That morning, Sana proceeded to meet Dahyun at an unknown location, just as she had instructed Nayeon. The address Dahyun provided her brought her to an ordinary two-storey house. Sana waited inside her van, waiting for Dahyun to arrive because she was unfamiliar with the area. Not long after, Sana noticed a figure riding a motorcycle she was quite familiar with.

And she wasn't wrong when the motorcycle rider came to a stop right beside her van, tapped on the window, and made a playful salute. That was enough to make Sana giggle. She may not like to acknowledge it, but the sheer presence of Dahyun, even in a minimal way such as that action moment, made her giddy.

"Come on," Dahyun gestured after three knocks on the glass of the van. She only had to park the motorcycle in front of Sana's van, then she eventually got off after removing the helmet and gloves. While Dahyun waited for Sana, she ed her leather jacket and left it open for the rest of the day.

"What is this place?" Sana wondered, glancing around as she held the strap of her handbag. She waited for Dahyun's response, which never came, as the woman took several steps towards the house. Sana tilted her head and wondered, but she could only do so much.

"Wait up," she had to say before sneaking up behind Dahyun.

"You wanted to know where this is?" Dahyun questioned, casting a quick glance at Sana, who bobbed her head tentatively. "You'll see, Sana," Dahyun replied as they reached the gate. She pressed the doorbell twice without any more hemming and hawing.

A woman about the age of 55 opened the front door not long after. She rushed up to the gate and opened it to see who was there. And, to her surprise, she saw a face she'd never forget.

Sana was as well baffled to see this woman in front of her, but she couldn't say anything or just ask Dahyun why they were there.

"How shameless of you to be here," the woman continued, looking straight at Sana, who could only lower her head in shame. "After what your father did to my daughter?" she cried. "Go away and never come near my house!" she yelled.

Dahyun used her strength to stop the woman from slamming the gate shut. "My name is Atty. Kim Dahyun of Kim Law & Criminal Defense," she said calmly as she removed her wallet from the back pocket of her pants. She intended to show the woman both her identification card and her business card. "Her name is Minatozaki Sana, and she is my personal assistant," Dahyun explained, before casting a brief glance towards Sana.

"I couldn't care less about who you are."

"Listen, woman," Dahyun began, her voice deep and her eyebrows arched. "How do you feel about your daughter's killer roaming the streets freely while you stay at home for years dealing with the loss?" she gritted her teeth at the conclusion of her statement.

"It wasn't an easy death for your daughter, and you know what happened to her based on the autopsy report." "What leads you to believe it was an easy crime then? Have you ever wondered how come it was so easy to catch a criminal? Was everything believable to you?" Dahyun said again, leading the woman's eyes to well up with tears.

"Atty. Kim," Sana said, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. She wanted to prevent Dahyun from emphasizing a traumatic incident to the victim's mother.

"The criminal is already in jail, so off my property," the woman said forcefully but tearfully. She attempted to shut the gate yet again, and this time Dahyun did nothing.

Except she began to speak, "I'm wondering how well you know your daughter, Mrs. Cho," which prevented the woman from closing the gate completely in an instant. "Did you really know her well enough?" she queried.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to do," the woman remarked, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "She's my daughter, therefore I know her well."

"Will you then tell me about Zhang Cai Zen, your daughter's friend?" Dahyun inquired, her eyebrows raised. Mrs. Cho became speechless as a result of this. She had never met anyone named Zhang Cai Zen, and her daughter had never told her about her friends. "You haven't heard his name before, have you?"

"It happened a long time ago," Mrs. Cho continued, her voice trembling. "How could I remember anything that I've fought so hard to forget?" "Jang-mi has certainly mentioned that friend, though I don't remember it now."

"I see," Dahyun remarked, taking something from her jacket's pocket. "I'll help you remember." She presented the same photograph she had previously showed to Sana, a photograph of the victim and Cai Zen taken in a well-known nightclub run by the Zhangs. "Did you realize your daughter had this side?" she asked.

Mrs. Cho could only sob silently as she looked at that photo. She never imagined her daughter Jang-mi would do something inconceivable. "This can't be real," Mrs. Cho mumbled, shaking her head. It was just difficult for her to swallow that Jang-mi had a romantic involvement with someone she didn't know about. In addition, her daughter was clutching a cigarette and a glass of alcohol with the same hand.

"The boy you see in this photograph could be the same person who murdered your daughter," Dahyun stated flatly, displaying no sympathy. The only thing visible on her face was her determination to uncover the masked truth behind the Zhangs. "So, Mrs. Cho," Dahyun said as she carefully drew back the picture. "Would you be willing to cooperate with us on this?"

"Listen to me carefully, it wasn't just your daughter who became a victim of this heinous crime. Twelve cases of women who died in the same terrible manner as Jang-mi were all linked to the Zhangs in some way," Dahyun continued. "All of the convicted offenders worked for companies, both personal and shared, owned by the Zhangs." "I understand that this knowledge isn't enough to convince you to believe me, Mrs. Cho," she paused, her eyes downcast as she inhaled heavily. "But I'll keep digging," Dahyun remarked after a few moments. "This is the reason why I've come." "I was hoping you had something that you thought might be helpful."

"I don't have anything," Mrs. Cho responded immediately, refusing to cooperate despite the fact that she sensed the attorney was moving in the right direction.

"I understand," Dahyun could only respond with a nod. She then looked at Sana, who had no idea what such a gesture meant. "We'll get moving, then," Dahyun said, "thank you for the time." "Let's go, Sana."

"Wait!" Mrs. Cho said, raising Dahyun's eyebrows as she looked at the woman. "There was an unidentified number Jang-mi exchanged multiple calls with back then," she felt compelled to reveal. "I'm not sure if the authorities found that information relevant, but they never mentioned it to me, so I assumed it didn't mean anything."

"Tell me more," Dahyun requested. Sana assumed she needed to jot down everything because Dahyun wasn't taking notes.

"I had that number written somewhere for some reason I don't distinctly remember," Mrs. Cho explained. "I might still have it."

"Would you have a look around for me?" Dahyun requested. "And Jang-mi's cellphone where is it?"

"The police took it," Mrs. Cho replied. "They never brought it back, even some of my daughter's belongings."

"The only things that can be kept on the premises are those that have been used and provided as evidence," Dahyun said quietly, her eyes narrowing as she sought to make sense of things. "Why didn't they give those things back?" she questioned herself.

"Mrs. Cho," Dahyun began, her voice steady. "Do you remember what else they didn't return? Jang-mi's belongings..."

"Some of her clothes, some jewelry... they were mainly wearables, as I recall," Mrs. Cho replied, attempting to recollect those difficult days.

"Wearables?" Dahyun had to ask again because it didn't make sense to her. "Why would they?" she muttered under her breath.

 

 

"I took down the important details," Sana stated as they made their way down the corridor to Dahyun's office after a long morning. She reasoned that it was too quiet and that uttering anything would drown out the imaginary cricket noises in her thoughts.

"About what?" Dahyun inquired, opening the door and entering first, but like the lady she had always been, she held it until Sana had entered.

"About the talk you had with Mrs. Cho earlier," Sana responded shortly, but her countenance remained puzzled. She must have assumed that the answer to Dahyun's question was obvious.

"You didn't have to," Dahyun remarked proudly. "It's all up here," she continued, pointing to the side of her forehead.

"Your confidence, yeah," Sana chuckled. "I'm loving it," she said.

"Well," Dahyun replied, shrugging.

After that silly exchange, they were shrouded in silence. While sitting in her swivel chair, Dahyun noticed Sana yawning before transferring several envelopes of files from the cabinet to her desk.

"Did you sleep late last night?" Dahyun inquired, concerned. That caused Sana to raise her eyebrows at her. It was as if she didn't want to tell the truth, but the way she looked said it all. Her eyes remained swollen and weary after a few hours of rest.

"Yes," Sana answered sheepishly before settling onto an armchair in front of Dahyun's desk. "Very late," she said quietly, her lips pursed.

"Would you like to take a nap?"

"A nap?" Sana had to clarify. "Here in the office?"

"Yeah, you can sleep on the couch if you want," Dahyun replied casually. After all, she's used to handling everything herself, so she wouldn't need Sana's support. "I'm worried we'll be working overtime, so a little rest now might help you gather energy later," she reasoned.

"But, Atty. Kim," Sana her brow. "Don't you think it's inappropriate to nap at work?" she said, clearly not believing what the other was telling her.

"I do it all the time," Dahyun said matter-of-factly. "I'm your boss, and that means I should set an example for you," she said, smiling. "I take a quick siesta whenever I believe I need to, no matter where I am, so I wouldn't stop you if you feel like your body requires it."

"This is why you can't be a boss," Sana exclaimed, laughing. "When you're this nice, you're breaching the standard of being one."

"Whatever you say! Just go ahead and sleep, Sana," Dahyun remarked, smiling as she shook her head.

 

 

Sana awoke from a nightmare about an accident that nearly killed her. It felt so real that her heart couldn't stop racing very quickly even after sitting up for a while. Sana calmed down after finally realizing it was all just a bad dream, and gradually she recovered her breath.

"What was that?" she asked herself, the back of her neck. Then she noticed how similar this place was to Dahyun's office, except that the lights were turned off. "Oh my..." Sana gasped, finding Dahyun's leather jacket on her lap. The woman most likely tried to cover her with that earlier.

Sana turned her head quickly in the direction of the desk. She noticed Dahyun, who had her head down on the surface. She appeared to be dozing off as well.

"What time is it?" Sana murmured before pulling her phone from her jeans pocket. "1:00 a.m.?" she exclaimed unconsciously, forcing Dahyun to sit up upright, even though her eyes were still half-closed.

"Why?" she said, possibly suspecting that something was wrong because Sana panicked. "What happened?" Dahyun rubbed her eyes open so she could properly see Sana. But that didn't work out. It was just too dark with the lights off.

"It's past midnight," Sana said, sitting properly, though she kept the jacket on her lap.

"Is it?" Dahyun inquired, ruffling her hair to fully awaken herself. "We should go home then," she murmured with her gruff voice.

"But what about the work?" Sana inquired; her eyebrows furrowed.

"I've already completed everything for today."

"What?"

"There's nothing else to do," Dahyun confirmed.

"How come you didn't wake me up?" Sana wondered, embarrassed that she had let Dahyun handle everything while she slept soundly.

"You were exhausted."

Sana could only groan, knowing she couldn't beat Dahyun regardless. "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Atty. Kim," she added softly. "We should go home; you're tired as well."

"I'll take you home," Dahyun offered as the two of them peered at the open hood of Sana's van. Something is wrong with the vehicle again. "I'll have someone bring it to you tomorrow morning."

Sana's shoulders could only droop. It would probably be ideal if she got a new car, but given how much money her family owes and needs right now, she couldn't.

"Wouldn't it be too much trouble for you to get me home? You might live far away," Sana murmured, her voice weak. "I can take a taxi from here."

"No, I'll get you home," Dahyun insisted.

 

Sana couldn't help but think about things concerning Dahyun while they were driving. The woman had been exceptionally kind to her, which could explain why she had an uneasy feeling whenever they were together. However, something is preventing her from realizing her true feelings.

Dahyun acted like any other woman's ideal lover since she is compassionate, attentive, remarkably intelligent, and so damn attractive. Sana, on the other hand, couldn't get away from the fact that her relationship with Dahyun is nothing more than a game of give and take. They do each other favors, so it's apparent that they have to act nicely and get along well.

"Someone is following us," Dahyun remarked abruptly.

Sana heard it, but she wanted a clearer repetition just in case what she heard was incorrect. "What?" she questioned.

"Hug my waist tight," Dahyun said sharply, prompting Sana to immediately follow. "The road may get rough," she warned, as she accelerated the motorcycle's speed.

"Atty. Kim," Sana whispered quietly, closing her eyes, and tightening her clutch on the woman's waist.

 

A loud horn then followed. 

And I'm afraid it was the last thing the two of them remembered about that night.