By Zephyria 
Inside the car on his way to work, Won-joon was watching something on his tablet. On the screen, Kim Yi-eum was staring blankly at the food on the table. After hesitating for a while, he pulled out a chair and sat down, putting the food in his mouth. The moment the spoon entered his mouth, the corners of Won-joon’s lips lifted.
At the quiet chuckle, Director Lee glanced back in the rearview mirror. Won-joon couldn’t take his eyes off the screen for quite some time. What a shame. He should have installed cameras in other places too.
He’d only installed one in the kitchen, facing the living room, thinking a detective would be quick on the uptake, but now he slightly regretted it. He’d have to go and retrieve it soon anyway. The timing depended on when Kim Yi-eum’s heat cycle would arrive.
“Is the drug definitely effective?”
“Symptoms usually appear within a week.”
A week… Won-joon muttered to himself, and Director Lee cautiously spoke up.
“Will President contact you first?”
“Considering he’s hiding it from his family, it’s certain that almost no one knows. The acquaintance who prescribed the suppressants said he was an Omega, right?”
“Yes.”
“Make up a suitable excuse and let him rest. It would be even better to send him abroad. If he’s left alone, he’ll definitely ask me for help.”
Director Lee, who had been listening silently, now asked a different question.
“I’m curious as to why President is going to such lengths.”
“I’m curious too.”
“……”
“I wonder what kind of sobbing expression he’ll make behind that upright face. What kind of moans he’ll make. What kind of clinging he’ll do.”
Won-joon stopped speaking and bit his lip hard. Shit. He was already getting hard just imagining it. He turned off the tablet screen and leaned back in his chair. He could only hope that the drug would take effect as soon as possible and Kim Yi-eum would enter his heat cycle.
“You’ve assigned someone?”
“Yes, I’ve told them to contact me immediately if they see any symptoms.”
“Keep a close watch 24 hours a day. If another guy snatches him, I’ll fire you.”
It was a euphemistic way of saying he might kill him, so Director Lee seriously considered whether he should increase the number of people watching.
As the car sped towards the company, Choi Won-joon’s gaze was fixed outside. He had slept well, so his head was clear and his mood was refreshed. At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but it wasn’t. Whether it was because of Kim Yi-eum’s pheromone or because the house site was exceptionally good, there was definitely something that suited him well.
That’s why he wanted to get his hands on him even more. The method was simple. All he had to do was have Kim Yi-eum. It was just that the way to have him was dirty.
❖ ❖ ❖
The car kicked up dust as it drove up the alleyway. The neighborhood was a redevelopment area, and the house where the deceased Yang Taek-il had lived was located here. The perpetrator, Kim Sang-beom, had testified that he killed Yang Taek-il at his home and dismembered the body in the bathroom.
Because it was a redevelopment area, there were no CCTV cameras nearby, and it was difficult to obtain properly recorded footage due to the heavy rain at the time, making it difficult to estimate the exact time of the crime. When they arrived at their destination, they saw police tape stretched across a door with peeling paint.
Getting out of the car, Lee-eum walked over, removed the tape, and opened the door, which creaked. The yard of the old house was overgrown with weeds, creating an eerie atmosphere.
Passing through the yard and entering the house, he smelled a musty, moldy odor. After the perpetrator confessed, the forensic team came here to analyze various things, but they said that apart from the victim’s hair and a small amount of bloodstains, nothing else was found.
“The new supervising prosecutor, I hear, told Team leader to supplement the evidence and submit it, so he must be very picky.”
With the perpetrator already caught, the Team leader must have been taken aback by the supervising prosecutor’s request for more evidence. Lee-eum thought of Jeong Dae-han, whom he had met in front of the National Forensic Service. Did he look picky? Strangely, he couldn’t think of anything other than the image of a country bumpkin.
Lee-eum went to the bathroom where the body had been dismembered and carefully examined it. The perpetrator had poured bleach and chemicals over it after the crime to clean up, so a unique odor remained faintly. Lee-eum removed the drain cover and checked inside before calling Nam-soo.
“About the water usage, you said there wasn’t much difference from last month, right?”
“Yes, it’s actually decreased. If he cleaned it this thoroughly without leaving a trace, he would have used a lot of water. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
Lee-eum nodded and went outside. He went to the bedroom where Yang Taek-il had stayed, which was no different from a pigsty. In front of the computer, unfinished food and trash were piled up like mountains, and the ashtray was also full of cigarette butts, turning black.
Frowning, he looked around and opened the drawers one by one. The inside of the drawers was just as messy. He took them out one by one and looked at them, finding several awards he had received in middle school.
His Hyung, whom he had met at the dog breeding farm, had said that Yang Taek-il had been a troublemaker since he was a child, neglecting his studies and only causing trouble, but it seemed that wasn’t entirely true. Then, Lee-eum found something that had fallen behind the drawer.
He pulled out all the drawers and reached in to take it out, revealing a black wallet the size of his palm. Opening it, he found a bankbook inside. Turning to the first page, he saw that the bankbook had been created about 20 years ago. Calculating Yang Taek-il’s age, it was when he was twenty years old.
Whether he had worked or not, more than 1 million won was regularly deposited each month, and most of the money was withdrawn in the name of Yang Mok-hyung. Yang Mok-hyung was Yang Taek-il’s Hyung, whom he had met a few days ago.
“I don’t see anything else. What’s that?”
Jeong Nam-soo sat down next to him and tilted his head, looking at the bankbook.
“Yang Taek-il’s Hyung said his younger brother was a complete piece of trash who only took money from home.”
“He made monthly deposits. What is it? Did he pay back the money he borrowed?”
Turning to the back page, Yang Taek-il had been sending money to his Hyung for quite some time. He didn’t know exactly where the money went. He might have paid back the money he borrowed, or he might have contributed to the household. Whatever it was, it was quite different from the image of Yang Taek-il that Yang Mok-hyung had described.
“Find out what Yang Mok-hyung was doing 20 years ago, where he lived. If possible, ask the people around him.”
“Ah, Team leader is going to hate this.”
“Why?”
“You heard it too. He told us to just pretend to investigate. It’s not like the perpetrator is claiming to be innocent, and he even confessed himself. If the real culprit comes out, that’s a headache in itself. We’ve already told the media that we caught the perpetrator.”
“It’ll be more of a headache if it blows up later. You know that.”
Lee-eum took the bankbook and got up, searching for anything else before leaving. As he went outside, the sun was particularly bright. How could the weather in May be hotter than midsummer? He hadn’t slept well yesterday because of Choi Won-joon, so his fatigue didn’t go away. He got into the car and rubbed his face roughly to wake himself up. Then Jeong Nam-soo looked at him worriedly.
“Shall I drive?”
“No way. I still have installments left.”
“I’m good now. I can be careful.”
“No, you can’t.”
At the blunt refusal, Jeong Nam-soo pouted, feeling upset. Nam-soo had once driven Lee-eum’s car while chasing a criminal, but he had hit a guardrail, and since then, he had not been allowed to drive.
As they drove down the narrow, winding road, dilapidated houses were visible everywhere. Because the neighborhood was being redeveloped, there were hardly any residents left, making it difficult to find witnesses. After coming out onto the main road and driving for a while, Lee-eum glanced at the rearview mirror.
Noticing the repeated action, Nam-soo sensed something was wrong.
“What’s wrong? Is there something?”
“That black car behind us. It looks like it’s been following us since a while ago.”
“No way.”
Nam-soo turned around and checked the car. It was an expensive imported car, and the windows were heavily tinted, making it difficult to identify who was in the driver’s seat. After staring at it for a while, Nam-soo took out his cell phone.
“I’ll get the number.”
He made a call and asked for a vehicle inquiry. After giving the number and waiting for about five minutes, Nam-soo quickly wrote down a note in his notebook.
“The owner is Kim Yun-shik. No criminal record, and it’s not a ghost car either. Do you know him?”
“No.”
They were about to make a left turn, and as they were changing lanes to get the signal, the black car swerved past them. Ah, what? Was he mistaken? Lee-eum chuckled in vain, and Nam-soo laughed along.
“I guess it wasn’t a big deal.”
“Yeah. I guess so. Maybe I was being too sensitive.”
The light turned green, and just as they were making a left turn, the phone rang. Seeing the name Jeong Dae-han on the screen, Lee-eum quickly glanced at Nam-soo. He hadn’t told him exactly that he was a friend. Afraid of causing a misunderstanding, he was going to answer it later, but he accidentally pressed the button and the call was connected.
【Lee-eum, it’s me. Are you very busy?】
Lee-eum was flustered and mumbled.
“Dae-han, I’m out on business. Can I call you later if it’s not urgent?”
【Sorry. Call me when you have time. It’s just that I was hoping I could meet Yang Taek-il’s Hyung in person.】
Lee-eum cursed inwardly. Looking at Nam-soo’s expression, he was making a face that said, “Huh?” Lee-eum quickly ended the call, and Nam-soo went wild.
“I, isn’t that the new prosecutor? It is. The name is the same. Wow, what is this? You two know each other?”
“I was going to tell you. The timing wasn’t right, so I kept my mouth shut.”
“That’s too much. You should have told me sooner than anyone else. I’m Sunbae’s wife.”
“Hey, I was going to.”
“When?”
“Oh, today…?”
“Please. Don’t lie. I know you’re wearing it on your face.”
While he was trying to appease Nam-soo, who was sulking properly, his heart suddenly dropped and he felt suffocated. Startled by the unexpected shock, Lee-eum gasped and stepped on the brakes. With a screech, the car stopped, and a horn blared from behind.
Nam-soo, startled, checked Lee-eum’s condition.
“Sunbae, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“No, I just feel stuffy.”
He quickly turned on the emergency lights and moved the car to the side, but his heart was pounding like crazy. What’s wrong with him? He was even sweating, so he gasped for breath, and Nam-soo tried to call 119. Lee-eum stopped him and asked him to buy water from the convenience store.
Nam-soo nodded and hurried out of the car, and Lee-eum, left alone, gasped for breath and rubbed his cheeks. Although it appeared and disappeared very briefly, it was almost identical to the symptoms of his heat cycle.
He looked at the convenience store where Nam-soo had disappeared, took out the hidden medicine bottle, and quickly swallowed one pill. Meanwhile, Nam-soo bought water and ran back, panting.
“Sunbae. Drink some water. How are you? Are you feeling better? Let’s go to the hospital. I’ll drive.”
“No. I’m fine now. I think I was just dizzy because of low blood pressure.”
He smiled casually and grabbed the steering wheel, but his mind was complicated. Why again? It wasn’t common for symptoms that were mild and only occurred once a year to appear at such short intervals. What the hell is happening to my body…?