“Ok, let’s see what we’ve got here…”

Kyungwon drops a whole bag of DVDs she just rented from the store on the bed.

“Sherlock, Motive, Person of Interest, Criminal Minds…Or you want to watch comedy? I borrowed Glee and Broke Girls to...”

No responses at all. Kyungwon lifts her head up, Minkyung is standing beside the sliding door, looking into distance with her shoulders slump.

“I told you.”

Minkyung feels a pair of arm wraps her torso. “You won’t be able to let it go that easily. You should talk about it.”

She sighs, leaning her head to the right and against Kyungwon’s. “I know, but…He is the last person I want to talk about. He’s always been.”

“It’s been a day since you got the message and yet you’re still troubled by it.”

Kyungwon touches her lips to Minkyung’s temple. “So apparently, ignoring that message is not an appropriate solution.”

“You have a better idea?” Minkyung murmurs, closing her eyes in defeat.

“Send him something.”

“Like?”

“Like screw…”

Minkyung smacks her hand. “I’m serious.”

“I am too!” Kyungwon defends. “If I was joking, I would say fuc…”

“Ok, ok, you won.”

Kyungwon chuckles, tightening her arms around Minkyung.

“You sure you don’t want to see him?”

She feels Minkyung nods lightly. “Then tell him you are busy. You know you don’t have to explain why, just make him give up on the thought of meeting you so fast. And you can say you will ask him again next time, make him give up on suggesting whatever date you don’t like.”

“What if he comes here? To this apartment? I know I just moved, but I don’t think it would be hard for him to find out where I live now.”

“You can worry about that when it actually happens. Right now, all you need to do is type and send and worry for something more important.”

“…What is it?”

“Which movie to watch first.”

Minkyung sniggers, her body relaxes a lot from the stress earlier.

“Sometime I really wish I were you. Always able to look at the bright side.”

“It’s my duty to cheer you up.” Kyungwon presses a peck on her cheek. “I need to go to the bathroom. You will start playing the first episode when I’m back?”

Minkyung knows Kyungwon’s giving her the privacy she needs when replying to her father. She nods and smiles, thanking her heartily for her thoughtfulness.

Once Kyungwon disappears behind the door, Minkyung picks up her phone and clicks the message open. She enters the words like Kyungwon said, rereads them for two times before clicking the send button. Just when she wants to throw it away and ignores whatever might show up at night, her doorbell rings out of sudden.

Why is it so quiet?

Kyungwon frowns and reaches to the knob, confused by the unusual silence. She also hears the doorbell and the sound of the door open, which means Minkyung should’ve seen who’s outside, and since the sound of the door closed hasn’t appeared, whoever that is must still be there.

A sudden thought comes up and Kyungwon immediately rushes to the living room. What if it’s Minkyung’s father? She said he might come, what if he’s here already? Minkyung doesn’t know how to face him yet, that’s why there’s no one talks or walks away or has any move…

With an abruptly retard, Kyungwon stops at her spot, almost trips by her own feet. Minkyung turns to look at her and bites her lip. The man at the door locks his sight on Kyungwon, his eyes are sharp and full with chill.

“…Dad.”

It’s not Minkyung’s dad. It’s hers.

                         ###

“I hate when you’re carrying that face and not talking.”

Kyungwon mumbles, shifts uneasily on the chair. “What did you say to Minky? You talked for quite a while, I couldn’t overhear anything from outside, she wouldn’t tell me a word and just pushed me into this room, and you don’t speak either, it’s freaking…”

“What? You’re scared?”

Kang Jihyuk turns from the window and Kyungwon can’t help but avoid his eyes.

“You seemed pretty bold when you barged in that hotel.”

Kyungwon shudders. “I…H-How…”

“I’ve been doing this job for 20 years.”

“B-But I changed clothes and cover…”

“And I am your father.” Kang Jihyuk says sternly. “You might fool the others, but you can’t fool me.”

“Does anyone…”

“No. Not yet.” It is the first time Kyungwon wonders if her dad can read people’s mind. “You are damn lucky there wasn’t a camera hanging above the room Song Jungki booked. The surveillance captured you when you entered the hotel and got out of the elevator and pushed a cart through the laundry room.”

Jihyuk sighs. “No one connected this three footages together…for now. Even if someone does, it’s not that easy to detect your identity. And I will make sure no one will detect except me.”

The last sentence is a murmur but Kyungwon still hears it. “Um…” She scratches the back of her head. “Thanks, da…”

“Stop that.”

She gulps when sensing her father’s rage. “What are you thinking, huh? You think I don’t know you peeked the case files in my office? You really think I wouldn’t figure out the whole situation?”

“…It’s not like that.”

Kyungwon lowers her head. “I’ve thought about several times how to tell you…this. I don’t want to keep lying to you.”

“And when are you planning to do that?”

“……”

This might be the first time Kyungwon did such a big thing behind her dad’s back. Technically, it’s not something illegal, it’s not that bad (or maybe not) either, but she has never felt so guilty in front of him.

“You interfered my job, my case. You lied to me for the past whole month.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Do you even realize how reckless you are? It was none of your business and it was dangerous but you still jumped inside, what if he hurt you!? What if he decided to silence you!? Are you really that strong to fight him back?”

Kyungwon lowers her head more but Jihyuk’s following words jolt her up.

“Your mom and I had always taught you to protect yourself, we didn’t raise you up to let you risked yourself for a criminal…”

“She’s not a criminal!”

Oh crap, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. “D-Dad, you have to understand...” She stutters with nervousness. “Minkyung has been through too much…Whatever she did, she meant none of them!”

Seeing her dad throws her an elusive but furious look, Kyungwon takes a hard swallow. “Of course she did not use a proper way, but who wouldn’t want to revenge when that kind of happened on them? Those so called proper ways would only put her in more danger, since all of those men are with so much power…” She pauses when her dad’s orbs turn darker. “…Never mind. What I mean is, yes, she made the wrong choice, but that was the past already. She’s not doing this anymore, she just wants her life back and lives like a normal girl, that’s what she’s trying her best to do now.”

Kyungwon gazes at her father with unstable breaths, afraid he will react like a police chief or an old friend of Song Jungki and Senator Son.

“What is done is done.”

Jihyuk says, still carrying a solemn expression.

“I know…But it can stop right here. It has already stopped. Please, dad…”

The last time Jihyuk remembers his daughter pleaded him was so many years ago. It was when she cried and pleaded him to find that Minky girl for her after learning she had moved away without further news.

“…Don’t be harsh on her, give her a chance. Please.”

It’s always about that girl. His daughter has sunk deeply long before he aware.

“10 minutes ago, when I was talking to Miss Kim,” Jihyuk leans his back on the wall. “She said the same to me. Don’t be harsh on you.”

Idiot. Don’t worry about me when you should worry about yourself.

“She confessed everything.”

Kyungwon looks up,