Finally, an hour of unconsciousness, Jisu woke up. She looked around to a familiar setting. She felt something uncomfortable on her face so she tried to scratch it away, only to feel the oxygen mask. She pulled it off her face and examined it for a couple of seconds before she let it rest under her chin. She looked around and saw the heart monitor to her left. After seeing that, she confirmed she was in a hospital. She remembered what happened at home.

Jisu was about to go back to work the day after Detective Woo's passing but she got a phone call. It was an unknown number but she picked it up anyways. "Detective Kwon? It's me, Park Minhyuk." She remembered him. He was the agent who did autopsies of people who died from car crashes. He was an expert in cars. He also worked on Detective Kim's case. "I know I am not supposed to tell you this, but forgive me just once. I am in charge of Detective Woo's car crash scene. I know how important he is to you, so I made this call."

"What is it?" she asked, feeling a bit nervous.

"Detective Woo's steering wheel was locked." Jisu's eyes widened. How could that even be possible? Detective Woo's car was a sleek, brand new Hyundai. "Also, the brakes in his car were not working. Nothing was missing from the hood, and there was nothing blocking the step. Nothing could explain the malfunctioning brakes so we had to go internally. The wires had been cut off."

"Cut?" she questioned. "Yes," he confirmed. "Someone cut off the wires inside his car. It was cut just enough to snap once the brakes are used over a number of times."

"No way," Jisu whispered. "How is that even possible? Why would anyone do such a thing?"

"There's something I need to tell you, Detective Kwon," he said, not choosing to answer her questions. "I haven't told you this before because you were already heartbroken; I couldn't make it any worse. In Detective Kim's car, the brakes had also been cut exactly like Detective Woo's car. I remember because it was a unique case. There is either something blocking the step or the entire brake compartment is taken out from the hood. The two accidents are very similar to each other."

Jisu froze. She couldn’t believe it. The two closest people to her died. She dropped the phone and her knees crumbled underneath her. Why would anyone take them away from her? She was already lonely. Who would want to want her any lonelier?

After the phone call, Jisu didn't have the strength to go to work. So she called in, and told whoever picked up the phone that she wasn't able to get to work. She didn't know who picked up but she did know it was not the chief. Knowing him, he wouldn't ask for a reason for her absence.

For the next several days, she stayed in bed, not eating or drinking a single drop. On top of that, she had a bad fever, which made her even more dehydrated. At that time, she didn't even care anymore. She was physically and mentally exhausted. She didn't call anyone to care for her because she wanted to be alone, like she had been most of her life.

Jisu looked at the door when she heard someone slide the door open. It was Kai, coming back from his washroom break. He noticed her sitting on her bed and quickly ran to her side. "Thank God you're awake! Are you okay? How are you feeling? Are you thirsty?" Without letting her reply to any of those questions, he grabbed a new water bottle and opened it for her. She grabbed it and chugged down half the bottle.

"What day is it?" Jisu asked when she took a look at the time.

"It's Sunday. You've been here for an hour but the doctor said you were probably in a two day coma," Kai said. Then, the door slid open and two nurses came in. Kai had pressed the button on the wall for someone to check up on Jisu. They asked Jisu some questions, and checked her vitals. Everything was low, which was understandable. Since Jisu didn't need the gas mask anymore, they moved her to general room.

After Jisu got settled into a bigger room with other patients, Kai asked her again, "Are you okay?"

"No," she replied, surprising him. She stopped talking when she contemplated whether or not she should tell him. She looked up when she heard the shingles of the curtains move. Kai was closing the curtain around her bed and sat down.

"You can tell me. You don't have to hide anything from me. We're family. You and mom are the only family I've got." She raised her brow at how mature he sounded. "Why are you talking like this? You were the one who was scared about your record for reporting a disturbance just last week."

"You almost died!" he yelled and covered his mouth. "Do you know how worried I was when you never answered my calls?" he said in a quieter volume. "I slept outside your door because I thought you would come out."

Jisu blinked. "You slept outside my door?"

"Yes!" Then, Jisu suddenly hit his arm and he yelled. "What was that for?"

"For sleeping outside my door! Our apartment doesn't have heating in the hallways. You were basically sleeping outside in the snow! You're such an idiot. Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in school? And what's up with that hair? Cut it, why don't you? Also, that scar on your cheek: when is it going to heal? No girl would want you if you have an ugly face. You've got to expand our family!"

Then, Kai laughed. He laughed loud and hard. He didn't even care if there were other sleeping patients in the room. It came out as a genuine laugh. His stomach hurt and tears filled his eyes when he decided to calm down. Jisu had an amused smile on her face.

"It's been a long time since I've laughed like this," Kai said and Jisu rolled her eyes. "Get some friends."

"I can say the same for you." Jisu didn't say anything and he  "But I'm glad you can still nag at me even after you just woke up from your slumber."

She smiled. "I'm sorry I scared you. I was going to move on the next day but something happened." She decided to tell her cousin. "I found out about the car crash my close colleague had. It was a similar case to Detective Kim's."

"The man who took better care of you than your dad?"
She nodded. Then, she told him about how the crashes were no accidents. She told him how much she was devastated to hear the two deaths were related to each other and that it was her fault. She thought it was her fault because she was the only person who was close to the two detectives. The people she treasured the most died in the same way. No matter how many times Kai told her it wasn't her fault, she kept insisting it was.

"It is not," he said firmly. "If it was homicide, the two must've done something for the perpetrator to do such a thing. It has nothing to do with you because you weren't in that car. You aren't the one targeted. What have you done wrong for someone to do such a thing? Everyone has secrets." A part of her knew he was right and another part of her denied it. Kai knew she was still blaming herself. "You are not at fault. End of story. Do you know how worried I was, when I found you unconscious? Well, I was pretty damn worried. If it wasn't for your next door neighbor who calmed me down, I would have gone mad. Never ever do that again. If you are going through some difficult times, don't hurt yourself anymore. Don't keep it to yourself. Talk to me. Talk to anybody. You're not alone. As long as I'm here - as long as you have a family - you are never alone."

Jisu dismissed his sentimental monologue at the end and rewinded back to the beginning. "My next door neighbor? Why did you get my neighbor?"

"I didn't get him, he found me sleeping in front of your door."

"Him? My next door neighbor is an old lady who lives with her granddaughter."

"The apartment to your right. He's a man who lives alone. He has a small face and a built body. He said he knew you from a speeding ticket you gave him. His name is Kim Soohyun."

Jisu couldn't put a face to that name. She had the ability to remember or forget faces if she wanted to. Drivers with speeding tickets are the ones who she tended to forget. "I don't remember him."

Kai scratched his head. "He was a pretty unique looking face. He stayed here while I was gone for a bit. Then, he suddenly left for no reason."

She shrugged, "Of course he would suddenly leave. I'm just a stranger."

"Well, he knew you as the officer who got him a speeding ticket," he laughed and Jisu socked him in the arm once more.