36

"So you volunteer your time here in this community centre?" Sohyun asked. She entered Jiho's house and sat down on a stool, placing her bag on her lap. He nodded his head solemnly. "Yeah. And a volunteer died from this community centre. It was on the papers."

Sohyun lowered her head. "She's my friend."

"Hyo-Hyomin's your friend?" Jiho asked. She nodded her head, sighing softly to herself. "She's really a bright girl but she was murdered." She drank the water and sighed. "Did Hyomin tell you any information on where she was going on that day when she died?" she asked while Jiho scanned the floor and shook his head. "Why did you ask?"

"Nothing, I remembered Hyomin told me that she was going to visit a volunteer's house on that day, so I was hoping to find that volunteer," she said.

He froze and looked up at her. "Well I was in the community centre for the entire day with other volunteers, and I didn't know Hyomin was going to visit a volunteer."

"Ah yes, I need to make some food. Help yourself first," he said and went into the kitchen.

Sohyun looked around the house. Actually, it wasn't hard to look around, and not much things to explore. After all, it was small.

She looked into the cabinet, and tried to pull the compartment out. "Jiho, why is this locked?"

"It's the company's bookmarks. I've been working there three years ago before. And all those bookmarks were kept there. It was supposed to be placed on my desk in the company, but since I quit, I brought it back. Ever since then I just placed it in this drawer. Sentimental value." He chuckled.

Sohyun nodded her head and looked for the key. "Can I open it?"

"Sure, it's in the top drawer," he said from the kitchen.

It clicked open, and Sohyun pulled it out, a typical bookmark. But it was for children suffering from cancer, which made it extraordinary. The bookmark was designed for the kids. The string that was attached to the bookmark was labelled as 'Loving Children, Fight Cancer' which made her smile. The words were sewed in white, and the string was sewed in purple.

Then, her smile disappeared. Her grip on the bookmark tightened and she frowned even more. "Impossible.."

She looked up to see Jiho in the kitchen smiling, and she looked back at the bookmark.

------
Sohyun entered Tao's room and sat on the chair, waiting for him. Her eyes then travelled to the desk, where the files were everywhere.

She walked and sat down on his chair. She looked at the computer and laughed. He was playing computer games while studying cases. How can he concentrate like this, Sohyun thought and chuckled.

She got up from her seat then accidentally dropped a zip lock bag and she immediately picked it up. The evidence was in a zip lock bag. A purple and white fibre, that was found in the deceased fingernail. It was torn and Sohyun couldn't see it clearly. "...cer.. What cer?" she asked herself and raised an eyebrow, then looked at the other one. "Lov.. What?" she tried forming the words, but it was illegible. The fibre was torn. It was impossible to see a single thing.

------

She shook the thought out of her head. "It can be others, right? It could be his colleagues or someone else.. Or it could be just a coincidence.." she murmured, convincing herself.

"Ji-JiHo. Are you the only one who is in charge of this bookmarks?" she asked, hoping for a no. He nodded his head. "Each section has different bookmarks designs and strings attached to it. While I have the purple, which is the limited edition. I was the only one who has it, even my wife couldn't touch it. But sadly, the production was cancelled before the first batch could sell it. So I just bring these five bookmarks home. I even took out of one them and made it into a ribbon, and attach a pin to it so I can pin it on my shirt," he explained and sat down on his bed, sighing contently and smiling. "Sohyun, I'm really glad you don't discriminate me even though I'm an ex convict, I'm really glad you trust me." He smiled.

Sohyun forced out a smile and swallowed. She was hoping for a no. She thought she could be mentally prepared, but no. She wasn't.

Just then, she got a call from the community centre. "He-hello?"

"Miss Kim, this is Junmin from the community centre. I've checked the log book and on that day when Hyomin died only Jiho didn't turn up for the event, the other volunteers were all present. I hope this piece of information can help in Hyomin's case," he said and Sohyun gulped. She nodded and forced out a smile. "T-thank you. It will. It definitely will."

Her pale face betrayed her as she let go of the bookmark and looked away. Jiho frowned. "Are you alright Sohyun?"

She nodded her head and took in a deep breath.

She's talking to a murderer. A murderer. The murderer that killed Hyomin and was able to lie to her without blinking.

"I'm .. I'm fine. I'll get going now," she said and stood up. "But I'm still cooking," he said and raised his eyebrows in disappointment.

Sohyun looked at him. His eyebrows, his wrinkles. He was already in his forties or fifties.. She couldn't help but feel sympathy towards him. He won't be able to see his wife anymore, and he will have to stay in this old rundown place alone till he dies. Plus, he trusted her so much.

Sohyun didn't know what to do. Call the cops immediately, or persuade him to turn himself in. Sohyun didn't know.

"Alright then. I need to use the toilet," she stuttered, holding onto her bag firmly, then slowly walking into the toilet.

--

"Poor thing," the policewoman whispered to her colleague and shook her head in disappointment. "What's wrong?"
She glanced around, then leaned forward. "Didn't you hear? There's a defendant that was successful in appealing."
"But why did you say.."

"Because, the police are now investigating the case since it's being reopened, and the suspect is now the defendant's husband," she said. Her colleague looked at her, eyes rounded in surprise. "Are you kidding me? What if the appeal fails and both the husband and wife goes to jail?"

"Exactly my point," she replied and rolled her eyes. "Well now that's really poor thing," she said and walked out of the prison cell.

She overheard everything, as she sat on the ground, shaking her head and frowning, glaring at the wall. "I won't let it happen. I won't. I won't let Jiho go back into jail.."

---

She looked around the toilet and then sat on the ground. She sighed and bit her lip. "That's the truth. Truth will always be the truth. Abiding the law is a must. I'm sorry JiHo," she said and immediately took out her phone.

Then, three men came to her mind. Baekhyun, Kris and Tao. Instinctively, she dialed Kris. "Pick up.. Pick up.."

She turned her back from the door, as she stood at a corner, closing her eyes as she waited for Kris to pick up.

He was downstairs with Tao and BT, while his call phone was left in Tao's room, which was covered up by files and documents. It vibrated.

"Kris! Shut up!" Tao threw the pillow at him, and frowned, pouting while BT just laughed his head off. Kris chuckled and shook his head, calming himself down. "You had no idea how Tao was this rebellious during elementary school. Ah yes, there's one more," Kris said while Tao quickly covered his mouth but he dodged and whacked him. "There was once, when Tao farted in front of the whole class when he was forced to stand up by the teacher because he dozed off in class and the class-"

"Shut up!" Tao yelled in his ear and ran up the stairs, while Kris rolled his eyes.

"Aish that Tao has no sense of humour," he muttered and rolled his eyes. Standing up, he walked up. "BT I need to get to work now, I'll see you later."

Sohyun bit her lip and sighed. "Why isn't he picking up?"

She called once more, and Kris was sitting down on the chair, swinging it as he searched for his phone. "Where's my phone.." he muttered under his breath. He quickly grabbed his phone and when he was about to answer, the battery went flat.

Sohyun groaned and bit her lip even harder. She decided to just use the voicemail and she whispered, "Kris I found some new evidence about the woman's case. She is really innocent. The murderer is someone else. I'm now at J-"

Sohyun dropped her phone and fell to the floor, laying motionless, while Jiho dropped the rod in his hand, and he looked at her lying unconscious on the floor. He picked her up and the phone and walked out. "I'm sorry, Soyun."



Once the screen of his phone was lighted, Kris immediately checked for messages or calls. He immediately went to his inbox and his eyes widened in shock. "Tao! This is bad!" he shouted.
Tao immediately ran up and panted heavily. "What's wrong?"
Kris's eyebrows knitted together and he showed the text to Tao. "It's from Baekhyun. The defendant's dead. Jiho's wife, is dead."


Sohyun opened her eyes slowly and felt pain washed over her body, especially her head and neck. She winced in pain as she felt her wrists were brushed against rough objects.

She could hardly concentrate on her surroundings, and opened her eyes forcefully. She slowly looked down at her wrists. Frowning, she groaned and winced, she rubbed her wrists together and gave up within seconds. The rope was too tight. Her wrists were tied behind her back and her legs were tied to the two legs of the chair.

She had no idea where she is. All she saw was a clock that wasn't working, newspapers scattered everywhere and a broken window, with one quarter of the window being covered by a burned curtain.
She winced again at the pain. Excruciating pain overwhelmed her. Then, her eyelids became heavy and slowly, everything started to become a blur. Her head drooped backwards and she closed her eyes.

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