By Zephyria 【How are you feeling?】
Lee-eum deleted the message from Choi Won-joon as soon as he read it.
【Want to meet up briefly tomorrow?】
This time, he blocked the number altogether, regretting that he hadn’t done it sooner. The more he thought about what happened that day, the more he could only sigh. Even if he comforted himself that he couldn’t help it because the bastard had drugged him, nothing changed.
He had to hide his nature, so it was impossible to hold the bastard accountable for his crime. He was more furious at the fact that the bastard had cleverly exploited that and he had been swept away by it. He tossed his phone aside and leaned back in his chair when Nam-soo came out of the convenience store with kimbap.
He unwrapped the kimbap he received and diligently ate a hot bar, erasing Choi Won-joon from his mind. In the meantime, a car entered the underground parking lot of the building in front. Nam-soo checked the license plate and asked, “That’s it, right?” Lee-eum nodded, taking a sip of water. “Let’s go in.”
He had been there once before, so he skillfully found his way to the CEO’s office, but today, as expected, the bodyguards blocked the entrance. When he showed his ID, they reluctantly stepped aside with displeased expressions. Today, what caught his eye again was the writing on the wall.
【We are family】
What a joke. What family in the world uses their brothers as shields and sends them to prison instead? Park Seok-tae made eye contact with him, but he had a nonchalant expression as he smoked.
“What brings the detectives here today?”
“Didn’t you get the call? Kim Sang-beom hanged himself in prison last night.”
Park Seok-tae scratched his brow with the hand holding the cigarette.
“Yeah, I heard about it this morning.”
“How do you feel?”
“How do you think I feel? Two of my favorite guys ended up like that, how could I be okay? I should have paid more attention to the kids, it’s all my fault.”
Lee-eum took out a photo of Executive Director Park Chang-shik from inside his jacket and held it out. “Have you ever seen this person?” Park Seok-tae shook his head. “Never. I’ve never seen that face before.” Lee-eum tapped the photo with his finger.
“Take a closer look.”
Park Seok-tae gestured to his subordinate next to him.
“Soo-ho, come here. Do you recognize this face?”
The subordinate shook his head, and Park Seok-tae pushed the photo towards Lee-eum.
“He says he doesn’t know him.”
“Do you know Soo-in Construction?”
“Soo-in? I don’t know. I think I’ve heard of it.”
“You don’t know them even though you’re the same kind?”
“The same kind?”
“You’re both gangsters, aren’t you?”
Park Seok-tae laughed heartily. He said that even gangsters have different fields, and he pretended not to know anything about the construction business.
“I heard that you guys provided manpower for Soo-in Construction?”
“Well, the manpower is something the guys below take care of. Honestly, I’m not in a position to worry about that kind of thing.”
“So, you don’t know anything at all?”
“If you don’t believe me, go check with them.”
“I’m coming from checking with them. They gave me a similar answer. They said they don’t know any third-rate gangsters like that.”
Park Seok-tae smiled with a slightly annoyed expression, and Lee-eum closely observed his face. He had actually visited Soo-in Construction and had a difficult meeting with the President, who said the same thing. He made up the part about them being third-rate gangsters, though.
He asked a few more questions, but Park Seok-tae only repeated that he didn’t know anything at all. Feeling that there was no point in staying any longer, Lee-eum and Nam-soo got up and went outside.
“Should we just put a tail on him?”
“Leave it. Who knows when the two of them will meet.”
Even if the two of them met, that wouldn’t be evidence of murder. There was a connection, but nothing was clearly visible, so it was frustrating, like wandering in a fog. Lee-eum got into the car, sighed, and started the engine.
While driving to the next location, the car stopped at a traffic light. Just then, a young child was holding his mother’s hand and trotting across the street.
“Cute. How old would he be?”
“Maybe around three or four.”
“Your Sunbae’s nephews and nieces are young too, right?”
“Do-yoon and Seo-yoon are six, and Yoon-ji is seven.”
“They must be cute.”
Lee-eum smiled, thinking of his nephews and nieces. Of course, they were cute. His Hyung and Noona lived nearby and visited often, so he couldn’t help but feel a special affection for his nephews and nieces. Of course, even Lee-eum, who had good stamina, felt like his soul had left his body after playing with them all day.
That’s when it happened. Just before the child finished crossing the street, a car sped past them. The surprised mother pulled the child back and fell backward. Fortunately, they weren’t hurt, but they almost hit someone.
“What the hell, that bastard.”
As soon as Nam-soo shouted in excitement, the light turned green. Lee-eum stepped on the accelerator and chased after the car that had just passed. He attached the siren to the top of the car and sped up, but it wasn’t easy to catch up because it was a sports car.
“Sunbae, there!”
Luckily, the sports car slowed down to make a right turn. Lee-eum took the opportunity to cut in front and block it. There was a screeching sound from behind, along with the sound of a horn, so he immediately opened the door and got out. He walked up and knocked on the window, and the driver’s arm came out to greet him first.
The music flowing from the car was deafeningly loud.
“You just violated the speed limit and ran a red light. You almost caused an accident…”
The moment he saw the other person’s face, Lee-eum’s face hardened. The man, who had a cigarette in his mouth, raised his eyebrows at Lee-eum.
“Oh? Who do we have here.”
Lee-eum glanced around the car. There were two people in the back seat, one in the passenger seat, and one in the driver’s seat, for a total of four people.
“You’re also not wearing a seatbelt, so that’s a total of three violations.”
The man chuckled with a cigarette in his mouth.
“Detective, don’t you know me?”
Lee-eum stared at the man. How could he not know this son of a bitch? He suppressed the rising anger when Nam-soo approached. Jeong Nam-soo admired the car, then stood next to him.
“Hey, how can you drive like that! You almost hurt that kid because of you.”
Even with Jeong Nam-soo’s words, the man didn’t respond and just smiled at Lee-eum.
“Detective, it’s nice to see you after so long. You should be catching criminals, why are you catching innocent citizens like me?”
A man who was listening interrupted with an annoyed expression.
“Hey. You almost hit someone just now. You would have seen it if you had eyes. What makes you think you’re an innocent citizen?”
The man turned his head slightly to look at Nam-soo. Lee-eum remembered that look. Disdain. How dare you. Do you know who my father is? People like you can’t even touch a hair on my head. Those were actually the words the bastard had said.
Lee-eum suppressed his rising anger and demanded his license.
“Here you go.”
He handed it over obediently, so he checked it, and the traffic police who had been contacted arrived soon after. “Thank you for your hard work.” The traffic police conducted a breathalyzer test, but nothing came up. The bastard’s expression became even more arrogant, and all he could do now was issue a ticket.
Not wanting to see his annoying face any longer, he turned around to leave when he heard a voice from behind.
“I heard that bitch is dead.”
Lee-eum stopped walking.
“I was really upset. I really liked her. Her skin was so fair.”
He turned around sharply and glared at him, and Kim Ji-cheol made a strange expression.
“But she won’t be lonely, right?”
Lee-eum clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. This son of a bitch. Just as he was about to attack him, Jeong Nam-soo grabbed his arm. “Let’s go. They’re saying there’s a commotion and telling us to come back to the station quickly.”
Lee-eum turned his head and glared at the other man as if he wanted to kill him. The bastard’s name was Kim Ji-cheol. The perpetrator of a case that Lee-eum had taken on shortly after becoming a detective. A man with a great father who hired a former judge as a lawyer and was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. And the nineteen-year-old child he had violated had taken her own life before even reaching adulthood.
As the past events came to mind, he felt like his blood was running backward. But unfortunately, there was nothing he could do here.
“Then take care. I hope you stay healthy.”
The bastard smiled brightly, shook the ticket he had received, and drove off. Watching the car drive away, Lee-eum rubbed his face roughly. Nam-soo, who was next to him, let go of the arm he was holding and looked at him cautiously.
“Did I do something wrong? Should I have not stopped you?”
Lee-eum smiled bitterly.
“No. You did well.”
He patted him on the shoulder and went to the car, but the back of his neck was tingling. The bastard who had acted like he was repenting and shed tears in court had not changed at all.
【You need this, right? You wanted to catch him back then, right?】
Why did the devil’s fruit that Choi Won-joon had given him come to mind?
Lee-eum was silent as he sat in the driver’s seat, and Nam-soo subtly inquired.
“Who is he?”
“The son of Assemblyman Kim Yong-taek.”
Kim Yong-taek? Nam-soo thought for a moment, then frowned and said, “Ah.” Even if he didn’t know Kim Ji-cheol, everyone would know Assemblyman Kim Yong-taek. He was a three-term member of the National Assembly who had even run for president.
“No wonder he didn’t even bat an eye after doing something wrong. He had someone to back him up.”
“…….”
“He was acquitted, so it’s only the dead person who’s pitiful.”
Lee-eum couldn’t say anything more. What did the victim’s face look like when he last saw her? He couldn’t forget her expression when Kim Ji-cheol was acquitted at the trial. The victim smiled next to her mother, who was crying and wailing. He couldn’t even imagine. How heartbroken and speechless she must have been. That’s why she died a few days later. The more he recalled the old memories, the more bitter his mouth felt. Lee-eum exhaled a heavy breath and started the car.