Jiwoo was swaying in the office chair behind Eunho's desk. Twirling a pen in between his fingers, he arched a brow. "Is that so?"

"Yes! I swear, I'm not desperate! That particular symbol was tattooed on the back of his neck!" Eunho paced back and forth in front of the desk, a habit of his whenever he got incredibly nervous. He wasn't sure if he was losing his mind, or if he was indeed growing antsy for new clues. He couldn't have been mistaken, even with the wisps of longer strands of hair hiding the mark, Eunho was sure of what he saw.

"I never said you were desperate." Jiwoo eyed him intently. Eunho was still a young prosecutor, lesser experienced. A prominent case that shook the nation was in his hands, taunting him. It seemed like a deliberate setup for ultimate failure, a play with Eunho acting as a ragged puppet to put on a dead show.

Jiwoo was protective of him, like an older brother nurturing the sibling he never had. "We're lightly treading on thin ice here with a valuable lead. I say we should secure a search warrant pronto." If Eunho is right, we better act fast before they get on our tail.

"Yeah, I'll go talk to Atty. Kang about it." Grains of trickling sweat dotted the corner of his forehead from the constant pacing around the office.

"Other than reporting to Atty. Kang, don't tell anyone else about this lead. Not even the police department. With Officer Min gone, I doubt there's anyone left we could trust." Jiwoo sighed after carrying out the warning, ruffling his hair through his hands. "By the way, any update on Kitel? Did you at least talk to her doctor about what the hell's going on?"

Eunho slumped his shoulders, and Jiwoo instantly knew that it was a silent indication of bad news. "As far as Dr. Go told me, she went into a shock of some sort, and she could already be suffering from brain damage." His eyes were lifeless like a rotting corpse, void of any silver of hope left. "Fortunately, there's a good chance she'll gain consciousness any time soon, however..."

"She might suffer from memory loss," Jiwoo finished for him. Typical. It would be a dead-end with their potential chance at new information with Kitel. They badly needed her input to piece together a jagged picture full of decaying holes from missing fragments.

It was then he widened his eyes. "Shit, this perfectly explains why they didn't allow for tight security. Not because Kitel wasn't a VIP, but to mangle with her." The crime investigator already jumped out from his seat, the pen stiff in his firm grasp.

"Whoever came out from her room that night had ill-intentions without a doubt," Eunho chimed, pursing his lips in a thin line. "God, it makes me sick knowing that the victim is being toyed with in that wretched place." Gritting his teeth, Eunho felt a strong sense of vehemence swimming in his chest at the thought of the helpless girl being handled around like a rag doll with no regard for her life.

"Eunho, pull on a report and submit it to Atty. Kang fast. We need to work on this before things get out of hand. Especially with the prospect that the victim might wake soon, someone is going to actively take that chance away from her." Jiwoo felt a buzz ripple through the pocket of his slacks. He slipped his phone out and realized it was a text message. Immediately, he swiped the screen to view the content.

Come to the hospital... tonight.

Jiwoo grimaced, a morbid feeling boiling in the pit of his stomach at the ominous invitation. What could possibly be waiting at the hospital? With the anonymous texts sending in from a burner phone, it was relatively hard to track the guardian cherub littering sparse hints.

First, it was at court with the tip to check the CCTV Footage, now what? Jiwoo was hungry for more answers, even mere traces to satisfy his sanity before it drained into complete nothingness. But more importantly, where the hell are all of these coming from? He needed an ally, and this one seemed to know everything Jiwoo craved for.

The young crime investigator was losing his mind. Theories and mind-boggling conspiracies were destroying his head. He didn't want to meltdown in front of Eunho; he needed to tighten his grip on the reigns that kept him from breaking down to be shattered like glass. Cool himself as a way to balance the stress radiating from Eunho like the scorching heat of the sun.

"Fuck," Eunho cursed, taking a seat on the chair in front of the desk, and face buried in his clammy hands. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" The string of profanities perfectly painted the apprehensive situation.

The prime epitome that mirrored Jiwoo's uncertainty.

"These fuckers ruthlessly fire Officer Min, and if that wasn't enough, they just had to end him! No police, no senior lawyer, no one! And look who I'm up against!" If the grim criminal orchestrating the play could hear Eunho, they wouldn't think twice about the confidence they had in running away with bloodied hands, Scott-free. Or perhaps, they already had.

"Idiot," Jiwoo sneered, smacking Eunho's head with a swift hand. "What am I, then? A ghost?" Jiwoo clutched the prosecutor's shoulders, violently shaking him. He felt his heart thrashing like a wild animal in his chest, blood shooting up to spark his senses into a raging fire. "Listen! Quit whining like a five-year-old and snap out of it! The world doesn't care about your problems, so stop acting like it revolves around you and you alone! There's no use in your petty banter! If you keep crying, you think the bastards are gonna surprise you with a pity party and turn themselves in?"

Jiwoo knew he was being entirely harsh with Eunho, but the reigns had fallen from his fingers and he was no longer in control. His hands were incessantly quivering, running cold with the lack of oxygen flowing through his veins as they hardened on Eunho's broad shoulders.

Eunho was looking up at the crime investigator, eyes slightly squinted and eyebrows squeezed together. "I..." There was a spike in his words that somehow pulled him from drowning underneath a sea of his blurry thoughts. Jiwoo was harsh, but he only spoke the bitter truth that slapped Eunho cold. No one was going to save him. The universe wasn't going to shine an avenue for him to walk along until he was able to reach the truth. Only sending a bitter wind that beat at sore and tired muscles, beating him down to his knees.

Staring into Jiwoo's eyes, they were like a pair on onyx stones that had flecks of silver dancing against the velvet darkness. There was no excuse for him to feel powerless. "You're right. We have an opportunity here. I'll submit a request for a search warrant, and let's finally take some action here."

* * *

"You think you have a lead?" Seohyun asked as they walked along the secluded path of the park, familiar cherry blossom trees embracing them. Her mind felt winded after a satisfying break. Jiwoo had convinced her to grab a coffee, but he didn't need to do much to persuade her anyway. The tempting thought of caffeine was enough for her to agree, or so she liked to tell herself.

"Yes, we're working on securing a search warrant to investigate more into the people in question. I think we do have a promising lead in our hands. But I hate to get too excited." Jiwoo glanced down at Seohyun, and he could read the anxiety written on her face and the way her soft eyes waved side to side. "About Dr. An? We'll investigate her soon enough. Relax," he added, the coolness of his combating the hyperdrive that was kicking in her system from the coffee.

Seohyun loosened her shoulders from their rigid posture and continued to wander down the path in silence. The sunlight was seeping in like faint rays of beams that squeezed in through the infinite flushed petals of cherry blossom. Jiwoo slowed to a full stop, admiring her as each crisp step crunched on the ground and tickled his ears.

It was as if everything stalled to a movie-Esque slow motion. Every sound, every move, all calculated to brush a freshly-painted canvas of awestruck grace. Petals were aimlessly falling and fluttering around like gentle wings of a butterfly. He came to realize that this was his favorite view of her. It was what kept him sane, which saved him from indulging in his selfishness to caress her.

He carefully stretched a hand out as if to touch her, like reaching out to hold a star in his hands.

So close, yet still so far.

Her figure wavered in the distance as if fading into the nothingness of the dying spring breeze. Jiwoo had come to accept it wasn't an illusion, that one day this dream will be all over once she wakes and he'll wither away into the remains of a chimera. Seohyun, why are you another mystery altogether?

"Hey, you coming or what?" Jiwoo snapped out of his daze when she spun around to holler back at him. "Don't tell me you've got arthritis or something. That's ridiculous, and you're probably just looking for an excuse to get close to me." Seohyun tilted her head, a smile laced on her lips.

Jiwoo scoffed, jogging up to her. "I've never had such an idea until you mentioned it. But thanks for the tip, I'll take note of that." He returned with a mischievous grin that carried a charm Seohyun had grown to look forward to. She shook her head, dismissing him. They retired back into the comforts of silence, a hidden conversation ensuing behind the oscillating of petals and occasional gusts of wind.

"Would you believe me... if I said you fell from the sky?"

Seohyun flicked her gaze to him, sending a confused look. "What?" she asked, watching as he kept his eyes straight ahead.

"You fell from the sky, and slipped right into my arms," he repeated wistfully, not a trace of usual playfulness lurking in his tone.

I called out to you, and you came to me like a star falling from the heavens.

"That's how we first met," he finally confessed.

Seohyun was caught in between amusement and confusion. "You sure do know how to act. You almost got me there." She chuckled, shoving her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Do you tell that to every girl you meet?"

"Would you feel more relaxed if I said no?" he taunted, nudging her slightly with a brush of the shoulder. Seohyun frowned, returning the gesture.

"Whatever." She kicked a lone pebble out of the way once they had emerged from the tunnel of towering cherry blossoms. And now they were standing in front of crossroads. Jiwoo felt his phone jitter in the pocket of his dress shirt.

Seohyun curiously watched as he peeped down at his phone quickly, before turning to her. "Eunho needs me back at the office." He wore an apologetic smile, mostly disappointed to no longer accompany her.

"It's alright. I'll see you around then," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. She turned on her heel to walk away, not wanting to grow greedy, longing to spend another minute with him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Just as she shuffled around to face Jiwoo, she was immediately pulled into an embrace. Frozen in shock, Seohyun didn't know how to react.

"You sly bastard," she muttered, secretly drinking in every second of warmth that radiated from him. She didn't resist, nor protest, only letting herself fall in his arms just as he said so earlier.

Jiwoo let out a low chuckle as he soothed a hand on her back, his eyes cast on the distant skyline that met with the horizon. He could no longer catch himself; for once, he wanted to be selfish.

"Take care, Dr. Min."

"Likewise, Mr. Park."

* * *

Seohyun inhaled, swallowing every ounce of air her lungs could hold in. In front of her was the door to Kitel's room. Just as she took a step towards it, a hand forcefully pulled her back. "Hey."

Reeling back, she came face to face with none other than Jisu. Seohyun's eyes glared with an intensity that would make a flower shrivel up even in the best of spring. There was no mellowness in that gaze. It was a look that conveyed a bubbling hatred. Disgust perhaps. "What do you want?"

"Look, you and I both know I'm blunt. I'm not going to keep pretending you aren't avoiding me, or that I don't know the reason for that matter." Seohyun crossed her arms, and a bitter laugh flared past her lips.

"So? I don't see you defending yourself either," she retaliated, feeling the vigorous pulse of her heart banging at the door of her chest.

"We've been friends for so long, yet you aren't going to give me the chance to explain myself? No confrontation? I thought you were better than this." Steering her eyes away, Seohyun kept the grimace pinned on her face. The guilt was sitting at the bottom of her stomach like a cold rock, weighing her down. She wasn't a stranger to the feeling of being pinpointed like the bullseye of a target. But neither was she certain she could trust Jisu. Was their timeless friendship enough to gamble on? Even if it was hanging by a single wisp of thread?

"Look, I get you're busy. If you want to talk to me, I'll be at the medical supplies checking the storage." Jisu didn't wait for her to utter another word and twirled around to leave.

Watching her disappear by the sharp corner, Seohyun sighed. An unsettling dilemma veiling her senses like poisonous black smoke intoxicating her. She couldn't tell if Jisu was being sincere, or if it was all just an act. Perhaps, it was time she confronted her once and for all. But the chilling notion that Jisu may have known the reason behind her sudden cold demeanor, it made her sick.

Focus, Seohyun. You need to focus. I'll go after her once I finish here, it'll be quick.

Entering the patient's room, it was like a filter had covered the young doctor, and she had returned to the calm and collected figure patients had always relied on. Kitel swerved her head to face Seohyun, face lighting up like a summer's dawn. "It's you..."

"Hey Kitel, how are you feeling?" she questioned, a welcoming smile grazing her lips as if to greet the patient home.

"I'm alright, but... I just can't thank you enough." Kitel had grabbed the doctor's hands into a tight squeeze. She then paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts at the reality she was now facing. "Noona, if it weren't for you, I don't know what would've happened that night," she mellowed in a defeated tone as she addressed Seohyun as an older sister. Her eyes weaved with a prying sadness, and her mouth had gaped into an open circle.

Seohyun's heart ached out to the traumatized patient, watching her stare blankly down at the thin hospital blankets she wore. She curled her fingers around Kitel's weak hands, squeezing them back. Her life felt like an overflowing tsunami of chaos that she found herself slowly drowning in turmoil. But in Kitel's eyes, the memory was a fresh open wound that slashed her as if it were just yesterday.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you'll be alright... I won't let anything happen to you," she assured. Seohyun could sense the scent of fear that trailed around the young patient. Just like the wretched night it all happened, the same fear that penetrated the air like a knife ripping down the skin and revealing scarlet secrets.

A sad smile painted Kitel's lips. It was a broken promise of peace and innocence, now tainted by the horrors of that grim twilight. "Thank you... I really mean it. Dr. Min, I don't think you'll ever understand just how much I am in gratitude towards you. I, too, am working to be a medical technician, and you've become an inspiration I'll always hold on to."

It was times like these when Seohyun had felt the satisfaction of living as a doctor. The overtime shifts and late-night rounds, the endless terms and techniques to memorize; they were all made to lead into these small moments of saving a life. A ray of light that beamed with movement and could thrive for many days to come.

"Earlier today, the police came to interrogate me." Seohyun stretched her eyes at Kitel's statement. Her grip faltering on the patient's hands.

The police came to interrogate her? But Aera said that they didn't come today... "Is that so?" she slurred, choosing her words carefully. It was like a switch had been flicked off, and everything quieted to a dim blur. "So the police interrogated you? Did anyone else come to collect your statement?"

"No," she simply replied, shaking her head. "But I've reiterated my account of what occurred to the police. I just hope that it'll help." Seohyun looked away, the gears churning in her mind like clockwork. She needed to come up with something, a discrete way to warn the naive patient.

After all, she had learned that the hard way after her previous encounter with Mr. Ahn.

An idea lit up in her mind as if a match had ignited a spark. "Kitel, you want to work in the medical field as well, right? I'll write down my number, call me anytime and I'll help you with any question you have." she picked a pen out of the pocket of her lab coat and a piece of scratch paper she had tucked in as well.

"I... I don't know what to say, Noona, you..." At a loss for words, Kitel stared up at Seohyun full of awe.

"You're like a little sister to me, I've always wanted someone to take care of." She handed the folded paper to Kitel, but not before adding, "Don't share my number with anyone. This is my private cell after all." She winked at Kitel, a cheery smirk twisting her lips.

Bowing her head slightly in gratitude, she excitedly opened the paper, only to be caught off guard with something entirely different written inside. 

Hello dear readers~ How have you been? Here is chapter nineteen finally arriving in all of its late glory. Please don't attack me, life has definitely been hectic and I'm working my way around the update schedule. But don't worry, I've prepared more now and the next chapters will be dropped in the next coupld of days ♡ Please show some love to this book, especially you ghost readers, don't think I don't have an eye on you! Heh. Please comment your thoughts, I love interacting with all of you and your words help motivate me to keep writing! And support this book pretty please by pressing the little star so it can light up! Thank you everyone, you've been amazing in this journey so far, I mean it ♡ Cheers~