Sitting next to the open door of her house, SinHa looked at the starry sky. Here and there, from time to time only, a cloud covered those stars. Even with that weak celestial light, nature around was beautiful, showing an idyllic night beauty.

The same night beauty made SinHa suddenly sigh. It was a sigh due to love because, soon after this, the woman murmured, „So beautiful!” After that, eyes still on the sky, she held a photo of SolHi to her chest. It was a photo of the little SolHi, a photo SinHa held to her chest along with the doll she never left behind. A doll whom SinHa said eventually, „My dear daughter,” because, in her moments of delirium, it was the only way she could show to the world that she still had memories and she wasn’t living only with fake illusions.

To the same doll, which she still held to her chest, SinHa told eventually, „You are so beautiful, sweetheart! So beautiful, like the stars! Or… maybe more!” Then, weirdly smiling, as though a bunch of beautiful memories crossed her mind, SinHa closed her eyes.

The woman kept her eyes closed only for a few moments. Then, frowning, SinHa opened her eyes again and looked at the yard through the half-open door. There, she saw the old woman who was taking care of her. She was standing right in the middle of the yard. Not alone but along with a man about forty that kept begging her for something, giving her his phone and asking the old woman to call someone. And, seeing his insistence, SinHa murmured again, „Evil man! He’s always been evil! A devil! Evil!” After that, when the man looked toward the door of her room, SinHa got scared and suddenly closed the door, pulling herself to the farthest corner of the room eventually.

There, in that unfriendly corner of her room, as she considered it in her moments of lucidity, and a part of heaven in her moments of delirium, SinHa curled up. After that, holding her knees to her chest, the woman covered her ears so as not to hear the voices from outside. She started tapping slowly over her ears shortly after that, murmuring like a dement, „I don’t hear you! I don’t want to hear anything from you! No, no, no, I don’t want to. Don’t want to!”

Thus, too focused on chasing the voices from her head away, SinHa ignored the doll, which fell to her left. Not only the doll fell but also the photo. A photo of ten-year-old SolHi, who was smiling there, although she was wearing a too-large coat at that moment on her fragile body… the shirt of a man from her village…

***

„Come on, mother! Don’t be like that! I told you already that you must call her again and ask her to send more!”

The man’s insistence made the old woman frown. Then, glaring at him, she told him in a harsh voice, „To send us again, son? How aren’t you ashamed of this? That girl always sends us money. How can I ask her to send more this time, son?”

„Such a big deal,” the man mumbled. „It’s not that much money, anyway! Just… a few pennies for her because… those from the Capital City have good salaries. Or what, do you want me to lose my head just because you are ashamed to ask her for more?” Then, the man even looked „upset,” trying to make his mother pity him. „Just tell her that the crazy SinHa has broken something again and you need to pay for it. She has to pay us for everything we ask for, by the way, just as she has to be always grateful to you for the sacrifice you make by taking care of her crazy mother while the daughter has fun in that big City.”

Suddenly, the man jumped to the side when he felt a painful slap over his back. He had even been forced to defend himself with his arms when the woman started to slap him repeatedly, yelling at him, „I curse my old age with you! You’ve been a burden in my life right from the moment I gave birth to you because you are always looking for problems. And… when you grow up once, being a normal man like any other, huh?”

Grabbing the old woman’s arms to make her stop slapping him, the man grinned. A smirk that softened the woman’s heart eventually. It also happened because of his „innocent” glance and of the soft voice when he told her, „I did nothing, Mother! I swear that’s not my fault this time! I swear!”

„Then… why do you need money again?” The woman asked him.

„To… pay what’s left from the previous time,” he stuttered. „You know very well that if you don’t pay all the money, the percentage increases. Thus, if I don’t pay everything this time, God knows where you find me eventually. If you ever find me, I mean.”

He winced eventually when his mother feistily hissed through her teeth, „You don’t even know what a favor you’ll do to the world. To the whole world, by the way!” After that, pulling the phone from her son’s hand, she looked for SolHi’s number in the phone’s agenda.

***

The moment her phone rang, SolHi was heading back home from the supermarket. She was distraught and thoughtful as though all the problems pounced on her in one single day. All that wasn’t at all an exaggeration because everything went wrong for her lately. Probably because of this, she frowned the moment she saw the phone number of the woman, who was taking care of SinHa. „It was all that was missing,” she murmured because, each time the old lady called her, it was to tell her about another „problem” that needed money to be solved.

Yet, even if she had liked to ignore that phone call, SolHi still picked up the phone and listened to the woman’s shaking voice, who told her, „Hello, SolHi, it’s me! You know… how are you doing lately?”

„I? Fine,” SolHi reluctantly replied. Then, deeply breathing in, she asked, „Why are you calling me this time?”

„Well… nothing important,” the old woman stuttered. „Only… you know, oh, SolHi, oh! I curse my old age and I’m so ashamed to call you again, but… you know… I lost sight of her for a single moment, and… I swear, it’s been for a moment only, and your mother…”

The old woman’s words made SolHi finally stop. She didn’t do that because of concern, but because she felt that something bad was coming after this. Then, not to prolong the agony, she asked in a shaking voice, „What did my mother do this time, Old YeJin?”

She had to wait for the answer for seconds in a row. Seconds when she felt her heart madly beating in her chest, beatings that she was clearly hearing in her ears too. Yet, even if she waited for a verbal answer from Old YeJin, SolHi knew it already… the money.

Thinking like that, SolHi wasn’t wrong at all because she heard the old woman saying eventually, „She ran into Mrs. Ho’s store again. And… she destroyed things there.” Words that were a lie, which she considered that were known only by her, not knowing that SolHi also knew that the woman was lying to her.

Actually, it wasn’t at all difficult to realize that the old woman was lying to her because, at the other line, SolHi heard the man’s voice. She clearly heard him saying, „Tell her to send! As much as possible!” After that, only a deaf growl was heard. It probably happened because of the old woman who covered her son’s mouth.

Even so, aware that they considered her a personal ATM, SolHi still asked, „How much should I send this time?”

„Not much,” Old YeJin rushed to say. „Ten thousand only.”

„Ten thousand won?” SolHi suddenly shouted. She was right in feeling outraged and used, especially after she realized that each time the woman asked for money, it was more and more. That’s why she felt that at least for that time she had to tell her dissatisfaction and yell about her pain. Then, with her eyes bathed in tears, SolHi yelled again, „Do you think I earn millions, Grandma? Do you think I have fortunes hidden somewhere just to send each time you ask for more? For God’s Sake, I’m a simple detective. The Government pays me. I have a salary that cannot cover all the necessary expenses. I can barely pay for the medical bills and the rest, not talking about everything my mother destroys. A salary that isn’t enough to cover even my expenses.”

SolHi’s words made Old YeJin suddenly feel guilty. Even so, her son was more valuable than SolHi’s pain. That’s why she said eventually, „Do you think I don’t know that? Of course, I know that’s also hard for you. But… how not to pay to Mrs. Ho? You know she always helps us and…”

„Yeah, I know, I know,” SolHi shouted again. „Just as I understand why you need that money for, each time you ask for them. Yet…” Suddenly, SolHi sighed, a sound the man heard too. Because of this, he cooked his nose, mumbling something unintelligible eventually. After that, catching his mother’s scolding glance focused on him, he turned his back to her.

„Then? Should I wait for the transfer tomorrow?” The old woman insisted, trying to break that weird silence.

SolHi didn’t answer, for minutes in a row. Eventually, understanding that she couldn’t solve that problem otherwise, she said, „Yes, I’ll transfer the amount you’ve asked for. Yet… Old YeJin, it’s the last time I send money for such things. Next time when my mother „breaks” things, you’ll pay with the money I send you for taking care of her.” After that, SolHi hung the phone off so suddenly. She did that because she felt that se was about to tell the old woman everything she thought about all the „bad things” SinHa was doing and that she was aware that Old YeJin and her son were trying to fool her, making her pay for what others „were destroying” and not her mother.

Hanging up the phone, SolHi didn’t feel better although she had thought so. On the contrary, she felt the anger taking over her more powerful than before. That’s why she kicked a stone she met in her way, sending it to hell. Then, when she could calm down, she hissed through her teeth, „Wonderful, what can I say?! Did they all agree today to bury me or what? Old YeJin asks for more money right when the landlord decides to increase the rent. As though I manufacture the money I have to pay them more and more each time they need that.” She was outraged. Yet, having no other choice than to face the problems she had, SolHi headed home eventually. She was slowly walking, aware that another „problem” that was asking her for money was waiting for her home… Han DooSan.

***

„If I catch you once again entering a gambling house, I’ll break your neck for sure,” Old YeJin told her son, giving him his phone. She was really furious saying these words. „Do you know why? Because I’m tired that each time you do something wrong, I have to solve it for you,” she yelled eventually. „I didn’t hear your answer,” she hissed through her teeth, seeing her son cooking his nose.

„Yeah, I heard you,” he told her in a begging voice. „I’m not deaf.”

„That’s for sure you aren’t deaf. At all,” the old woman growled. „If you had been deaf, I wouldn’t have been so ashamed that I have to solve your problems. Yet… anyway, as I said it’s a thing: if you get involved with the loan sharks once again, I bury you somewhere before they find you. Did I make myself clear?” The man kept silent. „I didn’t hear a yes or a no from you.”

„Got it! Got it, don’t worry,” he said in a sweet voice this time. „Now…”

„Now what? What?” The old woman shouted.

„I’m hungry. Can we eat something?”

His words and the fact he acted so kindly in front of her, softened the woman’s heart eventually. Even so, she harshly told him, „Not now. SinHa isn’t asleep yet. And, even if she is asleep, I can’t leave her alone.”

The man suddenly muttered, „As though she’s a China doll or something that you are so afraid not to break if you leave her alone. She’s a grown woman, Mother. And, even if she’s crazy, she can take care of herself. More than that, even if something happens while you are missing, we’ll hear her because we live in the next-door house. So, if she goes crazy again, she’ll yell like desperate to be heard by everyone. Thus, we’ll be here in a minute. More than that, I don’t think it’ll be necessary because it’s dark in her room. She’s sleeping for sure.”

„Even if it’s dark in her room, it doesn’t mean she sleeps. That’s why, before we go, I have to check what she’s doing.”

„Why?” The man asked the old woman, blocking her way. „To wake her and not be able to get rid of her after this? Or what… do you want her near us while we eat just not to be able to swallow because of her? Of course not! I’d like to be calm while eating. And… you are always with her, neglecting me. That’s why, at least while she’s asleep, pay some attention to me,” he murmured, acting like a spoiled child. He even pushed the woman from behind toward the gate, closing it behind them, a hint that nobody would return there to check what SinHa was doing.

While leaving, none of them looked behind or seemed afraid that something could happen to SinHa while they were missing. For them, all that mattered was that SolHi paid them well. For the rest, if SinHa was alright or afraid of something, it was her problem because they didn’t have time to wonder about a crazy woman’s feelings, just as it wasn’t the first time they left her home alone without being afraid or concerned that something could happen to her.

Yet, even if they thought that the „crazy one” wasn’t aware of anything and that they left her alone so many times before, SinHa was aware of everything. She was also aware of the fact that she was a burden to her daughter. Even so, she had never told anyone about this, just as she had never said that she was afraid to be alone in that house at night.

***

Even if she hoped that the problem of money would be the only thing to spoil her night, SolHi had been wrong. Yes, she’d been wrong because, right after she got home and started to cook dinner, she burnt her skin when she touched the small grill for frying meat. Then, on top of that, while playing with DooSan their favorite game of the cat and the mouse because none of them could stay calm while eating, SolHi felt a painful kick in her stomach. She received that kick from DooSan, involuntarily, when he, trying to piss SolHi off, stretched his leg to push her slowly. Yet, not calculating well the used strength, he made SolHi feel the kick like a hammer on the top of her head, something that brought the storm in her soul again.

Stolen story; please report.

That storm had been the usual one: another epilepsy crisis, one she did everything for DooSan not know about. That’s why, the moment she felt the first symptoms, SolHi stood up. Then, she ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Her unexpected reaction made DooSan frown because he thought she was pretending. He was wrong instead because SolHi didn’t act that night. Not when those phantom pains were simply killing her inside. Pain that became each time much more difficult to bear up with. Yet, as it happened each time, she preferred to suffer alone.

Even so, thinking that SolHi was acting, DooSan stared toward the bathroom door for a long time, seeing that SolHi wasn’t coming back. Then, thoughtful, he whispered, „Did I exaggerate this time?” A question without an answer though. He couldn’t answer it, not even when he was already in bed, with his hands under his head and staring at the white ceiling, which he clearly saw despite the weak light that was seen from the street through the half-open curtains.

Eventually, he propped himself on one elbow when he heard a slight moan coming from the couch where SolHi insisted on sleeping that night. Yet, seeing no movement there, he thought that maybe he imagined the moan. This made him frown though because it reminded him about that evening event again.

„What exactly happened tonight? Why did she react like that? Moreover, after she left the bathroom. I thought she’d kill me for that kick because she isn’t the kind of woman who didn’t pay someone back for leaving her starving. Or… am I right and I exaggerated? Well, yes, I ate all the meat, but… she didn’t say no. Or maybe she thought I wasn’t joking when I said that all the meat should be for me? No, I don’t think so because SolHi isn’t the kind of person to remain hungry only to feed others. As I know her, if she was upset for leaving her hungry, she would have killed me for sure. Yet, she’s been calm. Suspiciously calm in my opinion. And… wait, what the hell happened in the bathroom? Those sounds… bah, bah, bah… what were they? It sounded like the last time when… No, Han DooSan, stop it! You are overthinking everything lately. Yes, you are thinking only about stupid things. That’s why, keep your damn mouth shut and get some sleep because…”

DooSan silenced the voice of his mind eventually, but, even so, he couldn’t fall asleep. He tossed and turned on that bed for a long time, struggling to sleep. Nothing helped him though. On the contrary, he felt at one point that the anxiety from his chest brought more and more memories to his head. Memories of someone’s beautiful dark brown hair spread all over on a white pillow, memories from that night when he had beautiful moments with a stranger in a motel room. And… oh, the color of the hair from his memories reminded him so much of SolHi’s, the one spread over his arm, the night they spent together in his apartment, one night before only. „And… she was also pleasantly smelling like lavender,” he thought.

This thought made him sit on the bed eventually. Then, supporting his head on his palms, he sighed, barely heard, whispering, in the end, „I should have said goodbye to her that night, as YuSan said. Thus… I wouldn’t have tormented myself now, wondering if it’s real what I think or if all these are just fake memories born from my desire to be always with her.”

His regrets didn’t have a point at that moment. DooSan knew this very well. That’s why he stood up eventually and, without using the crutches because he was afraid to wake SolHi, he approached the sofa on which she was sleeping.

Once next to the sofa, he stopped and looked at SolHi for a long time, seeing her sleeping with the pillow over her head. Then, suddenly, he felt a mad desire to caress her hair. He’d been afraid of waking her up though. That’s why he only sat on the floor and pulled the blanket a little down to see her face, even with that weak light from the street. And, looking at her, he found her so beautiful that night.

That thought made DooSan smile eventually. It was a sad smile though, born from melancholy. The same happened with the thought that made him murmur eventually, „What exactly do we hide, SolHi? From the entire world and us. I don’t really understand all this, just as I can’t understand why I see your face in my memories. Yes, I see your face in my dreams… Of another SolHi I had never met before, I’m sure of this, but who seems so real, so loved by me, so…” He kept silent again. He felt the tears bathing his eyeballs because of so many sad thoughts. And he wanted… to hold her to his chest and kiss her. He was afraid though… of her reaction, of being rejected, and… of losing her. That’s why he only continued his thought, in his head, saying, „Yet, SolHi, those memories are part of a hot love night in your arms. Why do I see myself sleeping next to you after kissing so hungrily your lips? Why do I feel that it has been more than a kiss between us? Yes, I feel that it has been more than this. It’s been more than simple caresses. It’s been a mad love between us even if we were still strangers that night, in a cold and unfriendly motel room. Yet, even so…”

DooSan kept silent again the moment he felt his heart suddenly stop in his chest. Even his breath cut at that point. This happened when he remembered the moment he saw SolHi for the first time… that night, when the paramedics took her out of the abandoned warehouse, unconscious and full of blood. Then, he felt guilty. Not because he had seen her hurt that night, but because he suddenly felt that he loved a forbidden woman… his brother’s woman. Even so, he had beautiful feelings for her. He was in love. Yet, he decided to hide these feelings, to keep them for him only, even if they hurt his chest in their desperate attempt to get out of him. Thus, each time he felt them pulsating inside him, more when he was around SolHi and saw her beautifully smiling and pleasantly smelling like lavender, DooSan forgot about his revenge. He just wanted to be with her… forever, if this was possible.

Then… the moment SolHi moved in her sleep and turned her back to him, DooSan winced. The fact she moved in her sleep made DooSan suddenly pull back, as though he was a teenager, whose parents caught him doing something forbidden. After that, the strange feeling of shame quickly burnt and, in its place, the desire to hold her in his arms appeared again. This happened because of her dark brown hair that was spread on that white pillow and of her half-naked back… something that spurred him to madness.

All this made him pull closer to the couch. Then, slowly bowing his head and deeply breathing in the pleasant smell of those chestnuts hidden in her hair, he smiled. He felt so well after this, murmuring, „Still, she smells like lavender.”

Eventually, afraid to lose his head and hold her to his chest or scare her, DooSan just covered her with the blanket, up to her neck. Then, he stood up and approached the window, looking through it at the night from outside. A night that was sneaking on the streets, shy and cunning at the same time. A night that wasn’t afraid of the outside world or of being seen because, although the lamp street seemed blind, DooSan still clearly saw the narrow street from behind the building where SolHi was living in.

DooSan stood in front of the window for minutes in a row. Minutes when an awkward thought was whispered by the silence around them, „Where to take so much again? I already crossed the limit I could afford.” It wasn’t DooSan’s thought but SolHi’s. He heard her saying this that night after she left the bathroom. Yet, even if he heard her whisper, he’d been afraid to ask her what she meant.

„She’ll tell me when she considers this necessary,” DooSan tried to calm down, still in front of the window. „I’m sure she’ll ask for my help when she needs it.”

Yet, he was so wrong because while he was in front of the window, spying on the night, SolHi was on the couch, with her back to him and pretending to be asleep. Yes, she was pretending to be asleep because she didn’t want to interrupt that secret magic between them. Moments when she heard his whisper, but when she decided to pretend not having heard them. Why? She was afraid… of herself and of the madness that suddenly awoke in her chest… the madness of spending an entire night in his arms or maybe an eternity.

***

Although DooSan grumbled right from the morning, telling SolHi that she didn’t have mercy on him leaving him alone while he was still hurt, SolHi still went to the office. Before that, DooSan managed to enrage her when he blocked her way, making SolHi hiss through her teeth, „Move aside or I swear I’ll take you with me to the office.” Thus, she let him understand that she wasn’t in the mood for jokes or to allow him everything he wanted.

Her stubbornness was something DooSan knew very well. That’s why he tried to appeal to her feelings and, making her feel guilty about what happened to him, to make her stay home and avoid going to see Min SinJu. However, SolHi, understanding very well his reason for acting as he acted, waited for the right moment and, when DooSan turned his back to her, mumbling and complaining about his „inability” to do things alone, she passed by him, slamming the door behind her.

„Damn stubborn woman,” DooSan growled, right after the door closed behind her. A growl that SolHi heard very well, being behind the door. Even so, she didn’t return to scold him as she used to. She just continued her way as fast as she could, afraid that DooSan would get out of the apartment to follow her and make her get into more trouble.

Nevertheless, at that moment when she was on the roof and looking at the city that was awakening, SolHi wondered why DooSan didn’t follow her that morning. Thus, too immersed in thoughts, she winced when Kan asked her, „Should I take this as a yes? That you and Prosecutor Han had another argument today?! I mean, once you are here.” A question that made SolHi weirdly grin.

„Can it be different?! I don’t think so because, if Han DooSan and I stop arguing even for one day, this world will turn upside down for sure. This way, it’s funnier… a daily routine.”

„Just as the crises that keep following you everywhere are, right? They are also a daily routine?” SolHi winced and looked at Kan, scared. „How do you know this?” Her eyes were asking him, making the detective smile. „Maybe I’m an old wolf, but I’m not blind, SolHi. Not when I see your eyes and the dark marks under them. This isn’t because of tiredness or illness but because of the soul pain that presses over your chest. So, tell me, what this time?”

„Nothing out of the ordinary. Just… a small accident. Han DooSan kicked my stomach yesterday, unwillingly.”

„And this brought the nightmare back to your mind.”

„Something like that,” SolHi said. Then she sighed.

Kan said nothing after this, for a very long time. The same SolHi did. Then, when Kan said, „Won’t be it fare to tell Prosecutor Han about all this?” she stared at the detective. Yet, not even this time, she said nothing. She just silently waited for what he said later, „I mean your crises, SolHi, and what provokes them. If he knows about them, he’ll be more careful next time because… you can’t deny that next time can be worse than ever.”

„Trust me, sombe: I also know that,” she murmured, looking in front. „Nevertheless, if I talk to him about this, I have to tell him about the rest of the problems. Something I don’t really want to explain to him or involve him in.”

„Why? Because Min SinJu seems to be involved too?”

SolHi winced again. She even frowned. Yet, she didn’t stay like that for long, but smiled soon and said, „You know that because the old wolf that lives inside you told you that?”

„If it was so, I had been calmer,” said Kan, words that amazed SolHi a lot. Then, after a short silence, the detective said, „Last night, Inspector Yu, Yoon Suk, and I visited Min SinJu.”

„Mmm,” replied SolHi, damn calm, something that amazed Kan.

„Mmm, and that’s all? I thought you’d tear my eyes out for not telling you,” Kan said, widening his eyes.

SolHi smiled. „Would this have served for something? I don’t think so. Just as I’m sure your „secret visit” didn’t help you in anything. Why? Because… Min SinJu is a slippery fellow and full of secrets. Something that helps him do business even with the devil. In his club, by the way. The reason? He did everything to back himself up. Thus, we won’t ever be able to find out something from those that are around him. Yet, this doesn’t impede us from trying to find out his secrets from somewhere else. Like… investigating the social circles where the truck’s driver and his wife used to be, who received money after the accident.”

„I see that’s necessary to twist some necks in our office,” Kan furiously growled realizing that even if he kept SolHi away from the office, she still knew about the investigation. „Especially, Yoon Suk’s neck because he’s the only one capable of telling you about a secret investigation. Yet, he’s right: they received the money. She even used five thousand euros from that account. Even so, we couldn’t find either the money or her and her child. As though the earth swallowed them.”

„We can ask for the Interpol’s help.”

„What for? They didn’t leave the country! I’m sure of this because Yu and I have checked the cameras from the airport while A Rim has checked the passenger lists.”

„The passenger lists? Didn’t you need a judicial order for this?”

„Mmm, I needed it. Actually, we checked it due to a judicial order.”

„Who signed for it this time: San DuSik or your eternal „sexy assistant?!” SolHi teased him.

Kan showed her his fangs. „My assistant, by the way, is working for the Finance Department now.” He was a little pissed off because SolHi mentioned a former girlfriend with whom he still had a good relationship, even if she was married already.

„Another „assistant” then?”

„Yeah! Her name is Prosecutor Han,” Kan teased SolHi. „He signed for the judicial order. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have ever found out something. Why? Because… as soon as he saw me in his office and found out what I needed from him, San DuSik kicked me out.”

„We’ve expected that. Let’s not forget that we suspect he’s also involved with Min SinJu. Yet, what surprises me more than this is the driver’s decision, who has committed suicide. For what? For fifty thousand he received in his account?! I don’t think it’s real.”

„I’m not also convinced of that. Yet, once we cannot relate him to Ian Hion Uk!”

„Ian Hion Uk? Min SinJu’s cousin was the driver’s lawyer?”

„Did you know that? I mean… did you know that Min SinJu and Ian Hion Uk are cousins?”

„Of course, I knew. Since Lee Ha Ni’s case. Yet, at that time, he stood away from problems. He only represented Min SinJu when that one testified. Now, however, he’s been the driver’s lawyer. And, he’s also Gu SilGi and Park Yu Ra’s lawyer.”

„I knew about these two but not the rest. Yet, once we talk about them, I’ve been told that they’ll spend a lot of years behind bars. I don’t think Ian Hion Uk’s will help them too much because of Captain Lee, who made sure no one will help them at the trial.”

SolHi looked in amazement at Kan. „Captain Lee is involved in this? How?”

„Simple: he asked for a trustful judge. One of his men, by the way. That’s why I’m sure that even if Death comes to offer him money, that judge won’t betray the Captain.”

SolHi grinned again. „I wish I had such a power.” Words that made Kan frown, who didn’t understand what exactly she meant. „I was talking about paying to get rid of someone.”

„To get rid of Han DooSan?”

„Who else because… ah, yes, I forgot about this: if you tell him once again what I do or do not do, to make sure he’ll blow down my neck, I swear I’ll also include you on the list of those I want to get rid of.”

„Be my guest,” said Kan, grinning. „I’ll do it, anyway. I’ll tell Han DooSan about everything you are involved in. It’s the only way you’ll stop taking risks such as visiting Min SinJu.”

„Did you know that?”

„What exactly?”

„That Min SinJu asked for the record of my past.”

Kan squinted at her. „Is there something you don’t know in this world?”

„Yeah, the future,” SolHi drily replied. Then, seeing Kan squinting at her again and about to get enraged, SolHi sighed and said, „Sombe, do you know when exactly I found out that Min SinJu is trying to find out about my past?”

„When you visited him?”

„Exactly. It’s why I intended to find out everything about his plans. Yet, you took care to ruin my plans, telling Han DooSan about them. Because of this, he kept me in the hospital with him, begging for mercy.”

„Nothing wrong, anyway. From none of us, I mean. Why? You are still in one piece because, SolHi, let’s not forget that Min SinJu is a dangerous man.”

„Tell me something new, sombe. Just as I know he can’t do anything to me. He doesn’t have anything to take from me, except for my life and my sick mother. Even so, I doubt he’ll go that far to stain his hands with the blood of a woman that lives outside the reality for a very long time.”

„I won’t bet on that, SolHi. Yun Shi Yon was sick too. Yet, she died drowned. That’s why I’m sure that one’s illness won’t ever keep Min SinJu away from him. So, think very well what you say, and don’t take unnecessary risks if you don’t want to lose everything you have.” Saying this, Kan kept silent. Then, he supported his hand on her left shoulder while SolHi kept looking in the distance.