“What if you end up having to raise him?”
At Seon-gyu’s remark, Yieum drove an elbow into his side.
With a groan, Seon-gyu doubled over and started whining about dying, while Yieum got dressed and left Youngsik in his care. The local precinct still hadn’t contacted him, so on his next day off, two days from now, he planned to take Youngsik back to the scene of the accident. Maybe seeing the place again would stir something in his memory.
He tossed a black shirt over his white tee and grabbed his car keys, only to feel someone tugging at him from behind.
Turning around, he found Youngsik clutching the hem of his shirt, staring up at him with gloomy eyes.
Even though Seon-gyu had spent the last few days looking after him, Youngsik only seemed to cling to Yieum.
“I’m the one who played with you at the playground till my dick practically fell off, and this is how you repay me? Hey, Youngsik. I’m offended.”
Now that they’d gotten more comfortable around each other, Seon-gyu casually slung an arm around Youngsik’s shoulders despite the height difference and puffed himself up smugly.
Youngsik blinked at him in confusion.
“What does ‘dick fell off’ mean…?”
Yieum shot Seon-gyu a warning look, but Seon-gyu ignored it completely. Grinning, he grabbed the front of his pants and shook it.
“This. I mean this. A man needs a strong dick.”
“Quit teaching him weird crap.”
“What’s the problem? It’s not like he’s an actual kid. Seriously, does it even make sense for an alpha who looks like that to have zero experience? Right, Youngsik? Tell me. Got a girlfriend or not?”
“A girlfriend… what’s that?”
“You know. Someone you want to kiss and hug.”
At that, Youngsik slowly turned to look at Yieum.
Yieum stiffened.
Why the hell are you looking at me?
“For the record, Detective Kim Yieum over there might as well not even have a dick. Completely useless. All he ever does is chase criminals around. And that guy’s a beta too. You can tell just by looking, can’t you?”
Yieum stared at Seon-gyu, who was cackling to himself like an idiot, then grabbed his keys.
“I’m leaving.”
As always, before Yieum headed out, Youngsik neatly clasped his hands together and bowed politely.
His mental age might be young, but the longer Yieum spent around him, the more mature he seemed in certain ways.
Which only made things harder.
He needed to find Youngsik’s family as quickly as possible, but the fact that no missing persons report had been filed yet only deepened his unease.
Does he not have any family?
Did he really live alone in the mountains?
Maybe he only looked intimidating, but was actually just innocent enough to run away from people altogether?
Lost in useless speculation, Yieum eventually arrived at the station.
The moment he stepped inside, Namsu approached him.
“She’s in the interrogation room.”
“Who?”
“You know. The madam from Atelier.”
Apparently, the victim whose body had been discovered dismembered had spent quite a long time drinking at the bar before his death. Yieum had stopped by yesterday, but the madam who’d been entertaining him that night wasn’t there, so he’d left his contact information instead.
He opened the interrogation room door and stepped inside.
The team leader, who had been speaking with her, rose from his seat. After giving Yieum a pat on the shoulder, he headed out.
Yieum pulled out a chair and sat down.
Across from him, the madam lounged with her legs crossed, looking faintly tired.
“Hello. Lieutenant Kim Yieum.”
He handed over his business card. The woman glanced between the card and his face before smiling faintly.
“My, Detective. That’s quite an unusual name. And you’re very handsome too.”
Ignoring the comment, Yieum got straight to the point.
“I stopped by yesterday, but you weren’t there. I was planning to visit again today, though it seems you saved me the trouble.”
“My mother was ill, so I went to see her. That’s all. Besides, it’s not exactly good for business when detectives keep showing up at the bar.” She crossed her arms. “You said you had questions for me.”
Yieum pulled a photograph of the victim from his notebook and placed it on the table.
The woman’s gaze settled on the photo.
Yieum studied her expression carefully, but she showed no visible reaction.
Using one manicured finger, she slowly dragged the photograph closer.
“I heard you were with him that night.”
“I was.”
“You sat with him personally?”
“For about thirty minutes, then I left. He gets handsy when he drinks.”
“What do you mean by handsy?”
“He hits people. Men, women—it doesn’t matter. One of our servers even had his eardrum ruptured after getting slapped by him.”
“And you didn’t report it?”
The woman laughed incredulously.
“Detective, you’re even more naive than you look. You investigated us, didn’t you? Then you should already know who runs our establishment. And where their backing comes from.”
“How was he that day? Anything unusual? Any memorable conversations?”
“Hm.” She tilted her head slightly. “He did seem excited about something… though I don’t remember clearly.”
Yieum looked at her calmly.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to keep dropping by until your memory improves. Every day, if necessary. I’m sure your customers would love having a detective permanently stationed there.”
The woman clicked her tongue and sighed before leaning back in her chair, idly examining her nails.
“I don’t know the details. He said he had a major project lined up. Something about receiving investment money from a construction company. Mostly bragging, really. Claimed he was close with some executive there.”
“A construction company?”
“You know, the famous one from all the commercials. What was it called again…? Ugh, my memory.”
“Sehwa?”
“That’s it.”
She snapped her fingers.
“He kept boasting about how he and one of the executive directors were practically brothers. Honestly, I stopped listening halfway through. Men like him all say the same things eventually. Half of it’s bullshit anyway.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s all. He was drunk, so we called him a designated driver and sent him home.”
No matter how much further Yieum pressed, the answers remained the same.
Finally, he shut his laptop.
“Thank you for cooperating.”
The woman rose from her chair.
Then she pulled a business card from her small handbag and handed it to him.
“If you need anything else, don’t come to the bar. Contact me directly instead. That’s my personal number.”
She gave him a wink before brushing past him and leaving the room.
When Yieum stepped outside, she was already gone, and the office had descended into chaos.
The team swarmed him immediately.
“Did you get anything?”
“Damn, she’s even prettier in person. That was Han Joo-hee, right? The actress?”
“You actually remembered that? From how long ago?”
“We should probably dig deeper into this.” Yieum glanced toward Namsu. “You and I are heading to Sehwa Construction this afternoon.”
“Sehwa? Why?”
“The victim mentioned getting investment money from one of Sehwa Construction’s executive directors before he died. We need to verify it.”
“Honey. It’s not that I meant to, I really had a situation. I’m sorry. Yieum asked me for a favor, how was I supposed to say no—”
Seon-gyu held the phone away from his ear as his girlfriend’s shrill yelling exploded through the receiver.
When she threatened to break up with him if he didn’t come immediately, Seon-gyu glanced back at Youngsik, who was sitting quietly on the sofa.
Youngsik had been there watching TV ever since lunch.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there soon. Just wait twenty minutes. I’m coming.”
After hanging up, Seon-gyu walked over to him.
“Youngsik. Is the cartoon fun?”
“Yes….”
“Hyung has somewhere to be for a bit. Can you stay home alone for an hour? No, wait. Thirty minutes?”
Youngsik nodded without taking his eyes off the television.
Relieved, Seon-gyu grinned brightly, grabbed his coat and keys, then paused at the door to look back one last time.
Other than when they went to the playground, Youngsik was usually quiet at home. Leaving him alone for an hour should be fine.
Right now, calming down his furious girlfriend took priority.
“I’ll buy you ice cream on the way back!”
The door opened and shut behind him.
Left alone, Youngsik quietly watched the cartoon playing on TV.
Eventually, the episode ended.
Youngsik stood up and headed to the bathroom to wash the snack crumbs from his hands.
Standing in front of the sink, he stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long time.
Who am I?
What kind of person was I?
The questions slowly swelled inside him.
At the same time, the thought that recovering his memories might mean parting ways with Kim Yieum filled him with gloom.
Youngsik liked it here.
No—he liked Mister Kim Yieum.
He turned on the faucet and rubbed soap between his palms.
The slippery texture was strangely entertaining, but suddenly the soap slipped free with a plop and dropped to the floor.
Startled, Youngsik instinctively bent down to pick it up before the floor got dirty.
The moment he stepped forward, his foot landed on the soap.
His balance gave out instantly.
His body lurched sideways, and though he tried to brace himself with one hand, his head slammed into the bathtub first.
Thunk!
His vision blurred.
Then everything went black.
How much time had passed?
Youngsik slowly opened his eyes.
Groaning, he pushed himself up from the floor and staggered to his feet.
One hand pressed against his aching head, the other gripping the sink for support, he slowly raised his eyes toward the mirror.
The first thing he saw was the ridiculous fringe hanging over his forehead.
Then the childish T-shirt with a teddy bear printed across it.
His expression twisted violently.
After staring at himself for a long moment, a low curse slipped from his mouth.
“What the fuck is this.”