A tall, well-dressed man sat behind a large, well-furnished desk. He was distressed. He had his face in his hands. He was hunched over. He was shaking. He’d locked the door, curtained the floor-to-ceiling length window behind him. After a few minutes, the sound of a cellphone’s vibrations broke the silence. It echoed through the large room.

The man stared at the vibrating device as if it were a ticking time bomb. Maybe it was. He stared at it for another second. Then he reached out. Picked it up.

Unknown Caller ID

He swiped the green button. Put it to his ear.

A female voice. Smooth and silky like velvet.

“Hello, pet.”

“What do you want? Haven’t you destroyed enough of my life already?!”

“Hon, please. What’s a little sacrifice for the good of your dear grandfather’s company?”

“You’re talking about my best friend.”

The woman’s voice hardened. “Yes, sacrifice.”

The man’s grip on the device tightened.

“What about the agents? They’re going to question me.”

The woman chuckled. “Oh, darling. Don’t worry about that. I have that all covered.”

Irene sat down on an armchair. She’d just returned Park Chungsoo’s belongings to Park Sujin. The woman had quietly thanked her. Irene took out the small ziplock bag from her pocket. She stared at the leaf inside of it.

A maple leaf.

An exact replica of the tattoo she’d seen ten years ago on a man’s bloodstained forearm. Her parents’ blood. Her blood. The last thing she’d seen before she had passed out. Irene automatically reached up for her scar.

“Irene?”

Irene blinked. She was back into the present. Wendy was standing in front of her, looking down at her with concerned eyes.

“Yes?”

“Are you - .”

“I’m fine.”

Wendy nodded then sat down next to her. Irene didn’t complain.

“Is that the leaf they found on his chest?”

“Yes.”

“Is it real?”

“Definitely.”

“But, how? It’s winter. That leaf should be dead.”

“Exactly.”

Seulgi walked into the living room. She sat down across from Irene.

“What about Jung Junhan? He’s involved in this, too.”

Wendy looked at Seulgi. She looked confused. Irene knew she was. Only she and Seulgi knew of their meeting with the heir of Jung & Co. They hadn’t kept it from the others, the topic simply never came up. It had been one event after another and no time to reminisce.

“Who?”

“Jung Junhan. You’ve heard of Jung & Co., right?” Seulgi asked.

“Yeah. It’s pretty famous.”

“Well, Jung Junhan is the heir to that business, and we interrogated him because he was one of the witnesses for the kidnappings.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And apparently Park Chungsoo was best friends with Jung Junhan.”

“Junhan? What about Junhan?”

Irene looked behind Seulgi to see Park Sujin standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The woman had a curious expression on her face.

“Do you know Jung Junhan?” Irene asked.

“Of course. He’s - ,” Park Sujin stopped and corrected herself with difficulty. “He was Chungsoo’s best friend. They even grew up together.”

“How long had your husband been working at Jung & Co.?”

Park Sujin walked away from the doorway and sat down on her armchair. She looked thoughtful. “Not long, actually. Chungsoo had worked at a different company for a while but something didn’t agree with him and a year ago he moved to Jung & Co.”

“Jung Junhan helped him?” Seulgi asked.

Park Sujin’s response was immediate. “No. Chungsoo is - was proud. Junhan knew that. They had a mutual understanding. Chungsoo got in by himself.”

Irene nodded. In the way that others talked about him, she could only assume that Park Chungsoo would make it through his own hard work. Park Sujin stood up.

“I’m going to turn in now. Thank you so much for working so hard. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course.”

Park Sujin gave a final tired smile. She walked up the stairs and out of sight.

“We’re going to have to question him again,” Seulgi said.

Irene stood up. She walked to the stairs.

“Yes.”

Irene felt her phone buzz against her thigh. She took it out. Put it to her ear. There was no point in checking the ID. She already knew who it was.

“How’s the weather in Daegu?”

“Park Chungsoo was poisoned. The Maple Leaf punctured two holes in his neck as joke. The real suction happened through his heart. They dumped him in the snow six hours after he died.”

A pause. “I was asking about the weather, not about the murder. But straight to business as always of course. You know, I’ve known you since you were just a crying baby. A little something out of a business relationship wouldn’t hurt.”

“Seulgi and I have to get back to Seoul to interrogate Jung Junhan. He’s involved in this, too.”

Lee sighed. Chuckled. “Alright. It’s my fault for asking. I’ll have the train at your station by eight tomorrow morning. I’ll call to check up again in the morning.”

“Okay.”

Irene ended the call.

She sat down on the edge of the bed. She briefly closed her eyes. She knew that Lee knew that this was the place where everything had gone wrong. Where Irene’s life had shattered into a million, unfixable pieces. That was one