„He seemed to have been a very unfriendly witness, it seems to me,” said IuNa, staring at DooSan. He was sitting on the sofa, with his face buried in his palms, something that made him look so unprotected and powerless at that moment.

Not only did DooSan look so emptied inside but also SolHi. She was leaning against the closet from the living room of Lee’s house, with her head bowed, and often gnashing her teeth. The reason? She felt that the entire world was about to collapse over her shoulders because „No matter what we do, we are always losing. As though we are cursed.”

Her shout made DooSan raise his head and silently look at her for a while. Seeing that SolHi couldn’t calm down and her eyes were bathed by the tears of disappointment, he stood up and approached her. Touching her cheeks with both palms, he forced her to look into his eyes when he said, „A simple coincidence! That’s all! Trust me!”

Hearing him talking like that, somehow carelessly, though the man’s voice had shaken when he said those words, SolHi frowned. „Coincidence?” She hissed through her teeth. „Hell no, DooSan! It can’t be about coincidence here. Not as long as even Park Yu Ra, who wasn’t a problem for them anymore, was taken out of the game. She’s dead, right?”

„No,” stated DooSan, trying to be calm when he felt that SolHi was like a volcano about to blow. „She’s in a coma,” he added. „Thus, as long as she’s still alive, we have a chance to succeed because… now it’s different.”

„What’s different now, DooSan? Nothing! Why? Once again, an important witness was silenced. Once again, someone blocks our way and impedes us from finding out the truth. At the same time, how does the fact that she’s in a coma help us if she can’t tell us anything?”

„She might recover. Then…”

„…it can be too late,” SolHi shouted again, pushing him away from her and walking up and down in front of him. „Until she awakes from the coma, if she awakes one day, we can be in her shoes: dead or buried God knows where.”

„I think you exaggerate now,” IuNa calmly told her, standing up from the armchair where she had sat by then. „Yet, though I think you both exaggerate anticipating such a grey future for all of us, something we have no idea if this happens one day or not, I still think you might be right. I mean… DooSan might be right in saying that Park Yu Ra can recover one day, just as you, SolHi, are right when you say that we can’t count on her testimony. Thus, we are back from where we’ve started.”

„I think differently though,” SoRan cut her off, making everybody intently watch her. Looking only in front and often frowning, she said, „We aren’t back to the starting point because when we started this investigation, we hadn’t thought about talking with them. Plus, as IuNa says, while Park Yu Ra is still alive, the balance can tilt in our favor any moment.”

„Or we can get worse than now,” SolHi said through her teeth. „That balance can tilt so much so that it digs a big hole for all of us.”

„I said already that you exaggerate,” said IuNa reproachfully. „Yet, I won’t say that I don’t feel the same sometimes. Even so, it’s a true fact that we can’t count on Park Yu Ra, at least for the moment. Then… the last hope now is Scorpion.”

DooSan weirdly smiled, making everybody wince. Seeing their grimaces, he sketched a kinder smile when he said, „He got worse than Park Yu Ra because… they’d buried him a few days ago. Overdose.”

DooSan’s words made SolHi burst into hysterical laughter. Then, when she’d been able to calm down a little, not paying attention to the stunned glances of others, which were focused on her, she asked, „Am I the only one who considers all these weird?”

„Weird? How?” SoRan inquired.

„The fact that we trip even where it’s a rocky road, for instance. How? Simple: back in jail, I’ve been attacked because they’ve tried to silence me. Then, while we were following Jackal’s footsteps, trying to find out what he was up to, Min Ha Rin was about to be sent to the other world. Not only did she suffer because, on top of that, the two important witnesses we had, those who might have made some light in this case, suffered in suspicious conditions. How? Park Yu Ra is in a coma while Scorpion is dead. Too many coincidences one after another, don’t you think so?”

„I agree with SolHi this time,” whispered IuNa, walking up and down the living room. „There are too many question marks and weird events we find around this case. Events that seem to be related to each other, having a single purpose: to silence important witnesses. Witnesses about whom only a few of us know, and this makes me think that we might have a „rat” among us. The same goes for DOC or Prosecution.”

DooSan shook his head. „I fully trust each of those who watch my back.”

„Maybe you, DooSan. Yet, I don’t trust any of those that surround you. Why? We talked about visiting Park Yu Ra and Scorpion yesterday. Today you have found out that we can’t count on any of them.”

„You forget one thing, IuNa.”

„What exactly? That Scorpion died a few days ago?”

„That’s right.”

„Well, you are right. Not fully, anyway because… Park Yu Ra has slipped into a coma this morning, right?” The man gnashed his teeth, looking elsewhere. „You see?! I’ve eventually been right because… whether that young man’s death might be considered a coincidence once he was a drug addict, not the same goes with Yu Ra. No, the fact that she has slipped into a coma cannot be considered a coincidence.”

„All this leads us to the same idea: we have a rat.”

„Come on, SolHi,” said DooSan, disappointed. „You can’t be serious now. Why? You know each of those I’m working with. You worked with them too and you know what kind of person is each of them.”

„You are right: I know each of those from your office. Yet, DooSan, you don’t work only with them, don’t forget that. That’s why I say that, once we don’t know who’s our enemy, we can’t say that we don’t have a rat among us.”

„There is also a chance that the rat isn’t inside the Prosecution,” said SoRan, making everybody wince. Seeing them intently looking at her, she took the tablet from her lap and, giving it to DooSan, told him, „I’m talking about the shadow that follows you everywhere, Prosecutor Han. A shadow who doesn’t lose sight of you, and who has appeared in front of my house less than a minute after you showed up.”

DooSan winced again. Then, frowning, he took the tablet from SoRan’s hand and stared at the gadget’s screen. Thus, he saw a shadow in black sneaking behind the cars and approaching the gate of Lee’s house. He even tried to jump over the fence. Nevertheless, he changed his mind at the last possible moment and took the same path back to where he came from.

Even so, when he tried to jump over the fence, one of the surveillance cameras immortalized his face. Seeing the intruder, DooSan hissed through his teeth, „Damn son of a…”

Not finishing his thought, DooSan threw the tablet on SoRan’s lap and left the house. He even slammed the door behind him, making the three women exchange glances. Then, all of them looking at the face of the one whose photo was seen on the screen, IuNa said, „A familiar figure, it seems to me.”

„You are actually right,” stated SolHi, approaching the window and looking into the street. Thus, she saw DooSan heading toward the car, which his spy parked a few meters from the gate, inside of which he was at that moment. „That one is someone Han DooSan knows very well.”

„Where does he know him from?” SoRan asked, confused.

SolHi smiled. „Yun Marie. Does this name tell you something?”

SoRan and IuNa suddenly winced, exchanging glances. Then, IuNa said, „Did DooSan’s mother send the individual to follow her son?”

„It seems so. Why am I so sure? Because… the individual is no one other than the secretary of the former General Attorney Yun Marie. Better said, he’s been working for her since Missis Yun was a simple prosecutor, and he was an inspector. If I’m not mistaken, Han DooSan has mentioned something about her recently.”

„About his mother? What exactly could he say about her?”

„That… he asked for her help to see Park Yu Ra in jail. Why? Park Yu Ra has always refused the visits, including the ones of the Prosecutors or lawyers, something that tells me that…”

„…Yun Marie might have betrayed us.”

„No, SoRan. I don’t think that Yun Marie betrayed her son. I rather bet on her secretary because… he’s been rounding Han DooSan a lot lately. Also, he could have found more details about this from Marie.”

„This is serious already,” said IuNa, concerned. „He might also know about you and…”

„No,” SolHi nervously shook her head. „If he had known that I was alive, I would have been back to a cage since long ago. He’s rather after other kinds of secrets than after me. What kind of secrets? We’ll find out if we follow him. Why? I feel that there is more than a simple curiosity behind the fact he’s here.”

Saying this, SolHi turned her back to the two women and headed toward the door. „Which way?” IuNa asked her, concerned.

SolHi didn’t answer, something that made IuNa want to follow her. She stopped the moment SoRan grabbed her hand. SoRan instead, looking at the closed door and not at IuNa, told her sternly, „Give her some space to breathe!”

„Of course, I’ll give her that space. Yet, let’s not forget that it’s still day and enough hyenas are around.”

„SolHi knows how to avoid meeting them. Except for one: Yun Marie, someone I’ve also started to suspect lately.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

„Do you also suspect prosecutor Han’s mother? Why?”

„Just a feeling I have. If it’s true or not what I feel, we’ll find out even if we simply stay and wait. It’s all we can do for the moment. Sooner or later, the hyenas will attack from the shadows and will give us the chance to find out who’s with us and who our enemy is.”

Saying this, SoRan approached the window, stopping in the same place SolHi had stood. Unlike SolHi, who had stood hidden behind the curtains, SoRan opened them. Thus, she allowed not only the sun to enter that room of secrets but also those who lurked on them from the shadows to see that she also kept an eye on them.

***

Looking through the window of the door from his right, Kim SonUn finally saw the face of the young woman who looked at him through the window of Lee’s house. She insistently looked at him or at least this seemed to him. „A hint that they realized already that I’m here, spying on them,” the man about thirty whispered. After that, he frowned and sighed again, realizing that if she saw him, it was a sure fact already that he’d get into problems soon.

To face those problems, he didn’t have to wait for long. Why? Two minutes after he’d seen SoRan’s face looking at him from the distance of her house, a knock on the left window of his car made him wince. Looking over there, SonUn saw the sour face of the prosecutor Han, who made him sign to step out of the car and face his problems and not hide like a coward inside his car.

Although he’d have liked to ignore that spur, SonUn had no other choice than to open the door. Yet, he didn’t have the chance to step out of the car calmly. As soon as he unlocked the door and opened it, DooSan suddenly grabbed him by the collar and stuck his back against the car. After that, looking at him like a pitbull thirsty for blood, DooSan hissed through his teeth, „May I know what the hell are you doing here, Secretary Kim?”

SonUn sketched a dumb smile. „I was just…” he stuttered. The secretary didn’t do that because of fear because he knew very well who Han DooSan was and that he wasn’t ever solving his problems by using his fists. SonUn stuttered because he hadn’t expected that DooSan would appear there and didn’t think of a good excuse to explain why he was there. Yet, once it wasn’t the first time he was forced to react in a stressful situation, Kim SonUn suddenly straightened his back, though DooSan still forced him to touch the car. Then, looking straight into the prosecutor’s eyes, he said, „You should ask your mother such questions and not me.”

DooSan frowned. „To ask my mother? Why?”

„She’s the one who sent me here. Or what: did you think that I’m here because I’ve wanted that? Of course not. Why? Let’s say you aren’t a prey on my taste or someone whom I’m interested in.”

The young man was right in saying that because he didn’t have a reason to be interested in DooSan. Even so, he’d been forced to follow in the prosecutor’s footsteps several times at Marie’s command. He also did that once or twice following a personal interest, and this happened when he found out that Marie’s younger son couldn’t swallow him, though SonUn didn’t ever do something to DooSan. This didn’t mean that DooSan loved him. Why? For an unknown reason even to him, he felt jealousy for Kim SonUn.

To Secretary Kim’s great surprise, who thought that DooSan would release him and call Marie, DooSan had pushed him against the car with even more force. Then, he looked stunned at DooSan when this one burst into laughter. DooSan hysterically laughed, making the young secretary stare at him for a while, wondering if the prosecutor lost his mind or something.

Spotting the secretary’s widened eyes focused on him, DooSan said, laughing, „You are actually right: I’m going crazy. This shouldn’t be a novelty for you, once I have the feeling that it’s not the first time you follow in my footsteps. Even so, not this makes me laugh but the fact that my own mother, instead of asking me if I’m fine or what I’m doing, sends her secretary to spy on me. So, tell me: if you had been in my place, wouldn’t you have reacted the same?”

„What do I know?!” SonUn stated drily. „I haven’t been in your shoes to know that. I mean… I haven’t ever experienced the shame of finding out that my mother asked someone to follow me.”

„You should have felt that though,” DooSan said through his teeth, his eyes sparkling because of hatred, something that made SonUn attentive. The reason? DooSan looked as though he was ready to pounce on him and break him into pieces. „Something that I’ll do if I see you following me once again, did you hear me? If this happens, I promise you that I won’t only twist your neck but also take care to be kicked out of the company. Not even my mother’s protection won’t help you.” SonUn smiled, taking DooSan by surprise. „Are you smiling?”

„Yes,” the young secretary calmly replied. „Why? I didn’t know you as being this kind of person, Prosecutor Han!”

„Not this kind of person? What kind of person did you think I wasn’t then?”

„One of those who spur themselves to pounce on innocent people and tear their throat apart.”

„Are you talking about those like you now?”

„Right. As I said, I’m not here because I want to be but because Prosecutor Yun sent me here. Why? To watch your back!”

DooSan frowned. „To watch my back? From whom, from you?”

„No, from those enemies whom you are provoking yourself.” The secretary’s remark made DooSan attentive.

„Enemies?” He asked after a few moments of silence. „Can I know whom we are talking about?”

„Of course! I’m talking about the same enemies you are thinking about, Prosecutor. Those enemies that are hiding in the shadows barely waiting to get rid of you.”

Taking SonUn by surprise, DooSan smiled. „Are you talking about those enemies from whom you would have defended me in case they had attacked me, right?” DooSan said these words ironically, looking at the secretary’s skinny body with no muscle on it. „Or… I would have been the one forced to protect you rather than protecting myself.”

Kim SonUn suddenly turned serious. Then, looking straight into DooSan’s eyes, he said, „There is no need to be skillful in a fight to be able to defend someone. You can simply be around and ask for help, for example. Something I’m doing great, and you know that very well.”

„Just as I know that you are an expert at poking your nose in others’business. I don’t need that, and you know this. I don’t need your help, in particular. So, get out of here before accusing you of invading a private territory!”

„I’m in a public place, Prosecutor Han. In case you forgot that, anybody has the right to pass by here.”

„To pass by, yes, not to stop the car in front of someone’s gate to spy on them. This is punished by the law, in case you didn’t know that.”

„Or… paying a simple fee. One I will pay not with my money but with yours. Why? As I said, I’m here following orders.”

„Orders you can stick in a sensitive place,” DooSan growled. „Orders you can fulfill somewhere else and not around me.”

„Still these are orders I have to fulfill once I’m paid for that, don’t you think so?”

„Maybe. Yet, as this isn’t something that interests me, you can simply invent an excuse and avoid fulfilling it. What kind of excuses? I don’t care. You can even say that I threatened you with my gun to make you give up.”

SonUn smiled. „Do you think Prosecutor Yun will bite something like that?”

„If you are smart and choose the right words, this will work. Related to me: I’ll take care to send the same message to prosecutor Yun. Meanwhile, stick your ass to that chair, turn the engine on, and get lost off here! If you don’t do that, I’ll assure you that you’ll spend a few hours behind bars, among drunkers and other kinds of rats.”

Secretary Kim smiled again. „Do you want me away from you because you have something to hide?” DooSan frowned. „Undoubtedly you have it. Why am I so sure? I can read this in your eyes.”

„And? What else can you read in my eyes?” DooSan ironically asked.

„The fear of losing those you are trying so hard to protect. The fear of being powerless and can’t do a big deal for them. A fear you can get rid of if you choose the right camp, Prosecutor Han. Which camp? Your mother’s camp, the one you should protect and not criminals.”

The moment DooSan’s fist hit the car’s hood from the young secretary’s right, this one swallowed hard. He even got to fear because DooSan’s eyes were sparkling because of hatred. DooSan seemed even capable of killing someone when he said, „I really don’t care what you think, Kim SonUn. I also don’t pay two pennies for your thoughts. It’s only my problem whom I choose to protect and whom not while your problem is to do your job as Yun Marie’s secretary and not as her inspector because you aren’t practicing this job anymore. You’ve given up on this profession chasing other aims. Which ones? Hovering around my mother. Yet, surprise: you won’t get anything eventually because I won’t ever allow you to reach your goals, do you hear me?”

„Is this a threat?”

„Yes, how do you see that? I also use to threaten people - those whom I can’t swallow. Those like you who use cheap methods to be someone in life.”

The two men’s glances, which were fixed into each other’s eyes, glances where hatred and rivalry could be seen, suddenly got to be considered weapons. If their glances had been sharp weapons or could use bullets, both DooSan and SonUn would have turned into ghosts eventually. Why rivalry? Because DooSan had always believed that SonUn was with Yun Marie to get some profit while SonUn saw DooSan as his rival for the simple fact that this one got so many things in life while he was a simple secretary.

There was one more reason why SonUn couldn’t swallow DooSan: this one thought that Marie’s secretary was capable of entering his mother’s bed to get profit. Even so, he hadn’t ever tried to prove the contrary to his boss’s youngest son. The reason? Each time he saw DooSan’s sparkling eyes because of hatred and suspicions, he felt fulfilled and revenged. Thus, having the chance again to rub some salt on DooSan’s wounds at that moment too, he said, smiling, „I’m glad you think this: that I’m your rival at your mother’s heart. I’m also happy to see your hatred for me, hatred so well reflected in your eyes. This gives me more chances to win in front of you.”

A punch in his face knocked SonUn down. Then, not trying to stand up, he triumphantly smiled while touching the corner of his bloody lips. Looking at the blood that dripped off his fingers, he suddenly pounced on DooSan, trying to kick him down and punch him to take revenge for all those times he couldn’t do the same because he considered that Han DooSan deserved that for insulting him over the years.

The fight between them suddenly finished the moment IuNa stepped between them and yelled, „Enough or I’ll call the cops! It goes for both of you!”

„The cops?” SonUn asked, stepping back. „I didn’t do anything to be afraid of them. Yet, I can’t say the same thing about the prosecutor over there because…”

„…you deserved that punch,” DooSan yelled, threatening him with his fist again. If IuNa hadn’t kept him with her, SonUn’s face would have felt a second punch for sure. „Punches I’m ready to give you any time if I see you around me again, Kim SonUn! Now that I made myself clear, get lost from here until I didn’t make you suffer more than that!”

The one forced to leave that place first had been DooSan. This happened because of IuNa, who pushed him back to SoRan’s yard, closing the gate after them. Then, fighting with DooSan and scolding him as if scolding a child for violently reacting in the street, although he was a prosecutor and should have given others an example, she managed to make him enter the house.

Alone in the street, SonUn smiled. Then, touching the wound he had on the corner of his lips with the top of his tongue, he looked in the rear mirror. „It looks like hell!” He growled eventually. „It’ll also be a nice bruise after that. Yet, it was worth the effort.” After that, feeling something good inside, he made a phone call, telling his interlocutor when this one answered the phone, „It’s me! Yes, I’ve done everything as we agreed. Yes, it’s been better than we expected and it’ll be better from now on too. Why? Because… he can’t control himself and this is a failure for sure. Better for us if this happens. Thus, I’ll also receive my payment for being a good boy all these years and I put up with this ill-mannered man for so long. Do you think so?” SonUn said, bursting into laughter. „Of course, I deserve that reward, just as I deserve everything that will happen to me afterward.”

Saying this, SonUn hung up the phone and entered his car. He was too happy at that moment to look around. Thus, he hadn’t seen SolHi lurking on him from the corner of the street, where she’d been while the fight between DooSan and the young secretary took place. A fight that told her about a lot of things. One of these was the fact that DooSan was jealous of Kim SonUn. „A jealousy that helps Yun Marie a lot. Not only did she win but also this flabby secretary. This one, although he tried to seem courageous when he made that phone call, only proved that he’s a chicken. Why? I’m sure he won’t be able to betray Yun Marie, although he says the opposite. I also don’t think he’d be able to look into her eyes and tell her all he feels, something you’ll do, Ian SolHi: you’ll look into your death’s eyes and grab her by the throat. You’ll do that today no matter the consequences if you want DooSan to be safe again.”