Hwasa walked into the room with the case file in her hand and saw the man already sitting at the table. Hearing her entrance, the man turned to look at her. When he realised who it was, he smiled. He was a hard looking man but Hwasa knew he was not as intimidating as he appeared to be. She was in no mood to smile, in fact, her head was hurting so badly, but she still managed to squeeze out a smile. 

"Uncle Jung, I'm sorry that you have to be here," Hwasa said politely. She could not bring herself to be tough on this man in front of her. Whenever she visited Wheein after school back then, he would always be there to give her sweets, cakes and lots of nice food. He was just like a father figure to her. She had no idea how things became the things they were, with Wheein's car dirtied with blood and then her father sitting across her at the table. 

He shook his head and the same fatherly smile still on his face. "You don't have to be, Hwasa. You're just doing your job, I understand." 

As if that made her feel any better. The moment she saw Wheein's car, she felt her hands turning cold. She believed her friend; Wheein would never kill anyone. That girl refused to take the life of an ant, how could she even rob the lives of five people so heartlessly? Sadly, her gut feeling was useless. "Evidence is king," Moonbyul always told them. The evidence was staring at her in the face, there was no point in arguing with Moonbyul. 

Wheein came back to the station looking really confused. She could already imagine her confusion when Moonbyul called her because sure the inspector was serious when it came to work, but she had never seen her so tensed before. She threw the picture on her desk, and waited for Wheein's explanation, which never came. She could see the colour on Wheein's face draining bit by bit and she was trying hard to stay calm. She blinked, once, twice, thrice and it went on.

"Please say something," Moonbyul said. Like Hwasa, she never believed Wheein did it, but she needed some explanations. "Wheein, please."

"Yes, this is my car," Wheein said, handing the picture back to Moonbyul. 

The inspector waited for her to continue but she only got silence. She knew there was more to just a "yes, this is my car", Wheein was hiding something, or rather, protecting someone. "You know better than to hide things from me."

Wheein bit her lower lip. Nothing could escape Moonbyul. 

"Starting from Jung Won Il. What's your relationship with him?" Moonbyul remembered how she was acting weird at the mention of the man. 

Her thoughts went back to the person she saw before she left for the station. There was a mysterious air around him and she could not quite comprehend. She felt a nudge on her arm. Hwasa was looking at her, urging her to answer.

"Or do you want to be out of the case?" Moonbyul threatened.

"He's my brother, stepbrother," Wheein replied, not because she was likely to be dropped out, but because she did not want to disappoint Moonbyul.

"I didn't know you have a stepbrother," Hwasa said, feeling slightly hurt. 

"He doesn't live with us," Wheein explained. She sat down and leaned her head against the head rest. "Too stifling, he said. I don't know much about his past, but I don't think it's a good one. Despite all that, he treats me well. He was eight when I was one."

"Why didn't you tell us when we asked you the other time?" Moonbyul asked.

Wheein knew what 'the other time' referred to and she smiled apologetically. "I didn't know he came back." 

"Came back?" Moonbyul cocked her head to the right. 

Wheein nodded. "Five years ago, he left Korea."

"And the car?" Moonbyul pointed to the picture.

Wheein shrugged. "I really have no idea. I lend it to my father because his car needed servicing the other time, but I didn't ask for it after that."

"Wheein said she lent the car to you. Is it true?" Hwasa asked.

Jung Ha nodded and added, "But I have no idea how it ended up in this state."

Hwasa frowned, not understanding the situation. "Wheein said she did not ask for her car afterwards, so the car should be with you, shouldn't it?"

"No, the car was stolen," he explained, still not making sense to her.

"And you didn't report?" Hwasa questioned. The entire situation was baffling.

He shrugged, all the while having a calm expression on his face. "It slipped my mind. I have more things to worry about."

He was somehow, convincing, considering the fact that he had a few operations to run. He clasped his hands together and his fingers tapped periodically against the back of his left hand.

"Where were you between four and ten in the morning?" Hwasa asked.

"I was in bed until seven," he answered, paused and added, "My wife can see to that. Then I went for an hour morning run before returning home for a moment. Dropped by the company too to settle some matters."

"Was anyone with you?" It was a perfectly normal routine, but she just had to ask. 

"I was alone during the run, but my secretary saw me at the company," he explained. 

Hwasa nodded her hand in understanding. She tapped her finger against the case file, looking through the words that were recorded down again, and a line caught her eyes in particular.

"Location too remote, not possible for suspect to leave the place for urban areas on foot and unnoticed." It was added on by Moonbyul who was probably with Solar right now. She was supposed to be in her position, but being a nice friend, she volunteered to take over.

"Were you driving, Uncle Jung?" Hwasa asked. She did not want to believe that he had anything to do with the case, but naturally, the question came out of . 

His fingers stopped tapping and he looked straight at her in silence. It was as if he was taken aback by her question. The tapping continued and the smile was back on his face, like the lapse in his behaviour never happened before. "I was. I drove to the company."

"Is it possible for us to check your car?" She asked.

"I suppose you need a search warrant." He was smiling, but it was hostile. 

"Uncle Jung, please don't be mistaken. I'm not accusing you." She did not know why she was explaining herself but she just did.

And again, he was just like the warm figure she was used to seeing back then. He said in a soft voice,  "I understand, Hwasa, but you should know. I have an alibi, and you don't have enough evidence to show that I'm a suspect." 

He was right, and she had to let him go. 

"I hope you find the person who was reponsible for this mess soon," he said before leaving, giving her a hug. "How dare he taint my baby girl's Mini Cooper."

She let out a half-hearted laughter and saw him off. She returned to her desk and stared at the empty desk next to hers. Wheein was dropped out of the case, unsurprisingly. Moonbyul was ruthless when it came to work. She picked up her phone that was lying under a pile of paper on the table and called her friend. 

"Hey, how's everything?" Wheein asked as soon as she answered the call.

"Your dad is on the way home," she said, slumping down onto the chair.

There was a moment of silence before Hwasa spoke. "He said your Mini Cooper was stolen."

"It was?" She was as surprised as her when she first heard about it. 

Hwasa nodded, as if Wheein was beside her.

"Is the black box still attached to the windshield?" Wheein asked.

"Mm?" Hwasa sat up when she heard the question. Right, the black box. She flipped open the case file and looked at more pictures of the car, big close ups of the parts in the car. There it was, the black box. "Yea, it is."

"Oh? That must be one stupid car thief," Wheein said casually, but it gave Hwasa an idea. 

-

Moonbyul sat across the street where the hotel was located, a cup of warm coffee in one hand, and her phone in another. She strolled through her Facebook absentmindedly while waiting for time to pass. 

It was about time for the social night to come to an end.

"Miss, we're closing for the night," the cafe owner came out to inform her.

She smiled politely at the man and stood up to leave. She retreated to her car and kept her eyes fixated on the hotel entrance. People were streaming out, and soon Solar, alongside Jung Won Il came into sight. They stood around and talked to people who Moonbyul presumed to be their colleagues. The small talks ended and they left in Jung Won Il's car. Moonbyul followed closely, but she made sure she maintained some distance. 

She had been questioning herself the moment she decided to follow them to the hotel, and sit out there in the cold night for four hours. Was it jealousy, or was it just the unsettling feeling when he said he would take care of her? Maybe both, she concluded. Whatever it was, it was irrational, at least to her. She did not know what she expecting, but when she saw Jung Won Il turn into Solar's neighbourhood, she caught herself sighing in relief.

He stopped outside and they got off. She sat in her car, stopped a couple of metres away. 

"I guess I was overthinking," she mumbled before preparing to leave, but when she looked up she saw Jung Won Il leaning towards Solar. She froze and unknowingly, she tightened her grip around the steering wheel. She could not see Solar's face, but she definitely saw the man's face. He was looking in her direction, at her, smiling as if he was just saying hi. 

-

A/N: I was telling myself to update by this week, and I did! Here you go, a new chapter. Honestly, I was not feeling it because I was rather overwhelmed by all the work I have to do, and I rewrote this chapter quite a few times so it took quite a while. Not the best chapter I've written, but I hope you still like it.