By Zephyria 
No particular sign of people was felt on the way. According to Gyu-oh, who had visited this neighborhood like it was his daily meal for the past few days, some cult members headed to that mysterious building twice a day. The rest moved toward the entertainment districts in the downtown area.
That meant that currently, only a few gangsters guarding the building and the cult members were in this neighborhood. It was a good condition for sneaking in and observing the building.
Since a large man was giggling while looking at his phone at the dark entrance of the building, the two avoided the lit areas and took a long detour to enter behind the two-story building.
Gyu-oh, who jumped over the wall with exposed rebar first, clung to the outer wall and scanned the surroundings. After confirming that no red lights were visible, he reached out his hand. Min-ho, who had almost climbed over the wall, took that hand without hesitation. With their strength combined, he stepped down onto the ground.
“No CCTV.”
Gyu-oh, who stood close to him, whispered quickly in his ear. The low voice spread very faintly, like a passing breeze.
“…….”
Instead of answering, Min-ho gave a rough nod.
The building was so quiet that it was hard to believe people were inside. Judging by the fact that the windows were roughly covered with black paper, it didn’t seem like they cared about soundproofing either. Seeing it this quiet meant they weren’t praying, nor were they committing assaults.
While checking around the mysterious building, Min-ho discovered a small gap. The lower part of a semi-basement window was slightly broken. After approaching carefully so as not to make a sound of stepping on anything, he pushed his finger through the gap where light was leaking.
A dry powder touched his fingertip. A gritty sensation different from soil or dust. Min-ho quietly withdrew his hand and brought it to the tip of his nose.
“…….”
The suspicion turned into certainty at the familiar yet unpleasant smell. Min-ho pushed his finger through the window gap again. This time, he rubbed the floor area longer and coated his finger with plenty of something. Gyu-oh, who quickly took out gum from his pocket and chewed it, handed him a blank piece of paper. When he rubbed his finger on it, a whitish powder adhered.
“…….”
“…….”
The two locked eyes and nodded. After carefully folding and keeping the empty gum wrapper, they hurriedly climbed back over the wall. They returned the way they came silently, left the dark alley, and headed toward where the car was parked.
“Hyung, you think that’s drugs?”
“Yeah. The smell is exactly……”
Min-ho checked if the paper in his pocket was still there and got into the car. He had expected that they would distribute drugs, but he hadn’t expected it to be linked to a cult church. It seemed they had caught a bigger fish than expected.
The car started with the windows rolled all the way down.
“If they’re using the cult members to help pack the drugs, it’ll be handled properly.”
“Right. It’ll save time and money.”
“Hyung. It’ll take some time to verify this, right?”
Even if they could collect dozens of such pieces of evidence, they didn’t have the authority to punish, so they had no choice but to hand the data to the police and urge them to move. Even that would take some time. Although the slow progress was frustrating, there was no more certain method.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll stall for a bit, then.”
“I’ll handle this, so you go and rest. And……”
Min-ho glanced at the time. Since it wasn’t even 11 o’clock, he thought it would be about right if he organized things at the office and then slowly left.
“You can just drop me off near the company.”
“…….”
He expected an immediate answer, but Gyu-oh shut his mouth and said nothing. His lips twitched a few times as if hesitating. Then, he poured out a voice that seemed to carry some emotion.
“The night roads are so dangerous. You want to split up?”
“…….”
“I guess you’re not worried about your cowardly younger brother?”
Min-ho was left speechless this time by the sheer absurdity of the insistence. Thanks to Gyu-oh, he had been napping in the office for thirty to forty minutes a day for several days, but that was all. His already sensitive personality was becoming even more jagged. If he continued like this, he might snap at the people around him over nothing, so it would be better to actually rest today as he usually did.
“Wouldn’t the night road be more afraid of you? Besides, I have prior plans today.”
“Prior plans at this hour?”
Gyu-oh’s trailing words were swept away by the wind pouring into the car. Though they had been stuck together to a sickening degree, Gyu-oh wasn’t the type to pay attention to every little detail, yet lately, he had been subtly chiming in more often. Of course, he never crossed the line.
“……Fine, then.”
As expected, he didn’t cling a second time. Just like the Won Gyu-oh he knew well. Whenever he acted normally like this, an inexplicable sense of relief washed over Min-ho.
After seeing off Gyu-oh, who remained tight-lipped and focused only on driving, Min-ho handled the remaining work in the office. Even then, he checked the time periodically. Right on cue, his face-down phone vibrated a few times.
[Detective Kim Hae-won: I arrived at the place you introduced me to before.]
[Detective Kim Hae-won: I heard the hotel here is nice, so I’m thinking of staying a day^^ I think the night view will be great if I go up after midnight.]
That message had arrived two hours ago… Min-ho rubbed his dry eyes and checked the new message.
[Detective Kim Hae-won: Last glass^^]
He was a detective Min-ho had been in contact with regarding a construction project last year. Men who knew the taste of other men seemed to have a certain intuition. Even though Min-ho had never breathed a word about dating men, the detective had naturally flirted with him. Min-ho had ignored the subtle signals throughout their work. Now, several months later, he had sent another discreet message.
Min-ho hadn’t replied to the texts sent over the past few days, but this time he intended to agree to the meeting. The business he had with the man had come to a complete end, and there was no reason for them to be entwined further. Moreover, this wasn’t the only detective in South Korea. They could achieve their respective goals with a single night in bed and then go back to being strangers. Just as it always was.
[Detective Kim Hae-won]
Deleting the man’s name character by character, Min-ho carelessly pressed the numbers. 26428. This was the trace that would now remain instead of the detective’s name.
“If I drop this off first, the timing should be about right.”
He figured if he handed the scrap of paper containing the drug powder to the police contact he had recently made and then headed to the hotel where 26428 was, the timing would work out.
Min-ho pushed himself up from his seat, his body feeling heavy. As he tidied the office and prepared to turn off the lights, he suddenly realized he was wearing Gyu-oh’s sneakers. He had left his tie and jacket in the back seat of the car.
“Where on earth was my head?”
He tapped the sneakers, which were stained with dirt and cement powder. A shallow pile of gritty sand gathered at his feet. The amount of dirt scattered on the floor wasn’t much, but it was enough to bother him. Just like Won Gyu-oh would.
“…….”
With his hand on the switch, Min-ho hesitated for a moment before finally stepping out.
After handing the scrap of paper with the mysterious powder to the police, he got back into the car. Since the exchange had to be discreet, they met behind the police station, in a spot where the shade of the trees stretched long. The surroundings were shrouded in darkness, and the blurred shapes of passing cars could be seen in the distance.
[26428: It’s lovely.]
[26428: Photo]
It was a photo of a wine glass set against the backdrop of the night view. Min-ho scoffed at the attempt to create a romantic atmosphere. No matter how sweet he acted, the goal was simply sex. He wouldn’t be genuinely interested or have any intention of cherishing him. He simply loved and cherished the excitement derived from the act of mixing bodies.
“……Still, he puts in the effort.”
There were countless guys who wouldn’t even do that. And he recalled that the detective’s body and face were quite decent. He also seemed relatively gentle compared to the rough crowd Min-ho usually dealt with. As he thought of the man, the corners of Min-ho’s mouth slowly stiffened.
Until a moment ago, he had fully intended to spend the night with the man and catch a few hours of sleep. But why was he suddenly so unmotivated? He leaned back into the seat without even starting the engine. The dark shadows stretched deeper, as if hiding Min-ho’s conflict.
Zzzzt—then, a vibration broke the silence. Wondering if he was being rushed again, Min-ho frowned slightly and checked the screen.
[Viper]
The irritation that had been about to flare up unconsciously subsided at the familiar name. On the screen, which shone exceptionally bright in the darkness, a single photo was displayed.
“This crazy bastard, seriously……”
A bare upper body wearing nothing but a frilled apron. The apron was so tight that the shoulder straps were strained, and the unfastened velcro near the shoulder was fluttering. With a palm pressed to his cheek and eyes softly closed, the sight was both ridiculous and horrifying.
[Viper: Snap from a pizza hotspot]
Looking at the background of the photo, it was a very familiar space. The dining table, the lamp, the ballet-dancing teddy bear. That was definitely his own home. Breaking into his house was something Gyu-oh did as often as eating, but this was the first time he had sent a photo dressed like this. He was getting innovatively crazy by the day.
“Where the hell did he even buy an apron like that?”
There was no way such a thing existed in his house. Even as he shook his head, the corners of Min-ho’s mouth quirked up slightly.
“I’m going to age because of this idiot, I really am.”
Then, he sent a reply not to Gyu-oh, but to 26428.
[A thief broke into my house, so I can’t go. Have a pleasant night.]
“Phew.”
Immediately after, he blocked the number. This was to ensure that even if the block were lifted and the man contacted him, he wouldn’t respond to a name composed of numbers.
Min-ho’s car, which had been holding its breath under the shadows for a while, finally opened its eyes with a flash. The destination was the place where a perverted thief, dressed in a bizarre and terrible fashion, had broken in.