By Zephyria 【There was a fire accident in Yeonhwa-dong two days ago. At the time, a man in his mid-20s was rescued from the burning warehouse covered in blood. In addition, a large amount of blood and hair were found at the scene, raising concerns that the number of victims may increase. In response, the police have announced that they will expand the search area and switch to a public search for Mr. Yang, who is on the run.】
Next, a photo of Yang Mok-hyung appears on the screen. It’s unclear when the photo was taken, but it looks quite different from his recent appearance. Despite thoroughly searching the surrounding area, Yang Mok-hyung was not found, and the police were expanding their radius, conducting inspections and searches.
【Meanwhile, the media has reported that Mr. Yang was a suspect in another case but was excluded, leading to criticism that the police were too focused on catching the culprit and failed to properly investigate the truth. In response, the police announced in a press briefing that they would actively investigate to uncover the truth and apprehend the real culprit as soon as possible to alleviate public anxiety.】
The Western Police Station chief was on TV, and Team Leader Oh, watching him, cursed and threw the documents he was holding onto the desk. It was obvious that he would soon be summoned by the chief.
“Yes, this is Western Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 2. Yes? No. No, I don’t know the exact details. That’s something we need to investigate further.”
Detective Lee answers a phone call from somewhere. From morning, phone calls related to the case poured in from everywhere. The media, nearby residents, and even reports of people who claimed to have seen someone similar. But when they went to check, it was always someone else.
Lee-eum, exhausted, rubbed his face roughly and then subtly lifted his sleeve to check the wound on his arm. There was a bite mark, but it wasn’t severely inflamed. It was fortunate that he had the Sedative in his pocket that day, or he would have really messed things up.
He was tormented by the memory of his lips and lower body rubbing against Choi Won-joon if he let his guard down. Before he knew he was an Omega, he had dated and had relationships with girlfriends, so he never imagined he would do such a thing with a male Alpha. A relationship where reason flew away and only animal instincts remained.
If he hadn’t taken the Sedative, he probably would have moved according to that bastard’s will. He didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened after that. It was embarrassing to have lost the handcuffs, but he didn’t want to get involved with that bastard again to find them.
He was resentful that he had been secretly drugged and wanted to throw him in jail, but if he did, he would have to reveal that he was an Omega. Goddamn it. As he cursed inwardly, a phone call came in.
“Yes, this is Kim Yi-eum from Western Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 2.”
【How have you been, Detective Kim? This is Lee Ye-sol from Hanjin Ilbo.】
“Ah, it’s been a while… What brings you here?”
【I have something to discuss regarding the fire incident the other day, but you weren’t answering your cell phone.】
Lee-eum pressed his lips tightly and then released them. He knew it wasn’t good to contact a reporter at a time like this, so he had deliberately avoided answering.
“I’m busy. Can I call you back later?”
【Actually, it’s not about this case. Do you know Park Chang-shik, the Managing Director at Sehwa Construction? You visited him a few days ago, right?】
Lee-eum straightened his back and focused. Her story was quite interesting.
【I’m curious why you visited him.】
“I don’t know why Ms. Lee is asking that.”
【Actually, Park Chang-shik came to me before he went missing. He asked if I could help him and I accepted because it was a decent offer. Then I lost contact with him.】
Lee-eum checked the watch on his wrist.
“I’d like to meet and talk for a bit. When are you free?”
As he was writing down the place and time to meet the reporter on a memo pad, Nam-soo pulled up a chair and came closer. He had received a call from the hospital that the victim found at the scene had woken up. The two reported to the Team leader, grabbed their coats, and went outside. The sky was darkening, and it was about to pour.
“It’s raining a lot in May.”
“Yeah, it’s like the rainy season.”
“Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be resting more?”
“I’m fine.”
“Still, you discharged yourself in the middle of the night. Do you know how surprised I was when I went to visit you the next day? You even abandoned Prosecutor Jeong, your friend.”
Lee-eum smiled awkwardly. The first thing he did after knocking Choi Won-joon unconscious was to call the medical staff, identify himself, and ask them to give him a Sedative. He told them that he was an important suspect with strong aggression and showed them the bite mark on his arm, and the doctor administered the sedative.
After that, he rushed home, worried that the symptoms might reappear, and as a result, he couldn’t even say goodbye to Jeong Dae-han. Dae-han sent him a message the next day asking if he was okay.
“Where did you lose the handcuffs?”
“I must have dropped them when I was trapped in the warehouse.”
“It’s a good thing it ended there. That bastard is completely crazy. Do you know how much porn was found at his house? There were quite a few self-made ones too.”
Nam-soo gritted his teeth at the mention.
“Honestly, I wish someone would just kill those kinds of bastards instead of putting them in jail. It’s only a few years at most. What’s the point of us running around like crazy to catch them? The law is fucked up.”
Seeing Nam-soo’s bitter expression, Lee-eum patted him on the shoulder instead of offering words of comfort. Working in the field, they met all sorts of people and had to witness the victims’ tragic states firsthand.
There were many times when his stomach churned. Seeing a criminal making explicit obscene remarks about a dead victim in the car on the way to the crime scene, he had countless urges to throw him out and run him over with the car.
But as time passed, he changed his mind. He decided to catch the bad guys as quickly as possible and as many as possible to reduce the number of victims. In doing so, he let go of a lot more than before. Of course, that didn’t mean his mind was completely at ease.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Won-joon, what’s that on your neck?”
Madam Lee was puzzled by the mark on her son’s neck, and Choi Won-joon’s brothers next to her made playful jokes at their younger brother.
“After being quiet for years, it looks like you’ve been having a wild time somewhere?”
“Wait, that’s not a hickey? It’s a mark from being forcefully pressed down?”
“Come on, have you ever seen Choi Won-joon being overpowered by someone?”
Even as his mother and brothers craned their necks to look, Choi Won-joon leisurely cut his steak. He had stopped by the house for dinner, and the faint mark on his neck from being strangled by Kim Yi-eum had drawn the attention of his family.
“Did you develop some strange tastes all of a sudden?”
“Leave him alone. He’s at an age to have fun.”
“Don’t encourage him. I’m against it. I can tell from one thing to another, and I won’t let him bring someone with such a violent taste and disgrace the family.”
“What? Is your partner really like that?”
Everyone seemed curious, but Won-joon kept his mouth shut and just chewed his meat. It had been a few days since he last saw Kim Yi-eum. He had considered going to the police station the next day with the handcuffs and making a scene, but he stopped because he thought he would really earn his hatred.
Well, he was probably already hated enough.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary, live quietly, and go on blind dates. Don’t create unnecessary rumors and damage your image.”
His father, who had been silent until now, said a word. Won-joon took a sip of the wine next to him, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and finished.
“I’ve been living virtuously these days. You know that.”
No one refuted him. Choi Won-joon had really gone wild until his mid-20s. So much so that his friends made ridiculous jokes about his dick skin peeling off.
But that didn’t last long either. As he approached thirty, he became tired of partying. Sex like beasts driven by pheromone gradually felt boring, and recently he had been living as if he were becoming a monk, wondering if he would become a hermit.
It was the first time in a long time that he had met someone who stimulated him. He wasn’t a small and pretty type like other Omegas, and he wasn’t obedient, but he was someone he kept thinking about. As he recalled Kim Yi-eum’s face and that sweet scent, he suddenly felt thirsty.
Choi Won-joon, who had wet his lips with wine, opened his mouth without looking at his father.
“I want to marry a civil servant.”
Chairman Kim cut his steak and answered casually.
“Bring him here and say that.”
“Can it be a police officer too?”
Everything fell silent at the casually thrown word. Chairman Kim froze with his knife and fork in hand, and his mother and brothers did the same. Won-joon smiled and gestured.
“I’m just kidding. Eat.”