"Officer Kim! Chief is calling us! A new message from the woods!"

I jumped up. We work on this case for months already. All the time there would appear corpses in this forest, nearly looking like suicid corpses, but without blood and weapons. Most of the corpses are still in the woods, because there are too many of them. Two of our best officers now are on the mission to find out what is going on and report back to our station at least once a week. I took one of Jeongin's donuts and ran to the meeting room.

"So, Officer Seo sendt us some photos and notes. The newest corpse is a young boy, our doctors say he is not older than 8. This was quiet shocking and definitely something new."

I gulped down the last bite of my donut. This is indeed shocking.

"We could identify some bruises at places that the kid does not reach himself. Presumably domestic violence."

"A few officers and inspectors are already on their way to talk to his parents. The boy's name is Han Jisung..."

I did not really listen to the chief's further words. Instead I exited the meeting room and run to my office, searching for my phone. I knew I already saw this boy's face somewhere. And the name... I think I finally know of whome he reminds me.

"Hey, Jeongin."

"Good day, Officer Kim.", the younger one shouts happy from the other side of the line.

"Jeongin, your friend Felix has a roommate named Jisung, right?"

"Yeah!"

"The pictures you showed me of Felix, Jisung was on them too, right?"

"Yeah...", Jeongin answers clearly more insecure than earlier.

"Jeongin, what's Jisung's surname and age?"

"Uhm, Han and I don't know his age."

"But he is older than, I don't know, 15, right?"

"Yeah, for sure. He is about Lixie's age."

"Mhm... do you think I can meet Jisung?"

"Uhm, I am sure, I can ask him..."

"Perfect, thanks Innie! Also, can you send me the data you have about him?"

"Sure, but Hyung!"

"Hm?"

"You owe me an explanation!"

"Sure, sure! Bye, Innie!"

"Bye, Minnie!"

I lay the phone next to me, leaning over the file of the last victim

Name: Han Jisung
Age: 8
Nationality: Malaysian
Parents: Jalise Han (Mother), Joseph Han (Father)
Siblings: None
Bruises:
...

This can't be. There is a corpse, looking like Han, his name is the same, the place they grew up is the same, they have both no siblings... but he is at least 20 years younger.

I took a sip from my coffee. I know, caffeine in the afternoon is bad. But this is gonna be a long day.

My phone rings. The old, original version of 'House of the Rising Sun' echoes through the empty office. A small heart decorates my phone screen and under it is written: Innie.

"Hey, Innie..."

"Officer?"

"Give me one hour, please. I will be home by then..."

I know exactly, Jeongin will be worried when I am not home soon. So I will just research at home. I just need to find the right files.

On the other end of the line, I hear the younger one sigh.

"Okay, thank you, Hyung..."

He doesn't ask further, because he knows I won't break this promise. I never would break a promise.

A knock on his door gets him out of his thoughts.

"Come in!"

"Officer Kim! You should go home too, it's late."

Seungmin nods absently. Infront of him stands one of his superiors, Lee Minho. What Minho's job is too, it to look over the files.

"Mr. Lee, before I can go home, I need some files about this case, with the cursed forest..."

"Uhm, okay, come with me."

On my way out, my phone bings. It's Innie.

Hey Hyung, so Jisung's name is Han Jisung. He is 24 years old, he is born in Malaysia, but his parents are both Korean. He lives with Felix, so in Seoul. Do you need anything else?

I read over the message over and over again.

Not for now. Thanks, Innie!

You are welcome, Hyung.

I follow Minho into the archive.

He shows me a tower of files on the left side of his table. There are a lot of file-towers and after looking closer I can see, only the top of the files aren't completely dusty. The are a lot of file-towers closer to the little workspace of the table, that are more actual than this one. I took all the files and wanted to go with a small thank you, but then I stopped myself. I put the files down again and looked to Minho.

"Mr. Lee, can you look up the files to Han Jisung for me?"

I list him up the informations I have about Jisung.

"I'll send you everything by monday."

I nodded thankfully, it's Friday, so I won't have to wait for long.