# Chapter 36
“Hello, I…”
─ Yes, Han Seowoo-ssi.
The voice on the other end of the mobile phone called Seowoo’s name without the slightest hesitation. Seowoo momentarily pulled the phone away from his ear to check the saved name. It was indeed the dog emoji, Prosecutor Baek Hyungil.
“I see Woojae already gave you my number.”
─ Unofficially, didn’t we already exchange numbers and introduce ourselves? I think we’re close enough to skip the formalities.
True, it’s not like they’d contacted each other to become friends. If anything, they were in a business-like relationship with the same goal. Seowoo, who had been about to lay out a polite introduction as this was their first formal meeting, cleanly organized the script in his head at Hyungil’s voice.
“That’s right. Is now a good time?”
─ I was thinking you contacted me much earlier than I expected, you must have found time quite quickly. I was prepared to wait at least a month.
Hyungil’s voice was close to pure admiration. Indeed, Seowoo hadn’t expected to move this quickly either. When he received Woojae’s call, how helpless he had felt. It wouldn’t have been strange if it had taken more than a month.
─ If you say you’re coming now, of course I’ll make time. What could be more important than meeting Han Seowoo-ssi?
“Aren’t you working? Your time…”
It was slightly early to be off work. As Seowoo trailed off, Hyungil let out a low, hollow laugh.
─ What else would I be doing? I may not be reporting to my superiors, but this is clearly cooperation with an investigation.
“Investigation… investigation?”
Hearing the word directly from a prosecutor’s mouth made it feel unfamiliar enough to be somewhat uncomfortable. Then again, Dohyun was actually a gangster who went in and out of the legal system like it was a front door. A prosecutor pursuing a gangster couldn’t be personal revenge. It was a completely different situation from Seowoo’s.
Though there wasn’t currently an official case number with investigation orders issued, if the tail was properly caught, it could go beyond merely hitting Dohyun on the back of the head—it could drown him completely.
The words didn’t leave his lips clearly and triumphantly. He had been grinding his teeth, determined to strike Dohyun on the back of the head, but now that the path was clearly laid out before him, his feelings were strange.
─ Catching gangsters is investigation, what else would it be? Someone like Seo Dohyun is a big fish among them. You’re helping with something very significant.
“Yes… that’s true.”
Setting aside his other miscellaneous credentials, just being the CEO of T&C made him quite a big shot. Though he didn’t know how much wrongdoing Dohyun had committed or how many crimes he had perpetrated, just looking at the position he held, he was certainly not a small fry from an investigator’s standpoint.
But it wasn’t as if he had contacted Hyungil with a righteous and dedicated mindset to help with something important. He only wanted to throw dung in Dohyun’s face; he had never specifically thought about how this would help Hyungil.
It was true that he felt a strange mood that was difficult to describe, but he couldn’t back out of everything now, nor did he particularly want to. He tightly closed his lips, which wouldn’t easily open as he wished, then slowly parted them.
“…Where should I go?”
❖ ❖ ❖
“Don’t feel uncomfortable, you can sit anywhere.”
“…”
Seowoo silently scanned from the chair to the desk. Looking at the scattered piles of paper, carelessly opened pen caps, and rolling water bottles, he desperately wanted to organize the desk.
“Ah, those printouts… you can just push them aside on the desk, it’s fine.”
“Is it… okay for me to touch them?”
“It’s not like they’re military secrets that I’ve carelessly tossed around.”
Hyungil responded in a joking tone, but Seowoo couldn’t smile along. How can he work with this level of disorganization? Is this actually a storage room rather than a study? I’d rather believe that. Silently, Seowoo picked up the pile of printouts on the chair, moved them to the desk, and then leaned back in the now-empty chair.
“If I had known you would invite me to your home, I would have brought something. It feels awkward to visit empty-handed.”
“Didn’t we just agree to skip the formalities?”
That may be true, but no matter how clear our mutual purpose is, isn’t it too impolite to visit a stranger’s home for the first time like this?
He had come without much thought after being given the address, only to realize upon arriving at the apartment that it was a residence. Of course, you can’t control all variables, and naturally, Hyungil’s home would be safer than outside where there might be listening ears.
He hadn’t been unconcerned about the possibility of being tracked, but that was an inherent risk regardless of the location.
“Please wait a moment. I need to find something.”
“Ah. I don’t mind.”
With this level of disorganization, it will certainly take time to find things. While Hyungil frantically rummaged through the bookshelf, Seowoo stared intently at the man before him.
When fragmented pieces of information come together, they naturally form an image. When he had first heard about Hyungil, he had guessed he would be a cheerful, spirited man, but meeting him in person gave a different impression.
‘…Is this just an office worker worn out from overtime?’
A thin body with tall height, tired eyes, and movements lacking any precision. It was the complete opposite of the image he had been thinking of. This person had been in a life-or-death tug-of-war with a maniac like Seo Dohyun for seven years?
Hyungil, who had been rummaging through the bookshelf and making a mess of it, selected a few volumes. Plopping down in his chair, he dumped a folder of documents onto the desk with a clatter.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. This isn’t very well organized…”
Hyungil, leaning so far back that the backrest tilted, slowly placed his arms on the desk.
“How long has it been since you first met Seo Dohyun?”
Though he was polite with formal speech, he didn’t sound particularly respectful or friendly. There was a strange sense of distance. Yes, just like an interrogation tone. Whether it was due to habit or not, it didn’t feel warm from the listener’s perspective.
Right, we didn’t come to be friends. Repeatedly reminding himself of this, Seowoo tried to recall. When was the last time he saw Jinhyuk? It was a little before that.
“…About three months.”
“Longer than I thought.”
Is it long? It was difficult to agree immediately. Rather, so many things had happened that three months felt short by comparison.
He had finally adapted to living together to the point where the place he shared with Dohyun was starting to feel like “home.” Of course, there was nothing wrong with the place itself. It was spacious and comfortable, and the employees took care of everything, making life extremely convenient.
It was just that a major part of his life had changed so suddenly that it took some time to adapt. It was difficult to accept both physically and mentally. However, after some time had passed, Dohyun’s presence and the unfamiliar air of the house gradually became familiar.
Hyungil slowly nodded as he flipped through the file pages.
“On October 22nd, there was an announcement article stating that you would officially contract with T&C. Is this the first article? ‘Han Seowoo, Leaving Behind 10 Years… A New Home.'”
“Yes, there were quite… many articles.”
Seowoo’s lips wrinkled slightly. There were countless articles with varying nuances, but in any case, it was true that he had left Biro, his partner of 10 years, to join hands with another entertainment company. Everyone was focusing on that fact.
Perhaps due to Dohyun’s influence, there were no articles with overtly sarcastic tones or questioning undertones, which might be a blessing in disguise. Suddenly, the faces of President Hwang and Jinhyuk faintly came to mind. But, strangely enough, he didn’t feel the desperate and wronged feelings he had at first.
“The agreement was actually finalized quite some time before the contract reports. As I mentioned, rather than an agreement, it was… semi-forced.”
“Yes, you said it was blackmail. Even without seeing it, I can guess it’s true. But, the evidence that it was Seo Dohyun’s doing…”
As Hyungil trailed off and glanced at Seowoo, Seowoo quietly closed his mouth. Of course, efforts to collect evidence hadn’t been entirely absent, but it was virtually impossible. Hyungil shrugged casually.
“I knew you wouldn’t have any even without asking. That bastard Seo Dohyun really hates leaving records that could be disadvantageous to him. Even if there had been anything that could serve as evidence, he would have deleted it all.”
Suddenly, a memory as vivid as if it happened yesterday came to mind. The image of Dohyun snatching Seowoo’s phone when he was secretly recording and deleting the file without hesitation. Both his sensitivity in noticing and his decisiveness in deleting without hesitation were impressive. Indeed, Baek Hyungil knew enough about Dohyun, living up to his reputation of having clashed with him for a long time.
When Seowoo nodded without refutation, Hyungil scratched his cheek with the back of his pen and chuckled. It seemed he had fully anticipated this.
“…Should we start keeping records from now on?”
“What? Evidence? No?”
The answer came back lightly without any consideration, as if he had heard something extremely naive and meaningless. Seowoo’s questioning gaze fixed on Hyungil. Hyungil placed the pen on the desk and added an explanation in a slightly higher, friendlier tone.
“It would be good if we could, but if done amateurishly, you’d be caught instantly. Seeing as you’ve contacted me like this, it seems you’ve been caught at least once before.”
“…”
There was nothing to say. Being able to pinpoint and read the important parts well somehow gave Seowoo a strangely embarrassing feeling.
“The point is, he already knows all the places where traps might be set. Traps at the level that ordinary people can simply think of don’t mean much to that bastard.”
“…”
“You don’t have any brilliant ideas popping into your head right now, do you?”
“Of course not.”
What ideas? Rather, the absence of any thoughts made him feel helpless. Hyungil grinned and pulled out a sheet of paper from the file and handed it over.
“Then we’ll take a completely opposite approach.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
