On the ride back from the prison, Hye gets a call. I turn to look in the backseat and she whispers, "Appa." to me before picking up.

"You...you want to see me?" She says with an indiscernible look on her face. After a moment, she visibly calms down before chirping, "yeah I'm staying with her. I can give you her address. And it's just you and Soomin coming, right?" She sighs happily. "Okay. See you then, Appa."

She ends the call and looks up to reveal her twinkling eyes. "I get to see my dad and Soomin. My stepmother," she says it as if something vile is in her mouth, "is thankfully busy and won't be able to see me."

I can't control the smile that overtakes my face. "That's great. I'm happy for you, Hye. So are you meeting at my place?"

"Oh, right!" A sheepish smile crawls on her face. "I kind of assumed you would be okay with that, would you?"

"Of course." I smile at her, knowing how special this is for her. "When are they coming?"

"Later today."

+++

As soon as the door opens and Soomin and Jimin make eye contact, they run towards each other squealing. Jimin pulls her into his arms and starts hugging her tightly.

"Ahh, you've gotten so big, haven't you?" He says excitedly.

"Appa says I talk better too!" She smiles with her teeth, displaying the gap in them.

He puts her down and ruffles her hair. "You sure do!"

After the greetings are over, we sit in the living room and talk about different things, sunlight pouring in through the long windows.

Soomin lays on her stomach, kicking her legs in the air, and starts arranging a jigsaw puzzle.

I look between Hye and her father, who are talking in animated voices to one another, catching up after their long months apart.

I decide to exhaust this piece of information for the last time. I turn to Namjoon and Jimin, lowering my voice. "Guys, if my father knew Hyukjae since childhood, and Appa knew Hye's dad when they were kids, couldn't that mean that Hye's dad knew Hyukjae as well?"

Jimin smiles. "I get what you're saying. Hye's dad could be very useful if he knew Hyukjae considering his memory isn't compromised."

Namjoon nods hesitantly. "I know this is an important opportunity, but can we at least wait until tea is over to bring up Sparked Mafia crap? Hye and her dad are just trying to catch up, casually."

As soon as he whispered 'Sparked Mafia', Hye's selective hearing must've initiated, because she glanced over at us with a frown. This was her dad time, and we really had to ruin it by bringing them up.

When Hye and her father's conversation contains a pause, she tentatively turns over to us and sees that, indeed, we are all still looking at them guiltily.

She sighs and leans back. "Appa, these three want to talk to you about something about the Sparked Mafia."

His normally kind eyes darken and the room seems to take on that action. Suddenly the sunlight isn't so bright anymore. "What about them?"

I take a deep breath. "As you know, my father's memory has been worse lately, but that wasn't his age, it was the Sparked Mafia. He knew a man named Jung Hyukjae as a child and we have reason to believe he's part of the Spar-"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Hye's dad says darkly as he shifts in his seat. He clears his throat. "Kyung Mi, your father and I did know Hyukjae in elementary school. The truth of the matter is that we used to be best friends before Hyukjae came along. He was a transfer student that was struggling in math, and your father was a mathematician to say the least, so he started tutoring Hyukjae. He would also hang out with him more and more during recess because he felt bad that Hyukjae didn't have any other friends.

"Needless to say, I was jealous. So much so that one day, while they were on the swingset, I accused Hyukjae of stealing my father's—who was the principal—keys. I made a whole scene saying that he broke into his office to change his report card because his math grade was still bad. Because I was Lee Beom Soo's best friend, he believed me and got mad at Hyukjae, yelling at him that he was disappointed in him."

"Did Hyukjae try to defend himself?" I ask, unable to help myself.

"No." he says, "Hyukjae was so broken by your father's yelling that he burst into tears. When I took him to the principal and my father asked Hyukjae if he really did break into his office, Hyukjae was still crying and refused to say anything. My father had no chance but to expel him after that, and Hyukjae had lost his only friend in Beom Soo. I'll never forget the look of anger in Hyukjae's eyes as he walked out; he was going to hold a grudge and I knew it."

"Damn." Jimin starts after a moment, and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"So Hyukjae could be a Sparked Mafia member-"

"Because of what I did, yes." Hye's dad admits. "And if that's true and he's harming you, Kyung Mi, I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am."

If this is a revenge plan, there's no way to resolve it other than to resolve Hyukjae's anger or give him the revenge he wants.

And I don't even want to think about what that could be.