After Story 175
Ahn Changsik’s face was filled with apprehension as he entered the café. While it was a face that many families of missing people made, Changsik’s face was even darker than usual.
It was like he saw a terrible conclusion that he didn’t even want to imagine early on.
“Thank you for coming like this.”
Daecheol offered Changsik a seat. This was a case that was under the jurisdiction of another department. He had called Changsik strictly for a personal reason for a case that he didn’t have authority over.
Thankfully, Changsik did not reject the request for a conversation.
“You said the area you’re in charge of is Yangdo-gu, didn’t you?”
“Yes. It’s pretty far away from Songjung-gu.”
“Then why are you asking me about my sister?”
“I told you over the phone, but this is not an official investigation. I’m investigating many missing cases because of a personal matter.”
Changsik asked back as he listened,
“When you say it’s personal….”
Daecheol scratched his head. As he investigated many missing cases that occurred near Songjung-gu, he met the family members of numerous people that went missing. Among them, some of them asked him to help even if it was something he was doing personally, but some people swore at him, telling him not to be nosy.
He had to explain everything here. Daecheol first talked about the case where a body of a college girl was discovered in Songjung-gu about five years ago.
“The first missing report was filed six years ago, and the body was discovered a year later. It was the body that the criminal threw away.”
Daecheol looked at Changsik’s expression. There was no hint of surprise or disgust. His face only darkened.
This was a response he hadn’t seen before. Changsik looked like something vague to him had just become clear.
Maybe he knew something?
“I remember it. I saw it on the news a few times,” Changsik said.
Daecheol looked closely at the expression of the college boy in front of him before speaking,
“There was an investigation for a while. It wasn’t an accidental death after all.”
“A murder case, is it?”
“Yes. Investigations happened in multiple areas, but ultimately, we gained nothing. It remains an unresolved case till this day.”
“You’re looking into the murder case, and you’re asking me about my sister. Don’t tell me….”
Changsik jerked his body after leaning forward. It was a sudden change in emotion.
The student that seemed to be unexpectedly calm now suddenly looked like he was going to cry out at any moment.
Daecheol felt rather puzzled at the violent reaction, but he still calmed Changsik down first.
“I’m not saying that there is a relationship. As I said before, I’m only asking in order to find out. Your sister should be totally fine, so don’t worry about it.”
It wasn’t simply rage. If he was causing a ruckus saying that there was no way his sister was dead, that response would be in line with other families with missing members and would’ve been understandable.
Changsik’s rage wasn’t directed towards the investigator who ‘uttered nonsense.’ Just who was he resenting? Daecheol was very concerned about the direction of the rage.
“Please, drink some water for now.”
Daecheol observed Changsik in detail as he drank water. No way, did he have some connection to his sister going missing? Out of habit, he assumed a scenario where Changsik was the culprit.
Changsik would have committed the homicide because of some accident and then hid the corpse. He must have been uneasy every single day, and his other family members must have filed a missing report.
He then clicked his tongue. That deduction didn’t sound right. Putting aside everything else, it didn’t make sense that he came to this place.
It wasn’t an official investigation, so he could’ve just refused over the phone, so there was no way he would come if he was the criminal. Changsik didn’t look like he was here to interrupt his investigations or to gain a thrill from teasing the investigator.
The most plausible reason he could think of was that Changsik was feeling uneasy emotionally because of the missing case of his sister.
“You calm now?”
“Yes, sorry for that.”
“It’s not surprising. It’d be strange if you were fine instead after a member of your family no longer keeps in touch. Should I organize another meeting at a later date if you’re having a hard time? Or, you can just tell me the circumstances at that time through your email.”
“No, I’ll tell you. I think I need to tell you this no matter what.”
Tell him something, huh? Daecheol decided to listen to his story for now.
“When was the last time you met your sister?”
“It was about a month and two weeks ago. She came over and went back after saying a few words. Our parents work in the countryside, so it was my sister who looked after me.”
“You must’ve been on good terms.”
“Yes. We fought a lot when we were young, but we became more comfortable around each other at the end of my military service.”
Changsik looked a little better as he talked about his sister. Daecheol’s opinion was that there were no lies in his expressions. The two of them were probably really close.
“I heard your sister is a college student.”
“She passed the civil servant exams already. She would’ve gone to her first day of work as long as she was assigned. She boasted a lot at home, rightfully so. The thing is, she prepared for the tests while doing a part-time job. Isn’t she amazing? She herself is having such a hard time, but she even gave me pocket money.”
Changsik clasped his hands. His two hands were shaking endlessly.
“You see… my sister… she’s a really good person. She never inconvenienced anyone and in fact, she was too kind for her own good. She was too innocent and would help out people she doesn’t even know….”
It seemed that he was unable to take control of the emotions that overflowed from him.
Changsik lowered his head. He was currently swallowing his tears inside. Daecheol reached his hand out and patted Changsik on the shoulder.
“Your sister will come back totally intact. There’s no need to cry.”
He said the same thing around six years ago. However, while the form of his words might have been the same, the emotions behind the words were entirely different. Back then, he just said it out of annoyance. The feelings of the remaining members of the family meant nothing to him back then.
They were words he uttered easily thinking that the missing person would come back eventually.
Then, the girl who went missing was discovered as a dead body.
He could still vividly picture a middle-aged lady screaming ‘why’ at him, with her eyes bloodshot.
Tears of blood were not just a figure of expression. The old lady expressed her sadness with blood instead of her two eyes which had run dry.
Changsik sighed deeply. It seemed that he had calmed down to a certain extent.
“I know that you must feel hurt and that whatever I say won’t make you stop being worried. But statistically speaking, the majority of adults who left their houses come back. So, there’s no need to despair. Just rest easy. After all, only then will you be able to show a brave and healthy side to her when she returns.”
“Can she return though?” Changsik said with a dazed face.
That was something he could not gloss over. It was definitely not the type of words a member of the family of the missing person would say.
“Why do you say that?”
“Detective, I’m feeling so uneasy that it’s driving me nuts. I am so anxious that I told other investigators about it, but they won’t believe me. But I can’t say it to my family either. My sister went missing, so how would my parents hold if their son starts uttering absurd stuff? Not that they would believe me in any case.”
“Believe what?”
Changsik turned his head around. There was no rage, sadness, or despair in his eyes. His eyes were instead completely empty. Daecheol had seen those eyes many times.
“You know something, don’t you?”
“I know what only I know. Something totally useless.”
“Tell me about it.”
Changsik began explaining with the phrase ‘I know you won’t believe it.’
After his story ended, Daecheol pulled his body back and spoke,
“So you see numbers on people’s shoulders?”
Changsik laughed as soon as he asked back.
“Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? Don’t believe it; it’s not like I had any hopes.”
Daecheol crossed his arms. There was once a case where a man in his thirties swung a knife against a shaman. The content of that case was simple. A man who paid ten million won for fortune telling went to the fortune teller for a refund when nothing went the way he wanted.
The shaman naturally refused, and a knife-swinging fight ensued.
In the investigation process, one of the detectives from that department said to the shaman as a joke that even divination couldn’t foresee himself getting stabbed.
The shaman only pouted and was unable to answer.
“Do you really see them?”
“You think I’m a crazy person, don’t you? Yes, that’s right. I’m the only one who can see them in a world where no one else can see them, so, I’m indeed crazy.”
Changsik stood up, saying that he had nothing more to say.
Daecheol looked at Changsik who turned around to leave. The shouts from the middle-aged lady five years ago became vivid in his mind.
-Our daughter won’t do something like that, why won’t you believe us?
If he could really see the number of kills, and if he found something from it, then that would explain the emotions that Chnagsik had from the beginning.
He emptied the coffee in an instant and left the café. He chased the distant Changsik and caught up to him.
“What do you see on my shoulder?”
“I thought you don’t believe me.”
“Tell me regardless.”
“A 0.”
“Of course it’s a 0. A murderer cannot become a police officer.”
“You want to tease the crazy guy now?”
Changsik pushed his arm off. However, Daecheol did not let go.
“I’ll trust you. I’ll try trusting you on this one.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll trust you, I’ll try trusting you unconditionally. But you know that trust needs proof, right?”
“Proof?”
“Come with me, I’ll check whether you’re really a wizard or not.”
* * *
Hojoon let go at the voice shouting cut. Maru looked at his own arm that Hojoon grabbed. There was a large handprint on it. His gripping strength was something else.
Considering his body figure, he probably would’ve done well even as a heavy-lifting athlete.
“So-sorry about that. I got caught up in the moment….”
“This is nothing. Just do it any way you’re comfortable, senior. I’ll obediently follow your lead.”
Hojoon laughed heartily. At first, he was really nervous because this was the first drama where he played a main role, but now, he seemed to have completely adapted.
His acting skills had also ripened, and even Maru was surprised from time to time when they acted together. He didn’t know that Hojoon would be this perfect.
“Hyung-nim, you gotta do that when you’re with me too. So that there’s a park between us,” Ganghwan said as he waved his hand in the empty air. This guy’s shoot wasn’t supposed to begin until 7, but he came here two hours early to chat.
“Please take care of me too. Don’t tell me off too badly even if I don’t do that well.”
Hojoon laughed heartily.
“You and I should have great sync, senior. As for that talkative person over there, he’s a murderer, so you can just stop interacting with him.”
“That’s true.”
Ganghwan twitched his nose as he listened to the conversation.
“I’ll see to you in our next scene together. You know I haven’t scheduled anything else apart from this drama, right? Just let me catch you, and I’ll show you how scary an unemployed murderer is.”
“If you do that, producer Cha will probably try to kill you.”
While they were laughing, producer Cha came over.
“Stop badmouthing me and move. We need to wrap the set up before the sun falls and go to an important scene.”
Important scene. Maru looked at Ganghwan. Today, they were shooting the scene where Ahn Changsik and Yoon Hojoon were going to meet, which wasn’t in the original scenario.
* * *
Changsik looked at the detective business card that Daecheol gave him: Lee Daecheol from the investigation department. Changsik thought that there was no way he would believe him. It simply didn’t make sense to see a number from a common knowledge perspective.
Daecheol, who was entering the police station with his large figure reminiscent of a small bear, suddenly came to a stop.
“Normally, you’d first apply to have a meeting.”
Daecheol was implying that what he was doing right now was something he couldn’t be upfront about.
When he entered the door that had the sign for the investigation team on it, he saw some bars. There were three people in different cells.
“I’ll believe you. But instead, show me proof. Yesterday….”
Changsik raised a finger before Daecheol finished his words. It was the woman on the left. She was looking at the ground with a tired face.
He could see the number 1 above that woman’s shoulder. As for the others, a zero floated above their shoulders.
Daecheol became quiet and then brushed up his hair.
“Yes, that’s how it should be. But once isn’t enough, you know that, right?”
Daecheol looked at the woman in the cell with a complicated expression. Changsik asked in a small voice,
“That woman’s a murderer?”
Daecheol nodded instead of responding. Then he turned around to leave.
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