By Zephyria 
Eun-myeong took the electric kettle and stepped into the bathroom. For a long while, the sound of rushing water and scrubbing could be heard. He seemed quite absorbed in the task.
“…….”
Left alone in the room, Jun-il looked down at the floor. There lay an old-fashioned cell phone. It belonged to Eun-myeong.
Jun-il quickly picked up the phone. He pressed and held the home button to shut the power off completely, then tossed it onto the floor and kicked it. The piece of junk slid with a thud, wedging itself under the bed.
Soon after, Eun-myeong returned to the room. He had scrubbed the kettle so diligently that the bottom part was soaking wet.
“I’m finished washing it.”
The kettle he presented was sparkling, as if it were brand new. A fly could practically use it as a slide. Jun-il let out a long breath. Contrary to his slender frame, he knew how to handle things quite capably.
Eun-myeong inverted a bottle of mineral water and jammed it into the spout of the kettle. Water poured in rapidly.
“If it’s three cup noodles, I’ll have to pour the whole bottle.”
Eun-myeong muttered to himself. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice that his cell phone was missing. Jun-il rummaged through the bundle as if nothing had happened.
“Eat something before you go. You picked out a good variety. Bulgogi gimbap is the way to go, you’ve got taste.”
He then pulled out a piece of bread and waved it.
“Ah, no… I didn’t buy this to eat today, I bought it for tomorrow morning.”
Eun-myeong’s eyes darted around restlessly, as if there were something fascinating to see in this tiny inn. His face was a dead giveaway that he was lying, so Jun-il spoke up.
He had intended to somehow coax and manipulate him, but then, hollowly, a loud growl echoed.
“…I’m sorry.”
Eun-myeong’s stomach had roared. He covered his lower abdomen with both hands, looking like he wanted to die of embarrassment.
In the end, one roll of bulgogi gimbap, a bag of bread, three cup noodles, and a serving of kimchi were placed on the small tray table.
Jun-il opened the lid of the cup noodles he had kept covered. White steam rose in curls. The two people sitting before the small table ate in silence.
“…….”
Jun-il slurped his noodles. Fortunately, the injured forearm was on his opposite side. As he ate, he stole a glance down at Eun-myeong. The pale-faced youth was diligently tearing into the bread. He opened his mouth wide, yet he only managed to tear off tiny pieces.
Perhaps sensing Jun-il’s deep gaze, Eun-myeong lifted his moist-looking eyes.
“Would you like more red bean bread?”
He must have misunderstood the look in Jun-il’s eyes. He tore off another half of the piece he had already split and handed it to Jun-il. His expression was utterly pure.
“I’m good. I feel like I’m stealing the liver of a flea.”
This was somewhat unexpected for Jun-il. Feeling strangely deflated, he let out a short laugh.
Not knowing why he was laughing, Eun-myeong simply asked if that was so and took the bread back. However, after taking another bite, he began to choke, his throat clogging. He thumped his chest with his fist.
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I haven’t even treated my guest properly.”
Jun-il reached out and opened the door of the small refrigerator attached to the corner of the room.
“Orange juice? Or apple juice?”
“Either is fine,” Eun-myeong answered softly.
“Then you should have apple juice, Eun-myeong-ssi. It suits you.”
Jun-il opened the can himself and placed it on the tray.
“Thank you.”
It was just a small drink that came as a service from the motel, yet he thanked him politely for even such a small thing.
“You’re quite well-mannered.”
Jun-il spoke casually, like a youngest uncle. Eun-myeong gulped down the small can. Once the dryness in his throat was resolved, he finished chewing the bread in his hand. Jun-il shifted his gaze and asked casually.
“…By the way, who were you talking to on the phone yesterday?”
It was then that Eun-myeong’s cheeks, plump like red bean bread, visibly slowed their movement.
Jun-il sighed deeply inwardly. He wasn’t a child; how could it be so obvious on his face?
“A lover?”
At Jun-il’s added remark, Eun-myeong seemed to lose his appetite entirely and put down the bread he was eating.
“It’s not like that.”
He slowly shook his head. His face looked strangely bitter and pathetic. Yet, it was quite beautiful.
The thought drifted through Jun-il’s mind: Is this what they call ‘pure’?
Jun-il frowned slightly. Did I smash my head against a soju bottle? What am I thinking? He quickly wiped the expression from his face and muttered, pretending to be oblivious.
“Must be nice, being in a relationship. I’m too busy just trying to make a living.”
“It’s not a relationship.”
He denied it vehemently until the end. Even though he had clung to his cell phone and trembled piteously as if his heart were breaking, he still denied it. Jun-il thought he was filming a youth movie by himself.
You know those kinds of movies. The ones where young lovers run through the pouring summer rain, sharing a single shirt. Jun-il had never even experienced a first love that poignant.
He chuckled to himself again and slurped up the remaining cup noodles. The three containers were emptied in an instant.
Eun-myeong seemed to be the type whose body was conditioned for cleaning and organizing. Despite Jun-il telling him several times that he would clean up himself, Eun-myeong insisted on taking charge of the tidying.
“No, I’ll do it quickly, Customer. Your arm is injured.”
“I told you my right arm is fine. I’m right-handed.”
“Still, I can do it quickly….”
Perhaps the room was just too dirty, because Eun-myeong didn’t seem to hear Jun-il’s words at all.
As the two of them were somehow clearing the table together, a vibration sounded. It was Jun-il’s cell phone. Jun-il glanced down at the screen and cleverly covered it with his large hand.
“I’ll be right back after taking this call.”
He stepped out of the room with a cigarette in his mouth. Glancing back as he left, he saw Eun-myeong still scrubbing the small tray table. He even flipped the towel over and continued to move his arms diligently. He was in a complete trance.
“Yes, Sunbae.”
Closing the door with a creak and walking to the end of the hallway, Jun-il lit his cigarette.
“I’m currently marking Lee Eun-myeong, but there are no anomalies yet.”
Jun-il’s voice echoed in the empty smoking room.
When he stepped back into the room with the phone in his hand, a stillness had settled inside.
Only the sound of steady, soft breathing could be heard occasionally. Approaching slowly with muffled footsteps, he saw a small figure curled up beside the bed.
Lee Eun-myeong was someone who kept a strange distance from everyone, not just Jun-il. But he must have exhausted himself moving around the sashimi restaurant, and with the tension gone and the time past 4 AM, he had likely fallen asleep from sheer fatigue.
Moreover, Jun-il had even rescued him at the convenience store earlier. He wondered if the boy had now completely accepted him as an ally….
Jun-il gazed at the sleeping face. His frame was so small that one could believe he was a high school student.
Is this really the kid that Kang Pyeong-won of Kangsung cherishes?
His clothes were far out of style, his bangs looked as if they had been chopped off with a bowl, and his eyes were devoid of any malice, looking only gentle.
And yet, his face was incredibly pure and pretty, and he gave off a pleasant scent just by being near him. However, Jun-il had expected a character with more sexual allure for a government official’s partner, so the appearance of this “rice cake” of a boy was unexpected.
Jun-il had observed Kangsung’s Kang Pyeong-won from a distance. He had sharp eyes, and in several photos, he was raising a finger toward the frame.
It was a clear warning. He knew he was being followed and was stating that he would punish anyone who became a nuisance. As expected of human trash raised in a gangster’s den, he was utterly composed.
They say the end of tuning is returning to stock; perhaps this boy was what he found at the end of his worn-out life.
Jun-il had been watching Eun-myeong for a few days now, but his life was so tedious and boring that he had nearly died of boredom while following him. How could a person have no friends and not even play a game of billiards? It was nothing but work.
“…….”
Yet, the strange thing was that he couldn’t take his eyes off him. His skin, which looked as if it had never known a single blemish, looked soft and beautiful.
He was so quick and efficient when working that Jun-il felt a sense of pride and wanted to step forward and slip some pocket money into his pocket.
He thought he was simply feeling the way one feels while watching a well-behaved youngest nephew.
Perhaps it had been too long since he’d been in a relationship; he kept having strange emotions.
No, it wasn’t that he was strange; it was Lee Eun-myeong’s problem. How could someone with a face like that be so defenseless? He couldn’t even meet Jun-il’s eyes properly, so how on earth was he dealing with Kang Pyeong-won?
Could he be held captive by some weakness? Jun-il’s intuition flared sharply.
As he looked down sharply, Eun-myeong seemed to feel something and shuddered. His thick eyelids lifted. Long eyelashes fluttered, revealing round eyes like glass beads.
Startled, he scrambled to his feet.
“I have to go now.”
Eun-myeong moved frantically, looking as if he had seen a ghost. He was clearly startled by the dawn light spilling in from all sides.
“Hey, Eun-myeong-ssi, I’ll walk you.”
“No, please don’t, I’m fine. …I can’t do that.”
In his half-asleep confusion, Eun-myeong hurried out of the motel with an urgency that baffled Jun-il. He looked like a man being chased.
Jun-il quickly grabbed his outer coat, put on his shoes, and rushed out, but Eun-myeong had already hurried down the stairs.
“…….”
Just then, the vibration of his cell phone echoed in the empty hallway.
“…Who is it.”
As he looked at the number, his heart sank. Were these not the digits he had looked at and memorized several times?
He slowly pressed the call button and answered.
— My baby is well-behaved and pretty, isn’t he?
An unfamiliar voice pierced through his ear. Jun-il’s chest sank coldly. It felt as if the blood flowing through his body was freezing.
The caller not only called without permission but was also quite adept at rambling even when no answer was given.
— The baby eats well and sleeps well. That’s how things are when they’re growing. Disobedient and lacking a backbone.
At the voice that flowed out at the end, Jun-il clenched his teeth.
— Isn’t that right, Detective Ji Jun-il?
At that, Jun-il couldn’t contain himself and slammed his fist against the asphalt wall.
“How did you get my number!”
A laugh, ahahaha, was heard.
— Do you think I’d actually chase you? I have people following my baby. Oh, thanks for taking a knife hit for him. Thanks to that, my guys didn’t need to step in, so they weren’t discovered.
Kang Pyeong-won hummed in his throat.
— Since he’s my lover, I’m concerned about him in various ways, so I put people on him. As you can see, he’s so pretty and cute that insect-like bastards swarm around him.
Jun-il’s fist trembled. The wound from the sharp glass shard seemed to reopen, and a stinging sensation pierced his skin.
— But stop there.
Jun-il leaned against the hallway wall and looked down at the dawn darkness. A body, more visible because of its paleness, was walking away.
— I warned you not to follow him.
“…….”
This was Kang Pyeong-won, who had treated them like pigeons pecking at corn no matter how much they followed him. This was the first time he had shown such agitation. He was stepping forward to handle things himself.
The detective’s intuition was fully aroused. It was sending a telepathic message that this was it, that he had to dig into this. Jun-il resolved to push further. He absolutely could not miss this opportunity.
“Do you really think Lee Eun-myeong—”
No. He needed something more intimate. Something that would shake Kang Pyeong-won further, something that would strip away that shell composed of filthy lies.
“Do you think Eun-myeong doesn’t know?”
The voice on the other end cut off abruptly. Jun-il felt a shiver run through his entire body. It felt as if the truth hidden behind that gloomily low voice was pouring over him.
“I’m saying he might just be pretending not to know.”
Jackpot…! Feeling his whole body burn like an active volcano, he exhaled a hot breath.
“Oh, by the way, Eun-myeong left his cell phone on my bed.”