Ch.53I wish it were so! (2)

#053

The deputy director looked at Himena.

But Himena shook her head as if she also didn’t understand what was happening.

“You know, the honorary agent position.”

“…It does exist. Though you shouldn’t know about it.”

The keyword “honorary agent” was something Dexter had spontaneously asked about after recalling Pitt, who was also his supervisor.

“Please explain it to me.”

The deputy director, who had deliberately avoided mentioning the honorary agent position because he didn’t want to give it to Dexter, cleared his throat and looked at Himena instead.

“…It’s an honorary position given to agents who achieved significant accomplishments during their service but had to retire early due to unforeseen accidents or regular retirement. Although it’s an honorary position, it comes with the same benefits as OSA’s section chief-level agents, including the immunity and exemption from arrest that Mr. Dexter mentioned.”

After a brief hesitation at first, Himena continued her explanation about the honorary agent position without stumbling.

“There are precedents of giving OSA honorary agent status to contract employees or aliens who assisted with cases. While it has the same benefits as a section chief-level agent, it’s still an honorary position, so they don’t have to take orders from OSA department members of section chief rank or higher.”

“…Explaining even the precedents and authorities—what an excellent agent you are.”

When Himena added details she didn’t need to share, the deputy director showed his teeth as he spoke.

Dexter had seen Pitt, an honorary agent who was also his supervisor, drinking alcohol despite being on a mission to monitor him.

He had simply mentioned it after recalling how Pitt could act freely without particular restrictions as an honorary agent, but now he found himself able to request a position that was perfect for him.

“What do you think? It seems like giving me the honorary agent position would be fine.”

Since the deputy director had essentially shown all his cards to Dexter, any further argument would be futile.

Though he didn’t show it, the deputy director cursed inwardly as he couldn’t refuse Dexter’s demand.

‘Damn it…’

The OSA was already indebted to Dexter, making it difficult to reject his proposal.

The deputy director had no grounds for refusal, especially after the incident fifteen years ago when they failed to properly secure the rescue beacon.

In the end, he could only nod.

“…Fine, honorary agent. I’ll give it to you.”

“Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”

When Dexter extended his hand with the palm facing upward, the deputy director shook it with a displeased expression.

“…I’ll send the details and application form through a messenger. You’ll just need to fill out the paperwork.”

“As expected of someone in your position, you’re quite cool about this.”

Dexter raised an eyebrow.

The deputy director felt dizzy at how Dexter had gone from calling him a senile old man to now praising him as someone befitting the deputy director position.

“…You may leave if you have nothing more to say.”

“Alright then. Let’s head out. Ms. Himena, shall we go together?”

“What? Oh, yes…”

When Himena looked at the deputy director, silently asking if she could leave too, the deputy director gestured lightly for her to go with Dexter right away.

After hesitating at the sight of the deputy director’s reddened face, Himena left with Dexter. The deputy director then spoke to his aide.

“…What’s my next schedule?”

“Since the negotiation ended earlier than expected, you have about an hour to spare.”

Through the office’s front glass window, the deputy director, who was roughly loosening his tie and catching his breath, could see Dexter chatting and laughing with Himena.

With a trembling hand, the deputy director pointed at the glass window and said:

“Close the blinds immediately.”

“…Yes, I’ll do it right away.”

‘Since joining the OSA, I’ve only shown one worst mistake after another.’

The deputy director didn’t want to see even a single strand of Dexter’s hair for a while.

“You’re crazy! You’re absolutely insane!!!!”

After coming up from the OSA headquarters, Himena was slapping Dexter’s back with her palm full force next to his pickup truck.

“Ouch! Strange, I feel like I experienced this yesterday too.”

“Are you crazy? Is that what you call negotiation? That was extortion!”

“Extortion? Such vulgar language from an agent of a federal government department… Ow! That really hurts!”

“You’re trying to make me die of embarrassment, aren’t you? Right? You’re truly the best man!! There’s no man like you!!”

Dexter, seeing Himena this fiery angry for the first time, casually remarked:

“Are you angry?”

“Of course!! Does this look like I’m not angry?! I just got into this place, and now I might have to resign, really?!”

“While you’re not an OSA agent, you’ll be cooperating with investigations, and you won’t get arrested no matter what you do. Isn’t that great?”

“Do you think I’m upset about the demands? It’s the way you did it that was wrong!”

“As long as the result is good, it’s okay… Ouch!”

When Himena glared at him while breathing heavily, Dexter shrugged as if he had no choice and said:

“This was something we had to go through. Things just got a bit complicated, and the deputy director showed an unexpected reaction.”

“You could have spoken more gently!”

Dexter shook his head at Himena’s words.

“It wouldn’t have worked. He would have dodged with excuses like ‘this won’t work because of this’ and ‘that won’t work because of that.’ It’s obvious.”

So even provoking him was part of the negotiation strategy.

While that made sense when she thought about it, Himena pointed at herself and said to Dexter:

“Still, you could have asked me first?”

“Come on, that wouldn’t have been fun.”

“Who negotiates for fun?!”

With those words, Himena slapped Dexter’s upper arm with her palm, making a loud sound, but ended up clutching her own hand as the pain reverberated through it.

“Ouch! This is like stone!”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

Himena, dizzy from Dexter’s bulldozer-style negotiation, placed her hand on her forehead and said:

“Sigh… So, are we parting ways here today?”

“Well, I need to check on a colleague’s workout and then head home.”

“You’re going to watch a colleague work out?”

“They asked for help. What can I do but help?”

When Dexter shrugged, Himena, who would normally have just nodded and sent him home, asked:

“Is it a woman?”

“My colleague? Yes, she is.”

As soon as she heard that, Himena crossed her arms and started looking at Dexter with a slanted posture.

Seeing Himena’s sideways stance, Dexter chuckled and said:

“What? Are you suspicious?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“Very.”

Dexter turned on his phone and showed Himena a picture of Judy sprawled on the gym floor.

Looking at Judy, who was drenched in sweat and staring blankly at the ceiling as if she didn’t want to move, Himena uncrossed her arms and pointed at the screen:

“…Did you torture her?”

“What torture? I just made her exercise. Would you like to join?”

“No thanks. I can tell you’d work me to death.”

“Ah, you caught me.”

After putting his phone back in his pocket, Dexter smiled and got into his pickup truck.

Himena, who had been staring at Dexter, blinked slowly and said:

“Don’t forget our promise.”

“Of course. See you in four days.”

As Dexter soon disappeared from the parking lot, Himena thought of the picture of Judy sprawled out at the gym.

“…I hope everything’s okay.”

* * *

Today, as usual, Judy was sprawled out on the gym floor.

“Hiiik… Good job…”

“You’re quite exceptional today. Well done.”

Dexter clapped his hands, applauding Judy for excellently completing her workout quota for the day.

-Clap clap clap.

“Just 5 minutes, can I stay like this for 5 minutes…?”

“It’s not good to lie on the floor, let’s go to the bench.”

As Judy tried to get up from the floor, Dexter simply slipped his hands under her neck and knee joints while she was still sprawled out.

“What, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to carry you.”

Dexter lifted Judy effortlessly and walked toward the bench, prompting Judy to ask cautiously:

“Aren’t I… heavy?”

“I’m being sincere here, you should gain some weight. You’re too light.”

‘A woman should have plump buttocks and thighs.’

Like Jessie, Judy was also quite skinny.

“The amount of exercise is appropriate now, so I won’t ask you to do more, but let’s increase your food intake a bit.”

“…I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

After carefully placing Judy on the bench, Dexter went somewhere briefly and returned with a water bottle covered in condensation, handing it to Judy.

“After you rest, I’ll drive you home. Just freshen up a bit.”

“…Yes, Mr. Hughes. I have something to tell you when you drive me home. Do you have time?”

“Yes, of course. It’s a holiday, so I’m free.”

Dexter nodded seriously at Judy’s voice, which mixed exhaustion from the workout with what seemed like anxiety about something.

After recovering some strength and finishing her shower, Judy went outside the gym where Dexter was waiting in his pickup truck.

As Judy got into the pickup truck, Dexter slowly began to leave the gym.

“…This might be a bit long. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine.”

If the conversation was going to be lengthy, he could take a detour.

Dexter glanced at Judy and nodded slightly.

Thinking about the rumors related to Dexter that she had heard in prison, Judy cautiously began:

“I’m not sure, but I feel like someone is following me.”

“Someone following you? Stalking?”

Judy carefully shook her head.

“I don’t think it’s like that, just… just, I always feel like someone is watching me.”

For someone other than Dexter, this might have been a trivial matter to dismiss lightly.

However, having experienced many strange incidents recently, Dexter couldn’t ignore Judy’s problem.

Judy was someone who couldn’t even speak up to her boss who hurled abuse at her.

The very fact that she was confiding in Dexter, of all people, suggested that this might be quite a serious matter.

“When do you get this feeling?”

“Once or twice a day… It seems to happen mostly at home. Of course, when I turn around or look around, there’s no shadow of a person or anything.”

After talking with Judy a bit more, there was no evidence beyond “feeling someone’s gaze.”

In such cases, there wasn’t much Dexter could do, but he could at least introduce some basic safety measures.

“Try to always carry your phone with you, whether it’s a holiday or a workday, and call or text me if you get that feeling. Also, prepare things like pepper spray, a gun… well, maybe that’s too much. Anyway, prepare such things in advance.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you because I thought it would be a bother.”

“A bother? This could potentially be related to a crime. Being prepared is important.”

Dexter smiled gently and said:

“Oh, and do your exercises inside the gym, and don’t walk back home—drive your car instead.”

“I’ll definitely do that.”

After finishing her words, Judy rubbed her palms against her thighs hesitantly before speaking again:

“Um, is it okay if I call you for… other things too?”

“Hm? Oh, sure.”

“Since I don’t have friends around and I live alone, I sometimes get a bit lonely.”

“Whether it’s an invitation to eat together or a request to help assemble IKEA furniture, it’s all fine. Call me anytime.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Come on, that’s what helping each other is all about.”

As they approached Judy’s house, Dexter grinned.

After Judy got out of the car, Dexter opened the passenger window and said to her:

“See you for lunch tomorrow.”

“Oh, right. Work tomorrow. Am I causing you trouble…?”

“It’s fine, really. It’s good for me to exercise too.”

As Dexter waved lightly and headed toward his home, Judy quietly watched his pickup truck disappear into the distance.

The next morning, Dexter received his daily work assignments while chatting casually with Dan as usual, then headed to Jessie’s assigned area.

“So, it was fucking hilarious, I’m telling you!”

“Really…?”

“Really! Ah, you should have seen that bastard’s face whining about not having a spark plug… Oh.”

Jessie, who was excitedly chatting with Emily, was about to greet Dexter happily when she saw him walking from a distance, but after glancing at Emily beside her, she cleared her throat.

“Ahem. Officer Hughes… It feels like it’s been a long time.”

“Blueberg.”

Seeing Jessie’s fidgety behavior, Dexter also nodded lightly in response to her greeting.

‘Looks like she wants to jump into my arms right now.’

Normally, Jessie would have been in Dexter’s arms, rubbing her face against his chest, but Emily, who shared the same cell, was right beside her.

“You two seem to have gotten close. Is it because you share the same room?”

“That’s right. Jessie has been taking good care of me.”

‘Wouldn’t people usually say something like that with a bright smile or at least a slight grin?’

Pointing at Emily, who spoke as if she was forcing herself to act, Dexter looked at Jessie and asked:

“Is she always like this?”

“Ah, her personality is a bit… but she’s a kind and fun friend.”

“Kind and fun, huh.”

Dexter nodded at Jessie’s casual response, which suggested they had become closer than when they last talked.

‘It’s good they’ve become friends, but I need to find a time when Jessie is alone.’

Dexter sometimes needed comfort too.

Especially after the exhausting events of the past few days, Dexter also had a rising desire to hold Jessie’s warm body.

As Dexter was showing a slightly impatient look, the dazed Emily looked at Jessie and said:

“Um, I need to go to the bathroom for a moment.”

“Oh? Okay. See you.”

Once Emily disappeared from sight and there was no one around, Jessie sighed deeply and said:

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I feel the same. Though it’s only been two days.”

Jessie quickly glanced around once and then fell into Dexter’s arms.

Dexter also stroked Jessie with one hand as she nestled in his embrace.

As she rubbed her face against Dexter’s chest, Jessie noticed that his attitude was different from usual.

“…Why aren’t you teasing me?”

“What?”

“I said, why aren’t you teasing me? This is usually when you’d say something like ‘Do you enjoy being in my arms that much?'”

“Do you see me as someone who only teases all the time?”

“Yes.”

Dexter was about to refute but paused to think for a moment, then nodded.

“I guess that’s true.”

As Jessie glared at him suspiciously, Dexter defended himself:

“I’ve been dealing with some tiring stuff lately, so I don’t have the energy to tease.”

“Ah, so that’s it? I thought you were tired from dating women during your days off.”

“What exactly do you think I am?”

“A Casanova bastard who would attract all kinds of women if left alone?”

Jessie’s intuition was particularly sharp today.

“Wow, you know my charm exactly.”

“Ah, why did I end up liking such an annoying guy?”

Jessie lightly hit Dexter’s chest and said:

“Nothing unusual happened while I was gone?”

“No, nothing unusual. Oh, Emily was a bit strange though.”

“Emily? Why?”

“You saw that scab on her lip before, right?”

“Scab… Oh, yes.”

When Dexter first saw Emily, he had noticed a scab on her lip as if someone had hit her.

Jessie checked if Emily was coming back, then carefully said:

“I think she might have kleptomania.”

“Kleptomania?”

When Dexter asked again, Jessie nodded vigorously as if she was certain.