#83

I received a call from Detective Oh. It was while I was quietly puncturing holes in the plastic and sowing seeds under the scorching heat radiating from the two men and the sun. Since the signal was poor anyway, Tae-heun had left his mobile phone behind, and the old man from the persimmon tree house came directly to the field to inform him that Detective Oh had called.

How did someone find out that I was here? Was it a man? It probably was. Detective Oh wouldn’t have just entrusted me to a man to merely take care of his meals. It could be a form of surveillance by the man, but Tae-heun didn’t mind. He knew the man was responsible and he wasn’t unaware of that.

The man, who had been crouched down and working busily, stood up late when he saw Tae-heun talking to the suddenly appearing old man. Tae-heun hurriedly walked towards the man.

“Ki-beom, I think I should go now. Detective Oh is looking for me.”

He said this while taking off his work gloves.

The man responded with an “Ah.”

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone. There’s still a lot to do.”

“It’s okay. I’m almost done.”

He took the car keys out of his pants pocket and handed them over.

“Here. Take my truck.”

Sweat beads formed at the man’s chin. Just as Tae-heun reached out his hand, the man wiped his sweat with the towel around his neck. It felt regretful for some reason.

“I have a key too. Did you forget we exchanged spare keys?”

“Ah….”

The man put the key back into his pocket.

“I’ll come back to pick you up later. Don’t go anywhere, just stay here. But don’t stay in the field, go to the old man’s house and wait there.”

Tae-heun urged.

“It’s okay if you don’t come.”

“I don’t think it’s okay. I don’t like the idea of Ki-beom getting a ride in someone else’s car.”

A flush crept onto the man’s dark face.

“I mean it. You have to work until dinner anyway, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll come to pick you up, I promise!”

Only after receiving the man’s repeated assurances that he would wait did Tae-heun leave the field.

Like the man, Tae-heun wiped his sweat with a towel as he got into the truck. The seat, heated all day, was too hot to sit on. With no other choice, he turned on the ignition and opened all the doors.

What if he gets hurt while watching until I leave?

The man, unfeelingly, returned to the field. He crouched down again, engrossed in the work he had been doing a moment ago. Tae-heun understood why the man was moving so busily. There were still about ten rows left to work on, including the ones Tae-heun had started.

Still, he should take a break.

The diligent man, who didn’t know how to take shortcuts, was admirable, but at times like this, he seemed foolish.

After watching the man for a few more minutes, Tae-heun got into the truck.

If he hadn’t been excited after hugging the man, it would have been a lie, but surprisingly, he regained his composure after a long time. It was a strange thing. He had embraced the man with such a fiery heart, yet his head felt cold in contrast.

Maybe that’s why, the earlier event felt like a dream. Wondering if it was a dream, he secretly pinched his thigh. It hurt a lot when he pinched hard enough to bruise. So, the two of them hugging was real. A smile lingered on his lips the entire way home.

Was it just a feeling? He arrived home quickly. Tae-heun parked next to the old Pride in front of the wall and immediately walked up the alley. The weeds along the roadside had grown thick.

“I need to mow the grass.”

If he was going to live here in the future, he would need to repair the house more, and it seemed he would have to fix this dirt road too.

Tae-heun began to dream of the future. Even with an unspeakable past in front of the man and the child, he boldly envisioned it.

The front gate was open. Detective Park, sitting on the porch and eating ice cream, stood up when he saw Tae-heun.

“You’re here?”

Detective Park popped the last bite of ice cream into his mouth and threw the wooden stick on the ground.

It’s not a trash can. Tsk.

He clicked his tongue.

If it had been the usual Tae-heun, he wouldn’t have cared. But thinking that this would soon be his home, he couldn’t just stand by. He picked up the wooden stick as if to show off. Detective Park, flustered, said, “Oh, I’m sorry. There’s nowhere to throw this away,” and took the trash from Tae-heun’s hand.

“What’s in that plastic bag?”

Tae-heun asked, looking at the black bag on the porch.

“Oh. I bought some drinks and snacks.”

“Then you can throw it in there.”

“Right.”

It wasn’t a request to do it right away, but Detective Park pulled out the snacks and canned drinks from the bag right in front of Tae-heun.

How is he planning to carry all that spilled onto the porch? He was quite clumsy. For a moment, Tae-heun’s gaze shifted to the immigration bag next to the plastic bag. It was a large and suspicious item to bring to a place like this.

Detective Park was a detective. Noticing Tae-heun’s gaze, he explained, “This is a bag for the ledger.”

“Are you taking it already? I heard there was still work left.”

“Well, there is still work left, but it seems all the ledger work here is done. I’ll probably give you the materials separately.”

“Oh. I see.”

Tae-heun nodded and immediately turned to enter the kitchen. The grass was growing there too.

“I’ll have to do a complete renovation here.”

Or should I just leave it as it is?

He imagined lighting a fire in the stove and steaming corn in a cauldron, just like in a drama he had seen once. In winter, it would be nice to eat potatoes or sweet potatoes instead of corn.

“I should ask Ki-beom about this.”

Talking to himself, he turned around the dizzying cliff and opened the back door.

Detective Park, who had followed Tae-heun, shouted loudly in front of the cliff, “Oh my, that startled me.”

“I don’t know whose child it is, but it seems a bit dangerous.”

Tae-heun said nonchalantly.

Even though it was a cliff, it was surrounded by mountains and thick bushes. Thanks to that, the air here was quite cool compared to the sweltering heat below. It might be a bit cold in winter, but there was no better place in summer. The shaman had chosen a good spot for a house. That’s why he must have become a shaman. He admired inwardly as he entered the room.

This was his first visit since working with Detective Oh last time. Tae-heun sat down at the floor desk, avoiding the 2-liter water bottles, electric kettle, coffee, and paper cups scattered on the floor. Detective Park, who entered afterward, placed the immigration bag and plastic bag down and sat facing Tae-heun.

The silence felt awkward, and Detective Park fidgeted, repeatedly opening and closing the lid of the electric kettle. He felt a sudden urge to tease him.

“Did you have fun that day?”

He deliberately asked about what happened at the room salon.

“Excuse me?”

“You looked like you were having a great time; it must have been a while for you.”

“Ah….”

“I didn’t know Detective Park could be so charming.”

He threw the words out with a grin. Detective Park was taken aback.

“Oh, that… yes… thanks to you.”

He turned as red as a roasted sweet potato.

People truly have various sides. Detective Park was no exception. The bravado he had shown in front of Tae-heun and Detective Oh, casually groping women’s breasts, had vanished, and now he was blushing like a teenage boy.

This is why humans are interesting.

He smiled broadly, showing his teeth.

Detective Park, realizing Tae-heun’s teasing late, let out a sigh of relief and laughed along.

“Director, you’re quite mischievous, aren’t you?”

He awkwardly patted the back of his head with his palm.

As the tense atmosphere eased, Detective Park began to chatter about the events of the past few days. He shared stories of someone’s blunders due to the relaxation that came as the work neared its end and recounted the increasingly sensitive old man’s anecdotes.

“By the way, this is just for you, Director.”

Detective Park looked around and lowered his voice.

“There’s a surprise raid scheduled for around 4 o’clock.”

At the mention of 4 o’clock, Tae-heun glanced at his cheap wristwatch. 4 o’clock. There was less than 15 minutes left.

“Was that today? I thought it was next Monday or Tuesday.”

“That was the original plan, but it seems the secret leaked, and the atmosphere is unusual. It was decided just before I came here.”

“That’s good.”

He meant it. There was no point in dragging it out.

“Have the reporters been called?”

“Of course. You know Kim, or rather, Wolf 3, right? As you know, he loves broadcasting. We’ve been worried about him leaking information to the reporters. It will probably be reported extensively on the 9 o’clock news.”

“I have to watch that.”

Tae-heun clapped his hands in excitement.

The fact that Ilgwang Financial would appear on the 9 o’clock news meant he couldn’t miss that amusing spectacle.

He looked forward to the night.

By the way, would his uncle and Lee Hyun-jun be there? He thought of them for the first time in a while. His uncle, who was a fixture at the company, might be seen, but Lee Hyun-jun would definitely not be there. He was curious about how that little brat would look on TV, but he already felt regret.

After chatting with Detective Park for a while, Tae-heun got to the point.

“But what is it that I need to do?”

According to Detective Oh, it wasn’t related to the ledger.

“Oh. Actually, it’s because of this. Please take a look.”

Detective Park pulled the immigration bag forward. He thought it was empty, but it seemed he had brought something inside. He opened the bag and turned the opening towards Tae-heun.