“Are you sure you’re really okay?”
Sena asked with concern, watching Heesin prepare to be discharged. Her secretary stood behind her, observing the two of them. As Heesin undid his buttons to change his clothes, Sena came to his side. A faint trace of her perfume pricked at his nose. Her perceptive secretary had already slipped out of the hospital room without a word.
Yun Sena pressed her cheek against Heesin’s chest and closed her eyes.
“I’m so relieved nothing serious happened. Do you have any idea how frightened I was?”
Heesin said nothing and stroked her hair in silence. Sorry for worrying you. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and she lifted her face — this time wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing her lips to his. Her soft, pliant lips melded against his and their bodies drew a little closer together. His breath grew unsteady, and he gently pulled back — her brow creasing in protest.
“Why—”
“This is your family’s hospital.”
“So? Sometimes you’re so old-fashioned.”
Well, that’s one of the things I like about you. She added those words herself. Having grown up watching her father and brothers’ unfaithfulness with exhaustion, she had made a habit of saying that at the very least, she wanted her own partner to have integrity.
“You’re a patient today, so I’ll restrain myself.”
She said it lightly, then rubbed away the lipstick left on Heesin’s lips with her thumb.
“Look how gaunt that handsome face has gotten.”
“You do love my face.”
“Where else would you find someone who looks like this?”
Still reluctant to part, she brought her lips to his once more with a brief, soft kiss. Then she pulled him into an embrace. She said she didn’t want to let go — that she couldn’t understand why he had to go straight back to work. She even went as far as saying, with all the ease in the world, that she’d love for them to quit working and travel together after they got married.
But Heesin knew. That she would never so easily give up her work.
“We’ll have all the time in the world to go places together later.”
“After I’m a grandmother?”
“You’ll be beautiful even as a grandmother.”
“What good is being beautiful when you’re old and wrinkled.”
He gave her a light, soothing pat and held her briefly, then started doing up his shirt buttons one by one. Sena looped his necktie around his collar and tied it neatly. She finished with a few proud pats on his shoulders, and looking at the contented smile on her face, he felt something complicated stir inside him.
The news had gone out, and the police were chasing the man down right now. Three days had passed, and there was still no word worth hearing. Heesin hoped the man wouldn’t surface. That he’d disappear for good, just like this. What the kidnappers’ purpose had been remained completely beyond him. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled and cluttered his mind became.
Just then, Yun Sena’s phone rang. She looked at it with an unreadable expression and pressed decline.
“I’ve been getting so many spam calls lately.”
It was definitely a phone number, not an unknown. The thought crossed his mind briefly, but he didn’t let it show. A moment later she studied her nails absently and her expression turned faintly sullen. She said she wasn’t happy with the new nail color. She asked whether the color looked alright, and he gave an agreeable nod.
Yun Sena pouted.
“Liar. It’s the exact same color as before. You really don’t pay attention to me.”
“Were you testing me?”
“A test. I happen to think that attention equals affection.”
Heesin quietly took her hand and held it. Let’s go. Should we grab something good for lunch on the way? She grumbled that he was wriggling out of it like a slippery eel — but she tucked her arm through his all the same. Outside the hospital room, her secretary was waiting.
The secretary kept a respectful distance as the two of them walked side by side. Doctors they passed in the corridors greeted them with deferential bows. Throughout his entire hospital stay, the staff had gone to almost burdensome lengths to keep him comfortable. All of it — every bit of it — was courtesy of Yun Sena.
They took the elevator down to the parking lot, and after settling her into the car first, he headed for the driver’s side — when an unfamiliar number called.
With a creeping sense of dread, he pressed answer and brought the phone straight to his ear.
“Hello?”
Silence on the other end. Heesin tensed and quietly bit down on his lower lip. Kim Jungu? Or someone connected to the kidnapping from that night? Whoever it was, it wasn’t someone he wanted to hear from. He was just about to hang up when an unexpected voice came through the line.
— Is now a good time?
“Who is this?”
— It’s Im Gyeong. We met last week — you remember, don’t you?
Heesin frowned without meaning to. As if he could forget. According to Yun Sena, he was supposed to have gone back to Japan. But this call wasn’t coming from overseas. He glanced toward the car. He tapped the window — once, twice — and gestured to Sena to give him a moment.
He walked away from the car and let out a quiet breath.
“What are you calling for.”
— Seems like you’re the one with something going on. I saw the news. How are you holding up? Are you alright?
The unexpected tone of the man’s words left him momentarily lost for words. What the hell is this bastard up to.
“Get to the point. We’re not close enough to be exchanging pleasantries.”
— Fair enough. Let’s meet then.
The bluntness of it caught him off guard.
“What do you mean, just like that—”
— You said get to the point.
“Common courtesy would be to ask whether I have time first.”
— You’ll make time whether you have it or not. That is, if you want to find Kim Jungu.
The moment Kim Jungu’s name left the man’s mouth, it was as though the air had been knocked from his lungs. The fingers gripping the phone trembled faintly. His gaze drifted back toward the car without him thinking. Inside, Sena was checking her phone, completely unaware.
“What exactly are you saying?”
— Playing dumb is definitely your specialty.
He clenched his back teeth. Yun Sena, unable to contain her curiosity, had gotten out of the car and was looking over at him. He told Im Gyeong he’d settle on a place and be in touch, and ended the call. When Sena asked who it was, he said it was the detective handling the case. The entire drive home, his mind was nothing but noise.
“Prosecutor, are you doing alright?”
Heesin nodded as if nothing were the matter. He’d taken medical leave for three days, and now that he was back, everyone he ran into asked after him. The news had made a brief commotion over the attack on the prosecutor, and public attention had already moved on to the presidential election coming up later in the year. He was hanging up his coat when Chief Inspector Oh came over.
“Anything from the police?”
“Nothing notable.”
“This is serious. They need to catch him quickly. How about staying at a hotel or somewhere instead of going home for the time being?”
Heesin gave a dry smile. The deputy chief prosecutor had called him in that morning and said much the same thing. The suspect was still at large and there was no telling when the danger might come again, so he’d suggested staying in the duty room at the prosecutor’s office or at a hotel for a while. Yun Sena had also wanted him to stay at her apartment for the time being.
“Oh — Choi Yuno’s legal representative came by yesterday afternoon.”
Chief Inspector Oh gestured with his eyes toward the desk. Sitting on top of it was an envelope bearing the logo of an entertainment company’s legal team. The night the famous model Kim Juwon died. There had been no shortage of notable names present that evening. Choi Yuno was the last person who had been with him. Kim Juwon had been a model under his agency.
Choi Yuno had stated that he stepped away briefly, and when he returned, Kim Juwon was already dead. But the bruising on Kim Juwon’s neck had left behind a clue suggesting the death might not have been a simple drug overdose. Choi Yuno, naturally, maintained consistently that it had nothing to do with him.
That was why he’d gone all the way to the host bar — to meet Kim Haeseong, who had been close to the deceased Kim Juwon. Of course, that was also where he’d had the misfortune of getting tangled up with Im Gyeong.
Kang Heesin opened the envelope and examined the documents, his expression slowly settling into something harder.
He exhaled quietly — and then the office phone rang. Chief Inspector Oh, who took the call, glanced over at Heesin. He had a slightly puzzled look on his face. He put the landline on hold and called over to Heesin.
“Prosecutor. There’s a visitor in the lobby asking for you.”
For a split second, he thought of his mother back in his hometown and his heart dropped.
He half-rose from his seat without meaning to.
“A visitor? Who?”
“Do you know someone called Im Gyeong?”
Heesin’s brow furrowed sharply. Im Gyeong, who had said he’d contact him once he’d picked a place to meet, had come walking through the doors of the prosecutor’s office on his own two feet. He told them to send him up, and Chief Inspector Oh relayed the message. Once the call ended, staff officer Baek Yeongmi, who had been sitting nearby, looked up with a curious expression.
“Who’s Im Gyeong?”
Instead of answering, Heesin asked Chief Inspector Oh and Baek Yeongmi to give him the room. They cleared out, and a short while later, someone knocked on the door. At least he has the decency to knock — the thought flickered through him briefly. The door opened, and the man he had hoped never to see again pushed his face through.
