By Zephyria 
“Detective Kim, did you sleep here again yesterday?”
Team Leader Oh asked, looking at Lee-eum, who had just finished brushing his teeth. The other team members also seemed curious about why Lee-eum hadn’t gone home and had been here for days. Lee-eum gave an awkward smile and mumbled that the water was cut off.
“Isn’t that a nice apartment? How can the water be cut off for days?”
It was an excuse. He had blocked Choi Won-joon’s calls, but he was avoiding him in case he came looking for him again. He was literally avoiding shit. Nothing good would come of getting involved with that guy. The more he thought about what happened that day, the more he wanted to drown himself in a bowl of water.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable in the on-call room?”
“It’s fine.”
He spent most nights in his car, so the on-call room was a luxury. Even as a child, Lee-eum could sleep anywhere. Unlike his picky Hyung and Noona, his mother always said he was a relatively easy child to raise. And after doing this job for years, he could now sleep on the street with just a blanket.
“When someone stays out all night, they should look a little scruffy to have some humanity, but our Lieutenant Kim looks like a young master. Look at his skin. We’re both out catching criminals, but one of us has orange peel skin, and the other has peeled egg skin.”
Detective Jin chuckled, comparing Detective Lee and Kim Lee-eum, and Detective Lee threw the pen he was holding. “Shut up, you little brat. I had egg skin when I was a kid too.” The two bickered and exchanged silly jokes as usual.
While they were doing that, his cell phone vibrated, and he saw it was his Noona, Kim Malk-eum. He answered the phone and went outside, where his Noona was standing at the entrance. Several people passing by recognized her and greeted her politely. Dressed in a black suit, she looked completely different from how she looked at home in her pajamas.
“Noona.”
She turned around and handed him a shopping bag she was holding. “Here.” It contained spare clothes and underwear that had been left in the car, and she had also included individually wrapped red ginseng, which he had asked for separately.
“How busy are you that you don’t even have time to stop by home?”
“I’m swamped. You saw it on the news.”
“That case will be transferred to headquarters. It’s probably for the best.”
Ah… so that’s what’s going to happen. It was probably because there was no progress in the investigation, but he couldn’t help feeling uneasy. Then his Noona grabbed his chin and turned his face this way and that, like she was checking for scratches.
“Take care of your health while you’re at it. Your face looks haggard.”
“They said I have peeled egg skin.”
“Who did?”
When he didn’t answer, his Noona tried to pinch his cheek, telling him to do a good job. He hated it because other people might see, and she laughed, pleased. She treated him like a child at times like this.
“Oh, and you know Mom and Dad are coming on Saturday, right?”
“Why?”
“What, did you forget?”
A sigh escaped Lee-eum’s lips as he calculated the date in his head. Ah, Mom’s birthday is this Saturday. He had heard it before, but he had completely forgotten.
“What are you going to buy Mom for a present?”
“She doesn’t need a present.”
His Noona rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. This is enough. It meant that Mom liked cash more than presents. He didn’t argue because it wasn’t wrong.
“Should I buy her flowers or something?”
“Have you ever seen anyone in our family like flowers?”
There was nothing to think about. He had never seen them raise plants or animals at home since he was a child.
“Come on time. Eat well.”
She tried to grab his cheek again, but he dodged, and his Noona waved and left. After his Noona left, Lee-eum took the clothes and put them away in the on-call room. What is he doing, leaving his perfectly good house? He didn’t know if Choi Won-joon had contacted him because he had blocked his calls, but it was best to avoid him for the time being. Eventually, he would fall off on his own.
❖ ❖ ❖
“The caller is unavailable and has been connected to Voice Mailbox.” Choi Won-joon pressed his lips tightly at the repeated message. Kim Lee-eum was avoiding his calls. He knew they weren’t close enough to exchange messages intimately, but he couldn’t help feeling twisted inside.
“Ji-hoon, can I borrow your cell phone?”
Ji-hoon, who was sitting in the passenger seat, handed him his cell phone from the back. He dialed Kim Lee-eum’s number, and the signal stopped and a voice came on. “Hello?” Won-joon laughed in disbelief.
“Hey, Detective Kim.”
The call was cut off as soon as he spoke. He called again, but he couldn’t connect. He probably blocked this number too. Won-joon handed the cell phone back to Ji-hoon and frowned.
“This is kind of pissing me off.”
A few days ago, he stopped by Kim Lee-eum’s house after work, but no lights came on no matter how long he waited. He figured it was because detectives often worked overnight. The same thing happened the next day and the day after that. On the last day, he worked until dawn and then went to check out of spite.
Should I have left the camera? He regretted collecting the camera the last day he slept at Kim Lee-eum’s house. Well, the camera could only record if someone was home. What was the point of filming an empty house?
Various thoughts swirled in his head, and he slowly became annoyed. In the meantime, the car arrived in front of the hotel. The doorman opened the door, and Won-joon got out of the car and buttoned his jacket. He went into the hotel and got on the elevator, and he heard hurried footsteps in the distance.
“Just a moment.”
The door was about to close, but it reopened and a tall woman came in.
“I’m sorry. I’m with a group.”
Following the voice urging them to hurry, a man appeared with two children. “Thank you.” As they greeted him, the children and the woman looked familiar.
“Where’s your brother-in-law?”
“He said he’s almost here.”
“Is he very busy these days?”
“He’s swamped. He doesn’t even know it’s Mom’s birthday.”
The children looked like twins, with the same faces and clothes. They looked familiar. Where had he seen them before? As he was thinking, one of the children turned around. When their eyes met, the child waved his hand cutely and smiled. The corners of his mouth and gentle eyes when he smiled resembled someone he knew.
The woman turned around and nodded her head slightly when her eyes met his.
Won-joon laughed inwardly.
What a lack of perception.
The door opened and the family in front of him got off. He followed them out, and when an employee approached, he gestured for them to wait and called General manager Lee.
“Ji-hoon, you need to go to the department store.”
He gave him a few errands to run, finished the call, and was guided to a window seat. His group had arrived first and was waving. It was his cousin, who said she was seeing someone with marriage in mind, and she had called him to introduce them.
“It’s been a while. I’m going to forget what Oppa looks like.”
Won-joon pulled out a chair, sat down, and smiled.
“Has it been a year?”
“You’ve gotten even more handsome since I last saw you. Do you still not have a girlfriend? You know that Great-Uncle told our mom to find you a marriage prospect, right?”
Nothing was surprising anymore. Why were they so eager to get him married? If it was so good, they should do it again themselves. Of course, he was known as a devoted husband, so that would never happen. Choi Won-joon’s father was a man who could live without children, but not without his wife.
“What about your boyfriend?”
“He said he’s on his way. I want you to see if he’s good enough to marry. If I show him to other people, they’ll just say nonsense, so I’m showing him to you first.”
“Oh, dear. I don’t just end with nonsense if I don’t like him.”
As he was joking with a mix of seriousness, an employee came and took their order. As he was scanning the menu, Won-joon’s head turned to the side. Someone had just come in at the entrance, and it was a face he knew well.
His cousin looked at him strangely because he was staring so openly.
“What are you doing? Who’s there?”
Won-joon put down the menu and got up from his seat. “You order. I’ll go say hello to someone I know.” He strode towards them, but Kim Lee-eum went into the bathroom instead of the room where his family was.
He went and opened the door and saw him on the phone.
“No, I’m sorry. Yeah. Seon-gyu can come too. 10 o’clock is good. You know the place. Okay, see you there. Yeah.”
Lee-eum hung up the phone and turned around at the sound of someone, freezing in place. Choi Won-joon was standing in front of the door, staring at him intently. Was he hallucinating from stress?
“You ignore my calls, but you answer other guys’ calls just fine?”
“……”
“What brings you here? Did you come for another blind date?”
When he didn’t answer, Choi Won-joon closed the door and came inside. Lee-eum looked back, worried that someone else might be there. A person came out of the inner stall, glanced at them once, washed their hands, and disappeared.
Only after they were alone did Lee-eum look relieved.
“I came to have dinner with my family. I don’t want to make a scene, so let’s pretend we don’t know each other.”
Choi Won-joon, who had been staring at him, nodded obediently.
“Okay. Enjoy your meal.”
He smiled brightly, even waved his hand, and left. Lee-eum sighed and closed his eyes tightly before opening them. His enemy wasn’t on a narrow bridge, but in a hotel. He had tried to avoid him, but how could he see him here? He muttered that he had no luck at all.
He came out of the bathroom, composed his expression, and went into the room where his family was, and his nephews were making a fuss. His mother, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, smiled happily, and his father’s expression was displeased. Lee-eum knew it was because of the blind date he had recently.
“Uncle, sit here. Here!”
“No, sit here!”
His nephews were fighting over who would sit next to him. His father clicked his tongue at the sight.
“You should be thinking about having your own children and loving them.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than his Noona stopped his father.
“Aren’t you tired of it? Lee-eum isn’t even thirty yet.”
“Back in the old days, he would have been married and had three or four children.”
His Noona said openly with a disgusted expression, “Ugh, you old man.” His father’s face contorted, but his Noona pretended not to notice. Lee-eum pursed his lips and cheered for his Noona in his heart.
The family was realizing once again that Kim Malk-eum was the only one in their family who could beat their father. He went to his mother, who was happy to see her youngest son after a long time, and she touched his hand and stroked his cheek.
“You must be working hard. You look gaunt.”
“Mom, you haven’t changed. You’re still beautiful.”
“Oh, Kim Lee-eum’s lines have improved a lot. I don’t know why he can’t date when he’s like that.”
Just as his Hyung was about to pour gasoline on the embers he had barely extinguished, he glared at him, telling him not to. He found a seat and sat down. In the meantime, the ordered dishes came in one by one.
The meal was in full swing when a man who introduced himself as the hotel manager came in with a knock and greeted them politely. Seeing him holding a bouquet of flowers and a shopping bag in both hands, Lee-eum looked at his Noona.
You said you were going to give cash, but when did you prepare a gift and a bouquet of flowers?
But his Noona also had a completely unexpected expression.
“I have been asked by someone to deliver these flowers and gifts to Shin Young-hee, whose birthday is today. Happy birthday.”
Not a restaurant employee, but the hotel manager himself brought the gifts? On top of that, they had already paid for the entire meal. Everyone was stunned, and his Noona took the shopping bag and opened it slightly, her mouth dropping open. Even Lee-eum, who didn’t know much about luxury goods, could tell it was an expensive brand.
Who bought this? Judging by her expression, it wasn’t his Noona… Maybe his Hyung? Of course not. His father? Definitely not. In the midst of the commotion, his Noona quickly read the card she found among the flowers.
“Mother. Happy birthday. Stay healthy for a long, long time. Young-shik. Huh? Young-shik?”
Who is Young-shik? His Noona tilted her head, her eyes widening. Ah! The elevator earlier! she said loudly, and Lee-eum’s mind went blank and he couldn’t think anymore. As his family members each asked who Young-shik was, Lee-eum jumped up from his seat.
“I’ll, I’ll be right back!”