The train reached the station from Kwangju at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The snow made it hard for the mechanics to arrive in time and the reparation took a couple of hours, but after all that waiting, they were finally back. Kyu Jong decided that it was safer to take the bus back to the room they’ve rented. Unfortunately, they were up for a surprise. The house was a total mess! It was obvious that someone had been there, searching for something.

     “You think they’ve found us?”,Kyu Jong asked while checking his luggage to see if something was missing.

     “I’ve already did a background check on the landlord lady. She’s clean! So we’ll have to assume that Byun Hyun knew that we were living here…”

     “Luckily, our little mission was right in time!”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Nothing is missing so they were probably searching for us!”

     “We’re not safe here anymore! We have to leave!”

     “That’s going to be a problem! We have no more money and with all those guys on us I can’t even use my credit card…”

     “We’ll worry about this later! Take some clothes and follow me!”

     “Where are we going?”

     “Just follow me!”

    Kyu Jong took a small bag and squeezed in some of his clothes and also some of Kae Yin’s. Meanwhile, the woman left a note for the landlord lady along with their last money. Soon after, they left. Kae Yin was leading the way checking carefully if they’ve been followed. They walked back to the train station but only to get on a bus that was heading towards Seoul.

     “Now are you going to tell me where are we heading to?”

     “Didn’t you want to know where have I been in these last days?”

     “What??”,Kyu Jong was really surprised. Not that he didn’t want to know that but he never expected the woman to actually tell him. “Are we really going to that place?”

    Kae Yin turned around even more surprised.

     “Yes! Why not?”

     “Anyo…it’s nothing!”,Kyu Jong started laughing.

     “You’re really weird sometimes, you know that?”

     “Hehe…I’ve heard it before!”

     “Ok! Now let’s go down!”

     “What??!! So fast??”,But Kae Yin was already at the front door. “Wait for me!!”

    They both got down. Before them a small new world was revealing itself. It was a small city, a bit larger than a village but with the same atmosphere. There were lots of children coming back from school, playing and making plans for the weekend, people were working in small stores or selling different things on the street. It was so different from all those big cities but almost as beautiful as them.

     “What’s this place?”

     “Welcome to city of Gochang”

     “Gochang??”

     “Now let’s go before someone asks us something! It’s a small city so people usually know one another. It’s better if our arrival doesn’t cause that much fuss!”

    Unfortunately Kae Yin’s wish was ruined as one lady, around her forties, ran out from a bakery and hugged her.

     “My little Kae Yin! I’ve heard some rumours about you coming back but I didn’t think it was real! How come you haven’t visited me yet??”

     “Ms. Han, I…”,but the woman kept hugging her and telling her how much she missed her. Kyu Jong was definitely in shock but somehow he found the whole situation quite entertaining. Soon the lady spotted Kyu Jong and let Kae Yin go.

     “My my and who’s the handsome man!”

    Kae Yin looked really annoyed but this time she couldn’t just walk away like she always did. It would have raised suspicions and that was the last thing she wanted. On the other hand, Kyu Jong was having fun.

     “My name is Kim Kyu Jong! Nice to meet you,... Ms. Han!”

     “My my, Kae Yin, where did you hide him? You should have brought him earlier…You two make such a beautiful couple. I’m sure your parents would have loved him!”.The last statement raised Kyu Jong’s curiosity but really annoyed the woman.

     “Look auntie! We’re really tired and it’s been such a long trip. I think it’s better if we just go home and have some rest. We’ll talk later, okey?”

     “Oh, of course! I bet you’re really tired! Wait here for a second!”.

    The woman went inside her shop and brought them some biscuits along with some warm bread.

     “That should help you!”

    Kae Yin whispered a slow thank you and rushed towards the school. Kyu Jong took the bread and bowed to the old lady making her smile, then went after his partner.

    After they’ve reached the building of the school, they made left, than right and walked for another 10 minutes before stopping in front of a nice house with a beautiful garden. Kae Yin used a key that she had in her pocket to open the front door and went in first.

     “Come inside!”

    Kyu Jong followed right away and watched closely as the woman opened the window and then rushed upstairs.

     “Are you going to stay there all day long? Come here! Hurry up!”

    Upstairs were another 4 rooms. Kae Yin entered the second room and showed him inside.

     “This is where you’ll be sleeping for the next days. The bed is quite comfortable…here is the bathroom…you have everything you need in there but if there’s something else, just ask…”,Kae Yin kept moving around showing him the location of the towels, some blankets and other stuff that he supposedly needed.

     “Kae Yin!”,but the woman ignored him.

     “Kae Yin!”,this time Kyu Jong grabbed her hand.

     “What is it?”

     “What do you mean?”

     “This place?! Do you expect me to just follow you around and not ask anything??”

     “That was kinda what I was hoping for!”,she whispered for herself.

     “What’s this place? Why does that woman know you?”

    Kae Yin turned around to look outside the window.

     “This is my house!”

     “What?? I thought you lived in Daegu! That’s what Hyun Joong told me!”

     “I wasn’t referring to that! This is my parents’ house! This is where I’ve grown up!”

    Kyu Jong wasn’t expecting this replay. He had made up many possible answers but this wasn’t among them.

     “But you said that you were born and raised in Seoul…”

    She turned around towards him. “You didn’t expect me to tell you the truth…”

     “What???”,Kyu Jong seemed angry or more likely sad. He felt somehow disappointed of her lack of trust.

     “I thought we we’re partners! At least I trusted you with my life…I thought that you would do the same. Apparently I was wrong!”,he looked down causing the woman to fell rather guilty, a feeling he has never felt for someone else rather than her brother.

     “It’s not like that! I trust you!”,she whispered the last part but Kyu Jong still heard it.“Nobody knows about this place…not even Hyun Joong! I kept it secret…”

     “Why??”

     “It’s because of my brother but that’s another story. Just be happy that we are in a safe place at least for some time. Now let’s go! We have things to do!”.

    Now Kae Yin was the one that grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs, right into the living room. She opened her bag, took out the video tapes, they’ve recovered from the police’s warehouse, and put them in an old video recorder.

     “I never knew that people still have these things!”

     “My dad loved watching old movies and CD’s weren’t that popular ten years ago!”,the woman looked really happy talking about her father so Kyu Jong just kept silent and watched her.

    There was only one video tape that was relevant for the case. The last one contained the record from the time of the assault exactly of the angle they stayed in. They could clearly see themselves and Byun Hyun, then the attack and even the way they tricked the thieves. Unfortunately no matter how many times they’ve replayed it, nothing useful seemed to come out.

     It was almost 10pm when Kae Yin called it a day. They were both tired so the best thing to do was to go get some sleep. Kyu Jong was about to go up to his room when he saw the woman bringing out a pillow and a blanket from one of the rooms.

     “What are you doing?”

     “I’m going to sleep! What does it looks like I’m doing?!”

     “But there are so many rooms! Why sleep here?”

    The woman kept silent for a second than she lied in bed and covered herself with the blanket.

     “I prefer to stay here!”

    Kyu Jong realised that this house would probably bring back painful memories but never thought that it was going to be like that. Hyun Joong had told him once that her parents were killed in that same house so he supposed that one of the rooms were her parents’. Then there was also his room and the bathroom. That left only one room, the room she had brought out the pillow from, that was probably Kae Yin’s. The question was why didn’t she want to sleep in there. However, Kyu Jong knew that asking her questions will only cause more lies so he decided to let it go.

     “Then go sleep into my room!”

     “What??”

     “I’m the guest in here so I should be the one sleeping on the sofa!”

     “Of course not! Especially since you’re the guest!”

     “Ok, then I’m the man in here!”

    Kae Yin burst into laughter and had no other choice then go to the guest room.

     “Good night, Kae Yin!”

     “Yeah, yeah, good night!”

    On the next morning, Kyu Jong woke up really early. On the fridge he found a note that Kae Yin had left him telling that she was going to be out until lunch time. She didn’t leave any explanation but then again Kyu Jong was already used to her style. However, to his surprise, a cooked meal was left in the kitchen. Kae Yin was not the best cook but it was definitely better than the cold meals he usually shared with Jungmin.

    When he finished eating, the clock was pointing 9am. That left another 3 hours until Kae Yin was going to come back and he wasn’t going to stay at home watching TV. It was the best opportunity to find out more about Kae Yin so he decided to pay a short visit the woman he met the day before.

     “Good morning, Ms. Han!”

     “Oh, young man! Such a pleasure to see you again! What brings you here?”

     “Kae Yin left this morning to take care of some things and I was left home and I decided to come and see if I can help you with something!”

     “You’re such a polite young man! Poor Kae Yin…she must have gone to the basketball court again. She goes there every time she needs to think or to be alone…even when she was little…”,the woman smiled,”…only Hyung Joon could find her.”

     “Hyung Joon?”

     “Yes, her younger brother. I’m sure she told you about him. They were really close!”

     “Yes, of course! I just… I didn’t remember the name!”

     “Anyway since you’re already here why won’t you sit down and tell me how did you two meet?”

    Kyu Jong had no other choice than to invent a story about a coincidental meeting in the building they both worked.

     “I was newly assigned to that company. It was my first day and I was already late so I started to run and…I kinda bumped into her.”

     “So sweet! Just like in my dramas…I just knew you two were perfect for each other as soon as I saw you…I’m so glad Kae Yin has finally found herself someone to love…”

     “No! You got it wrong. We’re just…”,Kyu Jong tried to explain but he was cut off by the woman.

     “She was never that closed to people you know! Even when she was little, she never had many friends. Every time I saw Kae Yin, she was with her brother and his friends. I’m happy she found someone!”

     “But we are not that close! I mean…”, the man thought he was being ignored again but to his surprise, an answer came instantly.

     “You don’t fool this old lady…I’ve seen how you look at her…”

    Kyu Jong blushed but he wasn’t able to replay anything as the woman kept on talking.

     “And so does she!”

     “What do you mean?! I don’t even think she likes me…she’s always cold and never tells me anything that crosses her mind.”

     “Ah this young people !So clueless! Listen to this old ajumma…I’ve never seen Kae Yin acting some protective towards anyone except her brother. You can’t change her character but trust me, she does like you and a lot I would say”,the woman let out a creepy laugh.“You should have seen how she treated the first boy that confessed to her! The poor guy even brought her chocolates. I told him to buy those knowing how much she likes them. I really thought the confession would be a success. The boy poor boy turned back home all wet and covered in mud”, the old lady was laughing but Kyu Jong was somehow confused.

     “I’m sorry! I must have scared you! Don’t worry she can be really sweet too. You’re on good hands!”

    Luckily the clock soon pointed 11 o’clock and that was the sign he has to go. Kyu Jong respectfully bowed to the lady and headed home before Kae Yin found out he was missing. Unfortunately for him, she was already home.

     “Kae Yin?!! I was just…”

     “I’ve checked the recent news from Seoul. Apparently Byun Hyun left to Taiwan this morning to seal I don’t know what deal with a pharmaceutics company. He won’t be back until Sunday so that leaves us 4 days to find something useful…”

     “Yes, but…”

     “Let’s go and watch the tape again…”

     “Sure! I’ll just leave these bags in here”, Kyu Jong put the food Ms. Han gave him and went into the living room.

     “And don’t even think you can get away that easily!”

     “Wh…what do you mean?!”

     “I’ve seen you talking to Ms. Han!”

     “You never said I couldn’t get out of the house…”

     “I didn’t but you’re going to take responsibility for all the rumours!”

     “Rumours? What rumours?”

     “I bet you that by now half of the city thinks we are engaged and planning to get married!”

     “What”,the man blushed.

     “You picked the wrong person to tell the story of how we met.”

     “How do you know?”

     “I was passing by…”

     “…”

     “Anyway, let’s go back to the video tape. I found out something really strange!”

     “About the thieves?”

     “No, about Byun Hyun! From what he declared to the police he came to the bar to see his son, right?”

     “Yes, but we know that wasn’t true. However, Young Saeng came in just at the right time!”

     “Or maybe not! Look at this!”,Kae Yin stoped the record and pointed at Byun Hyun, “This is the time when Young Saeng came in…and this is when Byun Hyun waved to someone just before the gunshots were heard.”

     “Yes that’s right but I still don’t get it!”

     “Young Saeng came through the main door which is in the left but Byun Hyun waved to someone standing near the stage…he wasn’t expecting his son.”

     “We need the other recording to see who the mysterious person is!”

    Kae Yin went for the other tapes and they soon discovered that the person Byun Hyun waved to, was a beautiful woman wearing a red dress that came in through the back door and was heading towards the man.

     “How come we didn’t see her?”,asked Kyu Jong.

     “She must have got out of there as soon as the gunshots began. We must find her!”

     “That’s going to be the easy part!”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Her name is Seo Jung! She one of the most popular lawyers from Daegu!”

     “You know her?!”

     “Kinda of! I worked with her at a case we had a long time ago!”, Kyu Jong was smiling but Kae Yin didn’t seem that happy.

     “Then let’s go find her first thing in the morning!”

     “Sure!”, but the woman had already left the room.

      In Daegu

     “Sir, you have a call from Taiwan!”

     “Thank you! I’ll take it from here!”, the man took the phone and asked to be left alone.

     “Hey, it’s me!”

    The man smiled:”How are things going?”

     “Everything is perfect but you know why I’ve called!”

     “They must be on his trail by now! It’s almost time for your big entrance!”

     “It was about time!!”

     “I’ll get everything ready!”

     “Thanks, Young Saeng! I owe you one!”

Author's note: I'm really, really sorry because this chapter is not as good! I just wanted to make up for the delay so I was in a hurry but still I hope you'll enjoy it!