Sitting on the cement edge of the roof and looking in the distance, at the beauty of the city illuminated by the sunset, SolHi sighed. She felt overwhelmed by everything she lived that day, something that reminded her of her past life. This made her feel suffocated. Moreover, she felt like that after reading the few words written by So Ra on her social media account, which SolHi checked only minutes ago. Words that made her sigh again, murmuring, „She was too young to write such words. She was a child. What the hell happened to her that she wrote such words in the end? She barely lived this life to have such thoughts. Yet, she had them. Why? What so terrifying could have happened to her that she decided to jump off the school’s roof eventually?”

SolHi had to leave those thoughts for later, then she winced, the moment she heard DooSan’s voice, who was not that far from her. „You are again here, on the famous roof, talking to yourself,” DooSan said, trying to tease her. Yet, seeing SolHi frowning and feeling a strange aura of sadness from her, he decided that it wasn’t the right time to tease her. That’s why, softening his voice, he asked her, preoccupied, „Something bothers you?” SolHi first shrugged, then she sketched a weird smile, which made DooSan attentive. „If it’s about yesterday, keep your mouth shut! I don’t want to hear anything about what happened yesterday.”

SolHi frowned this time. „Do you think I’m here to plan how to piss you off for what happened yesterday?”

Her question allowed DooSan to feel more comfortable and relaxed. „Aaa, no?” He asked idly. „If it’s not for what happened yesterday, why are you here then?”

„Han So Ra?! Better to say because of what I’ve seen on her computer, I’m here. A message, while checking her social media. Rather than a message, it is a kind of status, which she posted on her account a few months ago. Of course, it sounded like an important message for someone too.”

DooSan moved in place when he felt nervous. „A message? What kind of message?”

„A secret one?! Well, it definitely wasn’t the case. I mean the status So Ra wrote on her account, „The Black Hole of my life.” Yet, the message behind the words definitely was secret.”

„A message you think So Ra tried to send to someone in particular.” SolHi nodded. „To a boyfriend? Judging by what she wrote, it seems to me.”

„More likely, yes! Or… oh, I’m not that sure, to be honest. Just as I’m not sure about everything that has happened lately.”

„If so, don’t you think it’s time to talk to someone about this? About what happened in your life, I mean. Thus, you can understand better what happens. If you confess.”

SolHi smiled something that confused him because it wasn’t the reaction he expected from her. He thought she’d punch him or wouldn't accept to talk to him, but not to see her sketching a smile. One that seemed so sad and made him sad too. Because of this, DooSan looked straight at her, waiting for the verbal answer because he was sure she’d say something, eventually. And he’d been right because, right after that smile, SolHi said, „Actually, Prosecutor Han, you are really impressive if you want this.”

„I? What did I do to look so impressive in your eyes?” DooSan proudly asked, thinking that SolHi complimented him.

Yeah, right?! He understood very soon that he’d been wrong in thinking so, the moment he heard SolHi saying, „I mean… I can’t believe you think you can be everything in one: Prosecutor, someone’s brother, and a priest, once you expect to hear a certain confession from me.”

DooSan wrinkled his nose. „I was just saying… that it’ll be easier for you if you say to someone what you feel. It’s not good if you keep everything inside. Han So Ra is a good example for you… she jumped off a roof when she realized that she couldn’t handle what happened to her anymore, not alone.”

Finally understanding his intention, SolHi wrinkled her nose too. She definitely hated when Han DooSan tried to be the smart guy on the team. More than that, she hated when he did such things, trying to find out things from her, information related to the events of seven years ago. Yet, as she couldn’t do anything for the moment to show DooSan where his place was, SolHi only stood up and headed toward him, still frowning, something that made him attentive and take a few steps back. Then, still staring at her, DooSan asked, „What now?”

„Nothing. I just wonder how you can do everything so perfectly.”

„I do what? Ia, Ian SolHi, speak clearly! I don’t have time for complicated puzzles!”

„What I don’t have time for is for you to stick your nose in my life. So, as I hate this, stay away from me, Han DooSan, and focus on the important thing right now: this case because… this girl needs help even after her death and for someone to do her justice even if she's dead.”

„Ok, ok, I got the point,” mumbled DooSan, a little upset that he didn’t manage to make her talk. „Actually, I think you have found out something more than a simple message if you are so aggressive. So, tell me: what else did you find out?”

Deeply breathing in, to calm down, SolHi said, „Better than just telling you about this, I would rather show you this! Follow me!”

Seeing her leaving, DooSan frowned again. „I hate when she turns into my boss. Yet, she’s right: we have other important things for now.” After that, reluctantly, he followed SolHi because he was sure that if SolHi spoke like that to him, it meant she found a real track to follow and find out the truth in that case.

***

A few minutes after they went off the roof, DooSan and SolHi started to check the photos So Ra still had on social media. There weren’t too many photos there. Yet, those that were still on her account were pretty explicit, revealing another face of Han So Ra: that of a loving girl, cheerful, one that simply loved to show her happiness through pictures. Then, so suddenly, as though someone changed that person, they saw other photos where So Ra was really changed. „As though there were two different Han So Ra. Something that seems damn strange to me. Just as strange as it seems to me to see these photos, where she’s happy when others describe her as being an aggressive person. I think she was too warm for that.”

„Warm? What makes you think so?” DooSan asked, confused because he couldn’t see the difference that SolHi mentioned.

His question made SolHi squint at him. „For a Prosecutor, who's worked on many similar cases, you seem not to see the difference I talk about, right?”

„And you, for the lovely person you try to be, you show your fangs to me too often, don’t you think so?”

SolHi grinned. „Straight to the point.” Yet, even if she tried to mock him by saying this, she was aware that DooSan was right: she had shown her fangs to him too often lately, and that had definitely something to do with him. Yet, as she didn’t have time to explain this to Han DooSan and look for more problems with him, she contented herself with showing him the photos where So Ra seemed happy and laughed. „I am talking about this, Han DooSan! These photos show us that, for a girl who suffered a lot at home, So Ra seemed to love life. Something that radically changed on the night of 23 of January.”

Suddenly changing the pictures on the screen, from a photo where So Ra was happily laughing while playing with a Labrador puppy to one where she was completely black-dressed and holding a cigarette in her hand, SolHi managed to make DooSan attentive. Then, she stared at his surprised face, waiting for his reaction to this. A reaction that was visible at that moment because DooSan stared at that photo for a long time. Especially, he stared at the cigarette from So Ran’s hand, something that made him ask, eventually, „Was Han So Ra smoking?”

„This is all that you saw after staring at the photo for minutes?” SolHi asked him in mockery. Seeing him frowning while staring at her this time, as though trying to tell her, „Are you looking for a fight right now?” SolHi rushed to say, „Probably yes. I mean, it’s probably that So Ra smoked. I didn’t ask her friend about this. Or… it was just for show.”

„For show or not, the change is visible. Let’s check the rest of the photos. Maybe we can find more while checking them.”

„There aren't any more photos here.”

„What do you mean?” DooSan asked her, confused. He really couldn’t believe that a cheerful teenager, as So Ra seemed to have been, had only ten photos on social media. Yet, it was so because, suddenly taking the mouse from SolHi’s hand and checking So Ra’s account, he saw only those ten photos he and SolHi had already seen. „Something that hints to me that this account can be fake.” SolHi insistently stared at him. „I mean… girls love to update photos on social media, right? Looking for attention, of course. I don’t think Han So Ra was different.”

„Maybe you are right. Or… maybe she just deleted them in a fit of anger. Let’s not forget that all these photos were posted before the 23 of January. Except the photo in black that she posted on the 23 of January. This is what makes the difference here.”

„Like a bridge that links her happy past to her dark present.”

„Something like that. Yet, what bothers me is that she deleted the rest of her photos. Pictures where „HE” might have been.”

„The one who could have had access to her account and deleted the photos. It can also be, right?”

„Yes, it can be! Nevertheless, I’m more tempted to think So Ra deleted them. She could have done that after she’d been removed from school’s chat.”

„What? Han So Ra had been removed from the school’s chat? When exactly?”

„The same day she jumped. Why? Do you really think that the theory of bullying is right?”

„Or something worse than this could have happened to her in school. This is what we have to find out, as soon as possible.”

„The question is how to do that, DooSan! If they removed So Ra from that chat, it’s also possible that they cleaned it after she jumped off the roof. Come on, Han DooSan: you can do better than this!”

DooSan squinted at her again. „I meant to check among those who still have access to that chat, SolHi! They definitely know what happened to So Ra. Like Cha Yoon for example. So, what about paying her a social visit?”

„Something that won’t help us in anything if Cha Yoon says nothing as she has done before. Yet, it can be worth trying.”

„Then… visit her and find out what happened on the 23 of January. I think this date is important and not the date when she’d been removed from the school’s chat.”

„I don’t think so, DooSan. These two events can be linked. And… wait a minute!””

„What this time?”

„The post!” DooSan looked at her even more confused than before. „I mean „The Black Hole of my life,” DooSan. She posted this message on the 25th of January.”

„It was the 23rd of January, SolHi! How have we got to the 25th of January now?”

„On the 23 of January, So Ra posted that photo where she smokes. The message was posted on January 25. The date fits, DooSan: on the 23 she went to Kim Gi Ha’s clinic. Yet, she posted the message on the 25th instead. This means she had the abortion on the 25th and not on the 23rd as we’ve suspected.”

„Maybe you are right. Yet, this doesn’t tell us too much. Why? Because… it’s also possible that not the abortion marked her so much, but what happened to her before that. It can be a… kind of summer thing. Something our teenagers love nowadays. Or… an abuse.”

„That’s why I say that it's worth starting with the 25th of January. It can lead us to what you say that could have happened to her.”

„It’s a good idea. Yet, how do we find this out?”

„Simple: we try to make Cha Yoon tell us the truth?”

„You are who said it won’t work.”

„I said that’s possible to not work and I said this when we didn’t know about the 25th of January. Now that we know this, I think we can make her say to us what she knows.”

„Then… take Inspector Yu and go to see Cha Yoon. Ask her not only about the 25th but also about what could have happened to Do Ra at least 3 weeks before this date.”

„The day Han So Ra could have gotten pregnant.”

„Exactly. It’s a time that coincides with that time when they were still friends, right? So, with a little bit of luck, Detective Ian, we can find out things, don’t you think so too?”

„Absolutely, boss!” SolHi told him, suddenly straightening up. This made DooSan frown because he realized that SolHi was making fun of him this way.

Eventually, DooSan shook his head. He did that the moment SolHi slammed the door behind her. Then, scolding himself, DooSan said, „You are definitely pathetic, Han DooSan! Why? Because the one you said you’d make crawl to your feet is perfectly doing this with you right now. Something that makes me realize once again that she’s not stupid at all.”

***

After the conversation she had with DooSan in the office, SolHi phoned Yu, asking him to pick her up from in front of the Prosecution Building. Yet, he didn’t come right away, and she had to wait about 40 minutes for him. This didn't enrage SolHi but gave her time to think about what she found out about Han So Ra. Something bothered her in that story, but she couldn’t understand what exactly. Eventually, too immersed in thoughts, SolHi winced when Yu honked to get her attention.

Entering his car, SolHi heard Yu asking, „Did you try to understand the whole world there?”

„No, only myself,” SolHi responded idly. Then she smiled.

„Then we have a problem,” said the inspector, turning right once they exited the Prosecution’s yard. His words made SolHi stare in amazement at him. „I meant the problem you thought about because you look as though you aren’t on this planet only if the problem is really big.”

„Did you get to know me so well, Inspector?”

„Let’s say I’ve learned to read people in the twenty years since I’ve been working for the police. And, if I’m not wrong, we are heading somewhere in particular if you asked me to pick you up from here.” SolHi nodded. „Where exactly?”

„To Han So Ra’s house. We have to find out from her parents when exactly she didn't sleep at her house at night between last December and January this year. Only this way, we can figure out where to start the investigation fi.”

„I say to start with the 14th of December,” said Yu confidently.

„Why exactly on the 14th of December?”

„Because So Ra slept at her friend’s house that night, at Ko Cha Yoon.”

„And you know that because?”

„Kan told me. Where does he know from? From So Ra’s parents, whom he interrogates right now. So, are we going to see Cha Yoon or not?”

„Absolutely,” replied SolHi, strangely smiling. „And… you know, Inspector, I don’t remember if I have ever told you that I like the guys that think logically, do I?”

„Yeah, you told me. Just as I know you like to tease others with this joke.”

At all bothered by the inspector’s bitter face, who had really disliked her joke, SolHi shrugged. „What to do?! Call it my professional defect: I got to suspect everybody. And tease others too, why not if this is funny?! Actually, it’s the only way I can feel alive in this world of insensitive zombies. And… I’m curious now: have ever felt lonely, inspector?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

„Is this a tricky question?”

„Not at all. I was just wondering if you ever felt lonely even if a lot of people surrounded you at that moment.”

„Actually, yeah,” Yu responded confidently. „Every day to be more precise. Do you know why? Because nobody cares about others, not lately. People stopped caring even about those that are really close to them because… each of us lives his life and not others’life, Detective Ian.”

„What about others? About those who really need us, I mean.”

„What do I know?! They have to handle everything alone, I guess. Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question.”

„Why?”

„Because I’ve never been callous. At the same time, I’ve never felt that desperate need to be helped by others.”

„I did feel it,” whispered SolHi, sighing. Yu looked at her, confused. This made SolHi say shortly after this, „Just thoughts, Inspector! Don’t take it too seriously, just as this life takes none of us seriously.”

Saying this, SolHi looked through the window, at people who were outside, by whom their car passed at that moment, in a hurry. People, who were overwhelmed by their problems and passed by others without caring about what others thought or felt. Yet, they should have cared about others, at least from time to time because, seeing others’problems, at least sometimes, people get to figure out how to solve their own problems even when they live in pain.

***

„On the 14th of December? Last year?” Cha Yoon’s mother asked, extremely surprised when SolHi asked her if she remembered if So Ra spent that night in their house. „Yes, she’d been here, I remember now! So Ra slept that night here because Cha Yoon and she had to prepare for the exams. But… Why do you ask, detective? Did something happen then? With Cha Yoon I mean?” Mrs.Ko asked, preoccupied.

„It’s not about Cha Yoon, but about So Ra. We suspect that that night she got pregnant. Actually, we are here because of this: to talk to Cha Yoon and find out if she knows something about this.”

SolHi’s answer made Mrs.Ko stare at her with her eyes wide open. „What? Was So Ra pregnant? Are you sure, detective? Isn’t it a simple invention? Because, if this had been true, Cha Yoon would have told me.”

„Something I doubt, Mrs.Ko,” said Yu, forcing a smile. „Teenagers nowadays don’t share things about their personal life with anybody. Not even with their parents and, trust me, I know what I am talking about because… I have a problematic one at home. Yet, we aren't here for this, but to talk to Cha Yoon.”

Mrs.Ko, as though heard nothing of what Yu said, too immersed in thoughts while he said what he said, suddenly cut Yu off when he wanted to say something else. „Even if it’s true and So Ra got pregnant last December, it’s for sure that it didn’t happen that night because, before going to sleep, around 3 a.m., I checked them. They were sleeping. Both of them. I’m sure of this,” she said.

SolHi and Yu exchanged glances. „Is it possible that So Ra sneaked out of the house without you being aware of this?”

„Of course not, detective! Or what, do you think I wouldn’t have felt this?”

„I didn’t say this,” SolHi rushed to calm Mrs.Ko, who seemed indignant, thinking that SolHi didn’t believe her. „We only want to exclude such a possibility.”

„No, detective. I’m sure of this. I swear.”

„You shouldn’t swear this time, Mom,” Cha Suk, Mrs.Ko’s son, suddenly said, appearing in the living room and sipping from the juice he got from the kitchen. What he said made Yu and SolHi exchange glances again. Mrs.Ko stared at her 13-year-old son with wide-open eyes, waiting for the rest of what he wanted to say. The teenager, seeing his mother so confused, smiled and said, „Actually, it’s not your fault that you haven’t felt So Ra leaving the apartment. Cha Yoon took care of this: she helped So Ra sneak out of the house while you were in the shower. She even made sure they wouldn’t be trapped.”

„How do you know this, Cha Suk?” His mother asked him even more surprised than before. Even a fit of anger was felt in her voice when she asked that while her eyes were still focused on the boy’s eyes.

„I was in the kitchen when So Ra left,” the teenager answered, at all afraid of seeing the anger in his mother’s eyes. „None of them saw me there. They were too focused on what they were doing. Yet, I saw everything: how they sneaked outside Cha Yoon’s room and that So Ra wore my sister’s clothes, those she uses while going to the club. Actually, they were whispering something too.”

„Did you hear what they talked about?” Yu asked, taking a few notes.

„No. I was too far from them.”

„What about the hour So Ra left? Do you remember what hour she left?” SolHi asked.

Mrs.Ko didn’t allow her son to answer SolHi’s question, but cut him off by saying, „More than the hour when So Ra left I’m more interested in finding out what club clothing you talk about, Cha Suk!”

„Those that my sister hides in the big toy bear from her room,” the boy happily responded, as though he was taking revenge on Cha Yoon for something while revealing her secrets. „And, to answer the detective’s question too, So Ra left around 12. The perfect time for Cinderella to go out clubbing by turning into a pumpkin.”

The teenager’s answer and the happiness that was sparkling in his eyes made Yu and SolHi exchange glances again, wondering what else was hidden behind that story. They had to leave such thoughts for later, looking in amazement behind Mrs.Ko, when she suddenly turned her back to them and entered her daughter’s room by slamming the door.

„Should we follow her?” SolHi asked, confused.

Instead of Yu, Cha Suk answered SolHi’s question, „Of course, you should follow my mother, detective. It’s the only way you can save my sister from certain death because… when my mother sees everything Cha Yoon hides inside that bear, she definitely throws my sister through the window.” After that, shrugging, the boy turned his back to them, heading toward his room, as if he wasn’t at all curious to find out what would happen after that bomb that exploded because of his words.

„All this smells like a conspiracy theory to me,” said Yu, frowning.

Staring toward the closed door of the teenager’s room, SolHi asked, „Do you think Cha Suk is lying?”

„Definitely not.” SolHi looked in amazement at the inspector. „The sparkling in his eyes was too real.”

„Revenge then?”

„Undoubtedly because… this is what others call a real war between brothers.” Saying this, Yu smiled and headed to Cha Yoon’s room, from where her shouts and her mother’s shouts could be heard already.

***

„I told you to never enter my room,” Cha Yoon shouted when she saw her mother entering the room. Mrs.Ko, paying no attention to the girl’s protest, approached the toy bear and started to take out many things that the teenager hid there: extravagant clothing, mini-dresses, jewelry, purses, cosmetics, and many others. Seeing all this on the floor, Cha Yoon seemed to have completely lost her mind.

A slap over her face made her keep silent. Then, touching her face with both palms, she stared at her mother with the eyes of an eagle. Cha Yoon’s eyes even filled with tears at one point while staring at Mrs.Ko, who also seemed to have lost her mind, thinking that her daughter was provoking her. The woman even raised her hand to slap Cha Yoon for the second time when she saw her daughter still staring at her.

Yu, seeing what Mrs.Ko wanted to do, suddenly grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. After that, he whispered into the woman’s ear, „Allow Detective Ian to talk to Cha Yoon. I’m sure she’ll talk if the detective has a normal conversation with her and does not attack her.”

„Yet, this doesn’t mean that our talk is over and that the problem was solved, young lady,” Mrs.Ko told her daughter.

„Of course. You can talk to her later to find out what else she’s hiding from you. Now, we need someone else to talk to her because… she seems upset with you and I don’t think she’ll tell us something while you are here. So, what about waiting in the living room for the two of them to finish their conversation?”

Not quite convinced that it was right to do this, Mrs.Ko looked at her daughter. Seeing that Cha Yoon kept staring at her with the eyes of an eagle, frustrated that she’d been aggressed without even having the chance to defend herself, Mrs.Ko told the girl, „Don’t even think that we’ve finished this conversation, Cha Yoon. When the detectives leave, we’ll talk about all this and you’ll tell me everything you know if you don’t tell them. So, before even thinking about lying about something, think twice, did you get me? Only this way, you’ll not be punished as you deserve.”

Saying this, Mrs.Ko left the room, followed by the inspector. Yu, getting out of the room, carefully closed the door behind him, making a sign to SolHi that he’d be right over there in case she needed him. Then, when SolHi nodded yes, Yu closed that door. Only then did SolHi turn her back to the door and insistently look at Cha Yoon.

SolHi said nothing after this. She kept silent for a long time. While staying silent, she watched Cha Yoon, who was knelt by her things, which were thrown on the floor one on top of the other, trying to bring them in order. Cha Yoon also said nothing for a long time. Only in the end, when she felt that silent pressing over her chest, she asked SolHi, „Why are you here, Detective Ian? I thought I told you everything I knew that day, at the coffee shop.”

„I’m not sure of this, Cha Yoon: that you have told me the truth. At least you told me that day the truth you wanted others to know. Yet, you kept silent about the important thing, about December 14. Why?”

Cha Yoon winced. „I don’t know what you are talking about, Detective!” The girl said, suddenly looking elsewhere.

„Actually, I think you know. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have looked elsewhere but into my eyes. Don’t you think so too?”

The teenager swallowed hard. Then, throwing off everything she had on her lap back on the floor, she stood up and, sitting on the bed, covered her face with her palms. The girl’s reaction made SolHi attentive. More than that, SolHi became curious when Cha Yoon whispered, „I told her that it could end badly, but she didn’t listen to me that day.”

„Who? So Ra?” SolHi asked, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Cha Yoon nodded yes. After that, she burst into tears. She needed enough minutes to be able to control herself again. Then, through tears and sobs, she told SolHi, „It's because of him.”

„Of him? Who exactly?”

„A young man whom So Ra met a week before the „accident.”

„This „accident”… had it something to do with the fact that she got pregnant later?” Cha Yoon looked with wide-open eyes at SolHi. „You didn’t know about this, I see.”

„No, So Ra didn’t tell me about this.”

„She got pregnant before you argued, right?”

„Yes. About one month after she slept at my house. I think it was the end of January.”

„What happened then?”

„What I told you already: she asked me to break up with my boyfriend and I…”

„I was talking about the night So Ra slept here and not about the fight you had, Cha Yoon. We’ll talk about this later. Now I want to know more about that night. What exactly happened that day?”

„Nothing out of the ordinary or at least this is what I know. She told me that she wanted to see him that night, at any cost. So Ra liked that guy a lot. She said he could change her life and she had to see him yes or yes that night.”

„Do you know where they went that night?”

„I think they went to the cinema. He invited her the day we met him for the first time. If they went to the cinema or not, I don’t know.”

„Most likely no because… who goes to the cinema at 12 a.m.? Only… the naive ones.”

„I told So Ra the same thing that night, but she didn’t listen to me. She said that if he invited her, it meant he liked her a lot. That’s why she insisted on sleeping at my house because she could sneak out easily. Yes, she also did that because she didn’t want her parents to know about this, especially her father. Probably because of this, she looked for a man to protect her back and protect her from her father.”

„It sounds logical. Yet, that man is her father.”

„A man who never left her to breathe or live as she wanted.”

„So Ra was only 16, Cha Yoon. It’s something normal for the parents to control the life of their children.”

„Of course not. Our parents should be by our side, to support and guide us, not to control our life or beat us as So Ra’s father did each time he considered that she didn’t listen to him.”

„Now I agree with you. Not totally, anyway, but I’m not here for this. I need you to tell me who’s the guy with whom So Ra met that night.”

„As I said… someone whom she met at the mall a week before she slept at my house.”

„Does he have a name?”

„Yes, but I don’t remember it. All I remember is that he’s a student. I think he said Hankook University or something like that. Yes, he studies Theater and Film, if I’m not wrong. At least he told us that when we met.”

„Any important details about him? Tattoos? How tall is he?”

„I don’t think he has tattoos. About his height: 1.8 tall, dark brown hair and eyes. That’s all I remember.”

„A „usual” guy.”

„Something like that. Yet, So Ra liked him a lot. That’s why she took the risk that night and went out, something that changed her completely after this.”

SolHi looked at Cha Yoon, confused. „Your colleagues… did they know about that night?” Cha Yoon suddenly looked elsewhere. „They knew. Your eyes talk. So, is it because of this that they removed her from the school’s chat?”

Cha Yoon shook her head. „I removed her from that chat. It was too painful for her.”

„Painful? Why?”

„Because… about a month after that night, someone posted some photos of So Ra kissing a boy… in the chat. And, under those photos, it was written that So Ra had an abortion.” Saying this, Cha Yoon started to cry again. „This broke my heart because… even though we had our fight, she was still my friend.”

Cha Yoon’s tears made SolHi feel weird and sigh. Then, barely controlling her tears, SolHi asked. „Can I see those photos?” Cha Yoon shook her head. „Why?”

„They’ve been deleted already. The day So Ra jumped off the roof. Who deleted them or who posted them… I don’t know. It was an anonymous post. Yet, I saved this.”

Taking her phone from the bed, Cha Yoon turned on a video where several teenagers were mocking So Ra, somewhere in the backyard of the school. They not only told her bad words that day, but they also threw trash over her or pushed So Ra from one to another. At one point, through mockeries and laughter, SolHi clearly heard the voice of a young man telling another one who was squeezing So Ra’s hand at that moment, not letting her go, „She simply enjoys holding your hand.”

„Just as she loves the trash because… she belongs to the same class, don’t you, So Ra?” After that, he pushed her toward a third young man. This one didn’t grab her, but looked at her, disgusted, when So Ra fell to the ground because he didn’t support her. So Ra didn’t stand after this, but closed her eyes, fighting with her tears.

Her „obedience” encouraged the others to keep insulting her. One of the teenagers even put a banana peel on the top of So Ra's head, yelling at her after this, „Used! Just like you, trash!” After that, laughing like idiots, they kept insulting her while So Ra was sobbing.

Not being able to look at that video anymore, SolHi turned it off and closed her eyes. „They do not even know what life is, but they dare to call someone trash,” SolHi gnashed her teeth eventually. „Worthless creatures! I’ll show you for sure what it means to be treated like trash and I’m not sure you’ll like it. I’ll take this phone with me!”

Cha Yoon didn’t oppose when SolHi took her phone. She only looked behind SolHi, sad, aware that the detective was right: someone should have taught some manners to those who had mocked So Ra all that time. She wanted to do that, but she couldn’t. That’s why, allowing SolHi to do that for So Ra, Cha Yoon was sure that it was the best she could do as So Ra’s friend.

***

Getting out of the building where Cha Yoon was living, SolHi felt that she wanted to vomit. Because of this, she ran toward the bushes, puking after this while shaking her entire body. Even tears were flowing down her cheeks and cold beads of sweat were running down her back.

Yu, who exited behind her, stood by the door for a while, confused, looking toward SolHi and understanding nothing of what happened to her at that moment. He wasn't indifferent: he simply didn’t know what to do. Eventually, approaching SolHi and squatting by her, Yu started to tap slowly on her back, letting her know that he was there for her. This made her calm eventually. Then, standing up and taking a few steps away from those bushes, SolHi sadly looked at the street that was crowded even for that late hour, asking Yu after this, „Inspector, why are people so mean sometimes?”

„People? But… what did they do this time?” Yu asked, confused.

His question made SolHi turn her head and sadly look at him. „It’s not about what they did, Inspector. It’s about what they said because… calling someone „trash,” without knowing his story, it’s really cruel. It's even barbarian I can say.”

„Are you speaking now about what happened to Han So Ra or about you?”

„About both because… we’ve passed through this both. People judged and humiliated us for something we weren’t guilty of. At the same time, we had to fight both to survive in this life. Alone.”

„You haven’t been alone, Detective Ian. As far as I know, doctor Pack Mina had been with you in those sad days.”

„Yeah, you are right. Mina was there, for me, when everything happened. Mina is really a good friend. Yet, not even she knows everything that I’ve been through.”

Yu frowned. „What do you mean by „everything that I’ve been through?” The trial?”

„I talk about people’s trial, Inspector. Those who insulted me when they saw me in the street, who splashed me with mud even after I’d been left free. People talked bad about me just because they considered this fair. I’ve even been stabbed because I „dared” to enter a supermarket to buy water.”

Yu widely opened his eyes while staring at her. „What? You’ve been stabbed?”

„Yes. Here is the evidence,” said SolHi, showing Yu a scar she had on the left side of her belly. „Nothing serious because… I defended myself that day. Even so, this marked me a lot. Do you know why? Not because I have this scar for the rest of my life, but because of the words and the bad memories of that day. Do you know what the one who stabbed me told me that day?” Yu shook his head. „That I don’t deserve to drink water if my victim can’t do this.”

Yu gnashed his teeth. Then, deeply breathing in, to calm down, he asked, „Why there is no evidence about this, SolHi? I didn’t see a file with such a case.”

„It’s because I’ve never told anyone about this, Inspector. I didn’t want to be a „star” again. At the same time, I felt guilty that Han YuSan died that night while I was still alive. I feel guilty even now, even if I only have memories of that day. Even so, Inspector: why should I suffer just because I survived that day? Why should people ask me to die just because Han YuSan died and I didn’t? It was a miracle… that I survived that night because… I’m sure you know how I got to the Emergency Room that night. Yet, nobody cared about my wounds, my pain, and my suffering. Nobody ever cared how I’d been found in that warehouse, that I was unconscious and badly injured. Nobody cared that I was about to die that night. Something I think would have been better for me: to die that day and not feel this right now… this pain, the remorse, the shame. All this makes people jump off the roof, Inspector. They do that just because they aren’t able to fight against the world and its hatred anymore.”

Saying this, even if she was shaking with all her body, SolHi turned her back to the inspector and headed toward the car. She didn’t calm down, not even when she was already in the car, looking through the front window. SolHi just felt sad and that nobody understood her, that nobody ever cared about her. At the same time, SolHi felt released because she talked to somebody who wasn’t Mina about what happened to her seven years ago, something SolHi had never done before.