It was already late at night when SolHi finally left HanSol’s apartment. She did that, although she would have liked to rest at least that night. The reason? It was necessary to replace Ha Rin, who kept an eye on Jackal after they decided to follow him everywhere and find at least something about him.
Before leaving the apartment, judging by Ha Rin’s calm voice, SolHi thought she’d have a quiet night, without some adventure. Yet, she understood very soon that she’d been so wrong. The reason? The moment the door closed behind her, she spotted a shadow hiding in the hall’s darkness, sheltering and trying not to be seen by her.
Sheltering, the shadow had been pretty agile. Even so, she couldn’t deceive SolHi, and this happened because of the light with sensors that suddenly turned on when SolHi opened the door. Thus, the one who decided to spy on SolHi didn’t have time to shelter quickly enough. Then, there was one more detail that let SolHi know she wasn’t alone in that hall at that late hour at night: the lamp from her right, which was about 50 meters from the door, was now on then off, hinting to her that someone was there. Yet, even if she understood that, SolHi didn’t return to the apartment. She just turned her back to the intruder and, as calmly as possible, trying not to give herself in front of the one who was following her, she moved away from the door.
Once in front of the stairwell door, SolHi stopped and looked to her right, hoping to see the one who was following her. Yet, the hall was empty, something that made her think. Not even after about a minute and a half of staying in front of that door, SolHi did not see anyone following her. „I’ve probably been wrong and seen ghosts where there are none,” she told herself, finally opening the door and heading toward the stairs.
When the door closed with a bang behind her, SolHi stopped again. She even squeezed her hand around the wooden railing of the stairs that led to the first floor of the building. She did that, feeling the fear sneaking into her bones. What she was afraid of? She wasn’t so sure.
By doing this, she understood that it would have been safer for her to be cautious and returned to the door, opening it slowly afterward. Trying to see if the intruder was around, SolHi only peeped her head through the half-open door. Yet, there was nobody in the hall, and this made her frown. „I hear no footsteps around,” she thought. „The lights are also off. Was it a neighbor who rushed to enter the apartment and I thought that someone was after me? It might be. Yet, it’s strange because I heard no door opening or closing there.”
This thought, of hearing nobody getting in or out of an apartment after the shadow sheltered, convinced SolHi that she might not have had visions. Even so, she realized that she also couldn’t check if it was true and that there weren’t ghosts but only real people. Why? Nobody appeared in the hall after she entered the stairwell, even if she waited by the door enough time. Yet, aware that her sixth sense wasn’t warning her in vain, SolHi decided to check it and make sure she was free to go to their hideout that night.
Getting out of the stairwell, so suddenly that she’d also been surprised by her courage, SolHi headed toward the elevator that was about 30 meters to her left, right after she exited the door. In front of the elevator, pretending of being damn calm, SolHi pushed the button. Then, she pretended to check her phone, although, on the sly, she kept looking left and right out of the corner of her eye, trying to spot a movement or something. Yet, not even the fly moved through the air after that.
This didn’t deceive her though. She felt with all her body that someone was there and was after her. That’s why she suddenly jerked from the spot she was when the elevator doors opened. She didn’t enter the elevator but headed toward the stairwell again, closing the door with a bang behind her again.
The moment SolHi ran into the stairwell, she heard someone saying in the distance of the hall „Damn it!” She clearly heard those words, although the man who was following her only muttered them. How could she hear them? Because the corridor was empty at that late hour at night, and the echo of the room brought the meaning of those words to her ears, words that made her smile eventually. The reason? She made sure she hadn’t been wrong when she suspected that someone was behind her, just as she hadn’t been wrong trusting her sixth sense, and this meant only one thing - for the moment, she was safe.
Running down the stairs, her thoughts started spinning in her head as though they were wild wasps that went crazy when someone touched their hive. A lot of thoughts spun in her head at that moment, all having the meaning „Who?”
Such thoughts made SolHi see and hear nothing around her for minutes in a row. Only when her foot slipped on the stairs of gray tile and she’d been forced to grab the railing with both hands trying to avoid falling off them, she heard the footsteps of her enemy much behind her. Looking up, after she bent over the railing a little, she saw a shadow rushing to descend the same stairs as she was descending about 4 or 5 floors above her. „Even so, if I stay here for longer, judging by the speed he has to descend these stairs, it won’t be too hard for him to catch up with me.”
Deeply breathing in to calm down after the scare she had when her foot slipped, SolHi got some courage and continued descending the stairs much more rapidly than before. Even so, she needed about five minutes to finish descending them and get to the door that led to the backyard of the building. In front of the door, she felt that her heart stopped for a few seconds, and this happened because she thought that the rear door was locked. At least it seemed to be so because of the thick chain that was seen around the doorknobs and of the big lock that hung on it. Yet, this didn’t impede SolHi from checking it, and, approaching the big metallic door, she pushed it in front.
To her great surprise, the door wasn’t locked and she could easily open it. Even so, she didn’t stop to try to understand what was going on but kept running, realizing that it was her only chance to shelter in time. SolHi did that, although she wasn’t afraid to face her enemy. What she was afraid of was for him to recognize her and alert the rest. She really didn’t want others to know she was still alive. If this had happened, she was sure that the hunting against her would have started again, something that would have impeded her from finishing their plans and turned her into a running rabbit forever.
Getting out of the building, SolHi turned right and kept advancing for about five minutes. Then, arriving at a crossroad, formed by the narrow paths seen between the buildings that were seen around, she turned left, hoping to find a good hideout somewhere. When she turned left, SolHi dared to look back, seeing the silhouette of the one who followed her. „A skinny fellow, black dressed, not taller than 1.8-1.85, black cap and mask,” she thought, seeing him. „It’s the perfect way of following one without being discovered.”
SolHi thought about this all those ten minutes while she kept running from her enemy, and he kept following her. A damn difficult race for both of them because none of them knew that place, something that could have made them easily fall into a trap. Also because of this, none of them knew if they could have found a place to hide and protect their identity. Because of this, they kept choosing random paths among the buildings, turning left and right beside the buildings while trying to confuse the other one.
„This is a trick I’ll twist her neck one day for if I put my paw on her,” Moon Joon Won hissed through his teeth at one point, being the one who followed SolHi. „I’ll do that no matter the consequences!” He growled in his head eventually when he realized that he lost her at the next crossroad.
Stopping and breathing fast, the young man tried to hear at least a noise or something to help him figure out where SolHi had headed or hidden. Hearing no footsteps anywhere made him frown because this meant only one thing: SolHi found a damn good hideout, and this put him into trouble again. „Something I shouldn’t have ever allowed to happen,” he growled, carefully looking around but seeing nobody. „Damn cunning bitch! Yes, she’s definitely one. Otherwise, I can’t explain how could she hide in a place she doesn’t know. Yet… why am I even surprised? She’s cunning. Otherwise, Kim HanSol wouldn’t have turned her into a ghost. She wouldn’t have sheltered her by turning her into a ghost and giving her the skills of the ghosts: to hide when they have to do that.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
A hollow sound, heard somewhere to his right, made him wince. Looking over there, Joon Won saw nobody, and this made him frown again. He even got mad when he realized that SolHi or any other living creature didn’t make the sound but by his mobile phone, which insistently vibrated into the right pocket of his black pants. Phone that he finally took out of his pocket, just to vent his frustration on the one who called him by growling „What do you want?”
What Joon Won’s interlocutor told him, SolHi didn’t hear. Even so, she was sure that he didn’t hear good news because she suddenly saw him getting angrier than he was. The reason? She heard him growling through his teeth, loud enough to hear him from her hideout, „Damn, idiots! If I don’t do a job, you aren’t capable of doing it right, yes? Yeah, you are right: I’d have smashed you if I had had you with me. Why? Because… If I were you, I wouldn’t have lost her track for sure. Of course, I’m sure! And… find her until I get there! If not, I swear I’ll crack your head, idiot!”
Saying this, Joon Won suddenly hung up the phone, which he put into the right chest pocket, zipping it. Then, hiding his eyes under the black cap, he carefully looked around in a last attempt to find SolHi. Not seeing her anywhere, Joon Won spat with loathing to the side, jerking from his spot and vanishing behind a building after turning right at the crossroad.
By doing this, Joon Won hoped to deceive SolHi and make her leave her hideout. Yeah, right! SolHi wasn’t stupid to be easily deceived. What she did when she saw that Joon Won ran away was to shelter more, quietly waiting for the outcome of that weird game of hiding that she’d been forced to play with a former DOC agent. „An agent I know that’s way too trained to give up so easily. At least, he won’t easily give up on a prey like me. That’s why I’m sure I won’t easily get rid of him tonight, at least not soon.”
SolHi was right in thinking this because she suddenly saw a shadow sneaking beside the building, two minutes after Joon Won vanished at the crossroads. Following him with a glance, SolHi saw him heading toward the basement of the building that was to her right, a basement that had a big metallic door. Arriving in front of the door, although he saw that it was locked and thick chains were wrapped around the doorknobs, Moon Joon Won still grabbed one of the doorknobs and pulled it toward him, hoping that both the lock and the chains were fake and SolHi was hiding there.
His attempt to take her by surprise failed eventually, a thing that made SolHi smile. She did that when she saw him pulling back and a strange gnash was heard afterward. „I’m sure he’d be capable of tearing my throat apart with those teeth. Yet, Moon Joon Won, keep dreaming! I won’t ever allow you that. At least you won’t have this chance tonight.” After that, ensconcing herself to make sure she wouldn’t be seen there, SolHi focused her glance on him, seeing the young man returning to the spot where he answered the phone call.
After five minutes when the man didn’t move from that spot, SolHi frowned. „What the hell is he planning?” She wondered. Then, realizing that „He’s trying to lure me into his trap, thinking that he „left,” SolHi smiled because she felt so good that night because she managed to deceive a damn good DOC agent. „Top secret, by the way!”
A rustle, which had been suddenly heard to her left, made SolHi attentive. The same happened to Joon Won, whom she saw squatting and sneaking toward the place where she heard the rustle, about fifty meters from where he was. What exactly lured him there? Something that was sneaking around! Yes, it seemed to him that SolHi was there and that, to make sure he really left, she sneaked toward him. This thought made the young man smile, whispering to himself, „I caught you, bitch!”
Walking on tiptoe toward that place, Joon Won finally got where he needed. He even descended a few stairs afterward because the rustle was heard from in front of another basement entrance. Only after descending two stairs, Joon Won cursed his luck and covered his nose with his sleeve when the stinky smell that came from that place got to his nostrils, something that made him nauseous. That one was a place he wouldn’t have ever wanted to enter. Yet, once he was determined to catch SolHi that night and do that no matter the consequences, he kept descending those stairs until he got to the basement entrance, which had no door.
Arriving there, Joon Won stopped. For a few moments, he carefully listened to the surroundings, desperately trying to figure out where SolHi was. Hearing only a slight noise, something that seemed more like chewing something, Joon Won frowned and took the phone out of his pocket. Turning the lantern on and illuminating the room, which wasn’t bigger than three meters squares, he cooked his nose, seeing only dust and other dirty stuff around, just as he’d seen enough improvised „beds” there - of the vagabonds who used to sleep in that place. Homeless men that left a lot of junk behind them, just as they left the smell of urine and other stinky things, something that made Joon Won finally withdraw.
Back to solid soil and breathing fresh air again, Joon Won suddenly felt that he wanted to vomit, squatting after that. Yet, even though he gasped several times, he couldn’t release his stomach, something that irritated him more because the nausea and the headache, caused by what he’d just seen, were still there. The man even cursed his luck after that when, hearing noise to his right, illuminated that place by using the phone lantern, thinking to take the one that approached him by surprise.
The surprised one had been him eventually because he only managed to scare a cat when he illuminated that place, a quadruped that deafeningly mewed, raising her fur while glaring at Joon Won. For her „courage,” Joon Won rewarded her with a „Get lost, idiot! You are as black as the devil!” After that, tired of being scared only by ghosts but not catching one, Joon Won straightened his back and looked around. Seeing nobody there, he finally understood that he lost that game and that it was time to get lost from there. Something he did eventually, taking the same path they had taken to get there.
Seeing him moving away, not at all convinced of his decision and still squeezing the gun in his hand because he knew that she might have been armed once she was with HanSol, SolHi frowned. „What is he planning this time?” She wondered.
SolHi didn’t receive an answer to her question that night. Yet, this didn’t bother or discourage her. The reason? She knew that it wasn’t the first game of hiding she was playing with Moon Joon Won. She felt that she’d have more chances to play the role of Jerry in that life while he’d have been Tom in that story. Even so, she was grateful for getting rid of him, having her fur and all paws untouched, on which she landed eventually when she descended from the tree where she’d been climbing all the time Joon Won looked for her. A smart decision by the way because the young man hadn’t ever thought about looking for her in the trees. All he had done was look for her under old cartons, stinky basements, and cats as scared as he was.
Thinking about this, SolHi smiled. Then, convinced that she was safe already, she followed Moon Joon Won, intending to see what else would have crossed his mind that night. Yet, although she headed back to the building where HanSol was living, SolHi didn’t get there because, when she heard the engine of a motorcycle turned on, somewhere to her left, coming from the side street that was connected to the main one, she headed toward there afterward. She even quickened her pace to get to that place until the motorcycle had left, and she did well doing this because she saw Joon Won leaving eventually on his expensive motorcycle at full speed.
Looking behind them, SolHi frowned. The reason? „If he’d been here and knew what exactly to look for, it means that HanSol’s trick didn’t work and he knew that I wasn’t turned into a ghost that night in the DOC parking lot, something that tells me that my days as a ghost are about to be over. Why? Because… I don’t think that he’s following me because he wants that. It’s definitely anything like that because, as far as I remember, I hadn’t ever messed up with him. Even so, he’s here, and this might be because someone ordered him to do that. Who then? Min SinJu? Or maybe… San DuSik? No, they can be both messed up in this because they are swimming in the same puddle. Yet, no matter who’s involved in this, they can try to catch me. However, I assure them that they’ll waste their time because if I’ve gotten here, I don’t intend to give up that easily or allow them to ruin my plans. I won’t do that for sure because… until I don’t bring justice to myself and I don’t twist that devil’s neck, who played with me all these years, I won’t rest in peace.”
Encouraging herself like that, SolHi finally headed in the opposite direction to the one Moon Joon Won took to vanish from there. Two blocks away, she entered the black car HanSol gave her, another BMW, an off-road vehicle that SolHi particularly asked for to make sure she’d be able to get rid of her enemies no matter where she’d be. Once in her car, she felt safer than in open space. Even so, she rushed to leave that place because she finally remembered Min Ha Rin, who was waiting for her.