CHAPTER 9: SHADOWS OF THE PAST. CONSEQUENCES

  ,,Min An Sook!" Kan decided to surprise the delivery man, but the ones surprised have been he and Yoon Suk because, right after being noticed by An Sook, he started to run as if chased by the devil, throwing a box toward them.

  ,,Ah, Damn!" Kan mumbled. ,,Exactly what I needed today: exercises! Why are you still here?" he said sullenly to Yoon Suk, who was still next to him, chewing his bubble gum.

  ,,And where should I be?" his partner simply answered.

  ,,On the moon, brother! On the moon!" and, touching, in mockery, Yoon Suk's shoulder, he suddenly pushed him in front, forcing the young detective to run after An Sook"

***

   An Sook's chase wasn't an easy one… the man was fast and this made a lot of trouble to Kan, who panted while running after him.

  ,,Damn psycho!" Kan yelled. ,,Why is everybody running when the only thing I need is just to talk to them?!"

  Yoon Suk showed up next to Kan, from an aside, narrow street. ,,I think we lost him!"

  Kan stopped and stared at his partner. ,,Do you think or you are sure?"

  ,,Both?!"

  ,,¡Yah! You know we can't lose that… motherfucker! If we lose him, we will be the rats in the… there he is!" Kan suddenly yelled and both started to run after An Sook! ,,Yoon Suk, tell him to stop, right there where he is!"

  ,,You are the eldest here, sombe. You tell him!"

  ,,He doesn't listen to me!"

  ,,Then make him listen to you!" Yoon Suk grinned at him and he turned left at the next crossroad.

  ,,Shit! I'm sick of all this! Ah, Min An Sook, just wait! When I grab you, it won't be nice for sure!"

***

  ,,Aaa!" yelled An Sook, who has been pushed face to the wall by Yoon Suk, putting the handcuffs on his wrists. ,,Easy, man, I'm still breathing here!"

  Yoon Suk slapped An Sook's head, forcing him to keep silent. ,,Maybe you, he definitely not," and both men looked toward Kan, who was squatted a few meters from them, hardly breathing.

  ,,You, motherfucker…," Kan stuttered. ,,You took all my life away," and, standing up, he walked toward the two, yelling like a desperate man. ,,Why did you run, rat? Huh? Just don't tell me because I'm a cop or I swear…"

  ,,Sombe, we are still on the street."

  ,,Yeah, I know, but this one... he won't leave this place alive if he doesn't answer to me!"

  ,,To answer what?" An Sook yelled at Kan, still facing the wall while Yoon Suk's hand was pressing his head.

  ,,Ah, you…," took Kan a few steps toward the prisoner, but he stopped right in front of him and, grinning like a dog in front of a cat, he growled at him: ,,tell me about the gift box, Tom!"

  ,,The gift box? What gift box?"

  ,,The one in which you transported a body… a dead one," and Yoon Suk forced the prisoner to look at them.

  ,,What? A dead body? Don't f… play with me, ok? I am an ex-con, but… I'm not into such things, ok?"

  ,,Then why did you run?"

  An Suk moved a little in place and grinned at Yoon Suk. ,,Because I'm allergic to idiots?! I'm tired of cops, man! Every single day something bad happens and the cops are right away after me!" and the last part An Sook practically yelled it. ,,Yes, I made a mistake, five years ago, but I'm clean, man. I want to live… and I'm tired of being hunted. By you."

  ,,You deserved that, man. For selling drugs to children," and Kan pierced his victim with his eyes, forcing him to step back.

  ,,So, what about the box?" Kan squatted again, lighting a cigarette.

  ,,Which box, man? I deliver a lot of boxes all day long. I really don't know which box you are talking about."

  ,,That's simple. A big one… enough to fit a dead body in it and with a red bow on the outside. Come on, man! I'm sure you remember it. I don't think you are carrying such things every day." Kan took a few steps toward An Sook, who crawled behind Yoon Suk.

  Kan instead stopped right in front of Yoon Suk and, staring into his partner's eyes, he asked the other. ,,So? Did you remember which box? Come on, man, you are already 30. Will you hide long after my partner? Talk to me… looking into my eyes. To know if you tell me the truth, rat!"

  An Sook stepped aside and, scratching his head, mumbled. ,,Yes. I remember, but I didn't know what was in it. I swear!"

  ,,Don't make me laugh!" Kan grinned at him and approached the ,,rat". ,,You carried a body… all the way… and you didn't know what was into that box. Do you think I'm new at this?"

  ,,And do you think I have laser-eye?" An Sook confronted the detective. ,,They just sent me to deliver the box… that's all. I can't see through it. If I knew what was in it, I would have never touched that box".

  ,,Can you prove it? That you had been hired," Yoon Suk asked him.

  ,,Yes. They sent me a message with the location of the package and where to deliver it. I don't know much about this. You can see the message on my phone."

  Yoon Suk checked An Sook's pockets and, finding the mobile phone, he scrolled down till he found the message, but when he dialed the number, from which the message had been sent, he discovered in amazement that the number wasn't available anymore.

  ,,Why am I not even surprised?! So, who staged this thing for you? Faster, man! I need names or what, do you want to see once again what a jail looks like from inside? Names and now!" and, throwing the cigarette, Kan dialed a number.

***

  ,,Why are you staying and staring like a dumb to that van?" SolHi asked when she got next to DooSan, who was staring at a van, with the television badge on it.

  ,,Nothing special. Just… memories," he answered.

  ,,About you and … Min SinJu?"

  ,,I told you that you are a stalker."

  ,,Yeah. I'm so in love with you, that I can't even breathe if I don't know what you are doing every single second of your life. Don't be silly. So, what's the story here?"

  DooSan turned his head and looked at SolHi, who was insistently staring at him, waiting for the answer.

  ,,It's just a long story. It isn't worthy to mention about it," but something else were telling his eyes, more and more sinking in the past.

***

  A punch in SinJu's face put him to the ground, right in front of the cameras and when he stared at the one who dared to attack him, SinJu saw DooSan, who was staring at him, like a bull in front of red cloth.

  And the journalists aren't stupid: after the punch was coming the story. So, their blitz was working continuously, forcing each other for a better position.

  SinJu stood up, still touching the bleeding wound on the corner of his lips, and he approached DooSan, staring into his eyes. ,,Have you lost your mind?" SinJu whispered to his rival.

  ,,The one who is the devil here it's you, son of a…," and DooSan stared at the journalists that weren't losing any detail. ,,Should I tell them an interesting story? About how you treated another journalist and you made her run out of the country, hiding like a rat? What do you think: what is waiting for you if I tell them this story? I'm so fucking nervous to see it with my own eyes, while they break you into pieces."

  SinJu smiled and, stretching his hand, he cleaned DooSan's jacket, on the shoulders, as if there was something that had to be cleaned. ,,And do you think I'm afraid, mister Han? I'm clean like the virgin waters. Nothing can involve me into this."

  ,,What about a witness?" DooSan mumbled.

  ,,Are you talking about that old fox? And who will believe his words? Especially if they find out about the ,,deal" he had with me," and SinJu smiled again. And how not to smile when he was sure about his movements and it could be noticed in his words, calmly spoken.

  ,,A deal of which you took care of. But don't think that it will be easy, Min SinJu. Soon, I'll start to chase you like a rat and I'll have no rest until I'll see you recast in jail, for your entire life." DooSan's eyes were throwing fire all around, but he could do nothing at that moment, especially not in front of the journalists, but God knows how much he wanted to see that rat, laying in front of him, dead.

  ,,What can I say, prosecutor Han DooSan: good luck, and I hope we won't see any news about your death, as it happened to your brother," and SinJu walked away, leaving Han DooSan behind him, shaking like a leaf in the wind.