Safeguarding

Shortly after Kim Hyeok left, a doctor examined Go Ara, looking her over like a mechanic inspecting a damaged but still functioning piece of machinery, and concluded she was well enough to go home. She was relieved to hear it. She'd always hated hospitals. No matter how much Lysol disinfected and deodorized the air, she was morbidly certain she could smell death in these places; and today of all days, she didn't like that smell.

Alone again in her room, she put on the clothes that had been left for her in the bureau. As she dressed, she found herself humming a melody, a strangely familiar one. Then she recognized it: 'Tull Moon and Empty Arms''—the same tune she'd hummed in the kitchen last night while she felt the pressure of a killer's gaze.