Chapter 3

The custom snow globe would take time to make, so Thea took me to an arcade.

She knew what I liked to do to relax, and even knew which games I was good at and which characters I preferred.

She bought me ice cream, thoughtfully removing the chocolate coating just like she used to, then gathering the crumbs together and eating them all at once with her eyes closed in bliss.

Aside from the "persimmon tree," I couldn't detect anything unusual about her.

"Hernandez, the last time I celebrated my birthday with you was five years ago, wasn't it?"

During dinner, before I could even probe, Thea brought up the past on her own. "I secretly applied for the undercover operation without telling you. When you found out, you knocked the cake over and cried and yelled at me."

"Do you remember? I stayed up all night trying to comfort you."

She looked at me with a smile, her eyes full of reminiscence.

I remembered. We'd agreed that I would be the one to go undercover.

Thea had agreed verbally, but then behind my back she'd fought for the assignment. She'd wanted to sacrifice herself to protect me.

In front of me, she was always the image of a strong, optimistic, responsible big sister.

But was that real Thea still there? Was she still alive?

I dug my nails into my palm and went along with her words. "Of course I remember. We're police officers, but you coaxed me like I was a child."

"I was so frantic I wanted to call Director Alexander and beg him to give me the mission instead. What did you do?"

She laughed even harder. "I confiscated your phone and locked you in your room. By the time you got out, I was already on the plane heading abroad."

I wanted to laugh along with her, but I couldn't make myself do it.

Director Alexander and several colleagues knew that I'd cried and yelled at Thea on her birthday.

But her locking me in the room afterward—that was something she absolutely couldn't have told anyone else.

Yet she'd recounted it with perfect clarity, down to every detail.

How did she know all this so clearly?

In the silence, Thea suddenly stood up and called out softly:

"Before, you were so focused on the mission that I could overlook you not paying attention to your appearance. But now the mission's complete and you need to think about your future. How can you still be so careless?"

As she spoke, Thea pulled out a tissue and wiped away food residue from my mouth.

She gently brushed a few strands of my hair behind my ear.

Her reproachful tone, the gentle tickle of her fingers brushing my skin—it was all so familiar, so long-missed.

It made me doubt myself again. Was I just being paranoid?

Just then, the final dessert arrived at our table—persimmon cake. I'd ordered it on purpose.

I stared intently at her reaction. I saw her freeze for a moment, then suddenly her eyes reddened.

"My parents' favorite fruit was persimmon."

"Hernandez, if that persimmon tree at home were still there, do you think in the afterlife they could eat the persimmons that fall to the ground?"

The warmth I'd been feeling instantly vanished. I snapped back to clarity.

She'd mentioned the persimmon tree again. She absolutely couldn't be the real Thea!

I wanted to restrain her immediately, contact my colleagues who were still in the country wrapping things up, and force her to reveal her true identity!

But I didn't dare.

If my real Thea was still alive, I was afraid that alerting them would get her killed.

I could only force out a smile and stabilize the situation first, then find a way to discover Thea's whereabouts.