Lee Jaehyun looked at Song Aram, who was sitting across from him.
She had said she would start explaining, but her lips just quivered as if she was struggling to figure out how to begin.
Lee Jaehyun waited calmly until Song Aram was ready to speak.
Before long, she drew a shallow breath and exhaled, then opened her mouth.
“I still remember it clearly. The day the accident happened… that week was my birthday, you know.”
Song Aram did not respond to Lee Jaehyun’s words.
Lee Jaehyun let out a small laugh and stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“It’s time to go home now. We have to explain the situation to your father, too.”
Song Aram showed a hesitant look at Lee Jaehyun’s words.
She had managed to dredge up her memories of that day and hand over the evidence, but—
What would be even harder for Song Aram was having to tell her father that she had been suffering all this time.
Even so, Lee Jaehyun did not want Song Aram’s father to go on living without knowing a thing.
One of the ways to deal with School Violence is to inform the parents, so letting Song Aram’s father know about her being a victim of School Violence was absolutely necessary, even just to prevent any further harm.
Lee Jaehyun quietly watched Song Aram, who was still hesitating.
Eventually, Song Aram cautiously got up from her seat.
Lee Jaehyun took Song Aram and headed back to the store.
When they returned to the Gukbap Restaurant, he and Song Aram stepped inside.
“Welcome back.”
The face of the Gukbap Restaurant Owner stiffened when he saw them.
Immediately, the Gukbap Restaurant Owner scowled and rushed at Lee Jaehyun.
“You little bastard, look at you!”
He immediately started cursing and grabbed a handful of Lee Jaehyun’s collar.
Lee Jaehyun, flustered, grabbed the Gukbap Restaurant Owner’s arm.
“Huh? No, sir, I think there’s been a misunderstanding, can you please let go and calm…”
“Calm? You think I can calm down right now? My daughter’s face is all puffy from crying!”
Lee Jaehyun tried to restrain the agitated Gukbap Restaurant Owner, but it was no use.
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner, still visibly agitated, continued shaking his collar as he spoke.
“You little punk, I knew it ever since you started poking around about the case! Just because you’re a cop, you think you can do anything? You dare make my precious daughter cry?”
“Ah, um…”
Lee Jaehyun couldn’t answer.
After all, it was true that Song Aram ended up crying during the investigation.
How was he supposed to explain this?
While he was still trying to think of an answer, the Owner, misunderstanding his silence, glared even harder and rushed at Lee Jaehyun again.
“You damn—”
He was about to start cursing again in a rage, but Song Aram stepped in.
She wedged herself between Lee Jaehyun and the Owner and spoke up.
“Dad, please calm down, just for a second.”
“Uh. Uh.”
When Song Aram shouted, the Owner finally let go of Lee Jaehyun.
Maybe he realized from her reaction that something was wrong.
The Owner looked between Song Aram and Lee Jaehyun in confusion.
Finally, Lee Jaehyun straightened his rumpled clothes and spoke up.
“Sir, please calm down for a moment. First, let me—”
He tried to apologize and explain exactly why Song Aram had ended up crying.
After all, it was true that she cried during the course of the investigation.
But just then, Song Aram cut him off and spoke up.
“He helped me.”
“Hm?”
The Owner cocked his head at her abrupt words.
He shot a glance at Lee Jaehyun, then turned his gaze back to Song Aram and asked,
“What do you mean, he helped you?”
“Well… um…”
Although Song Aram had stepped forward, she seemed to hesitate now that she had to explain herself. Her lips just quivered, and she fumbled with her words.
In the end, Lee Jaehyun stepped in to speak for her.
“Your daughter was a victim of School Violence.”
“What? What do you mean…”
At his words, the Owner’s eyes grew wide as he turned to Lee Jaehyun.
The look in his eyes demanded more details, and Lee Jaehyun was about to continue, but Song Aram interrupted again.
“Wait a minute, mister. I’ll explain from here.”
She paused to take a deep breath and then began to slowly explain the situation.
Time passed.
After listening to the full explanation, the Owner quietly stared at Song Aram.
Eventually, he slowly walked over and pulled her into a hug.
“I’m sorry, Aram. I’m such a fool. Oh, oh…”
“No, Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“No, it’s my fault. I should have noticed. I couldn’t even see how hard it was for you… I’m sorry, so sorry…”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner wept, blaming himself, and Song Aram, not to be outdone, blamed herself as well.
Both of them kept apologizing, trying to ease the other’s guilt, comforting each other as best they could.
Some might say that this too was a process of healing, but—
Lee Jaehyun didn’t think so.
“No, it’s not either of your fault.”
He stepped in between the father and daughter, who were trying to console each other.
Song Aram, and her father, too—
They were just victims in this case.
It could never be their fault.
“If we have to blame someone, it’s the Serial Killer, or those students who committed School Violence.”
“Serial Killer…?”
The Owner looked at Lee Jaehyun, wiping his tears with the back of his hand, and asked.
He seemed puzzled as to why the topic of a Serial Killer had suddenly come up in relation to School Violence.
“The incident the students who committed School Violence used as an excuse—it happened in front of this restaurant five years ago.”
“That incident? But that was an accident…”
Lee Jaehyun continued, giving more details.
But the Owner still wore a bewildered expression.
To his knowledge, it was an accident.
It wasn’t Lee Jaehyun who answered the Owner’s question.
It was Song Aram, who had been in her father’s arms.
Wiping away her tears with her sleeves, she spoke in a choked voice.
“No, Dad.”
“Hm?”
“I saw it. That night, I wasn’t asleep. I saw it and even took a Photograph. It wasn’t that both of them fell out of the car—one person fell out, and after that, the other jumped into the water on their own.”
Song Aram carefully, and in a gentle voice, explained the same thing she had said back in the café.
With each word, the Owner’s eyes grew wider.
“What do you mean…”
Hearing his daughter say she saw it with her own eyes, Song Sajang was left speechless, his mouth agape.
He stared blankly at his daughter for a long time, then finally closed his eyes tight and opened them again, turning to Lee Jaehyun as he spoke.
“Can you catch that bastard?”
“We already did. All we needed was the final evidence, and your daughter provided it. By now, the Capital Region Police Station I belong to should be handling the rest.”
“Ah.”
Lee Jaehyun smiled, telling him not to worry.
Song Sajang let out a sigh of relief and bowed his head deeply.
Then, in a voice filled with embarrassment, he spoke.
“I was terribly rude to someone as remarkable as you… I truly apologize for earlier.”
“It’s fine. Given the circumstances, it was more than understandable.”
Lee Jaehyun smiled and helped him to his feet by holding his shoulder.
It was an entirely understandable reaction, and in the end, the misunderstanding had been resolved.
More importantly, there was something he had to say to the Owner.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
“To be honest, I should tell you: once the truth of this case comes to light, the neighborhood is likely to become noisy again.”
“… I suppose so. Since a Serial Killer was caught.”
Lee Jaehyun said it with a serious expression.
At his words, the Owner nodded with a complicated, troubled look.
A case he thought was an accident turned out to be murder.
The rumors would probably be worse this time than last; they certainly wouldn’t be less.
Who knew what kind of gossip would spread next?
Of course, as the Gukbap Restaurant Owner, it was only natural to worry.
And now that he’d just learned that Song Aram had been a victim of School Violence, it was only more reason to be concerned.
But this time was different.
This time, Lee Jaehyun was here.
He might be seen as a mad dog by some, but at the same time, he was a loyal hound willing to bare his fangs to protect someone.
“I promise to do my utmost so that nothing like last time ever happens again. Aram won’t suffer like that again.”
The Gukbap Restaurant Owner looked up and met Lee Jaehyun’s steady gaze.
His eyes still showed worry.
Lee Jaehyun continued.
“This time, the father and daughter who helped most in catching the Serial Killer will be introduced as heroes, not as the unlucky ones. Instead of being called a jinx, she’ll be known as the one who caught a Serial Killer.”
“I don’t care what happens to me. Just, please, take good care of my daughter. To think my own child suffered at school like this… I…”
The Owner’s face grew tense again.
Whether it was out of guilt, he fell silent mid-sentence.
Lee Jaehyun gripped the Owner’s shoulder more firmly and spoke.
“Sir, I’ll say it again: none of this was your fault. Please don’t worry. Trust me and wait just a little longer—I will personally take responsibility for those who tormented Aram and make sure they’re punished.”
“Yes. Thank you. Thank you, sir.”
Song Sajang, his voice quivering, repeated his thanks over and over, bowing to Lee Jaehyun.
What was he so thankful for?
For saving Song Aram from School Violence?
Or for revealing the truth of the case, clearing the restaurant’s reputation as an unlucky place?
Or both?
He didn’t know—
But one thing was clear.
“To catch those devilish kids who bullied Song Aram and lock them away.”
School.
It should be a place where children can feel the safest, second only to home.
And yet, relying on what little power they have, some wield violence there, not only scarring the victims, but driving spikes into the hearts of their parents as well.
Lee Jaehyun had no intention of letting those devils get away with it.
So—there was no need for thanks.
“There’s no need to thank me. This is just my job.”
Lee Jaehyun said with a bright smile to Song Sajang and Song Aram.
But thinking of the word ‘devil’ suddenly brought something else to mind.
“Where’s Se-re-hen?”
She had looked absolutely furious just a moment ago.
But before Lee Jaehyun could resolve his curiosity, his Smartphone began to buzz noisily.
Bzz bzz bzz.
Lee Jaehyun immediately checked his vibrating Smartphone.
The name displayed on the screen was a familiar one.
Park Daehyung.
A call from the one at the Capital Region Police Station, who was probably keeping Park Chunbeom in custody.