‘Did he really try to kill me and leave?’
That was probably the correct answer. Heat suddenly surged up.
“Son of a bitch. I should have beaten him half to death without hesitation.”
“Pardon?”
Administrative Officer Lee’s question flew out of nowhere. Jaeha was the one who was startled.
“When did you come in?”
“I was organizing the mail… I knocked but you didn’t respond. I’m sorry.”
Administrative Officer Lee quickly put down the mail and left. Through the window connecting their office and Jaeha’s office, the outside was clearly visible.
The two staff members whispered while being conscious of this side, as if worried about someone possessed by a ghost. His ears burned.
Recently, because of Jung Kyungwoo, there had been many incidents damaging his image. There was the bandage stuck squarely on his head, and the model student image he had maintained well was also fading. His embarrassment grew considerably.
‘Anyway, he’s a bastard who bothers me in various ways.’
He had also been cursing inwardly more often.
Jung Kyungwoo.
It was proof that his reason crumbled when those three syllables got entangled, but Jaeha didn’t properly realize it.
He continued pondering the reason Jung Kyungwoo chose to go to America.
Even chaebols couldn’t easily escape direct murder. The refuge he rushed to right after committing an unmanageable act was, of all places, America, which has an extradition treaty?
No matter how much it was where he grew up, wasn’t it too major a country as a place to hide after special assault? If there was no special meaning to it, why bother?
‘Special meaning.’
Might there be a clue about Jung Kyungwoo’s ominous seizure symptoms there?
Jaeha picked up the intercom. Administrative Officer Lee outside answered.
“Please look into the entry and exit records for Taeryoung Holdings Executive Director Jung Kyungwoo.”
-Understood.
After putting down the receiver, Jaeha checked the date in the corner of the monitor screen. About a week still remained of the promised two weeks.
He could check the entry and exit record file the next day. Jung Kyungwoo had visited various countries after graduating from university and returning home, and most seemed to be for business purposes. But what stood out was Seattle, America.
‘Why Seattle?’
America was such a ‘nationwide’ star that it wouldn’t be particularly strange wherever he went. However, it became strange when the cross-keyword Taeryoung Logistics was added. There was no Taeryoung factory or branch office there.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a personal visit.
Jaeha brought up Jung Kyungwoo’s portal profile again. After looking at the education section, he searched for the school.
It was a school in a small city not far from Seattle.
Additionally, he confirmed that the region bordered British Columbia, Canada, and was also a state where marijuana had recently been legalized.
“As expected.”
He couldn’t rule out the possibility that he went there to do marijuana. Could it be smuggling?
The back of his head throbbed.
The fact that Jung Kyungwoo attacked Jaeha with a pipe was a very powerful card. Even without CCTV, he had secured the weapon, so there was sufficient physical evidence.
However, it was difficult to use this arbitrarily. Special assault and attempted murder were so serious that the moment he tried to reveal them to control Jung Kyungwoo, there was a possibility that Taeryoung Chairman Jung Taeho would step in.
‘Jung Taeho is still too much to handle.’
Chaebol heads held power far stronger than one might think.
In an empty prosecutor’s investigation room, he could make a statement to a colleague or sunbae he thought he could trust and return home, only to find himself biodegrading at the bottom of some reservoir without anyone knowing.
Cards that were too dangerous were dangerous to hold. This kind of card, unless you clearly showed you had no intention of using it before the other side threatened your life, could easily get you eliminated without anyone knowing just by possessing it. Jung Kyungwoo had attempted that too.
He needed minor information to use in the meantime. Normally, marijuana smuggling was weak for bringing down a chaebol heir, but considering the Taeryoung family’s strict family traditions, they would react sensitively to the heir’s deviation.
Jaeha concluded that if he could just find evidence of drug use, it would be enough pressure on Jung Kyungwoo personally.
“Securing body hair will be important.”
He wondered whether to notify him of the meeting time. He took out his mobile phone and brought up Jung Kyungwoo’s personal number.
“Phew.”
Jaeha took a deep breath while lightly holding the back of his neck with one hand. It was the first call with that bastard after his head was split. Pre-work to calm his temper in advance was necessary to prevent profanity from bursting out first.
“Should I text? He might not answer the phone.”
While pondering between text and call, suddenly two unfamiliar hands popped onto the desk.
“Waah!”
Startled, Jaeha almost jumped from his seat.
“Eek!”
Section Chief Joo, who had been touching the document binders piled beside the desk, was more startled and flustered. Seeing the pile of documents about to collapse, the two reflexively reached out to catch it.
After barely stopping the accident that would have become a mess, Jaeha inadvertently burst out in anger at Section Chief Joo, who also couldn’t manage his expression from being startled in succession.
“Really, Administrative Officer Lee did this before too. Did you two receive some spy training? Why do you suddenly come in and startle people like this?”
“I knocked. I also told you I’d take the materials you looked at…”
As if aggrieved, Section Chief Joo pointed to the open door. From outside, Administrative Officer Lee looked in, wondering what was going on.
“He knocked twice.”
The administrative officer outside took the section chief’s side. Then Jaeha became embarrassed. The section chief said while stacking the document binders properly.
“You’ve been strange lately, Prosecutor.”
“Me?”
“You often fall into other thoughts so deeply you can’t even hear knocking. Is something wrong by any chance?”
“It’s nothing. It’s an extremely personal matter.”
“Ah, if you need help anytime, please let me know.”
“That won’t happen. You may leave.”
“Yes.”
Section Chief Joo, who answered obediently, left carrying the materials Jaeha had checked all morning. The door separating the space where the two staff members were and the space where Jaeha was remained open, so the sound of the two staff members’ short whispered conversation could be heard.
“Suspicious, right?”
“100 percent. It’s a woman, a woman.”
“His love business must not be going well. His face is full of worry.”
“He’s famous for having high standards, so if he’s suffering like that, I’m curious what kind of impressive family’s woman she is.”
“Isn’t she a celebrity?”
“Could be.”
“Anyway, she must be a tremendous beauty. Until now, dozens of matchmakers came with photos, and when he rejected them, he probably said not to bring anyone uglier than him, right?”
He had never said such a thing. Jaeha had only said not to tell him to meet someone unconditionally just because she’s pretty, since he didn’t particularly look at appearance.
Of course, when told he should meet a beauty for the sake of second-generation children, he had once answered, ‘My genes aren’t bad either, so it’s fine.’
‘Does that get distorted like that?’
Should he clarify? He pondered slightly. However, he didn’t want to reveal he was eavesdropping, so he just kept his mouth shut. And he quietly got up and closed the door too.
Click.
He closed it carefully, but the sound of the latch locking couldn’t be helped. The two staff members were startled into silence and suddenly immersed themselves in work. He didn’t want to give the image of watching from behind. Jaeha went to his desk with a bitter smile.
[Saturday. 9 o’clock. The place we met before.]
It was ridiculous to agonize over how to contact someone like Jung Kyungwoo, so Jaeha just sent a simple text. And he immersed himself in work again.
Just before leaving work in the evening, his mobile phone vibrated.
[ㅗ]
Only a middle finger was delivered.
“Are you an elementary schooler?”
He inadvertently chuckled. The corners of his eyes twitched. It was a fact he had recently realized, but Jaeha himself had a habit of laughing while getting angry when faced with childish and annoying things. It was also the psychology of dealing with an elementary school gamer with dirty manners, with the sentiment of ‘let’s see how far you go.’
Son of a bitch. How should I mess with this guy?
Ding.
[Date is Friday. Place and time will be notified later.]
He had clearly said Jaeha would decide the time and date.
‘There’s no way he’ll come obediently.’
However, he decided to focus more on the fact that he was following his proposal for now.
When Friday came, Jaeha prepared to leave work one hour early in a surprise move. If he mentioned it in advance, he didn’t know how or where Director Oh might hear and appear. Today he had to move in an unpredictable way.
When he made the excuse that something urgent came up, Section Chief Joo looked surprised.
“It’s not a serious matter, is it?”
“It’s a personal matter.”
“Ah, yes.”
Doubt flowed from his answering tone. However, when Jaeha smiled brightly and drew an unspoken line, he didn’t open his mouth further. Instead, he exchanged a meaningful look with Administrative Officer Lee.
‘Should I casually hint that I’m going on a date?’
Jaeha pondered slightly while organizing the documents to take. He couldn’t be certain how often he would meet with Jung Kyungwoo from now on. Should he make an appropriate excuse in advance?
‘Not yet.’
It was something he didn’t know how long would last. If by any chance the two meddlesome staff members asked whether things weren’t going well with that woman, it would be troublesome. Rumors in branch offices tended to spread everywhere through that kind of one-cup-of-coffee network between such staff members.
There was already a precedent of being dragged away by surprise. This time he wanted to prepare thoroughly.
As soon as he left work, he stopped by home and closed his eyes for about an hour. After waking up, showering, and changing into comfortable clothes, just as he was pondering slightly between sneakers and athletic shoes, his mobile phone rang.
It was Jung Kyungwoo.
[Han River XX Park 11 o’clock]
The location was too excellent. It was just the right place to cripple someone taking advantage of the darkness.
He was about to take his car but suddenly changed his mind. He walked outside and walked to the convenience store at the entrance of the apartment complex.
While picking up a strong black coffee and paying, he made idle small talk to the convenience store clerk.
“Today’s really nice weather to go to the Han River, right?”
“Today? I’m not sure.”
The clerk, who had been mechanically scanning barcodes with drooping eyes, finally raised his head and looked at Jaeha. Not missing that timing, he smiled brightly.
“I haven’t seen you before. You must not have worked here long?”
“I’m the owner here. I’ve been here since the apartment move-in. You’ve come several times before too, customer.”
Of course he knew. But to accurately remember meeting Seo Jaeha at this place today when asked later, it was better to plant a slightly unfamiliar memory.
“My friend asked me to meet at the Han River today. I need to buy chicken. You can order delivery to the Han River these days, right?”
“Of course. If you call, they’ll bring everything.”
“Thank you. Sell a lot.”
When he left the greeting pleasantly, a smile hung on the owner’s stiff face too.
