„Captain Lee! I haven’t expected to see you here!” DooSan said in amazement, opening the door of the apartment and seeing Lee there.

Lee grinned. „Just as I haven’t expected to find you here.” A remark that amazed DooSan this time. Yet, DooSan hadn’t been as amazed as the Captain was when he found out that he lived with SolHi. Lee had been especially surprised to find out that DooSan left behind the comfort of a residential area and moved to SolHi’s humble apartment which was „Hell knows where” as the Captain growled when they finally got to that area. Yet, even if he had a lot of questions and reproaches after finding out where his best friend’s son got to live, Lee only said, „Let’s have a walk, you and me.”

„At this hour?” DooSan asked him, eyes wide open. „In case you haven’t noticed this, it’s five o’clock in the morning.”

„And?” Lee cut him off. „You are already awake. So, don’t waste my time and follow me! First, put something on you, dude! I’ll wait for you downstairs.” After that, not waiting for DooSan’s acceptance, Lee headed toward the stairwell.

„What the hell was that?” DooSan wondered, frowning. „I feel as though my father has just scolded me after he has seen me with a girl in my bed. More than this, why do I feel Kan’s presence here?” After that, chilled up, DooSan rubbed his arms because he opened the door wearing only a shirt. Two minutes after Lee had left, DooSan closed the door and headed toward the couch, pulling a sports suit on him. And, taking his shoes in his hand, he approached the nightstand to take his phone. Before getting out of the apartment, he approached the bed to check if SolHi was still asleep because he’d been already warned by the doctors that night not to let her alone because she could have had a relapse because of everything she took.

Once next to the bed, DooSan hesitated to touch her. Eventually, he did that, trying to make sure SolHi was fine. Thus, when he touched her forehead, he managed to wake her, who right away sat in bed, staring at him in amazement. „Are you leaving?” She asked, seeing him about to go.

„Yes, Captain Lee is here. He wants to talk to me. That’s why I have to go downstairs to see him.”

„Why?”

„Honestly, I have no idea what’s crossing that old fox’s mind. Yet, I’ll find out and I’ll tell you after this.”

„I can be there when he tells you.”

„No, SolHi: judging by his reaction, I say that he wants to talk to me in private. Plus, after what happened last night, you have to stay calm and recover, not chasing ghosts at this early hour. It’s okay: if it’s something important, I tell you later.”

„Okay,” SolHi reluctantly replied. She did that because she felt that DooSan hid something from her. She was actually right in thinking this because she suddenly saw DooSan squatting by the bed, something that made her wince. Especially, when he said:

„SolHi, there is something I must tell you: Captain Lee and I have known each other for a while already.”

Staring at him, SolHi suddenly sighed. „You know, this doesn’t surprise me because… I felt that something was wrong. Since we investigated Ha Na’s case.”

„Even so, you didn’t mention that. Why?”

„I felt that it wasn’t the right time. At the same time, I hoped you’d tell me when it was the time. I haven’t been wrong, I see.”

DooSan smiled. „Something unusual for you. Yet, anyway, I didn’t say anything about this because Lee asked me to do that. Why? I have no idea.”

„Still, I have the feeling you’ll find out that reason eventually. Or… am I wrong?”

„No, you aren’t! I will find out about this one day. When I have the chance, of course. Now, relax and have some sleep. I’ll be back soon.” Then, he kissed her forehead and headed toward the door.

Halfway toward the door, DooSan stopped when he heard SolHi calling his name. Looking at her, he saw her smiling, although he knew how hard it was for her to do that after everything that happened to her. Then, SolHi kindly told him, „Take care of you, DooSan!”

„I’m not going to war!” He replied, smiling. „Only up to the front of the building!”

„Even so, we don’t know who spies on us from the shadow. I’m a vivid example, right?”

DooSan said nothing, aware that SolHi was eventually right: at that moment, none of them was sure of anything. They weren’t also sure of who was their friend and who was an enemy in that battle. Even so, her words made him think about all this and worried him a little, as though having a bad hunch about something else that was approaching them. He didn’t say anything about this. He just left when he heard SolHi’s rhythmic breath again, a hint she had already fallen asleep.

***

„Do you love her?” Lee asked DooSan when the two of them were walking on the Seoul City streets. It was still dark and the streets were empty, making that walk together a very pleasant one.

„Honestly, I don’t know,” replied DooSan after a few moments of silence. „I only know that I care about her and I want her to be fine.”

„Then, you love her,” said Lee. „Something I should have thought about after seeing you together. You know when… with the case of the organ traffickers. And, once I found you here and not in your apartment, it’s even clearer for me than before. More, after what happened last night.”

DooSan suddenly stopped. „Did you find out something about the case?”

„No. That club is even cleaner than a pharmacy. And… it doesn’t look like that because the forensic doctors worked there.”

„Still, something strange,” murmured DooSan, moving away and forcing Lee to follow him. „And it’s strange because we haven’t given them enough time to „clean” that place. If I’m not mistaken, we entered the club right after we found out that SolHi was missing. That’s why I can’t understand who has cleaned that place if we’ve arrested the employees. Only if the ghosts did that.”

„Not the ghosts, if your and Kan’s hunch are real and there is a basement there.”

„Something that wasn’t proved yet. SolHi insists that’s real and that there is a secret passage. That’s why I think that it’s worth it to try.”

„I also think that it’ll be useful. Yet, it’s difficult because we’ve looked everywhere but we didn’t find any secret door there. This is already strange because, from what SolHi told Kan and what he said to me, the young woman, who we found in the dumpster, was abused in that basement by Nam Yun Ho. Actually, it was already proved that what they gave to the victim was also given to Ian SolHi.”

DooSan looked at Lee, frowning. „How did you know what kind of drugs they gave to SolHi?”

Lee smiled. „Have you already forgotten that you’ve passed by the ER today?”

„Well,” murmured DooSan, scratching the back of his head. „Something like that cannot be forgotten. Even so, I haven’t expected that you’ll find out so quickly about this.”

„If you thought so, it means you don’t know me, Han DooSan. You’ve also forgotten what kind of hunting dog I am. Plus, it was necessary to check it once the victim was part of my team.”

„The victim?”

„Mmm, the woman we found in the dumpster. Her name was Lee Da Hi. She wasn’t a DCO agent, but… someone I had recruited for having information from that club. What I haven’t ever expected is that they’ll discover her and… eventually kill.”

„What about Nam Yun Ho? What he says about this?”

„Nothing. He’s silent like the fish on the land. Nothing strange though. At least it isn’t strange that he keeps silent once he’ll spend many years behind bars for what he did. A shame, you know?! I mean… Lee Da Hi. She was still young. A single mother, by the way. Now, a kid will grow up alone.”

„Something you blame yourself for.”

„It can’t be different, DooSan. I insisted on involving her in this. My team wanted to infiltrate an agent there, but I considered that it would be easier and safer if we used someone from inside the organization.”

„A wrong idea, which wasn’t proved yet.”

„What do you mean?”

„Nothing special. Just a case Gi talked to me about. It happened many years ago when they investigated an organ traffic organization. They also infiltrated a newcomer there, who tragically died.”

„Even so, I can’t give up, DooSan,” said Lee, after a short time of walking side by side, in silence. „Not after all the time I’ve wasted on this. Not after I involved myself body and soul in this. Sooner or later I find that bastard who is behind all this and I send him behind bars for the rest of his life. I swear.”

„Do you mean Min SinJu?”

„Who else?! I’m sure he’s involved in all this story. Yet, as always, I have the feeling that he escaped. If it’s so, this doesn’t mean I give up. Not while I still have a chance to bring justice to all my colleagues who died while investigating that bastard.”

„Something you haven’t ever been able to prove, Captain! Let’s not forget that your investigation proved that they were also involved in illegal businesses, the same businesses you were investigating.”

„That’s a lie,” Lee hissed through his teeth. „Detectives Kim and Yon were real men, serious. They were vets in this job, with an enviable career, with no stain. They couldn’t have misstepped right before going to pension. No, DooSan, I’m sure someone set up all this. Someone, but I can’t prove it. Yet.”

„With a bit of luck, you can add something else to that file.”

„Are you talking about what happened to Detective Ian?”

„Not only for tonight. There are many things we are still checking, keeping an eye on him. Yet, this will take some time until being able to prove he’s guilty. Sooner or later, we find that evidence for sure because… nothing is forever, Captain, just as nobody is immortal. This cockroach will also fail, Lee, I’m sure of this because God won’t be by his side forever.”

„You forget one thing, DooSan: Up to God, you meet the Angels first. What kind of Angels? This is already a myth. So, if we want not to fail and leave Min SinJu free, I suggest you keep Ian SolHi far away from this case.”

„I don’t get the point, Lee! Honestly! At the same time, I feel that you aren’t telling me this because you care about her,” said DooSan, stopping again.

„Now you are wrong, young man. If I tell you this, it’s because I don’t want any more collateral victims. We have enough already because… I’ve already been informed about the detective’s mother and that Min SinJu might have been guilty of this too. If this is true, it means I’ve been right when I said that the tentacles of the octopus Min SinJu are longer than we have ever thought.”

DooSan frowned because that „collateral victims” burnt him inside. Then, painfully sighing, he said, „You know… even if I understand why you tell me to keep SolHi away from this, I have to tell you that you are asking me for the impossible. SolHi won’t ever listen to me if I tell her not to be involved in this.”

„She won’t listen to you if you ask her to do that as her boss. As her boyfriend… you can ask her for more than this.” DooSan squinted at him. „Yeah, yeah, deny that you are together if you want. It’s not what interests me but to keep her away from us. More than this, her involvement in the further case can bring us more problems and bigger than the one that someone can try to kill her.”

„Do you mean now the fact that SolHi is still a suspect in YuSan’s murder case?”

„This is also a reason, but not the only one.”

DooSan reproachfully shook his head. „You and your secrets. And your worries, of course, because you can’t get rid of them no matter what. Yet, I can help you with one of these: not SolHi killed my brother.”

„And you know that because Tooth Fairy told you that?” A remark for which DooSan had rewarded him with a growl. „I was just saying. Don’t take it personally! And… say what you have to say!”

„Not much, anyway. That is all I could find out. Most of them are just suspicions because there isn’t also evidence she hasn’t killed YuSan. Yet, after what happened last night, I’m pretty sure of this.”

„And I just got that I didn’t understand a thing,” Lee reproachfully said. „Anyway, bro: once you are the only guilty one for having an affair with her, it’s your problem! I have other things to deal with meanwhile, like… solving this case. And, besides Ian SolHi, I also want you far away from this case.”

„What’s my fault in that?”

Lee smirked. „Of course, you have and a lot. One of them: you are Han YuSan’s brother. Also, you „love” Min SinJu so much that I’m starting to fear that I might be forced to investigate his death and you as his murderer.”

„That’s not been funny, by the way!”

„Still, it’s the truth! Come on, DooSan, accept that: you haven’t told me only once that you want Min SinJu dead.”

„Well, I won’t deny that. Anyway, I think now that not my involvement in this case is important, but to find the basement.”

„And you are right. Actually, it won’t be the first basement like that we found while investigating a case light that.”

„Kim Ha Na?”

„Yeah. Remember that we found her also in a basement, something that makes me think that the same guys are involved in this. Min SinJu and his people, if it’s true what I suspect. So, once I don’t want…”

„…more collateral victims, SolHi and I should stay away from this case! I got it right from the beginning.”

„Glad to hear that! That I don’t have to repeat, I mean!”

„What I am glad of is that you haven’t forgotten that I’m the most interested in catching Min SinJu. That’s why you can’t ask me to stay away from this, Lee.”

„Of course, I can, DooSan! Do you know why? You are the only son Han Min San still has alive, my best friend. I promised him that I’ll take care of you if he’s gone. I failed with YuSan, but I won’t fail with you. So, do all of us a favor and stay away from this case, DooSan! If not, I swear I can use other tricks to keep you away.”

„Like… jail?” DooSan asked, grinning.

„Don’t give me ideas!” Lee ironically replied. „Anyway, you got the point.”

DooSan smiled after that. Then, suddenly turning serious, he asked, „Captain Lee, was my brother also involved in this?”

Lee didn’t answer. He just suddenly looked elsewhere, biting his lower lip, something that let DooSan know he was right. Then, when he understood that his silence might have been misunderstood, Lee looked at DooSan, saying, „Yeah, YuSan was also involved in this. Yet, I can’t give you more details about this case. Not until we haven’t found the guilty one. The real criminal, I mean. Only then do I give up. Meanwhile, stay away from this, Han DooSan.” Saying this, Lee slowly tapped on DooSan’s shoulder. Then, sighing, he headed toward the black car that was stopped not that far from them, a car that followed them at a slow speed all the way he had a walk with DooSan.

Looking behind the vehicle, DooSan frowned. „I was right in thinking that there were more secrets I didn’t know about.” He said that in a feisty way, still frowning. „Well, old fox Lee, I must tell you that you failed when you informed me about that. More than this, what: to stay away from all this? Hell, no! Not while the truth about YuSan’s death and SolHi’s life is at stake.” After that, nervous, he took his phone out of his pocket and gave a phone call to Kan, to whom he said, „I have to see you now! It’s urgent. Yes, immediately, Kan! I’ll wait for you at the Prosecution. I’ll be there in an hour. Yes, I’m heading over there already.” After that, hanging up, DooSan headed to the opposite side of the road, which Lee’s car took to disappear eventually.

***

„Does this one consider me his mistress to give me orders right from the morning or what? „I want to see you! Now!” Kan imitated DooSan’s voice. „As though he missed me.”

Kan monkeyed this around, thinking he was alone in the parking lot of the Prosecution. Yet, seeing Yu not that far from him and squinting at him, the detective pulled a little back. „Nothing out of the ordinary,” he mumbled. „I was just complaining about something… unimportant. Or what, did you miss me so much that you are staring at me now?”

Yu grinned. „I’m not your „girlfriend” to miss you!”

„Tell that to Prosecutor Han too. He’s considering me his girl if he got to give me orders right from the morning. Otherwise, I turn myself into a monk.”

After such words, Inspector Yu struggled not to burst into laughter. Then, still giggling inside while looking at Kan, who seemed to boil inside, told him, „If you turn into a monk one day, I’m a pope! Why? I know you love life too much. That’s why the monk life doesn’t fit you.”

„Are you in the mood to mock me or what? You know very well what I meant when I said what I said. And… I’m too pissed off to bear up with your mockery!”

„Why? Who mocked you first? Another „girlfriend” maybe?”

„Yeah, a three legs one,” growled Kan, a hint to the cane DooSan was using after taking the cast off. Then, nervous and puffing through his nostrils, like a bull in the arena, the detective turned his back to Yu, heading in the opposite direction and not toward the entrance to the Prosecution.

„Which way?” The Inspector shouted behind him, trying to piss him off more. Something he did great because he was to blame for the fact that Kan spent another white night at the Prosecution chasing ghosts instead of having time to find the one who did that to SolHi, whom they hadn’t found yet.

***

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Carefully opening the door of the roof, Kan cooked his nose. He did that, seeing DooSan so close to the edge of the roof and looking in the distance at the city that was barely awaking at that early morning hour: six o’clock. The perfect hour for sleep as Kan thought, not keep Han DooSan company, on that roof.

Even so, understanding that he didn’t have another choice but to do that, Kan mumbled, „These two love the roofs more than the cats love the milk.” Then, still cooking his nose while squeezing two cups of coffee in his hand, which he bought after leaving Yu in the parking lot, the detective headed toward DooSan. He didn’t do that silently but mumbled, „I understand now why these two live together: just to piss me off and shorten my life. They would have done a favor to the whole world if they had started to make children and not stay on my head. Yet, who lost the luck to be able to find it? Only the one that…”

Kan was about to say „the one that wears horns.” Yet, he changed his mind the moment he remembered that it was too early to talk about that „beauty.” That’s why he’d been finally contented with only clearing his voice to let DooSan know he was already there, and then gave him the coffee he bought for him. Then, when DooSan squinted at him, Kan growled, „I think I deserve at least a smile once you made me climb here when the sun is still asleep.”

DooSan smiled this time, taking the coffee from the detective’s hand. „Why should I bother? I think you have enough souls that can smile at you in the morning to soften you. Like… Mrs Oh, for example.”

„Should I call SolHi and tell her where you waste your morning?” Kan growled, taking the phone out of his pocket and showing DooSan he was pretty convinced to give the Prosecutor away in front of SolHi. A childish reaction that made DooSan giggle.

„Not necessary,” he told the detective, still giggling. „Let’s not involve SolHi in our love story.”

„Then, it would be better to tell me why you summoned me here. I don’t think that it’s because you want us to watch the sunrise together.”

„And you are right. I haven’t called you here for that, but to find out what exactly you and SolHi found in that warehouse that day. Besides the blood stain, of course.”

Kan cooked his nose, seeing how insistently DooSan looked into his eyes. Then, looking elsewhere, he said, „It would have been better to have told me you missed me than to ask me such questions.”

„Why exactly? I thought it was easier for you to answer such questions than deal with declarations of love.”

„Are you kidding me now?”

„Of course not. It was just an innocent remark. And, let’s not hide behind the finger, Kan. I know very well what you feel for me and what I think about you. That’s why I won’t even try to make you think differently. I just want to find out the truth and bring justice to SolHi.”

„As though you cared too much about her,” Kan growled.

„What if you are wrong now?”

„I don’t think so. Not after I’ve witnessed the hell she has passed through because of you, Prosecutor Han. Seven years of hell, by the way. Something that’s not that easy to forget, you know?! And, as I don’t believe in miracles, I suggest you not tempt fate or insinuate things.”

„Like?”

„Like make me think you’ve decided to give up on your revenge because of SolHi and what you feel for her. Hell no: nobody gives up on the idea of avenging his beloved brother for a woman. Not for the one that is considered to be his brother’s assassin.”

„What if it’s nothing as you think?”

„Of course, it is, Prosecutor Han. I know you very well. I’ve got to know you all these months we’ve been working together and I’m not wrong in saying that you rather give up on SolHi than on your revenge. Something you’ll do eventually, as soon as you have the chance.”

Kan’s words made DooSan nervously move. Then, he swallowed hard, sipping from his coffee. Only then did he tell Kan, „Not everybody is like you, Detective. Not everybody forgets others when they need him.”

„Really?” Kan feistily replied. „May I know what makes the two of us different?”

„The fact that I don’t give up on the people I love, Kan. Not before finding out the truth.”

„This is what I’ve been talking to you about. I’ve waited for you to say that, Prosecutor Han: that you can give up on SolHi, trampling her.”

„I’ve never said that! Don’t put words in my mouth, Kan!”

„I’m talking with the truth! Even if it hurts, I’ll tell you that. And I’m not only telling you this scathing truth, Prosecutor Han, but I’ll also show you how wrong you are. It’s when you want to vanish from the earth’s surface just to bury the shame of not believing her. If you dare, of course!” Saying this, Kan turned his back to DooSan, heading toward the door.

„I haven’t finished talking, Kan!” DooSan shouted behind the detective.

Without watching him, Kan furiously shouted, „I haven’t said that either! We’ll just change the place! So, if you dare do that, follow me, Prosecutor Han! Yet, I have to tell you that you’ll undoubtedly head toward death after that.”

What Kan said confused DooSan so much. He didn’t understand a word of what the detective said. Especially, he couldn’t understand what new things Kan could tell him about that case. At least, Kan couldn’t tell him anything he didn’t suspect. Even so, finishing his coffee, he deformed the glass, which he threw into the dumpster, quickening his pace after the detective, who was sure that was already in the parking lot.

***

Squatting in front of the cement pylon on which Kan and SolHi had found the blood stain that day, one that was still seen at that moment, DooSan swore. „To be damn if I understand something of all this. More… I don’t understand why you are so sure that what happened seven years ago happened here.”

„We only suspect this, we aren’t sure. I mean… it’s what SolHi and I think about all this: that the first part of that nightmare happened here.” After that, nervously puffing through his nostrils, Kan stood up and looked around because that abandoned warehouse seemed so suffocating to him.

„The one with the alleged rape, right?” DooSan suddenly asked. For this, Kan squinted at him, then furiously growled something DooSan didn’t understand. Even so, it was easy for him to understand what could have crossed the Detective’s mind at that moment. Yet, he was far from the truth at that moment because what Kan thought about was that it was easier for him to get rid of DooSan than convince him of the veridicity of his words.

Even so, Kan told him eventually, in a feisty way: „It’s the truth, not something alleged. SolHi has been the victim of a rape.”

„How did you find out that? The Tooth Fairy told you this?” DooSan turned himself insufferable. „As far as I know, there is no evidence about this.”

„This means you checked this theory,” Kan growled again.

„Haven’t you done that if you were me? Of course, you’ve done this because… for God’s sake: it’s impossible to believe something like this without evidence. I checked even the last dust at that moment. Why? It was something unbelievable to me that a simple high school teacher killed my brother. My brother, who practiced several sports like jiu-jitsu, tangsudo, taekwondo, wushu, and many others. Not talking about the fact he was a prosecutor and knew how to defend himself. Even so, a woman, who didn’t know how to fight at that time, had kicked him down so easily. At least, there wasn’t evidence she practiced any sport. That’s why I investigated everything about that case, every single track I thought about.”

„Yeah, and, besides the fact you investigated that, you tried to kill her that night. Not using a hammer, as SolHi was supposed to have done with your brother but disconnecting her from the monitors.”

Kan’s whisper and the contempt felt in his voice made DooSan shudder. Then, he swallowed hard and bit his lower lip so hard that tears flowed down his face. He didn’t keep silent but said, „It was my duty, Kan! Believe me or not, I regret this now but not then… That night, my brother was found dead while the one who was supposed to have killed him was still alive. I couldn’t understand that… accept or assimilate it.”

„I don’t accuse you of this, Prosecutor Han: that you tried to make justice to your brother. What I accuse you of is that you haven’t ever trusted Han YuSan.”

„What the hell are you talking about this time, Kan?”

„Something you’ve mentioned earlier: Han DooSan had exceptional sports skills. Even so, he was found dead, next to an unconscious woman, who suffered multiple physical injuries that night, injuries that healed in more than a year. Do you know why did she need so much time to heal? Because, besides the fact she lost a child cause of the blows in her belly, she had spinal injuries, and this almost paralyzed half of her body. It’s why she’d been kept hidden from you for a year: she asked for this. She asked the Police and the Prosecution for a chance to walk again and be able to answer in front of the law. Something she did eventually because SolHi spent several months in jail before the trial. For what? Paying what? For her child’s death and for a guilt she didn’t remember?”

DooSan suddenly squeezed his fists, hissing through his teeth, „What you say is SF, Kan. There’s no evidence about this.”

„Of course, there is evidence,” Kan yelled at him. Then, seeing DooSan staring at him, the detective showed him a PDF file he had on his phone. „The evidence you ask for. Open that file and you’ll convince yourself that you haven’t ever been right in supposing things.”

While his hands were badly shaking, DooSan opened the file with SolHi’s medical record. It was a file drafted seven years ago, with a forensic conclusion that attested the rape and the slight palsy SolHi suffered, for which she needed over a year to heal. Evidence that made DooSan stagger to his feet that Kan saw himself forced to grab his arm to support him. Otherwise, DooSan would have fallen for sure, enlarging that blood stain if he had hit his head on that cement pylon. Then, when he was controlling himself again, DooSan murmured, „It’s real! Everything, including the rape!” Then, he looked at Kan with pleading eyes, begging that one to tell him that everything was a lie and that he hadn’t ever been wrong.

Happy that he could give DooSan the final blow and take revenge for all those bad things Han DooSan did to SolHi all those years, Kan grinned. Then, he said, „Yes, it’s the truth. The one you always ignored and SolHi chose to hide it from you.”

„But… why?” DooSan shouted.

„She didn’t look for your or your mother’s mercy. She didn’t need anybody’s mercy,” words that made DooSan shudder again, from top to toe. „It was SolHi who asked everybody for this file not to be presented in front of the court. Why? She tried to protect her dead child. She didn’t want others to involve him in this dirty war.”

„Un,” murmured DooSan.

„Mmm, Un! SolHi wanted to name her child like that. She didn’t have the chance though. And… Do you know why I care so much about SolHi? Why do I consider her my daughter and my sister? It’s because I’ve also lost a child. I also know what means for a woman to lose an unborn child. It simply kills you inside. You just die… step by step and day by day as it happened to my wife.”

DooSan looked at Kan, thunderstruck. „Have you been married?”

„Yes, I’ve been married. And, because I wanted to bring justice for others, like a detective, my wife suffered the consequences, turned into a victim by one of the miserable I sent behind bars. Who did that to my wife was a youngster who was barely eighteen at that time. Even so, he was so dark inside - a serial rapist at that young age. You know, he did to my wife what he knew the best, what I caught him for, and sent him behind bars - he raped her. This killed my wife eventually. I found her hanging in our living room, one week after that night when she lost the baby she was expecting. And, like my wife, SolHi was also one month pregnant when she lost her baby.”

Allowing Kan to take the phone from his hand, DooSan squatted again. „I can’t accept that,” he finally muttered.

„Why? Because this isn’t a truth similar to yours?”

„Of course not! It’s because there is something I can’t understand. I can’t understand anything of this, just as I don’t see the starting point or the end of this. I don’t understand the reason for all this, Kan! What SolHi paid for that night and why YuSan was there.”

„I also don’t have an answer to these questions, Prosecutor Han. All I can tell you is that you aren’t to blame for Un’s death. That’s why don’t make her pay for a death she isn’t guilty of too.”

„This wasn’t proved yet,” DooSan hissed through his teeth, as though he had completely lost his mind. He did that because of the emotions that overwhelmed him. It was because of all the feelings that he kept locked inside him all that time, feelings that suddenly lashed out, making him act differently from how he had wanted to act. Especially, all this made him say words he knew he would regret later. Even so, he added, „It wasn’t proved yet, even if SolHi says she did that: she says she killed my brother.”

„Aaa, is this really so?” Kan ironically asked. „More than that, when did you hear her saying that: when she was calm, looking into your eyes, or when she was knocked down, on the ground, having one of her famous epilepsy crises?”

DooSan looked at Kan, thunderstruck. „What? Crisis?”

„Yeah, crises, those you have no idea about, even if you live with her. Yet, why does this surprise me? You are there not to find out about SolHi’s problems but to make them worse, to trample her, and make her pay for everything while making justice for you and your brother. Even if she might not be guilty of what you say.”

„Detective Kan, you are crossing the line!”

„Just like you, Prosecutor Han! This isn’t only a hunch but something I know for sure. I’ve convinced myself of this all this time when I’ve kept an eye on you. It’s how I realized what dirty game you are playing, a game you’ve dragged SolHi in too. How? Telling her that she was paying back „old debts” thus. What kind of debts? I have no idea because she really doesn’t owe you anything. Even if she owed you something, she paid it back the night she lost Un. It should have been enough for you: one death for another one. Yet, it hasn’t ever been enough for you: neither how much she suffered or lost nor the crises and the rest. What will make you happy is to see her crawling at your feet, after being humiliated by being stigmatized as your „mistress.” Something that won’t ever bother you though. No, you’ll be happy because… what does it matter if another woman is trampled? I’m the man, right? I did my job, I put my hat on, and… I’m after new adventures again, right?”

„Detective Kan!”

„What?! Am I wrong? I don’t think so. In case I’m wrong, prove it! How? Leave SolHi alone!”

„It’s what you were after, right?” DooSan hissed through his teeth, looking at Kan with hatred. Yes, he hated the detective, whom he considered a rival who fought for SolHi’s heart. A rival whom DooSan intended to trample before being himself trampled. That’s why DooSan suddenly told the detective, „What you want is to see me away from her to have a free path toward her heart. Well, no! I won’t do that, Kan Gi Yon! Not even dead, I’ll give up on her. I won’t lose in front of you because I’m not with SolHi because of my revenge.”

„Aaa, no? Why are you with her then? Because you love her? Because of your sympathy for her? Or maybe because you are sexually attracted to her?”

„You are crossing the line!” DooSan hissed through his teeth. „I won’t allow you to talk to me like that, Kan!”

„What I won’t allow you is not to end this damn game you are playing, and I won’t allow this because I’m tired of seeing SolHi suffering,” Kan growled at him, grabbing him by the collar. „I won’t allow you to trample her just because you look for evidence in her house - evidence to send her behind bars, evidence that doesn’t exist. Evidence about which you don’t give a s…, but still… it matters to you because this makes you feel fulfilled, ungrateful monkey you are! I won’t allow you ever to be with her only for pleasure!”

A punch in his face, received from a mad DooSan, knocked Kan down. Then, pouncing on the detective, DooSan started to punch him and kick him, receiving the same number of blows back. The reason? Kan was way too serious about his „father role.” That’s why he wanted to make Han DooSan pay through the nose for his recklessness.

***

Waking up, SolHi looked in amazement around. „He’s not back yet?” She wondered, not seeing DooSan on the couch where he used to sleep. Also, she was amazed not to hear the shower. Yet, what amazed her the most was not to see him home, although it was 8.30 already, the perfect time to go to work.

Because of this, she decided to give him a call. Yet, when she’d been sent to the voicemail directly, she widely opened her eyes. „Unbelievable,” she growled. „Has he decided to ignore me more recently? Did he hang up his phone now? Then, what the hell did the ego and the rest of the things, which he talked to me about last night and the guilt he felt, mean?” Not finding an answer to this, she decided that it was better to take a shower and cool her soul.

Yet, not even the hot shower relaxed her. On the contrary, she felt even more nervous than before, just as the anxiety from her soul returned. All this made her feel abandoned again.

It wasn’t a new feeling for SolHi, but still, it was unexpected because she thought that after last night when she felt DooSan’s care, he wouldn’t leave her alone, at least for a while. Yet, she’d been wrong because DooSan vanished the next day. She didn’t like this at all because it made her feel weak and hated the feeling of abandonment she felt inside, something that killed her slowly.

Feeling all this, SolHi suddenly shouted, „Stop this, Ian SolHi! It’s not time for such feelings. Especially, it’s normal for him not to be with you because he’s your boss. All he did last night was to make himself feel better after you failed. It’s all. Now, move on! Just move on!” She growled.

The last growl wasn’t because of her feelings but because of the cold water that suddenly started to pour in the shower, although she set the shower for hot water. This drove her crazy, making her insistently move the handle of the shower, thinking that she’d make the hot water return. Yet, even after minutes, the water was still like ice. „To be damn!” She yelled again. „Did he forget to pay the bills and we are running out of hot water now? Most likely yes and… ah, I hate the days that start bad right from the morning.” After that, grabbing the towel she left on the sink, she wrapped her body with it and got out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

She got out of the bathroom just in time, seeing no one other than Han DooSan entering the apartment. Seeing him, she exploded, growling through her teeth, „You! It’s only your fault that I cross through such bad times lately!” A commentary that made DooSan stare at her, eyes wide open. Not only did he look at SolHi like that: she did the same. Why? He really looked as after a visit to hell: his lip was broken, bruises all over his arms and neck, scratches, broken clothes, and, on top of that, his hair was a mess, something that amazed her a lot. That’s why she touched his face, trying to check what was the deal with those wounds.

Suddenly SolHi swallowed hard, although her first intention was to scold him as soon as he was back. Not only for the shower did she want to scold him but also because he „just went to talk with Lee,” but returned like that: looking like he was after a fight with the devil. Yet, SolHi didn’t swallow hard because of this but because DooSan suddenly wrapped his arms around her and, as though she was a light feather, he laid her on the bed. He not only laid SolHi on that bed but also lay on her so that poor SolHi even stopped breathing at one point. Then, she hiccupped, mumbling, „What the hell are you thinking about right now?”

„I was just trying to train a beast,” he jokingly told her. Then, suddenly standing up, he took a few steps through that room. He did that not to chase the numbness away but because he found her really appetizing. How not to see her like that when water was still dripping off her, running down her neck up to her chest… something that cooled her but not him.

That „shower” made DooSan feel cold drops of sweat running down his back. This made him take the anorak off at one point, feeling that he was about to lack air. Yet, half through taking that anorak off, he froze and pumped his eyes when he heard SolHi asking, „Did you find another cat?”

„What?” Came his stupid question. „What cat are we talking about?”

„The one who painted your lower lip and… the rest. Or… will you deny that you look like that because of another „cat?”

„No. I won’t deny obvious things. Plus, it’s none of your business, eventually! Just… let me take a shower because we’ll be late to go to work.” Yet, after a few steps toward the bathroom, he stopped when SolHi blocked his way. This made DooSan frown, asking through his teeth, „What this time?”

„Nothing. I only defend my rights.”

„Rights? Which ones?”

„Those who don’t allow you to foolish me in my house. Or what: do you think I’ll give up on finding out who painted your lip so beautifully? I rather kill someone!”

„Your choice!” Replied DooSan, smiling. Then, he tried to pass by her. Yet, pass if you can because SolHi blocked his way again. This made DooSan stare into her eyes, asking her in a playful voice, „Would you like to take a shower with me?”

„Hell no!”

„Then… step away! And… put something on you when you get out of the bathroom, SolHi! I’m a man too! I also have feelings!” Then, pushing her away from him, he entered the bathroom.

That „I’m a man too! I also have feelings!” had felt like a cold shower by SolHi. The poor woman even hiccupped: twice. After that, feeling her cheeks burning in flames, she threw onto the bed, face down, covering herself with the blanket in just seconds.

She jumped out of bed seconds later when she heard DooSan’s shout from the bathroom. An amazement that didn’t last long when she remembered the cold water that poured from the shower. This made her grin so weirdly, especially when she saw DooSan half-opening the door and asking her through her teeth, „What’s the deal with the water, SolHi?”

„Why you ask me?” She calmly said. „You should ask yourself this question.”

„Myself? Do I look like a plumber?”

„No, you only look like the one who forgot to pay the bills. Or what, did you believe they pay themselves?”

Damn: he really forgot about the bills, something that made him swallow hard. After the event with SolHi when she fainted after the operation in the warehouse and he found out that she lived eating so few, DooSan swore to cover all the costs because he was the man in that house. Something he did because he did the shopping after this. What he forgot was the most important - the bills.

Well, there was one more reason that made DooSan pay for everything: Yu’s commentary, which burnt him inside because it was the first time in his life that he was called an Alfonse. He didn’t hear himself called like that only once since he lived with SolHi but several times, something he started to hate. Because of this, he decided to be a real man. What he didn’t know was that being a man also involved paying the bills, something he hadn’t ever done.

He didn’t have to pay the bills before that because, while he lived with Marie, she took care of that. Then, living alone already, he asked his housekeeper to do such things. That’s why, when he promised to do that, once he was with SolHi, the poor man forgot to ask what was entering the „functions of a real man.” Because of this, it had been really easy for him to forget about the bills.

Who couldn’t forget about this was SolHi. While she had lived alone, she hadn’t ever forgotten about the bills, even if she was starving or needed that money. That’s why, she’d been so amazed to see DooSan innocently looking at her and asking, „Is there something we can do about this?”

„Sure,” she calmly replied. „Pay the bill plus the fine, and we have hot water again. Something you’ll do, by the way, because I won’t bother with something like that once you have told me that „the man in this house” was you. So, once you are a grown man, you can handle this.”

When SolHi said this, she seemed so calm. Only on the outside, she looked like that because, deep inside, she was boiling because of anger. How not to feel all this when she hated not to have what she needed - the basics, something that Han DooSan forced her not to have at that moment. And, to show him that she wasn’t at all happy with what she experienced that day, she started to throw things left and right while looking in the closet for clothes to wear that day. Yet, she did that so noisily to make sure someone would hear her too.

Finally understanding that he could have ended badly that day if he had stood there for longer, DooSan carefully closed the door. He even locked that door to make sure his „cat” wouldn’t scratch his back. A cat he heard walking up and down the room and talking to herself, although he didn’t understand too much of what she said.

Not the same happened to SolHi: she understood very well what she was saying. Yet, her anger had nothing to do with the bills this time but with the „rival cat.” A cat whose fur she intended to rip off, just as she intended to cut her nails to the blood to make sure she wouldn’t ever touch again something that belonged to SolHi. SolHi even thought about taking care of this that day because „What?” She suddenly yelled. „She dared to enter someone’s territory, wanting something that belongs to another cat? If it’s so, I swear she’ll meet the devil because nobody touches what’s mine without paying for this.”

DooSan also heard the part with „I will put my paw on her to teach her not to touch what’s mine”. This made him smile, happy to know that someone was there to watch his back. He was also happy that Kan would be forced to pay back for those blows he gave to the Prosecutor. Why? DooSan was sure that as soon as SolHi had seen Kan, she would have understood damn quickly who the „rival cat” was: one she would have left furless for sure because SolHi was like that - she simply loved to defend what she thought that was hers.