𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄-𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃, lee yeon x nam ji ah

3| Red Umbrella

SHE WAS KNELT BESIDE THE wedding dress that was spilled out on the floor. She looked in between folds and looked at the sleeves. The sleeves seemed to have been torn. Just then Jae-Hwan came running towards her, "The bride ran away." He told her. "Ran away?" She asked suspiciously. She stood up still looking at the beautiful dress on the floor, "Yes, that's possible but what could she have realized to run away after spending so much money?" She looked up around the hall. "It's because of true love!" He said, thrusting his fist forward. "She had another man?" She asked, looking at him with keen eyes. "Yes." He answered.

"That man said, 'She's mine' and the bride grabbed his hand as if she had been waiting and said, 'I will seek my true love' All the witnesses are saying the same thing." He said, acting out the whole scene. She waved her hand for him to kneel down as she did the same. She pulled at a part of the fabric where it was torn,"This shows that there was a struggle." She pointed towards a blood stain, "Is that a blood stain?" He asked. "This means that there was a fight." She said. "I didn't hear anything like that." He said.

"More importantly, what is this wedding dress doing here?" She said, her voice low. "Since, she took it off..." He trailed off as realisation dawned on him, "Wait a minute, what did she change into?" He asked surprised. "The witness statement and the crime scenes are telling different stories." Her voice mysterious. "Were they all hypnotised or what?" He asked, still confused from the happenings. She abruptly stood up, "I need to see the face of this romantic wedding crasher." He nodded,"Okay, I'll go get the tapes." As he left she quickly took out her phone and began clicking pictures. But she found something else, it looked like fur.

---

A man with glasses and lab coat was, Gu Shin Joo, holding a Ziploc bag, inside which was the fur she had found. "It's fox fur." He said. "A fox?" She questioned. "A red fox. A native Korean species" He stated. They were in a clinic for animals as he was a vet. The room was filled with many things and none of which stood out much. "I thought those foxes went extinct." She exclaimed, as she examined the packet he had returned to her hands. He laughed a little and pulled out his phone, "So there is something you don't know. The fox restoration project started in 2012." He quickly pulled out the article and handed the phone to her. 'Extinct fox returns to life. 13 foxes have been released on Mt. Sobaek.' It read. "How can the marks of a fox released on Mt. Sobaek be found near this are?" She asked with furrowed brows. "One was caught in an apartment complex in Yeongju. And another one crossed the DMZ and went north." He said, with a small smile.

"So it's possible to appear at a wedding hall in Gangnam?" She questioned, still not completely on board with the idea. "Boars even raid supermarkets when they're very hungry." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. She handed him his phone back and began to speak again, "The foxes released on Mt. Sobaek all had GPS devices on them. And none of them have come to Seoul yet." She said. His breathing stilled for a moment. Satisfied by his reaction, "I worked as a co-producer on an animal show for two years." She said. "Well, then where do you think this came from?" She questioned, eyeing the Ziploc once again.

After she had left without getting her question answered Shin Ju rapidly dialed a number. He pressed his phone to his ear with his breathing heavy. He started pacing around the room as the phone rang. "Come on, answer the phone." He muttered.

---

The skies we're clear and the laughter of children playing around could be heard. Lee Yeon sat on a bench alone in that very park. Her words playing back in his head, 'There's a man I love. I want to live as a human, Please.' as he looked around at the different families who were enjoying their day. A mother calling out to her child to come and eat or a father throwing their child up above only to catch them when they feared that they would get hurt or two lovers who were out on a date, smiling as they held hands. 'You've loved a human too. You understand, right?' He looked down, his hair swaying with the wind. He raised his hand to see a single black line that rounded his whole finger, on his index and middle finger. He sighed heavily as he kept his head down.