By Zephyria 
As he entered the hospital room, Park Eon-soo was sitting on the bed. He was wearing a patient gown and looked haggard as he greeted Kim Yi-eum and Jeong Nam-su. According to the police officer guarding the front, as soon as he woke up, he wanted to meet with the detectives to talk. Perhaps that was why he bowed politely as soon as he saw them and wore an expression as if he was sorry to death.
“I’m sorry, detectives. You must be going through a lot because of me, right?”
Unlike the nasty rumors, he smiled innocently. Then, he rattled on about things he hadn’t even been asked about.
“As you probably know, I’m taking medication for depression. That guy always cursed at me and looked down on me so much. That day, it was just too hard to bear. I shouldn’t have, but in a fit of anger… I’m really sorry to the victim. I’m deeply remorseful.”
He continued to speak in a very gentlemanly manner. The victim had woken up safely, and it was a first offense due to diminished capacity, so it was a case that could end with probation if he was lucky. Park Eon-soo probably knew that too. He would have a criminal record, but he would want to avoid going to jail.
“Do you know Lee Jeong-hye?”
When asked directly, Park Eon-soo’s expression changed subtly.
“Who?”
“Lee Jeong-hye. The woman you used to live with.”
“Ah- Jeong-hye. I remember. Why Jeong-hye all of a sudden?”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
Park Eon-soo frowned and tried to remember.
“About a year and a half ago… Why? Did something happen to Jeong-hye?”
“A body presumed to be Lee Jeong-hye was found in the river.”
Park Eon-soo laughed with an incredulous expression.
“No way, that can’t be. Jeong-hye ran away after cheating on me. She had a man she was seeing at the time, and I even caught her going into a motel a few times without me knowing. You must be mistaken.”
“We certainly hope so.”
Park Eon-soo fell silent, and Lee-eum continued.
“We heard there was violence during your cohabitation. You admit to this, right?”
“She caused it from the start. Think about it. I fed her, sheltered her, and cherished her! What kind of guy would put up with being backstabbed like that? She didn’t even sue me at the time because she felt guilty.”
When he was stared at without a word, Park Eon-soo laughed with a dumbfounded expression.
“Are you suspecting me of killing Jeong-hye? I loved her. There was an age gap, and she was a little slow, but I truly loved her. If she hadn’t cheated on me, we would have lived happily.”
“We heard you assaulted Lee Jeong-hye and extorted money from her.”
Park Eon-soo jumped up and down, claiming it was unfair.
“Extortion? If you detectives investigated, you would have known, but she’s a little slow. That, you know. Borderline. In short, she’s a bit dim. She couldn’t manage her money and was even scammed once, so was it wrong of me to take care of it for her?”
He pounded his chest and appealed to his innocence, then rubbed his face roughly. Judging by his expression alone, he was a person who was dying of unfairness. But you can’t tell just by looking at the surface. How many people had he seen commit crimes and tremble while acting?
The answers that came back to the following questions were similar. I don’t know. Lee Jeong-hye cheated on him, left home, and he lost contact with her. After repeated conversations, Park Eon-soo said he was tired and wanted to rest, and the two went outside the hospital room. They pulled out two cups of coffee and sat on a bench in front of the hospital to catch their breath, and Nam-soo threw out a word.
“Why didn’t you mention that you saw the video?”
“He won’t admit it easily. Even if the dead Lee Jeong-hye came back to life and pointed him out as the culprit, he would deny it.”
“In cases like this, there’s a high probability that the prosecution will drop the charges, right?”
Lee-eum nodded silently, and Nam-soo sighed as if he was frustrated. Would the prosecution be willing to take the risk in a situation where there were no witnesses or solid evidence? It was obvious that they would only be able to bring him to court for assault and illegal filming. They had to find evidence or get a confession before then, but it was a shame that so much time had passed that the evidence had disappeared.
Then, Lee-eum thought of Choi Won-joon. Could the ghost that was tormenting him be Park Eon-soo? If it was Park Eon-soo, would Choi Won-joon recognize him? If he did, what would he do? At least, given his personality, he wouldn’t let it go easily…
His thoughts went on and on, and before he knew it, Lee-eum emptied the coffee he was drinking and got up from his seat.
❖ ❖ ❖
Lee-eum dragged his tired body onto the elevator. He felt fine in the morning, but his sprained ankle was throbbing in the afternoon. He looked in the mirror and saw that he looked exhausted. He would just wash up and go to sleep as soon as he got in, without even eating.
But as soon as he swiped his key and opened the front door, he smelled food. There was no one supposed to be home… With a puzzled mind, he was speechless at the sight that unfolded before his eyes.
“Darling, you’re here?”
Lee-eum couldn’t close his mouth as he looked at Choi Won-joon, who was holding a spatula in front of the induction cooktop and greeting him. No, to be exact, it was because of the apron he was wearing.
“What, what are you doing? And what’s with that apron!”
It was already absurd that a human the size of a door was shirtless, wearing only pants and an apron, but it even had lace on it. Lee-eum instinctively recoiled, horrified, avoiding Choi Won-joon, who was turning down the heat and approaching him.
“How did you get in? Ah, never mind. Don’t come any closer. You’re creeping me out.”
“That’s too much. I wore it to look pretty for you.”
Choi Won-joon looked genuinely upset, and Lee-eum was overwhelmed with the urge to tear apart this man’s brain. Should he request a separate examination from the National Forensic Service when he dies later? He didn’t want to think about it anymore and ran to the bathroom, saying he was going to wash up, but he couldn’t forget the shocking scene he had just seen.
Lee-eum opened the door, yelled at him to change immediately, and took a shower. When he came out, Choi Won-joon was thankfully wearing proper clothes, and there was an omelet on the table. The omelet looked decent, but the kitchen was a mess again today.
“Eat. You skipped dinner, right?”
He had received a message asking if he had eaten, and he had replied that he would eat when he got home, but he never dreamed that he would be cooking in his house. It seemed pointless to ask how he got in. Choi Won-joon would use any means necessary.
“Throw away the apron right now.”
“You don’t like it? I get so turned on when you wear your uniform.”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“I’m wearing an apron, you’re wearing a uniform, should we get hot and heavy later?”
Should I kill you right here and now? Lee-eum clenched his teeth and gripped his spoon like a knife. Then, Choi Won-joon coaxed and soothed him to eat quickly and even put water in front of him. Reluctantly, he took a spoonful of rice and put it in his mouth, and Lee-eum paused.
What, what is this? What the hell did he put in the rice? It was salty and sweet at the same time. Did he confuse salt and sugar? Even so, how could it taste like this? He was flustered, not knowing what kind of expression to make, and Choi Won-joon was looking at him with expectant eyes.
“Is it okay? It’s the first dish I’ve ever made properly.”
Lee-eum took a sip of water, swallowed the food in his mouth, and hesitated. He could have snapped at him for making him something to eat and die, but he didn’t want to criticize him for coming all the way here and even cooking for him. Even though he had trespassed.
Come to think of it, Lee-eum had given him salty soup before, hadn’t he?
“I- It’s edible…”
“Really?”
Lee-eum nodded and ate the rice without complaint. Choi Won-joon rested his chin on his hand and smiled contentedly as he looked at Lee-eum.
“Did President eat?”
“Yeah. I ate before I came. But what were you doing that you skipped dinner until now?”
Lee-eum put down his spoon and drank the water next to him. What if Park Eon-soo was the real culprit who kidnapped Choi Won-joon? Either way, the statute of limitations had passed, so he couldn’t be punished. But Choi Won-joon was different. He was someone who had the power to take revenge privately, and the probability of him doing so was quite high.
Then what about Lee Jeong-hye? She lived alone without family, was exploited and abused, and to top it off, wasn’t she thrown away like trash after her death? If her death was real, he didn’t want it to be buried like this. He wanted to uncover the guy’s crime and clear her name somehow.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Lee-eum organized his thoughts in his head and paused.
“Do you remember the person who kidnapped President when you were young…?”
Even with the cautious question, Choi Won-joon was indifferent.
“I don’t know. It was such a long time ago.”
“Do you think you’d be able to recognize him if you met him? Or even his voice…”
Choi Won-joon chuckled.
“Why? Are you going to catch that bastard for me?”
Lee-eum bit his lip tightly. Well, that’s… He told him about Park Eon-soo and even showed him the recent photos he had taken of him, but Choi Won-joon didn’t react much, as if it was bland. He wondered if it might not be him, but he wanted to check, so Lee-eum brought up the main point after much deliberation.
“Do you want to meet that person, once?”