Ha-Neul ran really fast. Perhaps she is familiar with the lay of the land, Junho simply could not catch up with her. He has her in his sight all the way to the entrance of the village then she took a right turn into the forest.

Junho becomes more and more aware of how dense the undeveloped forest is as he ran further in after the little girl. It’s probably a nice place to relax for those seeking inner solace but not for him. The branches in his path scratched him mercilessly as he strives not to lose sight of his pint-sized target. Many times he would lose sight then sees her again at the crucial moment.

He stumbles out of the edge of the forest and suddenly the world opens up for him. He finds himself standing on a cliff. The sea and azure sky spreads wide and far before him, seagulls circling nosily above him. A picturesque view, except for the lone figure in white standing at the edge of the cliff.

She’s standing at the tip of the protruding rock, half surrounded by a group of villagers. Two men in police uniform are standing closer to her trying to dissuade her but she kept on crying. The strong ocean breeze blew hard, picking up strands of her long hair and the frilly edge of her long skirt.

The familiarity of this scene choked Junho. He claws shakily at his collar in reflex while trying to convince himself that it is just a psychological reaction. He doesn’t know this woman, he repeats to himself till the awful feeling subsides.

Time to leave….Junho tells himself. Ha-Neul is no longer within sight, there are professionals taking care of the incident, he must leave else his personal demons will easily come to life. Trembling, he forces his feet to shift. As he turns away, he hears one of the police officers shout out “Don’t be rash! We can talk things over! What is it you want?”

Junho stiffens and his heart fell to his feet. The police officer has made a terrible mistake in his negotiation.

Sure enough, the weeping woman screeched, “I want him to come back to me! As long as he is willing to come back to me….all I want is him back….”

The onlookers gasped as she took another step back, bringing herself closer to the perilous edge.

Junho’s feet turn into lead. His hands, wet and violently shaking, pops a pill between his tembling lips with much difficulty. Feeling his heartbeats regulating, he took a deep breath and turns back to the scene. Moving past the crowd unnoticed, he toes the edge of the cliff and look down pensively at the sharp jutting rocks. He assesses the situation with a calm practiced eye when he spots the narrow platform miraculously devoid of rocks.

Is this God’s will? To play savior for the last time before he leaves the world?
 

Police negotiator, Lee Junho.
 

Taking another deep breath, he walks back to the sides of the two police officers and whispers steadily, “Get the cushion ready.”

The woman eyes his steady approach blearily. “Stop! Don’t come any nearer! Or I’ll jump!” She screams hysterically.

“What are you doing? Step back!” The 2 police officers shouted, finally noticing his presence.

Junho reaches for the badge around his neck out of habit. When he touched emptiness, he remembers that he had already left his position. But that did not stop him, he waved to the police officers without looking back.

“Follow his instruction.” Taecyeon’s voice said from behind him. Junho could no longer worry if his instructions are being carried out as he focus on his task. He kept walking forward towards her.

She stares warily at him, at the same time taking steps back away from him. “W-what do you want? S-stop! Stop! Or I’ll…I’ll…” She stumbles when her heels rest on the cliff’s edge. The crowd gasp loudly as she struggles to regain her balance.

Junho assesses her quickly. Neatly dressed, talks fast, precise. Extrovert and non-threatening, she was hurt deeply but she does not intend to end her life.

“S-stop! D-don’t come any closer or I will jump down right now!” She threatens loudly as she took a nervous glance at the nothingness behind her. Absolute horror is written all over her face as she turns back to face him again.

Junho calculates the distance between them carefully as he moves towards her again, coming to a stop a few steps from her. He made a big show of looking down