The next morning DooSan came to prison to see SolHi. Yet, instead of seeing her, the guards told him that Ian SolHi had the visits prohibited. The reason? „She doesn’t deserve them,” one of the guardians told DooSan in a mean voice. „Just as she doesn’t deserve to breathe. Not after she tried to kill one of the guards.”
The news confused DooSan a lot. „To kill? He wondered, sitting on one of the chairs from the lobby, feeling the worm of fear squirming deep inside him. Then, when he could control himself, DooSan stood up and, to be heard by everyone, especially by the guards, said through his teeth, „Damn idiots! Since when the prosecutor in charge cannot see a prisoner? Even if she’s in solitary confinement.”
The guardian, without losing her temper, glared at him. Then, as though repeating his words, she said, „Since when? Right from the moment you asked for a personal visit with Ian SolHi and not for work. So, if you want to see her, turn back when she has the visits allowed.”
When exactly he would be able to see SolHi again, nobody told him. He only felt the irony and the contempt in the guardian’s voice, something he disliked a lot. This even made him gnash his teeth, feeling his lower jaw badly shaking because of the fear from his soul. He felt wronged, just as he felt that SolHi was wronged at that moment because he was sure that she wasn’t guilty but others. Who exactly?! DooSan wasn’t sure. He knew only what others told him: that SolHi tried to kill one of the guardians and she was sent to solitary confinement because of this.
„This is impossible,” DooSan murmured. „She’s not capable of this.” He said all this while exiting the prison. „Yes, I’m pretty sure that SolHi didn’t attack anybody. Even if she did that, it was to protect herself. Then… why the hell was she punished for this? More than that, what exactly happens now?”
He didn’t receive an answer to his question because there wasn’t anybody to answer it. Only after the weekend, he was allowed to see SolHi. That morning, the guards brought SolHi to the Visiting Room, supporting her by the arms. This scared DooSan a lot because she was visibly weakened and had dark circles under her eyes. She was also closing and opening her eyes repeatedly. All this hinted to him that the daylight bothered her a lot after they took her out of solitary confinement at Iun Min Hiok’s order, who signed the order at DooSan’s request. Why did Min Hiok ask for SolHi to be released? Because, keeping her in solitary confinement, they were obstructing justice, explaining that if DooSan wanted to see Ian SolHi, it was to find details about a case they investigated. Yet, Min Hiok signed that document only after many hours when DooSan begged him to do that, telling his friend that what happened to SolHi that night and the fact that she was sent to solitary confinement was weird and it might have been a challenge to the death.
This thought related to „a challenge to the death” wasn’t an exaggeration on DooSan’s part for sure because SolHi looked more like a ghost than a human that day. She, as though would have feared to see the powerful sunlight, which entered the room through the small window with bars, covered her eyes with her arm. This gesture made DooSan feel that he lacked air at one point.
The state of anxiety that DooSan felt didn’t last long. Only for a few moments. After that, the guardians forced SolHi to sit on a chair and they withdrew, having a clear order from the warden of the prison: to leave them alone. She decided this after receiving a phone call from the Prosecution when she had been informed about an investigation in process and this „motivated” her to cooperate. If not, she was announced that there were planned searches within the prison after the Prosecution had been informed that „the prisoners received a cruel treatment from the prison’s personnel.”
When Min Hiok told this to the warden of the prison, DooSan was in his colleague’s office. Hearing this, it seemed an exaggeration to DooSan. Yet, at that moment when he saw how SolHi looked after a few days spent in solitary confinement, he understood that the „cruel treatment” was damn real. He didn’t understand this only seeing the wounds on her body and that her hair had been cut again, but it was also because SolHi looked so weakened. She, as though completely lacking the power to look into his eyes, lay her head on her arms, blocking the sunlight with her arm to protect her eyes.
Looking at her and seeing her so powerless, DooSan shuddered. He even felt that he lacked air at one point and loosed the tie a little, taking it off shortly after. Then, sitting in front of SolHi, he took her hand into his, trying to make her look at him. Yet, seeing that SolHi didn’t react, DooSan asked in a shaking voice, „Something happened, SolHi?”
„It’s the… light!” She whispered. „I need to stay like this for a few moments. Only for a few moments until my eyes get used to the light again.”
DooSan frowned but said nothing at this time. He only looked at SolHi, in silence, touching her hand, which he softly squeezed in his hand eventually, and waited. He heard her hissing breath, somehow heavy as though coming from deep underground. This scared him a little, even if he didn’t totally understand why. Even so, he said nothing, not even at this time, aware that if SolHi told him that she needed time, it was true and he had to give her that time. He would have given her all the time in the world at that moment only to make sure she was happy. That’s why, that simple request of giving her some time to get used to the light again was the least he could do at that moment.
Eventually, when DooSan could take his eyes off SolHi’s hair, which had been negligently cut, something he looked at for a long time, he looked at the second hand, on which SolHi supported her head. He saw it bandaged and that two fingernails were missing. This made him frown again. And, because of an uncontrolled desire, he tried to touch her hand.
Feeling DooSan’s touch on the arm she injured while fighting with the guardian, SolHi suddenly withdrew it. She even raised her head, although she still felt dizzy. Then, ashamed, she hid both hands under the table, feeling so dirty and down in his eyes. She felt all this because of the wounds, scratches, the missing fingernails, and the hair that she couldn’t arrange anymore.
Seeing her acting like that, DooSan looked elsewhere. He did that, trying to protect her and for her not to see the pain in his eyes. Then, when SolHi asked him, „Why are you here, DooSan?” He calmly looked at her, forcing a smile.
„I came to see a friend that was in trouble. Or… this isn’t also possible?”
SolHi sadly smiled. „Friends!” She thought, feeling the pain piercing her stomach again because she expected him to say that he was there for something else. Instead of that, he told her that they were only friends.
She didn’t say anything to DooSan after such words. She also didn’t reproach this to him, although she felt the urge after the intense kiss they had had on the roof a few evenings ago. Instead of this, she carefully looked at DooSan, who took a few casseroles out of the bag he brought with him. Then, putting them on the table and taking the lid off, DooSan told her, „I heard that this is what others do while visiting someone in prison. And… I thought you’d enjoy having a different menu than the one from here.”
SolHi’s eyes filled with tears while looking at the food on the table. Yet, she hesitated to touch it because she felt that she didn’t deserve this, not from the man she had hurt so much a year ago. Even so, she had to accept that she missed the outside food a lot since she was in jail. That’s why, when DooSan gave her the spoon, SolHi thought that it would be impolite on her part to refuse it. And, still thinking about this, she tasted the soup first, then the vegetables and the rice. „Tasty!” She said eventually. „It feels like then, in the hospital!”
DooSan smiled because he completely forgot that day. Then, seeing SolHi eating heartily, he suddenly turned serious, looking in silence at her. Seeing her so weakened and skinny hurt him a lot, just as he felt bad understanding that she was so down morally after she had been trampled under people’s feet, although he was sure SolHi didn’t deserve anything of all that happened to her.
He said nothing, not even this time. He only silently waited until SolHi finished eating. Then, he put the casseroles back in the bag and dared to take her hands into his again, as though trying to warm them or maybe protect them and show her that he was there, only for her.
DooSan’s insistent glance, focused on her hands, made SolHi finally withdraw them, ashamed. Yet, she couldn’t release herself from the trap of DooSan’s hands because he, understanding what she wanted to do, grabbed her even tighter. Thus, he didn’t allow her to interrupt that moment of tenderness.
Feeling his stubbornness, SolHi decided not to oppose their approach anymore. She didn’t even try to hide her wounds from DooSan because she understood that it was useless: he saw them already, just as he had seen her trampled under the other’s feet and deserted, something that was already too much for SolHi because it meant that she had lost completely in front of the man she loved and in front of whom she would have liked to be always beautiful. Yet, SolHi also knew that it wasn’t her fault. At least she preferred to lie to herself this way. That’s why, when DooSan caressed her injured hands and then kissed them, SolHi looked at him confused because she couldn’t understand why he did that. No, she didn’t understand anything about what he was doing at that moment because he had told her before that he had come there to visit a friend. At that moment, through the tenderness shown to her, DooSan did exactly the opposite, acting like a boyfriend and not like a simple friend.
DooSan seemed not to care about all this instead: neither did he give himself away in front of her, revealing his real feelings nor she seemed to want him away from that place. SolHi wanted this instead. She wanted him to stop visiting her in prison because she was sure that if he had done this, it would have ruined his life eventually. At the same time, she knew that DooSan was stubborn and that he wouldn’t have listened to her, and this broke her heart, aware of how much he might have suffered from now on.
Suddenly she winced when she heard DooSan saying, „Tell me about that night, SolHi!” Staring at him, confused, SolHi frowned because she didn’t understand at first what exactly he wanted from her. Only in the end, when she saw his fixed glance on hers, she understood what he wanted, and this made her shudder. That’s why she looked elsewhere when DooSan said again. „I mean… I want you to talk to me about the night when we argued and you left the apartment, SolHi. The last night you had been free. That night, when I turned back with Kan, we talked a little, and then you left. Where did you go when I was sleeping? What exactly did you do that night? And… more than that, why did the police relate you to Do Ian Jun’s death?”
SolHi didn’t answer. She only kept looking around but not at him. She even withdrew her hands eventually when she felt that he loosed the grip. Then, saying nothing, she stood up and headed toward the door.
Her silence and the fact that she tried to leave enraged DooSan. „If you keep silent, you’ll make things worse, SolHi. You also don’t help anybody by doing this: neither you nor me. You only stop us! This is what you do!”
Of an enviable calmness, although there was a storm in her soul, SolHi turned and looked at him. Then, she smiled. „I don’t see what else I can add to what I have said already, Prosecutor Han. There is everything about the case in the file. Thus, if you want to find out details about that night, you can ask for that file and check it. By doing this, you avoid giving all of us a headache and wasting your time by coming here.” A short silence came after this. Then, SolHi said, „Yes, I must accept that I would have liked to be treated always like you treated me a few moments ago. Yet, it’s too much even for you, Prosecutor Han: to act so kindly with a woman sentenced to death right before grabbing the ax and cutting her head, don’t you also think so?”
Her reaction made DooSan frown. Even his jaw started to shake weirdly because he felt upset after her words. That’s why, staring into her eyes, he hissed through his teeth, „What I think is that you crossed the line already, Ian SolHi. Why? Because you know very well why I did what I did. So, don’t turn everything against me as you generally do. At the same time, stop keeping your mouth shut when it’s not necessary to do that. Or what… will you keep silent till the end, making our life impossible just because you don’t want to betray your fucking ego?”
„I don’t really understand what you are talking about, Prosecutor Han. I just…”
„You are just stubborn to solve everything alone just as you have done this each time. At the same time, you are stubborn not to trust others, this is what you do.”
„I’m just trying to live. This is what I do. And… ah, yes, I would have liked to have more such visits, which wouldn’t not only have made me feel better, but you would have also fed me well. Yet, realizing that I won’t be able to play this cheap play in front of you each time you come here… just as I have done today and so many times before… I say to stop tormenting each other, Prosecutor Han. I say that’s time to say goodbye to you!”
The weird smile sketched on her face made DooSan attentive. He didn’t like at all that „To play this cheap play as I have done this so many times before.” At the same time, he disliked how SolHi was acting at that moment: as though she would have lost her mind. That’s why he suddenly asked, „What the hell are you talking about this time?”
To DooSan’s great surprise, SolHi suddenly burst into laughter. Then, running her hands through her hair, she said harsh words without looking into his eyes, „I said that I used you, Han DooSan. I used you, this is what I did. Is this so difficult to understand or are you that stupid not to understand that others used you? Yes, I did that. I must accept it: I used you because I needed your help not to be caught and sent to prison. Because of this, I played this cheap play, pretending to be the victim, the innocent sheep that was always attacked by the fierce wolf and who needed someone to save her. By doing this, I felt weird because… it was damn difficult to see your innocent face every day. It was cruel to me to look at you loving me and forgiving me for having killed your brother. You hadn’t been even interested that I did that not only because someone asked me to do this, but also because that son of a… was blowing down my neck more often than he should have done it. This is why I sent him to hell, and… it hasn’t been difficult, by the way. For me, to kill someone is like… drinking water?! Yes, you can say so. Or what, didn’t they tell you already that I had been about sending another idiot to hell a few nights ago?”
He felt confused. Yes, DooSan felt really confused after such words because… „Did SolHi really play with him all that time? Did she use him as she said? Did she kill YuSan only because he found something about her and this was ruining her plans?”
Lee SoRan’s laughter, who suddenly entered the Visiting Room, made both of them wince and stare at her, confused. SoRan laughed instead when she said, „What? Surprised to see me here?”
„Yes, because I thought that if you had a visit, you couldn’t have another one,” murmured DooSan, confused.
„And you are right. This is what generally happens. Yet, if you have money, you can solve this problem damn easy, Prosecutor Han. Having money, you can even make someone shamelessly lie, although he isn’t at all convinced if that lie is the truth. Am I right, Ian SolHi? Tell me: you are an expert in something like this. At least this is what I heard: that you are perfect to lie to others!”
The irony felt in SoRan’s voice made SolHi nervous. She didn’t like that stranger, who appeared in front of her again, this time to ruin her plans. Yet, as she knew that she didn’t have the power to escape from there, more when she found out that SoRan paid the guard to enter that place even if DooSan was there, she understood that the only thing she could do at that moment was to keep playing in front of them up to the end. That’s why she suddenly looked at SoRan, proudly saying, „I have no idea what you are talking about!”
„Really?” Replied SoRan, struggling with herself not to burst into laughter again. „If you say so!”
SoRan’s words and SolHi’s reaction made DooSan attentive. That’s why he insistently looked at them, understanding that they had something to share just as Kan said. What exactly did they have to share? He had no idea. He could have found out this though if he had continued there, like an observer and not like an active participant in that talk. That’s why, folding his arms over his chest, he carefully looked at them and said in a sure voice, „I won’t bother you! I’ll just stay here, quietly, and watch the show! I can do that, right? I hope this doesn’t bother you!”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
SolHi disliked his attitude. More than that, she hated the fact that DooSan understood her trick so fast, much faster than she would have liked, and all this was because of Lee SoRan, who so suddenly appeared there. That’s why SolHi glared at her, gnashing her teeth. Then, as SolHi used to do generally when she felt surrounded, she tried to escape. How? She approached the door and punched it, trying to make the guardians open it once she considered the meeting over.
Nobody answered though, just as nobody opened that door. Behind the door, no sound was heard, and SolHi hated it again. More than that, she disliked the fact that SoRan burst into laughter again and then she told SolHi, „If I were you, I would have saved my energy. Why? Nobody will open that door. At least not while I’m here or until you tell us the truth.”
„The truth? What truth?” SolHi snapped at SoRan again.
„The one you and my father found out a year ago, but you preferred to keep it secret and consider all of us stupid,” SoRan confidently told SolHi, pushing the wheelchair toward her. Once in front of the prisoner, she carefully looked at her face, injured hands, her messy hair, stopping her glance at her neck where she clearly saw the traces left by the rope the guardian used when he tried to strangulate SolHi. Then, staring at the purple marks, SoRan said with hatred in her voice, „The truth others are desperately trying to hide once they attacked you from behind. That’s why you have those purple marks on your neck and missing fingernails: you fought with him not to be strangled. So, Ian SolHi: with such evidence, I have just proved to you that your lie is damn short.”
SoRan’s words made SolHi nervous again. She even put her hands to her neck involuntarily, trying to hide the marks left by the rope. She didn’t manage to do that eventually because DooSan suddenly approached her and, struggling a little with SolHi, he forced her to take the hands off her neck and let him see the purple with red marks - clear signs of strangulation. „Who did that to you?” The man furiously asked, grabbing SolHi by the hand and forcing her to look at him.
„Nobody,” murmured SolHi, confused, pulling a little back. „Just a quarrel among prisoners. That’s all.”
„Just a quarrel among prisoners, you say? One that could have tragically ended, according to me. Tragically for you, Ian SolHi. Why? Because the „girl” who attacked you at the showers was damn strong as far as I see if „she” let you look like that.” Seeing SolHi furiously looking at her, SoRan smiled and asked, „What this time?”
„Nothing out of the ordinary. It just seems strange to me. What exactly? That you know so much about the attack. So, tell me: did you hire that idiot to kill me?”
„Idiot?” DooSan asked, confused. „I thought one of the prisoners did that to you.”
„Neah, it was a guardian who did that to her,” SoRan replied instead of SolHi. She even felt proud saying this and demonstrating to the prisoner that it was useless to lie. „He started to work here recently. I see know why.” After that, approaching DooSan this time, SoRan showed him a few photos on her mobile phone.
Taking the phone in his hand, DooSan carefully looked at those photos. There he saw the man who attacked SolHi next to a fancy car, bowing in front of a stranger. In those photos, DooSan saw that the mysterious guy, who didn’t step out of his fancy car, gave the guardian a brown envelope, which seemed to have had money inside, judging by the size. Yet, not this made DooSan attentive but the registration number of the car, which he whispered for a few moments as though trying to memorize it.
Eventually, he winced when SoRan said, „It’s fake! The registration plaque, I mean. That’s why, if I were you, I wouldn’t waste my time with this.”
SolHi smiled. „And you keep saying that you aren’t involved in this.” Words that made DooSan curiously look at her.
SoRan smiled instead. Then, turning her back to them, she headed toward the table, calmly saying, „It’s not necessary to be involved in a crime to know things about it, Ian SolHi! It’s enough if you have someone in the police. Mutual acquaintances, by the way, because… who told me that the registration number is fake is Detective Kan. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.”
Hearing that Kan knew about this but said nothing, DooSan felt nervous. „He’s definitely a traitor if he knew about this but kept silent.”
„I asked him to do that. Why? Because if you had known about this, you would have ruined everything. How? By going to Iun Min Hiok’s office. Actually, you did that already when you tried to force him to give you the evidence he had. Those related to Han YuSan’s case?! Thus, you allowed her enemies to attack SolHi at the showers. When exactly? The same night you talked to Iun Min Hiok.” Turning toward them, SoRan saw DooSan and SolHi staring at her with wide-open eyes. This made her smile. „You probably wonder why I know all this, and I’ll answer this question before you ask me: prosecutor Iun Min Hiok told me about this. When? A few days ago when I went to see him. He told me everything because he felt guilty for what he did.”
„Guilty? Iun Min Hiok? Why? Don’t tell me that he…?”
„No. It’s not he who ordered the guardian to attack SolHi. Even if prosecutor Iun is more than eager to make Han YuSan’s criminal pay for what he did, he’s not stupid. He knows that not SolHi killed your brother, although she screams to the entire world about this. And, to clarify this detail too, which I think is still unclear, I inform you that I didn’t order the attack either. I have just been around. That’s all.”
„Too suspicious, in my opinion,” murmured SolHi.
„I think the same about you, Ian SolHi. Why? Because you act as though you never want to leave this place. And here goes my question: why are you doing all this? Or… should I ask who gave you this order?”
„It’s none of your business,” SolHi hissed through her teeth.
„Of course, it is. Why? Because the one who is desperately trying to get rid of you can come after me at any time. Unlike you, I love my life and I will do everything to survive, SolHi. For this, I’ll cling to you, acting from the shadows just to catch the bastard who destroyed our lives.”
„Who destroyed your lives? What are you talking about, SoRan?”
„The truth! Another truth, which SolHi kept secret, as far as I see! Which one? That we have been the victims of the same bastard: eight and ten years ago.”
„What about keeping your mouth shut?” SolHi yelled, trying to approach SoRan. She couldn’t do that eventually because of DooSan, who blocked her way.
„I won’t,” SoRan confidently said. „I don’t have why to do that because, unlike you, I trust those who surround me.” Then, looking at DooSan, she told him, „Prosecutor Han, I need your phone to show you the evidence I have.”
Not at all convinced of what SoRan wanted to do, but still aware that she could have known things he didn’t know, DooSan gave her his phone. Then he received an email from SoRan with two PDF documents attached. Opening them and analyzing their content, DooSan stared stunned at it. „It can’t be,” he murmured terrified, looking at SoRan again, who was at the table already.
„Of course, it can be,” SoRan said, without watching him. „The results don’t lie, Prosecutor Han: SolHi’s results and mine, by the way. Damn similar, don’t you also think so, Prosecutor?”
The safety felt in SoRan’s voice made SolHi attentive. Then, taking the phone from DooSan’s hand, he looked at the documents, murmuring eventually. „It can’t be! They are identical!”
„Almost identical! I told you about this the first time we saw each other, but you didn’t believe me. Now I can prove to you this not only with these results but also with real evidence, like the scar I have on the back of my head. You also have one. So, if you want to check that I’m not bluffing, you can come and touch my head.”
What SoRan said made SolHi feel confused because she had never totally believed that what SoRan said was real. She didn’t believe the fact that they had been the victims of the same maniac. Then, when DooSan took the phone from her hand and touched her head, SolHi stared at him and winced when she felt his fingers touching the scar she had on the back of her head. After that, seeing that he did the same thing with SoRan, SolHi shuddered, understanding that she lost that war forever and that she had no chance to hide the truth as she planned.
SolHi’s reaction seemed suspicious to SoRan. That’s why she kept staring at the other woman for a while. Then, understanding that what SolHi felt was jealousy, she said, „Instead of considering me a rival, I suggest you think about me as an ally. And tell us what you know, of course.”
„I don’t see why should I do that,” SolHi nervously growled. „Anyway, it’s not much to say about it because… I don’t remember anything about that night.”
„Not that you remembered everything?” DooSan suddenly hissed through his teeth, making SolHi wince. She even wanted to say something in her defense, but DooSan didn’t allow her this but told her in a confident voice, „Don’t even try to lie to me or deny this because I know you, SolHi. So, once we know that there is a hidden truth, which you know, I think that’s a good idea to avoid us having a headache and give us at least a track. I think we also deserve to know the truth, SolHi.”
„And you’ll know that truth, but not now. When it’s the right moment for this, I’ll tell you everything. Now… just continue your life: quietly, out of prison, and waiting for results because I intend to find out everything from the inside. Here it’s easier to find out who this guy is because…”
„To do that, you must survive first,” SoRan said in a serious voice, making DooSan and SolHi wince. „Yet, I’m afraid it’s not as easy as you want this to seem. Not after what happened a few nights ago, something I think that has been a simple warning. Such attacks will escalate, I’m sure.”
SoRan’s words made DooSan nervously move. „Why are you so sure of this?” He asked.
„Because it’s to be this way, once they started this. Why? Because their main aim is not only to make SolHi keep silent but to get rid of her.”
„Yet, you aren’t sure of this eventually,” said SolHi, approaching the table. „That’s why, let’s not rush to conclude.”
„This is what you think I’m doing?” SoRan nervously asked. „Of course not! I’m just calling the things by their real name, Ian SolHi! And… yes, I really have nothing against you because you are neither my friend nor my enemy. Even so, you are someone I hope will survive because you are the key to finding out what exactly happened eight and ten years ago. That’s why I’ll do everything to help you survive. At least until we find out the truth and I’ll get my revenge.”
„And for you to get revenge, I have to be the bait, right?”
„It’s not me who decided that.”
„Who did this then if not you? Santa Claus?”
SoRan smiled. „Not Santa but Scar.” Words that made SolHi wince and swallow hard after this.
DooSan asked instead, „Scar? Who the hell is he?”
None of the women answered these questions. They only exchanged glances, for minutes in a raw, something that made DooSan think that they were also exchanging ideas about a secret others shouldn’t know. Then, feeling that it was time to do that, SoRan confidently told SolHi, „Will you tell him the truth or should I do that?”
„Damn it!” Murmured SolHi, bowing her head. This made DooSan attentive because he was waiting for this reaction: for SolHi to drop her guard and tell them the truth. SolHi didn’t say anything for minutes in a row. Only after DooSan sat next to SoRan and looked at her, SolHi whispered, „Scar is the one we suspect that attacked us eight and ten years ago. None of us knows who is this guy. All we know is that he has an ugly scar on his beard. That’s all!”
„An ugly scar on his beard? Do you mean that if you see him again, you can recognize him?”
„Only if he didn’t get rid of it.”
„Something that’s not easy to do and you know that, SolHi. To get rid of a scar, I mean. Just as I don’t think that he wants to do that or that’s something to favor him.”
DooSan looked at SoRan, confused. „Do you mean that he considers it as a personal signature?”
„I’m rather tempted to think that he considers it a trophy. Why? Because, if he had wanted to hide the traces, he would have gotten rid of it, after he attacked me. Why? Because I told the police officers about that scar. It’s on file and if he has the relationship I think he has on the force, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to find out about my statement. Even so, two years later when he attacked SolHi, he still had it, and this cannot be a coincidence.” SolHi looked confused at SoRan. „Just as I don’t think that’s a coincidence that you remember his face, right?”
SolHi shuddered. „That’s right!”
„Even so, you didn’t tell prosecutor Han or any other person that it was Han YuSan who attacked you that night.”
„What?” DooSan asked, stunned. „YuSan attacked you?”
„That’s right,” replied SolHi, with pain in her voice. She felt pain in her heart too because she had to accept that truth in front of DooSan and hurt him. Even so, she had to do that because she couldn’t hide the truth anymore, at least not from him. „Han YuSan attacked me that night.”
„This… can’t be,” murmured DooSan, terrified. Then he closed his eyes, feeling dizzy. „This really cannot be!”
When he felt movement to his right where SoRan was he opened his eyes. Thus, he saw her unfolding an A4 sheet of paper right in front of him. On that photo, he saw some portrait sketched in pencil, of someone he didn’t know. After that, when SoRan was sure that none of her interlocutors knew the person from the photo, she confidently said, „This is the guy who attacked me eight years ago. And, as you see, it’s not Han YuSan, SolHi!”
„They might have been two,” insisted SolHi.
„Of course not. It’s the same guy, I’m sure of this. He hurt us both many years ago. And… who knows how many other victims he made over the years.”
„No,” SolHi stubbornly said. „At least I remember his scar, damn good, by the way. It was YuSan. I see him in front of my eyes and it’s not the guy from the photos. I’m absolutely sure of this.”
„What if it’s what Scar wanted us to believe this?” Said SoRan calmly. „What if he wanted us to think that it was Han YuSan who attacked you?”
„I don’t see what he could have won by doing this,” murmured DooSan. „At the same time, it’s damn difficult to pretend to be another person. More than this, SolHi says that she saw his face. It can’t be a coincidence.”
„A good cosmetologist can do wonders and make even the original think that he’s the fake, Prosecutor Han. I think this is exactly what happened that night.”
SolHi frowned, staring at the photo on the table. „The voice modifier,” she suddenly said, making her interlocutors wince. „The guy used a voice modifier, something that hadn’t been necessary if it was YuSan. I knew Prosecutor Han’s voice. It was useless to hide it. Moreover, if he intended to kill me that night. More than that, prosecutor Han YuSan didn’t have a scar. I clearly remember this because, right before being kidnapped, before entering the taxi, I talked to him in his office. I still remember his face, although I was more than furious that day. And… I remember that he wore a gray suit, just like the guy they found in the warehouse while the attacker wore black clothes from top to toe.”
Hearing SolHi talking about this, DooSan took his phone out of his pocket, looking for a photo of YuSan. Then, he put the phone on the table, between the two women, and said, „I took this photo two days before YuSan died. And, as you see, he doesn’t have a scar. Thus, even if he got one in those two days, it was too early for the wound to cicatrize as SolHi says.”
DooSan winced again when SoRan suddenly shouted. „The voice,” she said. „Yes, the voice! SolHi is right and it’s strange: he modified his voice but showed his face?! Too obvious according to me.”
„Setup then?”
„Most probably yes, DooSan. It’s possible that… someone wanted us to believe that Han YuSan tried to kill me and make me lose my baby. Yet, losing my memories after that night, I ruined his plans. That’s why he sent someone to kill me in jail: he tried to finish what he started eight years ago. He did this right before the trial.”
„To attack you? Do you want to say that he tried it again?” SoRan asked.
„Yes, he did that. Actually, DooSan, do you remember Han SoRan’s case?”
„The teenager that jumped off the roof?”
„Yes. I told you that day that I was attacked in prison.”
„Yes, I remember. You told me then that you thought that my mother ordered someone to attack you in prison when I asked you about the scars on your arms. Even so, I don’t get the point.”
„I just try to say that I have probably been wrong and not your mother ordered the attack, but this individual. To be more precise than this: the same person who attacked me in prison seven years ago is my cellmate now.”
„What?” DooSan screamed. „Do you mean that…”
„Yes! What I want to tell you is that we finally have a track from where to start our investigation. What exactly? Finding out what exactly Min Ha Rin knows about this, my cellmate. I’ll take care of her. Meanwhile, you should find out where So Ari is hiding.”
„So Ari? Who is she?” SoRan inquired, confused.
„Someone I’ve been knowing for years. The same person who killed Do Ian Jun.”
Her words made DooSan stare at her, stunned. „Wait a minute! What you try to say now is that all this time you knew who killed that bastard, but even so, you entered jail for his crime?”
„That’s right!”
„Why?”
„Because… I wanted to protect her, DooSan. She was scared, confused, and shaking like hell when she came to visit me, and this made me feel sorrow for her. I just tried to delay the investigation, for a short time only until she would have left the country. Yet, everything went out of control and I got here while she hid.”
„Honestly, I don’t understand why you made something so stupid,” said SoRan, confused.
„I cared about So Ari like a sister. Actually, DooSan: your brother investigated her case before death.” DooSan winced. „And… not only the case of the abused teenager linked Han YuSan and me, but also the fact that Do Ian Jun was considered the one who raped her.”
DooSan suddenly shook his head. „I don’t understand. YuSan accused Do Ian Jun of rape?”
„He was one of the suspects. Yet, after Han YuSan’s death, the case was classified for lack of evidence. You know the rest already. Anyway, this is not as important as finding So Ari. She is the key to escaping jail and the sentence to death.”
„Something damn difficult, I think: to find where this So Ari is hiding,” murmured SoRan, feeling that they got to a dead end with that case. Even so, they had a track, although this could have taken them to nowhere eventually…