Drop by drop the water was leaking from the sink that was full to the brim, wetting the floor and SolHi’s barefoot feet. She was staying in front of the mirror at that moment, supporting her palms on the edges of the small ceramic sink. Yet, even if the water was dripping so fast, making that bathroom resound so weirdly, SolHi seemed not to notice that. She was just staring in front, in the mirror, at her face that looked so strange at that moment - the perfect personification of her own tormented soul, which knew what pain and tough lessons of life meant.

Seeing that weird creature in the mirror made SolHi burst into tears. She hoped to cool her soul after this, but this didn’t happen eventually. On the contrary, it only fueled the fire from her soul, making her feel so powerfully the anxiety from her chest, anxiety in the form of a wild bird that vertiginously flapped its wings, right in front of SolHi’s chest, making her feel she lacked air. Actually, SolHi started to feel anxious when she was still walking with DooSan along the street, even if he kept holding her hand and they seemed so close to each other. All this should have spurred her to dream. Nevertheless, this made SolHi turn back time, to the night when they found SinHa dead and her biggest nightmare started.

***

„Why are you so cruel to me, God?” SolHi wondered after she got to the rocks, from which it was supposed that SinHa fell into the water. She decided to go there after the fight she had with DooSan, or it’s better to say after he forced her to accept reality and SinHa’s autopsy. Yet, even if she understood why the man did that and that it was better for all of them if they found out the truth, SolHi still thought that everybody was against her at that moment. Because of this, she went to the sea, looking for comfort there… at the same sea that took from her the priceless gift she received from life.

Yet, getting there, SolHi didn’t get comfort because the sea, which had been calm until not long ago, suddenly started to hit the rocks violently, splashing everything with cold drops. Drops that got to wet not only those rocks, making them more slippery than ever, a kind of fearful enemy, but also SolHi’s feet. Something she didn’t get to notice because of the thoughts that took over her, thoughts born from the pain felt in her soul.

Because of the pain, which tore her soul apart, SolHi also got to hurt her knees and palms while she struggled to climb on the rocks. She hurt them slipping on the wet rocks, wounds that hurt a lot and awoke her from the numbness of her soul. Then she stopped, having her head bowed and her eyes closed while her injured palms kept touching the cold-like-ice rocks. Thus, she could turn back to her senses when she felt something cold dripping off her knees. After that, she felt itches there. This made her sigh, and she sat on the wet rock, lifting the skirts of the black hanbok she had chosen to wear as an undertaker’s coat, and touched the wound. That touch burnt her so much because she had her fingers wet and dirty. Thus, feeling the wound burning so much, SolHi gnashed her teeth. Yet, even if she knew she had to return home or at least find a source of clean water to clean the wound, she ignored all that. She only covered the injured skin by allowing the skirts of the hanbok to fall over it. After that, she closed her eyes again and waited.

That moment of waiting didn’t make her feel better. On the contrary, she also felt her palms burning. Even her eyes felt wet after this, which she stubbornly kept closed. Yet, even if she tried to chase the pain this way, all she managed was to torment herself more, clearly seeing the moment SinHa was taken out of the water, an event that hurt her so much and let her understand that happiness didn’t exist.

„Or maybe all this is only my imagination?” SolHi wondered, opening her eyes. Yet, that wasn’t only her imagination, but a real place of suffering - her life. At least it looked like that at that moment while she stood in that place, which made her so happy many times before, but which suddenly turned into a cursed place that finally took her mother from her. „Even so, it’s funny,” murmured SolHi. „To be here. At the same time, to consider this place my oasis of tranquility, so many times before, by the way, when this is the place she threw me into the water twenty years ago. Yes, Mother, it’s the same place where you died eventually, although you looked for giving me to death then. Even so, it’s so quiet here, despite the tormented sea and my soul, which slowly burns into the fire of pain.”

Eventually, understanding that the sea and that place wouldn’t bring her happiness back or the peace in her soul, at least not that calmness SolHi looked for in that place, she decided to stand up and finally get on the rocks. Yet, feeling she lacked power, she supported herself with both palms on the wet rock and pushed herself up. Soon after touching that rock, SolHi froze. Then, seconds after this, she shook from top to toe, feeling that her right palm touched something strange.

„What’s this?” SolHi caught a sudden thought crossing her mind. „Moss?” A thought that she chased away very soon after this because it was wrong… there couldn’t be moss there. At the same time, she knew that it wasn’t a wet leaf or a simple transient feeling, caused by her imagination. It was rather something artificial, something shiny and sticky at the same time. It was something familiar that made SolHi murmur eventually, „A photo? But… whose…?”

She suddenly silenced the voice of her mind, realizing that a lot of people passed by there every day. Yet, not everybody used to have photos with him. Something SinHa used to do because not only once SolHi saw her holding a photo of SolHi’s father to her chest, photos that SolHi wanted to turn to ashes so many times before or at least make them vanish because that image, of two people showing their love, made her so unhappy. The reason? A very simple one: this reminded her that she was the product of a „transient” love and that she wasn’t a wished child.

SolHi wished all that, but she never destroyed those photos. She didn’t do that because she realized that it wasn’t worth it. At the same time, she did that for SinHa, who, each time she watched them, was smiling and happily saying, „Still, I had a beautiful love.” Thus, seeing happiness in her mother’s eyes, SolHi understood that she couldn’t take that from her… the last chance for happiness for SinHa and to have a happy past that was only in her sick head because she hadn’t ever been happy with SolHi’s father.

Eventually, when she understood that all those were simple thoughts and guesswork and that she had to convince herself that it was SinHa’s photo, SolHi took it in her hand. After that, standing up, she struggled to climb on the wet rocks, stopping only when she got on top of them. Then, she looked at the photo. Yet, she couldn’t see the image in that photo because of the weak light seen around, an unfriendly light eventually. Nevertheless, because she was stubborn, SolHi didn’t give up. She just took a few steps on those rocks, looking for a better angle and light, just to make sure she’d be able to see what kind of photo she had in her hand.

Thus, finally finding a good angle, even if the lighthouse that was seen in the distance still weakly illuminated it, SolHi saw what the photo she kept in her hand represented. This made her frown because she was wrong: that one wasn’t a photo of her parents, but a photo of herself when she was still little. Seeing it, SolHi felt weird because she hadn’t ever expected SinHa to keep that photo. She thought her mother destroyed it or threw it somewhere only to hurt her. Yet, at that moment when she had it in her hand, a photo of herself, of the child that lived once, a photo she dreamt of having in her hand but she hadn’t ever been able to do that, SolHi felt confused. „It can’t be!” She murmured. „No, this isn’t real. I can’t hold in my hand something inexistent. It’s only my imagination. Only…”

That photo wasn’t a product of her imagination though. It wasn’t just a memory but something real. She could keep it in her hand, to feel it very well… its coldness and wet texture… because of so much time in that place where the water washed it. Even so, it was weird because… „How is it possible for this photo to exist? She told me that she destroyed it!” SolHi murmured. After that, feeling she lacked power, she squatted, holding the photo to her chest, and, bowing her head, SolHi cried a lot.

Suddenly, SolHi raised her head and looked in the distance when she heard SinHa’s voice. „Still, you are here,” her mother said. SinHa didn’t talk to her at that moment when SolHi was on the rocks but long ago when SolHi was still little and worked on the fishing boat. That evening, SinHa came to see SolHi there. Yes, SolHi clearly remembered that event. It wasn’t only a product of her imagination. That happened when she was twelve. That night, she was alone on the boat because she still had to wash the deck. SinHa found her carrying after her a big bucket full of water. Because of this, because she filled it to the brim and it was too heavy, SolHi managed to wet her legs. This also happened because of surprise when she saw SinHa waiting for her, staying on the wooden stairs that they used to climb on the boat.

Actually, SolHi’s surprise wasn’t unexpected because SinHa didn’t usually come there. At the same time, SolHi was scared too because, each time SinHa came there, something bad happened to SolHi. Why exactly? Because, if SinHa ever appeared there, it was to argue with the captain or ask him for more money, yelling to the four winds that he was using the children, paying them a few pennies only because of greed and caprice.

Something was strange at SinHa that evening though, and SolHi understood that by looking at her mother and seeing her so calm. She saw that SinHa’s eyes weren’t strangely shining as it happened each time she was upset with SolHi. On the contrary, SolHi thought she saw kindness sparkling in her mother’s eyes. The same kindness she felt in SinHa’s voice when she told her daughter, „Let’s go!” After that, grabbing SolHi’s hand, she forced the girl to follow her, telling her, „We have to quicken our pace because we don’t have too much time.”

SolHi didn’t understand what her mother wanted from her. That’s why she tried to oppose following her and said, „Mother, I didn’t finish here. I still have to clean the deck and…”

„You’ll clean it later,” SinHa calmly replied, not releasing the girl’s hand. „Or… tomorrow.”

„But the captain said that…”

„I don’t really care what that idiot said,” SinHa hissed through her teeth. This made the girl shudder because she felt that SinHa got upset. Thus, if her mother got upset, SolHi paid for that because… SinHa could yell at her for hours, blaming her for coming into this world only to ruin her life or worse… she was sending SolHi to sleep under the bridge, telling her that she didn’t have a house to sleep in and that she wasn’t her mother to keep her under the same shelter as she was sleeping. All this SolHi could bear up with. What she was afraid of more than sleeping under a bridge was that SinHa could force her to work more. Why? To pay back the debts she gathered.

SolHi still remembered the last time her mother owed money to someone. This happened about four months before the night SinHa came to take her from the docks. It was also at night when SinHa came there. Yet, that night she was angry and, seeing the girl, grabbed her by the arm and didn’t release her until she saw the girl serving at the tables in one of the bars in the village.

Not this scared SolHi that night because she wasn’t afraid of work. What scared the girl so much was to be watched by the drunkards of the village, who weren’t losing sight of her, watching her with hungry eyes. More than this, they even dared to touch her hand or back, something that made SolHi feel nauseous and want to run away from there, something she couldn’t do eventually.

Starting that night, SolHi understood that she was doomed to be her mother’s shadow forever. Actually, this was a thought that started crossing SolHi’s mind when she was ten and SinHa had the first symptoms of dementia. Yet, being stubborn, SinHa refused to see a doctor. She even started to use violence against those who told her that she needed to see a doctor. Even so, although SinHa never accepted that she needed a doctor, all those that surrounded her were clearly seeing that her health kept getting worse and worse. SolHi also saw all this. Yet, she was powerless in front of her mother, who got to drink more and more to hide her symptoms, which she was relating to alcohol when someone dared to talk to her about how she was feeling or if she was doing something wrong.

Her stubbornness worked for others though. Especially, it worked for the owner of that bar who took advantage of SinHa’s state of mind. How exactly? That woman, the owner of the bar, along with two of her waitresses, were serving the clients not only alcohol but also other kinds of services. Thus, seeing that her business was prospering, the owner of the bar tried to use SinHa to do the same. Yet, even if SinHa wasn’t clearly thinking at that moment, she managed to stay away from that „business.” Even so, understanding what the owner wanted from her, SinHa kept frequenting that bar and having more and more debts, without being aware that not all she had to pay back was real in fact.

Who knew all this and what happened between her mother and the owner of the bar was SolHi. The girl also knew that her mother didn’t owe that much. Even so, still being a child and having no evidence to prove that, she was always forced to pay those debts back, even if those debts were each time bigger and bigger.

SolHi always paid those debts because she couldn’t let down her mother or allow that woman to denounce her. Why? If this had happened and SinHa had been arrested, SolHi would have undoubtedly gotten into an orphanage. A fear she had for years because she hadn’t heard this only once, talked in the village, especially after it had been confirmed that her mother suffered from Alzheimer that it was possible for SolHi to be taken from her mother and put into an orphanage.

However, that night, when SinHa came to take her from her work, SolHi hadn’t been forced to serve at the tables in the bar or feel the disgusting touches of the drunkards on her back or hands. Where SinHa took her that night was in the village center where all the villagers were gathered. The reason? The mayor, wanting to do an act of charity, called a photographer there to take pictures of everybody. Thus, SolHi also had something she had dreamt of always: a picture of herself, a picture to remind her of childhood and her mother, a beautiful memory with SinHa, and not only bad ones when her mother was complaining about the girl and was saying that her she never loved her.

Thus, arriving in the center of the village, SolHi had been so amazed. Especially, she’d been amazed to see her mother looking charmed around, at that place that was surrounded by blinding lights, which seemed like a picture depicted from a fairy tale. Then, the girl also heard her mother saying, „Beautiful, isn’t it?”

SolHi didn’t say a word after this. She only looked at her mother’s smile, a warm smile she hadn’t ever seen at SinHa, something that warmed her heart. Then, when SinHa kindly looked at her, the girl dared to ask her mother, „Mummy, why are we here?”

„To be like everybody,” replied Sinha, smiling. After that, still holding SolHi’s hand, she dragged the girl behind her toward the place where the line of people was waiting for their turn to take a photo.

Once there, behind all those people who were waiting for their turn to have a memory, SolHi finally smiled. She even told herself, „I’ll have a beautiful memory with my mother.” Yet, she’d been so wrong in thinking this because, when their turn to take a picture came, SinHa refused to stay next to the girl. She just pushed SolHi in front of the camera, telling her to smile.

The girl couldn’t smile though. She didn’t have a reason to do that, not when she spotted the amazement on the villagers’faces and heard them whispering and asking each other why her mother refused to take a picture with her. At the same time, SolHi didn’t know how to smile because she didn’t have time to learn it… how to smile and be happy.

Actually, it wasn’t at all weird for SolHi not to know how to smile that night because… how is it possible for a child, who does not understand what was going on, to smile in front of the photographer too? How could she smile when she was freezing because, when her mother brought her there, SolHi was wet from top to toe?! At the same time… how could a hungry child smile when the only thing she was dreaming of at that moment was a slice of bread and a mug of water? Yet, as there wasn’t anybody there, whom SolHi could ask for this, the girl could only do what others asked her to do. Why? Because she knew that nobody taught SinHa to be a mother. Thus, SinHa didn’t have how to know what her child needed or what she felt.

Nevertheless, there were still people who seemed to know what SolHi felt at that moment. Especially the Old Pan, who was also there. Seeing that SolHi didn’t smile and just looked around, afraid, Old Pan approached the photographer at first, whispering something into his ear. Then, when the photographer nodded, Old Pan approached the girl. And, while putting his shirt on her shoulders, a plaid shirt with black and red squares on it, too big for SolHi, he told her, „SolHi, you know… sometimes, in life, we must know how to be happy.” The girl stared at him, not understanding what he meant. That’s why Old Pan, who was about fifty at that moment, tried to explain his words by saying, „I talk about the fact that we must learn to smile, even if nobody ever showed us how we should do that.”

„This is so hard though,” the girl whispered, bowing her head.

„But not impossible, SolHi. Actually, this isn’t something you haven’t ever done.” The girl looked at him in amazement. „I’m talking about the day we saw the dolphins playing in the water, a few weeks ago. Do you still remember that day?”

„Aga,” the girl murmured.

„Then, you probably also remember that the dolphins followed us everywhere that day.” The girl nodded. „It’s because the dolphins always follow innocent people, especially the children. They want to see that the children are happy. That’s why, when that uncle over there asks you to smile, you should do that… smile, as you’ve done that day.”

„But… the dolphins aren’t here now,” the girl murmured, bowing her head again.

„Of course, they are here.” He said, making SolHi look in amazement at him. „They are here,” said Old Pan, touching the girl’s chest, over her heart. „Here, we choose to keep our beautiful memories, SolHi. That’s why, each time you want to show others that you are happy and you can smile, think about that day when you saw the dolphins. Think about how you felt that day and simply live it again.”

SolHi lived that moment with the dolphins again… so many times after that day. She remembered that moment each time she felt that something was pressing over her chest or that she didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel because of all the problems that overwhelmed her. Yet, despite all the problems she had, after that night when the photographer told her, „Smile now when the turtle dove flies” and SolHi smiled, she learned to do that. She learned to smile because each human being must know how to smile and be happy even if he didn’t feel that.

Thus, when she remembered that night when she had been happy for the first time in her life next to her mother, who took her to the center of the village to leave her a memory of her childhood, SolHi burst into tears. Thus, through tears, SolHi managed to whisper, „Still, I forgot this. I forgot what it feels to be happy and smile.” Then, bowing her head and touching her chest with her knees, SolHi cried a lot. She cried with all her body, holding that photo to her chest, a photo that made her understand that her mother also loved her and not also hated her for coming into this world.

***

„SolHi, are you here?” DooSan called her name after entering the apartment because, after the walk, he went to buy something. He even wanted to take SolHi with him, but she opposed it. She told him that she was tired and wanted to return. This concerned him though and made him return home sooner than he had planned.

Entering the apartment and not seeing her in the bed as he had thought he’d find her, the man found it strange, just as it seemed strange to him the sounds he heard from the bathroom. Sounds which he couldn’t understand what they were due to or if they were real. Yet, the moment he realized that it was due to the water that poured into the sink and then on the floor, DooSan got scared a lot, thinking that something bad happened to her. That’s why he left the shopping fell on the floor and ran into the bathroom.

Stepping into the water that was all over the floor, DooSan stopped and stared around. Thus, he saw SolHi crouching at that moment, between the sink and the tub, with her forehead touching her knees and crying. This scared the man even more, who approached her suddenly. And, grabbing her by both arms, DooSan forced her to stand up and watch him. After that, he even asked her, confused, „SolHi, what’s going on?”

She didn’t answer him though but kept crying, slowly shaking and seeming not to realize that he was there. Only when DooSan held her to his chest, asking her again about what happened to her, SolHi managed to murmur, „I forgot how to be happy. I forgot how the sea water feels when it wets my feet.”

Her answer made DooSan stare at her. He even asked her dumbly after this, „What the hell are you talking about right now? What seawater?” Finally, he realized that SolHi mistook the water from the sink, which wet her feet at that moment, for the seawater. That is why, turning the faucet off, he took her in his arms and out of the bathroom. After that, saying no word, he put her on the bed and, taking a towel from one of the drawers, wiped her feet.

While DooSan took care of her, SolHi stared in front. She didn’t see the man but the tormented sea that was hitting against the rocks, breaking into thousands of cold drops. She also saw herself, squatting on those rocks and holding that photo to her chest. Yet, even if she saw all this, SolHi wasn’t delirious. It was just a confusing memory that made her seem out of reality.

Seeing her like that, DooSan got scared a lot, thinking that she was losing her mind. He even thought about calling Mina. Yet, the moment he decided to do that and stood up to approach the couch and take his phone, SolHi grabbed his hand and told him, „I can’t understand why the photo was there.”

„The photo? What photo?” DooSan asked her in amazement. SolHi didn’t answer though. She only covered her face with her palms and sighed. „SolHi, what photo?” The man insisted on finding out an answer, although he realized that it was damn difficult for her to talk at that moment. He knew that, but it was more important to him to find out what was tormenting her at that moment and find a solution to take her out of the trance of painful memories. He understood that the memories were to blame for SolHi’s state of mind, memories that started to devour her from the inside.

He received an answer from her only when he forced SolHi to take her palms off her face and look at him. It’s when she told him, „My photo. A photo that I took when I was little and my mother took me to the center of the village where a photographer took pictures of all of us. She told me that night that she did that because she wanted us to be like everybody. Yet, she did that for me, although I didn’t understand that.”

DooSan smiled. „I get it now,” he said. Thus, he made SolHi look at him, amazed. „I mean… I understand why you feel like that. It’s because of the past, isn’t it?”

„Yes, and… it’s so painful, DooSan. It’s so painful to understand that I haven’t ever known my mother. I just… hated her for treating me badly. I stood against her each time she attacked me. I judged her just because she was judging me, without knowing that most of the time she was protecting me. She protected me as much as she could because nobody ever taught her how to be a mother.” After saying this, feeling that tears were about to wet her cheeks again, SolHi hid her face at DooSan’s chest.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

They stood like this for minutes in a row: he - trying to comfort her, while SolHi - simply allowing herself to cry all the tears she hadn’t cried in her life. Then, when SolHi finally calmed down and slowly sighed, DooSan helped her lie in bed and covered her with the blanket, sitting by her and slowly tapping on her arm until she fell asleep. At least, he thought that SolHi had fallen asleep. Yet, it was a simple illusion because SolHi just kept her eyes closed, stubborn to relive those memories again. Eventually, overwhelmed because of the same emotions she couldn’t explain, she asked, „DooSan, what do you think: why was that photo there?”

Hearing her question, DooSan winced because he didn’t expect that she was still awake. Yet, he didn’t show his amazement to SolHi, but he just looked at her for a few seconds. After that, he said, „Most likely your mother brought it there. The night she…”

SolHi’s sigh made him keep silent. Then, when SolHi sat on the bed, he looked into her eyes, waiting for another question from her. A question that was right away heard from SolHi’s mouth when she asked, „Do you think that she died because of it? Because of the photo? I mean… dropping it, she bent to take it and…”

„No, SolHi. You found the photo on the other side of the rocks. It’s what you told us that night. That’s why I don’t think she fell into the water because of the photo. If it had been so, if she had bent to take the photo from below, we would have found her next to it, don’t you think so?”

„You are probably right. Yet, honestly… I don’t know what else to think about all this. I can’t also understand why she had the photo when she told me that she tore it. She told me this, many years ago. That’s why… it’s difficult for me to think that she cared about that photo… that she cared about the photo more than she ever cared about me.”

„What if she simply didn’t ever show you this? I mean… that your mother hid her love for you deliberately.”

„Why did she do that, DooSan? For what? No, I don’t think that’s true. My mother had always shown me that she hated me. She took care to show me her hatred every single day I spent with her.”

„Just as she told you that she tore the photo when she lied to you. Thus, it’s possible that she also lied to you about her hatred.”

„Unlikely, DooSan. Do you know why? Because… I haven’t only once felt her hatred on my skin. I haven’t seen the hatred sparkling in her eyes only once. This happened each time I was in front of her, as though she had been the predator and I was the prey.”

„Well, this is already something I also can’t explain: why she always tried to show you her hatred. I only suspect that she tried to teach you how to survive in this cruel world.”

„If she did that, then… it was a cruel lesson, DooSan. A lesson that continuously hurt me inside and made me have no trust in people.”

„Still, it was a lesson that helped you survive. You are here, right? That’s why I think that tough lessons always harden us and help us to live this life proudly. Especially…”

„Are you talking about the event seven years ago?”

„I’m not talking only about this, SolHi, but about everything that happened. And, from what I understood at the funerals, a lot of things happened to you. Things that seem unbelievable, even if we thought we knew everything about you.”

SolHi smiled, wiping her tears. Then, looking into the man’s eyes, she said, „Sometimes, we need more than a life to know the person who stays by our side. That’s why, don’t be that rude to you, thinking that you don’t know me enough. Eventually, you aren’t forced to know me. This won’t offer you any advantage to win the battles that life puts in front of you.”

„It’ll help me to know you though. It’s enough for me,” murmured DooSan, holding her again to his chest.

To his great surprise, SolHi didn’t try to push him away from her. On the contrary, she stuck to him. She even wrapped her arms around his body, hiding her face to his chest again. Then, deeply breathing in his perfume, SolHi finally felt that she wasn’t alone anymore. Especially, she deeply felt the man’s caresses because, after holding her to his chest, DooSan caressed her hair for a long time. He even touched the top of her head with his cheek, whispering into her ear, „SolHi, everything will be just fine. You’ll see that. And, even if it hurts a lot, you have to cope with it. It’ll be easier in time.”

„I know,” she murmured. „Yet, I cannot stop thinking about what happened, asking myself the same question: is it real, all I’ve lived? A question I can’t answer no matter what.”

„Invent it then. The answer, I mean,” the man murmured. This answer made SolHi try to release herself from the trap of his arms just to be able to look into his eyes. She couldn’t do that though because DooSan seemed to hold her tighter to his chest after this, whispering, „If I say that is to make you understand that sometimes it is easier not to know certain things. This helps us to cope with the most difficult tests that life gives us. And, honestly, I think that the worst punishment and the most fearful torture for us is the one we decide for us, SolHi. That’s why I think that the best for us will be to lie to ourselves rather than face reality. Thus, if you tell yourself that your mother loved you and not only hated you, you’ll start to believe that, and this will make you feel better eventually.”

„This means to lie to myself if I say such things, don’t you think so?”

„Then… allow me to lie to you, SolHi,” DooSan told her, looking into her eyes. „Allow me at least this, SolHi: to lie to you. At least… let me think that I do that for a noble cause, even if we know that’s not right.”

SolHi said nothing. She just kept looking in front while their hearts, starving for strong feelings, for sincere and mutual feelings, started to beat powerfully in their chests. This made them both shudder, each time they felt the beating of the other one’s heart on their chest. Then, when both of them understood that words were meaningless at that moment, they hugged each other again, waiting for the time that was about to come…

***

The next day, right in the morning, DooSan awoke SolHi, telling her that they had a damn important thing to do together. What exactly they had to do, he didn’t tell her. The man only rushed her when he saw that she was late to leave the bathroom, just as he rushed her to get out of bed when she told him that she would have liked to sleep more. After that, when they left the apartment and SolHi asked him again where they were going, DooSan grabbed her by the hand, and, smiling, he told her, „You’ll see! Don’t be impatient or you’ll lose all the fun!” After that, still smiling, although he saw SolHi frowning because she hated secrets and when he acted like that, DooSan held her hand and forced her to follow him.

Where did they get eventually? To the gym, a place SolHi hated so much. Why exactly? Because… this reminded her of a difficult period of her life when everybody hated her and she found peace only when she was alone at the gym. That’s why she cooked her nose. And, stopped in the doorway, she made a mimic that made DooSan smile.

„Actually, I’m not in the mood for smiling,” she growled, seeing his grin.

„Why? I thought you’d find it funny.”

„Yeah, I’m sure this is funny for you. I’m sure you have even laughed at me, in your head, all the way down here while I was talking about an important operation. One you lied to me about.”

„I lied to you?! When exactly?”

„When you told me to take light clothes because something important for us is coming. Something that would allow me to easily move.”

„Yeah, I said that. The truth, by the way. Why? Because, at the gym, one needs light clothes for maximum mobility, right?”

„Wha, you are really amazing, Han DooSan! Lying without blushing is something new even for you.”

„Am I telling lies? I?”

„Yeah, you because… this „operation” is vital only for you while it’s hell for me. So, you can waste your time here alone because… I’m out.”

Although she intended to leave, she couldn’t do that because, the moment she turned her back to DooSan to head toward the exit door, he grabbed her arm, stopping her. Then, seeing SolHi squinting at him, DooSan grinned and hissed through his teeth, „Which way?”

„As far as possible from you because… I won’t spend such a beautiful sunny morning at the gym. I rather spend it sleeping.”

„In your dreams, Ian SolHi! Only there you can turn back to sleep. And, for your information, it isn’t that early. It’s nine o’clock already.”

„Maybe it’s nine o’clock for you. For me it’s early… the perfect time to return to sleep. So, until I haven’t completely lost my mind and painted this beautiful face in purple colors, you’ll do yourself a favor to release my hand and let me go!”

„Of course… not, Ian SolHi. And, if you don’t want to see what I can do when you don’t listen to me, you’ll do yourself a favor by being a good girl.”

„Are you threatening me right now?”

„The first one in starting this game is you. And, once I’m a good pupil who loves to practice everything, follow me!”

Yet, even if he demanded SolHi to follow him, he headed toward the treadmill alone while SolHi kept standing in the same place where he left her after releasing her arm. She stood there to show her „anger” for Han DooSan. Then, she decided that it was time to teach Han DooSan some manners. That’s why she finally said, „Well, he looked for that for sure!” After that, taking her T-shirt off, she remained in a simple sexy top, which, in combination with the shorts, made her look so hot. Then, with slow elegant movements, she headed toward DooSan, who was already walking on the treadmill, convinced that SolHi would follow him eventually.

Poor DooSan swallowed hard after that when he turned to see where SolHi was and saw the other clients of the gym staring at her. All the eyes were at that moment on her because SolHi did everything for this to happen. At that moment, besides the fact she looked so good, she was slowly moving toward DooSan, struggling with her hair, which was also stubborn, and didn’t want to allow her to grab it into a ponytail. And, the moment she saw DooSan’s furious eyes, who looked more like a mad pitbull at that moment than like a human, SolHi happily smiled: she won.

Honestly, SolHi didn’t pay even two pennies on DooSan’s anger. All that mattered to her was to do something and bother him more, like a punishment for bringing her there with lies and forcing her to stay there. Yet, DooSan thought differently because he was really pissed off, seeing all those eagle eyes focused on her. However, once he was the only guilty one for bringing her there, he couldn’t scold her for that. Well, he also didn’t scold her because he understood that if SolHi did that, it was to provoke him. After all, she wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted to lose a fight with him. And, at that time, she found another way to piss him off: jealousy. Even so, the moment she climbed on the next treadmill, DooSan hissed through his teeth, „I said to wear something light not sexy, SolHi.”

„And? What exactly did you mean by „light,” DooSan? Nun clothing?”

„Of course not! Yet… I also didn’t mean something that light, SolHi. Something I regret already, as I regret the fact that I had the brilliant idea of bringing you here.”

„Well, I think it’s too late for regrets already,” SolHi replied, smiling, seeing his mimics while spotting the other men staring at her. „And it’s too late because I got my rhythm already and… I think that starting today, going to the gym will be my routine.”

„Are you trying to drive me crazy?”

„I? Hell no! I’m not a sadomasochist to harm myself. And, I also think you are damn good at this: to harm yourself. It’s why you brought me here, right?”

„Absolutely. And, not to harm myself I brought you here. I just… thought that, by coming here, we’ll have more time for us… pleasant time, by the way. What I didn’t think about was how evil you can be: you put me in the cage of the lion without even thinking how I feel.”

„I put you in the lion’s cage? No, baby: you entered that cage alone.”

„Yeah, I must accept that I did that to myself because… I didn’t expect that I’d turn myself into a clown by coming to the gym today.”

„Are you jealous now? That all the eyes are on me and not on you?”

„Jealous? I? Yeah, right! If I mention that, it’s because I hate to be in the spotlight. And, yeah, I’m a little concerned: for a colleague, who can turn into prey with so many eagles around us.”

„A damn appetizing prey, baby. So, if you don’t want to be a „prey” too, once we have enough hungry lions here, I suggest you stay away from me. If not, I think you’ll get to know what the cast feels like again. Yet, this time, it will be around another… injured part of your body. What part… well, I prefer not to mention this loudly.” After that, winking and happily smiling, SolHi put on the headphones. Then, turning the music louder, so as not to hear DooSan’s mumbling, she set the treadmill to level 9, starting to run because… if DooSan brought her to the gym, it was to exercise, right?! Well, once she was there, she decided to take advantage because she also knew this would make her feel better. How not with all those predators all around her…

***

„Is that one over there Detective Ian?” Detective So asked Gi when she finally understood who all the men in the gym were looking at. „Yes, she is. And yes, she has some flair for conquering a man’s heart. Right after she has entered the gym, all eyes are on her.”

„Are you jealous?” She suddenly heard Detective Mo’s voice in the headphones, something that made her squint at him, seeing him on the other side of the gym working at weightlifting. „Absolutely, you are jealous. If not, you wouldn’t have said what you said in that irritated tone.”

„And you, if you had kept your mouth shut more often, you would have been a better man,” Detective So hissed through her teeth. She was really pissed off because Mo could drive her crazy.

Both of them kept silent, although So intended to approach her colleague and teach him some manners, when they heard Gi’s voice in their headphones, „What about being professional right now and not acting like two in-love teenagers that teased each other instead of talking about their feelings?”

„In love? Yeah, right: in his dreams,” growled So.

„It’s mutual! The feeling, I mean,” said Mo, pissed off.

„So do I think about you two,” insisted Gi. „I think you both are like a fish bone stuck into my throat! So, keep your mouth shut and do your job! If not, if they discover us here and this operation fails, I swear I’ll close you together in a room for millennia and I won’t let you get out of there if you are not dead or holding hands.” After that, angry, still pretending to work his biceps, Gi showed them his fangs, a hint that was damn serious about what he said. Then, when he understood his pupils got his message, he focused on SolHi, spotting the „fly” they were after hovering around her.

Soon after this, Gi looked toward DooSan when he heard Mo’s voice in the headphones, „Prosecutor Han is also here. Interesting, are those two dating or something?”

„I’m more tempted to think that Han DooSan is here to protect SolHi from „flies.” Something he didn’t manage to do that well.”

„I have the same feeling,” said Gi, smiling. „And… if he doesn’t realize this soon, our „prey” will steal his girl for sure.”

„Just as I think that the fly will leave us high and dry very soon. Why? Because he chose Detective Ian as his next „victim,” it seems to me,” insisted Mo.

„Huh, a damn bad idea this one,” replied So, smiling. „He doesn’t even know who he is dealing with.”

„Then… what about changing the bait?” Asked Mo, grinning. „I think that using Ian SolHi instead of you will be more efficient than just waiting for him to allow you to fish him. No offense, Detective So! Just… you lose today because… Ian SolHi is far high above you!” After that, discreetly, Mo drew a curbed body, trying to piss his colleague more.

He right away kept his mouth shut when he saw So’s furious glance focused on him. After that, when Gi agreed, So made a phone call. Even so, she didn’t manage to make SolHi pick up right after the first call because, seeing an unknown number on the screen of her phone, she decided to ignore it. Only after the third attempt, seeing that the caller insisted, she answered somehow pissed off, „Ian SolHi is listening!”

„Detective Ian, it’s me. Detective So Hi Na.” Hearing who was calling her, SolHi turned the treadmill off. After that, finding that the detective’s voice was weird, who seemed to talk to her in a whisper, SolHi intended to look around. She didn’t do that though but looked at her phone when So told her, „Don’t give yourself away! Especially, don’t let others know whom you are speaking with because… we don’t want to be noticed here!”

„To be noticed here? What the hell are you talking about right now?” SolHi asked, confused. Then she winced when she heard Gi’s voice in the speaker:

„Detective Ian, listen to me very carefully because I’ll be short this time!”

Hearing what Gi said, SolHi smiled and said, „As always: three from one shot. Well, be as you wish. What do you need?”

„Just… help us!” Gi growled.

„To help you with what? To be the fourth musketeer in your team?”

„Ha-ha, but not funny,” replied Gi. „Just…. look around! Yes, to your left, at 11 o’clock. You’ll see a fly there, whom we are trying to catch but he doesn’t want to allow us that.”

„I see now! You want me to be the trap, right?”

„I told you already that you are a genius, right? When you want this, of course!” The detective teased her.

„Yeah, you told me. Just as you’d told me that I was a thorn in your… Not only once, by the way!”

„Well, I said that! Maybe! I don’t remember. Anyway, it’s not the point, just as it’s not the time for memories. And, we aren’t asking for more: just do what you’ve done by now because, since you entered the gym, he has kept his eyes on you, considering you his jar with honey.”

SolHi frowned. „What are you trying to tell me is that…?” She whispered, squinting at the man whom Gi called fly. Seeing that one looking in amazement at her and understanding she still needed him for Gi’s operation, SolHi sketched a smile. „I see now.”

„And you are right: he is a women collector. Actually, since he saw you, he chose you. Something I don’t really like, but I still have to accept that this is the best choice… that he chose a cop instead of a civilian. It might have been dangerous if he had done this.”

„I think that it will be dangerous for him eventually,” said SolHi, smiling. After that, she hung up, smiling at the fly.

„Damn woman,” Gi growled through his teeth. „She hung up on me. Wha, I swear I’ll twist your neck, Ian SolHi, next time I see you. Thus, I’ll let you know who you are dealing with. If not, I’ll stop calling myself by my real name.”

„You should start that right away, sombe,” Mo teased him. „To stop calling on your name, I mean. Why? Because, as I know Detective Ian, our fly remains wingless today for sure.” After that, making the sign of a twisted head, Mo smiled because he knew for sure who Ian SolHi was.

***

After the talk she had with Gi and Hi Na, SolHi decided that it was time to get off the treadmill. She did that with gentle movements of stretching while looking on the sly around. An „innocent” move meant to make the „fly” pay attention to her and think that she was also „looking for fun.”

Her tactic worked right away because, soon after this, when she started working her legs, bending in front with damn sexy moves to take the weightlifting, she noticed the „fly” coming closer to her. This made SolHi smile, telling herself, „Come on, dude, come closer! I don’t bite! On the contrary: I’ll be happy if you take a misstep. Thus, I’ll send you to hell right from the gym!”

All that situation made SolHi very happy. Yet, DooSan didn’t think the same as she did, and he noticed her at the wrong moment while he was trying to drink some water. Thus, too amazed to see her acting like that, the moment he put the bottle to his mouth, he forgot about drinking and part of the bottle’s content licked on his beard. His amazement didn’t last long and, right after coming back to his senses, he furiously hissed through his teeth, „This woman has lost her mind for sure!” After that, he stood up, struggling to put the lid on the bottle while mumbling „I didn’t bring you here for this, Ian SolHi: to catch flies. Yet, this isn’t something you understand. That’s why, I’ll make myself clear otherwise… by teaching you some manners.” And, cooling his soul after such words, DooSan intended to approach her.

He stood quiet eventually when he read Gi’s message, „Prosecutor Han, stay away from this. For the moment. Detective Ian is doing us a favor because… it’s necessary to catch that fly.” Reading the message, DooSan frowned because he didn’t understand what Gi wanted from him. Only when he finally spotted, from the corner of his eyes, the young man who was doing everything to approach SolHi, did he understand what she was doing and smile. Even so, he didn’t look that happy to know another man close to her. Yet, once he didn’t have another choice…

„At least she didn’t lose her mind,” DooSan growled eventually, sitting on the bench again. „Otherwise, I would have twisted her neck for sure.” Yet, even if he calmed himself down with such words, he wasn’t as calm as he would have liked to be. The reason? Well, those sexy moves SolHi used while lifting the weight lift, something that made his blood boil in his veins. All that was because of his jealousy, seeing the desire in the other men’s eyes and not only in the eyes of the fly, glances that made him growl eventually, „Damn starving dogs…” Yet, he kept those ideas only for him because he was afraid to be the one who made Gi’s operation fail.

At one point, Han DooSan was boiling at low heat and all that because of the fly, who approached SolHi and told her, „Miss, I think that it’s too heavy for you. I suggest you take something more light because, despite the enviable body you have, it might cause you trauma.”

His dare gave SolHi the perfect chance to talk to him. Yet, she told herself to use an indifferent tone at first, not to push him too far from her. That’s why she pretended to be „ashamed” at first and bit the corner of her lip when she said, „I think that I can handle this with… a little bit of extra help.”

This answer amazed DooSan a lot, who heard everything very well, being not that far from them. Because of this, he swallowed hard, although he wanted so badly to tell SolHi something sweet. Even so, spying on her, on the sly, DooSan was furious because „I thought she was the innocent lamb without knowing that she was the cunning fox, in fact. Ah, Ian SolHi, ah: you wouldn’t have allowed me such a dare ever. Yet, you allow everything to this one. You even flirt with him. Well, fine: I’ll tell you some truth after this.” After that, furious and with sudden moves, he grabbed the towel and started to clean the drops of sweat that were felt running down his neck… not because of exercises, anyway.

By doing this, he thought his jealousy wouldn’t be noticed. Yeah, right! SolHi, besides being a cunning fox, was also an eagle. That’s why, seeing DooSan acting like that, told herself, „The revenge is the sweetest of the plates, Han DooSan.” Then, spotting the fly’s glance focused on her, she forced another smile, letting him know she was there only for him.

Her smile gave the man some confidence. That’s why, gently touching her hands while trying to take the weightlift from her, he told her, „You have such a beautiful smile. Something I adore.”

„More trivial than this can’t be,” she thought, forcing another smile. „In other circumstances, I would have shown you where the devil lives for sure. Now… nea, it’s not the time yet.” Then, supporting herself on the Dumbbell Rack and flirting, SolHi whispered, „Do you think so?”

„Absolutely!” He rushed to „ensure” her that he wasn’t lying to her.

„Something that doesn’t answer my question if you help me with the weight lifts or not,” SolHi told him in a cunning voice. After that, to make sure she won the dude’s confidence, she smiled again. She even looked „flattered” at one point because the guy seemed to gloat over her.

A veteran in winning such „battles” with the woman’s heart, the man approached her more, smiling. Then, gently touching her right hand, he put it to his lips and kissed it, a move that made DooSan jump off his seat. Yet, understanding that he couldn’t interfere, he just finished the water from the bottle, which he didn’t take from his lips, staring at SolHi and the fly. This one, seeming not to notice anything else around than SolHi, whom he tried to bring to his feet, told her in a sweet voice, „We can do more interesting things together than working with weight lifts, don’t you think so?”

„Damn Don Juan,” SolHi told herself, understanding she was dealing with a pro. „Well, dude, I’m not a newcomer either.” Loudly she said instead, „Other… things? Like?”

„What do I know?!” He cunningly replied with another question. After that, he discretely gave her his phone. „For starters, I say to have your number. Then, we can agree on the details, what do you think?”

„That’s a damn stupid idea… for you, of course,” SolHi thought, smiling and writing her phone number. Then, smiling, she told him, „Sure. Yet, I hope you aren’t that kind of… guy that vanishes when it’s room for fun.”

„Don’t worry about this. I don’t ever vanish when such a beautiful lady like you is around me.” Then, kissing her hand once again and smiling, he rushed to leave the gym, spotting the other men’s glances focused on him. Especially, he noticed DooSan’s sour face, something that hinted to him that DooSan was about to twist his neck. Something that didn’t happen eventually because he’d been lucky that DooSan had been satisfied with only deforming the bottle of water, which he threw into the can.

More than furious with the fly, DooSan was outraged with SolHi’s „behavior.” According to him, SolHi became a „good girl” too suddenly: not with him but with others. Yet, he must accept that he was damn jealous of the fact that she hadn’t ever allowed him such „delicate” gestures. At least, he didn’t remember something like that. That’s why he looked like a mad bull in the arena.

At all bothered by DooSan’s reaction and by all those glances focused on her, SolHi just focused on her exercises. She did that, trying not to give herself away or let others know she knew people in that gym. The reason? She was afraid that the fly didn’t work alone there. Thus, if his accomplices had found out that DooSan and the detectives were there and she was with them, the operation would have failed for sure.

Eventually, seeing one of the guys staring at her wide-open eyes while working with a 5 kg weight, which he balanced right above his „sensible” parts, SolHi smiled. After that, in front of all those curious flies, she approached him. And, slowly bending in front of him, who blushed so suddenly, seeing SolHi paying attention to him, she gently pushed the weight away, telling him, „You know, baby: if you keep looking at girls at the gym with wide-open mouth, one of this you can remain without heirs. So, close your mouth, eyes on the weight, and less on the curves. If not, you can crush!” Then, paying no attention to the others, who were staring at her with their mouths dropped, SolHi turned her back to them and returned to her work.

The only one who understood the message of her words… „eyes on weights and less on curves” had been DooSan, who suddenly face-palmed. After that, reproachfully shaking his head, he told himself, „Eh, Han DooSan, you should remember this day all your life. If not, the one who remains without heirs will be you for sure. Or… something worse than this can happen to you!” After that, allowing himself to fall on that seat again, he hissed another „Pff, damn woman” through his teeth, opening another water bottle to „cool” his soul.