By Zephyria 
With a loud bang as a hand slammed onto the desk, the man standing behind flinched, his eyes wavering involuntarily. Oblivious to his Hubae’s reaction, the man who had struck the desk gritted his teeth and glared at the man sitting opposite him.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?”
Unable to contain his rage, his breathing grew ragged. Instead of throwing a punch at the clean-cut face across from him, the man slammed the innocent desk once more, spitting out his frustration as his blood boiled.
“It was almost over! We were all set to capture that bastard and interrogate him. If you had just waited one day—no, even half a day—why on earth did you go looking for him? And to kill him on the spot… are you insane? Have you lost your mind over pheromones, just like your father!”
“T-Team leader.”
The Hubae standing behind, pale with shock, urgently tried to stop him. The Team leader realized he had crossed a line, but he felt no desire to apologize. After all, this arrogant man had just ruined a case he had spent over three years obsessing over. To an elite of the highest class, who would likely live comfortably regardless of how this ended, it might not matter. The more he thought about it, the more the anger surged, and the Team leader unleashed another violent outburst.
“Why did you do this? Was this your plan from the start? Did you intend to flip the table at the last second and laugh in our faces! Fuck, say something!”
“Team leader, please calm down. Team leader!”
As the Hubae struggled with all his might to restrain the man pouring out curses in a fit of rage, Nathaniel Miller, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke.
“…Jin.”
“What?”
The agitated Team leader stopped moving, panting for breath. As the Hubae also looked back with startled eyes, Nathaniel Miller spoke calmly with an expressionless face, as if the commotion before him had absolutely nothing to do with him.
“Call Prosecutor Chrissy Jin. I wish to speak with him.”
“…Hah.”
The Team leader could only let out a dumbfounded sigh. Nathaniel added nonchalantly:
“I will give my statement after that.”
And with that, Nathaniel fell silent again.
<Nathaniel Miller, Murder!>
The headline of the article was striking. As Chrissy hurriedly skimmed the contents in the moving car, his complexion gradually turned pale.
<Nathaniel Miller, President of Miller Law Firm, has murdered Dennis Jin. The victim was killed instantly at the scene after being shot 17 times. Nathaniel Miller was arrested on the spot after reporting the incident to 911 himself.
Dennis Jin, 68, was a well-regarded figure in the community, known for his affection for children and leadership in volunteer work. His wife fainted upon hearing the news, and the local community is in shock over the news that a celebrity visited a common citizen of the region and murdered him…>
He could not read any further and squeezed his eyes shut. How on earth did this happen? It was impossible to grasp the situation. The articles posted were all speculative and lacked substance; there wasn’t a single piece of information that was actually helpful.
Unless it was the man himself, no one would ever know.
Upon Chrissy’s hurried arrival at work, the Chief Prosecutor spoke quickly.
“Go meet Nathaniel Miller immediately. He is insisting that he won’t say a word to anyone but you.”
What the hell happened?
He had repeated the same question several times, but as expected, there was no answer. No one but Nathaniel Miller could provide it. And that man was currently where Chrissy was heading.
In a place that didn’t suit him at all.
When he opened the door to the interrogation room, Chrissy unconsciously held his breath. Nathaniel Miller was sitting there alone. The man who would have always been in that room as a lawyer was now sitting there as a suspect. Handcuffed, with his back straight.
“Prosecutor.”
He acknowledged Chrissy as he stood at the door. A faint smile seemed to linger in his narrow, long eyes. Still feeling completely detached from reality, Chrissy closed the door. Even as he slowly walked over and pulled out the chair opposite Nathaniel to sit down, he remained in a daze.
“Why….”
As he barely managed to open his mouth, the sound of his own voice awakened a part of his brain. Only then did Chrissy struggle to accept the fact that the man before him was real. Then, the question that had been swirling inside him this whole time immediately burst out.
“What on earth is this… what happened?”
Nathaniel did not react immediately to the strained voice. He simply gazed at Chrissy in silence. After a few seconds of silence, just as Chrissy was about to press him again, Nathaniel finally spoke.
“For the past few years, the FBI has been running an operation to catch those producing child pornography.”
“What?”
Chrissy blinked, bewildered by the sudden change in topic. Nathaniel continued in his usual calm voice.
“A request for cooperation came to my father, and I took on that role. As you know, since my father entered politics, it would have been… shall we say, not easy for him to move personally.”
Only then did Chrissy understand what he was trying to say.
“So you’re saying… you were undercover?”
“Something like that.”
After saying that, Nathaniel fell silent. However, Chrissy still couldn’t wrap his head around it. What did that have to do with the current situation?
“Child of the Moon.”
At the quiet voice, Chrissy momentarily froze. Nathaniel continued.
“Once I discovered the identity of the Child of the Moon, I went there as quickly as possible. The FBI had planned to capture him alive, but I didn’t want that.”
‘As quickly as possible.’
Hidden within those words was the phrase, ‘after safely bringing Chrissy to his home.’ As Chrissy mentally reconstructed the timeline, his face gradually grew pale and stiff.
No way, the identity of the Child of the Moon was…
Nathaniel said nothing. But from the faint smile that touched his lips, Chrissy knew the answer.
This is insane.
Chrissy thought, lost in shock. This was truly madness. Did that man know? Is that why he killed my adoptive father? And in such an unbelievable manner?
It was something that should never happen. Thinking rationally, anyone would say so. Why would Nathaniel Miller do that? It had nothing to do with him, so why?
But the event unfolding before his eyes was reality. And the answer as to why this man committed such an act was also clear.
Incredibly so.
“…Why.”
Chrissy barely managed to part his lips.
“Why did you do that? You could have just left him alone; the FBI would have arrested him anyway. Why did you go out of your way to find him and kill him?”
Even as he spoke, he still couldn’t believe it. What am I even saying? There’s no reason for that man to do this. What kind of delusion am I having?
“Well.”
Nathaniel, speaking in his usual slow manner, gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“I didn’t want to hear that bastard mention Hope’s name in court.”
Only then did Chrissy realize the decisive reason why this man had killed him.
Testimony.
In this situation, it would be impossible to hide the fact that Chrissy was the adoptive son and the victim. If that happened, Chrissy would inevitably be involved in the trial process. What he was like as an adoptive father, how the videos came to be filmed, and the process through which he was abused.
Every detail would be laid bare, digging up the past. Those horrific videos might be revealed to everyone in the courtroom. His adoptive mother would surely cling to him in tears, begging him to give a statement favorable to that man, and in that process, Chrissy would be completely destroyed.
Since Nathaniel also knew the trial process that Chrissy had seen so often.
“…Why.”
Chrissy barely managed to speak.
“Why did you go that far? You have no reason to do this for me.”
Even amidst the confusion, his throat tightened. For some reason, his eyes grew hot, and as he hurriedly blinked and exhaled, the man who had been sitting in silence spoke.
“Well, I’ve asked myself that several times, but I don’t know.”
After giving that underwhelming answer, he let out a short chuckle after a brief silence and gazed at Chrissy.
“I wonder if this is what they call love.”