“Are you okay?”
Yieum washed his face with the bottled water Namsu handed him, then rinsed his mouth several times. The coughing still wouldn’t stop, so he was pouring water over his head to clear it when Team Leader Oh approached.
“What the hell is all this? I told you to take the ambulance earlier, so why are you still here?”
Seeing Yieum’s disheveled state, he flew into a rage, swearing that once they caught that bastard, he wouldn’t let him get away with it.
Yieum stared at the collapsed building, his expression troubled.
Yang Mokhyung had vanished without a trace. The fire truck had arrived and put out the flames, but everything inside had been reduced to wreckage.
“Who opened the door for you? Did you see?”
At the team leader’s question, Yieum only shook his head.
With smoke blinding him, he had heard something from outside—a heavy thud, thud, as if someone were breaking something down. Then, like a miracle, the door had opened.
At first, he thought officers from the nearby substation had arrived.
But that wasn’t it.
When he actually got out, there had been no one outside.
It was baffling. A small amount of blood had been found nearby, but there was no way to know whose it was.
“Damn those useless bastards. Where the hell are they even looking? Hey! Hey! Don’t just stand around over there—check the other side, you sons of bitches!”
As Team Leader Oh shouted at the conscripted policemen conducting the search and stormed off, Namsu came up beside Yieum.
“You should go to the hospital first, sunbae. Your car’s here, and we’ve already put out an alert. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
Ha.
Yieum squeezed his eyes shut.
It had been stupid. Careless.
Who could have imagined they would be ambushed like that?
As regret and self-reproach gnawed at him, the forensic team arrived from the crime scene investigation unit. Watching them head toward the collapsed warehouse, Namsu pushed him lightly from behind.
“Go to the hospital first. I’ll handle the report here. Or should I drive you?”
“It’s fine. I feel a little better after resting.”
Yieum approached Jung Daehan, who was sitting nearby in a daze.
When the smoke had filled the warehouse, Daehan had panicked—but even then, he had tried to protect Yieum, covering Yieum’s nose and mouth with his own hands.
He must have been out of his mind.
He should have covered his own nose.
Yieum glanced at the back of his hand, raw and bloodied from pounding on the door, then sighed and stood. Reaching into his pocket, he took out several evidence bags and handed them to Namsu.
“What are these?”
“Bloodstains and a few hairs I found inside.”
“Don’t tell me you collected these after the fire started.”
“Yeah. Why?”
Namsu looked utterly fed up.
“What’s the point of evidence if you die collecting it?”
“Hey. Even if I die, I still need to know which bastard did it to me.”
Namsu’s expression grew even more incredulous.
“You’re insane… but I respect it.”
“Shut up and give me another bottle of water. My throat hurts like hell.”
Taking the water, Yieum went over to Jung Daehan.
Daehan looked up at him with an exhausted face, and Yieum held out the bottle.
“Drink some more.”
“Are you okay…?”
“As you can see, I’m fine. Get up. Let’s go to the hospital.”
Jung Daehan staggered as he rose, and Yieum supported him. He had kicked the door as if his life depended on it, so his legs must have taken a beating.
Yieum helped him into the passenger seat, then got behind the wheel.
“We should have your leg checked when we get there.”
“It’s fine. It’s not broken. You really are okay, right? I was so scared. I thought something might happen to you…”
Jung Daehan, who had been rambling, abruptly closed his mouth as though realizing what he had let slip.
It was strangely touching that Daehan had worried about him first, even when he’d been in danger himself.
Is this why having friends is nice?
Yieum opened the glove compartment, took out a pack of wet wipes, and handed it to him.
“Wipe your face. You’re a mess.”
While Daehan cleaned the soot from his face, Yieum spoke casually.
“About Yang Mokhyung. Where do you think he went?”
“I wonder…”
He had clearly meant to kill them when he set the fire.
So why open the door?
A change of heart?
Then what had caused the blood on the ground?
Too many things didn’t make sense.
Suddenly, Yieum pulled the car to a stop. Daehan looked at him in confusion as Yieum checked the dashcam.
His face twisted the moment he saw it.
The memory card was gone.
Damn it.
“What is it?”
“The memory card’s missing.”
“Do you think Yang Mokhyung took it?”
“I don’t know.”
Yieum called Namsu, informed him of the situation, and told him to check the dashcam in Yang Mokhyung’s truck as well.
After that, they arrived at the emergency room of a nearby hospital. While they were waiting to be examined, Yieum’s older sister appeared, somehow already aware of what had happened.
She rushed in, breathless, and the moment she saw him, tears filled her eyes.
“Oh my God, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
As she checked him from head to toe, Yieum smiled awkwardly.
“I’m fine. But noona, how did you know to come?”
His sister didn’t answer, but Yieum assumed Team Leader Oh had told her.
The two of them were from the same academy class. Though their ranks had since diverged, they still occasionally met for drinks in private.
As his sister spoke with him, she noticed Jung Daehan sitting beside him and looked puzzled.
“Who’s this? Your new partner?”
“No, this is Prosecutor Jung Daehan. A friend from middle school. Say hello. This is my noona.”
Jung Daehan wiped his hands on his pants and bowed politely.
“Hello. I’m Jung Daehan, from the First Criminal Division of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“Kim Malgeum. I’m Yieum’s noona. Nice to meet you.”
When she introduced herself simply as Yieum’s older sister without mentioning her affiliation, Daehan grew even more tense.
“You’re friends? Why didn’t I know?”
“We went our separate ways after graduation and happened to meet again recently.”
“Then it must be fate. See each other often. And please take good care of Yieum.”
His sister said it with a smile, and Yieum grumbled that he wasn’t a child who needed looking after.
Just then, her phone rang. While she stepped outside to take the call, Jung Daehan lowered his voice and asked about her.
“She’s that person, right? The youngest…”
“How did you know?”
“I saw an article once.”
“Don’t say it in front of her. She hates that.”
In truth, his sister had risen through the ranks faster than most, becoming their father’s pride.
The problem was that she herself was never satisfied.
Unlike Yieum, she was ambitious and always wanted to stay ahead of everyone in every way. Yieum was proud of her, but he also worried that one day she would burn herself out.
Then the door opened without a knock.
Thinking his sister had returned, Yieum looked up—only to see his older brother walk in instead.
With his usual bored, unemployed-looking expression, he shook a box of juice drinks in one hand.
“What’s this? You look fine.”
“Hyung, how did you get here?”
“How else? Ms. Kim Malgeum made a huge fuss. Called me crying and wailing that our youngest was about to die. Honestly.”
It’s not like I was about to die…
Embarrassed, Yieum avoided his gaze.
His brother took out two juice boxes, handing one to Yieum and one to Jung Daehan beside him.
“Who’s this?”
Just as Yieum was about to introduce him, Jung Daehan shot to his feet again.
“Hello. I’m Jung Daehan. I work in the Criminal Division of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“What? Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. I do. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh, really? What did you hear?”
Yieum clearly saw conflict flicker across Jung Daehan’s face.
It was obvious what he was thinking.
There was a reason his brother had earned the nickname “Mad Dog of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”
Still, he was also acknowledged for his undeniable competence.
“I heard you’re an extraordinary person… and that many of your juniors respect you.”
“Aww, you don’t have to flatter me that much.”
His brother grinned as if he believed every word and waved a hand.
Yieum drank the juice he had brought with a displeased expression. Seeing his brother basking in praise without the slightest concern for his injured younger brother, Yieum wished his sister would come back quickly and drag him away.
“I just remembered something from the past.”
“Huh?”
“You once spent nearly an hour explaining how bees affect the ecosystem. Back then, I thought you might become an entomologist. During breaks, you were always crouched by the flowerbeds looking for bugs.”
“Did I really do that…? Well, I did a lot of embarrassing things when I was young…”
“Not at all. I thought it was cool. Back then, I didn’t have any dreams myself. Or anything I particularly liked.”
The screen showed footage of a car driving down the road, but the conversation continued to play.
Choi Wonjoon rewound the video.
The car parked, and Kim Yieum and the prosecutor walked away.
Not long after, Yang Mokhyung appeared.
Carrying a large oil can, Yang Mokhyung headed toward the warehouse, the entire scene captured clearly by the dashcam.
Moments later, flames erupted.
Yang Mokhyung fled in panic.
The recording ended there.
Because Choi Wonjoon’s men had removed the memory chip before capturing Yang Mokhyung.
“Kim Yieum’s condition?”
“The hospital says there’s nothing wrong.”
“Who was with him?”
Section Chief Lee handed the tablet into the back seat.
On the screen was an ID photo of a man wearing a somewhat tense expression.
“Jung Daehan. He was working at a regional office and was recently transferred to the Western District Prosecutors’ Office. He went to the same middle school as Kim Yieum and is one year older.”
Choi Wonjoon silently mulled over the conversation the two had shared in the car.
“You said he’s an alpha?”
“Yes.”
Hm.
This is getting annoying.
Choi Wonjoon rested his arm against the window and stared at the screen.
They had said the drug’s effects would appear within a week, so he had placed someone on Kim Yieum. Today, when Yieum went somewhere remote, his men had followed—and ended up witnessing the incident.
Under Section Chief Lee’s orders, the subordinates had abducted Yang Mokhyung.
One had stayed behind, broken down the warehouse door, and gotten Kim Yieum and Jung Daehan out.
If he hadn’t had Yieum followed, Kim Yieum might have died of smoke inhalation.
“And Yang Mokhyung?”
“He’s in Imun-dong. I’ll give the order to dispose of him immediately.”
“Our next appointment was lunch with CEO Kang, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Cancel it. We’re going to Imun-dong.”