The street was empty. As empty as the street, SolHi’s soul was too, who was barely crawling her legs on that cold pavement although outside it was warm enough. While walking on that sidewalk, SolHi saw nothing else than the empty street and the shadows of those few passersby that passed by her, rushing and squinting at her while wondering what happened to that frick that was wandering the street like a ghost, stained with eggs from top to toe. Yet, even though she heard those whispers like a deaf echo, SolHi didn’t care about them or their squint looks.

At the same time, SolHi didn’t care about people at that moment. She didn’t care how she looked or what others said about her. She was too empty inside after she had been trampled that morning, even though the weather seemed pretty warm right from the moment she opened her eyes. She also hoped that it would be warm in her soul because she couldn’t deny the fact that what happened in DooSan’s apartment that morning wasn’t comic.

Yet, she had been wrong. She should have thought about the fact that everything could have been a simple illusion or a simple warning of Fate before the great storm that was coming toward her. Yes, SolHi should have thought about this. Moreover, she had to feel it after the last night when she’d been warned that life wasn’t as she imagined it. Nevertheless, SolHi ignored everything: she ignored what she felt. She ignored her fear, and, despite the warnings and the clues life gave her about what was coming, that things would turn worse for her, SolHi went to DooSan’s apartment that night.

What convinced SolHi to go to DooSan’s apartment that night was Fate itself. She thought about this right after she split from her team that night, intending to go to bed. Yet, that toothy life was impatiently waiting for her at the door of her house just to slap her once again. And SolHi received that painful slap from a messenger of pain that passed by her door that night, an enemy, whose name she knew so well… Nam Jin Guk.

SolHi didn’t recognize him at first, although she saw someone in front of her apartment. She saw him right after she finished climbing the stairs and got to the third floor. Yet, even though she saw someone there, SolHi didn’t pay too much attention to him, thinking that he was probably someone who misread the door. However, only a few steps from the door, SolHi saw the guy roughly grinning at her. Then, he told her, „Detective Ian, what a surprise to see you again! I thought that we wouldn’t ever see each other again! Yet, it seems that I’ve been wrong because, right after I turned back, luck smiled at me and… here I am! Not by chance, of course, because… I thought a lot about you and that you didn’t deserve to live a happy life. Not after you destroyed mine and trampled me. Because of this, I have a question spinning on the top of my tongue: how does the life you have seem to you, detective? Do you think you deserve it?”

Hearing him talking like that to her, SolHi grinned. She did that not because his words managed to move her, but because she finally recognized that bastard, an idiot she thought she got rid of years ago, but who turned back in her life to take revenge on her. She was seeing this in his eyes that were strangely sparkling. Yet, SolHi wasn’t also stupid. At least she wasn’t stupid to allow him to take revenge on her. That’s why she told him, „Each of us has the life he deserves. I, for example, am in the streets, catching bastards like you while you… well, you have the life of a stinky rat because you can’t deny the fact that you are one. More than that, you must accept that you got it off easily, after all you did to others.” Saying this, SolHi turned around, intending to go away because she definitely disliked the journalist’s grin. More than that, she felt that the fact that he was standing too close to her was bothering her. Because of this, she hissed through her teeth when she saw him blocking her way, „If I were you, I would have run away already.”

Nam Jin Guk smiled after her words. Yet, he didn’t move from her way because he wasn’t stupid or eager to lose the perfect chance life gave him. What chance? To take revenge on SolHi, of course, whom he considered responsible for destroying his career, turning him from a famous journalist into a loser who got to write for a simple online magazine.

Actually, Jin Guk came there not only to get revenge but also to look for sensational news, one that could have catapulted him to the top list of the best journalists, to that small list he’d been part of seven years ago when he wrote about SolHi’s case and got to be one of the best-paid journalists. Coming that night to SolHi’s apartment, he looked for the same luck because he knew that where SolHi was the best news was also found. It had always been so and it couldn’t be different at that moment. He had to be so because, after what happened two years ago when SolHi’s team arrested him for corruption and defamation, he got into a lot of problems, had debts, and barely had money to survive. And not only did he have debts, but he was also hated by everybody. Why? Because his name had been revealed as being the one who published the list of the families of the most dangerous criminals. For this, he received a lot of money but lost even more after this. Yet, he got it off quickly eventually because the Media Trust that he worked for at that moment protected his back, and, instead of going to jail, he’d been sent to Kenya for two years.

When he remembered that time, the journalist gnashed his teeth. „To move away?” He asked her, ironically. „Why exactly? Does my presence bother you?”

„Absolutely! Why? Because I hate flying idiots like you. A bat that doesn’t hover only around me, but also around decent people’s houses, looking for hot news instead of heading toward the place you belong to, Nam Jin Guk - hell. Yes, you deserve to go to hell for what you did two years ago. Yet, as I know that I won’t be that lucky to get rid of you easily, say what you want to say and get lost! I don’t have time to waste with you!”

„Are you sure, Detective Ian? That you don’t have time to talk to me?”

„I’ve never been that sure. Why? Because I know who you are. So: sing!”

Nam Jin Guk burst into laughter, making SolHi frown. „Pardon,” he told her when he saw her grinning. „I was thinking about what you said: to sing! Well, I doubt this now when I know that you are the star between us two, Detective! More like… I also know the main character of a famous romance novel… you!”

It was SolHi’s turn to burst into laughter. „A romance novel? Between you and me? May I know when this miracle has happened? Or, don’t tell me: have you understood that you love me after I’ve sent you to Kenya?”

„Not really,” Jin Guk confidently said. „And you are wrong, Detective: that I’ve fallen in love with you because of what happened two years ago. I can’t love a vampire that sucks people’s blood, fully enjoying their suffering. Not after I’ve been your victim, Detective because Kenya is hell. The Hell.”

„A hell you survived. A hell where you could normally live, breathe, and walk, son of a bitch, because… in Kenya, you could do all this - walk, breathe, smile, and live. Not the same happened to your victims, who had to hide and run after your reportage. They lived in hell, Nam Jin Guk, and not you.”

„They deserved that hell! At the same time, I hadn’t destroyed anyone’s life with that reportage. Not the life of someone who didn’t deserve this. I only told the truth to people. They deserved to know that there are others in this world that give birth to monsters, who are the real criminals they had to know. Thus, as those criminals had made other families suffer, it was normal for their families to know what suffering means too. I call it Divine Justice.”

Hearing him talking like that, SolHi’s eyes started to sparkle because of anger. Then, she took a few steps toward him, hissing through her teeth, „You have just shown them what suffering means? Don’t make me laugh, Nam Jin Guk! You don’t know what real suffering means. Why? Because those who suffered were those families. Yet, as I doubt you know how this feels, I ask you what kind of punishment you deserve for what you’ve done. How should others punish you to bring justice to those who suffered because of you?”

„Are you talking about you, Detective Ian?” The journalist said, smiling.

„Not only about me, although I also suffered because of you, bastard. Yet, I have to accept that you are also right because I’d been your victim for years, and this happened because you looked for hot news, without knowing if I was guilty or not. You didn’t even care about this… the truth.”

„Should I have cared about this?” The journalist asked, grinning. „I don’t think so! Why? Because I’ve done the correct thing because you aren’t innocent, Detective! The evidence points to you as the real criminal of a good man like Han YuSan. He is the real victim, one I’m sure you still remember, very well while you are still around his family. This makes me wonder what the hell you hope to get hanging around them. Especially… What are you trying to do with Han YuSan’s brother? To atone for your sins in his bed?”

SolHi gnashed her teeth. „What the hell are you talking about, Nam Jin Guk?”

„About the romance between Han DooSan and you. A secret love, far away from curious glances. This is what makes me understand that you hope to get something important from him by doing this.” Then, seeing that SolHi was slowly shaking because of anger, he showed her a photo of her and DooSan kissing that night in the car.

„Are you following us?”

„Let’s just say that I’ve found out this purely by chance. Yet, you can’t deny that’s a sensational subject, can you? Of course, you can’t because… this photo, which shows you and Han DooSan in… a hot and tender position is something everybody will love. This will make me famous.”

„Famous? You rather would turn into a shark, not that you aren’t one already. Yet, why are you doing this? What exactly do you hope to get? I don’t think you are here by chance. Or, have you done this to warn me about something?”

„To warn you? Detective, wake up! You aren’t important to me. If I’m here, it is to see your face, something I won’t have the chance to see after I publish this photo. If you are still alive after this, of course.”

„My death will make you happy, right?”

„Not only me. The whole world will be happy when you are gone. I call this justice, something Han DooSan will be grateful to me too for helping him to get rid of garbage like you. One that shouldn’t have ever come into this world, Detective Ian. Never.”

With shaking hands, SolHi grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the door. A deaf sound was heard after the man’s back touched the door. Yet, although the hit hurt like hell, Nam Jin Guk said nothing. He only grinned because, seeing anger in SolHi’s eyes, was something that made him feel a sick pleasure inside. More than that, by „attacking” him, she gave him the chance to write another spicy story. He even had the perfect title for that story, „Out of Control! For how long should we still bear with such garbage that attacks us?” So, detective, what do you think? Is this the perfect title or not?”

„Yes, and this one is also a perfect title: „The killer of the souls, Nam Jin Guk, is out for more victims. How long should we still suffer because of him?” What about this one, huh?”

„It’s a weak one, Detective. Why? If we compare the public interest in my story with yours, yours wins the first prize. That’s why, my reportage about you will be a delicious one, seen on the front pages of all the newspapers.”

„Something I doubt, Nam Jin Guk! Why? Because I won’t allow you to ruin my life again. Not after I realized that you know nothing about me and don’t care about anything. Because of this, I promise that my hand won’t shake next time when I cuff you. So, if such news is published, I swear that you won’t have a happy life after that.”

„You also don’t have a quiet life, Detective. Yet, the difference between you and me is that you killed someone while I didn’t.”

„Are you sure? That you haven’t killed anybody? I won’t bet on that. Do you know why? Because you killed through your stories. Dozens of people have been turned into the victims of your reportages, something that should have made you feel guilty for what you did and not raise your head more. You have dozens of dead people on your conscience, Nam Jin Guk. Dozens more still suffer although you feel nothing for them: neither sorrow nor pain, nothing. Yet, this doesn’t mean that it’s over. I mean, don’t think that’s over because you aren’t in Kenya anymore. Why? Because I’ll take care of you… to get to a worse place than Kenya. This will be revenge for ruining others’lives, bastard. I swear!”

After this, SolHi pushed him away from her. She was determined to enter her apartment and get rid of him. Halfway through forming the door code, she stopped when she heard DooSan’s voice. That record, which Nam Jin Guk turned on, was meant to make her attentive. „A photo?” DooSan asked in that record. „I have no idea what you are talking about, Nam Jin Guk.”

„Hei, Prosecutor Han, let’s not play the fool right now! I’m sure you know what photo I’m talking about. A photo that shows the world how you kiss with passion no one other than the assassin of your brother.” After this, Jin Guk laughed, in that record. „You should feel ashamed, Prosecutor Han! For falling so down, I mean because… kissing the assassin of your brother, it’s too much even for you. Or what, don’t tell me that you don’t feel shame for what you’ve done?”

DooSan laughed with all his heart in that record. „Should I have felt it?” He asked the journalist. „To feel shame, I mean. What for? For kissing a robot that night? Of course not because… I didn’t kiss a woman then. This is not the kiss that’s worth the effort to think about it. At the same time, she’s not a woman I would have normally touched or kissed. And I won’t touch her again, although this can save my life.”

DooSan’s words hurt SolHi a lot. She felt those words as knives that pierced her heart because, finding out that she was less than a robot for him and that she was someone who wasn’t worth the effort to remember, was the worst punishment for her. Even so, she said nothing about this. She finished forming the code and entered the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Once in the apartment, SolHi didn’t feel better. DooSan’s words kept tormenting her inside and made her nervously move back and forth for a while. Then, making sure that Nam Jin Guk wasn’t hovering around her apartment anymore, SolHi left the apartment, intending to go to buy alcohol and get drunk that night, forgetting everything.

After she bought beer and soju, drinking two of the bottles she bought, her footsteps led her to DooSan’s apartment, without knowing that she was signing her death sentence this way. Why? Because… the journalist not only followed her and took photos of her entering the building where DooSan lived, but he also made sure that everybody would find out her biggest secret. Thus, by publishing his story, Nam Jin Guk instigated others to hatred, and the crowd, hungry for fresh meat, who already hated SolHi, waited for her in front of the building that morning, turning her beautiful day into a nightmare again. That nightmare got to control her will in the end, making her wander the streets like a crazy person for a long while.

Eventually, SolHi got to the bus station. She bought an only-way ticket, toward nowhere. Then, with eyes bathed in tears, she got on the bus and took her seat, allowing the driver to take her far away from that place. The destination? Unknown.

***

A FEW DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT

Entering the office, Kan looked at SolHi’s desk for a while. Her things were still there, but he found the place empty, somehow abandoned. After this, he looked at Yoon Suk, A Rim, Yu, and DooSan, who were with him in the office, asking them, „Has been someone able to reach SolHi?”

Yoon Suk shook his head. „I called her several times, sombe, but she didn’t pick up the phone. More than that, the number isn’t available anymore. This hints to me that she hid again and the phone was turned off or she threw it somewhere to make sure none of us would reach her. And… I think she won’t ever turn back.”

„Nothing unexpected, by the way. If I were her, I would have done the same. She has had a lot of enemies lately. Crows that starve for her death.”

Too focused on what he was doing and sunk in thoughts, DooSan didn’t pay attention to what Kan said. He even seemed not interested in SolHi’s absence, just as he looked disinterested that others accused him of wanting her death. Even if he had wished that, nobody would have judged him because he also received a lot of blows after Nam Ju Guk’s reportage when people accused him of being „the enemy’s ally.”

Looking at DooSan, A Rim frowned and murmured, „At least one of us is happy that Ian SolHi is gone.” After that, seeing Yu squinting at him, A Rim turned her back to him, continuing to check the file she started to check since she came to work, but still didn’t finish.

By thinking this about DooSan, A Rim was wrong because DooSan wasn’t happy with SolHi’s absence. The same happened to Kan, who wronged DooSan for accusing him of being SolHi’s enemy. Yet, although he knew very well what others thought about him, DooSan decided to ignore them and the gossip and didn’t even bother to chase the doubt away from his colleagues’souls. He focused only on his work, trying to figure out where he’d been wrong because he looked for SolHi after she left from in front of his building, but without a result. This made him understand a single thing: that SolHi had chosen a safe place to hide, a place known only by her, most likely her birthplace. Yet, no matter what DooSan did to find out where SolHi was born, he couldn’t find out. All that he found out was that the information was secret, although it wasn’t clear why that information wasn’t for public use.

After the failure, DooSan didn’t give up but tried other methods to find her. To make sure he’d find her, he hired someone whom he trusted, determined to solve the problem of the accusations brought to SolHi first, who had been fired from the Prosecution in the end. Why did SolHi have been fired? For „corrupting her boss, by entering his bed.” A stupid thing would have said the majority, once both of them were grown people and not stupid. At the same time, it wasn’t forbidden for any of them to see each other even though they worked together. This hinted to DooSan that the General Attorney had a strict order to get rid of SolHi, something he did eventually when he fired her. Thus, determined to find out what stunk in the Prosecution, DooSan started to investigate the mystery behind that story. That’s why he hadn’t been surprised when he received the message, „Can I see you in the lobby for a few moments? I found what you were looking for.” Thus, reading the message, DooSan left the office without saying a word to his colleagues. He didn’t even look at any of them although all of them stared behind him, wondering where the hell Han DooSan left that morning and saying no word about this to any of them.

***

After he left his office, DooSan went to meet that mysterious person in the lobby. There, one of the agents that assured the security of the Prosecution Building was already waiting for him. Who was that person for DooSan? A simple colleague, whom he helped in the past and who promised him to do the same in exchange for DooSan’s legal advice. Thus, respecting DooSan, he got to help the prosecutor any time he needed, being sure that DooSan would do the same if necessary.

Seeing the young man about thirty, DooSan smiled. Then, he carefully looked around to make sure no enemy was around to see him there. Only after that did DooSan approach the agent, whom he asked concerned, „Don’t tell me that you meet some problems while doing what I have asked you to do!”

„On the contrary, Prosecutor Han: I have the best news ever. And, to make sure that I’m not lying, I have prepared a surprise,” the agent replied, giving a USB memory to DooSan. After that, suddenly turning serious, he asked DooSan, „You are doing all this for Detective Ian, right? I mean the favor you asked me.”

„Yes, you are right. Even so, your question is a little bit suspicious. Have you spied on me or something?”

The agent shook his head. „If I ask this, it is because of Prosecutor San DuSik. He asked me for the same favor a week ago. To be more precise, he asked for the records of the cameras from the parking lot. I guess he is trying to find out who has vandalized the car. Thus, while checking the video, I saw you and Detective Ian next to his car. The rest… you can only imagine.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

DooSan smiled. „I see. That bastard, despite knowing who vandalized his car, took revenge on her.”

„It seems so. He couldn’t touch you while Detective Ian was a perfect target. At the same time, he took revenge on her for what happened in the office when he slapped her, and Detective Ian threatened him.”

DooSan frowned this time. „Should I understand that everybody knows about that day?” The agent smiled. „Damn, the gossip here circulates faster than the air, or what?”

„Nothing out of the ordinary, by the way, because… this place isn’t different from any other company or institution. Yet, you are still lucky because you work for the Prosecution, and that I work for you.”

„What do you have in mind this time?” DooSan asked, seeing his interlocutor smiling. „Don’t tell me, you know something I don’t know, right?”

„Right. Actually, I don’t only know this, but I also have the perfect chance to get revenge on San DuSik as he deserves.”

„The perfect chance to get revenge on San DuSik as he deserves… Hmm, sounds interesting, but I don’t get the point.”

„You’ll understand what I mean when you see the second video I put on that USB. For that video, San DuSik can even kill someone.”

„Really?!” DooSan asked, smiling. „This hints to me that starting today San DuSik will do whatever I want.”

„Not only this! If you ever need a secret killer, Prosecutor San will do that for you for sure.”

Happy with the result, DooSan squeezed the USB in his hand. He was definitely satisfied with having the chance to get revenge on San DuSik for everything that one did to him and YuSan in time. For that pleasure, DooSan was capable of paying back very well. Yet, he had it cheap at that time because the agent asked him only for a coffee as a reward. There, next to the coffee machine, he shared more secrets with DooSan while sipping from that coffee. What kind of secrets? Only he and DooSan knew them because those were secrets that could help DooSan succeed, in time.

***

SuJin, nervous, intensely scratched his face while hissing through his teeth, „To be damn!” He didn’t curse someone, but his work because he had a damn important mission that night: to break into someone’s email. Who asked him to do that? No one other than his father, Inspector Yu, who was sitting next to his son, and who was determined to make sure the young man would do a great job. „Not that I hadn’t been able to do it without you blowing down my neck,” he mumbled eventually, squinting at his father. „Yet, you had to be here, next to me, not letting me breathe for four hours already.”

„I just make sure that you’ll do everything as it’s required. Tonight, and no other day because I need that information urgently, Yu SuJin. Something I doubt now, even though I have heard you boasting so many times before that you are capable of this. Why do I doubt this? Because you hadn’t managed to break into a damn email, not even after four hours of work.”

„This is because that idiot has his back assured. How? He is connected to a damn advanced software system. Something that hints to me that he is involved in things that stink if he uses such a protection for his software.”

„Something you aren’t capable of breaking, right?”

„Of course… I’m capable! I just need time because such things need time. A lot of time, Inspector Yu!”

„And you have it: until tomorrow morning.”

„Do I look like Einstein? Of course not. Even though I was Einstein, such things aren’t for doing them in a rush. Only if you want to be caught red-handed.”

„Something you’ll make sure that won’t happen, Yu SuJin. Why? You don’t want to get behind bars if they catch you once again doing the same.”

„I won’t go alone behind bars but holding your hand, Dad! Why? Because you asked me to do this: to break into someone’s email account. Illegally.”

„I?” Yu innocently asked. „Can you prove it? Of course not, right? That’s why, you’ll do what I say and keep working if you don’t want me to tell Detective Gi what you are doing at home.”

„Wow, I lived to see this one too: my own father blackmails me to send me behind bars for his mistakes. Wonderful, what can I say?! At all surprising, by the way. Not when I already know that you asked Detective Gi to send me behind bars instead of saving my ass.”

„I was just acting like any other responsible citizen: asking for a crime to be punished. You can’t accuse me of this, right?”

„Yeah, right! What I can accuse you of is that you asked me to break the law for your benefit.”

„Something you can’t do! Say it! You have my permission! Eh, I’m sure of this already… that you can’t break into that system. If you had been able to do that and if you had been that Black Unicorn you boasted yourself to be, we would have slept in our bed now and not stayed here and prayed for a miracle.”

„You don’t trust me, right?” SuJin asked, irritated.

„Something like that. Anyway, for a good reason I don’t believe you,” said Yu, sweetly yawning.

Yu’s indifference drove SuJin crazy. „If you don’t believe me, Dad, then I’ll prove to you how wrong you are. What you have to do is to stay where you are. I’ll make you for sure to regret not believing in my ability,” he said, gnashing his teeth. After that, outraged, he started to write so fast that Yu got lost through all the numbers and the letters SuJin wrote on the computer’s screen. Yet, the Inspector didn’t care too much about this because he reached the purpose he wanted to reach - he „motivated” his son through those words, and he would have seen the result soon for sure.

***

The second day, at dawn, Yu appeared at DooSan’s door. He, seeing the Inspector so early in the morning at his door, stared at him, confused, not believing that he was real and not a ghost. DooSan even rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

Seeing DooSan rubbing his eyes, Yu reproachfully shook his head. Then, pushing DooSan aside, he entered the apartment, telling him, „Seeing your bitter face and how you look early in the morning, you remind me about my son, Prosecutor. That one, just like you, stares at me as though he has seen a ghost if I enter his room so suddenly. So, tell me that I didn’t catch you doing… certain things. I don’t love interrupting certain actions with a… cat or something.”

DooSan smiled, understanding the message sent by the Inspector. Then, closing the door, he headed toward the kitchen, saying, „You can check the apartment if you want. I assure you that you won’t find any ogre hidden somewhere here. Instead of terror stories, I can offer you a coffee.”

„Well, I won’t say no to a coffee because… I haven’t slept last night,” mumbled Yu, yawning.

„Said the one who suspected me of hiding ghosts here and doing certain forbidden things.”

„Yeah, yeah, laugh while you still can do that, Prosecutor. Yet, you are wrong in thinking this about me, although I would have liked to do that and not make sure that Yu SuJin would do his job well.”

„And? Was it worth it? I mean… not to have slept last night.”

„Absolutely, because you were right in suspecting that bastard.” DooSan stared at Yu, who smiled. „Those sons of… San DuSik and Nam Jin Guk allied against Detective Ian. More than that, who wrote the reportage, was Nam Jin Guk and not the other journalist we suspected.”

„Something that hints to me that Nam Jin Guk has something against DuSik. Or at reverse.”

„Or they simply took advantage of all this. Yet, this also gives us the chance to get rid of two birds at the same time. More than that, with such evidence we have now, San DuSik goes to jail for sure.” Saying that, Yu turned on the video he had on his mobile phone, letting DooSan see San DuSik in the underground parking lot of the prosecution where he approached a car and put something that seemed to be a transmitter under it.

„Not a random car, but the General Attorney’s one. This smells like a complot. Don’t you also feel this?”

„Honestly, I felt the stink right after SuJin showed me the video. This has hinted to me that this idiot has a lot of things hidden. Even so, I don’t see how all this can help us to help SolHi.”

„Simple: showing this video to San DuSik. He’ll do the rest of the work for us. More than that, we don’t have to do anything for SolHi to return to work. This way, I’ll show that bastard, once and for all, that he’s nobody… just a simple rat working for others.”

„Are you intending to threaten him?”

„Nea. I’ll simply let him know what he can lose if he doesn’t do things as we want,” said DooSan, cunningly smiling, sipping from his coffee.

***

A beautiful sight was seen on the horizon. It was the sight of the sea that was bathed by the warm sun, which colored the Sunset in red. Thus, a fairytale realm was stretching in front of DooSan’s eyes, which he was admiring in silence, asking from that pleasant view for peace and warmth. And, while watching it, DooSan started to dream about happiness, that happiness that slipped through his fingers the morning when the whole country found out that SolHi had spent the night in his apartment.

At that moment, DooSan was so close to the shore, next to his car, which he parked suddenly when he saw the sea, smiling beautifully while watching nature’s beauty. And it was pleasant to watch him after many days of storming inside when he thought that happiness was already something forbidden to him. Then, suddenly, he found peace again, „In a place that looks like Heaven. That’s why I can’t blame SolHi for choosing this place to hide.”

It hadn’t been at all easy for DooSan to find that place. It had been necessary for him to follow Kan like a puppy for many days, asking and begging the detective to tell him where exactly SolHi could be. Yet, he obtained the address only when he promised that he would apologize to her for not doing anything when she had been attacked in front of his building and that she suffered so much because of him. Then, before giving DooSan the address, Kan had another requirement: DooSan had to do everything to convince SolHi to return, and Kan asked DooSan for this because he was sure that SolHi wouldn’t ever return otherwise. After all, if she had gone so suddenly and told nobody where she was, it meant only one thing… she didn’t intend to turn back ever.

Kan’s requirement seemed strange to DooSan. Not the one of making SolHi return at any cost, but because he had to apologize. Yes, DooSan also knew that he had to do that, but he still found it weird after everything that happened between them. Even so, he swore to Kan that he would do that and, when Kan gave him the address, DooSan didn’t wait for more but headed toward SolHi’s birthplace right away.

Once there, DooSan felt the nostalgia taking over him because that village was a place he knew. It was a village by the sea, which he had missed so much. No, not the village DooSan had missed, but the sea because it reminded him about YuSan, who had simply adored the song of the waves, the shout of the seagulls on the heights, and even the salty scent of the sea, which was struggling with the currents of water somewhere on the horizon or closer to the shore.

Saying that Han YuSan had been in love with the sea wasn’t something random. He simply adored it, sometimes madly loved it, staying on the shore for hours, with his eyes focused on the horizon, at the seagulls that were floating on their large wings and which seemed white points of hope in the black sky of the morning… the sky of life, the one blackened by concern, problems, and delusions. More than that, the sea had been everything for YuSan because „The sea is alive,” he often told DooSan. „The sea breathes. It also dreams and fully lives each moment of its existence… through the dance of the seagulls, through the caress of the breeze of its waves, and even through its depths… There is also life under the water, DooSan. And here… by the sea… it’s my Paradise.”

Those words meant a lot for YuSan because they said what his soul felt in fact. Words DooSan believed in until the end. That’s why he often accompanied his brother to the seashore, visiting the village YuSan loved, although DooSan had never found out why. Thus, each time they got there, DooSan also felt free and started to adore such places full of beauty and freshness… the Paradise as YuSan named it.

Nevertheless, after his brother’s death, DooSan stopped going to the sea. He even swore that he got to hate that place and that he was upset with it. Why did he feel all this? Because he considered that such places stole his beloved brother and part of his heart and soul. Then, he also found the song of the seagulls from above insufferable… a song that reminded him about YuSan.

Seven years after he swore all this, DooSan was back in those places, something he had never expected. Once there, by the sea, he felt guilty that he stopped coming there, he felt that he betrayed YuSan’s memory by doing this, whose soul DooSan was sure was still there. When he thought about this, DooSan felt that he lacked air. He felt this only for a short while. Then, soon, when the rays of the sunset pleasantly warmed his face, DooSan closed his eyes and allowed the sea breeze and the seagulls to comfort him with the music of their souls.

***

Standing on the deck of a fishing boat, a little bent over the metallic railing on which she supported her elbows, SolHi looked in the distance. She looked at the restless sea that was stretching toward the red horizon, at the seagulls that were falling from above right into the water to surface right away with fish in their beaks, and at the shining of the water that was dancing in front of her eyes. A view that delighted her, making her feel peaceful inside. A joy that she had craved for, for a long time, but which she had never fully enjoyed.

That place was the Paradise too as it had been for Han YuSan despite the harsh times she lived while being a child and then a teenager. At the same time, that place reminded her about her childhood and everything she left behind, making her understand that despite the harshness of the time she lived and of her childhood when she suffered a lot, she suffered more far away from those places. And, with such thoughts in her mind, completely taken over by the charm of them, SolHi winced when Yu Min, a friend she had since childhood, approached her and told her in a cheerful voice, „It looks like happiness, right?! The sea, I mean.”

SolHi smiled. „You already know the answer. Even so, you ask me the same thing each time I come here.”

„It’s because I’m curious to find out what you are thinking about. Just as I’m curious to know why you are here again, SolHi because… yeah, maybe this is your birthplace and you have missed it, but… still, this is a place I know you have always wanted to run away from so many times before.”

„And you are right! I suffered a lot when I lived here. At the same time, I’ve been happy here and I’ve learned to love it. Just as I love this sun that washes its red face in the seawater, these seagulls that shout from above, and the message they always send to me. I have also missed that message, you know?!”

„Message? What message?” The young man asked her, confused.

„That we need so little to be happy. We all. Yet, people often complicate things, wanting more and more from life, asking it for impossible things, and dreaming of leaving such places behind them, without knowing that being far away from their birthplace, they’ll miss it more and would want to turn back to it. I feel the same, Yu Min! I feel that maybe it’s time to turn back here.” Saying this, SolHi’s eyes filled with tears, feeling sadness taking over her again. She wanted to cry since long ago, but she couldn’t afford such a luxury. She also couldn’t cry in front of people. That’s why, feeling the tears dancing in the corner of her eyes, she wiped them right away, on the sly, looking at the horizon again.

Her clumsy movement didn’t deceive Yu Min because he noticed her wiping her tears and turning sad after this. Yet, he said nothing to her, realizing that SolHi suffered, although he didn’t know the reason. Thus, allowing her to immerse in thoughts for a short while, with the beauty of the sea in front, he allowed her to connect to those places and become the old SolHi again… that cheerful girl who always smiled despite her harsh life. Yes, he knew SolHi as the kind girl, that girl who loved everybody even though others hated her and showed her their malice, who was courageous no matter how many harsh things life put in her way.

Eventually, looking at the shore, where he saw a stranger, who was staring at their boat, Yu Min sadly smiled and said, „It seems to me that you have visitors.”

SolHi looked at him in amazement. „I? What makes you think that someone will come here to visit me?”

„Because there are only a few people here that someone can come to visit. You are one of those people, SolHi. At the same time, there are a lot of people who would like to come here to see you. Too many to my taste.”

Saying this, Yu Min turned his back to her. He did that suddenly, intending not to let SolHi find out about his thoughts and that big secret he had been hiding inside for so long. Yet, he feared for nothing because SolHi, who recognized DooSan in the person of the stranger that was on the shore, completely forgot about what Yu Min said and started to wonder what the hell could have happened to Han DooSan, who had come to see her there. And, for the first time since they knew each other, SolHi started to fear DooSan. She felt this not because she would have blamed him for what happened a few days ago, but because, since she saw him again, she started to have so many problems that made her feel powerless, just as she felt seven years ago.

Although SolHi felt all this, she talked to nobody about her fears. She said nothing about this to Yu Min too. SolHi only looked in the distance, just as DooSan did until the boat anchored in the port. Then, after Yu Min told her to go to see the stranger because he would take care of unloading her part of the fish too, SolHi left the boat and approached DooSan. Only two steps from him, she stopped and told him jokingly, „I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing: the great Han DooSan in person. Or… are you a ghost who has come here looking for rest?”

DooSan smiled too. „Do you feel guilty for my death or what?” SolHi looked at him, confused. „Don’t take it personally! I was just thinking that if you saw me as a ghost, it meant I was dead in your head. The victim?! And… never mind! It’s a stupid joke as far as I understood.”

„Honestly, this is the worst joke you could have ever made. Anyway, that’s not important now and doesn’t matter to me anymore. So, tell me: to what I owe such an important visit from my ex-boss’s part?”

„The ex?”

„Yeah, this is exactly what I mean: my ex-boss. Why? Because, as far as I remember, I’ve been fired for… I quote, „For trying to take advantage by entering my boss’s bed. Or… should I be more explicit than this?”

„Not necessary. I also read that message.”

„Really? Did you read it? Where exactly? Did you break into my email or what?”

„I wish I could have done this. Thus, I would have found out more secrets about you. Yet, as I’m not that lucky… I have been investigating this… here and there. I also have friends among those who work for the Prosecution. They didn’t find it difficult to find out the reason why one of my subordinates was fired, by the way.”

„Aaa, if you say so,” SolHi replied carelessly. „It’s because of this you are here! I thought that you are here to see what has happened to the one you have tried to get rid of for so long, with no result. It hadn’t been easy before. Yet, you had that chance now. And, by the way, you should have tried this earlier. Thus, you would have been free of me a long time ago.”

„Ha-ha, funny, but not for me. Why? Because I’m not happy to know that others suffer.” SolHi squinted at him. „Yes, I accept this: I’m happy, from time to time, of my enemies’bad luck.”

„As far as I remember, I’m part of that group of enemies.”

„And you are right: I consider you an enemy from time to time. When you drive me crazy, for example. Yet, as this isn’t the reason why I’m here, I’ll say this to you: you are back in business, Detective Ian.” And, suddenly, he threw her badge, forcing SolHi to catch it on the fly. „Your job cries for you. So, that’s enough for you to be lazy.”

SolHi threw the badge back to him soon after this. „I would rather say no. I’m fine here. So, as I don’t intend to turn back to the police, ever, you have the right to turn around and go away! At a quick step, and… don’t be lazy, Prosecutor Han!”

DooSan burst into laughter. Then, suddenly turning serious, he told her, „If I leave this place, I’ll leave it only with you. And not at a lazy step, but at normal speed, as I got here: driving, not walking.”

„If you say so! For me, how you got here, means nothing. More than that: if you don’t want to leave this place alone, I can find some company for you. There are a lot of good women eager to accompany you here.” Then, winking at him when she saw him cooking his nose, SolHi smiled. It was clear to her, judging by his bitter face, that it was her chance to make some fun of him. Yet, she had to leave this for later when one of the older fishermen called her to take her part of the fish.

„Fish?” DooSan asked her in a slightly mocking tone. „Are you into „fishing” more recently?”

„Yeah, and I’m damn good at it, by the way… at fishing dead bodies I mean. You are here, right, ghost?”

DooSan cooked his nose again. „It wasn’t funny. At all.”

„For you maybe! For me… it’s the best joke I ever made. And to mock you too of course, at will. Or… to drive you crazy, as you love. So, Han DooSan, once you aren’t my boss anymore, I can make you suffer as I want. Much more than you’ve suffered by now.”

SolHi said all this in a cheerful tone, making DooSan wonder at one point what she was planning. Yet, seeing the eyes of the other fishermen focused on them and Yu Min’s squinted glare, DooSan understood that he was „extra” in that scenery. That’s why he told SolHi eventually to do whatever she had to do because he would wait for her there, on the shore. Then, staring at Yu Min, DooSan hissed through his teeth, „Another predator hovering around her. Well, Han DooSan, if you don’t want to lose, you should hurry. If not, you’ll bite your hands for an entire life.”

***

DooSan wasn’t the only one bothered because another rival appeared on the horizon. Yu Min felt the same. He felt outraged by only seeing the glances SolHi and DooSan exchanged, something he felt like sharp knives that pierced his soul and made it bleed after that when they had been twisted in the wound. Yet, understanding that he had no right to feel all this, he sighed eventually, swearing through his teeth because he hated to lose.

„Yet, you lost that right and since long ago, Yu Min,” one of the older fishermen told him after the man stopped by Yu Min and rested a hand on his shoulder. „You lost her the moment you allowed her to leave this village and when you didn’t tell her what you felt. Now it’s too late for this, my boy: for regrets, to tell her what you feel, and be happy. Do you know why?”

„Because SolHi is that kind of seagull that if she finds her soulmate, she won’t ever see another one?”

„That’s right! And… SolHi’s soulmate isn’t you, but the other one. If you don’t believe me, look at her, observe how she looks at him, and you’ll understand that she has the same glance you have now while you look at her.”

„Yet, you can’t say now that I don’t care about her.”

„I never said that, Yu Min. Nobody ever said that. At the same time, nobody doubts that you have feelings for her. Yet, although your feelings are pure and sincere, they aren’t enough to make her see you or to make her happy. Not now when another one smiles so beautifully while he’s with her, making her smile too.”

„A stranger.”

„Not for SolHi. She also isn’t a stranger to him. Not if he’s here, looking for her. He’s not here just to see her, Yu Min. I see this in his eyes. I see the determination to take her with him, to take her away from here at any cost, something you can’t impede, my boy. And you won’t do that if you care about her and want her to be happy.”

After such words, the old man left Yu Min alone. He felt that he had to leave Yu Min alone. Yet, he did that not to make that one suffer, but to give him time to understand that he was right. Yu Min had to understand that, because of cowardice, he lost SolHi many years ago when he’d been afraid to tell her what he felt for her and allowed her to fly away from that place, like a seagull that stretched his wings to the side and headed toward the horizon, looking for new adventures and love.