The quiet hum of the air conditioning was the only sound breaking the silence in the Serious Crimes Unit office.
Jung-yoon sat hunched over his desk, a faint glow from the monitor illuminating his focused expression.
The words on the screen, “2005 Chunwon City Supermarket Owner Robbery, Murder Case,” sent a familiar wave of unease through him.
His stomach churned, and the back of his neck felt hot.
This case, if his memory served him right, was the one that had kicked off the investigation after the Deokdong-gun case in the original story.
The thought, “…even if it deviated from the original, he felt at ease if at least the case itself could be guided within the framework, putting aside the culprit for now,” offered a sliver of comfort.
It had been a day since Park Chang-gyu was transferred to the prosecution, leaving the office unusually quiet. Jung-yoon had spent the entire morning meticulously checking all records related to the Chunwon City case logged in the system.
He’d searched every nook and cranny for physical files, but they seemed to have vanished, forcing him to pore over the digital archives.
Lunch had been a forgotten luxury, his hunger overridden by the urgent need to prepare thoroughly, ensuring no doubts would arise about commencing the investigation before the next case was officially confirmed.
The current situation, at least, offered a strange kind of peace; they weren’t in the thick of an active investigation.
All team members, save for Han-gyeol, who was on duty, were absent.
Jun-hyeok’s seat had been empty for a while now.
He’d taken a half-day off, eager to finally make it to a blind date he’d postponed due to the demands of the previous case.
Hyun-cheol hadn’t been seen or heard from since the Chief had called him in, so there was no need to report his departure.
Jung-yoon’s gaze quickly swept over the deserted desks before settling on the time displayed below his monitor.
It was well past quitting time, nearing dawn, in fact.
Thanks to the valuable leeway Jeong-rok had created, his preparations were smoother, and he found a peculiar tranquility in working alone.
Yet, Jung-yoon remained glued to his desk, the late hour doing little to sway him.
He had, in fact, closed the case file he was reviewing just after receiving a call from Han-gyeol, who was on duty, saying he had just left the sauna.
His initial intention was to leave early for a change of pace, a rare indulgence.
But in the end, an unseen force drew him back to his seat.
It was Jeong-rok, who, despite probably being in a much better situation than him, hadn’t left and was engrossed in his own work.
“Since when did the office floor get underfloor heating?”
Jung-yoon muttered to himself, the absurdity of the situation tickling him.
“Huh?”
Jeong-rok, his superior to whom he had to report his departure, and also his partner who, within the department, was supposed to know each other’s circumstances as well as a married couple, seemed utterly oblivious to his presence, let alone any intention of leaving.
He was buried amidst a mountain of documents, effectively blocking the cabinet, sitting directly on the floor.
He’d been in that peculiar position for four hours already.
In return for the unexpected leisure he enjoyed thanks to Jeong-rok’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Jung-yoon decided it wouldn’t be right to ignore his efforts.
He decided to offer his help.
“What are you doing?” he asked, a faint sigh escaping his lips.
Why was he doing that, preventing him from leaving comfortably?
Jung-yoon frowned slightly.
Jeong-rok, who was flipping through documents piled on his lap with a rather serious face, subtly flicked his eyes up at him.
The sheer volume of thick files stacked on his lap was truly unusual.
Jung-yoon placed his hand on the desk, leaning his upper body forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the title on the half-open file, tantalizingly visible.
“Not tellin’-ya.”
But as if he had read Jung-yoon’s curious gaze, a large hand instantly covered the labeled title on the light blue file.
Jung-yoon, dumbfounded by his childish behavior, snorted.
As if he wasn’t really trying to hide it, Jeong-rok chuckled softly in return, placed the pen he was holding on his philtrum, and wiggled his empty hand, a playful gesture.
At that familiar action, Jung-yoon’s face immediately hardened.
He couldn’t fathom why he insisted on sitting on the floor when he had the biggest desk in the office.
Yet, he was his superior.
Jung-yoon, unable to utter a single complaint, poured out harsh words with his eyes and walked around the desk to Jeong-rok’s side.
Jung-yoon didn’t sit directly beside Jeong-rok but angled himself, a careful dance of personal space. “
Jeong-rok’s knee and Jung-yoon’s shin brushed against each other precariously.
A moment later, a black head, Jung-yoon’s, drew close to Jeong-rok’s chin, who was leaning the back of his head against the cabinet, completely absorbed.
“2005 Chunwon City Supermarket Owner Robbery, Murder Case….”
Surprise spread across Jung-yoon’s face at the case name attached to the file.
The very case he was about to pull out as the next one was already under his team leader’s interest.
His entire body tingled as if shocked by an unexpected electrical current.
The back of Jung-yoon’s neck felt hot, a flush of disbelief, too surprised to speak.
He couldn’t express the turmoil inside him.
But he couldn’t just stand there, frozen in shock.
As Jeong-rok’s gaze felt like it was drilling a hole in his right cheek, Jung-yoon tried to minimize the awkwardness and calmly uttered a curse, a release for his pent-up surprise.
“Whoever that bastard is…… Ugh!”
He had thought about massaging his neck, which felt stiff in more ways than one.
However, before his hand could even reach, someone else’s hand touched his neck first, effectively stealing his chance.
Another shock, distinctly different from the one related to the case, arose.
For a brief moment, he was startled by the chill that made his shoulders involuntarily hunch.
Then, realizing the owner of the hand gripping his nape, Jung-yoon twisted his head and met an innocent face, Jeong-rok’s.
“…What are you doing?” he managed to ask, his voice a mix of confusion and irritation.
“My hands are cold,” Jeong-rok replied, his voice devoid of any real remorse.
“No… Ah! Aren’t you going to take them off?”
Jung-yoon exclaimed, a note of exasperation creeping into his tone.
“It’s warm. Detective Woo, your appearance and your body are completely different… Ugh!”
Before he could finish his playful remark, the hand that had lifted Jung-yoon’s neckline brazenly pushed further inside.
As the chill reached his shoulder blades, a startled Jung-yoon immediately lifted his upper body and, without a moment’s hesitation, gripped Jeong-rok’s collar with one hand, his eyes narrowing.
“Do you want me to really warm you up to the bone?” he threatened, his voice low and dangerous.
“How mean,” Jeong-rok chuckled, seemingly unfazed.
“Team Leader, you should really thank God you’re my superior,” Jung-yoon retorted, his grip tightening slightly.
“So that’s why my mother pays such a high price to the heavens every week?”
Jeong-rok mused, a teasing glint in his eyes.
Jung-yoon stared silently and coldly at Jeong-rok, who remained unperturbed despite his ridiculous state with his collar grasped.
Then, abruptly, he pulled his hand away.
“Ouch, ouch,” a small groaning sound came from Jeong-rok, though it was clear he wasn’t hurt at all.
For a moment, his head throbbed, a dull ache brought on by his antics.
Jung-yoon, choosing to ignore him instead of engaging further, gritted his teeth and pulled the open file onto his lap.
Anyway, he had been searching all morning, and it was right under his nose, taunting him.
Jung-yoon felt disheartened, bit his lip, clucked his tongue in exasperation, and turned the page.
“The suspect hasn’t even been identified…” he murmured, feigning surprise.
He already knew through the department’s electronic system that police investigations had begun but couldn’t even identify a suspect.
However, Jung-yoon decided to pretend he was seeing it for the first time until the very end.
He didn’t know why Jeong-rok was suddenly interested in this particular case, but it wouldn’t look good if he also suddenly showed an unnatural amount of interest in it.
Fortunately, Jeong-rok didn’t seem suspicious about his feigned ignorance.
“The initial investigation had a lot of flaws,” Jeong-rok began, his tone serious now.
“They wrongly identified an innocent person as the suspect early on, and thanks to a noisy investigation, they just blew it all up in smoke.”
“How was he cleared of the charges?”
Jung-yoon asked, trying to keep his voice neutral, as if this was all new information.
“The suspect was at the police station on the estimated date of the incident,” Jeong-rok explained, pulling a few sheets of paper forward from behind the file he had taken.
Flipping back a few pages, the section neatly summarizing the suspect’s alibi was immediately visible.
Jung-yoon’s expression darkened, a subtle shift that Jeong-rok might not have noticed if he wasn’t observing him so closely.
He twisted his lips into a smile, a fleeting, almost imperceptible gesture, then quickly flipped through the pages until the paper creased at the edges, a testament to how often he’d handled it.
“What are you even looking at?”
Jung-yoon asked, his feigned disinterest palpable.
“There is something to look at,” Jeong-rok replied enigmatically, his gaze never leaving him.
Jung-yoon clicked his tongue in response and listlessly turned the pages, maintaining his nonchalant act.
Jeong-rok watched him silently, his eyes keenly observing his entire face, trying to decipher his true thoughts.
Jung-yoon, however, remained poker-faced, not reacting to his intense scrutiny.
Both the first case that led him to the cold case team and this second case don’t deviate from the original story’s flow.
This meant that Jung-yoon’s remembered timeline hadn’t completely changed, a small comfort in the chaos of altered realities.
Since the culprit of the first case was different from what he expected, the culprit of the second case could also be different.
But it didn’t matter anyway, as he didn’t remember the real culprit this time either, just like the first. If even one of them followed the mental game board he had laid out in order, perhaps even that guy…
“For someone who says there’s nothing to see, you seem overly focused,” Jeong-rok’s voice broke his reverie.
Jung-yoon’s eyes widened a little, unable to control his expression due to being lost in thought. It was because of Jeong-rok, who had pushed his face right up to Jung-yoon’s, examining every single eyelash, his proximity unsettling.
Thwack!
A dull thud cut short, and silence fell after a thick groan. Jung-yoon’s expression, as he alternately looked from his fist to Jeong-rok’s jaw with eyes wider than before, began to twist awkwardly.
“No, I mean, why suddenly… so close….”
Jung-yoon stammered, his face a vivid shade of embarrassment.
He subtly lowered his gaze and slowly hid the ‘weapon’ attached to his body, his fist, under his leg. Jeong-rok, who had been suddenly struck, slowly moved his stiff jaw, wearing a dazed expression, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened.
“Are you hurt?”
Jung-yoon finally managed to ask, a hint of genuine concern mixed with residual embarrassment.
Click.
Jeong-rok, who had opened his mouth and reassembled his jaw with a distinct click, fixed his gaze on Jung-yoon.
Jung-yoon, feeling even more apologetic when their eyes met, tried to open his mouth to somehow smooth things over, to offer an apology or an explanation.
But as if he had anticipated what Jung-yoon was about to say, Jeong-rok narrowed his eyes and spoke first, cutting him off.
“Damn right.”
Jung-yoon was speechless, even if he had ten mouths.
How did it come to this…?
***
Jung-yoon’s eyes lost their light as he started the engine, glaring at Jeong-rok as he got into the car, his movements still a little stiff.
Jeong-rok, noticing the accusatory gaze as he got in, immediately feigned an “ouch, ouch” with his arm, a theatrical display of pain.
For whatever reason, Jung-yoon, who had nothing to say even with ten mouths, quietly gripped the steering wheel, resigned.
Because of what happened earlier being the ‘sin’ and the current situation being the ‘punishment’, Jung-yoon had to follow wherever Jeong-rok wanted to go, a silent penance.
This was because the location of Jang Chang-hyun, a strong suspect, had been identified.
“Are we allowed to act so unilaterally?”
However, Jung-yoon, who had not yet been informed about the official commencement of the investigation, asked worriedly, a crease forming between his brows.
“Yep. We are. Let’s go!”
Jeong-rok replied cheerfully, his voice surprisingly bright given his earlier “injury.”
Jung-yoon bit his lip at the lighthearted reply.
As he remained still and quietly watched, Jeong-rok smiled brightly, a wide, confident grin.
“Don’t worry. This big brother will take full responsibility, okay?”
Jeong-rok once again shouted, “Let’s go!” loudly, his enthusiasm bordering on boisterous.
He smiled brightly, extending his index finger forward, a gesture of playful assurance.
Jung-yoon smiled briefly back, a small, wry smile, and quietly held out his phone.
“Get the warrant. If you want to be properly called ‘Team Leader,’ let alone ‘Big Brother.’”
His voice was calm, but the underlying message was clear.
They could play at being a team, but the rules of engagement still applied.