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“Miyoung, we have to go,” Detective Hae called from his car. Miyoung jogged to join him and slid into the passenger seat. As the car sped off, she pressed the heel of her hand against her ribs and watched Somin in the rearview mirror until she became a small speck in the distance.

“Where are we going?” Detective Hae said, drawing her attention to the road.

“Turn left up here,” Miyoung directed, using the curve of the red thread to guide them.

“We’ll get Jihoon back.”

“And my mother.” Miyoung looked at the detective. He watched her with kind eyes, laying a reassuring hand over hers. And though she hadn’t fully forgiven him yet, she gripped his hand. She needed the comfort right now.

“I want her safe, too,” Miyoung said. “I want both of them safe.”

“We’ll do everything we can for them,” Detective Hae promised, giving her hand a squeeze. And for a moment she was able to believe him.

70

“ARE YOU GOINGto kill me?” Jihoon asked.

“You get right to the point.” The light of the moon made Yena’s skin so pale she could have been a ghost come to take his soul. In reality, she was a demon come to rip out his heart.

“I tend not to beat around the bush when my life is at stake,” Jihoon said.

“I like that,” Yena mused. “It’s probably surprising, but I never hated you. I just refuse to let my daughter die for you.”

“I don’t want that either.”

“Then you and I are in agreement.”

“Are you going to kill me now?” Jihoon asked again. He didn’t think he wanted the answer, but he needed it.

“I have to wait.”

“For what?”

“For him.”

71

MIYOUNG MOVED QUIETLYthrough the trees, followed by Detective Hae. He was quieter than she’d expected, probably his police training. She was grateful for his presence. Facing her mother would be hard enough; at least she knew there was someone to help if things went south.

“I thought about it,” Detective Hae said in a low voice.

Miyoung almost shushed him. It wouldn’t do for Yena to hear their approach. But she didn’t. “Thought about what?”

“You asked me if I wanted to be in your life now,” Detective Hae said.

Miyoung’s heart, already so strained from fear, thudded painfully as she waited for him to continue.

“If I could, I would love to have my daughter back. The daughter I loved when she was born,” Detective Hae said, and though he whispered, Miyoung heard a trace of tears in his voice. Like he truly regretted all the time they’d lost together.

“I always wondered if my father was a good man,” Miyoung confessed. “If maybe that’s why it was so hard for me to... survive the way I did.”

“I try to do the right thing,” Detective Hae said.

“I know.”

They walked again in silence, but she lifted her fist to knock ather chest. It was suddenly difficult to breathe, like a heavy cloud had filled her lungs.

She couldn’t think about the old wounds. She had to concentrate on following the thread toward Jihoon. And to her mother.