Jung Yoon, sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine off, glanced up at the now dark night sky.
Four hours had already passed.
Resting his chin on the steering wheel, Jung Yoon tilted his head.
A little while ago, Jeong Rok, who had completely devoured a cup of ramen, a triangle kimbap, and a hot bar, was staring outside with a lackadaisical expression.
Jung Yoon’s gaze slowly shifted to his cheek.
“It hurts even if you don’t look at me like that.”
“Why don’t we just settle this amicably?”
“No, thanks? This leash was so hard to get.”
“I’m not a dog, what do you mean by leash…”
Jung Yoon frowned, and Jeong Rok imitated a dog’s bark, “Woof!”
Seriously, if anyone should be imitating a dog, it should be me, not the one holding the leash.
“Violating the regulations for managing dangerous dogs, resulting in physical injury to a person, is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to twenty million won.” “Just curse at me and call me a son of a bitch, clearly.”
“Want me to muzzle you?”
“Do you want to wear handcuffs?”
Jeong Rok, looking as cheerful as if he’d never been in pain, thrust his phone screen forward.
Jung Yoon smiled warmly and reached into his back pocket.
Jung Yoon brazenly fiddled with the handcuffs in his back pocket.
A subtle silence descended in the car.
“Wait.”
At that moment, Jeong Rok pressed down on Jung Yoon’s head with his palm, making him duck.
This bastard seems to be getting his revenge.
Jung Yoon, whose neck suddenly retracted like a turtle’s, frowned.
Jeong Rok raised his index finger to his lips.
At the gesture to be quiet, Jung Yoon immediately shut his mouth.
But his eyes remained defiant.
Jeong Rok gestured with his head towards the car window.
Their gazes, which had been intensely meeting and asserting themselves, followed Jeong Rok’s eye movement in one direction.
Beyond the car window, they saw the figure of the person they were waiting for.
“Jang Chang-hyun.”
At Jeong Rok’s words, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the man who had disappeared through a small iron gate next to the main gate of a shabby house, Jung Yoon pulled out his phone.
“You’re right.”
Of course, the man in the photo looked healthier and more ordinary than the one they had just seen, but he was clearly the same person.
“I don’t know where those bastards steal money and spend it, to end up looking like that.”
“Because all the thieves who know how to handle money are in Yeouido?”
Jeong Rok agreed with a look in his eyes at Jung Yoon’s nonchalant reply, as he checked something on his phone.
Making a V-sign with his fingers was just his cuteness.
“The exit is…”
“Only here. I checked everything earlier, and the window is right against the neighbor’s wall, so no light even gets in.”
“Okay.”
“But Team Leader.”
“Hm?”
“How long do we have to keep talking like this?”
Jung Yoon and Jeong Rok’s eyes met in the dark car.
They were closer than they realized, having been so for some time.
It was unsightly to see two not-small men cramped in a wide car, shoulders hunched and necks drawn in.
Jung Yoon stared quietly at Jeong Rok’s face, which was now right in front of him, and raised his eyebrows significantly.
“Occupational hazard, you could say.”
Jeong Rok gave an awkward laugh, took his hand off Jung Yoon’s head, and stroked it.
Jung Yoon sighed briefly, yanked Jeong Rok’s hand away, and sat upright.
Looking back, light was seeping out of Jang Chang-hyun’s house window.
“Let’s go out and really put our professional skills to use.”
Jeong Rok watched Jung Yoon unbuckle his seatbelt and open the driver’s door, then let out a sound like deflating air and laughed.
Jeong Rok kept his eyes on Jung Yoon’s retreating figure as he approached Jang Chang-hyun’s house keenly, then got out of the car.
The two of them, now outside the car, approached the house Jang Chang-hyun had entered.
Jeong Rok, walking ahead, stood leaning against the old, flimsy iron gate.
Jeong Rok grabbed the firmly locked doorknob and shook it idly.
Rattle, rattle, the ominous sound of the gate rattling in the windless surroundings made Jung Yoon unnecessarily rub his arm, feeling goosebumps.
He shook it a few times, but there was no reaction from inside.
“Should we just break it?”
“I’d recommend that if you’re going to pay for the repairs yourself.”
“Split it?”
“Realistically, how big is the difference between your salary and mine? You’re talking about half. 8 to 2.”
“Ah, that’s a bit much. 6 to 4.”
Jung Yoon looked down at Jeong Rok, who was crouching in front of the iron gate, brightly holding up four fingers, and only curved the corners of his mouth into a smile.
His eyes weren’t smiling.
His expression had no warmth. Jeong Rok’s hand slowly lowered.
“Ah, damn it. Who’s making all this noise in front of someone’s house?”
As they were calculating their respective responsibilities, Jeong Rok’s shoulder was suddenly shaken.
It was due to Jang Chang-hyun’s attempt to push open the door from the inside while Jeong Rok was holding it.
“What, why won’t it open? Damn it, who are you?”
The door rattled and tried to open, but Jeong Rok, with a sullen expression, put his weight against it, blocking it.
Jung Yoon stared in bewilderment, but Jeong Rok feigned ignorance and subtly pushed harder.
“Are you a tree? What are you? Hey! Who are you, you bastard!”
Jang Chang-hyun, unexpectedly trapped, seemed even more flustered, shaking the door and punching the iron gate, making a huge fuss.
A black silhouette was vaguely seen inside the large translucent window above the door, flustered and scrambling.
“He looks like he’s about to cry.”
“He has to pay the price for making us go through all that trouble.”
***
“If you soil yourself, I’m not putting you in my car. Team Leader, you can carry him or let him ride on your back.”
“Ugh… I don’t want to do that.”
Jeong Rok brushed back his disheveled hair, lost in thought.
Then he subtly moved his upper body to the side.
Slam!
The door swung wide open as if it had been waiting.
Jang Chang-hyun shot out headfirst, as if his head had been sucked into a vacuum cleaner.
Jang Chang-hyun, who had burst out like a missile, stumbled uncontrollably and fell to his knees in front of Jung Yoon.
Jung Yoon slightly pulled his foot back.
“Argh! Damn it!”
Jang Chang-hyun roared.
He flailed his arms and shook his head, seemingly furious. But that was only for a moment.
“Mr. Jang Chang-hyun, please accompany us for a moment. We’re police.”
Jung Yoon bent down and held out his police ID in front of Jang Chang-hyun’s eyes.
Jang Chang-hyun, dazed from his struggles, quickly got up and backed away.
But he only managed a few steps.
Chang-hyun, whose body collided with Jeong Rok who had been waiting behind him, let out a yelp and turned to look at Jeong Rok.
“If you don’t want to go with him, go with me.”
“Revolving door…”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Jeong Rok replied cheerfully and looked up and down Chang-hyun’s lower body.
“Pants clean? Didn’t you soil yourself?”
At the blatant gaze, Chang-hyun twisted his legs and covered his crotch with both hands, this time backing away towards Jung Yoon.
At that, Jeong Rok immediately extended his arm and grabbed Chang-hyun by the collar.
“J-Just a moment!”
Jang Chang-hyun, held by the collar by Jeong Rok, raised his trembling arms.
Jeong Rok clicked his tongue at the surrendering posture and released the grabbed collar as if throwing it away, and crack! a knee-cracking sound echoed.
“Aargh!”
Jang Chang-hyun clutched one knee and rolled.
Seeing him hopping around the narrow space like a camel cricket, Jung Yoon, leaning against the door, clicked his tongue and checked the time.
“You haven’t read him his Miranda rights, have you?”
“Nope. Haven’t caught him yet, so I didn’t.”
“You just grabbed him by the collar.”
“That was to hit him.”
At his words, Jang Chang-hyun’s frantic movements, where he was hopping around yelling about pain, slowed down.
“Since it’s before the warning, can’t we hit him and say the police didn’t do it?”
“…Team Leader.”
The startled Chang-hyun looked at Jung Yoon piteously, as if he were a god.
A strong gaze, begging him to say something.
The desirable mindset that a police officer should naturally possess!
Chang-hyun thought of such things and clasped his hands together.
“I’ll turn my back, so finish it appropriately. Oh, you know you have to avoid visible areas, right? I’ll put the handcuffs on when you’re done. It’ll look less suspicious.”
And as soon as Jung Yoon finished speaking, Chang-hyun neatly extended his clasped hands.
“I’ll just go.”
“Right? That’s better, isn’t it?”
“But you still have to do what needs to be done.”
Jeong Rok, who received the handcuffs from Jung Yoon, fastened them onto one of the meekly extended wrists with a cheerful smile.
“Alright, Mr. Jang Chang-hyun, confirm your identity. Mr. Jang Chang-hyun, your leg, you…”
Chang-hyun’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Jeong Rok, who spoke in a truncated way that made it unclear if it was an insult or not.
Jeong Rok’s smile instantly vanished.
Sensing the atmosphere, Chang-hyun quickly lowered his eyes, and Jeong Rok affectionately patted his head.
“You are hereby arrested on suspicion of murdering Ms. Kim Yeom-ja of Haseong Supermarket in Chunwon City in 2005. You have the right to appoint legal counsel, the opportunity to explain yourself, and the right to request a judicial review of your arrest and detention from the court.”
“Wh… What? Who?”
“Also, you can refuse unfavorable statements and exercise your right to remain silent, but that can also be disadvantageous to you.”
“Anyway. Let’s go now, Chang-hyun. My jaw hurts.”
“…Why does your jaw suddenly hurt?”
Jung Yoon quickly turned away, as if he had seen something he couldn’t bear to look at.
“It’s not sudden; it’s been hurting for a while.”
“So why… No, I just met you, so how could it have been hurting for a while?”
“You’re good at talking, aren’t you? You’ll have to be just as good at talking when we get there. Unless you want your jaw knocked out.”
He wanted to retort, asking if it was okay for a police officer to threaten like this, but some sense of urgency stopped him.
“…Yes. Oh, but you just said I killed someone…”
“Go, go and do it there.”
“…Yes.”
It seemed that would be for the best.