“Detective Woo, what’s wrong?”
“N-no, it’s nothing. The light just hit my eyes for a second.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Jeong-rok approached and naturally touched Jung Yoon’s face, cupping his cheek and lifting his chin.
As the distance closed, his features became clearer.
The moment their eyes met, Jung Yoon’s neck stiffened and chills ran down his spine.
Startled, he forcefully pushed Jeong-rok’s face away with his palm.
Caught off guard by the sudden shove, Jeong-rok staggered backward.
He complained, saying his nose felt crooked and gave Jung Yoon a sulky glare.
Feeling a bit awkward, Jung Yoon wiggled his fingers and muttered to himself, “That height… seriously.”
“I don’t think your nose is crooked.”
“Wow, that’s just cruel, Detective Woo.”
“Well, why did you suddenly shove your face so close? You startled me.”
“What? Did a guy’s face make your heart flutter or something?”
Jeong-rok rubbed his nose and grinned slyly, then added,
“Get ready to grant me that wish. I’m gonna ask for something really scary.”
“I’m broke, okay? Unlike some people, I’m just a regular working man.”
“I know that.”
That bastard…
Jung Yoon’s expression turned cold.
Jeong-rok, unfazed, gestured with his eyes toward Jung Yoon’s hand.
He checked his buzzing phone and opened a message.
“That’s all for now. We’ll handle Kim Yong-seok, who’s believed to reside in Seoul, on this end.”
Jung Yoon clucked his tongue habitually.
Two people…
Two names swirled in his head.
Then it happened.
While still staring at his phone, Jung Yoon suddenly stumbled backward.
Jeong-rok had grabbed his arm without warning, nearly causing him to drop his phone.
Jung Yoon frowned in irritation.
“There. That’s the place.”
So he hadn’t just been messing around—he’d memorized the address.
Massaging his now sore arm, Jung Yoon gave Jeong-rok a cautious look.
Their eyes met, and Jung Yoon quickly turned away.
“By the way, Detective Woo, if you start going for younger guys, you’re gonna regret it later. Men should be—like me—”
“Oh, shut up.”
That was the final straw.
Jung Yoon had already reached his daily limit of nonsense.
Unable to hold back anymore, he snapped.
Looking like a scolded child, Jeong-rok sulked while Jung Yoon shot him a glare and walked past him to stand in front of the blue gate.
***
“Was there anyone who might have held a grudge against Yang Sun-hwa, or someone she had a poor relationship with?”
Jung Yoon finally spoke after managing to meet with Yang Sun-hwa’s husband, who had repeatedly refused to meet before.
The man, seemingly in shock, had been staring blankly at the ground.
He slowly shook his head.
Water stains spread across his thighs, one by one.
“She was always quiet…”
He looked utterly drained.
Losing a beloved wife so suddenly—of course, he’d be emotionally wrecked.
Jung Yoon waited patiently, giving the man time to grieve.
No amount of time would be enough, but he couldn’t ignore the spreading stains on the man’s legs.
“But… Do I really have more to say? I already told the police everything when I was at the station.”
“I understand this is difficult, but… I just thought you might’ve remembered something else.”
“The only thing I keep seeing is Sun-hwa’s last moments. Her face… and then they tore her open.”
A grim shadow crossed the man’s face as if something had resurfaced in his memory.
The raw emotion in his eyes was unmistakable.
Jung Yoon was used to the anger that came with autopsies.
He nodded slowly in understanding.
Once the man’s expression calmed again, Jung Yoon carefully continued, asking a few necessary follow-up questions.
“Are you close with Mr. Jung Yong-gil?”
“Yong-gil hyung? Of course…”
“That house too.”
“The psychiatric hospital?”
The man nodded.
He sighed heavily, saying that Yong-baek had actually done well, getting a job in Seoul and living a good life, but the delicate second son hadn’t turned out so well.
As soon as the man stopped talking, Jung Yoon looked up at Jung Rok.
It was a story not found in the records.
Jung Yoon’s eyes asked if he had known.
Jung Rok responded with a question instead.
“Where is he living now? The youngest, I mean.”
That was his way of saying he hadn’t heard anything either.
“At that house, I suppose. Or no, since he’s still in the psychiatric hospital, should I say he lives there?”
A flicker of sympathy appeared in Jung Yoon’s eyes at the mention of Jung Yong-gil’s youngest son.
He looked up at Jung Rok and shook his head.
“What’s wrong with the youngest?”
Even after reading Jung Yoon’s expression, Jung Rok didn’t stop asking questions.
“Yeah… sigh… I heard his mind never grew. Just his body. Doesn’t mature mentally, apparently. I heard he sometimes steals from the store in front and broke the windows at the village hall a few times. We had to apologize over and over. His mother went through hell. After everything that happened, now even the two sons had to be investigated… words can’t describe it. Yong-gil’s mother isn’t an easy woman either—blaming the poor daughter-in-law for everything, claiming her grandson is possessed. Ugh.”
“Well… after going through something like that, and now even the sons being investigated, I imagine the household must’ve been in turmoil.”
“You’re telling me… And to make it worse, that eldest son isn’t even hers, right? The first wife ran off and disappeared, and then the one born from the second marriage ended up like that. Life must’ve felt like hell.”
For a moment, Jung Yoon and Jung Rok’s eyes crossed in a chilling way in midair.
The man, obliviously spilling everything, remained unaware of the tension.
Jung Yoon nodded as if in sympathy and stood from his seat.
He moved behind the man and took out his phone.
“You must’ve had a really hard time. We actually wanted to talk because we thought we might be able to help, but it wasn’t easy. Seems like the grief is still deep.”
Jung Rok only followed Jung Yoon’s movements with his eyes.
At the same time, he kept the man engaged in conversation to hold his attention.
He added, almost casually, that the discussion might help with the investigation into the wife’s case and sat down next to the man.
He took out a handkerchief and handed it to the man, whose tears had yet to dry.
“Ah, that… she screamed and stormed out a while back, right? Please understand. The family’s youngest son was home that day—probably why she reacted that way.”
Using the handkerchief Jung Rok had given him, the man wiped his whole face roughly.
He seemed a little more at ease now.
Whenever he mentioned his wife, it was obvious how vulnerable he became.
Watching his complexion, Jung Yoon hurriedly sent a message to Han-gyeol:
“Check Jung Yong-gil’s family registry and medical records for second son Jung Yong-baek. ASAP.”
“Is Mr. Yong-baek here now?”
“Yong-baek? He’s too busy working at a big corporation. Hasn’t been here in ages. I meant Yong-joon—the youngest one I just mentioned, the one who’s a little unwell.”
“You just said he’s at the psychiatric hospital…”
“Ah, yeah. He comes and goes. They begged us to make sure no one in the village sees him, so everyone just turns a blind eye. Even if they say he’s fine, Yong-gil… he’s something else. Cares way too much about how the village sees them. Anyway…”
The man clicked his tongue and passionately defended Yong-gil, insisting he wasn’t a bad person.
He’s a good brother-in-law, he said. Just got caught up in a whirlwind because of his family.
With the redevelopment going on, he must’ve been even more sensitive, worried about people blaming them.
After receiving a reply from Han-gyeol saying he’d look into it, Jung Yoon moved positions.
He glanced at the handkerchief still in the man’s hand and spoke.
“You said Mr. Jung Yong-gil tries not to let people see his son come and go, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The dull look in the man’s eyes shifted toward Jung Yoon.
“Then may I ask—how did you know that Mr. Jung Yong-joon had returned to the village?”
Jung Yoon asked the question as if it were nothing.
“Ah… that.”
The man nodded slowly but couldn’t speak for a moment.
His chin began to tremble.
Then suddenly, he began to sob loudly.
His shoulders shook and his head hung down.
With Jung Rok’s handkerchief spread wide, he buried his face and wept for a long while.
The sun was beginning to set in Jung Yoon’s view.
“Ahem. Sorry… Hoo… I’m sorry. I suddenly thought of Sun-hwa.”
“I understand. It’s alright—take your time.”
“Sigh…”
The man, folding the now-damp handkerchief, wiped his face one more time and then blew his nose loudly.
Jung Yoon’s gaze returned to the handkerchief.
“It was Sun-hwa who told me.”
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