#66

Everything was perfect until Detective Oh woke up. After feeding the damn dogs and going inside, I found Detective Oh sitting in the spot where Tae-heun always sat. He drank the water the man offered without lifting a finger. Even while the child set down the spoon and served the rice, his heavy backside showed no signs of getting up.

The man bowed to Detective Oh like a servant and was anxious about upsetting his mood. I couldn’t confirm if that was the case, but at least it seemed so in Tae-heun’s eyes. The number of side dishes had also increased. A plate of sausages and ham, which I had only seen as lunchbox sides for the child, was now on the table. So, my stomach turned again.

There was only one empty seat next to Detective Oh, so I sat there.

“Isn’t there any pollack roe?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. There is.”

The man hurriedly took the pollack roe out of the refrigerator and placed it on a plate.

“I don’t know where Ki-beom got it, but the pollack roe is amazing. You’ve tried it too, right, Director?”

Detective Oh licked his lips and asked.

The man looked flustered, glancing at Tae-heun.

“Of course. But I can’t eat fermented seafood well, so I only tasted it a bit.”

“Oh, what a shame. I can’t believe you can’t enjoy something so delicious.”

Detective Oh genuinely seemed regretful.

I could see the man relax a bit.

“Ki-beom, sit down quickly. You need to eat.”

How long are you going to stand there like that?

At Tae-heun’s words, the man finally sat down.

Instead of looking at the man I always faced, Tae-heun ate while looking at the child’s face. Detective Oh gulped down a bowl of dried pollack soup before the man even picked up his spoon. The man quickly got up and filled his empty bowl with soup.

Damn it. Just eating and making a fuss.

I cursed inwardly and grabbed my spoon roughly.

Detective Oh slurped and smacked his lips as he ate heartily. I didn’t mind the sounds the child made while eating, but I couldn’t stand the sounds coming from Detective Oh’s mouth. It made me feel nauseous. Once I saw him in a bad light, everything became unpleasant and irritating. My appetite vanished. I put down my spoon, but I pretended to eat deliciously for the man’s sake. I forced myself to eat and finished the soup.

“Ki-beom, do the dishes.”

“Brother, would you like some coffee?”

The man interrupted Tae-heun’s words.

“Sure.”

He didn’t even let me help clear the table. The child quickly cleared the table and put water on the gas stove for Detective Oh.

“Prepare two cups for the Director too.”

“I’m fine.”

Tae-heun flatly refused.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready to leave, Ki-beom?”

“I’m fine. I have plenty of time.”

Even though the time to leave was later than usual, the man didn’t complain. The child was the same.

He had said that Detective Oh was a brother who had done a lot for him. I was curious about what kind of big favor he had done that made him so restless. Did he save the child’s life? If so, I could understand, but if not, I felt like I would dislike Detective Oh even more.

“Ki-beom, take this. Ride in my car.”

“No, it’s okay. I can ride my bike.”

“Where do you think you are riding a bike? Get in my car.”

The bike the man had was just a rusty one rotting away in the shed.

While Detective Oh was in the bathroom, I handed the man the Benz key.

“It’s a spare key, so don’t return it. Just keep it, Ki-beom.”

“Thank you.”

The man sincerely expressed his gratitude. He received the key with both hands and even bowed his head. Was the word “thank you” so unpleasant to hear? I frowned.

“Am I a stranger? It’s not ‘thank you’ but ‘why are you thanking me?’ I might get upset.”

“No, it’s just…”

“You can be grateful, but keep the ‘thank you’ to yourself. Unless I save your life, just think it in your heart.”

The man stammered without answering. His expression was dark.

“Ki-beom, you have a spare key for your truck, right?”

“Yes.”

“Give it to me. A trade.”

I tossed it lightly.

The man quickly went into the inner room and handed over the truck key.

“Thank you.”

I returned the man’s words verbatim.

“See? It’s uncomfortable to hear, right?”

“…A little.”

“Are you not upset?”

I waited for a response, but Detective Oh came out of the bathroom without a clue. The man immediately turned his back to Tae-heun and looked at Detective Oh.

“Brother, do you need anything else?”

“Uh, no. You can go to work now.”

“Yes.”

The man called the child as if he had been waiting for Detective Oh’s permission.

“Uncle, I’m back from school.”

“Okay. Study hard.”

“Yes.”

The child replied politely.

“By the way, are you leaving today, Uncle?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you stay a bit longer?”

The child said something he didn’t mean. Unlike the man, it was a lie that seemed sincere, though it was not. The child was better than the man. Tae-heun chuckled.

“I want to, but I’m too busy. I’ll play longer with Ji-hye next time.”

“Yes. Then goodbye.”

“Okay.”

Detective Oh, like a local resident, didn’t take out his wallet or rummage through his pockets. He just patted the child’s head. I hated that he didn’t even pull out a thousand won bill. If that was all, it would have been better, but Detective Oh continued to act shamelessly.

“Ki-beom, can you bring my car during lunch? It’s in the village hall parking lot.”

He confidently assigned me the errand while handing over the key. The man had left his truck there too.

Tae-heun, who was already annoyed that he couldn’t leave with the man, felt sick to his stomach seeing Detective Oh flaunt his authority in front of the man.

“Yes. I’ll do that, brother. What about lunch?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll eat on my own. Hurry up and go.”

“Yes.”

The man looked back at Tae-heun one last time.

“Sir, I’m back from school.”

“Okay. Have a good time. We’ll have something delicious for dinner. I’ll make sure to get some from Uncle Oh Dae-ho.”

Tae-heun winked at the child. The child smiled and took the man’s hand. The man nodded lightly and left through the front gate.

“Father, are we taking our car?”

I heard the child’s voice asking.

I should be included in that.

I kicked the dirt in the yard for no reason.

“Director, shall we head up soon?”

Detective Oh was sitting on the porch putting on his sneakers.

“Sure.”

I answered half-heartedly while dragging my beach sandals.

The path up to the upper house felt longer than a thousand miles. Once I reached the uphill alley, I regretted not coming out a bit earlier. While driving, he wouldn’t see me anyway, but I should have at least waved my hand at the back of the car.

I waved my hand late towards the empty road.

* * *

Detective Oh put water in the coffee pot.

“The air is really nice.”

He opened the back door and admired the scenery, expressing his admiration.

“When I was young, I often came to play around here. My close friends lived in this neighborhood. I gradually stopped coming after my friends moved away one by one.”

“Is that so?”

I responded casually.

“At that time, I was a high school student, and there was only a middle school in town, so most of us went to school in the city.”

What I was curious about wasn’t Detective Oh’s past.

“According to Brother Ki-cheol, something bad happened at Ki-beom’s house.”

I subtly probed. Detective Oh frowned.

“That guy really has a loose tongue.”

He smacked his lips and mumbled vaguely.

“Bad things? What could it be? Ki-beom’s father left home, and his mother struggled to raise the kids alone.”

He almost mentioned the man’s younger brother but stopped. It seemed like the bad thing was related to the younger brother. Whether the young boy died from illness or an accident, it was undoubtedly a tragic death. Maybe that’s why everyone was careful with their words, just like with the uncle who died young.

Tae-heun only drank coffee powder mixed with water, while Detective Oh added cream and sugar. The sweet scent of instant coffee filled the room.

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention.”

Detective Oh paused for a moment.

“I need to deliver this.”

“What is it?”

“Well, Lee Seok-du has cut off support to your family.”

Tae-heun chuckled briefly.

“I see. Of course. The reason Lee Seok-du gave money was because of someone else.”

Unlike Tae-heun’s nonchalant attitude, Detective Oh looked quite serious.

“It seems he not only cut off financial support but also took away the apartment they were living in. In other words, they are now homeless.”

So what?

I felt no sympathy, not even a thought.

“Anyway, it was my uncle’s place.”

“…You don’t seem to care at all?”

“Yes.”

It was a natural question.

“I was sold to Lee Seok-du. I wouldn’t have any feelings about it. And after living off my children for 20 years, wouldn’t there be no money saved up? With whose money did my brother buy the apartment he lives in?”

“Is that so?”

Detective Oh seemed to not understand.

Since I had lived in the same house until I became an adult, he probably thought there was some familial bond. If that were the case, my life might have been a bit different. Even if I had sent my child to be adopted by relatives because of money, if I had raised them with affection, Tae-heun, no, Lee Seon-jae wouldn’t have grown up so coldly. Perhaps I would have built a decent family at a young age and become the head of a harmonious household with one or two children.

But that never happened. Despite having biological parents and siblings, I was not loved. They thought of Lee Seon-jae as money. Living under the same roof, they looked at their child, brother, and older brother as if they were strangers. I had never even properly complained. Even if I did, they wouldn’t listen, so young Seon-jae learned to give up quietly. To Lee Seon-jae, family was just a burden. A burden that was as heavy as a rock.

There was a brief silence, but it didn’t last long. Detective Oh quickly changed the subject and lightened the mood. The two of us passed the time chatting about trivial matters.

A faint breeze came in through the open door. It felt slightly cooler than at the man’s house. I thought it might be because no one lived there. I closed my eyes slightly and savored the wind.

By now, the man must be working. I imagined him picking fruits and handling farm tools with his bare hands. Whether in a greenhouse or a field, it would be hot and tiring. The man wouldn’t show any signs of struggle; he would just wipe his sweat with the towel around his neck indifferently.

I miss him.

I only thought about the man.

At exactly 8 AM, Detective Oh made a phone call. Familiar voices greeted me through the speakerphone. Hearing their lively voices actually made my mood sink. It was because the end was truly in sight.

Before dying, Lee Seon-jae had poured all his effort into creating a large picture with Detective Oh’s group, and now they were meticulously filling in the details of the sketch using various colors and techniques in their respective areas.

The painting they had worked hard on for over a year was on the verge of completion. Whether it would be a masterpiece or a failure could only be known once it was revealed to the public, but at least their consensus was that it would hit the mark.

Tae-heun thought so too, even if the targets of their “hitting the mark” differed from his own.

Detective Oh had recently performed well as Tae-heun’s assistant, having done it once in Seoul. He skillfully threw in timely jokes to lighten the mood, taking on the role of the atmosphere maker. He had returned to the Detective Oh Dae-ho I originally knew.

I speculated that Detective Oh acted so annoyingly because he was too familiar with the man. People tend to reveal their true colors to close ones like family or friends.

Unlike the serious atmosphere in Seoul, laughter bloomed continuously. As they neared the end of their work, everyone was excited, saying they would properly go on summer vacation this year.

My kids are going crazy about going to the beach as soon as their vacation starts. This time, I’m thinking of going to Haeundae.

Wolf 1 said.

“When does summer vacation start for kids these days?”

Tae-heun asked. Wolf 2 laughed, saying it was funny how he was curious about things despite not having any kids. Who was Wolf 2 again? It was a bit confusing.

Since everyone except the heads of departments was assigned numbers randomly, Wolf 2 could be a prosecutor or an investigator. Anyway, the prosecutors were referred to as wolves, while the police, excluding the rabbits and turtles, were foxes, and the National Tax Service was represented by lions. The two external members were bears. This name was also decided by drawing lots. When Tae-heun was first offered the job, he found their playful code names untrustworthy, including the fact that they called him VIP.

Our kids start on July 21.

The answer came from Lion 3. The only woman, she was well-versed in tax law and very meticulous. She was the kind of person who would say that those with a certain anatomy were picky.

July 21. Tae-heun considered whether he could go to Daecheon Beach. His new ID would come out next week, and his passport a few weeks later. Wouldn’t it be fine to book a flight to Canada for August? If he went to Daecheon right after the vacation started, it seemed like he could have a week of fun. Or maybe he should try going to Haeundae like Wolf 1. Had the man and child ever been to the southern region?

“Then let’s meet again next time.”

These people, who were civil servants to the core, wrapped up the meeting right on time for lunch.