I did not sleep well.
This was not unusual. I had not slept well with any consistency since the investigation began to develop weight — since the point where it had stopped being a professional assignment and become something I carried with me when I left the building. But this particular sleeplessness was different in quality. It was not the sleeplessness of worry. It was the sleeplessness of a mind that was too active to quiet, running over what had been accomplished and what remained and, underneath both of those, the thing Kaien had said on the steps.
After the briefing. After Gwak Tae-su. I want to talk about the other thing.
I arrived at Director Yun's office at seven fifty-three. Kaien was already there.
He was standing at the window that looked out over the ministry courtyard, holding a cup of tea he had not yet drunk, and he looked at me when I came in with an expression that suggested he had also not slept particularly well.
We did not mention this.
