By Zephyria Team Leader Oh felt like he’d been struck by lightning. When Kim Yi-eum and Jeong Nam-su found Yang Mok-hyung’s bloodstains and handed them over to the main office, and the proud team leader of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit had even thanked him personally, he had felt a surge of pride.
But as soon as he came to work, he heard the news that Kim Yi-eum had filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office this morning. Illegal video filming, assault—well, it was called assault, but he had secretly given him drugs. And on top of that, forced molestation. The drug hadn’t been identified yet, but what was shocking was the identity of the suspect. Team Leader Oh watched Choi Won-joon sitting leisurely in the interrogation room and tore at his hair.
“Ah—this must be a dream. Someone pinch me. Huh?”
Detective Park, who was next to him, scolded him for joking around, and Jeong Nam-su also sighed with a look of utter bewilderment. What on earth had happened between the two of them? While the team members were watching, Kim Yi-eum was calmly observing Choi Won-joon with his arms crossed.
“The lawyer isn’t coming. What kind of nerve is that?”
“Someone go in first.”
“Team leader, you should go in.”
“Me, me?”
“Then should the victim go in?”
Lee-eum, who was listening, fixed his gaze on Choi Won-joon and replied, “Leave it. Someone from the prosecutor’s office will be here soon.” As if on cue, Prosecutor Jeong Dae-han appeared with a knock.
Even when a complaint was filed with the prosecutor’s office, most investigations were conducted by the police first, and it was rare for the prosecutor in charge to visit in person.
“Hello. I’m Jeong Dae-han.”
“Oh, our prosecutor. You look radiant as always.”
Team Leader Oh, who used to curse the young man for being rigid and inflexible, completely changed his attitude and greeted him affably.
“Where is the suspect?”
“He’s sitting comfortably inside.”
Jeong Dae-han’s gaze briefly touched Choi Won-joon before moving to Lee-eum. His face clearly showed his complicated feelings, and Lee-eum smiled reassuringly.
After discovering his video on Choi Won-joon’s phone, Lee-eum had been agonizing over it for a long time. Once he made up his mind, the first thing he did was call his Hyung for help.
He didn’t tell him the explicit details, but he braced himself and revealed that Choi Won-joon was the President of Sehwa Construction. Kim Mid-eum had laughed in disbelief when he heard that, but when he told him that he had been stalking him, even installing cameras in his house and threatening him, Kim Mid-eum’s anger soared.
He barely managed to stop him from going to kill him right away and explained the situation to him. He said that Yang Mok-hyung’s disappearance seemed to be related to Choi Won-joon, so he asked him to get a search warrant.
The senior judge who issued the warrant was friendly with him, but conducting a search and seizure against a Chaebol was not an easy decision. But contrary to his concerns, the warrant was issued, and Jeong Dae-han was assigned as the prosecutor in charge.
Even though he must have been surprised from early in the morning, Jeong Dae-han didn’t ask in detail. He just called to ask if he was okay. After a brief eye contact, Jeong Dae-han went inside and sat across from Choi Won-joon, opening his laptop. Then Choi Won-joon greeted him with a smile.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we? Meeting like this.”
Jeong Dae-han didn’t even pretend to listen and started asking questions in order.
“Where did you first meet Detective Kim Yi-eum?”
“Detective Kim helped me when I lost my memory in an accident and collapsed, and I stayed at his house.”
“You regained your memory and went back?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to sleep with him.”
A spark flashed in Jeong Dae-han’s eyes for a moment, and the eyes of the team members watching from outside the booth were all focused on Lee-eum. Instead of explaining, Lee-eum shook his head, denying it.
“I have severe insomnia, but it disappears like a lie when I go to Detective Kim’s house. So I went to ask him to let me sleep.”
“You kept going to Detective Kim Yi-eum even though he refused.”
“Yes. I admit it.”
“You installed a camera, didn’t you? What was the purpose?”
“Because I wanted to see him.”
Jeong Dae-han’s fingers, which had been moving on the laptop, stopped. He raised his eyes and glared at Choi Won-joon, who tilted his chin up as if asking what the problem was. The team members looked at Lee-eum as if they had made a promise, and Lee-eum sighed and showed no reaction. ‘Want to see him,’ my ass. He must have wanted to torment him.
“I heard you gave him medicine at the time. What kind of medicine was it?”
“It was a Catalyst that induces an Omega’s heat cycle.”
Gasps were heard from the people outside the interrogation room, and Lee-eum tried to pretend to be calm, but he couldn’t help his pulse quickening. Later, he couldn’t overcome his nervousness and clenched his teeth tightly.
“Why did you give that medicine to Detective Kim Yi-eum?”
Choi Won-joon made a sound like, “Hmm,” and twisted his chair halfway to look at the interrogation room window. It was tinted black so he couldn’t see anything, but he smiled as if he could see Lee-eum.
“Because I believed Detective Kim was an Omega, I wanted to confirm it.”
Lee-eum swallowed hard and clenched his fists until they turned white. The people next to him added a word each. “What crazy talk.” “How could Detective Kim be an Omega?” “That’s ridiculous.” “We would have known if that were the case.” “That guy is a complete scoundrel.”
“So? Did you confirm it?”
“Yes.”
The inside and outside of the interrogation room became quiet for a moment. Everyone had a look of disbelief, thinking, ‘It can’t be,’ but also wondering, ‘Could it be?’ They seemed to be slightly suspicious, thinking that a Chaebol wouldn’t do such a thing without evidence.
Choi Won-joon stared at Jeong Dae-han as if seeing through his mind.
“What about you, Prosecutor?”
“What do you mean?”
“What would you like Detective Kim to be? An Omega? A Beta?”
Jeong Dae-han’s cheek twitched, and Choi Won-joon only smiled.
“Why are you so serious? You know it too, anyway. Unfortunately, he was a Beta. I couldn’t let go of my lingering feelings and kept going to see him, but I was rejected every time, and I got angry and threatened him with a video, and that’s how I ended up like this.”
Choi Won-joon shook his handcuffed hands as he spoke, and the outside of the interrogation room buzzed with a different meaning. Jeong Nam-su slammed his fist on the desk and gnashed his teeth. “That son of a bitch, he’s a complete piece of trash. Sunbae, why didn’t you tell us?”
While everyone was furious, Jeong Dae-han glared at Choi Won-joon like a mortal enemy. Choi Won-joon, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair, tilted his head, and wore a bored expression.
“What came out of my office?”
“Not yet.”
“Look hard. I don’t know if what you want is there.”
Choi Won-joon smiled silently and then stared at Lee-eum outside the interrogation room. Lee-eum finally released his tightly clenched fists. His hands were damp with cold sweat. He had expected it to some extent, and he hadn’t expected it.
What if Choi Won-joon confessed about my traits, what if he talked about the suppressants at home? But strangely, he felt certain. That he wouldn’t make things bigger.
As expected, he kept his mouth shut, and Lee-eum was relieved, but he felt dirty. He had used Choi Won-joon’s feelings, but he felt like he was being used.
❖ ❖ ❖
“What!” Chairman Choi shouted, jumping up from his seat. He was already furious that the prosecutor’s office had raided Choi Won-joon’s office this morning, but now he was being held at the police station.
And what was the charge? Trespassing, illegal video filming, and molestation? Chairman Choi trembled in disbelief.
“Are you sure you found out properly? Who is the victim?”
“It’s Detective Kim Yi-eum from the Seobu Police Station. He arrested him himself and took him to the police station.”
Chairman Choi was speechless. When he kept going to that house and saying nonsense about marrying a public official, he just thought it was a joke. Even if he played around promiscuously, he never gave his heart to a specific person.
He had suspected it when the marriage articles were causing a commotion, but he never thought he would cause such an accident.
“You crazy bastard! Doing such gangster-like things! Lee Ji-hoon, you! Your superior is doing such things, and you just stood by and watched! If you couldn’t stop him, you should have told me!”
Now the blame was being shifted to Director Lee. Director Lee repeatedly apologized and bowed his head like a sinner. Chairman Choi slumped back into his seat. In fact, what fault did Director Lee have? He knew how stubborn his son Choi Won-joon was, so he couldn’t just blame him.
“What about the lawyer?”
“The President refused.”
“Ha, this bastard is doing all sorts of things. Contact the legal team right away and tell them to go in.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Who tipped off the search and seizure?”
“It’s Senior Judge Bae Moon-seop at the Seobu District Court. He seems to be friendly with Detective Kim Yi-eum, and we received a call from him two hours ago. He told us to prepare because he was going to bring a warrant.”
Chairman Choi felt a headache and closed his eyes, touching his forehead. Usually, those who come in bowing like that are often expecting some crumbs to fall. It wouldn’t be bad to make him our ally, but the problem was Choi Won-joon. At this point, he was wondering if he should send him abroad, company or not.
But if he did that, the rest of his family would be in an uproar.
“Block the articles. Not a single line should leak out. Especially, his mother must never know. She’s already a fragile person, and if she finds out that Won-joon is doing that in jail, she’ll foam at the mouth and collapse. If that really happens, I’ll kill that bastard with my own hands.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After giving a few more instructions, Chairman Choi sent Director Lee back and took out a cigarette and lit it when he was left alone. He was trying to manage his health as he got older and quit drinking and smoking, but this damn son of his wasn’t helping.
At the same time, he gnashed his teeth at the thought of the detective who had put his son in jail. Like father, like son. At this point, wasn’t it really a bad relationship with our family? The more he thought about it, the more bitter his mouth became, and he crushed the cigarette, which he hadn’t even smoked halfway, in the ashtray.