„What did you talk to SolHi?” Kan asked SoRan after they exited the prison and headed toward the car parked not that far from the prison’s gates.

„Not that much,” replied SoRan drily. „Let’s say she hasn’t been that eager to talk to me. Or… to see me. She became toothy, like a pitbull that had been closed for so long in a cage.”

„And? Wouldn’t have you acted the same if it had been you inside that cage? Without the possibility to see the people you love or the sun?”

„I didn’t send her there. She willingly accepted to enter the jail for others.”

„Lee SoRan!” Kan told her in a stern voice. „You can’t talk like that about something you aren’t sure about. We aren’t sure that’s true what you think that it might be true. All we have is just an idea. Nothing more.”

„We have pictures!” Replied SoRan confidently.

„Fake photos, probably. This is also a possibility.”

„What if they aren’t fake? What if Father really did that to protect his back? Even if he had been blown up eventually and his „allies” hadn’t been punished for what they did.”

Kan smiled. „I see you really hated him.”

SoRan blocked the wheels with her hands. Then, gnashing her teeth, a sound so clearly heard by Kan, she made him stop. After that, the detective took a few steps and stopped in front of SoRan. The girl didn’t look into his eyes, but somewhere on the ground. That’s why Kan squatted and touched her hand. „Don’t take it personally!” He said. „I just…”

„You only told the truth,” replied SoRan suddenly. „And yes, I hated my father. At least this is what I thought since not long ago.”

„A hatred I don’t understand, to be honest.”

„Does it seem little to you what he has done to SolHi?”

„This is something we aren’t sure about. Yet, even though it’s true what we suspect, your father did that to make justice to you.”

„By trampling others under his feet?” SoRan shouted. „I don’t need such happiness.”

„Maybe, but you can’t judge him for deciding this. Each of us has the right to decide the way we’ll act even if we aren’t sure that this will ensure our success. This is what Captain Lee did. I think.”

„Don’t defend him!” SoRan hissed through her teeth.

„I don’t defend him. I only… try to understand him. It’s because I’ve been a father once.”

Kan’s words made SoRan insistently look at him. „A father?” She thought. „I knew that Detective Kan doesn’t have kids. Or… is he talking about SolHi now?” Questions she didn’t dare to ask loudly. She only changed the trajectory of the chair and, pushing the wheels, she said to Kan, „Let’s go! I can’t leave Mother alone for so long. And… I also need time to think about what has happened today. I need to think about this a lot.”

Kan reproachfully shook his head. „She has to think! Well, it’s good to know that she doesn’t think too much while I’m around. Otherwise, I’m dead for sure!”

„Are you coming?” SoRan shouted again, stopping about 10 meters from him.

„Do I have any other choice?” Kan replied jokingly.

„Not really,” she said and both burst into laughter.

***

Sat next to the bars of the cell, SolHi was chewing in silence the last events that marked her life: Ha Rin’s appearance in the same cell as she was and Lee SoRan’s visit, who told her about Lee’s death. A piece of news that marked her a lot. Thus, not being capable of seeing the angry faces of the other prisoners, who all that wanted was to hurt her, SolHi asked the guardian to take her to her cell and not to the yard where the other prisoners were.

Listening to SolHi’s request, the guardian didn’t oppose it, something that amazed SolHi a lot because she knew that the guardians hated her even if she never did anything to them. On the contrary, the guardian said, „If you want this, you can go to your cell. Thus, we’ll have fewer problems because of you.” After that, when SolHi entered the cell, the first thought of the guardian was to close the door, something she didn’t do eventually, but let it open before going away.

Nevertheless, even if this was a chance to breathe freely, SolHi didn’t pay too much attention to this. The only thing that made her happy was to know that she had half an hour only for her before the other prisoners would be back in their cells. That’s why, sitting on the floor and supporting her back on the bars, she closed her eyes, fully enjoying the solitude. Something she couldn’t enjoy for long because the torment in her soul was felt again so vividly. Thus, when the storm came back to her chest, SolHi felt even more agitated than before, something that made her confused.

„Damn it!” She suddenly murmured, grabbing her hair with both hands and squeezing it. Even tears appeared in the corner of her eyes when SolHi looked in front again. That’s why she asked herself. „Why am I crying?” Yet, not understanding the reason why she was crying, SolHi quickly wiped the tears before others dripped on her cheeks soon after this.

Only then, she understood why she was crying: she felt sorrow. Yes, she felt sorrow for herself because, instead of seeing DooSan, she’d been humiliated by a stranger with beautiful eyes and hair that day, a stranger with long black hair that was so beautiful lying on her shoulders. Thus, she got to feel envious of the stranger again and wanted so badly to be in her place.

She winced eventually when she remembered what SoRan told her before she left the visiting room. „Ten years ago, I’ve been the victim of a rape… The same method, the same violence used to hurt my body, the same strange voice because of a voice modifier, and the same reason - revenge.” These words made SolHi close her eyes again and try to remember if she had seen such cases while working for the police. No, she didn’t see that. She was sure about this because she looked for similar cases of rape that happened in the last fifteen years. Yet, even if she had seen a lot of similar cases, she didn’t remember to have seen SoRan’s name as one of the victims.

Why? Why SoRan said then that she’d been the victim of rape if there wasn’t such a case? Did she lie to her? No, SolHi was sure that the girl wasn’t lying. At the same time, she knew that there was a secret behind that story. She felt it, even if it seemed weird to her. At the same time, it seemed strange to SolHi that SoRan knew about the abandoned warehouse even if she didn’t mention this. „Did she investigate my case?” No, it was too much. Maybe she just invented all this to make her pay attention to what she tried to say. Or… „Maybe she did that? No, oh, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. That’s why, when she felt a headache, SolHi also felt dizzy.

To feel better, SolHi laid her head on her arms and closed her eyes. Thus, she allowed the silence of the cell and the despair from her soul to take over her again. Her mind, however, was stubborn and didn’t want her to have some rest. That’s why she was thinking over and over again at each word she told the stranger and SoRan said to her, just as she was thinking over and over again if it was true what the other one said and that she’d been used when she’d been sent to the jail.

Staying in that position, SolHi remembered a sentence Captain Lee told her when there were only the two of them in the Interrogatory Room of Kanam Police Station after Sun DuSik left it in a rush. „If you want to save him, you must sacrifice yourself. We all did that because only this way we can triumph.”

„What did Captain Lee try to tell me then? What was the real message of his words?” SolHi wondered in a shaking voice, raising her head and looking in front. She kept her arms crossed over her knees and squeezed her fists. Yet, no matter how she tried to find an answer to her questions, she couldn’t.

Eventually, doubt sneaked into her soul. „What if Lee SoRan is right and I’ve been closed here for nothing?” Revenge. It was probably the reason why she was there. Yes, Han YuSan was the name of that revenge because… ah, yes, now she remembered - Lee DoHun and DooSan’s father, Han Min Sun, had been good friends. How didn’t she think about this before? How did she allow others to deceive her so easily?

„You’ve been a fool, Ian SolHi. You allowed them to deceive you,” she murmured eventually, overwhelmed by pain and remorse. That’s why she bit her lips just not to allow other tears to wash her cheeks. „You’ve paid eventually for what others wanted and you have not even been able to understand that they have just used you. Justice? Bullshit! To defend him? Damn it! They just got what they wanted: to close you in this cell. This was the initial plan and they made it, lying to you and making you believe in fairy tales because…”

„Are you talking to yourself lately?” She heard Ha Rin’s voice to her right, something that made SolHi wince. After that, she turned her head and looked at her cellmate from the corner of her eye only. Not for a long time because, seconds later, she looked in front, but said nothing. Thus, she heard Ha Rin’s laughter and the noise of her footsteps that were approaching the door. „You are actually right,” she said, stopping next to the door. „That’s why you are here.” SolHi didn’t understand what the woman was talking about. Yet, she didn’t want to ask the reason why that one was talking like that. All she wanted was to be left alone, something Ha Rin didn’t want because she said, soon after this, as if SolHi asked for an explanation, „I mean… you are right in thinking that you’ve been fooled.”

„It’s none of your business eventually,” replied SolHi sharply. „I can handle it.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Ha Rin laughed, „No doubt about this because, as far as I can see, you have handled it perfectly lately. I’m talking now not only about the wounds on your body or the frequent crisis and the haircut but also the fact that you are here, having the status of a sentenced to death.”

„I killed someone,” said SolHi drily. Yet, even if she tried to seem honest, she was lying. „I think that’s clear enough now why do I have this red number on my chest.”

„Aaa, good because I was thinking that’s only an accessory,” said Ha Rin ironically. After that, sitting on the floor, right in front of SolHi, she said, „Now tell me, since when have you been here?”

„I think you know that already. I don’t see the point in answering this question.”

„I think you should answer that question. Otherwise… I would have cut your throat a long time ago.” SolHi stared at her, confused. Ha Rin smiled only. Yet, it wasn’t clear if her smile was a kind one or a cunning one. Eventually, she said, „I made you attentive, right?”

„Maybe,” hissed SolHi through her teeth, biting a little the top of her tongue. She did that not because she wanted to hide her fear, which she didn’t feel at that moment and this was strange, but because she decided that more words were useless.

„I think that’s more than a „maybe” here. What I think is that you are more than interested in finding out what I know.”

„And? What do I win if I find this out? Wow, wait! The question should be a little bit different: what do you win by telling me what you know?”

„Rather, I lose than I win.”

„Then, you should keep your mouth shut.”

„Do you think so? I mean: do you really think that’s a good idea to keep silent?”

„What do I know? Probably it is a good idea because… let’s say I’ve learned a lot this year here, in prison.”

„You spent more than a year here. Let’s not forget those few months you spent in prison, some years ago. Eight years to be more precise. And… the scars on your arms and legs.” SolHi swallowed hard and shuddered, deeply looking into the woman’s eyes. „I see I’ve made you really attentive now,” Ha Rin said, grinning. „I hurt you then.”

A hand, stretched in front, suddenly grabbed Ha Rin by the throat. After that, pouncing on her, SolHi pressed the woman’s throat with both hands, using all the force she could use at that moment. Even her eyes turned red while her lips were continuously murmuring, „You, bitch! Because of you, I suffered so much! Why? Why?”

Ha Rin, to SolHi’s great surprise, didn’t defend herself. On the contrary, she kept weirdly grinning even if she didn’t have air. Then, when she had the chance, she told SolHi, „Press it! Harder and become one of us! Thus, you won’t ever get out of here! I swear!”

Such words drove SolHi crazy, more so when she heard the strange sounds that were coming out of the woman’s throat. Something that made her press more and more on that throat. Then, suddenly, as though a camera had taken a picture of her, SolHi remembered the moment DooSan tried to strangle her next to his car, on that country road, next to that weird abandoned warehouse. At that moment, she, just like Ha Rin, couldn’t oppose someone’s desire to take her life. She also remembered the tears seen in his eyes while he pressed her throat, something that made her doubt what she wanted to do and she released Ha Rin, who, involuntarily, touched her neck with both hands and moved further from SolHi while continuously coughing, trying to recover her natural breath.

Insistently looking at her hands, SolHi saw them stained with blood. Then, she remembered the scar on the attacker’s chin. That’s why she shuddered, moreover when she heard Ha Rin saying, „Coward!” Looking at her cellmate, SolHi saw tears in her eyes. Something that amazed her a lot. Nevertheless, understanding that it could be a prank played by her memory, SolHi closed her eyes and told herself, „It’s because of the coughing! It’s only because of this! She can’t cry because she’s still alive! SolHi, wake up!” She demanded herself, covering her face with both palms.

Listening to the sound of an open dagger, SolHi’s heart stopped for a few seconds. Even so, she didn’t look in front, where she heard that sound. On the contrary, SolHi preferred to stay that way: seeing nothing. Only when the sharp blade of the dagger touched her arm, cutting it, and when she felt the pain sneaking into her bones, SolHi suddenly moved and grabbed that blade with her empty hand. Then, she squeezed it. She squeezed it so hard that she felt the blood dripping on her arm while her eyes were staring with hatred at Ha Rin and her lips murmured, „Why? Why do you do all this?”

„I told you already: it’s an order.”

„Then, you shouldn’t have saved me a few evenings ago. Thus, you would have avoided staining your hands with blood again.”

„And lose all the fun?” Asked Ha Rin, grinning. Then, pulling the dagger, she hurt SolHi’s palm even more. After that, cleaning the dagger’s blade from SolHi’s trousers, she sat on the floor again, playing with the sharp blade which she closed and opened over and over again. While Ha Rin was doing this, SolHi looked in front. Not at the woman’s face, but at the object that hurt her and which was a toy in Ha Rin’s hands at that moment.

Suddenly, she felt dizzy again and closed her eyes. Yet, it didn’t help her to feel better. On the contrary, she felt that everything was rotating around her. Even so, she didn’t pay too much attention to this, but only said to herself, „If I stay this way, with my eyes closed, I’ll feel better eventually. Yes, it will help me because it can’t last forever.” Nevertheless, the dizziness didn’t pass. She felt that her head was heavy and she wanted to vomit. In her ears, a strange buzz was heard, something unbearable, but which she wanted to stop. Yet, it didn’t stop but became insufferable eventually.

In the end, she felt that someone grabbed her by the wrist and, pulling it, that person dragged her in front. SolHi didn’t oppose it or open her eyes. She only thought, „Let’s happen what should happen. I just want all this to end.” Yet, nothing got to its end. Only something very cold touched her wound. Then, she felt a strange pulsation on the injured palm when the cloth wrapped around it. Next to her ear, she heard Ha Rin’s breath, something she got to know in the last few days. Yes, it was something known to her, so similar to that breath she heard a few years ago when she got those scars on her arms and legs.

„Better no,” murmured SolHi eventually when she felt that Ha Rin grabbed her by the arms and tried to help her to stand up. „Let this be the end! It’ll be quiet after that.”

„And lose all the fun?” Replied Ha Rin, grinning into SolHi’s left ear. „It won’t be funny at all. That’s why: do me a favor and live!”

Listening to those words, SolHi opened her eyes and looked at Ha Rin’s face. Thus, she saw something strange floating in front of her eyes. Only the black eyes of the woman were so clearly seen by SolHi, who, for a second, saw the kindness blinking in them. „It’s only an illusion,” thought SolHi, smiling, a smile that made Ha Rin confused. Nevertheless, she said nothing. She only struggled with SolHi until this one stood up. After that, supporting SolHi on the bars of the cell, she asked her to keep her balance. Then, approaching the WC, Ha Rin threw the dagger into it and washed it. However, it hadn’t been that easy and she needed to wash it two or three times more until the dagger disappeared. Later, when the weapon vanished, Ha Rin approached SolHi, who watched everything she did, and, putting SolHi’s arm around her shoulders, she forced her cellmate to follow her.

Ten minutes later, they got to the first aid room. Nobody was there at that moment, even if the doctor should have been there. Yet, seeing nobody there didn’t bother SolHi or Ha Rin. On the contrary, they felt relaxed not seeing the doctor there even though none of them knew why they felt that. Then, when they got sure that nobody saw them entering, Ha Rin carefully closed the door, and, along with SolHi, who was staggering to her feet, they approached one of the beds.

After lying on one of the empty beds, SolHi closed her eyes. She felt dizzy and that she wasn’t capable anymore to keep her eyes open. Even so, she heard Ha Rin approaching one of the drawers and looking for alcohol, bandages, and instruments. Then, SolHi heard Ha Rin washing her hands, with a lot of water. She even heard the soap slipping on the sink while Ha Rin poured alcohol over her hands, to put on some latex gloves eventually.

„Have you been a doctor?” SolHi asked after she opened her eyes and saw what Ha Rin was doing.

„You can say it so! Yet, let’s not talk about this right now!”

„Why?” Insisted SolHi, who, defeated by the pain, closed her eyes again.

„Because this is an old story. Too painful in fact. Something I don’t intend to talk to a stranger about.”

SolHi forced a smile, something that amazed Ha Rin, who stared at her eventually. Yet, even if she wanted to ask SolHi why she laughed, Ha Rin only pulled a chair close to the bed and did the same with the small table on which she put the instruments. After that, she sat on that chair.

„Be careful,” said SolHi without opening her eyes. „I don’t want another scar on my palm! Even if I doubt I won’t have one after this.”

„Me either,” murmured Ha Rin suddenly pressing with all her force on the wound.

SolHi gasped because of the pain. Then, because of the heavy blood loss, she lost consciousness. This didn’t alarm Ha Rin, as if this was what she wanted. After that, pouring alcohol onto the wound, she disinfected it, to sew it later.

It was something weird to look at the butcher saving his victim. More than that, it was something weird for Ha Rin to do that because she never felt that she had to protect someone, more over the one whom she hurt with her hands. Yet, with SolHi, she got to feel this. She came to feel that she had to hurt and protect her at the same time. Why? She had no idea. She only felt guilty and responsible for her fate. That’s why she took care of her wound. Then, she threw the gloves, the bandages, and the instruments she used to sew the wound into the trash can. After that, she washed her hands and, looking for some medicine in another drawer, she introduced some liquid into a syringe, which she later injected into SolHi.

Hearing that the door opened, Ha Rin winced. She did that not because she was scared, but because she didn’t expect that someone would enter. Looking at the door, she saw a woman, about forty, with blond hair, cut into a bob up to her shoulders, staring at her. The doctor said nothing. She only looked at SolHi for a few moments, at the number on her vestment, to inhale this deeply later. After that, she approached the table and took a few notes.

„You can go!” She told Ha Rin eventually. „I’ll take care of this.”

„Of course not! I can’t do that and you know why.

„Then, you shouldn’t have hurt her, Ha Rin! Or… you shouldn’t have taken care of her. Only this way you can be free.”

Ha Rin sketched a sad smile. „As though it can be that easy! And… you know better than me that I can’t be free! Not as long as he’s alive.”

„Kill him, then!” The doctor said, in a sure tone. „Or kill her!” She added, pointing with her head toward SolHi. „She’s the price of your freedom.”

Ha Rin sighed, sitting next to SolHi. After that, looking at SolHi’s sleeping face, she said, „I can’t!”

„Why?” The doctor asked in a sure tone, taking a few steps toward SolHi and Ha Rin. While approaching them, she stuck her hands into her pockets. „She wouldn’t be the first person you had sent to the other world.”

„Yet, she’d be the first one who doesn’t deserve it, Mi Hi. She’ll be the first person whose death won’t make me happy.”

Suddenly, Mi Hi slapped Ha Rin. That’s why Ha Rin looked at her as though she was a fighting dog, ready to attack. Meanwhile, the doctor told her, hissing the words through her teeth, „We are talking about our freedom, idiot! If you don’t do that, I’ll do it!” Then, so suddenly, that Ha Rin winced, Mi Hi took a scalpel out of her pocket and tried to stab it into SolHi’s hip. She failed eventually because of Ha Rin, who suddenly grabbed her by the arm. After that, fighting for a few moments, Ha Rin managed to push Mi Hi away from SolHi. Then, stepping in front of her, she told the doctor, „Stay away from all this, Kuk Mi Hi, or I swear I kill you!”

„You couldn’t kill her, but you’ll kill me?”

„Mmm,” replied Ha Rin confidently, „I can kill you because you have sins on your soul. She doesn’t have them. At least she doesn’t have sins that affect me. So, do what I say if you don’t want to die.”

Mi Hi, listening to what Ha Rin said, withdrew her arm, dropping the scalpel, which fell under the bed. Yet, none of the women looked at it. They were too busy to look with hatred at each other, a hint that they had things to share… A big secret, in fact, one that was absolutely necessary not to be discovered ever…