Leaving DooSan’s apartment, after the kiss that confused her a lot, SolHi wandered the streets of Seoul City for a long time. She walked for an entire day without caring about the people who squinted at her while passing by. She didn’t care about them because, inside her, the storm was acting up at that moment. A storm awoke by that romantic moment between her and DooSan that morning, after a short kiss on her neck and a hot one on her lips. A kiss that made her suddenly shudder and ask, „Why?”

The question „Why?” spun in her head for the entire day. Like many other questions, by the way, because she couldn’t understand what exactly was in DooSan’s head. How not to think about all this when he had sworn so many times before that he’d kill her one day just to avenge his brother?! Then, suddenly, he held her to his chest and kissed her as though SolHi was his life.

„Or maybe this is one of his tactics of revenge?” SolHi wondered while wandering on the streets. „He’s playing with me now to be able to get what he wants. Or, when he’s bored, to tell me that he doesn’t care anymore and that he leaves. Yes, it might be this because… I can’t find another reason for our madness. Just as I find it impossible for this heart to beat in my chest like crazy… for him.”

And it was impossible because she knew very well that she was forbidden to love. „To love Han DooSan, in particular,” she kept saying, because „How to love him when I know that he has lost a brother because of me? How can I hold him to my chest and tell him that I care about him when I’m the one who has made him suffer so much in the past? No, it’ll be better for him to leave and forget me. It’ll be better for him to hate me than hold me in his arms and make me vibrate because, Oh, God… this punishment with the name Love is so hard. It’s a punishment that Han DooSan seems to put like a burden on my shoulders.”

„What if it’s not a punishment but salvation?” She suddenly caught a thought crossing her mind. This made her stop, right in the middle of the street, and look in front, at a blind spot, for minutes in a row. Thus, she saw the passers-by passing by her at a quick step. Yet, she didn’t care about any of them, just as she didn’t care about anything at that moment. She was just absent into a crazy world, because „How can be salvation when there’s so much pain in our souls? How to love when someone should pay for this death that kills us both? Why a kiss when you should have used a weapon to tear me apart inside for what it’s supposed I’ve done?”

Such thoughts, meaningless mostly, made her feel confused and that she wanted to vanish from the earth’s surface. „Yes, to vanish and stop feeling myself in love. I have to stop being afraid in front of fate again. I just… can’t lose someone I love more than my life.”

Yes, she wanted to run away. She wanted to hide from the world and from those ghosts that were tormenting her inside. Ghosts that got to be her butchers, making her fear them the most. Butchers that were yelling repeatedly in her inner ear, „You don’t deserve the Love. Just as you don’t deserve to be loved. All you deserve is to be hated, nothing more.”

„But… why?” Her broken heart kept asking her. And, as always when SolHi asked herself such questions, she was sitting down on a bench, in the park, or somewhere else, for hours. She was actually sitting there until the night fell or until she could awake from that nightmare while still having her eyes wide open.

That day, after the question „Why?” at which SolHi found a true answer only in the one, „Because of him,” SolHi spent hours in a row on a bench in the park. She leaned in front, with her elbows supported on her knees and with her head supported on her palms while bitter tears bathed her eyes. She was crying… with mute tears, in her own way, which happened because she found another answer to the question „Why?” A simple answer, but so important to her… „Because you are afraid,” she told herself that day. „You are afraid of people, of love, and even of yourself. That’s why you don’t deserve Love!”

Only then, when she understood that cruel truth for the umpteenth time, SolHi raised her glance and looked in the distance. She saw the dusk at that moment. She also saw that there were only a few people in the park, something that didn’t bother her. On the contrary, she felt so quiet, something she liked because this made her feel the anxiety from her chest losing intensity.

Then, when she regained control over herself, she deeply sighed. A sigh that was due to the thought that she gave herself in front of Han DooSan again, „Like a stupid because… how is this possible to shake like this because of a kiss, SolHi? How could you stick to his chest, dreaming of more? How is it possible to forget that you have to stay against your feelings and run away from him because, next to him, you make him suffer more than ever?”

Yet, even if she scolded herself like this, she still loved the pleasant feeling she had in her chest… something that smelled like love. A scent that surrounded her each time she felt its aroma, which made her feel confident about tomorrow. Yes, that was the scent she always loved because it always encouraged her to dream of seeing the sun again, a sun to warm her inside, and give her a chance to be happy again. Even if it was for a short time only, but to be happy… in his arms.

„No, SolHi, you can’t,” she murmured eventually. Then, standing up, she moved away from that bench. She was silent. Her mind was talking instead, it was talking about „The future you have to stop dreaming about. Yes, you have to stop having such dreams, no matter if Han DooSan is someone you care about, even if it seems he has similar feelings. All you have to do is to kill these feelings, to make them vanish until it’s not too late. Otherwise… another soul can die because of you and your stubbornness.”

How to make those feelings vanish, SolHi wasn’t sure of. She wasn’t also sure how to make DooSan move away from her. All she knew was that „He has to hate me. It’s the only way he’ll change his attitude toward me and I’ll feel that I have paid enough for Han YuSan’s death.” A thought that made her understand that she was so cruel to herself. She was a coward while running away from love. Yet, it was the best she could do just to make sure He wouldn’t end up like Iun Dja Iun, who paid with his life for trying to protect her.

***

After a long day of wandering the streets, SolHi finally decided that it was time to go home. She thought that she could have a hot shower to relax. Then, she was sure she would go to bed and have a long sleep for her tormented thoughts to calm down, just to make sure she would be able to trust herself again.

Nevertheless, that day seemed full of surprises for her because, right after she finished climbing the stairs and got to her floor, she saw Han DooSan waiting in front of her apartment. „What the hell?” SolHi thought, seeing him there. „I thought that I let him know in the morning that our paths split. Yet, he’s here. Why?” Thoughts and questions that made her frown eventually. How not to be confused with all those suitcases she finally saw next to DooSan, while he was sitting on one of them and smiling?!

DooSan even happily shouted when he saw her, „Hello, dear colleague, finally! I thought you wouldn’t come back home today and I’d be forced to spend the whole night by this door. Yet, it’s fine now when you are here.” Words that made SolHi stop and look at him like a dog at the enemy cat.

„Nobody told you to come here at first,” she growled eventually, seeing that DooSan kept grinning.

He instead, at all bothered by her sour face, shouted again, „Well… come on, partner: come at once! Don’t just stay there because I’m numbed so much after sitting on this suitcase. Something contraindicated by the doctor, by the way, because I have to stay comfortably in my case… on a sofa, somewhere where it’s warm, and chewing something tasty.”

„And? Why is this my fault?” SolHi replied drily. „I left you in a place that was comfortable and warm. You instead… preferred to come here, where nobody expected you. So, get lost!” She hissed through her teeth eventually. Yet, even if she seemed pissed off seeing him there and would have wanted to rotate on her heels and move away, she still approached the door and formed the door code.

She froze eventually, half through forming the code, when DooSan whispered into her ear, „Because I missed you.” Yet, when she realized that she was pathetic, wincing after such words, she squinted at him. „I’m not lying now,” he murmured, as though trying to justify himself. „It’s the truth!”

„And I’m Peter Pan,” she growled, pulling the doorknob to open the door. „Or a stupid that believes everything you say.”

„Well, I’m not sure of this because I’m not familiar with the stories. Yet, once we talk about this, I think it’s better to be honest with you. Why? Because… relationships are built on trust, right?”

„The relationships?” SolHi said through her teeth. „Whose, in particular?”

„Ours? Or what, do you think I came to your door and waited for so long for you to come for nothing?”

„You could have entered. Nobody forced you to stay by the door. Why? Because… you formed that code and nobody changed it.”

„I was aware of that. Yet…”

„Yet…?”

„I couldn’t just enter someone’s house while you weren’t present. Not after, you threatened me, in my own house, by breaking my other members and the neck. I decided that it was safer not to take that risk.” Words that made SolHi suddenly smirk, weirdly. „What now?” He innocently asked.

„I was just thinking… of how good you can be at giving ideas to others. Especially of… how naive you can be to come here although you are aware of what you should wait for from me. Or what… Do you think that once you are here I’ll change my mind about those threats?”

„Well… actually, I didn’t think that far. Do you know why?

„Surprise me!”

„Because… you aren’t that courageous to kill me. Not me, because I…” He suddenly jumped to the side, on one leg, when SolHi, who felt that was about to go crazy after his words, grabbed the suitase’s handle and dragged it inside the apartment. By doing this, she’d been about to pass with the wheel over DooSan’s injured leg. This is what made the poor man jump away from her side. Then, once he felt he was safe again, DooSan triumphantly grinned… he won. Yet, to tease her more, he yelled again, „Another one, in your place, would have been happy, knowing that her man was back home. You instead…”

Suddenly, DooSan swallowed hard and pulled back when SolHi’s head appeared in the doorway. This happened when SolHi returned to take another suitcase. And, stopping right in front of him, she growled, „I am who I am, and I’m not happy to know you here. And, more than this… I don’t have a man to wait for him back home.”

„Who the hell am I then?” DooSan asked, frowning.

„A… parasite?”

„Ia, Ian SolHi! Respect me, okay?! I’m…”

„I’m just speaking the truth. It’s how others call those who love to live at a woman’s expense, right?! Or what, I’m wrong thinking like that about you?”

„Absolutely because you know very well why I am here.”

„What I know is that I know nothing,” she replied, furious, grabbing the last two suitcases, which she dragged inside the apartment.

„I can explain,” DooSan shouted behind her, grabbing the crutches he had supported against the wall.

„As though I’m interested in your explanations,” SolHi’s voice was heard from the bathroom this time after she left the suitcases right in the middle of the room. She entered the bathroom to calm down. She was anxious, after seeing DooSan again because this reminded her of the kiss and all the feelings she had after this.

„Honestly, I don’t understand why,” murmured DooSan, approaching the bed and falling on it. Then, he cooked his nose, feeling the pain in his injured leg. Even so, he didn’t keep his mouth shut, but said, „I was just trying to look kind and well-educated.” Words that made SolHi burst into laughter. Her voice was so well-heard from the bathroom that DooSan frowned again, „Did I say something comic?”

„Absolutely,” replied SolHi, still in the bathroom. „I’m already familiar with your „education.”

„Actually, I hear you.”

„I didn’t try to make it a secret,” SolHi ironically replied, suddenly appearing in the doorway. „If you need it, I can even repeat it!”

„Not necessary,” replied DooSan, upset, looking elsewhere. „What I need is your help instead.”

SolHi deeply breathed in. And, even if she wasn’t that eager to know what kind of help DooSan needed, she still asked, „To help you? With what?”

„With bringing me the few things I still have in the car, which I couldn’t bring alone.” Then, begging for her mercy and help, DooSan grinned.

„You are definitely a jerk,” SolHi said through her teeth. „And you are always doing this… begging! Something I hate, by the way!”

„Yet, I love it,” DooSan murmured when the door slammed behind SolHi. „Like crazy because… it’s the only way I can feel you care about me. Thus, I’m cheating…!”

***

„Ia, Han DooSan, you got a death wish or what?” SolHi shouted, half an hour later, after she finally finished bringing the „few things” DooSan still had in his car: suitcases, stacks of books, and other small things. „If these are only „a few things,” I’m a hippo then. Or what… did you decide to invade my house like the locusts?”

„Of course not,” DooSan innocently replied, pretending to be intimidated by her screams. „Only… the necessary!” Yet, even if he was sure SolHi wouldn’t attack him, he still pulled a little back, aware of what she could do when she was outraged. „They aren’t that many, anyway! Don’t exaggerate.”

„Yeah, sure, there aren’t many things: only three-quarters of my apartment. It’s what your „few things” occupy here. Something I really don’t understand: where I’ve been wrong that you’ve brought here, from your apartment, which is fifty times bigger than mine, everything you have there. Or what… are you looking to take mine too?”

„The one who exaggerates now is you. I didn’t come here looking to invade your house.”

„Ah, no?! What the hell are you doing here then?”

„I was bored,” DooSan suddenly said. An answer that made SolHi look at him, mouth wide open. Then, she changed the amazed glance for an angry one, something that made DooSan understand he would feel her „sweet” caress that night for sure. Even so, he innocently asked eventually. „Something happened, SolHi?”

„Yeah,” she growled, making the man attentive. Then, he became extremely attentive when he saw SolHi breathing deeply to calm down. Eventually, he winced, when SolHi shouted, „If you were bored, you could have hired someone to entertain you. Or… going to the circus was also a solution. Why did you come here if you were bored then?”

„Because I have my own clown here?!” DooSan replied, smiling. „And, once I have you, I thought not to spend money on something else!” He kept silent eventually when a flying pillow got in his arms. Yet, to his great surprise, the attack stopped there because SolHi preferred to turn her back to him and head toward the door. „Which way?” DooSan shouted behind her, in amazement because he thought that he’d remain headless and not in one piece that night.

„To the circus!” SolHi shouted, right before exiting the apartment. „It’s the only way I can get rid of you!”

„Feed me first! After that, you can start working there!” DooSan kept teasing her. Yet, an answer to his remark he didn’t hear eventually, something that let him understand that he got off easy that time, although… he was starving.

***

Half an hour after SolHi left the apartment, outraged, DooSan finally approached the door and opened it, thinking that she was somewhere close, trying to calm down. Yet, surprise, nobody was in the hall. This made the man frown. „Did she really leave? Without caring about me? Heartless woman!” After that, he slammed the door and went to lie on the couch.

Yet, he didn’t calm down after this. On the contrary, he felt even more nervous than before. At the same time, he felt certain guilt for SolHi because he understood that he pissed her off that night. Even so, he didn’t intend to give up. No, he didn’t want to do this because, if he had given up, he wouldn’t have seen her ever again for sure.

„Something I can’t afford!” DooSan told himself, turning and tossing on the couch to find a more comfortable position. „At least not now. Not until I find out what exactly happened between her and YuSan. After that… I’ll decide what to do with SolHi: to move away from her or to do whatever it’s necessary to have her close to me, even if the whole world is against us.”

The „even if the whole world is against us” wasn’t an exaggeration for sure. It was the reality. Even GhiYon, who supported most of DooSan’s decisions, yelled at him that morning, „Have you lost your mind?” after finding out that DooSan kissed SolHi. Then, unable to control himself anymore, GhiYon stared at DooSan, yelling again, „Kissing Detective Ian, you are looking for your death for sure. Or what, are you trying to get where YuSan and Iun Dja Iun got eventually? Dead and three meters in the ground? Something that could have happened in that motorcycle accident.”

„You are exaggerating now,” DooSan calmly replied while bringing two beers from the fridge. Then, he sat down on the couch.

„No, I’m not exaggerating, DooSan. Do you know why? Because I realize that you are ready to give up on your life for this woman. The same woman that could have been YuSan’s woman. Or what… are you ready to forget this just to have her close?”

DooSan cooked his nose. „I see you’ve talked to my mother already.”

„We didn’t only talk, but she also gave me details about this, DooSan. Something that I was already suspecting: that you were in love with her.”

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„I’m not in love with her, okay?! It’s only a strategy to gain her trust. Then, I’ll make her tell me everything about that night,” DooSan lied to his friend.

„This is something that you also don’t believe, my friend. Why? Because you have completely lost your mind. Otherwise, I can’t explain your foolishness of being on that motto that night. Something that makes me ask you this: has it been because you consider yourself a kind of prince on a white horse or because you are stupid?” After this question, GhiYon fixed his gaze on DooSan, who did everything not to look into his friend’s eyes.

Seeing that he wouldn’t get rid of GhiYon without a good explanation that morning, DooSan looked at his friend, stuttering, „I just… had to be there. I thought that it was the only way I could have found out something about what happened seven years ago.”

GhiYon frowned. „About what happened seven years ago? And… what could you have found out from a man who had seen SolHi again only two years ago, DooSan?”

„Now you mention this, I’m not sure. All I know is that… I’ve seen Min SinJu… with Iun Dja Iun. A few days before Dja Iun’s death.”

„What?” GhiYon shouted. „What do you mean by you’ve seen those two together? Were they friends? And… more than this, does SolHi know about this?”

„I don’t think so. At least, she didn’t know while Dja Iun was still alive. If she found out about this, it could have been after the accident. I, however, saw them by poor chance while I was investigating another case along with Kan. It’s when I saw them two in front of SinJu’s club, something that seemed suspicious to me.”

„And… did you ask Dja Iun what he was doing there?”

„Neah, I wasn’t stupid to give myself away. More than this, I didn’t want to give him away because… I thought he did that to help us find Kim Ha Na. Yet, after the accident when I was in the hospital and had time to think about all this, I realized that what was between Iun Dja Iun and Min SinJu could have been more than a simple friendship or two people that met once.”

„Maybe you are right because it’s too suspicious that you found the victim so quickly. Just as it seems suspicious to me that your accident happened right after you caught Park Yu Ra and Gu SilGi. More than this, no matter how much I don’t think about this, I still can’t find a link between Iun Dja Iun and that you kissed Ian SolHi this morning or that you have brought her here.”

DooSan squinted at his friend. „It’s nothing like what you imagine, GhiYon. If we came here, it was because of my leg. Why? There’s no elevator in SolHi’s building, at least it doesn’t work. And… maybe you are right in thinking that I want to be always close to her. Yet, it’s because I try to gain her trust and find out everything about the events seven years ago. Actually, I’m sure that if Iun Dja Iun got closer to Min SinJu was because of the same events and not because he needed money.”

„You don’t know that, DooSan! You can’t be sure that it wasn’t because of money that Dja Iun approached that man. More than this, you can’t find out if your suspicions are true because that man is dead. He’s dead, DooSan, and dead people don’t talk!”

„I also know that, okay?! Just as I know that Iun Dja Iun wasn’t stupid. And… if he really was in Min SinJu’s gang, it was to help SolHi with the evidence, evidence which I’m sure that, sooner or later, will get into SolHi’s hands. Thus, we’ll also find out the truth about YuSan’s death. When this happens…”

„…we solve this case. Yet, DooSan, you said that: it’s hard. Why? Because, for being stupid, you kissed her and she left.”

„Mmm, she left. Yet, she was calm. This gives me another chance to get closer to her because, if she had been furious after that kiss, I wouldn’t have been in one piece right now.”

„Something that surprises me, just as it surprises me your calmness. Or what, aren’t you afraid of what she can do to you eventually?”

DooSan looked elsewhere for a while. He didn’t do that because he was confused, but because he felt guilty in front of SolHi. He felt that he was using her to solve his brother’s case, even with the risk of being accused of playing with her feelings. Even so, he had to do that and find out the truth, something that made him say, „It’s just a mask, GhiYon: her aggressiveness. It’s a mask I intend to take off as soon as possible.”

„Hoping to get what?” DooSan looked at him, confused. „I ask you to tell me the reason why you are so stubborn in taking that mask off. Is it for your sake, to make justice to YuSan, or because you want her to accept you eventually?”

After these words, DooSan thought about his actions for a long time. He thought about this even after GhiYon’s departure. Words that made him fear when asking himself again, „What if she won’t receive me back? What will happen to us then?” Thoughts that made him finally realize that his friend was right though: all he did was for love because there wasn’t about revenge anymore. At least, it wasn’t about revenge at that moment, not after everything that happened lately between him and SolHi. It was love between them, feelings that were boiling in his chest, making him insecure and fearful that he could have lost her once and for all.

Because of this, DooSan finally decided that he had to return to her apartment, even if he knew he’d have to struggle with his injured leg. Even so, he was ready to suffer instead of being forgotten by her or losing her because if SolHi had decided to forget him, she would have done everything for him not to be by her side ever. Yet, once in front of her door, he started to hesitate again.

„What to do when I see her again?” He wondered. „If I simply appear in front of her after what happened in the morning, she’ll consider me selfish. At the same time, I can’t apologize in front of her or tell her that it has been a mistake. Only if I want her to kill me. No, what I’ll do is… tell her… „Knock, knock, SolHi, it’s me! Can you open this door? I missed you. That’s why I came here. Didn’t you also miss me?” Then… be as God wishes!”

***

Carefully approaching the car parked not that far from SinJu’s club, Yoon Suk suddenly pulled his cap over his eyes, trying to hide his face. Then, he stopped to the right of the car, carefully looking left and right, to make sure nobody spotted him there. After that, when he made sure nobody saw him there, the young detective entered the car on the passenger’s side. And, right after entering the car, he heard Kan’s question, who was in the rear seat, chewing a sandwich, „Did you find out what we asked you to find out?”

Instead of Yoon Suk, Inspector Yu answered Kan’s question, squinting at him, „Let this poor man eat something at first and catch his breath, you… impatient ogre!”

„Now I’m the guilty one?” Kan asked, feistily.

„Who else?” Inspector Yu replied, taking another sandwich and one juice from the package that was above the glove compartment, giving them to Yoon Suk, whom he told, „Don’t pay attention to the ogre that always mumbles something. He’s… like that because he couldn’t go home again, and not because he has something against you.”

Yoon Suk smiled. „Tell me something new, sombe!” After that, innocently, he looked at Kan when he heard this one’s growl in his left ear:

„Oh Yoon Suk, you’ll do yourself a favor if you choose your friends well. Not the other, but… choosing new friends, you can lose the old ones. And… you also know very well that I hate the traitors.”

„If you say that because of Mrs. Oh, then… don’t worry, sombe,” said the young detective, not losing his temper. „I have something to compensate you for the fact that I’ve told your secret to others.” Then, taking a file from the inner pocket of his jacket, Yoon Suk gave it to Kan, telling him, „These two have known each other for a long while. Min SinJu and Ian Hiok Uk, I mean. They are cousins, matrilineal.”

„What?” Kan shouted, spitting pieces of bread all over. „Cousins? How the hell do they happen to be cousins? I thought that there was everything about criminal business between them and nothing more. One can crack into two, no other after such news.”

„If you intend to crack yourself, at least don’t do this in my car,” Inspector Yu teased Kan. „I still have the mortgage payments for it. And, related to their businesses: maybe they are criminal but profitable. Their degree of kinship? Well, nothing out of the ordinary: just life insurance… against betrayal.”

„As though this changes things a lot,” murmured Kan, furious.

„Yet, this aside, do you think Min SinJu and the lawyer are swimming in troubled waters, Inspector?”

„Honestly, I have no idea, Yoon Suk. What I’m sure of is that they aren’t just staying and doing nothing. At least, this is what I think.”

„I’d rather bet on a plot. Or… preparing a bomb to blow us all up,” Kan suddenly mumbled, making Yu smile.

„It takes a thief to catch a thief,” said Yu, smiling. „Just as you are pessimistic, Kan. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how you can feel gasoline where there is only water. Yet, once you say that it’s so, it might be so. I trust your dog instinct.”

„Something that has never betrayed me, and something that could have sent me to hell if I haven’t ever trusted it.”

„It’s still something that betrays you sometimes, as it happened with the mic you put under Ian Hion Uk’s desk, which I think was already discovered once we heard no word about what we were interested in.”

„Well, I must accept that I didn’t expect they’d smell it so quickly.”

„Do you mean that they suspected you and checked the office, sombe?”

„Most likely yes,” replied Kan feistily. „Otherwise, Ian Hion Uk would have given himself already, or someone else. Yet, neither did we hear something interesting nor did we find out that Min SinJu passed by there.”

„Something I consider that worked in our favor,” Yu cut Kan off. „Why? Because, even if we had found out something interesting, once it was an illegal registration, we wouldn’t have been able to use it in Court.”

„I didn’t put that mic there to use it in the Court. I just hoped that at least one of them would say something that could have led us to something else. Thus, none of us should have entered that damn club,” murmured Kan, this time upset. „And, honestly, with this bad luck, I start feeling something eating me inside and want to have also had a degree of kinship with Min SinJu, something to allow me to enter that damn club without being checked.”

Yoon Suk cooked his nose at first, and then he asked, „Do you have a camera?”

„What for?” Yu asked in amazement.

„Well, I need it for evidence because… maybe you can’t enter that place while I can do that.”

Kan grinned. „How? In the role of the fly?”

„Why exactly like a fly when I can enter through the front door?” Said Yoon Suk, smiling. Then, triumphantly looking at his two sombe, he showed them a golden card, which allowed him to enter the club without check-in.

„To be damned,” the inspector hissed through his teeth. „Are you some toff or what to have such a golden card?”

„Let’s just say I got it in exchange for certain… favors. Nothing illegal, anyway. And no, I’m not a toff, but the son of two teachers, who grew up in a poor village in the Province of Jeollanam. Even so, I can enter there.”

„Even so, this doesn’t bring you happiness,” replied Kan, drily, at all happy to see that card.

„Maybe! But, once I don’t look for pleasure or happiness there but to do my work, I can give it a try. So, sombe, what do you say: should or shouldn’t I enter the lion’s cage?”

Kan sighed after this because he really didn’t want to send the young detective there. Yet, once he didn’t have another choice, he looked at Yu, asking him eventually, „When did you say Prosecutor Han is back to work?”

„In about a week, after he gets rid of the cast. Why?”

„Because… I was thinking of entering that place based on a judicial order. Something we won’t ever get if we ask San DuSik for this, right?”

„Right! That’s why I think Yoon Suk’s proposal seems the best now. If he gets in, we have a chance to find out at least something.”

„And if he’s caught there spying with a camera, we’ll win the lotto too. How? Winning another mystery case to solve.”

„As I said: you are pessimistic,” said the Inspector comically.

„Just… precautions!”

„Yet, sombe: I ask you to trust me at least once. I know that it’s dangerous to enter there alone, but I promise I’ll do everything not to give myself away. Anyway, I won’t do anything dangerous there: I only get in, check the place, record something, and I’m out.”

„What you haven’t thought of is that if they catch you with the camera, you aren’t back to us alive.”

„Or nothing happens, sombe! Why? Because they won’t catch me. Or what, will you enter there? No, right? That’s why this is the only chance we have.”

„Tell me something new! And, if I had had that card, I would have entered, by the way!”

„In another life maybe when Min SinJu and Ian Hion Uk wouldn’t have known your face,” said Yu, smiling. „In Yoon Suk’s case, we might be lucky and they would not recognize him because he’s young and they might think that he’s there to have fun.”

„Do you really think this?” Replied Kan, in the mood for a fight. „As I know those jackals, even if Yoon Suk goes there to have fun, they’ll still suspect him of a plot. That’s why I don’t trust any of them. Yet, you are also right: we might not have another chance than this one. Even so, Yoon Suk: if you get out of there not in one piece as you enter, I swear I’ll break every single bone you will still have healthy. Did you understand me?”

„Clearer than this impossible, sombe. It’s impossible not to hear you once you talk to me so sweetly.”

„Glad to hear that. Now, get lost until I change my mind! And… don’t forget the camera. At least, having it, we can see when they put their paws on you to crack your neck.”

The exaggerated concern of the detective and his nonsense speech made Yoon Suk smile eventually. He did that because he knew very well that Kan cared about him and that he would have been able to kill anyone who would have hurt Yoon Suk. Yet, aware that Kan was also a person who could easily change his mind, Yoon Suk finally took the camera from Yu’s hand, which he hid under one of the ornaments of the cap, and left the vehicle in a hurry.

Crossing the street, Yoon Suk suddenly felt a strange buzzing in his ear. It was undoubtedly because of Kan and Yu, who were „talking” about him behind his back. Kan did that because he was envious. How not to be when „If I had been still young, I would have also entered that club, even if the gorillas who guard the entrance would have left me without my underwear. Yet, this one entered that club with only one damn golden card.”

„The envy it’s not a good adviser, old man,” Yu told Kan, smiling. „Especially, if you are envious of someone’s youth because… years never turn back, old friend. Just as I’m sure he’ll be in our shoes one day. It’s when he’ll understand your concern.”

„Something I doubt, Yu! Even so, I hope he’ll get in our shoes one day, although I’m afraid that the one with the scythe will find him before us and this is so because he thinks he’s smarter than anybody else.”

Yu instead told Kan off, „Don’t summon the bad luck, old goat! Just… trust your younger colleagues because they are good and have no need for your concern.”

„What I need is for you not to take this pleasure from me,” mumbled Kan. „At least… I can be happy that Prosecutor Han managed to keep SolHi away from us tonight. Otherwise, she would have been in that club before Yoon Suk because you know that she loves Min SinJu like the cats love the water.”

„And… how do you know that cats love the water? Do you have one hidden somewhere or what?” Inspector Yu asked, laughing while looking at the tablet’s screen where the images from Yoon Suk’s camera could be seen.

„Of course, I have one,” replied Kan harshly. „He stays behind the wheel, watching cartoons.”

„If you are talking about me, I have to inform you that you are wrong because my wife hates cats. I prefer to be a dog. A cute one, who can sweeten someone’s life when it’s necessary.” Then, the inspector winked. Yet, suddenly, he turned serious when he saw SinJu and Hion Uk on the screen - they were sitting at one of the tables at that moment.

„Damn cobras,” Kan hissed through his teeth. „Ia, Yoon Suk, be careful to your left! The cobras are three tables from you!”

Saying nothing, Yoon Suk took the phone out of his pocket and texted Yu, „Should I approach them?”

„Yes, but be very careful. Don’t take the risk for them to see you. And, if you manage to get closer, maybe we’ll find out something interesting from their talk.”

„Got it! I’ll do my best,” was Yoon Suk’s next message. After that, he approached one of the waiters, whispering something into his ear. That one, finding out about Yoon Suk’s wish, said something the two detectives didn’t hear. Yet, they understood that it was a yes because Yoon Suk followed the waiter toward one of the tables that were closer to Min SinJu’s table, from where the clients just left.

„I’ll be back soon with your order and a wet cloth, sir,” the waiter told Yoon Suk, who sat at the table. Then, while the waiter moved away from him, Yoon Suk looked behind him and saw him talking to other clients that wanted the same table as the young detective, pointing toward it at that moment. Yet, when Yoon Suk discreetly showed them his golden card, they gave up on trying to get it and moved away from the waiter.

A few moments later, the same waiter returned with a whisky glass for Yoon Suk, which he ordered right from the beginning. Then, after cleaning the table and putting the glass on it, the waiter told Yoon Suk, „Have a great evening, sir! If something, I’m right over there!”

„Thank you!” Yoon Suk calmly replied, sneaking a good tip into the waiter’s pocket. Then he smiled when the waiter discretely nodded, hinting to the young detective that he was there for anything else that one could have wanted. A trick that worked in Yoon Suk’s favor because the waiter moved away from him soon after this, trying not to bother the client anymore and focus on others because the club was full that evening.

After the waiter left, Yoon Suk right away forgot about him and focused on the „girls” that were in the club, seeming interested only in them and in nothing else. Yet, all that was a trick because, on the sly, he was spying on SinJu’s table. What they were talking about at that moment, Yoon Suk couldn’t hear because they were too far from them. That’s why he texted to Yu again, „It’s too far, sombe! And… I can’t get closer because the rest of the tables over there seem to be reserved.”

„It’s okay,” he heard Kan’s voice in the headphones. „If it’s necessary, we’ll read what they are talking about on their lips. And… be careful not to be seen!”

„Got it, sombe! However, there seems something suspicious about them,” Yoon Suk texted again when he saw that SinJu’s friends, who were at the same table with him and Hion Uk, suddenly stood up and moved away. Thus, Yoon Suk saw something there. „A file on the table, sombe. And it looks suspicious.”

„A file? What kind of file?” Yu asked.

„I have no idea. I can’t see it from here,” murmured Yoon Suk while sipping from his whisky. Yet, even if his words were barely murmured, the detectives still heard them.

„Then… try to get a little closer to them,” said Kan when he saw SinJu opening the file. „I think the file is important.”

„Okay,” whispered Yoon Suk, leaving the glass on the table. Then, pulling the cap over his eyes to make sure his face wouldn’t be recognized, he headed toward the WC. He did that when SinJu, who dropped a photo on the floor, bent to lift it. Passing by him, Yoon Suk saw the photo. „A photo of sombe Ian!” He texted the two detectives when he was in the bathroom already.

„What we suspected,” said Yu, seriously. „They are trying to find our weak points. That’s why, Yoon Suk, get lost from there! Now! It’s risky because if he has asked for SolHi’s photos, you might also be there. We can’t take the risk for you to be seen in the club tonight!”

„Okay, sombe! I’m out in a minute!” Replied Yoon Suk, concerned. After that, getting out of the bathroom, he paid for his drink and headed toward the exit door. Yet, while passing by SinJu’s table, he took the cap off and threw it under the table that was right next to SinJu’s to make sure at least this way they would hear something from what the two cousins were talking about.

By doing this, Yoon Suk gave Kan and Yu the chance to hear SinJu saying, „Is this all you could find out about that nosey mouse, Ian SolHi?”

„Yes because… many things about her are top secret. And…” None of the detectives could hear the rest because Yoon Suk, afraid to be discovered, asked the waiter to bring him the hat.

„Damn it!” Kan shouted. He was angry because he couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. „What are these two idiots planning? And, more than this: what do they want from SolHi?”

„It’s what we must find out, Kan! Don’t be rash! It can also be a false alarm or just an informative file!”

„I doubt this! And, at the same time, I hope you are right, Yu. Otherwise, I’ll kill someone, starting with that stinking rat, Ian Hion Uk!”

***

„So little you could find out about Ian SolHi,” SinJu suddenly growled, looking at SolHi and SinHa’s photos.

Hion Uk smirked instead. „It’s what any private detective could find out. Why? Because the information about Ian SolHi is classified, cousin. And, let’s not forget she works for the police. Thus, be grateful for what we could find out, like… the fact she doesn’t have a father, her mother suffers from schizophrenia, and that she has a lot of debts and problems. And, on top of that, she’s the main suspect in Han YuSan’s death.”

„What? Ian SolHi was accused of Han YuSan’s death?”

„At least, it’s what I could find out!” Answer that made SinJu burst into laughter. „Did I say something comic?”

„Absolutely, because… I can’t understand what these two are doing. Ian SolHi and Han DooSan, I mean because… although it looks like they are enemies, they might have a different relationship too. A reproductive one maybe?” SinJu added, mockingly.

„Well, I have no idea about this. It wasn’t in the file. Yet, I think I should ask for this information too. And… maybe for more details about their private life, just as others are interested in mine.”

SinJu stared at him, confused. „Someone asked you about the relationship between Ian SolHi and Han DooSan?”

„Neah! What others asked me was about Iun Dja Iun’s death and of the truck’s driver, of whom we got rid of last night. Who asked me were two detectives from Han DooSan’s office. They visited me today.”

„And? Did you tell them something?”

„I’m not stupid, okay?! If I had told them something about what we know, I would have been behind bars now and not drinking this expensive whisky with you. No, once they asked me about these deaths, I sent them to hell out of my office. Still, I think I’ve made a mistake chasing them out of my office because… they left me a beautiful memory when they left.” After this, Hion Uk showed SinJu a photo of the mic Kan left under one of the tables.

„They feel that something is wrong,” SinJu suddenly growled.

„I have the same thought. Yet, what do you want to do? Attacking one of them now can be suspicious!”

„Doing nothing will be damn risky and suspicious, Hion Uk! That’s why… let’s take care of Ian SolHi first.”

„To take care of her? How? Accusing her of something?”

„No, Hion Uk: literally get rid of her! Dead, she won’t give us any problem! And… the sooner the better,” SinJu demanded. After that, he thirstily drank from his whisky.