“Forget what I said. I’m just tired,” Eleonor walks by Seulgi and stops. “Turn off the kitchen lights for me, will you?” She cracks a weak smile and leaves.

Seulgi is concerned about how Eleonor was. She wonders if what she said was true, that her father is cheating on her. She thought, was it the same reason her parents divorced? But they said it wasn’t about adultery, that it was something else, like the fallout of a relationship. But her parents’ relationship was over, and now Eleonor is the present. She doesn’t like how her father makes Eleonor feel negative things. She wants to help Eleonor. She wants to find out that Eleonor’s hunch is true, that her father is cheating on her. Eleonor is kind to her and cares about her. She feels that it’s unfair for Eleonor to be treated like that and make her feel less special. She wants to get to the bottom of it.

After school, Seulgi doesn’t go home immediately anymore. She spends time with Irene and Giselle and goes somewhere, hangout. It’s her new normal now and she’s glad that she has reconnected with Irene and be friends with Giselle. She likes Giselle. If the mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, then Giselle is the powerhouse of their friendship. Giselle balances Irene’s seriousness and Seulgi’s forbearance. Giselle would take pictures of them when they go somewhere. She tells them it’s for remembrance and asks Seulgi’s Facebook and Instagram. Seulgi isn’t ready to open her social media yet. She’s not ready to see all the notifications and read the messages, so she tells a white lie to Giselle that she forgot her password in all of her social media accounts because of the accident. Giselle would feel guilty for asking and Seulgi would feel guilty for lying.

Seulgi comes home at 5:00 PM or 5:30 PM. She doesn’t go beyond that time. She has to come home before dinner. She notices that her father wouldn’t eat dinner with them anymore for some reason. She also notices that every Tuesday and Friday, her father would go out around 8:50 PM and would return home around 10:00 PM. It has been like that for two weeks now. She's curious about where her father goes, so she asks her friends to help her spy on her father. She told them about the situation at home. Her friends said they are willing to help her.

Tuesday night came when Byung Wook goes out of the house and drives his car going somewhere. When Giselle sees Seulgi's father's car turning on, she starts her car's engine and Seulgi immediately goes inside the car and buckles her seatbelt. Giselle follows the car on the road, making a distance so it won't be obvious that they are tailing them. Seulgi messages Irene that they are on the road following her father.

Giselle notices Seulgi wearing a mask. “Are you wearing that mask for disguise?”

“No, in case I get nauseous when I smell my father,” Seulgi explains.

“Oh, that mutant power of yours.”

“R-right,” Seulgi isn't sure of what to answer. A minute later her phone vibrates to see Irene replies to the message by telling them to be careful and she's sorry that she couldn't come with them because she's busy studying for the Literature quiz for tomorrow. Seulgi understands. She tells Giselle about it but Giselle just purses her lips and nods. She doesn't want to tell Seulgi that she's classmates with Irene in Literature class. She totally forgot about the quiz tomorrow. But being on the road at night tailing a car feels like on a mission. She feels her adrenaline rushing. Giselle looks ahead to find the car which makes a right turn. She drives slowly to see Seulgi's father stop at the Bermuda Triangle Diner. It was the only diner in the place. Giselle lowers her headlights, making a turn, and parks the car in the woods. “I think we should be good here,” She tells Seulgi as she unbuckles her seatbelt.

“We should go there to get a good look,” Seulgi unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car.

Giselle looks at the perimeter as she hides behind the tree. It's dim in the woods and the only light they can see is the diner and a light post that is meters away on the road. She gestures to Seulgi to keep her head down as she sees another car arrive in the place. Seulgi walks stealthily and hides behind the bush. They watch Seulgi's father coming out of his car and talk to the person who just arrived. The two men greet each other and walk inside the diner.

“How are we going to go near them without being seen?” Seulgi asks.

“Pray that they sit somewhere in the middle and spy them on the window.”

“What if we get caught?”

“Pray that we don't,” Giselle’s reply isn’t comforting at all. She can feel Seulgi being nervous about what they are going to do. “Calm down, we're not gonna rob the diner. We'll just check if your dad is really cheating on Eleonor. Besides, if we get caught, just flash that cute eye-smile to your dad."

“What?” Seulgi didn't catch Giselle's plan. To be honest, they haven't come up with a real plan. They just thought of following the car and nothing else. Maybe they imagined that Seulgi's father would go to a motel or something. Seulgi realizes that they came unprepared.

“Just follow my lead,” Giselle gestures those hand signs like what she sees in action movies done by the military. Seulgi doesn't understand it but she just follows where Giselle goes. They walk around the back of the diner, avoiding the front door in case someone walks out of it. They immediately pass by the backdoor where there are crate piles and some wooden boxes to be brought inside. They might be food stocks and beverages.

Giselle takes a peek at the window and immediately ducks down, nervously.

“W-what did you see?” Seulgi asks, she also gets nervous by Giselle’s action.

“Nothing. It was too fast!”

Seulgi sighs and slaps Giselle. “You gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry, I got nervous. Okay, I'll check again,” Giselle peeks on the window and sees a guy standing by the door, perhaps guarding. Then, she looks at Seulgi's father sitting with four men. As she wished for, they are sitting at the middle round table discussing something. It didn't look like an infidelity case; they are just talking about how busy men have a normal meeting. Giselle recognizes the other man sitting across Seulgi's father. She taps Seulgi to look. “Do you know that guy in a navy blue suit?” She points. “That's Thomas Park, Joy's father.”

Seulgi is surprised. She doesn't know that her father has a connection with Joy's father. She thinks maybe it has something to do with work since her father works in the government.

“I didn't know Jimin is working here as a waiter,” Giselle ducks down.

“Who?” Seulgi gives her a quizzical look.

“Jimin, he sells drugs. I bet he knows about Joy.”

“How do you know that?”

Giselle is hesitant to tell Seulgi that she bought drugs from him, thinking the Catholics were right about her being a junkie. “Let's say I bought from him in the past,” she glances at Seulgi to see her reaction but the latter doesn't seem to care about it. It's quite a relief on Giselle's part.

The two continue to observe what is happening inside the diner. Unfortunately, nothing special is going on, just a normal business meeting between adults. After the meeting, the four men said their goodbyes and parted ways. Seulgi and Giselle stealthily go back in the car and follow Byung Wook’s car to a convenience store. They watch him from a distance; he bought a pack of cigarettes and smokes outside.

“I’m sorry for saying this but why do I feel your father is in some kind of shady business,” Giselle says. Seulgi doesn’t reply, she doesn’t know what to say. She doesn’t want to think of her father that way. “Sh*t. Sorry for saying that.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t know what to reply.”

“It’s my tactless mouth. I don’t think before saying something,” Giselle rests her head on the steering wheel and looks at Seulgi. “I don’t have any feelings when it comes to a father figure. He wasn’t there all the time when I was growing up. And by junior high school, I found out that we were his other family. My mom didn’t tell me that because she’s scared that I might get hurt that she was the other woman. Eight months ago, he completely abandoned us by not supporting our needs anymore. I have a toddler sister same as Elena’s age. My mom is the one who provides for us. She’s working her off just to feed us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Seulgi says. It’s not that her father was a no-show. They just had a fallout five years ago. Maybe it was better to separate than to stay in a toxic relationship. She can’t compare herself with Giselle’s situation because they have their own different problems. She has to sympathize with what Giselle had gone through.

Giselle feels uncomfortable sharing it. She doesn’t usually share this kind of sentiment, especially about her father. She has never told Irene about her family. She gets emotional when she shares about them. She envies Irene for having a great father. Mr. Atwood isn’t Irene’s biological father but he loves Irene likes his own. Giselle hates her father and thinks, why can’t her father be like Irene’s father? The least her father can do to give a monthly allowance for her sister’s needs. She doesn’t care about her allowance; she can just find a part-time job. Her sister is more important than her. But what devastates her most is when she saw her mom having a mental breakdown from all of it. She could never forgive her father for abandoning them. “Whatever. him,” she scoffs, she doesn’t want to think of him anymore.

After Byung Wook smokes, he goes inside his car. “Yo, your dad is on the move.” Giselle starts the engine and follows him. When they arrive at the place, it’s not what they expected. They thought after the business meeting he was going somewhere to meet a woman but he just returns home. There wasn’t anything infidelity about his trip that night. Seulgi looks at the time, 9:57 PM, just like she observed. “Well, we didn’t find anything. That’s good. Eleonor can rest assured that your father isn’t cheating on her,” Giselle says.

“Yeah, I'm glad he isn't,” Seulgi is relieved that her father isn't cheating on Eleonor and it was just a misunderstanding. She's confident that she can tell Eleonor that she shouldn't be worried about it, and then she thinks about how she will assure her.

Will she tell Eleonor that she spied on her father?

Seulgi wonders if the pungent smell coming from his father wasn’t about infidelity, then, what was it that he has done wrong? Seulgi doesn’t fully understand her abilities yet, she needs Lisa’s help in figuring what the odors mean. But she can’t just barge in the police station and meet Lisa unannounced. She knows the detective is a busy person too. So, she’ll have to wait if Lisa is free of duty.

The next day, the three friends, Irene, Seulgi, and Giselle agree to eat lunch together in the cafeteria. Seulgi goes to the comfort room to do her business. When she came in, she saw Hannah Harper who just came out of the cubicle. She wipes her tears, holding something. Seulgi is about to greet her but Hannah walks away immediately. Seulgi wonders what it was but shrugs it off.

In the cafeteria where students are as loud as a zoo, Seulgi carries her tray of food, searching for her friends. When she finds where they are sitting, Seulgi approaches their table. She notices Giselle is ranting about something.

“Hi, Seulgi!” Giselle greets her.

Irene scoots beside to give Seulgi a space to sit. Seulgi asks what the fuss is all about. Irene rolls her eyes and says, “She got detention and it was entirely her fault.”

“Was not!”

“Why what happened?” Seulgi asks curiously.

“She saw a ruler on the floor and began sawing it on her desk.”

“But that’s school property,” Seulgi says matter-of-factly.

“Right?” Irene replies as she drinks her milk.

“Hey, my mom is paying the tax.” Giselle defends her action of doing it.

“Still…” Seulgi finds it wrong. It doesn’t justify Giselle’s behavior.

“Anyway, that’s not all she did. I don’t know what came into her that when she was sawing the desk with a ruler, it’s obvious it melted because of the friction. I even saw her blowing it when the heatwave was rising.”

“You just watched?” Seulgi asks Irene.

“Irene is obviously bored in class, that’s why she watched me doing it.”

“It’s because we sit next to each other. The sawing destructed me.”

“Well, it’s not entirely my fault. Namjoon didn’t have to shout. Whatta weaksh*t!”

“Of course, he shouted in reflex. Are you dumb?”

“Still, he’s a weaksh*t.”

“Why, what happened next?” Seulgi asks in amusement.

“I don’t know what she was thinking but after sawing the desk, she stuck the ruler on Namjoon’s neck!”

Seulgi is laughing out loud at the story. She knows it’s bad to laugh, she doesn’t want to patronize Giselle’s mischievous act but she can’t help herself from laughing. Giselle is one crazy girl for doing that stunt.

Irene got destructed by what Giselle did. Lowkey, she wanted to know how it goes, that’s why she didn’t do anything. To be honest, she found it funny but thinking how mean it was, she felt bad for Namjoon. The guy didn’t do anything wrong. He was minding his business in class and Giselle got bored and it just happened that he was the closest in reach. Then she remembers Seulgi’s father. “How did it go last night?” She looks at Seulgi.

Seulgi chews her food before answering. “We didn’t find anything.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Irene replies.

“Also, we found out Seulgi’s dad and Joy’s dad know each other,” Giselle says.

“They know each other?” Irene looks at Seulgi, the latter shrugs. Seulgi doesn’t know anything about it. “What were they doing then?”

“Business meeting? Seulgi and I didn’t hear anything but the way it looks, it’s serious business. Mr. Park had a bodyguard with him.”

“Wow, it seems he’s more concerned with his business rather than her missing daughter,” Irene scoffs. No parent would be calm if their child is missing. Thomas Park is the richest man in town. How come he isn’t using his resources in finding Joy? Irene detests him for his lack of action as a father.

Giselle is contemplating the perfect timing whether to tell Irene what she knows about Joy. She knows Irene is sensitive when it comes to Joy Park, she looks at Seulgi who is eating peacefully. If not now, then, when is she going to tell Irene? “Irene, I have something to tell you.” She readies herself first, she knows Irene is going to freak out.

Seulgi notices Giselle is kind of fidgety. On the back of her mind, she has a hint of what Giselle is going to say. She remembers Giselle told her in the police station that Irene is sensitive about bringing up Joy. She looks at Giselle, waiting for her to say it. It’s not good to just keep it either. Irene has to know.

Irene is keen on the sudden change in their behavior. “What is it?”

Giselle looks at Seulgi for the go signal. When Seulgi nods, she starts telling Irene. “It’s about Joy. I might know where to find her.”

Giselle knew about this information from other people who saw her selling drugs which she got the supplies from Jimin. If the rumors are true about Joy fighting with her father, it seemed that Joy wanted to get away from Angels Creek with the drug money. Giselle didn't tell Irene because Joy seems to be the type that wants to have things her own way. Also, she doesn't want to do anything with their business, but looking at Irene being worried about Joy's whereabouts is making her guilty.

Irene looks down on her plate and heaves a deep breath. “You know, or you knew?” She looks at Giselle directly in the eyes.

“Irene, listen, I…” Before Giselle could continue what she was about to say. The school’s televisions in the cafeteria show a Breaking News in the town. The noisy chattering ambient goes silent as everyone is caught on watching the news.

“Breaking News, the police responded to a report by a local who was walking by the creek. A dead body of a female teenager was found floating on Angels Creek this morning. The female teenager was identified to be Joy Park, who has been missing for two months. Forensics said that the body has been dead for twelve hours. The police are still investigating the cause of death. Deep condolences for the Park family.”

Irene is stupefied by the news. She couldn’t believe it. She won’t accept that her missing friend, Joy Park, was reported to be dead. It must have been a terrible joke. The dead body could have been misidentified. She can’t think properly. All she can feel is the pain of losing her.

Giselle and Seulgi watch Irene stare blankly as her tears are trickling down her cheeks. When Seulgi saw her cry, she couldn’t help it but she started crying too. She doesn’t know Joy personally, but she knows the feeling of losing someone. She hugs Irene to sympathize with her. Giselle couldn’t understand how she feels at the moment. They were just talking about Joy and suddenly the news broke. She looks around the cafeteria, the students who know Joy Park are crying at the horrendous news. Giselle is just as shocked as everyone.