A cheerful melody could be heard from DooSan’s car while he was driving on one of the most crowded streets in Seoul City. Yet, this didn’t bother him too much, just as he wasn’t bothered by the long line of cars seen in front, a queue of cars that were probably stretching on kilometers. Even so, even if he was in a rush a little bit, he knew that it was already too late to turn somewhere and take another route. Thus, he just settled for waiting and enjoying the melody he was listening to at that moment.

He was really enjoying the melody that was on the radio. He even knew the words of the song, which he was humming at that moment while his fingers were drumming on the steering wheel, a hint that DooSan was happy. It wasn’t only because of the melody, but also because his plans, those he made for a long time, were about to come true.

Actually, to make those plans, DooSan spent many hours locked in his dark office. Thus, for many years, he struggled against himself to stay focused and concentrate only on work, waiting for the right moment to make his dreams come true. Dreams related to aims that he made for the future and he wanted to realize at any cost.

Thus, being about to see those dreams come true, he felt so happy. And, for the first time since he became a prosecutor, he stopped regretting his decisions. At the same time, he was convinced to make himself justice for what happened seven years ago, when he lost someone dear because of a crime whose assassin hadn’t been punished for until that day. Thinking about this, DooSan often felt that he was about to become crazy. Even so, he knew that it wasn’t yet the time to collapse.

Eventually, the ringtone brought DooSan to reality and he answered the phone in a sweet voice. „I’m listening to you, prosecutor Yun Marie,” he said. Then, he smiled when the sweet voice of a woman was heard in the speaker:

„You are again making fun of your mother,” Marie told him. She was in the garden of her house at that moment, taking care of the rose bushes.

Yun Marie hated to take care of plants in fact. However, in the seven years since she lost her son, she learned to take care of roses, which were YuSan’s favorite flowers. Actually, the person who brought the rose bushes was YuSan. It happened about two years before his death and, while he was still alive, he took care of those bushes with all his heart. That’s why Marie couldn’t get rid of them after his death and neither could she let them die.

In the end, after she could chase those thoughts away, which took over her for a few moments, she asked DooSan, „Where are you?”

„On my way to the police station,” he responded. Saying this, DooSan tried to seem calm. Nevertheless, he couldn’t deceive his mother, who knew him better than anyone else. She could recognize his state of mind by only listening to his voice. That’s why, listening to what he said, she understood that it wasn’t the voice of happiness just as he tried to make her believe. Yet, she said nothing, but only listened to what he said later, „Today is the first day, remember?”

„Yes, I remember. Nevertheless, I thought you gave up on that idea, DooSan,” Marie said, frowning. „Actually, I disagree with your plan, DooSan. I think that’s better to let things be as they are now.”

„No way,” DooSan shouted. „Mother, I waited for this day for so long. I waited for 7 long years. I don’t intend to give up. Not that easily. Not before making her crawl like a snake in front of me, asking for forgiveness for what she did to YuSan. And I’ll do it legally.”

„Even so, DooSan, you can burn in the same fire you try to ignite for her. Without evidence…”

„I know, Mother. I know that I can’t make her pay without evidence, but I’ll find them. Actually, I’ll make her bring that evidence to me. Thus, I’ll expose her in front of the whole world, I swear. When this happens, I’ll bury her alive.” After that, shaking inside, DooSan deeply inhaled while trying to calm down. Eventually, when he felt that he was able to control himself again, he asked, „Why did you call?”

„To remind you about tonight. I prepared everything for the ceremony. You only have to be there. YuSan needs you. Will you come?”

„Yes, Mother, I’ll be there!”

„Perfect, then! I’ll wait for you at seven!” She said, hanging up.

Still listening to the ring of the interrupted call, DooSan frowned. After that, he turned off the radio too, feeling that the music that made him happy by then was irritating him at that moment. Moreover, he felt anxious and sad when he heard the deafening noise of an ambulance that passed by his car, an ambulance whose high-pitched siren made him turn back time…

***

SEVEN YEARS AGO

Arriving in front of the abandoned warehouse that was surrounded by police officers and a yellow band, DooSan got out of his luxurious car and ran toward the entrance. He couldn’t enter the place eventually because of the two policemen that blocked his way. Yet, this didn’t make DooSan give up on his idea of entering that place. That’s why he started to fight with them and yell, „There is my brother, idiots! Let me pass! I must see him!”

His attempt to enter that place failed in the end because neither his tears nor his scream impressed or scared the two officers. It seemed more that they had a steel heart instead of a human heart because, despite the tears shed by DooSan and the pain seen in his eyes, they didn’t let him pass. Neither had they seemed eager to let him see his beloved brother; that was all that DooSan wanted at that moment.

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Even so, even if the two police officers treated him so coldly, DooSan didn’t give up. He continued to struggle with them and yell at them, „I said to let me pass!”

„And we told you already that’s impossible, sir! This is a crime scene and nobody enters it without permission,” one of the officers told DooSan in the end. „Someone died there. So, until CNS doesn’t investigate everything up to the very end, not even a fly enters that place.”

Listening to the officer telling him that someone died in that warehouse, DooSan froze. More than that, the moment he saw two CNS members carrying a mortuary sack on a stretcher, his heart stopped for a few moments while his lips feverishly murmured, „It can’t be!” Then, with his eyes on that mortuary sack and looking as if he lost his mind, DooSan pushed the two police officers out of his way and approached the stretcher.

Seeing DooSan running toward the CNS members, the officers ran after him to impede him to get there. Nevertheless, when they were about to grab DooSan by the arms and drag him away from that place, they saw Kan motioning to them to let that poor man approach the stretcher. Thus, they only nodded and returned to their previous place, but not lost sight of DooSan because they were aware that a grieving man was capable of everything, moreover if he wasn’t in his right mind.

However, even if DooSan looked as though he was incapable of normal thinking, it wasn’t true. He was more than conscious of what was going on there. Yet, he wasn’t ready to accept it. That’s why so much suffering was seen in his eyes while staring at the mortuary sack that was lying on that stretcher, carried on by the two forensic doctors.

The same happened to Kan and Gi, another detective that came there with Kan to investigate the crime - they were also staring at DooSan and at the mortuary sack, guessing what would happen next. Yet, seeing that everything was stuck in place and that DooSan wouldn’t move from that place without seeing the face of the dead one, Kan made a sign to the two forensic doctors, who right away put the stretcher on the ground and took two steps behind.

Interruptedly breathing and shaking like hell, DooSan kept staring at the mortuary sack for a while. Then, when he’d been finally able to control his emotions, he knelt next to the stretcher and unzipped the mortuary sack. Thus, seeing the dead one’s face, who was his brother YuSan, a painful sigh came out of his chest and the „Oh, God, only not this!” was heard whispered by his livid lips.

Then, with a shaking hand, DooSan finished unzipping the sack and touched YuSan’s face and hands. Thus, touching the rest of his brother’s body, he saw the wound on his belly. A wound that made DooSan shudder again as though shaken by fever while staying with his head on YuSan's chest.

Eventually, when he heard Kan telling him, „We think he’s been stabbed to death,” DooSan swallowed hard and, gnashing his teeth, he looked at the detective and asked him:

„Who did that?”

„Probably the young woman we found next to him, but we aren’t sure. We have to investigate this first. Only this way we’ll know if this is true or not,” responded Gi to this question.

Not finishing his thought, Gi’s been forced to wince when he heard DooSan’s shout, „Where is she? Where is the assassin who dared to…?!” A question that remained without a verbal answer when DooSan saw two paramedics taking SolHi out of that warehouse, on a stretcher, and running toward the ambulance that was waiting for them not that far from that place.

Seeing her on that stretcher, DooSan went mad completely. Moreover, when he saw the oxygen mask on her face, a hint that she was still breathing. Thus, he understood that nothing counted for him at that moment: that neither SolHi was unconscious nor that she had a deep wound on her head, a wound that continued to bleed badly and which made the two paramedics yell at each other to go faster because she could have another heart attack.

Eventually, DooSan understood that all that mattered to him was that she was alive, but it wasn’t fair. He understood that it wasn’t right for her to leave that place alive when his brother was dead, lying inside a mortuary sack. She had to lie next to his brother, this was what the thought that was spinning in DooSan’s head. Thus, not normally thinking because of his anger and pain, DooSan grabbed the truncheon of one of the officers and ran after the two paramedics, intending to kill her too.

Two steps from her, DooSan had been grabbed by the arms and forced to stay away from her. The two detectives even struggled with DooSan, who looked like a mad wild animal at that moment. Even so, stronger than he was, they could take him away from her, out of the two paramedics'way, whom they motioned eventually to run toward the ambulance and leave that place.

Seeing the paramedics getting next to the ambulance, which made him understand that he was about to lose his chance to take revenge on her, DooSan started to yell again, „Just allow me to make justice to my brother! She doesn’t deserve to live when my brother is dead. Why is she still alive when YuSan has died? She must die too. She doesn’t deserve to live after what she’s done to my brother. If he’s dead, she must die too: here and now.”

„Han DooSan, think a little bit! ¡Logically!” Kan shouted at him eventually. „We don’t know if she’s guilty or not for what happened. Thus, until we don’t find out the truth, we can’t judge her!”

„I don’t care!” Yelled DooSan at Kan. „I don’t fucking care if she’s innocent or not! The simple fact that she’s been there when YuSan died makes her a criminal,” DooSan finished his thought, drowning in tears. „Just let me… just let… for my brother’s honor… I…”

„What do you really want, DooSan? To turn into a criminal too?” Gi asked eventually, forcing DooSan to stare at him for a while, even if it seemed as though DooSan was staring past him and not at the detective.

Eventually, almost lacking air, DooSan murmured, „I don’t care because… what she’s done…” He didn’t finish his thought in the end, feeling his heart bleeding so hard.

Listening to DooSan’s cry, wordless and almost unheard, Kan told him, „I know that’s damn hard for you right now. Yet, killing her, you won’t bring YuSan back to life. Neither her death will make you feel better. The only thing you’ll manage will be to stain your hands with blood. So, if you want her to suffer, allow her to be punished by law. If she’s guilty, she’ll be punished for sure and… I promise, DooSan, I’ll make her pay for what she’s done if the Court proves she’s guilty of your brother’s death. I’ll be the one closing her in a maximum security jail. I promise you.”

After such words, DooSan felt incapable of saying something more. The only thing he could do at that moment was to kneel next to his brother’s body even if he felt completely lacking power. At the same time, he felt that the deafening sound of the ambulance that was leaving that place was driving him crazy. That’s why he bent his head and, squeezing his fists, touched YuSan’s chest with his forehead again, murmuring, „Why, brother? Why did you allow a woman to kill you? Why did you allow her to make us suffer so much because of your loss?” Questions that remained without an answer because there wasn’t anybody capable to answer them. Neither YuSan could answer such questions because… it was too late for him. Understanding this, that he wouldn’t hear that answer from his brother’s mouth, DooSan started to cry again, with his forehead touching YuSan’s chest, aware that there were the last minutes they could be so close to each other.