By Zephyria “You look gaunt. You’re not secretly working a second job behind my back, are you?”
Lee-eum rubbed his cheeks with his palm. Yesterday, he went to the fishing site, and Choi Won-joon went into Rut, and he was swept away by the atmosphere and crossed the line he shouldn’t have. The sensation of his fingers moving in and out between his buttocks still remained vividly. Lee-eum shuddered and slapped his cheeks to come to his senses.
He was in the office in the morning and came out for outside work in the afternoon, which was to catch the leader of the rotating credit association who ran away with the association money. It had been a while since the wanted notice was issued, and he was half giving up because he hadn’t shown up, but he received a tip in the morning.
Someone who looked similar to the face in the wanted poster was living in his neighborhood. The neighborhood happened to be near Yang Mok-hyung’s residence. He was thinking of looking around Yang Mok-hyung’s house while he was there, so he sped up, and Nam-soo casually asked.
“Did you catch a lot of fish yesterday?”
Lee-eum was startled and mumbled. Not really…. It rained, so I couldn’t catch any.
“Next time, I’ll go with you. You always say you’ll take me, but you leave me out. I’m disappointed.”
Looking at Nam-soo, who was feeling sorry, Lee-eum felt guilty. He left his work colleague, who lived and worked together like family, and took some random guy and made such a fuss. He glanced at the seat where Nam-soo was sitting, and a sense of guilt washed over him for no reason.
When he thought about how he was on top of Choi Won-joon’s thigh, whimpering like a newborn beast, he felt so ashamed that he wanted to dig a hole and hide. Then Lee-eum’s gaze naturally reached the black box.
He should delete it as soon as he gets home, just in case. Meanwhile, the car was moving along a familiar road. There were several houses at the entrance to Yang Mok-hyung’s dog farm, and the house the informant mentioned was the blue-roofed one at the innermost part.
After parking the car nearby and getting out, Nam-soo came next to him, stretched his neck, and looked at the blue roof.
“When we came last time for the undercover investigation, there was no one in that house, right?”
“Yeah.”
The homeowner was out every time, strangely enough. There was no car there, and no CCTV, so he didn’t think it would be of any help. Looking back now, he suspected that he might have been avoiding them on purpose.
Lee-eum checked the wanted person’s photo one more time and headed there along the paddy field path. When he walked over, the door was still tightly closed, and he couldn’t feel any sign of life. Since there weren’t even any animals being raised at the house, Lee-eum knocked on the door.
“Hello? Is Lee Su-cheol inside?”
The sliding door opened, and a man came out, scratching his head. It was difficult to identify his face because he had a shabby tracksuit bottom and his hair and beard were overgrown. How did the informant recognize him? It was amazing.
His eyes met the man’s through the fence, and he looked quite embarrassed. Nam-soo could tell just by looking at his expression, so he kicked the gate hard with his foot. At the same time, the man disappeared into the backyard.
Lee-eum urgently ran around the fence to the back. The soil was muddy from the rain yesterday, making it difficult to pick up speed. When he arrived at the backyard, the man was running towards the mountain after crossing the fence. Lee-eum shouted and called Nam-soo.
“Jeong Nam-soo!”
Hearing the shout, Nam-soo ran over. Lee-eum remembered Nam-soo boasting that he had bought new shoes on the way. He had no luck at all. Who would have imagined that he would be running around in the mud to catch a con artist on the day he wore his new sneakers?
The criminal entered the forest, and Lee-eum also ran at full speed to avoid missing him. But the criminal, who was ahead, lost his footing and rolled down the hill. Uh-oh, Lee-eum went down the way he came, following the criminal with his eyes. The criminal, who had rolled to the bottom, was stuck under the paddy field ridge, holding his ankle and groaning.
As he was limping and trying to run away, Nam-soo quickly jumped and grabbed him. Instead of resisting, the con artist readily accepted his situation. When they put on the handcuffs, his whole body was covered in dirt. Lee-eum and Nam-soo were also a mess with mud splattered on the bottom of their pants.
“Ah, damn it. My shoes.”
“Wash them right away when you get home. Mud doesn’t come off easily.”
Nam-soo grumbled and got annoyed at the criminal. Anyway, they dragged him to the entrance, but the problem was getting in the car. Lee-eum took out newspaper from the trunk, spread it on the back seat, and also spread it on the front footrest. Then he put the criminal in the car and got into the driver’s seat.
“Detective, you’re going to have to wash your car. I’m so sorry.”
The criminal subtly started talking. The man was a person who had been doing business in the marketplace, building friendships with the merchants, and running away with billions of won after running a rotating credit association. To gain people’s trust, the man had even volunteered in the market for nearly 10 years.
“Would you like to have some hot gukbap (Korean soup with noodles and meat) on the way? I know a good gukbap place around here.”
Among the guilty, the ones with good social skills were, of course, con artists. He was so good at talking that it was often confusing whether it was real or not when you listened to him. That’s how he swindled other people’s money like a ghost.
“Don’t say useless things and be quiet. Are you going on a trip?”
Nam-soo snapped, and the criminal quickly became sullen. Then he suddenly bent down. Lee-eum noticed it first through the rearview mirror, and his complexion hardened.
“What are you doing now?”
Nam-soo also turned around.
They were wary in case he was doing something nonsense, but he was holding something in his hand.
“This was rolling around on the floor.”
Nam-soo received it and carefully examined it. What is it? It’s written in English? Lee-eum, who had been glancing at it casually, almost slammed on the brakes. What Nam-soo was holding was the medicine that Choi Won-joon had used as a Rut Suppressant yesterday.
He must have put it in the case with the syringe. Did he drop the vial? He was nervous that he might have dropped the syringe as well. Lee-eum reached out to Nam-soo.
“Give it to me, I’ll throw it away.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a, it’s a nutritional supplement. Something to drink.”
Nam-soo narrowed his eyes and tried to read the tiny letters. The moment Lee-eum tried to snatch it away, Nam-soo shouted, “Ah!”
“Vitamin D!”
“Huh?”
“It says Vitamin D here in very small letters.”
“What does it say?”
“Vitamin D. Just a moment.”
Before Nam-soo could stop him, he searched for the medicine on his phone and nodded. “It’s Vitamin D. But I heard that this is prescribed at the hospital? Something you get as an injection. You drank this?”
Nam-soo looked at him with an expression that he couldn’t understand at all, and this time Lee-eum really stepped on the brakes.
“Give it to me, that.”
He snatched the bottle from Nam-soo and compared it with the picture on his phone, and it was Vitamin D.
“You should have checked before drinking it. Well, I guess there’s no difference between getting it as an injection or drinking it?”
Lee-eum’s hand holding the bottle began to tremble. Nam-soo called out, “Sunbae?” but he was so filled with anger that he couldn’t even hear the sound.
【It’s a Rut Suppressant.】
That bastard…! As he gritted his teeth, Nam-soo flinched.
“M, me?”
Looking at Nam-soo, who was restless, Lee-eum barely suppressed his anger and replied that it was nothing, so don’t worry about it. But contrary to his words, his driving became rough, and the car bounced so much on the speed bumps that it almost flew up.
Nam-soo quietly grabbed the safety bar next to him, and the criminal in the back also had to grab the safety bar with his handcuffed hands to survive. During the drive to the police station, Nam-soo couldn’t talk because of the murderous aura that Lee-eum was emitting, and the glib criminal also became quiet as if he had zipped his mouth shut.
After dropping off the criminal and Nam-soo at the parking lot, Lee-eum reversed the car without turning off the engine.
“I’m going to go somewhere for a bit, so get his statement.”
“Where are you going? Should I drive? Are you really okay?”
“I’m okay. I’m fine.”
As soon as he answered, he turned the car around and immediately went back to the road. He called Choi Won-joon, but it immediately went to voicemail. He was about to keep calling, but he stopped and drove the car in the direction of his company.
That crazy bastard. Son of a bitch. Damn bastard. He used Rut as an excuse and played with me so well.
Ugh, he was so angry that he slammed his fist on the steering wheel. While the signal was on, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his mind. But the rising anger did not subside easily. He turned on the radio to listen to some quiet music, and the DJ’s voice flowed out.
【Sehwa Group just announced some good news. It’s a wedding announcement. The photos of the bride and groom-to-be have been released, and netizens are going crazy. I saw it too, and they really look like a well-matched couple.】
Lee-eum listened to the news. A wedding at Sehwa Group? Was Choi Won-joon Hyung still unmarried? He must be quite old. He completely forgot about his anger and wondered which of the two was getting married, and the DJ’s voice continued.
【The main character is none other than Choi Won-joon, the President of Sehwa Construction. Their families knew each other from the beginning, and they have been friends since childhood. They had a close relationship during their studies abroad and have continued to have a good relationship ever since.】
Lee-eum stared straight ahead with a hit expression. Bbaang- A horn honked from behind, and only then did he realize that he was stopped without knowing that the signal had changed. He turned on the emergency lights and parked the car on the side, but he couldn’t help but laugh because it was so absurd.
Just in time, Choi Won-joon called.
Lee-eum didn’t answer and made a U-turn and started going back the way he came.