“It’s not Jeong Rok. Moon Jeong-rok is not my Jeong Rok.”
Jung Yoon sat there blankly, trying to soothe himself by repeating that thought.
Before he knew it, Jeong Rok had finished his cigarette and returned.
The faint smell of tobacco lingering in the car wasn’t as unpleasant today.
“Where to next?”
Fourteen hours had passed since they’d driven around the area, spoken to nearby shop assistants and a few locals, and then settled into the car.
The alley was now lit by streetlights.
***
Jung Yoon, rubbing his tired temples, opened the documents on his thigh in response to Jeong Rok’s question.
Jeong Rok was slumped in his seat, slightly reclined.
“Yeong-ju.”
Yeong-ju was where a woman, known as Yoo Bo-ha’s sister, lived.
Han-gyeol had specifically marked it as the next most frequent location Yoo Bo-ha visited.
Yoo Bo-ha’s sister had reportedly married a Korean man and obtained permanent residency.
There was information that Yoo Bo-ha often sought help from her relatively well-off sister.
However, according to the informant, Yoo Bo-ha, who used to appear at least once a month a few years ago, gradually started visiting less frequently—every three months, then every six months—starting about five years ago.
This year, it seemed she hadn’t met her sister since showing her face at the beginning of the year.
It had been five years.
Around that time, Yoo Bo-ha was rumored to have started seeing the man living in the building they were currently watching.
They had come to this location before her sister’s place, guessing it was the relationship Yoo Bo-ha currently considered more important.
However, if she didn’t show up here either, their last resort was to ask her sister for help.
It was a difficult decision, as it felt burdensome to involve a third party, even family.
“If she noticed something and fled, isn’t it more likely she’d ask her sister for help?”
“Well, Han-gyeol said there’s no record of contact after she grew distant from her sister. There might be other routes, but I still think it’s her boyfriend’s side.”
Jung Yoon’s sharp gaze was fixed on the entrance of the commercial building.
Jeong Rok seemed to find something about Jung Yoon’s demeanor irritating.
“Just recently, you said it was her grandmother.”
Jung Yoon faltered for a moment at Jeong Rok’s retort, who seemed intent on piercing the back of his head with his gaze, then avoided eye contact and shot back, “People’s hearts are naturally like reeds, aren’t they?”
“Is Detective Woo’s heart a field of reeds?”
“Isn’t that how all human hearts are?”
“Not mine.”
Rustle, rustle, Jeong Rok rummaged through a plastic bag full of food bought from a convenience store two hours ago and pulled out a string of yogurts.
Pop, the sound of him inserting a straw into the last yogurt echoed cheerfully.
When Jung Yoon looked back, Jeong Rok gulped down a whole bottle of yogurt in one go, then pop, inserted a straw into the next yogurt and shrugged.
“My heart is a bamboo forest.”
“What kind of bamboo forest is that noisy?”
“Is my heart noisy?”
Jung Yoon didn’t answer anymore.
Jeong Rok, with a sly expression, gulped down another yogurt and just quietly chuckled, asking no more questions.
Jung Yoon wondered why, but also felt relieved, so he didn’t add anything either.
Another two hours of awkward silence passed.
Soon, it would be dawn.
His head felt a little numb.
“If you’re sleepy, why don’t you catch some shut-eye?”
Jeong Rok mumbled, shaking a half-eaten hot bar he’d opened at some point.
Jung Yoon, rubbing his eyes with his hands, shook his head.
“You should sleep, Team Leader. It was the same last time, and now it’s my turn.”
Jung Yoon scoffed, bringing up the incident in Deokdong County.
“How would I know what Detective Woo would do while I’m sleeping?”
Jeong Rok mumbled to himself, as if recalling everything, then put the rest of the hot bar into his mouth in one bite and shoved the stick into the trash bag, chuckling.
Jung Yoon, slightly flustered by yesterday’s events, kept his mouth tightly shut.
Another hour of silence passed.
Now, with light appearing from far away, the dark navy sky was changing to a brighter bluish hue.
Jeong Rok checked the time and sighed deeply. 5:03 AM.
Still not a single soul was seen inside or outside the building.
“I wonder if we’re here to find a witness or catch a criminal….”
“It’s probably because she fled due to immigration issues, right?”
“High possibility. Why would someone go to the police station to give a witness statement and then be handed over to immigration control on the way out? If caught, it’s forced deportation.”
Jung Yoon rubbed his heavy eyelids with his fingers.
He was genuinely tired.
He hadn’t gotten proper naps, and pulling an all-nighter was utterly exhausting.
Jeong Rok, noticing Jung Yoon’s condition, opened a bottle of water and handed it to him.
Jung Yoon gratefully accepted it and, to avoid touching it with his mouth, poured half the water into his mouth while holding it suspended in the air.
Jung Yoon took the cap back, tightly closed the water bottle, put it in the cup holder, and checked his phone.
The battery was almost dead.
Jung Yoon lowered his head to look for his charger when suddenly Jeong Rok slumped into his seat, lowering his body and touching Jung Yoon’s shoulder.
“She’s here.”
Jeong Rok whispered softly, signaling with his hand to keep his body low.
Jung Yoon’s eyes widened, then quickly calmed.
Jung Yoon checked the warrant in his pocket and found his official ID, putting it around his neck.
“Let’s go.”
And as soon as Jeong Rok’s order was given, he straightened his upper body, turned, and exited the driver’s seat.
The cold air instantly enveloped his entire body.
Without a care, Jung Yoon approached the car stopped in front of the commercial building, gradually quickening his pace as the figure grew closer.
At first, the woman seemed not to notice, laughing and talking with the man, but then she sensed their presence and her eyes widened.
Jung Yoon approached quickly, never taking his eyes off the woman who had noticed him and gone pale.
The woman naturally stepped backward.
However, even that was blocked by Jeong Rok, who rushed in from the front, opposite to Jung Yoon’s approach, leaving the woman stomping her feet in distress.
“Ms. Yoo Bo-ha.”
As Jung Yoon called the woman’s name, the man who had been observing the situation, clinging to the car, also looked at the woman.
With no doubt left that the woman standing before them was Yoo Bo-ha, Jung Yoon fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his official ID.
“Police. Let’s talk for a moment.”
“…Why me? No, suddenly.”
Yoo Bo-ha looked at her boyfriend once, then at Jung Yoon.
“What is this, you people?”
The man, perhaps sensing something was amiss, frowned and suddenly lunged at Jung Yoon.
Jung Yoon let out a short sigh at the man who charged wildly like a bison, then lightly swayed his body to the side.
The best thing about being in this body was the lack of fear in a fight.
He didn’t feel specifically different from his previous body, but he couldn’t deny that his mindset and mental processing were different.
He didn’t know if this was because he had experienced death or if this body was naturally like this.
But regardless of the reason, having experienced that death is merely a fleeting moment, he wasn’t afraid, even if he were to die somehow now.
Because it would end if he endured that brief moment.
Of course, he wouldn’t die now.
Jung Yoon, having roughly sorted his thoughts, quickly seized the man’s arm while his untouched hand was suspended in the air.
As the man screamed, his arm twisted and his cheek pressed against the car, Yoo Bo-ha clung to Jung Yoon.
“Ah, I understand! Stop! Please stop!”
Jung Yoon heard Yoo Bo-ha’s words and stepped back.
He then snapped his head back, glaring at Jeong Rok who was holding his shoulder, and squeezed his eyes shut.
When Jung Yoon released his arm, the man, as if having a cramp, clutched his elbow and groaned.
Jeong Rok greeted Jung Yoon with an awkward smile.
He glanced at Jung Yoon’s hand, which he was dismissively shaking off, then shook his head and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ms. Yoo Bo-ha, you remember the incident in Chunwon City 20 years ago, don’t you?”
Jeong Rok, turning his gaze from Jung Yoon, lowered his head and secretly whispered into Yoo Bo-ha’s ear.
Yoo Bo-ha’s eyes widened even further at the place name that pierced her ear, a name she couldn’t possibly not know.
“We’d like you to accompany us for now. We won’t make an issue of anything else.”
Yoo Bo-ha’s hesitant gaze returned to Jung Yoon.
Jung Yoon, who had sighed irritably at her renewed demand for confirmation, eventually nodded half-heartedly.
Only then did Yoo Bo-ha obediently follow the two men.
Although it was unclear what she explained to her boyfriend, the man entered their home without following Yoo Bo-ha or bothering the two men with questions.
Jung Yoon sat in the driver’s seat, and Jeong Rok sat in the back with Yoo Bo-ha.
Yoo Bo-ha, once inside the car, shed her previously innocent expression and stared straight ahead with a much colder look.
“Please keep your promise. Then I’ll tell you everything.”
Jung Yoon didn’t answer Yoo Bo-ha’s trembling voice and started the car.
Jeong Rok likewise offered no reply.
This was a protest stemming from the irritation of having to condone an illegal act.