I woke up to the sounds of the city again today.
It’s already the third day of the investigation.
The dragnet still wasn’t narrowing.
I quickly got dressed again, sat in my chair, and started looking through the reports.
◈◈◈
That day, I was reviewing the reports in the busy police station to understand the situation.
Missing person reports were common, but most of them described similar cases.
‘They lock people up somewhere and make them play games,’ ‘They turn men into women.’
I didn’t want to believe it, but so far, exactly 162 people had given consistent statements.
And the identities of 131 of them… didn’t exist.
Even if it sounded absurd, when over 100 people gave the same statement, it was a different story.
Even if they were false reports, a investigation team would eventually be formed, and we couldn’t avoid investigating.
◈◈◈
“Haa… but no matter how I look at it, it’s a false report.”
“Detective… then you can just drop out of the investigation like me…”
As he came out of the open door with coffee, I could tell it was his aide, Lee Deok-yeong.
He was unusually skinny compared to other officers, and his black wolf cut was quite striking.
Currently, he’s helping me with the investigation as an assistant…
…but saying he’s helping is just a formality; he knows the details of the investigation and has effectively dropped out.
“I have my own philosophy.”
“You know I didn’t come here for the salary, right?”
“That’s the problem! Do you think you’re the main character in a novel?”
He said as he handed me the coffee, so I knew he was at least looking out for me.
I chuckled and went back to reviewing the reports, and I found a pattern.
A small number of them had mentioned people who had given statements, and all of them were now missing…
It wasn’t a lie, at least, but their statements were so absurd that I couldn’t tell how much of it was true.
Did the kidnapper intentionally drug them and let them go?
It didn’t make sense that they would kidnap someone and then release them after they won a vote.
In fact, if I couldn’t properly investigate by today, I would have to renew the contract.
To ask me to do an investigation that takes at least two weeks in three days…
It seemed like the higher-ups were taking this case lightly.
Based on experience, the investigation would be put on hold and quietly dropped…
My conscience tells me to do my best, but I can’t see any way out of this.
The sounds from the city kept ringing in my ears, and I couldn’t seem to think straight.
When is this police station going to get soundproofing…?
“I’m going out for some air.”
“Already? Me too…!”
He looked like he was going to follow me, but I flatly refused.
It’s just for a few minutes anyway, and it’s not good for resting if it’s noisy around.
[Click-]
“Could you organize the documents in the order they were reported while I’m gone?”
…
“Hoo…”
Sitting on a chair, drinking canned coffee, and looking at the scenery full of trees…
Especially with the title of a seven-year detective, there was a certain romance to it.
The vending machine here is unusually cheap, and the scenery is nice, so I often come here.
But lately, I’ve mostly been drinking canned coffee, so my head feels a bit hazy.
Is it because I’ve had too much caffeine, or is it just because it’s cold?
The fact that it even feels chilly around here is a drawback.
“Excuse me, may I sit next to you for a moment?”
I turned my head and saw a man with a neat hairstyle wearing a suit.
“Ah… yes, please sit down.”
He asked for my permission and slowly started to sit down.
It’s not like the chair is for personal use anyway, he could just sit down… he was quite a gentlemanly person.
Seeing this kind of person and the surrounding scenery made me want to donate a little.
“Would you like me to buy you a simple drink?”
“Ah… if so, I would appreciate it if you could get me the same thing.”
I slowly got up from the chair and pressed the button on the top right of the vending machine.
Looking at the price… it’s 800 won.
It was an ambiguous price that didn’t end cleanly, but I took out a thousand won from my wallet and put it in the vending machine.
“Here you go.”
As the canned coffee came out, I took it and handed it to the man, but his expression still seemed vague.
“Could you give me the remaining change?”
He’s asking for the change… I was a little taken aback.
But it was better to just give him the 200 won.
It would just jingle in my pocket, and it would only add weight to my wallet.
“Here you go.”
“Ah, thank you. I like things to be neatly in order.”
He put the coins in his pocket and started drinking the canned coffee, so I decided to focus on the scenery as well.
Strangely, sitting and looking at the scenery with him made me feel like the stress was disappearing.
“Well then, I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
The man next to me seemed busy as well.
But I felt like I wanted to be with him a little longer.
It would be a bit much to suddenly ask for his business card.
Maybe I should at least know his name.
“Could you… tell me your name?”
Then he gave me a suspicious look, seemed to smile for a moment, and opened his mouth.
“My name is… Kong Yu.”
…
When I returned to the police station, the busy atmosphere inside had subsided a bit.
I glanced at the clock and realized it was already close to 1 PM.
Everyone must be out for lunch, so I walked towards the cup ramen box for a moment.
“Are you eating Yukgaejang again today? You’ve been doing this for seven years…”
“This is faster. I need to focus on the investigation.”
As I sat down in my chair and tried to open a cup of ramen, I saw Deok-yeong looking at me with a strange expression.
Did I… do something wrong?
“Instead of that, take a look at that bag over there.”
Come to think of it, there was a bag on the desk that wasn’t there before I left.
I walked towards the bag and looked inside… there was Jokbal (pig’s feet) packaged for what looked like two servings.
“What!? Did you buy this? With the current prices…”
“I’m just buying it, so let’s eat together. You haven’t been cooperating anyway.”
I’ve grown close to Deok-yeong, but he hasn’t bought me something like this often.
I wanted to refuse, but I must have been pushing myself too hard, because my hand automatically reached for the Jokbal.
“Haa… okay. Well, since you already bought it, let’s eat.”
Then he seemed happy and took the Jokbal out of the bag and put it on the desk.
…
“Where did you buy this?”
“It’s quite famous in this neighborhood, but you’re always stuck around here, Detective…”
I felt a little guilty.
The Jokbal was quite tender and more delicious than most famous restaurants.
But.
[Beep- Beep- Beep-]
When the alarm rang on my phone, I glanced at it and had no choice but to get up immediately.
“Damn it… let’s go now.”
“No way…”
It was nearly impossible to narrow down the investigation in three days anyway…
But still, it’s not fair to have it ring while I’m eating Jokbal.
I opened the closet and saw several slightly worn black leather jackets.
I didn’t really want to wear them because they looked too much like a movie detective, but it was colder outside than I thought, so I couldn’t help it.
“It’s colder than I thought, so take this.”
I took out one of the jackets from the closet, casually put it on, and started checking my equipment.
“I’m ready…!”
“Then let’s go, it’s urgent.”
I still hadn’t finished checking all the equipment, but it looked like we would be cutting it close even if we left now.
I should have set the timer with a little more leeway…
[Click-]
…
“Oh my, Chief Kim. How have you been?”
“Haha, it’s been a while. How’s the detective life going?”
“I’m still learning a lot~”
Investigation Chief Kim Yeong-beom.
He’s the one who helped me become a detective seven years ago.
In addition, he’s in charge of this case.
“Anyway, let’s get to the investigation.”
As he sat down on the red sofa in front of us, Deok-yeong and I complied and sat down on the opposite sofa.
Maybe it was because it had been a while, but the sofa looked more comfortable than usual.
“Anyway… this case feels like a childish prank, so I sympathize…”
“But over 100 people have reported it, so we can’t just brush it off, right?”
I agreed with that, but three days was too short.
But I hadn’t found any major clues, so I couldn’t say anything.
“The higher-ups are trying to put this on hold right now.”
“Everything’s fine, but let’s just wrap it up neatly so it looks good to people.”
“…Yes. I’ll do my best.”
The content of the case itself is definitely unrealistic…
It was the first time I had heard those words, ‘let’s just wrap it up neatly,’ from him.
“But we need a reason, so I brought someone.”
“Don’t be alarmed, just finish the investigation appropriately.”
He brought someone?
Well, it would be a relief if there were no further measures…
There were a lot of guys who caused trouble during previous investigations, so I was worried.
Even if it was a case like this, I wanted to avoid that.
[Click-]
I heard the sound of the door opening behind me, and I turned my head and saw a familiar silhouette.
“I’m Detective Im Oh-yeong. I look forward to working with you.”
