Her brown tribal printed over body bag was thrown lazily in front of her vanity mirror. Sophie threw her body on the huge fluffy bed that stood admirably in the middle of her Venetian style room. She stared at the white ceiling above her, thinking. She just came back from house hunting in the city. She couldn’t stand being around her family anymore. Maybe Seunghyun was right, if she wanted to find herself maybe her family wasn’t the best people to be around her. They have been lying to her face, controlling her every movement ever since she moved back. She laid flat on her back and she raised her right hand before her to look at her hand. Seunghyun. Ever since their marriage was dissolved, she hasn’t had the courage to take off the magnificent diamond ring on her right ring finger. She kept wondering why but she couldn’t even answer it herself. Dwelling in deep thoughts, she was interrupted when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” she shouted over without standing up from bed.

The doorknob turned and the door stood ajar to reveal her sister poking her head through it.

“There are policemen looking for you downstairs Soph. I don’t know why.” Sara said stuttering.

Sophie was shocked to hear the news. Why in the world would policemen look for her? The puzzled expression was clearly drawn across her face.

“Ahh, wonder what they want. Gomawo unnie.” Sophie said as she stood up from bed.

She ran her palms down her now crumpled white lace baby doll mini dress to straighten her outfit. She then hastily tied her brown perms into a ponytail, quickly brushing her bangs to tame them over her forehead. She skipped down the stairs towards the living room afraid to have left their visitor unentertained for too long. There she was greeted by two policemen, one of who introduced himself as Inspector Song.

“Anyeongheseyo, Sophie imnida. Am I in trouble officers?” she asked cheekily.

The officers smiled at her witty joke.

“I’m very sorry Miss Park but around 2 in the afternoon today, your ex husband Choi Seunghyun was found shot at the Han River Park. Together with him was your unconscious daughter.” Inspector Song told her cautiously.

The smile across Sophie’s face was wiped off immediately. Shot? She stared blankly at the two uniformed men.

“You mean he is dead?” she timidly uttered as her head bowed and slowly but surely tears threaten to fall down her cheeks. Why was she crying for Seunghyun? She quickly wiped her tears away with her fingers and regained posture.

“They were both sent to Seoul general hospital. Both were barely alive. That’s why we came to you, we have a few questions for you.”

“Sure. Anything.” She said stuttering.

“Where were you around noon today?”

“I was house hunting around Seoul.”

“Is there anyone that can clarify your alibi?”

“Erm, my realtor, Mr Jang Oh Suk. He was with me the whole time.” The officers nodded, writing down what Sophie had said.

“Was there anyone you know that might have hated your husband?” they looked unsympathetically at Sophie.

“Erm, I’m not sure. But he is a good man. He is patient, compassionate and full of love. I can’t think of anyone that would want to harm him.”

“I understand that the terms of your divorce was that your daughter is in full custody of your ex husband. Why did you agree to that?”

Sophie gulped at the question. She pushed the hairs that loosen from her ponytail behind her ears.

“You see, I was in an accident and I lost my memory. I didn’t remember marrying him or having a child. And this strained our marriage and my relationship with the child. So it was best that she stayed with her father.”

“I see. Well, that’s all for now. Thank you for your cooperation Miss Park.”

The policemen then excused themselves and left.

Sophie ran up the stairs into her room. She gathered all her things, picking a kimono cardigan out on the way to keep warm in the cold night. She put on some comfy black high cut converse before rushing out the door and into her black Mercedes Benz SLK 500 that sped through the dark road towards the city.

Sophie stood in front of the white office door. She took a deep breath before knocking on the doors and turned the knob. Inside a woman sat behind the desk looked up towards Sophie. She was beautiful despite the age that was consuming her and her plump body. Her brunette hair was firmly kept tied in a bun.

“Yes may I help you?” she asked pushing her glasses up her nose.

“Park Sophie imnida. I’m here about my husband Choi Seunghyun and daughter Choi Seohyun.”

The doctor smiled at her as she put down her pen. She clasped her hands on the table.

“Please have a seat.” She warmly welcomed Sophie, pointing at the chair in front of her desk.

“What happened to them?”

“Let’s start with your husband. We found two bullet shots in his shoulder. His shoulder plates now have holes in them but I wouldn’t worry much, his arm movements aren’t compromised. My theory is the shooter was aiming for his heart but was an amateur. Despite that, his carotid artery was severely wounded and if he wasn’t brought to the hospital in time, he wouldn’t have made it. He lost 3 pints of blood by the time we worked on him and if….”

“And if a human loses 3.5 pints of blood, their survival rates are less than 5%.” Sophie answered softly, finishing the doctor’s sentence. She was stunned at how close Seunghyun was to death. He literally walked that fine line that divided life and death.

“You know your facts Miss Park.” The doctor was taken aback by Sophie’s extensive knowledge.

“I was a medical student before.”

“Oh, you’re a doctor too?”

Sophie shook her head. “Oh no, I didn’t finish. I quit shortly after I started.”

“I see. Anyway, about Seunghyun ssi, we needed to sedate him so he remained unconscious because every time he wakes up he has this episodes of intense meltdowns, a very emotional one. Do you have any idea why? I would recommend that he sees a psychiatrist, we have some of the best here.”

Sophie bowed her head, tears were threatening to fall. Her blurry vision caught sight of the diamond ring she never took off despite their break up. She shook her head and timidly answered.

“I don’t know.”

“Ahh, I see. Well, as for your daughter. We found ligature marks on her wrist which indicated that her hands were tied in a prolonged period of time. Apart from that, there were burnt marks inside and tongues. was probably stuffed by a piece of cloth that was socked in acid because we found traces of hydrochloric acid down her tracheal system. There was indication that she inhaled the acid which corroded part of her oesophagus and weakened her lungs making it difficult for her to breath. We inserted a tube down so her lungs can get more oxygen.”

“Can she breathe normally after this?” Sophie asked panicking.

“I can’t exactly say so. She came in barely breathing but a child has a remarkable healing rate so all we can do is to give her the best treatments to strengthen her lungs back to normal. What I’m really concerned of at the moment is her vocal chords. We haven’t been able to analyze her vocal patterns since she’s unconscious. I’m just worried that the acid that was shoved down might make her lose her voice.”

Sophie stared bewildered at the doctor in front of her. The doctors every word either passed by her or bounced off her brain and like everything was in slow motion, she couldn’t absorb what was happening around her. There was a possibility that the cheerful little girl that kept exploding with aegyo and is the apple of Seunghyun’s eyes might be mute forever, silenced for the rest of her life.

Sophie made her way through the hallow halls of the hospital. The passageway was silent and eerie. Under her breath she kept chanting ‘445’, Seunghyun’s room number. After roaming the corridor for some time, she stood rooted in front of the door that had gold plated ‘445’ in front of it. She didn’t hesitate to open the door, she hasn’t seen Seunghyun in weeks and the last time she was her was an ugly scene, not to be remembered. She stepped in and was welcomed by the beeping sounds of the heart monitor. In the middle of the room lied a pale and frail Seunghyun. His left arm was properly wrapped in a cast. His peaceful face seemed as if he had no worries in this world. Sophie stood next to his bed. Seunghyun’s jet black hair ruffled in a mess as it covered his forehead. Her fingers involuntarily ran through his hair, c