Aera was walking through the streets and spoke herself. "I was the one who did it wrong, not Eugene. She doesn't like it when I stare at her with sympathy. Now onward, I'm not going near her anymore." She was on her way to Jimin's Cafe, where he works.
Her gaze darted across the room, but Jimin was nowhere to be found. She then went up to the man who works there. "Excuse me, where is Jimin?"
"Jimin!" said the man, who stared at her blankly.
"Sir, Jimin, the tall man," remarked the other worker.
"Ah, that guy. Yes, he is employed here. But he rarely comes to work; in fact, he hasn't come in the last four days." "He just comes to work once in a while…"
Aera continues, "Who is the manager here?"
"I am the manager."
"Oh, then you had a business trip two days ago? Is it true that you gave Jimin the job of making deliveries?"
"No, I wasn't travelling on business, and I didn't assign Jimin to deliver anything. How could I possibly do that? Because he only visited here once in a while. He didn't even get paid by me…"
Returning to her flat, Aera appeared perplexed. She took a shower while pondering what the Café manager had told her. Then Aera lying besides Jimin, staring at him.
"Why are you looking so down? Is there something going on at the college? You didn't eat properly too... Tell me what happened?"
"No, there's nothing. I didn't get any sleep." Aera said in a low voice.
"How about we go for a walk?" asked Jimin.
"No, now sleep is coming. You too, go to sleep." As she said she grasped Jimin's T-shirt bottom and slept. Jimin gave her a tender gaze.
"Right now. Ok, I am on my way," said Jeong through the phone.
Han-na, glancing at him, inquired. "What's the matter?"
"The CCTV footage from the night of August 18 has been captured from some surrounding building. So they summoned me to come pick it up."
Han-na interrupts Jeong, "I, too, want to come."
"Ok". Then they exited the office where Han-na noticed Bo-ra. He approached her.
"Bo-ra, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Is there any important matter? Where are you going so quickly?"
"No, we're heading to cop's headquarters. You? Is there something you want to say to me?" Han-na was looking at her with curiosity.
"No, nothing to say. You must go." She made her way into Lee's office. She appeared to be pondering about Jimin. She grabbed her phone and checked the photograph of Jimin and the 40-year-old man.
She moved closer to Park as he entered the room. "You're from the Crime Division, so you're allowed to look at criminal records, right?"
"I have the authority to do so. However, why are you asking about that?"
She displayed a photo of a 40-year-old male. "I'm looking for this man. As Mr. Lee suggested, I went to a nearby hotels to look for anything odd. I discovered these men nearby a hotel. I believe it would be beneficial if we could locate something."
"Yes, I will help you. Wait a minute."
Aera and Jimin were dining at the table. Jimin began, "I want to say something to you."
"What?" Aera inquires, her gaze drawn to him.
Jimin sets down his chopsticks and begins. "Would you like to marry me?" she was taken aback.
"Yes, you heard it right. Marry me, I like you. I want you to always be by my side. I know this is such a selfish act. But that makes no difference to me. And you've had a lot of questions about me, but you've never asked anything about me."
"You helped me and treated me, without knowing who I was." Aera tries to say something, but he silences her. "Don't speak anything."
"I don't want to hear anything else than a resounding 'Yes'. If you're going to tell me you're not interested in marrying me. That's something I don't want to hear. I'll hold my breath until you say yes. I'll wait for you even if it takes more than a year."
"Eat quickly, you are running late." Jimin said.
Aera was waiting for the bus and appeared to be in a bad mood. "What made him say that he wanted to marry me out of the blue? What am I supposed to do? I am so confused. Should I say yes? No, no... How could I say yes, even still I haven't discussed with my Mother about it. Ahh... I don't know."
She spoke to herself, after which she looked at the moving bus and said, "That's my bus, it went. How could I possibly make it to college on time? Ahh… It's driving me insane."
"I believe, you are searching for this person," Park said, pointing to a photograph.
"Yes, he is the one I saw at the Hotel. Tell me about his details."
Park continues, "His name is Chul; he is an Attorney. He owns an NG firm."
"Attorney…! Why Jimin was intimidated an Attorney? What on earth is going on? No, this won't work. It will only get late. What if Jimin did something to Aera?" She hurried to Lee.
Jeong had a phone call when Han-na went to Lee's office. "Han-na, something urgent came up. You go first."
Han-na headed to the office, "Excuse me, I am Han-na, and I've come from Mr. Lee's office to collect CCTV footage."
"Yes, Just a moment." The cop says as he shows him the footage, "There is no CCTV near that street. We examined the entire neighborhood. Atlast, this video was captured by a building far away from the incident."
He explained while the video was playing, "These are some people that crossed the street on August 18th night. There are a lot of individuals in the footage, do you know the exact time?"
Han-na says, "No. It's okay. I'll have a look at it." Han-na sat on the chair and was curiously looking at the footage.
Aera is walking at the entrance to the campus. She was about to enter the campus when she came to a halt at the gate. Something suddenly occurred to her. She recalls Jimin telling her, 'Stay by my side, always.'
She recalls everything that has happened since she began spending time with him.
Bo-ra stormed into Lee's cabin furiously and placed her phone down on the table. "What? What is this?" When he first saw the image, he was puzzled.
"He's Chul, an Attorney who's being pursued by a thug."
"What? Why had the thug threatened the Attorney in the first place?"
"I, too, am intrigued. But first, I'd like to ask you a question. Why did you mention a 50-year-old man, rather than Anderson? The 50-year-old isn't Anderson, right?"
"No." Lee sighed.
Bo-ra took his phone and showed him an image of Jimin, "Is this the person you are looking for? This is not Anderson, right?"
Lee screamed, his eyes focused and flustered. "How did you get this photo?" he yelled.
Aera spoke herself as she turned away from campus and began running. "I don't care about what he was doing? Yes, I too want to stay with him. Yes, I love him" she dashed towards her house.
Han-na exclaimed after viewing the video. "This is Aera. Why did she take that street?" And he remembered when he was eating at Aera's place, and Bo-ra indicated that Aera was looking after him.
"No, no, no… Is this the Jimin is Anderson that we've been searching for? No…" Han-na rushed towards Lee's office.
Lee said aggressively, "Where is he right now? How did you get to know him? He is Anderson that we've been looking for."
Bo-ra appeared to be depressed, "No, I think Aera is in danger."
"Who is Aera?"
"My friend. Anderson has been staying at her place."
Aera cried as she opened the door, "Jimin, Jimin... Is he not in here? Perhaps he's in a cafe." She attempted to leave, as she stated. Then she noticed the piece of paper on the sofa table.
Her hands trembled as she gently approached the table and took the paper. She reads the paper.
"I am sorry, Aera. I had to go, some urgent thing that came up. So I left without saying anything. Sorry. Don't be concerned about me; I am fine. And there is something else I'd like to convey to you. No one wants to see their loved ones to cry, and I am no exception. But I want you to cry until your heart feels light."
"It's always been difficult for you to hold back your tears. I know you don't want others to look at you with pity, so you show them you're strong, joyful, and nothing bad has happened in your life. Crying, on the other hand, isn't a pity thing. Just cry, as much as you want. I am here for you. And I'm looking forward to your answer. Soon I'll come to you. Bye."
Her eyes welled up with tears, but she managed to hold them back. She didn't cry; instead, she took a breather.
When someone unexpectedly entered her home, she spun around and asked, "Who are you?" Aera's house was entered by Bo-ra and Lee. Lee has been inspecting each and every room.
"Bo-ra, what are you doing here? Who's that man? Can you tell me what he's looking for?"
"Aera, calm down. Sit."
"Hey, what the hell are you doing here? Tell me?" Aera yelled at her.
Lee approached Aera and noticed her hands. He snatched the paper from her grip.
"Ahh... Shit," Lee exclaimed as he read the paper.
"Hey, Bo-ra tell me quickly. What's going on here?"
Han-na went to Lee's office to see whether he was there, but he wasn't. "Park, where is Mr. Lee?" he inquired.
Park replied, "Bo-ra came here before an hour. She was furiously conversing with Mr. Lee. I overheard it, but I'm not sure what they were talking about, but they went to see a girl."
"Ae… Aera's house." He rushed to her house.
Bo-ra replied, "No, Aera. The one who stayed in your house is not Jimin. He is Anderson."
"Anderson!" she exclaims, her face blank.
"Yes, Anderson. He is Mafia, we've been searching for him for a month."
Aera was startled and her mind blanked out.
Lee said, "Bo-ra, we should find him as soon as possible. He should not have gone so far away, he may still be in Seoul. Hurry up."
Aera ran to the door and shut it, "No, I won't let you two go."
"Aera, what are you doing? We don't have enough time. Move away."
"No, if I let you, you will catch him. I won't let you."
"Aera, don't do anything stupid. Move." As she said, she tried to drag her away.
Lee yanked Aera's hand and pushed her away from the door. Her head hits the floor. When Lee opened the door, Han-na appeared and gave them a startled expression. Lee took off running.
There was blood on Aera's hand when she touched her head.
"Tell me about Jimin. What do you know about him? Has he told you about where he is headed to?" Lee is inquiring Aera in the investigation room, while Bo-ra and Han-na is watching them via the glass.
"No, I know nothing. Even though I know, why would I tell you about him? Find him on your own if you desperately want him." With no fear in her voice.
Bo-ra staring at Han-na, "Sorry, Han-na. I didn't know this would happen…"
"I don't want to hear anything from you." He said angrily, and didn't even bother to look at her.
Lee came out of the investigation room and said, "Cut her loose. We have no right to probe her without proper evidence and warrants. Just let her go."
Bo-ra and Han-na entered the investigation room, while Aera was sitting in a chair with the strange face.
"It's you, Bo-ra. When I was inebriated, you were the one who questioned me about Jimin. Why did you do that, to me? Don't act as though you care about me."
"Sorry, Aera." Bo-ra said with his face down.
Aera came near to her and slapped his face, "Don't show your face again to me." Aera exited the room.
With her head bleeding, Aera walks down the streets. She returned to her flat and sat down slowly on the floor in the living room.