Hip-hop music on the radio. One leg was dancing on the gas pedal while the other pressed the brake pedal to the brim. The fingers of the left hand moved rhythmically around the leather wheel of DooSan’s car, that black BMW X6 Vantablack he willingly gave her that night while the right one was squeezing the gear knob. On her face - a large smile. She smiled while looking to her left, at Kan’s car and at DooSan’s sour face, who didn’t like at all the fact that SolHi chased them that night and that they had been eventually forced to stop at the traffic light.
„Just as he hates to see his „baby” with me. A „doll” he gave me, thinking I’d go home without knowing that I’d gotten to chase them on the streets eventually. Chasing another „cat,” by the way. Then, to piss DooSan off, SolHi honked several times.
She did that knowing very well what she was doing. She was trying to piss DooSan off no matter what. Thus, to save his „baby” from her claws, something SolHi was sure he’d do eventually, he would have stopped Kan and entered her car. A wonderful plan in SolHi’s opinion, if not suicidal, considering that they had a motorcycle accident not long ago. Even so, she didn’t bother too much about this but planned another race.
Her plan like any other plan… worked because, soon after this, she saw DooSan’s phone number on the screen of the car’s computer. Even if she saw him calling her, SolHi didn’t answer immediately. Only after a while, when she was sure she let him boil on low heat, she answered, hearing the man yelling in the receiver, „What the hell you think you are doing, SolHi?”
„I? I’m playing,” SolHi said in a playful voice. „Why? Are you afraid? Of your car, I mean.”
„I’m afraid for you, silly! If I’m not mistaken, we have already experienced something similar. Or, have you already forgotten this?”
„No. I haven’t forgotten that race,” she calmly responded, something that greatly amazed DooSan and Kan, who exchanged glances. „That race is something that cannot be forgotten. Even so, I got to live with the ghosts of the past, DooSan! I rather live with them than in fear.”
„Still, I feel that a „yet” is coming.”
„You are actually right, Sombe! Not only one „yet” comes after this, but a real fight if you don’t stop that car or turn back home. If not, we’ll continue this road only together, no matter the consequences.”
„Do you really think that?” Kan asked provocatively and ironically at the same time. Kan’s manner of speaking wasn’t something DooSan liked. That’s why he squinted at the detective, trying to make that one think rationally. Yeah, right?! He’d been right when he said that Kan and SolHi seemed to be born by the same mother. Why? Because none of them seemed to love the idea of losing in front of each other. He even heard Kan saying at one point, „By the way, SolHi: I think you are wasting your time here!”
„May I know why?”
„Because you forgot whom you are dealing with, baby! I’m the shark of the streets, remember?! Who messes with me, that one loses for sure.” SolHi burst into laughter after this. „Don’t you believe me or what?” Kan cunningly asked, pressing the gas pedal although he didn’t release the brake pedal. This movement made the engine growl so loudly that even SolHi heard those sounds in her car.
This sound made her calm down. Then, looking at the two men through the open window, SolHi told them, „Well, sombe: I don’t only not believe you, but I also think that the one who forgot the meaning of the quote „self-praise is no recommendation” is you. More, sombe: I’m crazy, remember?! So, I don’t advise you to mess with the crazy ones!”
„Is it so?” Kan said in a playful voice. „We’ll see that later!” After that, when the traffic light turned green, the engine of the BWM made a loud sound. This happened because of SolHi, who took care to press the gas pedal to the brim, and DooSan finished „blessing” SolHi with all the sweet words he knew, in his head only, the two cars moved away, racing at full speed on that highway.
That race was really dangerous, something well understood by the three participants. Even so, the only one who seemed afraid was DooSan. He was holding the handle with both hands while Kan and SolHi, who looked only in front or at each other on the sly to see what the other one would do, were changing the speeds, making the engines of their cars resound so powerfully under the capo.
Suddenly, the roles of the game changed. When exactly? The moment Kan pressed the brake pedal and his car skated on the wet asphalt, rotating at ninety degrees. This happened so fast that SolHi didn’t even have the chance to understand what was going on. Then, until SolHi could decide what to do, Kan switched the speed again, and his green Skoda moved in the opposite direction at full speed. This made SolHi swear, seeing the Skoda, in the rear mirror only, moving away.
„Damn you, sombe!” Kan heard her voice in the speaker. „You don’t really know what you are doing!” As a response, she heard Kan whistling in the speaker in her car. Not for long because, a few moments later, she heard that Kan hang up the phone. This pissed her off more, making her growl, „I see you decided to give me headaches today! Well, be as you wish! Anyway, I won’t give up because… I wasn’t born yesterday.” After that, not letting them con her, at least not that night, SolHi changed the traffic lines and slid up next to Kan.
Eventually, what she didn’t want to happen happened when she’d been deceived by the two men and her self-confidence. She allowed herself to be blinded by the feeling of power she had sometimes. That’s why she fell into Kan’s trap because not for nothing he called himself the old wolf: he knew very well how to deceive fate. And not only fate Kan deceived that night but also SolHi, conning her.
Finally understanding this truth when she couldn’t track the Skoda, SolHi phoned Kan again, yelling, „Where are you, sombe?”
For that question, she received a damn simple answer, „In hell! If you dare, catch up with us!”
***
„She lost us, it seems to me,” murmured DooSan. Then, he sat on the chair and looked back using both rear mirrors.
Kan, who kept lying on his chair, sweetly yawned. „I told you that SolHi cannot deceive us so easily. Yet, I can read her. It’s why she always loses in front of me.”
„Loses?” DooSan ironically asked. He was sure that Kan didn’t praise SolHi only once for her agility and perseverance.
„Absolutely,” replied Kan, yawning again. After that, he lifted the back of his chair to sit comfortably. „It’s because she always forgets about „camouflage,” although I’ve told her not to stand out.”
„If you talk about my car, which she used to follow us, I think she did that on purpose.”
„I’m also sure of this. Yet, although she thought she was a cunning fox and she’d be able to scare us thus, making us forget about our plan, she lost. Something that wouldn’t have happened if she had taken a cab, for example. At least, this is what I think she was intending to do.”
„Even so, I don’t think she gives up. As soon as we are back, she’ll tell us something very sweet.”
„I do not doubt this. Yet, until SolHi puts her paw on us and rips off our fur, we are free to act.”
„If you say so,” DooSan drily replied, reproachfully shaking his head.
„What now?” Kan asked, frowning and starting the engine. „Don’t tell me you want to turn back home now!”
„Did I say that?”
„It seems so to me.”
„What seems to me is that you are in the mood to fight, even if you should have been happy, once you won in front of SolHi. Or, don’t tell me: is this because of Mrs. Oh, next to whom you cannot sleep tonight?”
„What about keeping her away from this?”
„Why? I heard that there’s a lot of love between you two. That kind of love that one never forgets.”
„That’s why if you don’t want to forget this night ever, I suggest you not tempt fate.”
„Wow, are we speaking informally right now?”
„Yeah. We are friends, right?! I say we are because only „friends” like us can do bad things saying that they are good.”
„Well, I don’t doubt this. Yet, what I doubt is where we are going,” DooSan said, frowning.
„Did I say where? I’ve only said we are going somewhere. Where exactly? You’ll see.”
„A hint at least?”
„Yeah, to see one of SolHi’s former lovers. Yet, I’m not sure you’ll be happy seeing him.”
„Former lover?” Wondered DooSan, thunderstruck, squinting at Kan. Loudly he didn’t ask that question because he was a little bit afraid. How not feel that when he had enough surprises for that night?!
***
„He’s SolHi’s ex-love?” DooSan furiously asked, seeing a man about 1.5 in height, half-drunk or smoked, and with his shirt half-unbuttoned. Well, where that shirt was buttoned, it was stepping over a hole while the other half of the shirt was falling over the pants.
The one called by Kan „SolHi’s love” stared at DooSan, who was standing in the middle of the street because, when they got to that man’s door and knocked, an old woman told them, „He’s not at home. If you need him, you can find him at the bar. Or, you can wait for him to come home, something that will happen eventually. But, wait for him outside the yard.”
Something they did eventually: they waited for him in the street because they had nothing else to do. Weren’t they wandering the village, looking for the bar, right? Nevertheless, they had to wait for a damn long time. Meanwhile, DooSan pissed Kan off by mumbling all the time, „She’ll kill me for sure tonight! She throws me outside! And I bragged I’d be home earlier tonight and spend some time with her.”
„What about stopping complaining, huh?” Kan hissed through his teeth at one point. „SolHi isn’t such a big monster. Well, maybe she is, I won’t deny this with the monster that awakes inside her each time she feels surrendered, but… she’s different with you.”
„Different? How?”
„Are you asking me this? The one who lives with her is you. You should know such things better than I. And… hush, that’s our guy!”
The detective said that to DooSan when he heard the weird song of a drunker that was heading toward them. Getting in front of them, the stranger squinted at them. This happened because of the name he heard from the mouth of the youngest of the strangers, „Ian SolHi!” A name he thought he had forgotten. Yet, that name was still real, something that pierced his heart with hot iron, making him swallow hard at one point.
The individual’s sour face and his squinted look didn’t impress Kan and DooSan too much. They even avoided answering that one’s question „Who are you?” A question asked through hiccups. And they didn’t pay attention to the man’s question because they considered their question more important, „Are you Do Ian Jun?” Kan asked.
„It depends!” He drily replied. „Who is looking for me?”
„The police!” Kan hissed through his teeth. „Well, the Prosecution, once we come from there. My name is Kan Gi Yon, I’m a detective, and he’s Prosecutor Han DooSan. And, if you have some free time, let’s have a word.”
Do Ian Jun smiled, scratching the back of his head. „Of course, I have time. A lot, by the way. Since my mother brought me into this world, 35 years ago.” After that, Do Ian Jun burped, making DooSan cover his nose. At all bothered by DooSan’s reaction, Do Ian Jun said, yawning, „What would you like to talk to me about? I’m just asking because it seems strange to me to see two upstanding men like you looking for a sinner like me.”
„At least, he’s speaking with the truth,” mumbled DooSan. He was pissed off after finding out with whom SolHi used to „spend her time” in the past. Especially, he was angry finding out what bad taste she had at „men” in the past. Yet, once he couldn’t decide eventually whom SolHi loved in the past or change something, all that was left for him was to focus on the present. That’s why he took a step aside, seeing Kan squinting at him, and then making a sign to DooSan to stay away from that.
Actually, seeing DooSan acting like a jealous teenager, Kan understood he’d been wrong in bringing him there. Yet, once they were there, he couldn’t change that. That’s why he just focused his black eyes on Do Ian Jun’s eyes, asking him, „Does Ian SolHi’s name tell you something?”
Seeing the man frowning, Kan understood that he hit the target. Especially, he understood that seeing that Do Ian Jun stopped staggering to his feet and fixed his glance into his too. Then, so suddenly that Kan shuddered, the detective saw Ian Jun’s eyes sparkling because of hatred when he said „Of course, I know the name of that bitch!”
A punch in his face knocked Do Ian Jun down. After this, DooSan had been about to pounce on the drunker and teach him some manners as he had taught Nam Yun Ho in the motel room the night before. Yet, Kan stopped him eventually, blocking his way and yelling at him, „You’ll do all of us a favor if you control your temper, Prosecutor Han! We aren’t here to share punches or have a fight with drunk people. If we are here is to find out some truths.”
„Truths?” DooSan showed his fangs when he asked that. „From whom you hope to find out that truth, Kan? From this one, who’s drunk as a skunk and speaks nonsense just to insult SolHi?”
„Well, I hope to find out something from him. Why? Because he’s the one who knew SolHi in the past, that past about which we want to find out things. So, if you intend to finish successfully building this complicated puzzle, swallow your ego and let me do my job. You asked for that, right?”
„Have I asked you for that? When?”
„This morning when you asked me to find out who’s the father of SolHi’s child. Or, am I wrong?”
DooSan stared at him, thunderstruck. „Whose… father?”
„Of the child that SolHi lost. As far as I know, SolHi and this one used to work together in the past. And… they also had some things to share.”
„Impossible!”
„Ask SolHi when you get home if you don’t believe me. If she’s in the mood to answer such questions, she’ll tell you I’m right in saying this! So, until this happens, I mean until you get home and interrogate SolHi, just stay away from him and let me do my job!” Then, pushing DooSan away from Do Ian Jun, he approached the man, who was still sitting on the ground. Actually, Do Ian Jun found it really hard to stand up. That’s why, he kept tossing left and right, trying to sit normally. Seeing him acting like that, Kan felt he could also punch the idiot for that „bitch” said about SolHi because this squirmed him inside. Even so, Kan managed to control himself. And, squatting only one step from Do Ian Jun, he said, „I won’t accept more insults from your part, young man. Just answer the question: do you know Ian SolHi - yes or no?”
Do Ian Jun muttered something through his teeth. He even crouched to one side while trying to crawl to go home. Yet, he couldn’t do that eventually because of Kan, who grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stay on his butt. Then, when the detective fixed his glance into his again, Ian Jun said, „Yes, I know her, even if I’d liked not to have known her because she’s a…” Eventually, he hiccupped again, furiously staring at DooSan when he spotted the Prosecutor squeezing his fists and taking a few steps toward them again.
The man’s scared glance didn’t impress Kan too much. He only insisted on finding out an answer from Ian Jun, and asked again, „Where do you know her from? And… why would you have liked not to know her?”
„We worked together… for a while. Yet, I still curse the day I started to work in the same place as her because… I got where I got. It’s only that bitch’s fault that I’m like that now.”
DooSan nervously moved. „You got like that because of her? Why?”
„Because I’m the only one whom she has always sent to hell while dating others.” This answer made Kan and DooSan exchange glances. Then, understanding that he had to make Ian Jun talk more about this, DooSan squatted to Kan’s left. And, fixing his glance into Do Ian Jun’s eyes, he asked, „She sent you to hell? What you mean now is that SolHi and you didn’t have a relationship?”
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„Is this all you want to know?” Kan ironically asked.
„For the moment, yes. Why? Because I don’t believe that SolHi has been in love with someone like him.”
Suddenly, Do Ian Jun burst into laughter, taking Kan and DooSan by surprise. Then, still chortling and hiccupping in places, he said, „Ian SolHi in love with me? Who told you that? Hell no because she always slapped me while preferred to meet the other one at the corner of the school.”
„The other one? Who exactly?” Kan asked.
„A nobody who I saw so many times in front of the school, looking for her. I remember this as though it happened yesterday because he asked me so many times if I knew where she was.”
„Who exactly?” DooSan asked, irritated this time.
„The prosecutor, who else?” An answer that made DooSan wince, and then swallow hard.
That sudden confession didn’t deceive Kan but made him insist on hearing the continuation of Do Ian Jun’s thoughts. Instead of that, this one burst into laughter again when he said, „What else should be said when it was clear who the guy was? One of those stupid idiots whom Ian SolHi manipulated. She played the role of the Princess of Ice only with me when… she dated so many others outside the school and… inside of it.”
„You are lying!” DooSan hissed through his teeth.
„Why should I do that? It’s the truth because she called me an idiot when she preferred distinguished people. Why she called me like that, I understood only when I found out who the other one was. A prosecutor, right?”
„Does the other one have a name?” Kan asked.
„Probably, but I don’t know it. Ask Ian SolHi about this. She was the one who was admiring him while sending me to hell.”
„Well, we’ll find out this later,” Kan hissed through his teeth. „Now, we are talking about you. So, tell me: why are you so sure they were seeing each other? Did SolHi tell you something about this or did you see them together?”
Do Ian Jun took a few moments to think. Then, hiccupping again and squinting to see Kan better, said, „Honestly, no. I don’t remember seeing that bitch with him. Yet, he was always there, on the school’s territory, looking for her.”
„This means that’s possible for SolHi not to have known he was there,” murmured DooSan.
„Or she simply pretended not to know that to raise her price,” said Do Ian Jun ironically.
DooSan squeezed his fists again. Then, he sighed. And, remembering that Do Ian Jun had mentioned several times that he had seen the „prosecutor,” DooSan asked, „Do you remember his face?”
„Yeah, a freak,” growled Do Ian Jun, finally standing up with Kan’s help. „That’s why I can’t forget him. His eyes shone strangely… like the cats’eyes in the summer… and he looked always ready to kill. Actually, the dude „killed” once.” Kan and DooSan winced.
„He killed?” Kan asked, frowning. „Whom?”
„Me,” Do Ian Jun said, laughing. This made DooSan reproachfully shake his head while the detective slapped his forehead, as he used to do each time he heard weird answers. The only one who didn’t seem impressed by their reaction was Do Ian Jun, who continued his story, calmly, „Because of that bastard, the prosecutor, I got where I got eventually. Of course, because of Ian SolHi too. She told her boyfriend that I asked her to have sex with me. Instead of a night with her, I was fired and accused of harassment. Because of these charges, I couldn’t find another job after this. I got to drink also because of this.”
„Well, deserved, don’t you think so?” DooSan growled. „A gentleman doesn’t ask a lady something like this.”
„As though a lady does what she was doing?” Do Ian Jun mockingly said. „Anyway, all I want now is to turn time back and get my job back, something I didn’t get back because of that prosecutor. I’d like to twist that idiot’s neck if I meet him again.”
Not understanding a word of what Do Ian Jun said, DooSan frowned. Kan understood though. That’s why he pulled DooSan aside, asking him, „Do you have a photo of your brother with you?”
„Have you lost your mind?” DooSan hissed through his teeth. „Are you suggesting that it was YuSan looking like a madman for SolHi?”
„I’m not doing this, okay?! All I asked was if you had a photo of Han YuSan. Why? He said that the guy, who looked all the time for SolHi, was a prosecutor. The only prosecutor we know that had something to do with SolHi at that time was Han YuSan.”
„Even so, Kan: what you say seems too much.”
„I’m not saying anything out of the ordinary. All I want is to make sure that it wasn’t your brother. Otherwise, we are screwed.”
Kan was right in saying this because he also knew about YuSan and SolHi’s relationship. Plus, it was what Marie told DooSan: that SolHi’s child might have been of his brother, although SolHi told Kan the opposite. Because of this, DooSan felt his heart madly beating in his chest at one point and that he lacked air. And, to calm down a little, DooSan released the tie a little. After that, approaching Do Ian Jun, he showed him a picture of YuSan, asking „Is he that guy?”
Approaching his face of DooSan’s phone, Do Ian Jun stared at it for a while. After seconds in a row of staring at the photo, he said, „It might be him! Yes, he looks exactly like the guy who sent me behind bars that day. No, wait: it’s him for sure. I recognize his eyes! It’s that guy who accused me of harassment.”
„His eyes? Do you mean the eyes of the one who was always ready to kill?” Kan asked, confused.
„No. The eyes of the one who accused me then were shining differently. I can even say that they looked different as if he was two people in a single body.”
Kan and DooSan exchanged glances. „Two people in a single body? What do you mean?”
„That the one whom I’ve seen around Ian SolHi, at the school, looked like a cat out of control. Yet, the one who sent me behind bars was calm when he watched me. I even think the form of his eyes was different. And… he didn’t have the scar.”
„The scar?” DooSan asked, confused. „My brother had no scar, Kan. What the hell is he talking about?”
„Probably he saw things that day or maybe prosecutor Han cut himself while shaving that day, what do I know? What’s a sure thing is that he recognized him. There aren’t two Han YuSan in this world, are they?”
DooSan swallowed hard again. It seemed too much for him to find out that YuSan might have been another person. Especially, DooSan found it strange to hear that his brother could have acted like a stalker, following SolHi all over. No, YuSan wasn’t the guy to leave his work behind just to stalk a girl. Knowing this, DooSan shook his head to clear his mind. Then, he said, „No, Kan: YuSan wasn’t the man that this one described. It’s obvious he’s lying because… look at him! His brain is fried! He lies for sure!”
„I don’t know, Prosecutor Han! On one side, I’m tempted to believe you. On the other side… I’m afraid he’s not lying, even if he’s not clearly thinking. Even so, he knew Han YuSan. He recognized him when you showed him the photo. Coincidence? I don’t think so. That’s why I don’t think he’s lying because… he didn’t have a reason to say that Han YuSan was stalking SolHi when it wasn’t true or if he hadn’t known him.”
„I’m not saying he didn’t know YuSan. He knew him for sure because… he said YuSan sent him behind bars for harassment. Something that tells me he hates him, and that’s why he says all this nonsense about my brother. Plus, he hates SolHi! We clearly see this in him. That’s why, I won’t be surprised to find out he does this to hurt her.”
„I don’t deny the fact he hates SolHi. He was fired because of her, and he even spent a few days behind bars.”
„What? Because of SolHi?”
„Yes! I found out that SolHi didn’t complain only once with the school principal that Do Ian Jun harassed her. Yet, that one didn’t do anything to help her. The reason? He didn’t want „problems.” Because of this, SolHi filed a complaint with the police, and Han YuSan got the case.”
„Wait a minute! As far as I know, SolHi and YuSan worked together in one single case. The one of her students that was abused.”
„Honestly, it’s complicated. Yet, it’s the truth: the first case Han YuSan was involved in, a case related to SolHi where she was the victim this time, was the case of Do Ian Jun. A case that ended soon when SolHi dropped the charges.”
„Why did she do that?”
„I have no idea. I guess that was because of the pressure from school or that she wanted to keep her job.”
„After this, Do Ian Jun returned to the school as if nothing happened.”
„Something like that. Yet, it didn’t last long because, one week later, he was arrested for the second time. This time he harassed another colleague. And, when she refused him, Do Ian Jun beat her, and the victim got to ER with a head contusion.”
„Then, it’s not SolHi’s fault that he’d been fired.”
„It is. The second time SolHi testified as a witness. This case wasn’t investigated by YuSan but by another prosecutor. I don’t remember that one’s name now. Anyway, thanks to SolHi’s testimony, Do Ian Jun wasn’t only fired from the school where they worked at that moment, but he was also forbidden to work as a teacher. He even did some community work. All this made him drink, and he’s the trash we see today. Probably because of this, he hates SolHi so much. I think. Anyway, I don’t understand one thing: why SolHi didn’t insist on making him pay for what he did to her but she only testified for her colleague? I think we have to start our investigation from here.”
„Still, it’s unbelievable, Kan. All this seems too much because… YuSan wasn’t the man he describes.”
„I agree with you on this, even if I haven’t ever met Han YuSan. Not while he was alive.”
„Then? Why do you support me?”
„I… found out something strange while I was investigating Do Ian Jun’s case. I mean, when SolHi accused Do Ian Jun of harassment, Prosecutor Han YuSan was abroad.”
„Are you sure of this?”
„Absolutely. Some records attest that he was in the USA at that moment, at a conference or something like that. Even so, Do Ian Jun says he saw YuSan stalking SolHi, although she knew nothing about this. More than this, Do Ian Jun says that SolHi complained about him to Prosecutor Han when it’s nothing like that: SolHi complained to the police. Only one week after this, the case was assigned to your brother.”
„You knew all this, but you still asked him about what he knew. Why?”
„I wanted to know what he knew about this.”
„Lies, Kan! If you say that SolHi complained about this colleague to the police and not to YuSan, it means she didn’t know my brother before that case. Even so, Do Ian Jun insists on his idea that YuSan stalked SolHi before that.”
„It means that you are right and he is lying. Or, he is right and Prosecutor Han really did something like that. And, if it’s true, it might be that he did something for that case to be assigned to him.”
„Come on, Kan: this is already too much even for you! Plus, why should YuSan have done something like that? He didn’t have a reason to do this.”
Kan suddenly turned serious. „What if he had had a reason?” DooSan frowned. „I mean, what if Han YuSan was obsessed with SolHi and he tried to make her pay attention to him this way?”
„Impossible. YuSan wasn’t crazy.”
„We don’t know that. Not if he didn’t see a psychologist. And, if he didn’t see one, but still had the symptoms of a maniac, this means he was pretty lucid and knew what he was doing. More than this, let’s not forget that Han YuSan was found dead, next to SolHi, who was unconscious. Too many coincidences in my opinion.”
„Or this idiot lies so much and YuSan had never stalked SolHi.”
„This is also an idea. Or…” Kan took a few moments to think about this, something that made DooSan nervous and insistently look at the detective. Eventually, understanding that he wasn’t doing any of them a favor by keeping silent, Kan said, „Or, who conned all of us was SolHi, and she’s been doing this for a long time.” DooSan shuddered. „It’s just a theory, okay? Don’t take it for granted! It’s possible that I’m paranoid now and accusing not the real person! Why? I also think that SolHi isn’t capable of doing something like that. No, it’ll be too much. I’ve been knowing her all these years. Especially, in the last three years… Even so, a thing is sure: SolHi hid things and she might have hiding things now.”
„Her amnesia,” murmured DooSan.
„Yes. Something we should investigate, Prosecutor Han. We should find out all the details before accusing someone. Otherwise, we can burn ourselves and destroy lives, including SolHi’s. I don’t want this. No, she suffered too much. Yet, I’m a detective eventually. My job is to look for evidence and track the real criminals, even if they are people I love.” Saying this, and caring about nothing more, Kan turned his back to DooSan and headed toward his car, followed by Prosecutor Han shortly after this.
***
„Han DooSan is unbelievable!” SolHi said, upset. She had been in the street for many hours already, waiting for him. That’s why, looking at the wristwatch and seeing that it was three o’clock in the morning but he wasn’t home yet, she murmured, „Where the hell are they? At this hour? And… more than this, since when sombe Kan and he do things together? What are they looking for?” She suddenly kept silent and looked back when she heard the engine of a car approaching. After a few seconds, she descended the stairs and saw Kan’s car stopped about ten meters away from her.
Seeing her waiting for him, DooSan frowned. „Wonderful, what can I say?!”
„We expected that,” said Kan. „That she won’t stay quiet, not after we have left her behind. So, Prosecutor Han: no word to SolHi about what we found out. Not until we investigate this and prove that what we know is real.”
„I don’t see how we can prove that, Kan.”
„Simple: if Do Ian Jun is right and your brother had a relationship with SolHi or stalked her, I’m sure someone else saw him doing this. I’m talking about SolHi’s former colleagues. Something I’ll ask them about, as soon as I have this chance. Meanwhile, you should be careful with SolHi: don’t let her smell anything! If she finds out and it’s real that she’s lying, our heads fall off our shoulders for sure. Or… certain evidence might vanish. Something that none of us wants.”
„I know that,” replied DooSan, disappointed. He felt pain thinking about lying to SolHi. Yet, he also felt confused and disgusted after finding out things about her from Do Ian Jun. Yes, DooSan felt all this, even if he considered that many of the things the idiot said were nonsense. He also couldn’t deny the fact that he started to doubt everything he knew about SolHi, even if all this caused him pain. How not feel all this when she was the woman he loved? The same woman YuSan seemed to have loved, something DooSan couldn’t understand.
Eventually, understanding that it was useless to sit in that car, DooSan said goodbye to Kan and stepped out of the vehicle. After that, in slow step, he headed toward SolHi. She didn’t look at him but at Kan, who didn’t even greet her before leaving, something that seemed suspicious to her. Especially, it seemed weird to her that he left so quickly, right after DooSan was out of the car.
When DooSan got next to her, SolHi finally looked at him, and asked, „Where have you been, DooSan?”
„Nowhere,” he drily replied, trying to pass by her.
SolHi grabbed his arm to stop him when she realized he was trying to avoid him. Then, she stared at his arm, which DooSan suddenly pulled with contempt, as though he felt nausea to be touched by her. All this hurt her a lot because, that day, he talked to her about feelings. Yet, at that moment, he wasn’t bothered by hurting her through gestures, glances, and words. „So disappointing,” she whispered. „As though I’m your enemy.”
„It’s not that,” he replied, not watching her. „I’m just tired and I want to sleep. Let’s talk about this later.” After that, he simply walked away.
His coldness hurt SolHi deep inside. It also bathed her cheeks in tears. How not do that when she felt anger and hatred in his voice? Because of this, she started to shake eventually. Then, when she could control herself a little, SolHi looked behind the man, seeing him rushing to climb those stairs.
„He didn’t want to explain,” SolHi murmured eventually. „He didn’t want to be with me, even if he swore today. Why? What for? Why did he do that?”
Suddenly, controlled by a strange fever, the one caused by her desire to find out the truth that night at any cost, SolHi rushed to climb those stairs too. Once in the apartment, she stopped in the middle of the room and listened to the sound of the shower in the bathroom. A lot of thoughts were spinning in her head at that point, thoughts like, „He found out! He knows! Yes, he knows the truth, the one I’ve been hiding for so long! God, please, not this! He doesn’t know that cruel truth and this is over even if it hasn’t even started yet! No, I don’t want this hell for both of us.”
Such thoughts were only thoughts eventually. Unanswered questions and doubts in her soul because DooSan, right after leaving the bathroom, went and lay on the couch, without even looking at her. A reaction that pierced SolHi’s heart like a sharp knife.
It hurt. The man’s betrayal hurt like hell because… he swore to love her that day. He asked her for a chance to prove to her that he was honest with her. Because of this… all he did tore her apart. Yes, all this left her powerless and SolHi let herself fall in the middle of the room. She didn’t lose consciousness. She just felt her legs weak. After that, she sat for a long time on the floor, dumbly staring in front, with empty eyes, seeing nothing.
Soon after this, her eyes filled with tears. This happened when DooSan coldly told her, „Can you turn off the light? I’d like to sleep.”
SolHi said nothing. She only struggled to stand up. Then, she approached the switch and turned off the light. Her heart hurt her like hell at that moment because of the thought „He didn’t even look at me. As though I cause him nausea.” Then, she bitterly smiled, understanding that life slapped her again.
Life didn’t slap only her that day but also DooSan. He had heard the sound of the switch like the sound of a bullet shot by the woman he loved. This made him squeeze his fists and deeply breathe in. Yet, he did all that barely noticed, not wanting to let SolHi think that he wanted to hide something from her. At the same time, he tried not to let her know he was avoiding her or not wanting to see her, even if, through all he did, it was clear this thing.
SolHi didn’t care about this at that moment. Sitting on the floor, with her knees touching her chest, she kept staring in front, seeing nothing. She felt disappointed in herself, of DooSan, and Kan, who swore so many times before to protect her. Instead of that, he left that evening without a word, looking at her like an enemy. All this made her feel betrayed by life and trampled again.
She stood like this for a very long time. She probably leaned against the cold wall for hours. In her mind, a single thought had spun, „All this must reach an end! Yes, it must be over, forever, just as all those who hurt me all this time must pay!”
With such thoughts in mind, SolHi left her apartment eventually. It was around three o’clock in the morning when she left. DooSan was sleeping at that hour and didn’t hear her. Yes, he fell asleep soon after his head touched the pillow as though fate itself did that, not to allow him to impede what was coming.
***
A knock was heard on the door of Do Ian Jun’s house at dawn. An insistent sound, which made his old mother furiously shout, „Do Ian Jun, go and check who is there! I’m sure that’s one of the drunkards with whom you spend the days! Wake up! Do you hear me or not?” The woman yelled this, supporting herself on the elbow, and stared at the couch from the living room, where her son used to sleep each time he came home drunk.
Not hearing an answer from him, the old woman shouted again, „Do you hear me or not?” She yelled that when she heard the knocks on the door more intense than before. This was annoying for her. At the same time, her shouts were annoying for the man, whom she finally heard standing up and, crawling his legs and scratching his belly, which was seen through the white shirt that was lifted more than it had to be, he headed toward the door.
While heading toward the door, he told his old mother, „Of course, I hear you! I’m not deaf! And, stop yelling so much!” Then, yawning, he opened the door without asking who was there.
He saw a shadow in front of the door. A shadow that quickly hugged him. Then, the shadow ran away, without even looking back for a second to see what she left behind… on the threshold of that house, at dawn.
The sound of something falling alerted Do Ian Jun’s mother. This made her sit in her bedding and carefully listen to what happened at the door. Not hearing a scandal, as it happened each time one of her son’s drunk friends came, amazed her a lot. No, that morning, it was suspiciously quiet at that door.
The old woman said no word for a very long time. She just preferred to listen to the calmness of that morning. Only in the end, she asked, „Ian Jun, are you there?” She didn’t hear a sound from him. Only a strange whistling was heard after this, something that made her wince. Yes, she knew that sound. She had heard it before when she was young and a big snake entered their home. This made her jump to her feet and yell, „Not a snake again!”
She would have preferred a snake in her house that morning for sure. Instead of that, she found her son stabbed, on the threshold of their house. „No,” the old woman yelled, touching the kitchen knife that was stabbed into her son’s chest, kneeling next to him.
Approaching her ear to her son’s mouth, the old woman finally heard his whisper, „It was her, Mother! Ian SolHi did that to me!”