Face to face with Cha Yoon, a 17-year-old teenager, SolHi felt weird. She didn’t understand at first why she felt like that because it wasn’t the first time she had to deal with teenagers because, before the tragedy, 7 years ago, she worked as a teacher in high school, working with teenagers like Cha Yoon. Even so, she felt that the young girl hid something from her once she avoided looking into her eyes, even if SolHi was stubborn to look into the girl’s eyes, trying to force her to tell them what she knew.
They kept silent for about half an hour. The only noise that was heard between them was when Cha Yoon noisily sipped from her latte, which SolHi bought her. Yet, seeing the girl acting like that, SolHi felt that she was about to get angry because she was sure that Cha Yoon did that to drive her crazy and make sure that she wouldn’t be forced to tell them about what she knew. SolHi, a person who couldn't give up easily in front of a teenager, suddenly took off her jacket and showed her scars to Cha Yoon, to whom she said, „So Ra had similar scars, Cha Yoon, and I think you know why she had them.”
SolHi’s commentary made Cha Yoon nervously move in her chair. Then, irritated, the girl said, „I know nothing, ok?! And I don’t know this because we’ve stopped being friends, long ago. So, I would prefer not to know about her.”
SolHi frowned. She felt strange seeing how Cha Yoon talked about the one whom she said had been her best friend, and SolHi knew this from sure sources, after talking to their teacher. That’s why she told Cha Yoon eventually, confidently, „You haven’t stopped being friends that long ago. I know this for sure because your teacher and your colleagues told us that you and So Ra used to be good friends. Yes, you’ve been, not long ago when, from an unknown reason to everyone, you’ve stopped being. So, as I’m sure of this, I’d like to know the reason why you two stopped being friends.”
„Because she’s a… b…ch?” Cha Yoon suddenly shouted. Yet, spotting the other clients of the coffee shop staring at them, the girl lowered her voice when she said, „I won’t say anything else about this because I’m more than sure that you just look for a patsy for her death and I won’t be that patsy.” After that, folding her arms over her chest, she looked at SolHi, with superiority, trying to show the detective that she wasn’t afraid or intimidated by her even if her heart was madly beating in her chest.
Cha Yoon’s behavior let SolHi understand that it was time to act differently. That’s why she told the girl, „Ok, then: if you don’t want to tell me the reason, tell me at least when exactly you stopped being friends.”
The detective's calm tone of voice made the teenager sigh. She did that when she felt pain in her soul because, eventually, they were talking about the girl she had trusted in the past and whom she had considered her best friend. That’s why she finally decided to talk even if she didn’t want to. „Four months ago,” Cha Yoon said in a half voice.
„The reason?”
Cha Yoon swallowed hard. Then, frowning, she bent over the table, sticking her elbows on it, and, staring into the detective’s eyes, she said, „Because one doesn’t betray his friends as she did. So, I’m asking you now, detective: what would you have done if your best friend had told you that you had to break up with your boyfriend or you stopped being friends?”
SolHi bitterly smiled. „I would have asked the reason?” She told the girl, insistently looking at her.
„Of course not,” Cha Yoon suddenly hissed through her teeth, making SolHi attentive. „You wouldn’t have asked her anything. You would have just slapped her. The reason? You would have realized that she wanted your boyfriend. Something I’m sure you wouldn’t have given up on for a friend. Only… if you had been stupid.”
The girl’s attitude made SolHi frown. Then, also bending over the table, SolHi moved the juice to the side and told Cha Yoon confidently, „If I had been you, I would have been attentive to what I’ve said. The reason? Because this hints to me that you had a reason to make So Ra jump off that roof.”
„Yeah, sure,” Cha Yoon shouted, suddenly rising off the chair. „I had nothing to do with that stupid’s death.”
„Watch your tongue, Cha Yoon!” SolHi told her in a demanding voice. „Take a seat! We haven’t finished talking!”
Reluctantly, Cha Yoon sat down again. Yet, she didn’t give SolHi time to continue her thought, but said, „I won’t allow you to accuse me of things that I haven’t done.”
„I wouldn’t have accused you of anything if you had told me what happened then. Or you can tell me now if you have ever found out the reason why So Ra asked you to break up with your boyfriend.”
„Why should I have bothered to find this out if it was obvious?! She wanted my boyfriend, what else could have been?”
„What do I know?! Maybe she just gave you a piece of friendly advice because she cared about you? Or maybe she knew something about him you didn’t know?”
„Bullshits!” The teenager shouted. Seeing SolHi frowning again, she changed the tone of her voice when she said, „I mean… if she cared about me, she wouldn’t have acted like a… don’t you think so? She would have been by my side, no matter what.”
When Cha Yoon said this, hatred was felt in her voice. A hatred that made SolHi whisper, sad, „Now I understand why others say that you can be stabbed behind your back by those you’ve never expected.”
„You see?! You agree now and you’ve told me that I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
„I was talking about you, Cha Yoon. You seem the kind of girl who stabs others behind their back, just as you seem capable of betraying others. Or… pushing them off the roof as it happened to So Ra.”
„Now is it my fault, detective? Because she hadn’t been able to find another guy and wanted mine, am I guilty for her death?”
„No. You are guilty of not finding out why So Ra asked you this. I’m sure she would have told you the real reason and not the one you invented, that she wanted your boyfriend.”
„There’s no other reason!” Cha Yoon arrogantly replied.
„What about that young man you defend so much? Is he the reason you’ve said this? Just what?”
„Don’t blame those you don’t know, detective! He loves me! I’m sure of this.”
„You’d also been sure that So Ra was your friend until you met him, right? Even so, you accused her of betrayal, even if you said you knew her like the palm of your hand.” Cha Yoon swallowed hard, looking elsewhere. „I see I’m right. Just as I see that you also doubt him.”
„Never in a million years.”
„We’ll see if you keep talking like that after we find out the answer to the question of why So Ra jumped off that roof. I mean… if we found out that you were that reason. If this happens, I’m sure you’ll have a different opinion. Why am I so sure? Because… those like you, only protect their backs, not others.”
„You speak as if you know me, detective!” Cha Yoon hissed through her teeth. „You, the one who protects a…! Something that makes me understand you aren’t so different from her.”
„Watch your tongue, Cha Yoon! We aren’t friends.”
„You are speaking to me like one,” the girl arrogantly replied again.
„I only wanted to seem nice, don’t take it personally! And, if someone treats you like a friend, you should do the same, not attack him like a cobra behind his back: shamelessly and guilty-free. As you did to the one who’d been your best friend for more than 10 years, that girl whom you insulted and treated badly. I think this is one of the reasons that pushed So Ra to jump from off that roof.”
Hearing SolHi talking like that, Cha Yoon started to shudder slowly. Not because she was furious, but because she understood that SolHi was right: So Ra and she always supported each other since they met. Even so, when they stopped being friends, they used the worst words to insult the other one and this was because they felt betrayed by the other one. Yet, this didn’t mean that they forgot the love they felt for each other, something that made Cha Yoon murmur eventually, „So Ra jumped not because of someone. I mean, not because of a boyfriend or because of me. I think her father is guilty of this because he simply loves to teach So Ra how life is by using the… belt.”
„What?” SolHi asked, thunderstruck. „So Ra was the victim of domestic violence?”
„Not only she. Her mother, too. Her mother receives all the blows, actually. It’s something known by everybody, even if people prefer not to talk about this. This is something forbidden to talk about even in school because… So Ra fought tooth and nail for such a right.”
„What do you mean by „she fought tooth and nail for this right?”
„The way that it means! Why? Because… So Ra not only once fought with our colleagues when they bullied her for having an abusive father. Honestly, that man is the devil because, a few months ago, So Ra’s mother got to the hospital in a very serious condition. They brought her there more dead than alive. Even so, she didn’t report it because she thinks that a woman should accept everything if she’s married. So Ra was taught the same. Yet, even if So Ra never said this, she disagreed with such ideas. Nevertheless, she didn’t complain. She just suffered, a lot, because there wasn’t a single white spot on her skin. She was covered by bruises all the time, with deep wounds on her skin after being beaten with a belt. Wounds that changed her completely, a few months ago.”
Such a confession made SolHi shudder because… once again she understood how mean people were. This made her confused too because, even if people knew what nightmare two innocent souls lived in, none of them said anything or helped them. „As though hell is here, on earth, not elsewhere,” SolHi thought. This made her throw her notepad on the table, squeeze her hands in fists, and frown. Eventually, when she could calm down, she looked through the window at DooSan, who was waiting for her outside. He was with his back to the window at that moment and didn’t see her. He seemed so calm, even if the storm sneaked inside him only minutes ago, after the fight he had with SolHi on the same roof, from where So Ra jumped off.
***
PROSECUTION BUILDING. DOOSAN’S OFFICE. THREE HOURS LATER.
The moment the office door hit the wall to the right after being pushed so hard to be open, DooSan and the rest who were in the office jumped from their places, thinking that San DuSik decided to break into their office again. Yet, it wasn’t San DuSik looking for problems but SolHi. She, right after slamming the door behind her, approached DooSan’s desk, throwing a pile of photos on his desk and telling him, „Han So Ra was a victim of domestic violence. I have evidence of this.”
Supporting his back on the back of the armchair, folding his arms over his chest, DooSan stared at SolHi. „You should better learn how to enter an office instead of looking for such evidence. Don’t you also think so, Ian SolHi?” He scolded her.
„I don’t have time for this!” SolHi replied. This amazed DooSan a lot.
„Yet, you should,” DooSan hissed through his teeth this time. „You scared us to death. All of us.”
SolHi seemed confused at first because she couldn’t understand exactly what he wanted from her. Seeing him pointing with his head to the left, SolHi looked behind her where she finally saw Yoon Suk and Yu staring at her with pumped eyes, still „in shock” after her triumphal entrance, while A Rim was slowly tapping her chest to calm her heart down. This made SolHi grin as though trying to tell them, „I’m sorry! It was urgent!” Then, looking at DooSan again, seriously this time, she told him, „I think we should dig more into this problem of domestic violence.”
„And? Where will this „problem” lead us eventually?”
„What do I know?! Finding the guilty one?” SolHi replied, ironically.
„Something that I actually doubt,” DooSan’s cynical answer came shortly after this. SolHi cooked her nose, but she still couldn’t impress him or make him change his mind because he said again, „And I doubt that this is a real track to follow because I don’t think this is the reason why she jumped off the roof.”
This answer didn’t satisfy SolHi. It seemed to enrage her more because she hissed at him through her teeth, „It will lead us to something because, seeking the truth, we can prove that she had psychological after-effects and that she jumped because of this.” After that, supporting her palms on the desk, she showed him her teeth, just as DooSan was doing at that moment as though they were two dogs ready for a fight.
The growling between them didn’t last long, only until DooSan understood that it wasn’t the right movement to convince the stubborn in front of him that she was wrong. That’s why he told her confidently, „I don’t deny the fact that she could have had psychological after-effects. Yet, if she didn’t see a doctor and we can’t prove this, I doubt a judge will accept this reason.”
„What about her mother?” SolHi insisted. „No Ha Ra was hospitalized from March to June last year, in the traumatology department of the University Hospital. The reason? Multiple thoracic and lumbar fractures, caused by repeated blows with a blunt object. It’s been proven that her husband beat her after seeing his wife talking to a young neighbor when he felt „jealous.” So, I don’t think that it’ll be hard to ask your forensic doctor to check if there are similar wounds on So Ra’s body.”
„I didn’t say I can’t. I just say it won’t help us in anything. Why? Because a good lawyer can say in court that So Ra got them when she fell. If you don’t believe me, take a look!”
Staring at the pile of photos of So Ra’s body, which DooSan suddenly threw on the desk in front of her, SolHi „growled” again, this time staring straight into DooSan’s eyes. She tried to send him a clear message this way, „You are seeking for your death today, right?” A message DooSan understood, but even so he smiled. He was happy to see her furious after she understood that she lost that fight. Moreover, when he heard her saying, „You are damn efficient when nobody asked for this.” After that, hissing a „psychopath” through her teeth, SolHi went to her desk, throwing things on it after sitting down.
The moment she heard DooSan mumbling, „More recently I’m a psychopath,” SolHi glanced at him, angry because she definitely couldn’t stand for him to act like the smart guy. More than that, she hated the manner he acted after winning a fight against her, as it happened only seconds ago. Yet, even if she badly wanted to show Han DooSan where the devil lived, she stood quiet, trying not to look for more problems in a single day.
While DooSan and SolHi played their favorite game of the cat and the mouse, Kan looked at both of them, waiting in silence for them to finish playing. He didn’t say a word loudly. Yet, in his head, he kept saying, „I’ve never seen such idiots like these two.” At one moment, seeing how stubborn the two could be, he even wanted to shout at them, „Take a room, people, and fight there, whatever you’ll do there.” Yet, he said nothing eventually because he wasn’t that eager to be SolHi’s enemy instead of Han DooSan. That’s why he preferred just to whistle when the two „dogs” finished „growling” at each other, and tell them after this, „Now that the show at the circus is over, what about working on important things, huh? Like a pregnancy.”
„Whaat?” Yoon Suk shouted that Kan thought he’d go deaf. „Han So Ra was pregnant?” He continued to yell, suddenly approaching Kan, whom he pushed away from his desk later, to be able to check freely through the files on Kan’s desk. Yet, he right away frowned when he saw that it was written that Han So Ra had an abortion.
„When did this happen?” Asked DooSan, after Yoon Suk finally stopped complaining about his disappointment.
„Four months ago,” replied A Rim instead of Yoon Suk. After that, she printed a few sheets, which she put on the prosecutor’s desk eventually. „These are real evidence, I think, evidence that can be a reason for the crime. Like finding the one who got her pregnant because I think he’s to blame for her suicide, not because she was abused at home.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Understanding the hint, SolHi muttered something „nice” addressed to A Rim. After that, seeing DooSan standing up from his desk, she became attentive because she was interested in finding out what was the deal with the theory of those two. Thus, she saw DooSan approaching the white desk on which he stuck So Ra’s photos. Then, looking at SolHi and Yoon Suk, he told them, „Let’s start with the victim’s friend. She might know more details about what happened four months ago.”
„I’m sure she knows, but she won’t say anything. You also saw that she said no word when we interrogated her today.”
„Maybe. Yet, she said nothing when we didn’t know about the pregnancy, SolHi. It’s possible that she wanted to protect her friend, even if the two of them were upset with each other. However, if you squeeze her a little, I’m sure she’ll speak. Anyway, I don’t think she has a reason to keep her mouth shut. Eventually, we are talking about making justice for a dead person. I don’t think she’s that cruel not to collaborate with us. And, if she tells us who the father of So Ra’s baby was, better.”
„Something I actually doubt!” SolHi frowned after that. „I think we have better chances to find out who the father is from elsewhere,” she confidently said. After that, taking a business card from one small box from her desk, SolHi pointed to Yoon Suk to follow her.
They stopped eventually when they heard DooSan asking, „What are you planning this time?”
„Nothing out of the ordinary. I just… try to catch a thief red-handed. And… I know where exactly I should start. Without a headache after this, actually, but with a lot of fun.” After that, sticking the business card on DooSan’s chest, she followed Yoon Suk toward the door.
Still not understanding too much from what was in SolHi’s head, DooSan looked at the business card, which SolHi left him as a „gift.” Then he smiled, seeing that it was the card of a gynecology clinic. And, finally understanding SolHi’s plan, he cunningly smiled again, saying in his head, „She’s not stupid at all.”
***
Advancing at a slow step, onto the hospital’s hall, SolHi started to whistle that melody that she kept hearing in her head lately. A melody that was barely heard, but which had been also heard by the patients who were waiting to see the doctor, many of them pregnant. Not only did they keep staring at SolHi, but also Yoon Suk at the patients because he was too curious to find out why exactly those women were there and not in a big hospital. Something that made him ask SolHi eventually, „Do you think our acquaintance is on the wrong path again?”
„Most probably yes because… when our „friend” has legally worked? As far as I remember, never.” After that, weirdly smiling, SolHi stopped in front of a door.
The moment SolHi stopped, the door was to her left. After that, like a soldier that received a command, she turned around and, the next thing she did was to kick the door, which opened with a bang, hitting the wall. The noise scared the patients in the hall, who shrieked while touching their bellies, afraid. The same did the patient that was in the doctor’s cabinet. Not the same happened to the 40-year-old doctor, who was washing her hands when SolHi kicked the door. She, suddenly turning toward the door, yelled at SolHi, „Out, detective! Don’t drive me crazy!” After that, she threw the soap toward SolHi and Yoon Suk.
The soap, like any other soap, headed where it had been thrown, toward Yoon Suk and SolHi, hitting none of them eventually. It only passed between the two, hitting the wall behind them after this. Looking at the soap, SolHi yawned „bored,” hinting to the doctor that it wasn’t something new or something she had never seen before. She only looked at the doctor after that, to whom she calmly said, „I think you should be more polite with the visitors, doctor Kim Gi Ha. Otherwise, you can scare to death the patients that are outside of this cabinet.”
„In your dreams,” the doctor replied, feisty. After that, she looked at the patient who was looking at her with pumped eyes, scared by the two unwelcome guests, a patient to whom the doctor told in a calm tone and forcing a smile, „Wait for me in the corridor! I’ll finish soon with these two fools and I’ll call you back!” Advice the patient accepted right away, leaving the cabinet, with no intention to turn back after this.
Looking behind the patient, who closed the door when she left the cabinet, Yoon Suk smiled. Yet, he said nothing. He only looked at SolHi, who sat on the doctor’s desk, staring at that one, who didn’t seem too happy to see them there. More than that, eager to rub some salt on the doctor’s wounds, SolHi told her in an ironic tone, „Now that we are alone, what about talking freely, huh? Like between friends!” After that, without waiting for the doctor’s acceptance, SolHi put on the desk, right in front of Kim Gi Ha, a photo of So Ra.
Gi Ha only glanced at the photo at first. Then, straightening her back and staring into SolHi’s eyes, she calmly asked, „Who is she? I hope someone important once you dared to scare my patients to death.”
SolHi smiled. „Your patients aren’t scared because of me, but because certain people here aren’t honest with them. Neither are they working legally, I can say. Or… I can be wrong!” Saying this, SolHi took a bottle of medicine in her hands, which she found in the first drawer she opened, searching for the ingredients of the medicine inside. A movement that made Gi Ha nervously move, even if she tried to seem „calm,” as she managed to seem after glancing at the photo. Yet, SolHi saw the doctor’s nervousness because… not for nothing others called her „eagle eyes.” Actually, SolHi understood that Gi Ha wasn’t as calm as she wanted to seem right from the beginning, but preferred to play the fool. Thus, she was sure Kim Gi Ha would be cooked on low heat, something she actually wanted. That’s why she told Gi Ha after this, „Take a seat, doctor Kim! I’m sure you won’t stand while we’ll have this long conversation. I really don’t want to see you tired after this. Or… we can cut this conversation short if you tell us what you know.”
„About what?” Gi Ha hissed through her teeth, irritated, especially after seeing SolHi putting her legs on her table and sitting on her chair. Legs that „flew” off the desk soon when Gi Ha pushed them off.
Seeing the doctor reacting like this, SolHi smiled. After that, throwing the bottle of medicine back into the drawer, which she slowly closed after this, she told Gi Ha, „I really like you, doctor Kim. You are always so… perceptive and cooperative. When at stake is your license as a doctor, I mean. Yet, let’s not waste our time and do business better, like… telling me about her, for example. The young girl in the photo, I mean. The one I’m sure you’ve seen before because your eyes are weirdly sparkling while seeing that photo. Why am I so sure of this? Because she came here, in your cabinet, four months ago, asking for an abortion. An illegal one, once she was a minor.”
It’s been Gi Ha’s turn to grin weirdly, sitting on the chair in front of the desk. After that, staring at SolHi, she told her, „I see why you are here this time: to look for fresh meat. Yet, ups, baby: it’s the wrong address because… I haven't done such things for a long time already.”
„Even so, you denied the fact you knew her. Why?”
„Because you are right?! And, damn, Detective Ian, you really have an eye at your back, like the mothers-in-law. You know everything.”
„Should I take this as a compliment?”
„Yeah, one that certifies the fact you are a psycho. And… I can sign that certificate if you want.”
„No need for that,” SolHi said, looking with superiority at the doctor. „Why? Because… if I accept that certificate, God doesn’t want this, but I can be judged for accepting a fake document from you. I don’t really want to go to jail, holding your hand by the way. So, better tell me about her. What do you know?”
„Not that much. She only passed by here one day. That’s all.”
„Alone or with one of her parents?” Yoon Suk asked.
„Alone. When she first entered, she was alone. After that, she called in the young man that was with her. This happened when I told her that I don’t do illegal abortions. He threw me a pack of money on the desk, thinking that I was waiting for money. Actually, it was a pretty big sum.”
„Money, which Kim Gi Ha didn’t take,” said SolHi in mockery. „Interesting. Why did you do that? Wasn’t it enough?”
„I just tried to avoid you coming here. Is this reason enough for you?”
„Absolutely. This means I did a pretty good job last time. Like this time, I hope. So, let’s continue: what do you know about him? What he wore that day… if you saw him before…”
„No, never. It was the first and the last time I saw them. Actually, I saw only her face. He wore a mask all the time.”
„What kept you away from helping them with the abortion? They had money, he was an adult, as far as I understood.”
„He yes, she - no. I understood this right away when I heard her voice, even if she wore a mask when she entered. That’s why I asked her to take the mask off. I couldn’t ask him the same thing while he wasn’t my patient.”
„Something strange, I think,” said SolHi in a playful tone. „That you didn’t accept the money. Actually, this seems strange to me because I know all the things you’ve done for money. Is it because you’ve started a new „business” and you don’t need to do abortions anymore?” While saying this, SolHi started to open and close the drawers as if looking for something. This made Gi Ha nervously move again on her chair. A reaction that made SolHi triumphantly smile. „I see I’m right if you act like this.”
„Just tell me what you want to know and you’ll find out,” Gi Ha almost shouted in the end. „And… related to that guy: all I can say about him is that he had a tattoo. On the right hand, right above the wrist.”
SolHi and Yoon Suk exchanged glances, smiling. „So easy to make someone remember something you want to know,” SolHi said, winking at her partner.
„Well, sombe, I think that even I would have started to remember things if such a hunting dog like you had blown down my neck.”
„Who? I?” SolHi innocently asked, looking at Yoon Suk.
„Yeah, you, sombe. Yet, let’s return to business. What kind of tattoo? Can you describe it?”
„A small one. I think it was a kind of snake. I saw it when he threw the wad of money on my desk.”
„Yet, this doesn’t answer my question,” said SolHi, sweetly yawning and standing up. Then, approaching the doctor from behind, she whispered into Gi Ha’s right ear, „What I want to know is where exactly I can do an illegal abortion these days. Of course, a place that not everybody knows.”
„Should I answer this question too?”
„Absolutely. You also have the right to keep silent if you want us here, 24/7. Something that will definitely happen if I decide so. And I think I’ll start by looking around to see if I find interesting things. What do you think, Yoon Suk? Should we start our investigation from here?”
„Of course because… when we did that last time…”
„Damn you, both!” Gi Ha hissed through her teeth. After that, taking a sticky note from her desk, she wrote an address on it. Then, giving it to SolHi, she told her that it was the last time she did her such „favors” and that if SolHi came once again to her office, she’d complain of abuse. Threats that didn’t scare SolHi. She only sneaked the paper into her pocket and slowly bent in front of the doctor to mock her a little. After that she also left the cabinet, slowly closing the door behind her.
***
THE CHINESE NEIGHBORHOOD. ONE HOUR LATER.
The Chinese neighborhood they crossed at that hour was pretty crowded. There were a lot of traders and clients, but also those that did certain illegal activities in front of everybody. Something that was well known by the local merchants and clients, who never complained about this, giving certain confidence to the small felons. Yet, seeing new faces in the neighborhood, everybody started to stare at them, trying to understand why SolHi and Yoon Suk, followed by a group of masked agents, were there. Because of this, SolHi felt at one point that they were part of an action movie or something, a not foolish thought in fact, judging by the look of the armed felons, who didn’t lose sight of them. „As though they are the cats and we are the rats,” SolHi said, smiling.
„Honestly, I see nothing funny here,” Yoon Suk drily replied. „Or what, to know that you are about to be killed, makes you feel more relaxed?”
„I never said I was relaxed. I only said that I felt the adrenaline madly flowing through my veins. Something damn thrilling, by the way. You should try it sometimes. I heard this is a cure for grouchy people.”
„Was this „grouchy people” about me?”
„Not about me for sure,” said SolHi smiling, once again winking at him. Then, when they almost got to the place they wanted to check, a kind of casino masked as a place for playing electronic games, she spoke into the headphones, „Is everybody in position?”
„Yes, ma’am!” A playful voice responded to her. Looking to her right, SolHi saw the sniper that asked her question, lying on his stomach on the roof of a not-that-tall house that was over the street.
„Then… it’s time for the show!” SolHi joked. After that, releasing the safety of her gun, she entered the casino, following the group of masked agents.
The moment they entered the casino, they’d been forced to bend, jump, or crouch because a lot of things started to be thrown toward them, a hint that the owner and the clients disliked that visit. Actually, a huge fuss started inside the casino when the fight between the agents and the attackers started because… some of them were yelling at the others to lay on their stomachs with their hands behind their heads or they would start to shoot while the attackers told the agents to go away from there because they illegally entered. Poor Yoon Suk even received a huge bump on his forehead when a mouse hit him, something that made him gnash his teeth, and, looking at the one who had thrown that mouse, the detective told him, „You just met the devil, idiot!” After that, grabbing the mouse that fell at his feet, Yoon Suk threw it back toward the attacker, hitting him on his head and throwing him to the floor when he saw that one trying to run away.
After that, looking at the masked agent, who cuffed his rival, Yoon Suk rubbed his forehead, which hurt like hell. He even swore something behind the idiot that hit him when the agent took that one out of the casino. The agents had taken out not only that idiot but also his fellows, about twenty men, who thought they were smart enough to fight against professional agents. Then, when it was silent in the casino again, the captain of the masked agents made a sign to SolHi and the others to be quiet while his agents started to move the machines to the side. Only after this, the captain approached the walls, which he started to hit slowly with his fist.
Seeing the captain doing this, SolHi and Yoon Suk exchanged glances because they really couldn’t understand what that one was trying to do. Soon after this, the two of them understood what was actually in the captain’s head when they heard the sound of an empty place behind the wall. It was a room behind that wall. Yet, no door was seen around to accede to that place. To find it, they needed several minutes. Something that worked eventually because they found that door behind a huge game machine, which four agents struggled to move aside for a few other minutes. Then, after unlocking the door by shooting the big lock, they started to descend the stairs that led to a kind of basement.
Not everybody followed the captain. Only six of his agents, SolHi and Yoon Suk, while the other agents had to guard the area. A shrewd movement because none of them knew what exactly was waiting for them in that basement, which wasn’t only an unknown place, dark and wet, but also one where it was difficult to breathe, where the scent of mold and stinky air was felt from everywhere and this because it seemed not to be any air shaft there. And, on top of that, a weird shrill was heard all around, something that deeply entered their brains, making them often frown.
Because of that shrill, SolHi started to look around, very carefully, trying to find the source of it. Something she didn’t find eventually no matter how hard she didn’t try. All that she saw was the cellophane used to cover the walls, protecting it from mold and different bugs. Something that made SolHi feel that she lacked air at one moment because that place reminded her a lot about the place where she’d been a victim in the past.
The anxiety in her chest didn’t last long. Only for a few minutes. She managed to chase it away by deeply breathing in and out several times because she couldn’t afford to collapse there. More than that, she couldn’t show everybody that she had those feelings because, even if she worked with the captain’s team before, they were still strangers to her.
She managed to control herself just in time, the moment they got in front of a door, made from the same cellophane seen on the walls. Once there, the captain raised his left hand, giving them the signal to be vigilant. After that, trying to make no noise, the captain moved the cellophane away and looked into that room of terror.
Why exactly was that room one of terror? Because that shrill was heard from there. It was a kind of insufferable ringing. One that could drive a person crazy if he had heard it for a long time. And that room wasn’t only a room of terror, but it was also a surgery room while the shrill was produced by an ATI machine, used for artificial breathing. That ATI was connected at that moment to a teenager, who was on the operating table at that moment while the doctor, who was next to her, seemed to be ready for an abortion.
Seeing that the patient was only a teenager and fearing for her life, the captain gave the signal for everybody to stop. After that, taking two steps behind him, he whispered to SolHi, „We can’t afford collateral victims, detective. So… let’s do it clean and fast!”
„Copied that!” SolHi whispered. After that, she pointed with her head toward Yoon Suk to follow her. Then, they surrounded the medical crew as much as they could, sneaking like cats not to be spotted there.
While they did this, the medical crew seemed too focused on what they were doing and paid no attention to what happened around them. At one point, very calmly, the doctor asked the nurse for a scalpel, preparing for surgery. Yet, the moment he heard a noise to his left, he right away looked over there, where he saw Yoon Suk - the source of that noise, after accidentally stepping on a box of instruments. Seeing them, the doctor right away prepared to throw that scalpel toward them.
„Put it down or I swear I will paint you a bullet hole right in the middle of the forehead!” SolHi demanded, understanding what the doctor intended to do. An advice the doctor preferred to ignore because he threw that scalpel eventually, thinking to avoid being caught by SolHi and Yoon Suk. A wrong movement in fact because, focused on the two detectives, he didn’t spot the captain, who cuffed him right away he threw the scalpel. Yet, even if he had an impressive throw, the doctor hurt nobody eventually. At least not badly: the scalpel, passing by Yoon Suk, only scratched his arm, hitting the wall behind him eventually. „Damn idiot!” Whispered SolHi, putting the gun behind her back and cuffing one of the nurses that passed in front of her at that moment, intending to run. „They never learn!” After that, squeezing the nurse’s arm to her back and making her cry, SolHi pushed her after the others, toward the exit.
***
Getting out of the casino, SolHi sweetly yawned while stretching her body. „Today has surely been a long day!” She whispered. Then, yawning again, she looked around. Seeing nobody there, she felt relaxed, even if she shouldn’t feel it because, eventually, they were still in the Chinese neighborhood where danger was lurking on them from everywhere. Even so, determined to relax at least a little bit, until DooSan and the rest of the crew had come to check the place, she turned her back to the casino and, looking at the sunset, she closed her eyes, allowing the warm light of the sunset to spoil her.
That warmth made SolHi feel so good because she didn’t enjoy so much calmness around her for a very long time. Thus, focused on that unique moment, she didn’t hear footsteps approaching her. Only when someone grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with a cloth soaked in alcohol, SolHi understood that she’d been wrong, letting her guard down. Yes, she afforded to be calm in a place of terror, a mistake that reminded her of the past events. That’s why, right before losing her consciousness, SolHi murmured, „Not a victim again!”