Chapter 5

In their black dress at the funeral house, Yeong-hae and her mother sat in the room beside Granny Kim’s photo. Every person that came to pray for her offered an incense stick. Mr. Kim stood at the entrance welcoming their relatives.

Mrs. Kim held Yeong-hae’s hand and caressed her. It hurt that her mother was killed but it even hurt more than Yeong-hae to witness her favorite person’s death. Mrs. Kim teared up watching her daughter sitting there since morning without saying anything. Yeong-hae’s eyes were red and swollen. She kept staring blankly at the floor, not even greeting anyone.

“Yeong-hae. You should eat something. You didn’t even drink a drop of water.” Mrs. Kim wiped off her tears and help Yeong-hae to stand up. She took Yeong-hae to one of the tables where everyone was having lunch.

Yeong-hae holds the spoon in her hand but she has forgotten to eat. Mrs. Kim touch her hand and told her to eat her share. “What about you, mom?”

“I am not hungry.” Mrs. Kim flashed a weak smile. “You look so thin. Eat up.” Mrs. Kim could not stop her tears seeing her daughter eat. Mrs. Kim and Mr. Kim wanted to see their daughter but now that they were meeting in such a condition tore her heart apart. Mrs. Kim put a piece of kimchi on top of the rice and gestured Yeong-hae to eat it. Yeong-hae looked at her mother and started to sob. “I miss grandma.” Mrs. Kim hugged Yeong-hae and both cried.

Yeong-hae came out of the funeral house to recollect herself. She inhaled deeply and dried off her tears. She tried to calm herself first.

“Miss Yeong-hae?”

Yeong-hae turned to hear the familiar voice. “Hanbyeol? What are you doing here?”

“My uncle. He...passed away.”

Yeong-hae nod and look away. Hanbyeol walked forward and stood next to Yeong-hae. “Did anyone-?”

“My grandmother.”

“I am sorry for your loss.” Hanbyeol stared at Yeong-hae who was standing still. The awkwardness was growing and Hanbyeol did not know what to do with Yeong-hae not saying anything. She hesitated but asked anyway. “Do you want any company?”

“I am sorry, Hanbyeol. I need to go.” Yeong-hae sprinted towards the gate and got in a cab, once again leaving Hanbyeol to stand there alone.

>>>

Yeong-hae looked around to check if anyone was following her. After making sure no one is around, she entered the pin and opened the door to an apartment in an old apartment building.

After the night of bloodshed, Yeong-hae called Jia to take Ahn Leina to their safe house and take out information from her while she took care of her grandmother’s body.

Jia stood up on seeing Yeong-hae and guided her to a sit. She filled in on what Yeong-hae had missed. After Leina contacted Yeong-hae that day, she was caught by Miss X’s men, the unknown person now identified as a woman. However, they didn’t just kill her. They took her hostage for two weeks. In the meantime, they locked her up in a hotel room. One night, they forgot to lock the door after giving her dinner. She took the chance and sneaked out. She was in an unfamiliar building and got lost. She avoided the elevator and used the staircase to escape. On the ground floor, she quietly opened the staircase door and that’s when she saw the woman from the night her family was murdered.

“I looked up the hotel and the CCTV footage of the days Miss Leina was trapped there were deleted. So, I have appointed a forensic artist. We should be meeting her this afternoon.”

“Okay. Good job.” Yeong-hae glanced at Leina curling up in the corner of the room.

“She had been like that for some time now,” Jia said in case Yeong-hae was curious. “Also, I am sorry for your loss. I hope Granny Kim rest in peace.”

Yeong-hae stiffened. “Call Tae-hyun and Jin. Fill them in about the case. I will take Eric and meet the artist.”

“Are you sure about this?”, Jia asked.

Yeong-hae look up at Jia and nodded.

>>>

“What?”, Eric exclaimed with disappointment when he was informed of the case. “You and I have been working together for a long time and you didn’t even trust me?”

“I am sorry. I was just being over-cautious at that time. But I need your help now.” Yeong-hae begged.

“You trust me?”, Eric narrowed his eyes.

Yeong-hae scoffed. “I am sorry but can we get going now? We really can’t waste any time.”

Eric took the wheel while Yeong-hae was in the passenger seat and Leina at the back. Eric would glance at Leina every few minutes. From the moment he met her, she was quiet.

He spoke, "Hi, I am Eric Lee." Leina bowed and answered, "Ahn Leina"

"Don't worry now. We will taking care of you. You are safe with us."

Leina nod.

He smiled and then looked at Yeong-hae who was in her world staring out the window. Eric cleared his throat loudly to take Yeong-hae’s attention. Yeong-hae turned her head to Eric getting his sign.

“I am sorry about what happened to your grandmother.”

“It’s alright.”

Leina lifted her head to look at the two in the front.

Eric spoke again. “If you want, I can join you in this case. I can bring my team to help you.”

There was a long silence. Even Leina started to talk in her mind. 'Say something. Don’t keep this gentleman waiting.'

“Hey. Let me ask you something.” Yeong-hae finally spoke. “Why didn’t you try to take this case?”

Eric pulled the brake at the red light. He pursed his lips for a while and then replied, “I took the case for one month.”

Both Leina and Yeong-hae were all ears to Eric.

“When the chief prosecutor found out, he ordered me to stop the investigation but I didn’t. Later he threatened to transfer to a remote area and put me in a lower position there. At that time, my mother was very sick and I must be by her side. After considering everything, I dropped the case.”

“So, they weren’t that strict with me because they think you might solve the case and I won’t?”

Eric chuckled, “What are you saying? You are the ace here. They should be more worried that you are taking the case.”

“Even if they fire me, I will still find that person.” Yeong-hae was firm with her words.

“That’s the spirit.” Eric encouraged Yeong-hae, admiring her even more as they drove down to the Forensic Department.