the world of the dead ones. Something that makes me think he definitely likes you.”

„Don't talk rubbish, sombe. It definitely makes me regret having told you about this.” Saying this, SolHi turned her back to him and entered the building.

„Don’t take it personally, SolHi,” Kan begged her in a cunning voice. „I was just saying. You know: the wolf knows more because he’s old, not wise.” This remark made SolHi suddenly stop and squint at her partner. A red flag for Kan, who suddenly pulled back. Moreover, when he saw her grinning. „What?” He asked, frowning.

„Nothing out of the ordinary, sombe. I was just thinking about your… „elderliness,” something you mention all the time when you want to make fun of someone. And something damn suspicious in my opinion. Why? Because… I consider it a cheap trick used to catch up the ladies’attention. So, what about telling Mrs. San about our new office’s address, huh? I’m sure she’ll be damn grateful for this.”

„You wouldn't dare, Ian SolHi!”

„Try me if you don’t believe this!” SolHi told him, grinning. After that, she turned her back to him and, approaching the pylon from the middle of the first floor, she sniffed the horizon. Seconds later, she said, „Someone else had been here. I’m sure of this.”

Kan squinted at her, mumbling, „She sees through the air for sure.” Loudly, he asked her, „What makes you think so?”

„The scent. Don’t you feel a men's fragrance here?”

Sniffing the air too, Kan shook his head in denial eventually. The only thing he felt was the scent of mold and old things. Nothing more. Something that made him say jokingly, „And, whose scent do you feel exactly? Han DooSan’s?” Yet, seeing the preoccupation in SolHi’s eyes, he understood that she wasn’t wrong in saying this and that she definitely felt something there. It was her instinct that helped her to find tracks there where nobody else was capable to find them. Thus, looking around to understand what could worry SolHi so much, he finally saw a big black stain on the pylon from the middle. That’s why he approached it eventually, squatting next to it to be able to analyze it carefully.

Approaching him and looking at the same stain, even if Kan thought she was too focused to smell the air, SolHi said eventually, „It seems to be blood.”

„I also think so. Yet, it’s not a fresh stain. What makes me doubt it’ll help us in something.”

„If you don’t try, you don’t win,” said SolHi, confident. After that, taking a plastic bag for evidence out of her pocket, she took a sample from that stain. Thus, seeing the stick darkening when it had been red at first, SolHi frowned, mumbling, „If it’s blood, we’ll find out this for sure. Maybe, we are lucky and we can also find out whose it is.”

„Don’t rush, SolHi! Even if it’s blood, it’ll be damn difficult to find out whose. You don’t know who exactly passed by here. It can also be the blood of an animal.”

„Maybe you’re right, but… still, we have a track. And… who knows?! Maybe this blood is here since seven years ago. The first real evidence we find since we’ve started to investigate, sombe.” Then, squatting next to that pylon, just as Kan was doing, SolHi closed her eyes, trying to remember the same as the last night. Yet, it didn’t happen eventually. Even so, she winced in the end when she saw so clearly in front of her eyes a memory she had last night… that one with the maniac kicking her while she was next to the pylon, a memory that made her shudder again and say, „He hit me here first. Then… It happened on the second floor. I’m sure of that because… I see everything so clearly in front of my eyes… He was kicking my belly cruelly, yelling at me one thing… „His child… must die.”

Sighing after she remembered all this, SolHi looked up, at a blind spot. This made her see again, what happened the night before while she was climbing those stairs. Then… she frowned again, something that made Kan ask her when he saw that mimic, „Did you remember something else?”

„Only the fear I felt then. And… that he could have definitely killed me that night. And…”

„Let’s not force things to happen, SolHi,” said Kan, helping her to stand up. „Even if it’s real progress that you remembered something, we can’t take the risk for you to have a meltdown. Not now when we have so many things to do. More than that, I’m sure that bastard will fall, sooner or later, with or without you forcing things to happen.”

„I hope so, sombe because… I definitely need to look into that bastard’s eyes and ask him why he did what he did to me.”

„Something useless in my opinion because… if he’s the maniac I think he is, he won’t tell you. Yet, it doesn’t mean we can’t find this out. Alone, I mean. So, let’s go upstairs! Maybe we find something more there.”

Nodding, SolHi followed him. Yet, on the second floor, they didn’t find anything else. There was even cleaner than in a laboratory, as though someone took care to clean that place very well. Even so, while looking around, SolHi remembered the cellophane she saw the night before when she approached the hole. Yet, when she approached the hole again, she saw nothing on that pylon. „As though my mind played a prank on me,” she murmured, frowning. „No, I’m sure it’s not the case. I saw a black cellophane here. Last night. I saw it right before Han DooSan grabbed my hand and…”

„Cellophane? What kind of cellophane?”

„A black one. I was sure I saw it there. I’m sure, sombe. It hasn’t been because of my imagination.”

„Well, I’m also sure of this because… look, there is still a small piece of it.” Looking toward where Kan pointed with his hand, SolHi finally saw a small piece of something black, caught into one of the metallic wires. „Someone took care of that evidence to vanish eventually.”

„Someone? Who exactly?”

„I’m not sure, but we’ll find out soon. For sure. Now, let’s return to the office until Han DooSan didn’t see that we are missing. If this happens, it’ll be definitely a problem. And, about that evidence: to be safe, give it to me! I’ll take care of this.”

Reluctantly, SolHi gave him the plastic bag she had in her pocket. Then, looking at it for a few moments, Kan hid it in his pocket. After that, grabbing SolHi’s arm, he forced her to follow him because he was definitely afraid that she could have another crisis after spending too much time inside there. It was safer outside even if there was a big lavender field there.

***

Lying on the front chairs of the car, DooSan and GhiYon were spying on Kan’s vehicle, which was parked not that far from theirs. Thus, they finally saw Kan and SolHi leaving the warehouse and heading toward the detective’s white car. While looking at them, GhiYon spotted the plastic bag Kan had in his pocket, something that made him cook his nose while saying, „That old fox smelled something, it seems to me. Just as I’m sure he won’t give up until he finds out what we’ve got there.”

„He also hides something. You also saw the plastic bag for evidence from his pocket, right?”

„Yeah, I saw it. This is what worries me. It’s because… they could have found a piece of evidence I could have missed. Something that wounds my pride, honestly. Anyway, even if it’s so, I’m sure that their evidence isn’t more important than ours.” After that, throwing the plastic bag he had in his pocket on DooSan’s lap, he turned the engine on. A plastic bag inside of it was the black cellophane seen by SolHi.

Squeezing it in his hand, DooSan carefully looked at the evidence that black cellophane was hiding: an old deck of cards, with a single word, even if it was barely readable, on it - „EDEL.” A word that didn’t tell them too much, but which was a starting point for that investigation, which could have helped them to find out the truth in the end. Or… will that deck bring them more problems? Not even DooSan knew that. Even so, he was determined to go through with it, no matter the consequences.