Lee Jaehyun glanced back and forth between the Thread of Destiny and the girl student, his eyes wide with surprise.
He had entered the Gukbap Restaurant, following the Thread of Destiny, to uncover the truth behind the murder case Park Chunbeom committed five years ago.
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner worried that Jaehyun would just be stirring up trouble by digging into the case from five years back.
But Jaehyun had no choice but to persuade him, no matter what.
After all, the Gukbap Restaurant Owner was the only link he had to get closer to the case committed by Park Chunbeom five years ago.
But apparently, the Gukbap Restaurant Owner wasn’t the main point.
The moment the girl appeared, a vivid Thread of Destiny connected to her made that clear.
“Oh my, my daughter is here?”
“Yes.”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner walked up to the girl, took her bag, and greeted her with a bright smile.
It was obvious—she was the Gukbap Restaurant Owner’s daughter.
Watching how much he cherished his daughter, Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile as well.
“How was school today?”
“Same as always, nothing special.”
When the Gukbap Restaurant Owner asked, the girl hesitated briefly before answering with a bright smile.
She tried her best to look cheerful.
But Jaehyun caught the subtle frown that flashed between her brows in the brief moment between the question and her answer.
From the moment he saw the Thread of Destiny linking her, all his senses were fixed on the girl, so he noticed it instantly.
“Why is she reacting like that?”
Did something unpleasant happen at school?
Well, little things like that are common enough.
But his instincts as a detective were warning him.
There was a darkness inside her that she was having trouble sharing with her father.
While Jaehyun was deep in thought, the restaurant owner glanced at him and continued.
“Hey, you know about that Serial Killer, right?”
“Of course. You’ve been nagging me to come home early every day because of that, remember?”
“Ha, that’s true. But that’s not all. You see, the one who caught the Serial Killer—it’s this gentleman right here.”
He cleared his throat and pointed at Jaehyun.
Jaehyun, feeling awkward at the sudden attention, tried to avoid their gaze.
But the girl’s reaction was odd.
She frowned, glanced at Jaehyun, and spoke.
“……Are you a police officer?”
“Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you. Sergeant Lee Jaehyun, from the Capital Region Police Station.”
“I’m Song Aram. Enjoy your meal.”
With that, the girl nodded slightly and walked right past Jaehyun.
She climbed the stairs and headed to the Home on the second floor of the restaurant.
Maybe she didn’t realize it herself, but she clearly seemed uncomfortable around him.
Of course, that wasn’t unusual.
It’s normal for young people to feel awkward around strangers.
“No, is it not me specifically, but the police in general she’s uncomfortable with?”
That might be the case.
When he first entered the restaurant, she didn’t pay much attention to him, but as soon as he revealed he was police, her expression turned cold.
“Why is she uncomfortable with the police… Is it because of the incident five years ago?”
Right now, he couldn’t think of any other reason.
Watching her climb the stairs to the second floor, Jaehyun glanced at Se-re-hen.
Se-re-hen moved naturally, following behind Song Aram.
Once Song Aram was out of sight, the restaurant owner approached Jaehyun with a troubled expression.
“Sorry about that. My daughter’s a bit prickly.”
“It’s fine. It’s a sensitive age, after all.”
Jaehyun shook his head and answered with a gentle smile.
He truly didn’t mind.
After all, he’d spent years as a detective, facing all kinds of criminals.
Prickly?
Compared to what he’d seen, this was nothing—just a cute, ordinary reaction.
“Hah, thank you for understanding.”
“By the way, do you happen to know what your daughter was doing at the time of the incident?”
Jaehyun looked at the Gukbap Restaurant Owner and asked cautiously.
With the Thread of Destiny linking her so clearly, she had to be deeply connected to the case, if not directly involved.
“Of course she was sleeping. I rushed home that night, and she was still sleeping soundly, not knowing anything.”
“Ah.”
Jaehyun nodded outwardly, but he couldn’t quite believe it.
She was sleeping during the incident, and yet the Thread of Destiny reacted like this?
No, come to think of it… With all the sirens from ambulances and patrol cars, could she really have slept through that noise?
There was definitely something more here.
As he frowned in thought, the Gukbap Restaurant Owner frowned too and spoke.
“You don’t suspect my daughter, do you?”
“No, of course not. I just ask out of formality, in case she witnessed anything.”
Jaehyun waved his hand as he replied.
He was certain Song Aram wasn’t directly involved in the case.
If she had been, Se-re-hen would have reacted much more strongly.
So, most likely… she was a witness, or something close to it.
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner nodded at his answer and continued.
“In any case, if that incident really was a murder, I truly want to help… But to be honest, I just don’t want any more trouble stirred up.”
“I understand. I don’t want innocent citizens to suffer because of this either.”
If the case couldn’t be solved properly, it would just be like kicking a beehive for no reason.
He could understand the owner’s perspective as well.
Reputation was everything for a place like this.
Who would want to visit a place rumored to have had a murder?
For the Gukbap Restaurant Owner, it was a matter of his livelihood…
So Jaehyun could understand his wary reaction.
And yet…
“I don’t necessarily have to get the answer from the owner.”
Fortunately, he found another way to look for clues besides relying on the owner.
More than that, the Thread of Destiny was reacting even more strongly to Song Aram.
Se-re-hen had followed her—surely she could find some clue soon.
As Jaehyun thought that, Se-re-hen suddenly appeared before him out of thin air.
“Contractor.”
From her low voice, Jaehyun immediately sensed that Se-re-hen was a little angry.
He was taken aback—Se-re-hen, who always appeared so calm, now looked visibly upset.
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner gave Jaehyun a puzzled look.
Jaehyun did his best to keep his expression neutral.
After a moment, the owner went back to the kitchen, and Jaehyun sat at the table, stealing a glance at Se-re-hen.
But her expression was grave.
“What happened?”
At Jaehyun’s question, Se-re-hen frowned and spoke.
“That girl, as soon as she got home, changed her clothes. But… it looks like someone hit her. There are bruises on her stomach and back.”
At her words, Jaehyun’s face hardened.
Bruises on her arms or legs might be dismissed, but on her stomach and back, that’s different.
Was it Domestic Violence?
No, the relationship between father and daughter looked too good for that.
And besides… didn’t Se-re-hen mention earlier that the Gukbap Restaurant Owner’s ‘flavor’ didn’t seem off?
Jaehyun’s doubts were quickly resolved by Se-re-hen’s next words.
“And as she was changing clothes, she was on the phone with someone—someone named Hyunjin? That person said something like this: ‘You unlucky b***h, why aren’t you bringing the money already? If your bad luck rubbed off on me, at least you should pay up.'”
At Se-re-hen’s words, Jaehyun’s face turned as hard as stone.
The subtle reaction Song Aram showed when asked about school by the owner.
And now, Se-re-hen’s report.
Putting these clues together, only one thing came to mind.
School Violence.
***
Jaehyun remained seated, starting to eat the gukbap the owner brought out.
Before long, the sound of footsteps came from upstairs, and Song Aram came down.
“Dad, I’m taking fifty thousand won!”
She ran straight to the restaurant counter, opened the cash drawer, and shouted.
At her words, the Gukbap Restaurant Owner poked his head out from the kitchen.
“Fifty thousand won? What for?”
“Tteokbokki.”
“What kind of tteokbokki costs fifty thousand won?”
The owner looked incredulous at her answer.
Prices might have gone up these days, but tteokbokki for fifty thousand won was hard to believe.
Even before he could refuse, Song Aram pulled a fifty-thousand-won bill out of the cash drawer and stuffed it into her pocket.
“I’m going to eat with friends.”
“All right, fine.”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner nodded, clearly resigned.
Without another word, Song Aram tugged her hood down and ran out of the restaurant.
Watching her go, Jaehyun put down his spoon and stood up.
“Could you ring me up, please?”
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Yes, thank you. It was delicious.”
Jaehyun smiled, paid in cash, and looked out at Song Aram disappearing down the street.
“You must have a lot on your hands, raising your daughter.”
“Yeah… that’s true. Back in my day, a thousand won was enough to buy so much tteokbokki with friends.”
“Prices have really gone up these days.”
“Still, tteokbokki for fifty thousand won? You could buy ten bowls of gukbap with that. She could just bring her friends here instead.”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner sighed in exasperation.
Bring her friends here…
But in reality, Song Aram would probably never bring those ‘friends’ to the restaurant.
“Well, at that age, kids don’t like introducing their friends to their parents.”
“I just hope she doesn’t go astray, that’s all.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner forced a smile and shrugged, and Jaehyun smiled back.
There seemed to be no dark aura visible to Se-re-hen.
At the very least, she wouldn’t go down a bad path.
Which only made the problem clearer.
An innocent student was being bullied.
“Well then, take care.”
“Yes, please come again.”
Jaehyun gave a polite farewell and left the restaurant.
He gazed in the direction Song Aram had run.
“This isn’t right…”
If she was suffering from School Violence, it should have been a relief to see a police officer.
Yet the moment she learned Jaehyun was police, she recoiled.
Something was wrong.
With that thought, Jaehyun began to walk in the direction Song Aram had run off to.