#168

The emergency room on a rainy night was unusually crowded with traffic accident victims. They were among them.

Jeong Jae-jin, the prosecutor who had gone between heaven and hell in just 30 minutes, was sitting on a chair in front of the operating room, taking a breather.

The the man had collided with a bus while trying to escape from Jeong Jae-jin, and his arm was broken in the fall. Unfortunately, the bone broke through the skin, requiring immediate surgery. Fortunately, apart from the broken arm, there were no other serious injuries. Although he had fainted, there were no signs of concussion either.

It was possible because Yoon Ki-beom wasn’t fast, and the bus speed wasn’t high because it was a city bus terminal. It was a stroke of luck for both the man and Jeong Jae-jin.

He belatedly regretted not bringing someone along. He had decided to move alone because there were too many people watching him, but that turned out to be a mistake. He had trustworthy investigators and detectives, even people from private investigation agencies, but he turned them all down. He just thought that if he shook off those who were following him, nothing would happen.

He never dreamed that Yoon Ki-beom would do something so rash.

He should have known, at least he should have considered it. He had been too complacent because Yoon Ki-beom was a farmer who didn’t know the ways of the world and even had a limp.

Jeong Jae-jin buried his face in his hands and rubbed his face roughly.

“Ugh, damn it. That took ten years off my life.”

He was genuinely relieved.

If Yoon Ki-beom had been seriously injured, and if Lee Seon-jae had found out about it, he would have really tried to kill him. No, frankly, even if he just told him about the traffic accident, he would rush at him immediately.

Jeong Jae-jin unconsciously stroked his neck. The feeling of Lee Seon-jae grabbing his neck the first time they met came back to him.

It was a good thing they weren’t alone, or he would have been killed without anyone knowing. He was so pretty that he never expected him to be that kind of person. He had underestimated Lee Seon-jae too much, just like he had with Yoon Ki-beom.

Although it was somewhat late, Jeong Jae-jin also realized that the relationship between Lee Seon-jae and Yoon Ki-beom was not ordinary. He knew that Lee Seon-jae wasn’t the type to just make friends, but he was completely fooled.

He looked up at the ceiling and leaned back against the wall.

From Seoul to here, it’s at least 3 hours.

So, he would have to wait at least three or four hours for his people to show up to protect Yoon Ki-beom. But the situation was unusual.

Lee Hyun-joon’s removal from the tracking team due to the accident was actually a boon for Il-gwang. This was a misjudgment by the Helper. He had seen the relationship between Lee Seok-doo and Lee Hyun-joon, the two rich men, as too affectionate.

But the biggest misjudgment was made by Jeong Jae-jin himself. He hadn’t noticed the relationship between Lee Seon-jae and Yoon Ki-beom at all.

Lee Seon-jae was originally a guy who was crazy about mysteries. So, when he was obsessed with that orphanage, he thought it was the same kind of behavior. He never imagined that it was because the two were so close. Because it was Lee Seon-jae, he would never do that.

When did Detective Oh Dae-Ho realize it?

“Damn it.”

He banged the back of his head against the wall repeatedly.

“Think, damn it. Think.”

Get an ambulance.

While moving Yoon Ki-beom in it, think about the next move.

Jeong Jae-jin decided to do that for now.

Before that, he had to send someone to the reservoir. A guy who looked like Yoon Ki-beom. It was dark, so who cared if he was tall or short. As long as he looked like a person, that was enough.

The people who would greet Lee Seon-jae had already left Seoul. They would arrive before midnight at the latest, so all he had to do was find someone to send to the reservoir.

There were two vans dispatched for Lee Seon-jae. But since there could be a traitor among the people in them, he forbade them from acting alone. They were not allowed to use cell phones or pagers, and they had to move in groups of three. Even when forming the groups, he didn’t include people from the same school, hometown, or even with the same last name. He couldn’t send one of those strictly organized people as a substitute for Yoon Ki-beom. Even if he wanted to, there was no way to contact them, unless he went there himself.

Jeong Jae-jin glanced at the operating room and then looked down the opposite hallway. There was an old man who seemed to be someone’s guardian, like himself, and a pregnant woman who seemed to be his daughter-in-law. Apart from them, there was no one else. The woman was constantly fidgeting with her cell phone.

If only he had a cell phone.

He gritted his teeth.

His secret contact number was exposed on the way to Gimje. Oh Dae-ho, who had contacted him with this cell phone, had gone to Lee Seok-doo.

It was a day with an unusual number of mistakes. He couldn’t believe he had carelessly taken out the cell phone he had used before, the one that had caused problems. Even he thought it was pathetic.

Jeong Jae-jin had expected Detective Oh to visit Lee Seok-doo someday, but he hoped it wouldn’t be today. It was a time when every minute counted. Detective Oh poured cold water on him again when he was in a hurry.

“Excuse me.”

Jeong Jae-jin decided to trust the old man and the woman.

“My brother is having surgery in there.”

He said with the most pitiful and desperate expression he could muster.

“Could I borrow your cell phone? I need to call my mother, but I can’t leave my spot. I’ll pay for the call.”

The woman readily handed over her cell phone, saying that money wasn’t necessary.

“Thank you. I’ll use it quickly and return it.”

Jeong Jae-jin said this and moved to the end of the hallway with the cell phone. Keeping the woman and the old man in sight, he made a call. To the person who would help him right away.

That person could easily arrange a private ambulance and send not just one, but ten men to the reservoir without any difficulty. As Jeong Jae-jin hoped, the other party readily agreed as if it were nothing. He promised that the ambulance would be waiting in front of the hospital within 30 minutes, and that he would send someone to the reservoir who wouldn’t budge until 5 a.m.

After ending the call, Jeong Jae-jin deleted the phone number from the cell phone and returned to the old man and the woman. As a token of gratitude, he returned the cell phone and a ten-thousand-won bill and sat back down in his chair.

He looked back at the closed operating room.

About 20 minutes of the hour that the medical staff had mentioned remained.

What exactly did Oh Dae-ho take to Lee Seok-doo?

Jeong Jae-jin was quite shocked when Oh Dae-ho mentioned the names of Yoon Ki-beom and Lee Seon-jae at the same time. Detective Oh had conveyed to Lee Seok-doo a fact that he should have known but had not noticed at all. He said it in great detail, knowing that Jeong Jae-jin was listening. His face flushed. Not because of Oh Dae-ho’s vulgar expressions, but because he hadn’t even suspected the relationship between the two.

But Lee Seok-doo wasn’t the kind of person to bat an eye at such trivial talk. Oh Dae-ho knew that too. Nevertheless, the reason he brought it up first seemed to be because of the documents he had brought to Lee Seok-doo. From then on, Oh Dae-ho and Lee Seok-doo were careful with their words, keeping the possibility of being bugged in mind. All that could be heard was the sound of documents being passed over.

What was in the documents that Oh Dae-ho brought that made Lee Seok-doo willingly offer 100 million won?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with anything.

He had investigated Yoon Ki-beom as much as he could. He had obtained all the documents he could, both legally and illegally. But Oh Dae-ho had other information. Information that would immediately bring Lee Seon-jae running.

However, there wasn’t much about Lee Seon-jae, so Lee Seok-doo’s reaction was lukewarm. Even if it was information that our side had treated as top secret, there was no new information that would arouse Lee Seok-doo’s interest. Not at all, Jeong Jae-jin could say for sure without a moment’s hesitation. Except for the identity of the Helper.

Even if Lee Seok-doo knew the identity of the Helper, he couldn’t use that to pressure Lee Seon-jae. Lee Seon-jae and the Helper had made a kind of agreement with that in mind from the beginning. Never save each other, no matter what happens. That agreement was still valid.

But Yoon Ki-beom was different. Lee Seon-jae, who had fallen in love with Yoon Ki-beom, was not the Lee Seon-jae that Jeong Jae-jin and the Helper had known. At least when it came to Yoon Ki-beom, he acted worse than a teenage boy. He was overly impulsive and spontaneous. He knew that for sure when he called the Helper’s personal contact number.

That’s why Jeong Jae-jin took action himself. To eliminate the cause. He felt that he would only be safe if he kept Yoon Ki-beom, who was turning Lee Seon-jae into a dangerous person, by his side, so he made an unscheduled move. He took a risk and left his post. The plan was successful, except for the phone call from Lee Seok-doo.

If Yoon Ki-beom hadn’t suddenly run out to the bus terminal, the two would be safely moving somewhere by now.

“Damn it. When will the surgery be over?”

Jeong Jae-jin was shaking his leg, unlike his usual self.

‘Good fortune will run away.’

His aunt’s voice rang in his ears.

“I’m sorry, Aunt. I can’t stand it this time.”

He muttered to himself like a madman and banged the back of his head against the wall again.

Let’s see. He had heard that the Korando that Lee Seon-jae was in had moved from Pyeongtaek to Asan, and that Il-gwang’s hounds were closely following behind. But after receiving Lee Seok-doo’s call, he threw away his cell phone, so he had no way of knowing any further news.

Still, he wasn’t worried about the Korando at all. There were four detectives in the Korando. Even if the world turned upside down, a gangster wouldn’t be able to take down four detectives. Especially not organized crime detectives.

Jeong Jae-jin just had to be careful. As long as his current location wasn’t exposed, there would be no problem. As he was thinking that far, Jeong Jae-jin suddenly had an ominous feeling that at least one of them had succeeded in following him.

Il-gwang currently had a million troops. Instead of acting alone, he requested help from gangsters and private investigation agencies all over the country, using a bounty as bait. Lee Seok-doo put his name on it.

Jeong Jae-jin checked to see if the old man and the woman were still there. The woman was gone.

He jumped up from his seat and approached the old man.

“Sir! Sir!”

The old man, who had been dozing off, woke up with a start. He looked up at Jeong Jae-jin, his wrinkled eyes creasing even deeper.

“I’m sorry, but where’s the woman who was with you a moment ago?”

“Who?”

“The woman who was with you. Wasn’t she with you?”

“Ah. The baby’s mother. I don’t know her.”

Damn it. His vision went dark.

“You don’t know her?”

“No. I saw her for the first time a little while ago.”

He answered slowly.

“Then who are you waiting for, sir?”

“Me? I’m not waiting for anyone.”

“Yes? What did you say?”

“I said I’m not waiting for anyone. That baby’s mother gave me 50,000 won to rest here, so I’m here.”

Before the old man could finish speaking, Jeong Jae-jin ran to the operating room.

At least there was still time to make up for his mistake. No, he hoped there was.

169 – Chapter Title Without Number