Looking behind Riu Te Jun and Ma Jun Ho, SolHi frowned. „I didn’t think he’d give up on this so easily,” she told Ha Rin, who was only one-step behind her.
„Honestly, I had the same feeling,” replied Ha Rin, taking the last step toward SolHi. „He seemed determined to hunt us all night long. Even so, a single phone call was enough to make him leave. Interesting, what made him give up?”
„Perhaps HanSol had something to do with that. I sent her a message not long ago, telling her about the hunt. Most probably she pulled some strings to help us.”
„Or that devil’s boss,” said Bear, making the two wince.
Looking behind them, SolHi saw the young man approaching them. Seeing SolHi squinting at him, Bear smiled. He knew SolHi looked at him like this because he showed up next to them so suddenly, although they knew that he was there to help them after they had informed him that they needed help. Unlike SolHi, Ha Rin seemed more scared than surprised, and this happened because she didn’t know the young man. Only when SolHi told Bear, „Rather you are that devil. Otherwise, I can’t explain to myself how you can appear so suddenly next to people” Ha Rin understood that SolHi not only knew him, but they had a good relationship too. „You are actually right,” SolHi told her when she saw Ha Rin staring at Bear. „I know him. I also know what devil he is because… only Dja Iun could have such friends… devils.”
„Should I take this as a compliment?” The man asked, approaching the two and looking in the same direction as them - at the few cops that were guarding the car the two women had left behind them.
„Think whatever you want,” SolHi harshly replied. „Yet, no matter what you won’t do, that car must vanish!”
„This is already something I can’t handle,” replied Bear, suddenly turning serious.
„Why?” Ha Rin asked, frowning.
„Because… maybe I’m a devil, as Detective Ian called me, but… I still don’t have the power to make that car vanish. Only the two of you. So, before those over there don’t realize that we are still around, I say to hit the pike.”
SolHi cooked her nose. „Well, you are right,” she eventually said. „I agree that we have to leave this place while we still can do that. Eventually, we don’t know who’s behind them. And, as far as I remember, I wasn’t driving that fast to be pulled over by the police or be followed by them.”
„Do you think they were waiting for us?”
„Most probably yes,” responded Bear instead of SolHi. „I know the one you’ve followed.”
„You know Hamster? How’s that?” SolHi asked, stunned.
„Let’s just say that I had the „luck” and the chance to meet him once. Anyway, it’s not important where I know him from but what I know about him. And, if it’s right what I suspect, he knew that you were following him right from the beginning.”
„That’s why he called the cavalry - he wanted to get rid of us and not only not to be chased.”
„I also think this, Detective Ian. I also think that Min SinJu knew that you were spying on each of his movements. That’s why I suspect that his best plan to catch two curious mice like you was to use someone as bait. And… the best bait in this case was Hamster.”
„You are probably right, Bear,” murmured SolHi, folding her arms over her chest and frowning. „Maybe Min SinJu knew that he was being spied on by us. Even so, something tells me that the envelope they gave Hamster has something important inside.”
„I also think so,” said Ha Rin. „And, if our hunch is right and they knew we were after them, they must probably have understood that after we left the club. Yes, I’m sure of that. If they had known that we kept an eye on the club, I’m sure that they’d have caught us there and not waited for something more. They had enough gorillas watching out that club, right? This wouldn’t have cost them anything to catch me, especially when I was alone.”
„Now that you mentioned that, I think you are right, Ha Rin. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore how they figured out that we were after them but to find where Hamster went and what his mission was.”
„We already handled this,” said Bear, proud of himself. „You have to only follow me because the rest of the boys are already there.”
„Let’s go then!” SolHi spurred them, being the first one heading toward the two ATVs that were parked not that far from them.
Ha Rin didn’t follow SolHi but squinted at the young man, making this one frown. „Do I have something stuck to my face or what?”
„No,” replied Ha Rin airily. „I was just wondering where you know this area of the forest so well. Is it because you checked it or because here’s your cave?” Her remark made Bear stare at her with wide-open eyes. Ha Rin instead, at all bothered by the young man’s sour face, said, „You are known as Bear, right? That’s why I wondered if your cave was around.” Then, not waiting for the man’s answer, she followed SolHi.
Looking behind her, Bear gnashed his teeth. „Now I know who Detective Ian’s companion is - a cobra. Otherwise, I can’t explain how she can bite so poisonously.” Seeing that Ha Rin was stopped and squinting at him, a hint that she heard what he murmured, Bear sketched a fake smile. Then, he followed her, motioning to her to keep walking. The man even motioned to her in mockery as though telling her „After you, ma’am!” although Ha Rin wasn’t really a lady in his eyes.
***
A quarter an hour after they left their hideout in the forest, SolHi and her three companions got to the territory of a former sawmill. Seeing the place, SolHi shuddered from top to toe. „Too dark and ruined,” she suddenly caught a thought crossing her mind. „I also think that’s the perfect place for traps. And… this strong smell of gasoline isn’t random at all,” she whispered. „No, this place shouldn’t smell like that. Not while there is still a lot of wood here that can catch fire in seconds if a lost spark hits it.”
„You are actually right,” said Bear, opening the visor. „The smell of gasoline here is damn weird. And… when we passed by here, it wasn’t felt. Never.”
„You passed by here?” SolHi asked, confused. She was on the same ATV as he, right behind him. „When exactly?” She added when the young man approvingly nodded.
„A few days ago. Yet, it was with no purpose.”
„Mmm, we didn’t have a reason to be here that day,” the young man, who accompanied Bear, a guy named Bunny, who entered the group after Dja Iun’s death, said. „Or maybe it wasn’t by pure chance? Anyway, a tip brought us here that day.”
„A tip? What kind of tip?” Asked Ha Rin, who was right behind Bunny.
„Something related to Dja Iun’s death,” said Bear, making SolHi wince. „Yet, searching the place, we realized that it was a fake tip because nothing from here is related to Dja Iun’s death.”
„What exactly has been told you about Dja Iun?” SolHi asked.
„That… right before his death, he was investigating a track related to this place. Honestly, Detective Ian, it’s not the first time we are here. The night Dja Iun had the accident, we were here.”
„On the night of the accident? Do you mean Dja Iun was here before looking for me?”
„That’s right. That day, he talked to us for the first time about this place. Yet, when we checked it, this place seemed pretty usual - a simple former sawmill. What’s different now from that time is the smell of gasoline.”
„Or maybe not,” Ha Rin joined their talk, descending off the ATV and taking the helmet off. „This place frightens even me, even though I haven’t seen it before. That’s why I think that something else is hidden here and not only old wood.”
Looking at SolHi, she saw her taking the helmet off too. Yet, SolHi sat on the ATV for a few moments more. Then, seeing Ha Rin insistently looking at her, she sighed and said, „Maybe you are right because… this place is really strange. I say to check it once again, although the boys did that already.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
„Yet, we’ll do that alone,” Ha Rin sternly said when she saw the boys intending to get off the ATVs.
Bear squinted at her. „Go ahead!” He growled. „Risking your life, I mean because… I don’t really care about what happens to you. Yet, if you risk your life, do it alone! Detective Ian won’t go with you without us. Before that, we’ll ask for some backups.”
„Such a big deal! Your backup, I mean,” growled Ha Rin, staring at him. „I also don’t need your care. Just… stay away from this place and me! I don’t really need to have your death on my conscience too.”
„Why? Do you really want to kill the bear in his cave or what?” Bear teased her. When he said that, the young man was really feisty because Ha Rin’s words hurt his ego. Yet, he kept his mouth shut eventually when SolHi reproachfully told them:
„What about continuing this love fight later? We need to focus now. On this place and not on something else. And… Ha Rin is right: there is no need for all of us to risk our lives. Safer for all of us will be if you stay here, engine on, and wait for us. If something goes wrong there, we’ll at least have the security that you are here to save our asses.”
„I think Detective Ian is right,” Bunny told Bear. „This place is perfect to be our grave if we all go there. If we stay here, we at least have the surprise element in case things fall through the cracks. We can also ask for help if we feel the danger approaching us.”
„Then, it’s decided,” said SolHi confidently. „You’ll stay here, we go!” Then, not waiting for others to approve it, she headed toward the main building of the former sawmill.
„Damn stubborn and reckless woman,” Ha Rin hissed through her teeth when she saw SolHi heading toward that place with no fear. „Aren’t you afraid that death might wait for us there?” She asked SolHi when she caught up with her.
SolHi grinned. „Death?” She ironically asked, hiding the gun behind her back. „Her problem because… I came prepared this time.”
„Where do you have that one from?” Ha Rin growled. „Don’t tell me that you’ve stolen it from Han DooSan’s apartment.”
„No! I mean… it’s stolen but not from his apartment.”
„It’s Kim HanSol’s gun then.” SolHi grinned. „Yeah, you have it from her. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so satisfied. Yet… you should be afraid anyway. If we escape this place, I mean.”
„Of what? That HanSol will kill me if she finds out about the gun?”
„Does it seem small to you? You took her gun, SolHi. For those like her, it might be a death sentence. Something you should have known already, once you’ve been a detective once. Yet… why am I even surprised? You’ve always been reckless. It would have been stranger if you had stopped being like that now.”
Suddenly, both women winced when a strange noise was heard from inside the sawmill. Then, when they’d been able to control themselves, they exchanged glances. And, talking by gestures, something they managed to do perfectly lately, both of them headed toward the entrance to the building.
Before heading there, Ha Rin motioned to SolHi to stop and wait for her. Then, she took the small lantern out of her pocket, turned it on, and carefully looked around. Why did Ha Rin do that? SolHi didn’t understand at first. Only when she saw that one grabbing a metallic bar, which she took with her, did she understand that Ha Rin was looking for a weapon for herself in case things got out of control. After that, both armed, but still with fear in their bones, they started climbing the few stairs, heading toward the entrance.
After only two stairs climbed, SolHi stretched her left arm behind her. Thus, she could grab Ha Rin’s arm, hinting to her that they had to stop. The reason? SolHi finally spotted the motorcycle parked somewhere to their right, right next to a pile of old trunks. „Somebody is here,” Ha Rin murmured, grinning. „It’s Hamster’s, right?”
„I can’t say it for sure! It’s too dark. Yet… it might be his,” whispered SolHi. After that, she took her phone out of her pocket and sent a text message to Bear. „Hamster is here and he’s not alone. Don’t let him run away!”
About a minute later, SolHi received an answer to her message. „We’ll keep an eye on him,” Bear wrote her.
„Perfect! We can go now!”
„Yes,” growled Ha Rin, squeezing the bar in her hands. „We are ready for cracking heads, I mean.” Thus, encouraging herself, although she felt fear sneaking into her bones, she’d been inattentive when she lifted her leg to climb the last stair. It’s when she tripped over it and, trying to keep her balance, her metallic bar hit the cement.
„Can you be careful?” SolHi hissed into her ear. „Or what: are you that eager to let them know we are here?”
„Yeah! I’m dying to tell that devil that we are here. Who knows? I can make him run!”
„Or make him send us to hell faster. With the same metallic bar, by the way,” growled SolHi, advancing.
Ha Rin followed her right away. She did that mumbling something barely heard. Then, she winced when SolHi grabbed her arm for the second time. And, before Ha Rin could react, SolHi dragged her after her to the shelter of the huge door that was hanging to the side. SolHi did that when she heard someone approaching the door with quick steps.
They were right in thinking that Hamster was there because they saw the young man leaving the building and quickly descending the stairs once he’d been out. They realized that it was definitely him because of that stinky smell of peanuts, something Ha Rin felt in him once, when she passed by him. Even so, aware that if they had caught him, they could have found out what was in that envelope, neither SolHi nor Ha Rin did anything against him. On the contrary, they made themselves small at the shelter of that door, practically sticking to it. They didn’t even breathe, afraid to let the young man know that they were there.
However, Hamster didn’t realize they were there but acted as though the entire world was his. He even seemed not to be bothered either by the strong smell of gasoline or by the darkness. All he did was climb on his motorcycle, put his helmet on, and intend to go.
A slight movement, spotted in front of the door when the two women left the hideout and entered the building, made the young man attentive. This also made him get off the motorcycle and climb the stairs, intending to grab the intruder and get rid of him. Yet, once inside, all he could feel was the smell of gasoline and mold, something that made him spit to the side eventually, growling, „Damn musty-smelling.” After that, he simply turned his back on the place and left the building.
When the noise of the motorcycle’s engine was heard further and further from that place, both Ha Rin and SolHi left their hideout. Looking at the door, they saw only the darkness, something that calmed them a little, although it should have worried them more. „Yet, no matter how bad I want to get out of here, I still think that’s better to check what’s inside,” Ha Rin told SolHi.
SolHi only approvingly nodded. Then, she turned her back to the door and sneaked toward the place from where a moan was heard, about 300 meters from where they were.
Advancing through that narrow hall, both SolHi and Ha Rin saw it surrounded and covered everywhere by cellophane. This made SolHi frown. „What the hell is that?” She wondered. Then, hearing movement to her left, she winced and looked scared toward that place. Yet, seeing only Ha Rin there, who was using her phone to film everything, she right away calmed down.
After a few more steps taken in front, the two women stopped. They did that the moment they saw that the entrance to what seemed to have been the production and packaging room of the former sawmill was covered by thick cellophane. „Something damn suspicious in my opinion,” thought SolHi. She was right in thinking this because, from what she knew about the sawmills, the cellophane wasn’t something usual for such places. After all, it was easily inflammable material. Yet, that place was surrounded all over by it, a hint that the place wasn’t abandoned but „The crime scene for someone,” how she heard Ha Rin suddenly whispering into her ear, something that made her wince again.
The fear from SolHi’s soul didn’t go away when she realized that Ha Rin was the one who had talked to her but intensified. This happened because of the intense moans and shouts heard from the other side of the cellophane door. Touching it with a shaking hand and moving it to the side, the two women kept advancing despite the intense fear in their souls. Particularly, the fear increased in SolHi’s soul. This happened because she realized that that hissing breath, heard beyond all those cellophane walls, was the same she heard eight years ago.
„It… can’t be,” stuttered SolHi, shaking with all her body. „He’s… he’s… Scar,” her scared mind told her afterward. Even so, knowing who was only two steps from her, the one who made her traverse all the circles of hell eight years ago, SolHi didn’t leave that place but advanced. The reason? She badly wanted to see his face again… the face of the man who cruelly hurt her that night, turning her into a fugitive scared bird for God knew for how long.
Yes! SolHi wanted at any cost to see his face again. She desperately wanted to look into his eyes and ask him, „Why?” She wanted to hear an answer to all her pain… to all those questions without an answer that had been spinning in her head all those years… Questions related to a single „Why me?” Yet, as always, she hadn’t been lucky to receive an answer to her pain because she’d been suddenly awakened from that febrile dream. This happened the moment Ha Rin grabbed her arm and forced her to squat. After that, approvingly nodding to let Ha Rin know she understood the message, she followed Ha Rin on the squat, sneaking toward that place where they saw a small hole into the cellophane door.
Once there, both women held their breath. They didn’t even dare to look through that hole and see who the master of that hissing heavy breath was. At least they didn’t dare to do that at first. Then, when the gasp stopped for a few moments, SolHi dared to look through the small hole.
Looking through it, SolHi saw something really terrifying. She also heard the same voice that had been following her like a ghost all those eight years when the monster she was seeing at that moment hissed with hatred through his teeth, „You are at my feet now, bitch! From now on, you won’t ever stay on my way again!”
To whom exactly did that monster say those words full of hatred? To another victim - a young woman who was lying on the floor, on a big cellophane, with her back to the place where SolHi was, a victim who had the same ugly wound on the back of her head. Seeing the wound, SolHi shook with all her body. She’d been even about to yell when she saw it. Yet, all that was heard coming out of her mouth was a thud, strange growl. This happened because of Ha Rin, who anticipated SolHi’s intention and covered her mouth with both hands. Then, she pulled SolHi back, begging her through signs to leave that place of terror immediately, one covered by cellophane, mold, and spiderweb.
SolHi denied the idea of leaving though. Then, holding breath again and with shaking hands, she approached the hole and looked through it for the second time. Yet, she didn’t see the other victim there but herself… the one that fell victim to that maniac eight years ago. And, right next to herself, the one lying on a cement cold floor, SolHi saw the same butcher she’d seen eight years ago - no one other than Han YuSan.