Jake stood silently in front of a grave, staring at the longest headstone before him.
Before coming here, he had returned to the café and the house on the edge of the forest, but once again found no clues whatsoever.
Many questions were swirling through his mind. Even now, he was beginning to wonder—what if this grave wasn't Jungwon's after all?
"If Jungwon kidnapped someone, why is he the one who's gone missing? Is he hiding because he's afraid of being caught by the police for kidnapping someone?"
Jake placed the flowers he'd been holding onto the grave.
"Why were Jungwon and Niki so keen to investigate Jeongin's case? And who exactly are Jeongin's close relatives?"
He looked up at the clear, cloudless blue sky.
"Heeseung's comments about the 'Unknown' who made the evidence disappear keep niggling at me. Could Sunghoon be involved?"
Jake turned to leave the cemetery. But as he looked back, he was startled by the presence of someone – Sunoo.
Sunoo looked as though he'd just come home from school. He was still wearing his white karate uniform, with a bag slung over his shoulder. He stood still, hands clasped in front of his chest, eyes closed – in prayer.
Jake waited until his friend had finished.
A few moments later, Sunoo opened his eyes and turned his head.
"Sorry, I startled you," he said with a smile.
"No problem. Just got back?"
"Yeah, my extracurriculars have been really busy."
"I heard you're going to enter a competition, right? No wonder you're training more often."
"Yep, that's about it."
They walked side by side out of the cemetery.
"Heading back by train?"
"Yeah."
"Come with me—I've got the car."
"No need, I want to pop into the police station first."
"Any new updates?"
"Don't know yet. That's why I'm going to ask."
"What if there's no new info?"
"How far have you got with your own investigation? As far as the police?"
"Not really, hehe. Besides, if there's any development, you'll let me know, won't you? I might as well just wait at home."
"Hmm, you're right. Alright then, let's go together."
"Yeah."
The two of them headed towards the car park where Arkhan's car was parked.
"I almost forgot to say thanks," Sunoo said suddenly.
"Thanks for what?"
"Jay said that yesterday you two fixed my broken bedroom window, even though I was actually planning to fix it myself."
"Oh, that. I thought you hadn't realised the window was broken."
"I knew. I just hadn't got round to fixing it yet."
Jake simply nodded, understanding.
*****
That afternoon, they were all in the kitchen, cooking together for dinner.
"Someone's missing, isn't there?" Jake glanced towards the dining room, counting his friends one by one.
"Heeseung's still in his room," said Jay.
"I'll go and check on him," said Sunghoon.
But before Sunghoon could even stand up, Heeseung had already appeared. Seeing his friends busy, he immediately joined in to help.
"Hoon, I saw you buying a knife earlier. Why?" he asked suddenly.
Sunghoon paused for a moment, staring at Heeseung with a blank expression – as if reminded of something that shouldn't have been said.
"I accidentally broke the knife we had here. So I bought a new one to replace it," Sunghoon replied calmly.
In reality, however, the knife was a replica – earlier that day, Sunghoon had replaced the blood-stained knife used in a murder.
"Oh, I thought it was something else…" Heeseung looked awkward under Sunghoon's gaze. He'd only just realised he'd forgotten about his friend's work.
"Why didn't you tell me, Hoon? I'd have replaced it for you," said Jay.
"No, it's my fault. I'm the one who broke the knife," replied Sunghoon.
Sunoo noticed that Heeseung looked a bit pale; he thought Heeseung might be suspicious of him.
"Hey, don't get any funny ideas. You wouldn't suspect your own friend, would you?" said Sunoo.
"N-... no, not at all. I wasn't thinking anything. It's just your imagination," Heeseung quickly retorted.
They all carried on cooking until the meal was ready, and finally sat down to dinner together at the same table, though each was lost in their own thoughts.