„We see each other only in unforeseen circumstances and damn… interesting, in my opinion,” said Lee in a playful voice, seeing Kan in his office. Captain Lee didn’t seem too surprised by that visit because Kan gave him a call before appearing there. It’s better to say that Kan called DooSan and the Prosecutor called Lee, to whom he said, „We have to catch all those who hurt SolHi, Captain. I’ll send Kan Gi Yon to you for more details. Otherwise, I swear I’ll kill someone.”
Hearing Lee talking like that to him, Kan smiled. „I’m more tempted to say that these unpredictable and interesting circumstances are because of you, Captain Lee.”
„Really?! And… May I know why this is my fault?”
„Just… something I feel because, since you appeared in our lives, we have a lot of problems. Since that case, which we investigated together when we caught Gu SilGi and Park Yu Ra. Starting that day, everything went wrong and we even got to feel like the jar of honey that allures all the flies. And the only one to blame because we have been turned into bait is you, Captain.” Then, throwing a stack of photos with SolHi’s „fly” onto the Captain’s desk, Kan sat down on the chair in front of the desk, saying, „I want him alive. I’ll twist his head myself.”
Lee squinted at Kan for a few seconds. Then, taking the photos in his hand, he started to look at them one by one. Yet, even if he carefully looked at the photos, he didn’t recognize the man seen there, something that made him ask, „Who’s he?”
„I have no idea what’s his name. Something I hope you’ll find out for us, Captain. Not for nothing you are the head of the Organized Crime Department, right?”
Lee hissed a „snake” through his teeth, a hint that he disliked Kan’s „bite.” After that, he ironically said, „I see that Han DooSan is training you well… all of you. Like real hunting dogs, by the way.”
„He’s not only training us but also sharpening our fangs. That’s why we are trustful to him. And, if you want to take advantage of our „fidelity,” we’ll be grateful to you if you do us this favor and catch this idiot. I’ll take care of the rest because… I really intend to break his wings one by one for what he has done to Ian SolHi.”
„I see,” said Lee in a serious tone. „It’s not Han DooSan who needed the favor he asked for but you.” Then, supporting his elbows on the desk, Lee fixed his glance on Kan’s.
The detective didn’t lose his temper or was intimidated by that look. On the contrary, taking it as an invitation for a serious talk, he said, „Honestly, this is a favor for Han DooSan and not for me. At the same time, it’s a favor for yourself, Captain.”
„May I know how this will help me?” Lee inquired, still staring at the detective with that serious look. Even so, Kan saw the curiosity blinking in the Captain’s eyes because Lee was the kind of man who didn’t lose a chance to take advantage of something if he had that chance. That’s why when Kan pointed with his head toward the photos again, Lee carefully looked at them, finally recognizing SolHi on one of them. „I see now: the girl that’s part of the bulldog Han DooSan's team. Even so, I don’t understand what the deal with her and all this business is.”
Kan didn’t answer right away. He only smiled because it seemed strange to him to hear Lee calling DooSan with the nickname „bulldog.” A name that didn’t sound like an offense though. It was more a friendly teasing, which Lee got when Han Min San was still alive, DooSan’s father, whom he appreciated so much. Then, when Kan was sure that he let Lee wait enough, he told him, „Ian SolHi is involved in this.”
„Well, I understood this on my own because it’s not a big deal. At the same time, I know that she’s Doosan’s partner. Yet, what I can’t understand is what’s the deal with her and the man in the photos. And… I didn’t know she loves such… clothes,” a hint to the mini dress SolHi wore to make sure she’d catch the „fly” in the trap.
„Just another… undercover,” replied Kan drily, feeling that he was interrogated. Something he hated, by the way, because he hated to give himself away or let others know what he’d prefer to keep for himself only. Yet, understanding that he could have convinced Lee to help them only if he had been sincere, Kan added, „The dress was a mask meant to allure the guy and catch him red-handed.”
„Collectors of women?” Lee asked, standing up and taking a few steps through the room.
„That’s right. Actually, it wasn’t our case but of one of the Kanam Police Station teams. We’ve been involved later, something I regret now.”
„Even so, it’s not something you can change, Detective. Just as you can’t accuse me of being the only one to blame for your problems.” Seeing Kan’s sour face, Lee said, „Anyway, tell me all you need.”
„Not much, honestly. Only that he’s known as Do Hun Sok and that’s in his thirties. If it’s true what we know about him, or not, we don’t know because I’ve taken the information from one of the reports I’ve found in the Police Database. Even so, I’m sure that something goes wrong here because, making a thorough investigation, we realized that we are in trouble and this data doesn’t help us too much.”
„Something that doesn’t surprise me and makes me understand that he has been helped from inside to change the data.”
„We think the same. Actually, we have a name for the rat who might have helped him: Nam Yun Ho.”
„The detective from Gi’s team?”
„Himself! And… he’s not involved only in this but in many others. One of these is the attack on Ian SolHi… tonight. We picked him up in one of the motels when he was trying to abuse her, after kidnapping her from the club where she was, trying to find out more information about this Do Hun Sok. Yet, it came true that all that was a setup and Nam Yun Ho planned everything to kidnap her.”
„Wait a minute,” shouted Lee, suddenly shaking his head. „What the hell are you talking about? What kidnap, abuse, criminal organization, and the rest? Are we watching a SF movie now and I’m not aware of that? Impossible, this couldn't have happened inside the police department.”
„Well, Captain, I’m sorry to disappoint you but all this happened right under the nose of the police.”
„Then, it’s bad. Moreover, I understand you cannot make the detective talk. That’s why you need me.”
„Something like that. Nam Yun Ho chose the worst of the moments to keep his mouth shut. He’ll speak though: sooner or later, and I’ll take care of this. Just as I’ll take care of the other problem.” Saying this, Kan took his phone and showed Lee the message he received that night from SolHi, „Sombe, the basement.”
„The basement?! And all this means?”
„I have no idea. Yet, I’ll find out.”
„How? Talking to Ian SolHi, whom you have no idea where she is?” Kan showed his fangs to Lee, a hint he disliked the „intelligent” commentary of the Captain. „Yes, yes, I got the point: I’ve crossed the line.”
„Let’s just say I don’t like others to remind me that I have also limits. Even so, you are right: we can’t find her and Prosecutor Han too.”
„Kidnapping then?”
Kan laughed. „Only if Prosecutor Han did that to her. Yet, I’m sure he hasn’t found her yet. SolHi vanished right after the paramedics came. Thus, it is less probable that they are together now. What’s certain is that they are after each other.”
„Or vanished together,” Lee jokingly said, winking.
„Neah, I don’t think so. The problem is that SolHi vanished after the mission under the influence of drugs. That’s why Prosecutor Han is trying to find her now.”
The poor detective was forced to cover his ears when Lee shouted, „What do you mean by „influence of drugs,” Kan? More than this, how the hell you let her wander the streets alone?”
„And? What should I have done then? To tie her? Of course not! More than this, we found out about the cocktail they gave her when SolHi was already gone. And, if SolHi decides to vanish, it is damn difficult to find her.”
„We have to wait for her to show up then. Or at least Han DooSan to show up, whom I’ll find yes or yes.” Calling DooSan, Lee cooked his nose because it kept going to voice mail.
Kan triumphantly smiled. „I told you that we couldn’t find none of them, but you didn’t believe me.”
„Would you have believed this if you were me? I don’t think so. Not after he called me not long ago to tell me that he might turn himself into a criminal if I don’t help him, to vanish later. And, on top of that, I got you: a crime novelist, who tells me about strange kidnappings and many others. Not something easy to swallow, Detective. Like your story, that it’s damn weird, in my opinion.” Kan’s weird grin made Lee attentive. „What are you planning this time?”
„Nothing out of the ordinary. I’m just making sure your digestion won’t be easy.” Then, Kan threw another photo in front of Lee.
Glancing at the photo, Lee frowned, seeing a body there. Then, finally recognizing the young woman who was in the photo, Captain Lee widened his eyes because it was the body of the woman SolHi saw in the basement, after being abused by Nam Yun Ho. This time she wasn’t in the basement but tossed in the dumpster, after being wrapped in a carpet. „To be damn!” Lee hissed through his teeth.
„And not only that, Captain, but everything will go wrong for you after this. Do you know why?”
„Yeah, because this woman was probably taken out of the same basement Ian SolHi told you about.”
„I also think so, even if I’m not pretty sure of that. Yet, we must find out, right?”
„Of course, we’ll find out, and I’m already on this,” growled Lee. After that, grabbing the photos, he left the office. Before that, he called his secretary, asking her to call his team to the Meeting Room.
When the door closed behind Lee, Kan shrugged. „I thought I was the strange ogre. There are others weirder than me, it seems to me.” After that, standing up and with his hands in his pockets, the detective left the Captain’s office, slowly whistling.
***
„We’re screwed, all of us, and damn bad!” Growled Gi, running his fingers through his hair, so fast that he tangled it more than it already was. He was damn nervous because the case of the woman found in the dumpster had been assigned to his team. He also had to investigate Nam Yun Ho’s case and the club where SolHi disappeared that night. „A damn heavy burden for me,” thought Gi. Even so, he said nothing because he felt guilty for what happened to SolHi. That’s why he didn’t even say a word or complain that he had to investigate too many cases at the same time but just tried to solve a case that seemed to be mission impossible.
Because of this, Gi appeared at the crime scene, thinking of finding evidence and sending the criminal behind bars. Yet, once there, when he saw all the mess and the body, he understood that he rushed to accept that case. It was already too late to step back though.
The moment he felt someone approaching him, someone familiar because he knew the noise of those steps, Gi glared to his left where he saw Kan. Seeing the detective, Gi growled, „All that was missing here was you.”
Kan smiled. „This means you haven’t expected me.”
„Something like that. Yet, the miracle I’ve been waiting for is impossible once you are here: blowing down my neck.”
„Well deserved by the way. I’m here to make sure my people will be avenged for what your people have done to them, Gi. People you haven’t been able to control, something that makes you guilty of all this.” Then, caring at all about Gi’s sour face, Kan approached the dumpster, carefully looking at the young woman’s body, which the forensic doctors didn’t take out of there because it was still necessary to take samples. „News?”
„None, besides the fact that you are here, pissing me off,” mumbled Gi. He was really upset with Kan, who blamed him for what happened, even if it was well-deserved. Then, seeing Kan staring at him, Gi snapped at him, „What? What now? What do you need?”
„Tell me about the victim. Did you find out who is she?”
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„No. Yet, what I’ve found out is that I’d have liked to see you in her place. Thus, I would have had a problem less with identifying you,” replied Gi, feistily, turning his back to Kan.
„You know, such wishes can be easily fulfilled,” said Kan, following his colleague. While walking behind Gi, the detective was sweetly yawning, glancing here and there at the group of forensic doctors who were checking the place. Especially, the skid marks were checked, those found on the asphalt on the main road that wasn’t that far from the narrow street where the dumpster was.
„What about keeping your mouth shut?” Gi told Kan off, also carefully looking around to find at least a clue to help him with the investigation. „I have had enough of having no cameras here. Not talking about witnesses who are none. We are screwed, honestly.”
„Well, I must accept that it’s a tough case. Even so, what about to make an effort, huh? At least make it seem like you are enthusiastic because of this investigation.”
„And I’ll be if not having you here. Yet, I’m not that lucky!”
„Even so, you should be grateful for having me here. This brings luck, you know?”
„Really?! May I know why I am so lucky?”
„Because, thanks to me, you’ll have a trustworthy help team with this investigation.” Then, happily smiling, Kan showed Gi the text message he received from Lee, „We’ll be there in five.”
Instead of saying thank you to Kan, Gi frowned. „May I know what Captain Lee has lost here?”
„Nothing out of the ordinary. Only… one of his agents: your dead girl.”
„What?” Gi yelled. „She’s from OCD?”
„Something like that. Well, she’s not an agent. She’s only been convinced to work for them in this case. Yet, lucky her, she got here instead of receiving money.”
Gi scratched the back of his head. „I got it now.”
„What?”
„Why the „fly” didn’t fall into So’s trap: he knew he was followed by the police.”
„Just as he knew about SolHi. Something we can’t prove though. Yet.”
„Even so, we have it clear who ordered them to take SolHi from there - Nam Yun Ho. This is what we have to prove.” Kan nodded. „Aren’t you sure that it’s Nam Yun Ho’s fault?”
„Yes. Well, I don’t think that’s only his fault for what happened today. I think there’s one more involved in this.”
„Min SinJu?”
„Who else?! He’s the only one who has a grudge against SolHi and wants her dead at any cost.”
„Something that tells me you are paranoid, bro. Why? Min SinJu isn’t stupid and you know that. He wouldn’t have attacked her so openly, not after she accused him of killing her mother a few days ago. More than this, Min SinJu didn’t know she’d be involved in this.”
„He found out… eventually. I do not doubt this. Who told him about SolHi? Nam Yun Ho.”
„Now, you are nuts!”
„No, Gi. I’ve been suspecting for a while already that Nam Yun Ho is involved in Min SinJu’s affairs. Something I couldn’t prove though. Just as I’m sure he’s been involved with Park Yu Ra and Gu SilGi.”
„What makes you think that?”
Kan slowly bit his lower lip. Then, continuing to cook his nose, he took a few steps toward Gi, something that alerted the detective because Kan’s behavior seemed weird to him. Even so, Gi didn’t move from his place but waited for Kan, who stopped in front of him eventually, telling him, „Do you remember that I’ve told you about SolHi and that she’s seen someone spying on us from the Monitoring Room when we were trying to link with the traffickers and the Black Market of organs?”
„¡Yes! So?! As far as I remember you couldn’t find out who sneaked into the Monitoring Room.”
„I haven’t ever said that, Gi. Yet, I knew who was there.” Saying this, Kan showed Gi a video where they saw Nam Yun Ho entering and exiting the Monitoring Room that day.”
„Damn you, Kan! If you knew this, why didn’t you tell us? We could have caught him long ago.”
„I wasn’t sure. I mean… I wasn’t sure he was involved in something that stunk. I just thought that he did that because of SolHi. Yet, it turned out that I was wrong because he was looking for evidence then… to make us fail in that case.”
Gi sighed. „If it’s true what you say, I don’t understand why he kept silent that day. Why he allowed us to catch the couriers.”
„He was afraid. Why? I think he knew already that I kept an eye on him. That’s why he made sure he’d be safe and not others.”
„It makes sense what you say. Yet, Kan: it seems too much to me. For God’s sake: this man has always been there, right under our nose, and we haven’t ever known anything.”
„Well, here isn’t only your fault. I’d also been part of the team a few months ago. Still, I couldn’t take his mask off.”
„Wow, something new: the old wolf Kan Gi Yon accepts his fault.”
„No need for irony, Gi. It’s only the right time to draw conclusions and solve this case as soon as possible.”
„We coincide in that. Yet, I don’t know how to solve this case, Kan. We have no clue, no track to lead us somewhere.”
„Let’s start from the basement then.”
„From the basement? Which one?”
„The one they used to take SolHi out of the club.”
„Are you sure? That they took her out of the club through a basement?” Kan nodded. „Impossible, Kan! We found no suspect entrance there. We looked through all the corners, but nothing strange was there.”
„This is because we rushed that night when we investigated the place, looking for SolHi. Now that we are calm, we can check it once again. Actually, SolHi told me about the basement.”
„SolHi? Have you spoken to her?”
„No. She just texted me. And, if SolHi told me about this, even if she was still high, it means that’s something important, Gi. I’ll find out about that place no matter what.”
„Let’s start with the beginning then,” they heard Lee’s voice behind them, something that made the two detectives wince. Looking at Lee, they saw that he wasn’t alone but with one of his assistants, a tall guy known as Buffalo. Not paying too much attention to the amazement seen in the detectives’eyes, Lee confidently said, „We take the case, Kan! This one, I mean. For the rest… you are in charge and I hope to hear good news from you soon.” After that, not waiting for the answer, Lee made a sign to his assistant to follow him and they approached the forensic team to give some directives.
„Do you think we can trust them?” Gi asked Kan, suspiciously staring behind Lee and Buffalo.
„I’m not sure,” replied Kan in half a voice. „Even so, we have no other choice than trust them. And, let’s go! There are still too many things to do.”
Staring behind the two detectives who were heading toward Kan’s car, Lee frowned. He did that being aware that too many people were already involved in that case. One that he wanted to solve quietly, but which complicated so much lately, killing too many people, especially after he got that case.
***
A drop has fallen on the floor. Then, another one and one more, turning that brown floor, faded by time and by people’s soles, into a weird surface. One surface colored in the red of the blood and of life, even if unwillingly.
Why unwillingly? Because this wasn’t what DooSan wanted: to hurt himself trying to save SolHi. Yet, although that wound stung like hell, being deep because of the shard of the soju bottle on which he hurt his hand, he was still happy. He saved SolHi, who was sleeping with her head on his chest, and this was all that mattered.
He also felt dizzy. Not because the wound was still bleeding but because of everything that happened that night. Actually, because of the same lethargy from his soul, something he started to feel intensely after finding out everything through what SolHi passed seven years ago, he lost his balance after grabbing SolHi’s arm, right before she could fall through the window. Then, unable to keep his balance, and because of the inertia that pulled him back, he fell. In the fall, his hand leaned on an empty soju bottle, which he broke eventually.
This didn’t discourage him too much or make him complain. He only cleaned the wound of shards when SolHi was already calm, whom he held to his chest, and asked the receptionist to bring him the medical kit to bandage himself. The receptionist suggested calling the ambulance, an idea DooSan rejected, afraid that this could make SolHi nervous again and commit God knows what madness.
Seeing that the cut was deep and looked pretty ugly while it was still bleeding, DooSan gnashed his teeth. He even doubted if he did the right thing in not calling the ambulance. Yet, once he made that decision, he had to bear the consequences. Even so, from time to time, he kept whispering, „Damn, this blood won’t stop until the last drop of blood won’t drip on this floor.”
The moment he felt SolHi moving, DooSan winced. He seemed scared, thinking she had awoken. Yet, it wasn’t anything like that: SolHi was still asleep, although her sleep was tormented, squeezing her fists as DooSan was doing. She wasn’t squeezing them to stop the bleeding but because she seemed that she was still fighting in her sleep with her enemy.
On other occasions, DooSan would have been scared by her nervousness, something that seemed natural to him at that moment. Why exactly? Because it was natural for her to act like that after all that happened that night with Nam Yun Ho, something that reminded her of the nightmare seven years ago. Even so, DooSan calmed himself down, telling himself, „Still, she’ll be fine. Starting tomorrow, she’ll be fine, I’m sure of this!” Then, touching her head with his right healthy hand, DooSan pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head and thanking God for saving her that night, not allowing another tragedy to happen to her because DooSan had thought that he’d lose her for sure.
God undoubtedly loved him that night, and that was all that mattered. At the same time, he was happy that both of them were safe, even if it hurt in some places. Wounds that would have healed in time, DooSan was sure of this.
He was also sure his wound would have stopped bleeding soon, and this was so because he heard the receptionist’s footsteps in the hall. The young man about twenty, who left the room a quarter arn ago, was running toward the room at that moment, somehow scared, and this was clear by hearing the gasps he made, a hint that he made some effort to bring what DooSan asked for. He even started to stutter when he saw DooSan again, „I apologize for that! I had to buy another kit because the one we had was useless.” Then, he kept silent when DooSan put his finger to his lips, making the receptionist understand he was afraid that their talk could have awakened SolHi. Even so, he whispered eventually:
„I wasn’t dying, anyway. So, don’t worry!”
„Still, it looks bad,” the young man told him when DooSan opened his palm to disinfect the wound. „Maybe should we call a doctor, aaa?”
DooSan shook his head. „It’s nothing! I’ll do it myself.” After that, propping SolHi against the bed, he started to clean his wound. Then, seeing the man still there and staring at SolHi, especially when he understood that it was necessary that what happened that night there to remain a secret, DooSan told the receptionist, „I hope we can keep this away from others. Eventually, nobody was hurt. Only her, but I’ll take care of this.”
The receptionist said nothing. He just nodded. Eventually, it was in his interest too if all that had remained secret because, if others had found out, they would have been scared for sure, especially the clients. At the same time, he was sure that all that was due to a nervous breakdown, of the woman in front of him, judging by the scared face of DooSan, who seemed to deal with something like that for the first time. Also, he understood that DooSan had been about to lose someone he loved so much for the first time too.
Honestly, the young man felt sorrow for DooSan right after this one entered the motel and asked him if a young woman checked in there that night. At first, he didn’t understand whom DooSan was asking him about because a few women were there that night. Only when DooSan showed him the photo of SolHi did he recognize her and nodded, telling DooSan in which room she was. Yet, he gave DooSan these details only after he showed him his ID, proving to him that he was a prosecutor and that it was vital for him to find the woman before something bad happened.
Then, when he was already convinced that DooSan didn’t lie to him, the receptionist told him that SolHi was in room 403 and asked him to follow him to the fourth floor. Once there, in front of the room, another obstacle just fell in their path: the door was locked from inside and there was only one key for that room, which SolHi had. Something that didn’t matter too much for DooSan, who kicked the door, opening it the moment he heard SolHi screaming and asking someone to leave her alone. For the rest, it was a clear thing already.
When he remembered all this, DooSan sighed, finishing bandaging his hand. He felt exhausted after all he’d been through that night. That’s why he decided that it was absolutely necessary to go home as soon as possible, the only place where SolHi could have recovered quickly, considering that place a familiar one. That’s why he told the young man after giving him a good tip, „I really hope nobody finds out about this.” Then, seeing the young man nodding, DooSan took SolHi in his arms and left the room.
Behind him, the receptionist scratched the back of his head. He was confused and amazed at the same time, especially because of DooSan’s tip. Even so, he told himself that he would better receive money than get in trouble. That’s why he started gathering the bottles left by SolHi there and cleaned the room, to make sure nobody would ever find out the big-small secret he and DooSan had.
***
All that happened that day left Han DooSan powerless. He was exhausted: physically and mentally because even if he had nightmares before, none of them had been like the one he had that day. Something that made him wince eventually and look scared in front when he heard someone’s whizzle into his left ear. Looking at SolHi, he saw her still asleep, something that allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief because he thought she had another crisis. That fear was real because, once they got out of the motel, SolHi had one of her famous epilepsy crises, something that frightened him to death.
It’s when DooSan decided that it was time to call the ambulance. Then, when they told him that it wasn’t an epilepsy crisis, but just a panic attack because of the pills and the alcohol she took that night and that the worst that could have happened to her was already behind, DooSan breathed a sigh of relief. Even so, he still accepted the paramedics’offer to take SolHi to the ER.
Such memories made DooSan shudder at first, and then he deeply breathed in. After that, he whispered, „Thank God” when he remembered that the blood work they made SolHi after they got to ER was pretty good and that they could go home as soon as she awoke. Yet, SolHi kept sleeping even after three hours of being there.
Even knowing this, that SolHi was fine and that they could go home soon, DooSan felt guilty. How not feel all that when he was sure that all this was because he ignored Kan’s warning of not letting her be involved in that operation?! If he had listened to Kan, she wouldn’t have lived that nightmare for sure. „A nightmare I should have protected her of at any cost,” he scolded himself. „Something I’ll do starting now because it’s still not too late.”
Looking at her, DooSan wanted so much to caress her hair. Yet, when he was about to touch her, he saw her eyes wide open, focused on him. This made him freeze for a few moments, feeling weird, as though he’d been caught red-handed or doing something bad. Then, when he could take control over himself, DooSan swallowed hard and, while looking through the room but not at her, he asked, „Are you awake already?”
„Mmm,” SolHi drily replied. Then, pushing herself up, she sat on the bed, staring at DooSan. She did that because she found his behavior weird, especially seeing him looking through the room but not at her. Then, realizing where they were, SolHi frowned and asked, „Why are we here, DooSan?”
„Because it’s been necessary,” he confidently replied. „Another panic attack. This happened when we were leaving the motel, but you are fine now and we can leave once you are awake.”
„I’m awake already, in case you haven’t realized this yet,” she said, squinting at him.
Saying this, SolHi managed to make DooSan feel weird. Not for long because, soon after this, taking the blanket off her legs, he told her, „Let’s go then!” He did that to chase that awkward feeling away because he didn’t like to be teased as SolHi seemed to do at that moment. Yet, once he lived with SolHi and knew her manner of acting, he had to get used to this for sure.