บท 18: Yoo Jonghyuk's side quest #17: Compliments are good for the health. [part 14]
Yoo Jonghyuk had easily memorized the path and arrived at the prison during lunch hour. Compared with what he went through in the past, walking for a few hours wasn't even enough to be considered a light warm-up. His body didn't feel strained at all, however, there was something burdening his heart.
He wondered what this weight meant. And then, he was hit upon the realization that this feeling was just his own unwillingness to acknowledge the fact that even such a young and innocent-looking Kim Dokja, could be just as much of a scheming bastard as the old one. Yoo Jonghyuk was obviously mad at Kim Dokja, but he was even more aggravated towards his own weak mental fortitude. Allowing himself to be deceived by the outer appearance was a beginner mistake and a shameful experience he did not want to repeat.
Standing before the four-story building surrounded by that familiar landscape of yellow ginkgo trees, the regressor reached the final decision to give the key to the only other person whom Kim Dokja seem to trust enough to leave a personal item with.
"Jonghyuk-ssi, why hello! What are you doing here this early?"
「 Talk about the devil... 」
Yoo Jonghyuk turned his head around to meet Song Daehwa who had just coincidentally gone out of the building for a short smoking break. The Deputy Police Chief had just managed to lit the cigarette before spotting a suspicious black-clothed individual standing in front of the building. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the cold and handsome 'cousin' that Kim Dokja had brought in to met with the parent.
"I'm here to deliver something."
What came out from his mouth made the beautiful woman's rosy lips curl up in a huge grin, lifting her eyebrows while showing her deep and meaningful gaze. Chief Song heartily laughed out loud while slapping the back of the regressor in an encouraging manner, just like how a drunkard would be laughing together with his drinking pal at the pub.
"I admire your determination to conquer your mother-in-law's consent, but we have to inspect the gift first~"
She has just wanted to tease him a bit. But instead, she almost choked on a mouthful of smoke she had just inhaled when the handsome man answered her without any hesitation.
"The item is for you."
"...!!! Cough! Cough!"
With both eyes bulging out in disbelief, she stared at that stern face, making sure if this was just a tasteless joke coming from a humorless ahjussi. After a momentary shock, the indignation of a big sister catching her little brother's lover cheating surged up with no restrictions. How can this leecher betray my, Song Daehwa's, precious little dongsaeng's pure and precious feelings!
"Even though I had just accepted the fact..."
"My poor dongsaeng is being dumped and his boyfriend is trying to cheat on him with his pretty noona! Wuu....!"
"You were ugly anyway!"
"... My dongsaeng is so handsome! He'll definitely find a better companion!"
Song Daehwa's frustrated rantings became more and more incomprehensible as she went on. Yoo Jonghyuk's tolerance had originally been very scarce but with his current bad mood, his patience was cut even shorter. It was already a miracle that he hadn't killed anybody since coming here, however, he was now considering his first victim.
"Are you done?" The regressor tried to maintain a calm and composed manner as he spoke, but his maturity was met with another childish rebuttal.
"I have more to say!"
"Then spare it for yourself." Yoo Jonghyuk's face turned even darker as he tried to hold the reins of his genocidal instincts. Putting a hand inside his pocket he brought out an item. "I'm just here to give you this."
Still a little bit out of it, Song Daehwa confusedly asked while looking at the foreign object in the regressor's hands.
"So it's not a gift to woo me?"
"If you want to consider Kim Dokja's house as a gift."
Too tired to keep trying to communicate with her, Yoo Jonghyuk carelessly threw the key at the baffled woman and immediately turned around. He was more than willing to throw away all that responsibility to someone else. But unfortunately for him, Chief Song had managed to catch his arm before he could have made a run for it.
"Wha- Wait! How are you even in possession of my dongsaeng's house key!"
Yoo Jonghyuk's dry response was just a short and curt sentence. "Just take it."
He really didn't want to get himself involved any further than this, but the opinion of this policewoman seemed to differ from his.
"I can't!" The Deputy Police Chief Song hastily answered but when faced with the sharp gaze coming from those frigid pupils, she was forced to reiterate her sentence.
"Ok, ok. I can, but you have to receive approval from the parent first."
"Just ask yourself."
"Since you acted as his guardian, it's your job."
"I'm not-"
"I don't care. Don't pull this single dog between the crossfire of you two love birds' quarrel."
We should just admire how the usual hot-headed regressor was trying so hard to act civilized. Even though his venomous tongue has being kept in check, all pretense of cordiality would completely vanish if this farse was going to continue.
"As I had said before, we aren't in that kind of rela-"
"Yeah, yeah sure. Talk it out with Sookyung-unnie, and only after that, you can give me the key."
Yoo Jonghyuk was almost at his wit's end, he swears that if this discussion keeps going and he was still not able to shed anyone's blood by then, he will proclaim himself as the new bodhisattva.
"You better keep your words woman."
"How rude- Nevermind, visiting hours aren't starting yet." After a moment of pause, Song Daehwa threw the cigarette's butt on the ground before stepping on it. "Please come to my office, I have other matters to discuss."
Regrettably for her, the regressor wasn't the cooperative type.
"I will wait here."
"Matters regarding Kim Dokja."
"I wait here." He didn't want to be accountable for any responsibility regarding the matter.
"Acerbic just like an unripened fruit." Song Daehwa scoffed before entering the building. "Nevermind then, I will deal with it alone."
Yoo Jonghyuk frowned but said nothing. He too also followed inside the building and what greeted him was a rushing woman in her late forties carrying a huge pile of documents. The unstable white tower was stacked so high that it was entirely covering her view. Yoo Jonghyuk saw that the number of the mandatory staff was lacking, however, he could hear all the hustle and bustle happening inside the various office rooms. It seems that they are dealing with a very serious case today.
The rushing lady had almost crashed into him, the regressor dodged her, but some documents still managed to fall off from that unsteady stack of papers. The man bent over to pick them up and couldn't help but notice the profile image of one of the people he had beaten up a few days ago. Actually, he can recognize most of the individuals pictured in the other files too.
"Oh dear, thank you!" The woman stopped in her tracks and tilted her head sideways, thus allowing her to properly greet her helper. "Ah! It's the handsome hyung that Dokja boy brought in last time!"
Looking at the flushed face of the elderly woman, Yoo Jonghyuk felt that it was morally wrong not to help her. And that's one of the reasons why in the past the cold iceberg was hated by his peers and always favored by the elderly people.
"Can I help?"
She kindly shook her head while thanking him for returning the papers on top of the pile. The elderly policewoman helplessly smiled, but still showed her professionalism on the matter.
"I'd like to accept, but those are all confidential papers and I can't allow the information to spread."
As she was about to go away, the elderly woman stopped in her tracks again and looked back with an uncertain gaze. While cautiously glancing around, she seems to hesitate at first but after that, she quietly spoke with a worried tone. "Please tell the little Dokja boy to not go out often, and also, always check the people around him. I can't say much, but please take care."
***
The black-clothed man had been absent-mindedly sitting in the lounging area while waiting for the visiting hour to strike for quite some time now. The further time he dwindled here while doing nothing, the more it was subconsciously affecting his thoughts. His unfocused pupils were like two pools of black stagnant water, dazedly staring into the void, as he inexplicably began to feel more worried.
His gaze fell and doubts were surging out like an uncontrollable tide. He tried to suppress those useless worries, but they seemed to hunt his mind like a vengeful spirit. Yoo Jonghyuk clasped both hands together as his elbows rested on his knees. His messy mop hanged low while being supported by the back of his hands.
Contemplating.
His wandering gaze stopped and focused towards his own pair of slightly worn-out black combat boots. His two dark phoenix eyes resembled two bottomless black holes that seemingly sucked in all the void from before.
"Jonghyuk-sii, come with me for a second."
Song Daehwa's strict voice startled him awake. Whipping his head around he saw the constipated look on the young Deputy Police Chief's grim face. Her sour expression was clearly telling him that she was about to ask him something very troublesome.
Reflected in her swaying eyes was Yoo Jonghyuk's blatant unwillingness. Song Daehwa could only grit her teeth and take in a deep breath. Everything is for her precious little dongsaeng's sake! That's how she managed to maintain her calm demeanor while showing her trademark pure black smile filled with undisguised threats.
"Kindly cooperate with our investigation."
"I'm not compelled to."
"I wasn't asking for your opinion, follow me."
Yoo Jonghyuk wanted to rebuke with another snarly response, but when he saw the serious look on Song Daehwa's face, his heart lightly trembled while his mind couldn't help but think about Kim Dokja again. All the information he had unwittingly gathered today seemed to point in the same direction.
The regressor didn't answer, however, he stood up and waited for her to take the lead. The lost gaze from before was gone, and now his eyes were more clear. Nevertheless, his profound gaze still remained shrouded within a layer of mystery, telling everything and nothing at the same time.
Yoo Jonghyuk shook his head and admitted that he had been in denial at first, however, he was indeed already deeply tangled in the situation.
People politely greeted her as they walked through the corridors. Some of them also threw curious glances at the handsome man following behind their Deputy Police Chief, wondering if spring finally came even for this bachelorette. Few of the staff members recognized the familiar handsome face of the regressor from the last encounter, but their hands were too full to spare some time for idle gossip.
"Chief Song, good afternoon."
"Chief Song."
Song Daehwa nodded her head slightly to acknowledge those greetings. "Go back to work."
As they were making their way upstairs, the policewoman abruptly stopped in her tracks and raised up one arm, signaling to the regressor to also stop. Yoo Jonghyuk was confused but still obliged.
"Listen, I don't know what happened between you two. However!-" She talked with her back turned against him. The sentence was cut short as she slowly lifted her foot to climb up the stairs again.
"Kim Dokja is a good kid but he's also quite the deceptive one."
"Sometimes lies flowed out of his mouth as smoothly as if he was singing a song."
As they proceeded to walk forward, a sudden scream caught their attention. A chubby policeman came running towards them with an urgent look on his sweaty face.
"Chief Song! This is urgent! The call center department just transferred a call to us an-"
Song Daehwa raised her hand again, motioning the wheezing policeman to stop talking.
"Let's talk somewhere else."
She turned around and looked at the regressor while speaking with an apologetical tone. "Please, excuse us."
The regressor nodded and looked at them as they walked towards an office where another lady wearing the same urgent expression was already waiting inside.
It wasn't too long after that the Deputy Police Chief rushed out in a hurry, bypassing him as she shouted back while speeding out the door. "I'm sorry, our talk is going to be delayed for another time! My subordinate will guide you towards the visitor's room!"
Yoo Jonghyuk frowned again but before he could ask, she was already long gone.
"Sir, I will lead you there so please, follow me."
He could do nothing else but tail behind the chubby policeman who led the way while wiping away the sweat residue from his drenched forehead.
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Arrange
Arrange Ahhh! Damn, I wanted to post it yesterday! But I was too slowww!! ?
Still, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! ??
1/2
(Yes, I have the other part in edit, almost completely ready!!✨ I'm sorry I couldn't be faster ㅠㅠ I only started writing last week and now need to catch up.)
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