[Short chapter alert!!!]
Solemn music played in the church, as the priest prayed for the deceased Yeon Ji-a.
Kim Jae-jun held on to Kim Ye-sol who had tears streaming down her face endlessly, as they stared at Yeon Ji-a's photo.
Kim Seo-yeon by their side had her fists clenched on her knees, but there were no emotions visible on her face. She only looked tired.
The ritual was soon over and the crowd of people in the church filed past to pay their respects to the Kims, before they dispersed.
Kim Jae-jun reached out and put his hand on Kim Seo-yeon's shoulder pulling her rigid body in his arms, hugging both his wife and daughter, the women in his life. They stayed in that position for a while, before Kim Ye-sol's crying stopped.
"Seo-yeon, your mother and I don't blame you. Take your time here, talk to your little sister." Kim Jae-jun said in his baritone voice.
"Yes, Seo-yeon, we don't blame you." Kim Ye-sol sniffed and said.
Kim Seo-yeon had already been honest with them and told them everything. Even though they felt like she had been ruthless, they couldn't blame her. They wouldn't be able to live with themselves if they lost another daughter.
Kim Seo-yeon nodded.
Kim Jae-jun stood up and left with the crying Kim Ye-sol.
Kim Seo-yeon sat there for a while staring at the black and white photo of Yeon Ji-a. It had been some days, yet she hadn't recovered. She sat there for hours before she was informed that the temporary shrine erected for her sister needed to be cleared for the evening mass. She nodded at them and packaged the urn.
On her drive back home, she kept thinking of what she could have done better. Director Ryu had claimed he didn't know anything, and the mysterious person remained mysterious.
Kim Seo-yeon was sure the person had a hand in Yeon Ji-a's death, but she couldn't understand how he could have convinced Yeon Ji-a to suicide. The case had been properly investigated. Yeon Ji-a had indeed committed voluntary suicide.
The car stopped in front of the mansion, but Kim Seo-yeon did not come down.
"Drive to Ji-a's." She gave a simple order.
She opened the door to the now deserted house and walked in. The faint smell of soap from cleaning was still present. She stood still for a while and took in the room. Yeon Ji-a had just been looking down at her from above a few days ago. A few days ago, she had sat on the sofa (now covered with a white sheet, like the rest of the furniture in the room) eating grapes.
If one saw Kim Seo-yeon, they wouldn't know what was going on in her head, because of her expressionless face. She looked like she had weathered a tornado storm, and could not be shaken by anything.
She walked slowly up the stairs to Yeon Ji-a's room. Her hands ran over the rails as she remembered Yeon Ji-a's hands on the rails just a few days ago.
The bloody sheets and carpet had been replaced with new sheets and carpet. Kim Seo-yeon seemed to see Yeon Ji-a materialize in the room, on the bed, reading a romance novel.
The clothes in the closet and the rest of her things had already been moved by her mother. All of the cupboards were empty. She pictured clothes in the closet, with Yeon Ji-a standing in front of it, looking for what to wear.
Kim Seo-yeon looked around. No matter where she looked, she saw Yeon Ji-a doing one action or another.
There was nothing strange. She had never been inside this bedroom since Yeon Ji-a moved in two years ago, but she had lived with her for 14 years prior to that. She knew what Yeon Ji-a's intricacies were, so she didn't find anything out of place in the room.
She circled the room around, checked underneath the bed, and underneath the mattress, but she didn't find anything suspicious.
Had Yeon Ji-a really committed suicide because of that video? (Which by now, had been taken down). With Yeon Ji-a's attitude, she would have threatened Kim Seo-yeon with suicide first.
Kim Seo-yeon did not rest and continued to search the room until it was nighttime. She lay on the bed as she messaged her driver that she wouldn't be coming.
She stared at the ceiling in thought.
Something was not right. Either whatever she needed to find was in the stuff her mother took away, was in another part of this house, had been destroyed or was still in this room somewhere. But she had personally gone through Yeon Ji-a's stuff and the police had also searched it. The servant's room had also been searched thoroughly, but nothing was found.
She stood up and decided to search the whole house.
By dawn, she had searched through the most inconspicuous places and did not find anything.
She lay down on Yeon Ji-a's bed again and she didn't know when the sleep took her away.
…
She was awoken by her ring tone. She picked up the phone. It was 8 am. She had only slept for two hours.
She stared at the caller ID. It was an unknown number. In the past, she would have ignored it, but with Yeon Ji-a's death, everything mattered.
…
Noon, the next day.
Kim Seo-yeon was missing.
Kim Ye-sol fainted and was immediately hospitalized.