"Shall we head back, then?" Kobayashi asked, tapping Jiyong, who was still sitting on the boulder, on his shoulder. 

The boy nodded, already somewhat ashamed of the tears he had shed and not wanting to further his embarrassment if his voice were to crack. He was grateful, though, for the man's silence up till then. He didn't know if he'd be able to answer any question regarding why the simple phrase hit him so hard. 

It had. It had made his stomach drop, like the moment the cart moves past the peak of a rollercoaster. It had woken him up from a trance he hadn't even realized he'd been in for the past weeks. It was a bucket of ice water and yet it relaxed him like a hot shower after a long day. Relief rolled the tension off of his shoulders, his back, and happiness made them all light. Descending Diamond Crest was as easy as taking a stroll down the street. The car ride to the inn was as enjoyable as a trip. Once there, he went to his room leisurely while Kobayashi went to make preparations for the meeting Jiyong had planned. It would be over dinner that they'd encounter each other. There was no rush. She remembered.

Just the thought made Jiyong laugh giddily. He reached out and gabbed the TV's remote, switching the screen on. He flipped through the channels before settling on the news.

His mind was in a different dimension as his eyes lingered on the stories. He couldn't bother to focus on the words enough to translate them. That is, until he heard the name. 

CM Enterprises

Cho Manseok

Cho Miran 

His head snapped up at the mention of the names in one of the previews. He wished the stories ahead of it would be over faster, he hadn't been able to catch what they had said. 

"Seoul, South Korea, nearing 1:30 p.m. Hong Miran, the wife of Cho Manseok, CEO of CM Enterprises, was found in the middle of what, up to now, seems to have been a suicide attempt." The woman started, coolly, "One of the household's neighbors called the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency when she saw what seemed like smoke coming out from the cracks beneath the house's garage door, fearing there might have been a fire. Instead, they found the 52 year old woman locked in with twelve cars with their engines on. She w