By Zephyria 
2:00 AM. A woman enters the entrance of lines 3 and 4 of Building 104. She gets off on the 4th floor. That was where her home was. A moment later, the lights in the 4th-floor emergency staircase suddenly flickered on. Then, as if someone were climbing the stairs, the lights passed through the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors before stopping at the 8th.
After about 30 minutes, the lights in the 8th-floor emergency staircase turned on again, and the person descended in order. Once again, they stopped on the 4th floor. It was night and the image quality was poor, so he couldn’t see the face clearly, but he suspected it was the same woman he had seen in the elevator.
“Did you find it?”
Beside him, the truck owner, who had been called out abruptly, peered in with a curious expression. The man, who had looked at him with suspicion when asked to check the dashcam, changed his attitude instantly upon being shown a business card.
“Did some kind of incident happen in our apartment?”
Instead of answering, Hee-shin gave a slight smile, and the man lowered his voice.
“Maybe something like a murder?”
“No. Someone hit my car and ran.”
“Wow—whoever it was is screwed. Hitting a prosecutor’s car.”
Hee-shin removed the memory card from the laptop and looked up at the man.
“Would it be alright if I took the memory card?”
While the man hesitated, Hee-shin pulled two 50,000-won bills from his wallet.
“Oh, you don’t need to give me this…”
“I really need it. Please.”
“Well, for me… I don’t mind, but…”
The man smiled slyly and slid the bills into his back pocket.
“I hope it gets resolved well. I’ll be going now.”
The man walked humming happily toward Building 106, dragging his slippers. Hee-shin watched his retreating figure, packed his laptop, and left. He then went straight up to the 4th floor of Building 104. He stood in front of Unit 403 and pressed the intercom, but there was no response.
It was the same even after he continued pressing it and knocked on the door with his fist. This time, he used the emergency stairs to walk up to the 8th floor. He carefully examined the floor and walls the entire way up, wondering if any evidence had been left behind.
As he reached the 8th floor and stepped out of the emergency exit, a sigh escaped him. After opening the door and entering, he searched every corner again. It was clear someone had entered, but he couldn’t find a single thing that was different from usual. Only a scent remained.
After sitting and pondering for a long while, he began to make a phone call.
“How long will the results take?”
“I’ll let you know by this afternoon.”
“Please, as fast as possible.”
“What’s going on? Did someone secretly slip you a drug?”
Hee-shin only gave an ambiguous smile at the doctor’s question. He had always been a light sleeper. No matter how tired he was, he would wake up at the slightest sound. He had been unable to sleep deeply since he was a child. It was because he lived in constant anxiety, never knowing when his father might fly into a rage. It would be a different story if he were blackout drunk, but yesterday, two or three cocktails were all he had.
“How is your neck?”
“There’s nothing particularly wrong. No needle marks.”
The doctor, having finished the examination around the neck, returned to his spot. Last night, the designated driver’s hand had touched his skin while adjusting his collar, and that part felt suspicious. Because his consciousness had grown significantly dimmer from that point onward.
“Have you been sleeping lately?”
“Yes.”
“Liar. Go look in the mirror. The dark circles under your eyes are unbelievable. You look ten years older.”
“I guess I finally look my age then.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone told me I look twenty.”
“Good grief, who on earth said that?”
“There is someone. A person whose thoughts I simply cannot fathom.”
“Be careful. People who only say things that sound good usually have an ulterior motive.”
A motive… the motive Im Gyeong had for him. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. At first, he thought Im Gyeong hated him, but looking at him lately, that didn’t seem to be the case. It was clear he was being kind, but he strangely kept touching the line, almost crossing it.
“I’m leaving.”
As he stood up, the doctor waved dismissively. One day, the man had decided that being a doctor suited him better than being a legal professional and gave up the law school he had struggled to enter. Then, as if to prove a point, he became a doctor. Looking back, it was a very good choice. His family had more than enough money, and setting up a clinic for him was no trouble at all.
“Don’t pay the hospital bill, just go!”
Ignoring him, Hee-shin paid the bill at the desk. Compared to its size, the hospital didn’t have many patients. He didn’t think it was because the doctor lacked skill. The problem was that he spent too much time on each individual patient. He sometimes wondered why the man hadn’t just become a psychiatrist.
He left and drove toward the Prosecutor’s Office. To hide his agitation, he stopped along the way to smoke. It seemed unlikely he would be able to keep his promise to quit smoking this year.
Upon arriving and opening the door to enter, Chief Oh pointed to his desk, saying she had prepared what he asked for.
As he sat down and opened the envelope, a paper with someone’s personal information came out.
Kim Min-jeong. 23 years old. Prior record of assault. Currently employed at a nightlife establishment called Oasis.
“….”
Chief Oh came over and added an explanation.
“It seems she has quite a bit of debt. Maybe a few hundred million won in total?”
“What about the assault?”
“Two years ago, she reportedly beat up another girl at the same establishment. According to a staff member, Kim Min-jeong dated the CEO of Oasis for a while, and he cheated on her with another girl.”
“When was her last shift?”
“It was yesterday, but she said she felt sick as soon as she arrived and went home.”
Hee-shin repeated the woman’s name, scraping his front teeth with his tongue.
Oasis…
The nightlife establishment where the woman worked was the same place where the deceased Kim Hae-sung had worked.
It was also where he had first met Im Gyeong.
He had a bad feeling.
Turning to the next page, the personal details of the designated driver from last night appeared.
Kim Jin-seok. 33 years old. Employed at OO Corporation. No criminal record.
“There’s nothing particularly strange. It seems he works at a small-to-medium enterprise by day and does designated driving by night. The only thing is,”
“The only thing?”
“He has a single mother who is ill, so medical expenses seem to be high. They say he’s buried in debt to pay for the hospital bills. That’s why he’s doing designated driving at night.”
“……”
“But why are you acting like this?”
“There’s something that feels off. I just want to check.”
Could it be his imagination? However, when coincidences overlap several times, they are no longer coincidences. The scent of perfume on the duvet, the lights turning on in the emergency stairs, the exceptionally kind designated driver, and the overdue hospital bills. He leaned back in his chair and sank into deep thought.
Just then, he heard Chief Oh chatting with Staff Member Baek Young-mi.
“Staff Member Baek. When did you buy that necklace?”
“You have a keen eye. You noticed right away.”
“I hear that quite often. What is it? A gift from a boyfriend?”
“No. A friend and I bought one each at a jewelry shop. It’s a knock-off.”
“Why buy a knock-off? Buy the real thing.”
“Oh, do you know how expensive the real one is?”
“Is it that expensive?”
A moment later, he heard Chief Oh gasp. She exclaimed how a necklace could cost tens of millions of won and that with that kind of money, she’d take out a loan and buy a house. As Kang Hee-shin listened in silence, a scene flashed through his mind.
A necklace…
He opened his eyes, took out his phone, and searched for the necklace he had buried in his memory. A moment later, an image of the necklace appeared. He didn’t know the retail price, but the used price listed was well over 100 million won.
-You said your name is Kang Hee-shin, right? I’ll tell Cheol-woong to look kindly upon you.
Could it be…
Yoon Se-na’s aunt is a classmate of Chief Prosecutor Jo Cheol-woong, and the aunt is wearing the necklace he saw on Jo Cheol-woong’s laptop? Was this also a coincidence? He stared at the screen with his mouth tightly shut before dismissing the thought. He must have become too sensitive. In fact, couldn’t there be a series of coincidences? Just as he had met Im Gyeong, whom he first met at a host bar, at Yoon Se-na’s house.
Meanwhile, a message arrived.
-Drug test results: normal. Quit drinking.
Haha… was it indeed an overreaction? He let out a sigh of relief and adjusted his posture. Right, let’s just work. One cannot absolutely trust human smell. He might have mistaken it for the scent of cosmetics. Scent has no physical form and can deceive the brain. Because he kept doubting, he probably felt it more.
“Right, let’s work. Work.”
While he was muttering to himself, a message rang fiercely. Was it another contact from the hospital? His face, which had been calmly checking the message, suddenly contorted.
“……”
He stared at the phone screen, holding his breath. On the screen lay a sleeping Kang Hee-shin. The cropped photo showed only his upper body, and a slender arm was draped across his chest.
It’s a woman…
Though the face and body were cut off, he could tell that the person lying next to him was a woman.
Fuck…
A curse word flew out first.
The thing he had imagined had actually happened. Chief Oh glanced his way while working. Being quick-witted, she must have intuited that something had exploded. However, despite her curiosity, she didn’t readily ask.
While he was in a state of utter despair, he was summoned by Chief Prosecutor Cho.
“I’ll be right back.”
He left the prosecution office and walked down the hallway. His mind was pure chaos the entire way. Who did this? How did they get into the house? Had they been monitoring his every move? Yoon Se-na came to mind first. Could it be her doing? But Yoon Se-na had no reason to do such a thing. Kidnapping Kim Jun-gu had been to protect him.
Slightly dazed, he opened the door to the Chief’s office and entered. As he sat down, Chief Prosecutor Cho threw some documents in front of him.
“First, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 will also join. They have more practical experience, so it’s better. Aside from you, five prosecutors, ten investigators, four staff members, plus an accounting analyst and a digital forensics expert. Jang Seon-woo’s inclusion is unavoidable, so you yield on that. Are you satisfied with this?”
“……”
“Hey, Kang Hee-shin.”
Could it be Chief Prosecutor Cho? He looked at the face of Chief Prosecutor Cho, who was staring intently at him. He had plenty of reason to mess with him. He had been properly screwed over and humiliated. Thanks to that, rumors had spread widely throughout the district office. Chief Prosecutor Cho was a man of strong pride and, like Hee-shin, held grudges.
“I heard you went to the Seoil Group founding party over the weekend?”
The abrupt question cut his train of thought.
“Pardon?”
“No, someone said they saw you. Did you go?”
“Yes, I was invited.”
“You’re more capable than you look? I thought you had no chance?”
The ‘chance’ Chief Prosecutor Cho was referring to was likely Hee-shin becoming the son-in-law of Seoil Group. What was with that necklace? It must be a coincidence. And if it wasn’t? How did he know he went to the founding party? Were the two close enough to contact each other privately?
“Kid. What’s wrong with you? You look half out of your mind. Are you suddenly intimidated now that you’re actually doing it? Want to back out now?”
“No. That’s impossible.”
“Anyway. You’re greedy. I warned you. You’re holding a ball that’s on fire. If you’re not careful, your hand will burn too. Know that later, even if you want to throw it away, you won’t be able to.”
“It’s fine. I’ll resolve it even if I have to cut off my hand.”
Chief Prosecutor Cho looked at him with a disgusted expression and gestured for him to leave. After bowing and coming outside, a ringing sound echoed in his ears. He slapped his palms together and walked down the hallway. His steps grew heavier, as if he were sinking into a mire. He had no idea where to even begin cleaning up the mess.
In the midst of this, a message arrived from Yoon Se-na.
-Keep your time free this weekend. Dad invited you to a family gathering.
“……”
He knew something was going wrong, but he couldn’t stop now.