By Zephyria 
Lee-eum, sitting on a bench under the wisteria, looked up at the sky. The sun was warm and the breeze was cool. If it weren’t for work, it was the kind of weather that made you want to go out for a picnic. A moment later, Jeong Dae-han came with drinks and handed him one. When he received it, it was Lee-eum’s favorite drink from his school days.
“Thanks.”
He wet his parched throat with the drink and looked at Jeong Dae-han. He was curious about what he was doing at the National Forensic Service, and it turned out he was the prosecutor in charge of the Yang Taek-il case. He had heard Nam-soo say that a newly appointed prosecutor from the provinces was in charge of the case, and he thought the name sounded familiar, but surprisingly, it was his middle school classmate.
“Has it been 11 years?”
“Yeah. We lost contact after graduation.”
“How have you been?”
Dae-han nodded. “And you?”
“I’ve been okay too…”
After that, silence fell as if they had made a promise at the same time. In fact, Lee-eum had completely forgotten about Jeong Dae-han. He had a few middle school friends he kept in touch with, but they had no connection with Jeong Dae-han, so there was no opportunity to talk about him.
“Your face is the same. I recognized you at first sight when you got out of the car.”
At those words, Lee-eum smiled faintly.
“You’ve changed a lot. You’ve gotten taller.”
When they were young, Dae-han was a head shorter than him. He wore glasses, was chubby, and was a shy friend. He loved books and was more innocent than anyone else, but perhaps because of his personality, he was often targeted by the kids who liked to cause trouble.
“I heard you’re in charge of the torso murder case on the hiking trail?”
“Yeah. That’s why I came to meet with the coroner for a bit. There are some aspects of the circumstances that I don’t find convincing.”
A strange change came over Lee-eum’s expression. In fact, he thought it was a finished game. The culprit had confessed and been handed over to the prosecution, so he thought it would be closed as is. But when Jeong Dae-han said he wasn’t satisfied with something, he felt a glimmer of hope.
“I actually had some misgivings, so I came to confirm the body. There are signs of a struggle, but as you can see, the victim is much bigger. To leave that much bruising, the attacker would have had to be injured just as badly, but other than an old scar, he’s too unscathed.”
Dae-han nodded in agreement.
“I agree. That’s why I requested Team Leader Oh to submit additional evidence. I’m a little sorry to you. It feels like I’m just adding to your workload.”
Team Leader Oh would be annoyed, but Lee-eum felt a little relieved.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s what we’re here to do.”
An awkward silence flowed between them, and Lee-eum threw the empty can he had finished drinking towards the trash can. When the can went in accurately, Dae-han laughed beside him.
“You’re still the same.”
“Huh?”
“You used to be good at basketball.”
“What? I just liked it.”
“No, you were flying around. It was so cool. Quite a few of the kids in our class liked you. But you weren’t interested.”
The dimples on his cheeks became more pronounced as he laughed. Actually, those weren’t dimples.
“You have a scar.”
“Huh?”
“That thing on your face. It was because of me, wasn’t it?”
Ah… Dae-han looked embarrassed.
“No. I got involved for no reason, and that’s what happened. It’s not your fault. Absolutely not.”
Lee-eum didn’t say anything more as he watched Dae-han speak firmly. In fact, it started with something trivial. A popular female Sunbae at school confessed to Lee-eum, and Lee-eum rejected her, but when the Sunbae’s boyfriend found out the truth, all hell broke loose.
The next day, the boyfriend came to the classroom, and after an argument, it turned into a physical fight. Unable to contain her anger, the Sunbae grabbed a pen and ran at Lee-eum while he was down, but Jeong Dae-han intervened and was injured instead of Kim Yi-eum.
After that, the perpetrator was disciplined, and a scar remained on Dae-han’s face like a dimple. In a way, he was a benefactor, but Lee-eum felt sorry for having forgotten about it until now, and he tapped the floor with his toes.
“I was very grateful back then.”
After saying his thanks, he noticed Jeong Dae-han looking in the opposite direction. His ears were red. Was he the type who was weak to compliments? As he was thinking that, Nam-soo called. Lee-eum stood up and took out a business card from his wallet and handed it to Dae-han.
“I guess we’ll be seeing each other often. Please take care of me, Prosecutor Jeong.”
When he smiled brightly, Dae-han hurriedly took out a business card from his wallet. A small piece of paper came out with the business card, but it fell to the floor before he could catch it. When Lee-eum tried to pick it up, Jeong Dae-han was horrified and quickly picked it up and stuffed it into his back pocket.
Seeing his face turn as red as if it would explode, Lee-eum felt puzzled.
“What’s that?”
“Huh? What is?”
Dae-han quickly handed over his business card and stood up.
“It was nice meeting you. See you later. I’m leaving!”
He said everything he wanted to say and walked quickly to his car as if he had something urgent to do. Lee-eum tilted his head. What was that all about? He seemed flustered because of the paper that fell just now.
Could it be…?
He didn’t see it clearly, but there was a type of drug that came in the form of a stamp-sized piece of paper that you put on your tongue, and it looked quite similar. Lee-eum watched his old friend hurriedly drive out of the parking lot and couldn’t hide his suspicious expression. No way, could it be?
❖ ❖ ❖
“How can you only have beer in your fridge?”
As soon as his Hyung, Kim Mid-eum, came to Lee-eum’s house, he opened the refrigerator and started nagging. Lee-eum, who had just finished showering, was holding a beer in one hand and choosing a movie with the remote control. His Hyung took a beer, sat next to him, and opened a bag of chips.
“Hey, put on something else. Do I have to watch a crime movie even after finishing work? I’m so sick of it.”
Mid-eum snatched the remote control and changed the channel. Lee-eum looked at his Hyung and subtly brought up the topic.
“What’s Yunji doing?”
“She fell asleep early.”
“Take the data you entrusted to me in the safe this time. How long are you going to leave it here?”
“I don’t have a safe at my house. And Yunji’s mom doesn’t like me bringing work home.”
“Then throw it away. You can’t use it in court anyway, right?”
“I didn’t use it, but it’s not that I can’t use it.”
“Why didn’t you use it?”
“I told you. They’re all in the same boat, how can I win?”
Mid-eum grabbed a handful of chips and handed them to Lee-eum. Lee-eum took the chips and put them in his mouth one by one from the top.
“Was it the second son of Sehwa Group that you tried to arrest last year?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there any data related to Sehwa Construction there too?”
His Hyung’s gaze, which had been fixed on the TV, shifted to Lee-eum.
“Is it because of that incident last time? I thought it was over.”
“I was wondering if you knew anything about the President there.”
“The President of Sehwa Construction, you mean the youngest son? There’s quite an age gap between him and his Hyungs.”
“Is there?”
“I heard he was raised with great care because he’s the youngest.”
“And?”
“He’s probably the smartest of the three. He graduated from Korea University and has been managing the company without any major incidents. He’s also good at business, and to be honest, he might be more capable of leading the group than his Hyungs.”
“Anything else?”
“What else?”
“Weaknesses.”
His Hyung raised an eyebrow. He seemed curious as to why his younger brother was so interested in Choi Won-joon. Lee-eum couldn’t bring himself to tell him the whole story. If his Hyung knew that Young-shik, who had slept at his house before, was that Sehwa Construction’s Choi Won-joon, he would probably make a fuss.
“Weaknesses…”
His Hyung pondered for a moment and then snapped his fingers. “Ah! I remember.” Lee-eum’s eyes sparkled. He wondered if there was anything that could tie Choi Won-joon down. But what his Hyung said was enough to make Lee-eum lose his will to fight.
“There’s a rumor that his private life is a mess. He has a separate room at the hotel where he stays, and the people change every time. They say he’s got incredible stamina. Hiss, I don’t know if that’s a weakness. Maybe it’s a strength.”
Lee-eum looked at his Hyung with disdain and finished the rest of his beer. He already knew that he was promiscuous because Jeong Nam-su had told him. He had warned him to be careful, calling him a slut. As he had felt before, that wouldn’t have much of an impact on Choi Won-joon. He was the type to laugh even if you called him a slut in front of his face.
“Avoid him if you can. They’re not the kind of people you want to associate with. If the investigation is over, don’t dig any deeper.”
“Is that a warning?”
“Advice. That’s what I’ve learned. It’s also necessary to adapt and live moderately.”
“Why has the mad dog of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office become so weak?”
“I’ve figured out my place. No matter how much I fly and crawl, there are many things I can’t do. And how thorough do you think they are? They wouldn’t leave any evidence. You’d never know unless you lived in the same house.”
Lee-eum turned his head and looked at his Hyung. Unless you live in the same house? Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, but it was an absurd story.
“Oh, you’re meeting someone this weekend, right?”
Me? Who? Then suddenly Choi Won-joon came to mind. How did his Hyung know he was meeting that guy?
“Yeah, how did you know?”
Mid-eum looked at him with a pathetic expression.
“Your father told me, so I know.”
“Huh?”
“He has high expectations. Don’t be difficult and try to do well. Getting married early isn’t a bad thing. If you really don’t want to, there’s nothing you can do, but can you go against your father’s wishes?”
Ah, the matchmaking story. His Hyung frowned when he saw the relieved expression on his face.
“You forgot about it?”
“……”
“This guy’s going to be in big trouble.”
“I clearly said I didn’t want to.”
“Is your father the type to listen? If you really don’t want to, go and tell the other person. That’s the cleanest way.”
Lee-eum rubbed his face roughly as if he was tired. He had unintentionally made a double booking. But he soon changed his mind. Could he even call his appointment with Choi Won-joon an appointment? He was the one who insisted. Besides, now that the test results had clearly come back as Beta, there was nothing more to be intimidated about.