MJ 39

【Anything new?】

“Nope.”

【What about the victim’s family?】

“Met them….”

【Why did the mother pass away?】

“Don’t know….”

【Should I bring your car later?】

“No need. Just put in a good word with the chief.”

【Don’t worry. If anything happens, call me. Don’t suffer alone. What’s the point of having a partner? I’m your wife, Sunbae.】

Disgusting. Lee-eum smiled bitterly and hung up. Then, he poured soju into his beer glass and downed it in one gulp. It was early evening, so there were no customers at the street stall. The CEO brought out the fishcake soup he had ordered, but he didn’t touch the food.

【How can I forget? You killed my daughter.】

A voice mixed with sobs kept ringing in his ears. He kept filling and emptying his glass, and soon the bottle was empty.

“CEO, soju, please.”

The CEO placed the bottle on the table and joked.

“A handsome man like you sure can drink.”

Lee-eum smiled and twisted the cap off the soju bottle. He first drank alcohol in his first year of high school, after being coaxed by Roh Seon-gyu. At first, he wondered what the appeal was, but as he got older, he realized there was nothing like it when things got tough.

The taste varies depending on the situation, but today it was especially bitter. Like poison. As time passed, the number of soju bottles increased. Tipsy, Lee-eum got up, paid, grabbed a paper cup, and went outside.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket and headed to the nearby smoking area, but he couldn’t find his lighter no matter how hard he looked. He looked around to see if he could borrow a light, and saw a group of students in school uniforms smoking a little ways away.

“Hey, students.”

The kids turned around as Lee-eum approached.

“What school are you from?”

“Why does it matter to you, mister? Let’s go.”

When they didn’t budge, a large male student blocked his path.

“Didn’t you hear? Go away. Don’t be annoying.”

Lee-eum took out his badge from his back pocket and waved it. Now I can interfere, right? The kids quickly threw away their cigarettes and frowned. They all looked like they were screwed. But even if he dragged them away, there was nothing he could do to punish them.

Lee-eum gestured to the kids.

“Everyone, disperse.”

As soon as he finished speaking, they all scattered. Lee-eum grabbed one of the kids by the scruff of the neck and held out his hand.

“Give me the lighter.”

“Huh?”

“Confiscating evidence.”

The kid hesitated, then gave him the lighter and quickly ran away. Lee-eum frowned when he saw the Zippo lighter he was about to light.

“You’ve got a better one than me.”

He laughed hollowly and leaned against the wall, putting a cigarette in his mouth. Even as the cigarette butts piled up in the paper cup he was holding, he couldn’t leave easily. After staying in place for a long time, Lee-eum threw the paper cup in the trash and walked towards the taxi stand.

“Hyowon-dong, please.”

The taxi started, and the city scenery quickly passed by outside the window. People who were too drunk to stand, people vomiting on the side, and people gathering to move to the next location.

As he stared, his eyelids drooped, perhaps because of the alcohol.

How long had it been?

“Sir? Sir.” He woke up to the taxi driver staring blankly at him.

“We’re here. You need to get out.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Lee-eum paid with his card, grabbed his wallet, and opened the back door. He stopped as he walked, and a building appeared in front of him. The windows of the building were all tinted black so you couldn’t see inside from the outside.

As he walked to the entrance, a guard blocked his path as expected.

“You can’t just come in here.”

“I’m here to see Kim Ji-cheol. Is he here?”

“Please identify yourself.”

Lee-eum showed his ID, and the two guards exchanged glances. According to Lee-eum’s memory, Kim Ji-cheol was a regular here. A club that only VIPs among VIPs could use. At the time, this was also the place where the incident occurred, and seeing it still operating made his stomach churn.

He came here today because there was something he really wanted to ask Kim Ji-cheol. The guards were radioing somewhere, so Lee-eum pushed his way in.

“You can’t just enter as you please.”

“Hey? Don’t touch me. If you keep blocking me, I’ll bring my family and tear this place apart. Your CEO would love that, wouldn’t he?”

“……”

“What was the CEO’s name again? Park Ji-hoon? Is that right?”

The guard shut his mouth, and Lee-eum grinned and went inside. As he walked down the hallway, flashy videos played on both sides. The club was divided into two floors, with the first floor being a place to drink and have fun, and the second floor being rooms. When Lee-eum arrived on the second floor, he grabbed a passing waiter.

“Hey, where’s Ji-cheol Hyung?”

The waiter looked at him, so Lee-eum opened his jacket and showed him the medicine bottle in his arms.

“Tell him I brought what he asked for.”

“Follow me.” The waiter took the lead with drinks in hand. It was a suppressant he had been prescribed recently, but it seemed to the waiter that it was a psychotropic drug. Well, if you want to get into the details, it might be on a similar list. I should seriously ask Yoo Seol-ah about it later.

Meanwhile, the waiter arrived at the door at the end of the hallway. Before he could knock, Lee-eum opened the door and went straight in, checking the table first. He was secretly hoping, but all he could see was alcohol.

Well, what’s the point of getting the drugs? Even if I drag him away like this, he’ll definitely be released. There were several people gathered, and Kim Ji-cheol recognized Lee-eum among them.

“Oh! Detective, what brings you here? Are you here to play?”

The people around him chuckled and laughed at the word “detective.” A cop? No, do cops even go to clubs these days? In the chaotic atmosphere, Lee-eum looked around at everyone except Kim Ji-cheol.

“Would you all excuse us? I have something important to discuss with Kim Ji-cheol.”

Then an Omega approached Lee-eum and touched his shoulder. “Detective, why don’t you play with us? Beta? You’re handsome. What department are you with? My father is also a high-ranking official. You’ll be shocked when you find out who he is.”

When he brushed off the hand on his shoulder, Kim Ji-cheol chuckled and ordered everyone to go to the next room. People booed and left one by one, and Lee-eum took a seat across from Kim Ji-cheol. Kim Ji-cheol arrogantly raised his chin, poured a full glass of alcohol, and pushed it over.

“Drink.”

“No thanks.”

“Don’t be like that, drink. This is expensive stuff. You wouldn’t even be able to see it on your salary, Detective.”

“Shut up, I just want to ask you something.”

Kim Ji-cheol took the drink back, downed it in one shot, and licked his lips. “Ask away.”

“Do you remember what you said when we met last time?”

“What did I say?”

“When I brought up the dead Kim Da-hyun, you said that she wouldn’t be lonely.”

Kim Ji-cheol’s expression didn’t change.

“Did I say that?”

Lee-eum didn’t answer and continued his questioning.

“When did you find out about Kim Da-hyun’s mother’s death?”

“How would I know about her mother’s death?”

“Let me rephrase. Were you involved in her death?”

Kim Ji-cheol frowned.

“Detective, be honest.”

Lee-eum didn’t answer, and Kim Ji-cheol’s eyes gleamed.

“You had feelings for her too, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“That’s why you’re clinging to this. Honestly, even though she was young, her body was something else, ah, damn, it was amazing. We’re both men, so what does it matter? Let’s be honest. She’s dead anyway.”

Lee-eum clenched his fist tightly. You little shit. Do you think words don’t hurt? When he glared fiercely, Kim Ji-cheol put down his glass and smiled shamelessly.

“Please, don’t waste your time on things that happened in the past and do your job, Detective. That way, there won’t be any more unfair deaths like Kim Da-hyun’s, right?”

Lee-eum looked down at the bottle without realizing it. The bottle looked quite sturdy, enough to smash someone’s head. In his mind, he had already struck the guy thousands of times. If I were a gangster, I would have. No, at least if I wasn’t a detective.

Lee-eum suppressed his rising anger and looked straight at him.

“You’ll pay for your sins someday. I’ll make sure of it. I definitely will.”

Kim Ji-cheol smiled brightly.

“Yes, please do. I really want to pay. Please? Huh?”

Watching Kim Ji-cheol put a cigarette in his mouth with an annoyed expression, Lee-eum got up from his seat. As he opened the door and went outside, the emotions he had been holding back burst out. Biting his lip until it bled, Lee-eum punched the wall instead of Kim Ji-cheol.

“You son of a bitch!”

The overwhelming emotions made it hard to even breathe. Barely regaining his senses, he turned around and saw an unexpected person standing in the middle of the hallway. Lee-eum doubted his eyes. The other person also looked quite embarrassed.

“I didn’t know you liked places like this.”

Choi Won-joon approached, and Lee-eum passed him and left. He didn’t want to add to the already terrible situation. Ignoring his feelings, he heard quick footsteps behind him.

His arm was grabbed and his body turned, and Won-joon looked at Lee-eum annoyedly before his expression changed.

“Did you cry?”

At those words, Lee-eum felt the resentment that had been building up in his throat leak out. He didn’t want to show it, so he gritted his teeth and glared, but Won-joon sighed softly.

“Who made you cry?”

Lee-eum shook off Won-joon’s arm roughly.

“Don’t talk nonsense and get out of my way!”

“Who is it?”

“Get out of my way!”

Choi Won-joon pressed his upper body against him and sharpened his eyes.

“Who the fuck is it, I’m asking.”