By Zephyria 
“How’s your body? Are you okay?”
At Yoo Seol-ah’s question, Lee-eum rubbed the back of his head. Unfortunately, Yoo Seol-ah’s father worked at the hospital he was admitted to, so the news of Lee-eum’s injury had reached her ears.
Team Leader Oh told Lee-eum to rest for a while, but Lee-eum took a day off and went to work the next day. He knew that staying still at home when there was so much work to do was more painful than he thought.
“Take a break this time. When I look at you, you’re a workaholic.”
“If I rest, Nam-soo has to do all the work alone.”
“How is that person doing? Are you still seeing him?”
“Choi Won-joon?”
“Yeah.”
Lee-eum blushed slightly and just nodded instead of answering. Yoo Seol-ah smiled happily and hummed as she looked through the test results.
“Finally, spring has come to our Detective Kim.”
“What spring.”
“You’re embarrassed. How many years have I known you? It’s written all over your face that you’re in love. After making so many women cry, you’re finally going to a terrifying Alpha.”
He had never made a woman cry, and he didn’t know if the expression “terrifying” was positive or negative, but she sincerely congratulated him. Then she showed him the results, and fortunately or unfortunately, the numbers hadn’t changed.
“Oh, you know there’s a gathering tonight, right?”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“Everyone is saying they want to see you. Come if you can.”
High school classmates sometimes had gatherings, but Lee-eum had rarely attended due to work since becoming a police officer. He thought he should meet them at least once before he turned thirty, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought to make time.
“I’ll see if I can go.”
“Everyone is bringing their significant other, so you should bring yours too.”
Choi Won-joon mixed in with his friends… Just imagining it made him feel out of place. And then there’s Roh Seon-gyu. Roh Seon-gyu, who used to push him on the swing and let him slide down the slide when he was Young-shik, still didn’t know that Lee-eum was meeting Choi Won-joon separately.
“No. I’ll go alone.”
“Why? Are we embarrassing?”
“That’s not it. I’m just worried it might be uncomfortable for each other.”
“How old did you say President Choi Won-joon is?”
“Thirty-four.”
“That’s quite old. He’s an old man. Well, it might be awkward for him to hang out with us.”
Lee-eum immediately retorted at that.
“What’s so old about six years? And he’s not that old-fashioned. We have good conversations, and sometimes he seems more like a kid than me.”
Yoo Seol-ah, who was listening, smiled with her eyes.
“You said it wasn’t, but you want to take his side?”
“……”
He knew he would only be teased by Yoo Seol-ah if he stayed any longer, so he quietly got up from his seat. Yoo Seol-ah was still smiling as he opened the door and came out, but Lee-eum couldn’t make any excuses.
In fact, until a few days ago, Lee-eum thought that he was forced to date Choi Won-joon because he was being pushed so hard. He thought that Choi Won-joon was the one with the power to make decisions, and that he would wave his hand and break up with him whenever his mind changed.
But funnily enough, Choi Won-joon came to his mind right before he was hit in the head with a baseball bat and lost consciousness. Not his parents or siblings, but Choi Won-joon. He thought about the reason for that, but no matter how he tried to come to a different conclusion, it was just that ‘I like Choi Won-joon more than I thought.’
Lee-eum left the hospital and stopped by a department store nearby before going to the police station. It was his Noona’s birthday in a few days, so he wanted to buy her a small gift, but when he arrived, he didn’t know what to choose and wandered around for a long time.
He belatedly found a place selling jewelry and stopped in front of it, his mouth dropping open when he checked the prices of the necklaces and rings displayed in the glass case. He remembered his Noona jokingly saying that the necklaces here were so pretty, but when he saw the amount, it was equal to half a year’s salary.
He gave up and turned to go to another store, but an familiar person was standing across from him. The other person also looked surprised to see Lee-eum. It was former Team leader Nam, the person who took responsibility for the Park Eon-soo case and submitted his resignation.
“Oh, oh, who is this? Detective Kim? What brings you here?”
He was holding shopping bags with luxury brand logos in both hands and turned around once. Behind him, a mother and child, presumed to be his family, were looking at bags in front of a luxury store. Lee-eum pretended not to notice and greeted him.
“It’s been a while, Team leader. How have you been?”
“Well, you know. Detective Kim, is today your day off? Did you come shopping?”
Lee-eum carefully examined Team leader Nam’s appearance. He used to wear ordinary clothes, but now he was wearing an expensive watch that everyone knew on his wrist, and the rest of his clothes and shoes also looked expensive, although he didn’t know the details.
“You look better. I’m glad.”
Team leader Nam smiled awkwardly.
“Yeah, well.”
He said he was doing well because he was resting, and he also asked how the atmosphere was at the Western Police Station these days, asking after everyone. Even though he had submitted his resignation because Park Eon-soo had escaped, he didn’t ask about Park Eon-soo at all.
“Everyone is doing well.”
“That’s good.”
Even as he spoke, he kept being conscious of his family behind him. Usually, in this case, he would introduce them as his colleagues, but he didn’t seem happy at all to meet Lee-eum. He was smiling, but seeing the anxiety in his eyes, many thoughts went through his head.
Lee-eum brought up what he had been feeling uneasy and suspicious about all along.
“I heard about it from President Choi Won-joon.”
Team leader Nam’s eyes widened for a moment at the name Choi Won-joon. He quickly composed himself, and Lee-eum tried to read anything from his face.
“What are you talking about? Choi Won-joon?”
“Didn’t you know we were close? I heard about Team leader from President Choi, I’m disappointed.”
Lee-eum smiled bitterly on purpose, and Team leader Nam’s eyes wavered.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all…”
“If you say so, there’s nothing I can do. Still, it was nice to see you. I’ll be going now.”
Lee-eum bowed and passed by Team leader Nam. He didn’t look back, so he didn’t know what expression Team leader Nam made afterward, but in his heart, the suspicion was growing stronger and becoming a conviction.
❖ ❖ ❖
Won-joon stared out the window with an indifferent expression. The scenery of the sun setting between the tall buildings came into view. Director Lee was giving a report behind him, which was about the police officer who helped Park Eon-soo’s abduction.
In summary, he had received a call from him, and he had met Kim Yi-eum at the department store during the day, and he seemed to know something, asking if he had told him anything about himself.
“He pretended not to know, but he seems uneasy.”
“Why did he go to the department store?”
“He went shopping with his family before leaving.”
Choi Won-joon turned to look at Director Lee.
“No, I mean Kim Yi-eum.”
“I don’t know exactly, but Team leader Nam said he was looking at rings.”
“Ring?”
Choi Won-joon was lost in thought. Could he be thinking of proposing to me? But that was impossible. Won-joon sat down and tapped the solid mahogany desk with his fingers, keeping time with the rhythm. Just then, his cell phone rang, and Choi Won-joon pressed the call button without any hesitation.
“Hey, Darling.”
【Are you busy?】
“No. Tell me.”
【I have a date with my friends today, so I’ll be late. I think I’ll have a drink too. Don’t wait for me.】
“Is that why you called?”
【Yes.】
“Okay. I should go to my parents’ house for the first time in a while.”
【Okay, I have to go back to the station, so I’ll hang up now.】
After ending the call, Won-joon licked his lower lip while staring at his cell phone. He looked at Director Lee in front of him and asked what he thought this meant, but he didn’t know the answer either.
He would have firmly asked if you killed him like before. Did he give up because he knew I wouldn’t answer honestly? Or did he change his strategy? Won-joon leaned back in his chair and called Director Lee.
“Send out Team leader Nam or whatever ahead of schedule.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And,”
Won-joon hesitated for a moment, then got up from his seat and grabbed his jacket.
“Let’s go get rid of Park Eon-soo.”
Just as he was about to leave the desk, his cell phone rang briefly. Choi Won-joon opened the message and burst out laughing. The person who sent the message was Kim Yi-eum, and it was an unexpected message.
【I know that President has Park Eon-soo. I know you won’t admit it even if he dies anyway, so I’ll pretend I don’t know this time. Instead, please just check what happened to the other victims. Please. Otherwise, I’ll seize all of President’s vehicles and start a navigation forensics investigation.】
Won-joon smiled and showed Director Lee the message he had just received.
“Should I call this a threat? Or should I call it a tantrum? Huh?”