By Zephyria The word “Surgery in Progress” appeared in front of the emergency room, and Lee-eum sat on a chair with a troubled expression. Medical staff hurriedly came out and went back in repeatedly. Was it serious? He had lost a lot of blood, but he was conscious.
No matter how he thought about it, it was his fault. He should have stopped him until the end.
While his head was complicated, the doctor came out, took off his mask, and approached Lee-eum.
“Detective. The surgery went well. You can rest assured.”
Lee-eum stroked his chest. “Thank you.” Then, after looking back at the still-closed operating room, he walked along the hallway. He came out of the hospital and went to the smoking area, but there was only one cigarette left. He threw the empty pack in the trash and looked for a lighter, but he didn’t have one either. He looked around to see if there was anyone he could borrow a light from, and just in time, a lighter suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Choi Won-joon.
When he remained still, Won-joon directly lit the cigarette and sat next to him. Lee-eum stared straight ahead with the cigarette in his mouth, and Choi Won-joon moved closer.
“Give me one too.”
“It’s a butt.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Won-joon snatched the cigarette and put it in his own mouth. After taking a puff, he put it back in Lee-eum’s mouth. Lee-eum frowned, and Won-joon smiled brightly as he exhaled the smoke.
“Why are you looking so serious?”
He was about to retort, asking if he didn’t know, when someone approached and spoke to him. “Detective Kim Yi-eum?” The man was a detective from the precinct, and he was also the person who answered the phone when Lee-eum reported it.
“First of all, we’ve checked everything. The victims, no, the perpetrators, will have to stay in the hospital for the time being.”
“Is it serious?”
“All eight of them have fractures. Arms, legs, ribs, nasal bones collapsed, and the other one just finished surgery and went into the intensive care unit. Well, as you know.”
While the detective’s explanation continued, Choi Won-joon played with the lighter in his hand with a nonchalant face.
“The victims, oh, I’m confused. The perpetrators testified that Choi Won-joon deliberately hit the head of a perpetrator who had already fainted with a rock, is that true?”
Won-joon shook his head and pleaded his innocence.
“As I said at the beginning, they threatened me with a weapon first, and I pushed them in self-defense, but unfortunately, they fell on a rock and hit their head.”
The detective asked Lee-eum.
“Detective Kim, you witnessed it, right?”
Lee-eum swallowed hard. When he reluctantly answered yes, the detective nodded. He said that they were such vicious guys that he didn’t believe them anyway, and that he just needed to go to the station and write a statement, and he comforted him not to worry too much.
Then Choi Won-joon made a hypocritical expression.
“Detective. Those people won’t come looking for me and harm me, will they? I’m worried and scared.”
“Don’t worry. They’re not in a condition to walk right now. It’ll be a long time before they can walk. No one has intact legs.”
“I’m relieved. Thank you.”
“We should be thanking you. Actually, they’re the Young-shik gang, a drug-selling organization formed by gangsters, and they’ve been moving so meticulously that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s drug squad has been having a hard time finding them. But thanks to you two, we were able to catch them and get perfect evidence, so how fortunate is that? Of course, it would have been better if you had hit them a little less.”
Choi Won-joon asked, looking at the detective who was talking as if he was sorry.
“If it’s the Young-shik gang, is the boss’s name Young-shik?”
“Yes, Kim Young-shik. Do you happen to know him?”
Choi Won-joon frowned.
“Ah, no wonder. I had a bad feeling from the moment I saw him. That’s a name I really hate. Our Detective Kim likes it, right?”
Lee-eum glared, and Won-joon babbled nonsense, saying that all the Young-shiks should die. Was he finally crazy and having a split personality? If Young-shik dies, you die too. You crazy bastard.
He didn’t want to respond, so he stayed still, and the detective exchanged a few more words before disappearing towards the hospital. When they were alone, Lee-eum looked at Choi Won-joon with displeasure.
“Why are you lying?”
“About what?”
“The person in the operating room. He didn’t fall, Choi Won-joon hit him with a rock, right?”
“Then go and tell them. Tell them to arrest Choi Won-joon for cracking his head.”
Won-joon made a brazen face, and Lee-eum gritted his teeth as the situation at the time came to mind again. When the guys first came to the mountain, he judged that Choi Won-joon was useless and tried to send him down because he thought he would be a hindrance.
But when the fight started, Choi Won-joon was a madman. He thought he was only good at talking, but he was also good at breaking other people’s teeth. But he had no middle ground, and in the end, he even broke the head of the biggest guy with a rock.
Lee-eum was exhausted not from fighting the guys, but from trying to get Choi Won-joon off of them. On top of that, he even lied as a detective. The closer he got to this man, the more he felt his conscience and morality cracking.
Choi Won-joon leaned against him naturally, unaware of his inner thoughts.
“Comfort me. My hands are shaking because I was surprised earlier.”
“Is that why you were beating them while smiling?”
“Should I have beaten them while crying?”
Imagining it was even more terrible. He was annoyed by his constant advances and pushed him away, but just then, he received a call from his Noona. He was uneasy. As soon as he answered the phone, he heard his Noona’s excited voice.
【Kim Lee-eum, where are you!】
“Uh… why?”
【Are you hurt? Are you okay?】
Had she already heard the news? What should he say? Did she know he was with Choi Won-joon? He was about to explain the situation when Choi Won-joon was watching the news next to him. He was listening with one ear, but the story that was coming out was unusual. Lee-eum left a message with his Noona that he would call her back and shifted his gaze to Choi Won-joon’s cell phone.
【This morning, 30 kg of methamphetamine and ketamine were found in a mountain in Gyeonggi Province. This is a large amount that 600,000 people can take at the same time, and it is known to be worth 50 billion won at market price. The first discoverers were Detective Kim from the Seoul Seobu Police Station and his acquaintance Mr. A. The two went to the mountain and discovered the drugs, and they succeeded in arresting eight people, including the executives of the organization.】
【Reporter Min. According to reports, the drug organization members are in the hospital, is that true?】
【Yes, it has been confirmed that there were minor and major clashes during the arrest process, and a number of injuries occurred.】
【I see. It wouldn’t have been easy for two people to subdue eight people. That’s amazing. And according to information we urgently obtained from our side, Mr. A is Choi Won-joon, the President of Sehwa Construction.】
【Yes, that’s right. According to an interview with his closest aide, the two have been close friends and often go hiking together.】
Lee-eum couldn’t take his eyes off the broadcast with a hit expression. What was he talking about? Who was close? Where did they often go? Who was the closest aide? The place behind the reporter was the hospital where Lee-eum and Won-joon were sitting, but he didn’t know when they had filmed it.
And Choi Won-joon’s picture appeared at the top of the screen. Lee-eum was surprised and looked at Choi Won-joon, but the person in question was calm.
“What should I do? Call the company and tell them to take action quickly!”
“What action?”
“They put out someone else’s picture without permission.”
“I reported it.”
“……”
“Director Lee sent the picture, though. That bastard, there are many better ones. Well, this one is okay too. Look at the comments. They’re going crazy saying I’m handsome. They’re saying I should be an actor. See?”
Lee-eum was speechless.
“Why… why did you tell them?”
“I’m going to put in a bid for the redevelopment of Seongwon-dong 3 and 4 soon, and the head of the association there hates gangsters and drugs. That’s why I got on his bad side because of my father. If this article comes out, the way he looks at me will change a little.”
In the end, he was saying that he revealed his name because it would be beneficial to his business. Was this man using him too? He narrowed his eyes and stared suspiciously, but Choi Won-joon tapped the comment window that was being uploaded in real time.
“But what I really wanted was this.”
―If they’re hiking together, they must be pretty close
―A police officer and a chaebol can be friends too
―I support this couple!
―The Chairman of Sehwa used to be a gangster. He raised his son well
―Guys, I found a picture of Detective Kim from the Seobu Police Station. J-Handsome
―Just thinking about two handsome guys hanging out together is thrilling
―The President of Sehwa Construction has a cold look in his eyes. His face doesn’t look goodㅋ He looks like a psychopath
―A face-reading fanatic appearedㅋㅋ
―They look good together. You two should date!
―Choi Won-joon’s eyes are no joke. He’s going to cause a big accident soon. Face reading is science
―Face reading is science lol
―I support this couple!
Won-joon smiled proudly as he looked at the comments that were being uploaded.
“Look. The whole nation is supporting our love.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Yes, I’m crazy about you. But who is this bastard who keeps talking about my face?”
“I don’t know who it is, but he knows how to see people properly.”
Lee-eum didn’t want to listen to any more nonsense, so he turned around and walked to the other side. He heard footsteps behind him, and when he got into the car, Choi Won-joon sat in the passenger seat as if it were natural.
Then, calls started coming in from everywhere. There was Team Leader Oh, his Noona and Hyung, and Jeong Nam-su, and finally, even his father…
Leaving aside the others, what should he say to his father…?
Looking at the phone ringing non-stop, Lee-eum couldn’t bring himself to answer and buried his head in the steering wheel. He closed his eyes tightly, and the phone rang continuously before stopping abruptly. And then he heard a voice.
“Hello, Father. This is Choi Won-joon.”