Chapter 34: Whispers Over Mugwort Soup

“Let’s take my car.”

As soon as they stepped out into the parking lot, Oh Seohyun spoke.

Lee Jaehyun didn’t really care whose car they took, so he nodded.

Oh Seohyun pulled her car key out from her coat and pressed the button.

With a beep, the headlights of a car parked in the distance flashed on.

A compact SUV.

It was a cute-looking car, completely different from the sharp image Oh Seohyun had shown before, which felt quite refreshing.

How should I put it.

Usually, she gave off the impression of a hunting dog, always ready to bite at any moment, and right now was no different.

But it was like that hunting dog was peeking its head out from a cozy, adorable doghouse.

With a strange expression, Lee Jaehyun got into the passenger seat.

“I’m heading out.”

Oh Seohyun said that and pressed the accelerator. Lee Jaehyun rode in her car, heading for the Mugwort Soup restaurant.

Of course, it was Song’s Mugwort Soup House.

On the outside, nothing seemed different.

Naturally. What could possibly have changed in just a few days?

But after parking and stepping inside the restaurant, a completely different scene unfolded compared to the last time he’d come.

I mean, didn’t I say something felt off back then?

“Aigoo, you start getting chatty again.”

A group of people, dressed in hiking gear, laughing heartily with booming voices.

“So Choi Juim really did that, huh….”

“These days, Choi Juim is acting really weird.”

Another group, looking like office workers, dressed in suits and calmly eating their meal.

Everyone sat in their own spots, eating Mugwort Soup, and every table was full.

“Oh? Welcome!”

A bright, familiar voice rang out.

Song Aram approached Oh Seohyun and Lee Jaehyun with a cheerful face.

It should have been school hours, but seeing her here in the Mugwort Soup restaurant made Lee Jaehyun look puzzled.

Maybe noticing his gaze, Song Aram fluttered the apron she was wearing.

“Ah, I decided to take a few days off from school. Seohyun unni came here and tried to turn the school upside down for me. The teachers all apologized, saying they didn’t know until now and told me to rest for a few days before coming back…”

Song Aram trailed off, letting out a small laugh.

In any case, it seemed things hadn’t gone wrong, and she hadn’t skipped school without permission.

Lee Jaehyun nodded and spoke up.

“How’s the A/S effect? Satisfied with it?”

“You didn’t even do anything yourself…”

Song Aram mumbled playfully, then grinned.

“Well, 85 hasn’t really kicked in yet, so I’m not sure… but for now, I do feel reassured.”

After she said that, she turned her head and looked around the restaurant.

Just then, two office workers stood up from their table.

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll clear this up and guide you over right away.”

“Take your time.”

Although Lee Jaehyun spoke gently, Song Aram’s hands moved quickly.

Meanwhile, Song Sajang gave a slight bow in greeting to Lee Jaehyun, and then settled the bill for the office workers.

Soon after, Lee Jaehyun and Oh Seohyun were able to take their seats and place their order without any trouble.

Two bowls of pork Mugwort Soup.

With a calm face, Oh Seohyun set out the utensils and waited for the soup.

Lee Jaehyun looked at her and opened his mouth.

“Aram calls you Seohyun unni… I guess you two have gotten pretty close?”

“Rather than close, it’s just that Aram is bright and… she comes up to me easily.”

True, Song Aram used to be full of sharp thorns.

But after she saw Lee Jaehyun drive out the main perpetrators of school violence, she approached him right away, even asking for ‘%/5’, something she hadn’t requested before.

Since Oh Seohyun had directly resolved the school violence issue, it was natural that Aram would feel a sense of closeness with her.

“Ah, and I went to the school to try to wrap things up, but actually, most of it was already resolved before I got there.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I went the very next day, but the perpetrators didn’t show up at school. They did come later… but Aram said the atmosphere felt strangely subdued.”

As Oh Seohyun was saying this, Song Aram set two bowls of Mugwort Soup on their table and jumped into the conversation.

“That’s right. They’ve all been quiet for a few days now. There’s even a rumor that after seeing a ghost, they’ve all turned weird.”

“A ghost…”

At her words, Lee Jaehyun chuckled.

As if there are really ghosts in this world.

Most likely, they were just scared the police might come, and with Oh Seohyun visiting in person, maybe they thought things would escalate and decided to lay low for a while.

“…Huh?”

No, something felt off.

They didn’t seem like the type to be so scared of the police.

And for such a ridiculous ghost rumor to spread so quickly, could there actually be a ghost?

At least, Lee Jaehyun knew of a being very similar to a ghost, even if not a real one.

Could it be that Se-re-hen really did something?

As he was thinking that—

“I don’t think just scaring them a little would have made them go so quiet.”

At Se-re-hen’s words, Lee Jaehyun poked at his Mugwort Soup in disbelief.

If a demon appeared before your eyes, it would be enough to make you quiet.

If it were like when death came right up to your face, like what Lee Jaehyun experienced, you wouldn’t have any choice but to accept it. But it probably wasn’t like that.

Still, as Se-re-hen said, it felt a little suspicious.

Even so, it was best to trust Song Aram and Officer Oh Seohyun with the case, as it would be difficult to proceed with the AS himself.

“Understood. If you ever need any more help, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Officer Oh Seohyun shrugged her shoulders and replied in a light tone.

It was worrying, but for now, there wasn’t much Lee Jaehyun could do.

Just as now, he could participate in the witness investigation, and if things got bigger later, he could testify in court, but for the time being, if things had calmed down… the best he could do was secure evidence and organize the situation.

Still, just in case more help was needed.

If those guys weren’t just laying low, but plotting something and acted again… then he’d be ready to step in.

The police are weak when dealing with past cases if there’s no evidence.

But with evidence, they become stronger than anyone. If the culprits made a move and created direct evidence—

Then Lee Jaehyun would step forward first.

Without saying another word, he quietly focused on his meal.

Maybe it was the habits from his days as a detective.

Lee Jaehyun finished his bowl of Mugwort Soup in no time, and Oh Seohyun finished her meal at a similar pace.

In the meantime, the restaurant had emptied out a bit, with only about half the seats taken now.

With a blank expression, Oh Seohyun pulled out her smartphone from her pocket.

“Just in case, I’ll record this.”

“Okay.”

“Then… should we begin?”

“Here?”

“Yes, it’s just a formality.”

Oh Seohyun shrugged her shoulders as she answered.

Lee Jaehyun didn’t mind where he was questioned as a witness, so he nodded right away.

It felt a bit odd, but like Oh Seohyun said, it was just a formality.

Besides, what Lee Jaehyun said would be very advantageous for Song Aram, and Oh Seohyun would handle the paperwork separately later using the recording.

The questions were simple.

They started with basic information like name and age, and then asked him to honestly explain the situation at the time.

It wasn’t difficult for Lee Jaehyun to answer.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After getting the answers, Oh Seohyun finished things up neatly.

Lee Jaehyun also bowed his head in a slight greeting.

At that moment, his phone began to vibrate.

Oh Seohyun paused as she was about to put her smartphone back in her pocket, then shook her head as if to say it wasn’t hers.

Lee Jaehyun took out his own smartphone.

It was a call from an unknown number.

“I’ll just step outside to take this call.”

He said, getting up from his seat.

***

Is this one of the many occupational hazards of being a detective?

Because you never know when someone will call you with evidence, you’re always trying to answer unknown numbers, just in case.

Even now.

Of course, he wasn’t a detective anymore, just an ordinary police officer, so he had no reason to hand out business cards. Still, Lee Jaehyun habitually picked up the call.

“Yes, hello?”

— Hello. Is this Officer Lee Jaehyun’s phone?

A young woman’s voice came through the phone.

It was soft, but had a formal tone.

“Yes, that’s right. Who is this?”

— Ah, hello. This is Yoon Minha from Dongyeong Ilbo.

Lee Jaehyun paused at the mention of Dongyeong Ilbo.

Detectives and reporters are inseparable.

It’s like the relationship between a crocodile and the plover bird.

No, it’s an indescribable connection.

It’s a symbiotic relationship, yet also one where each tries not to let the other take advantage.

Reporters always need cases.

Detectives, too, sometimes need information or the power of the media from reporters.

But there are always those reporters who don’t coordinate, and publish stories that shouldn’t be made public.

There were more than a few times when reporters interfered with investigations and made things more difficult for him.

Naturally, if the person calling was a reporter, his guard went up.

“Are you a reporter?”

— Yes, yes.

“Why is a reporter calling me… no, how did you get my number?”

Lee Jaehyun furrowed his brow and asked.

It’s not strange for a reporter to call.

With all that’s happened recently, they might want to request an interview.

But he hadn’t given out his contact details, so it was curious how she had his personal phone number.

— It’s not hard to get a police officer’s contact. It’s part of our job.

“I didn’t know stalking was part of a journalist’s duties these days.”

— Oh, come on, stalking? Since when did getting the number of a guy you’re interested in become stalking?

Yoon Minha replied in a soft voice.

The way she spoke reminded him of Kim Junho, who was always known for being sly in his team.

Lee Jaehyun quietly clicked his tongue inwardly.

He didn’t like the situation, but getting on the bad side of an active reporter wasn’t a good idea either.

Especially if it was a large media outlet like Dongyeong Ilbo.

“So, what did you call about?”

— I heard some rumors. That the one who caught serial killer Myung Jinhan was a police officer.

“Is that so?”

Lee Jaehyun deflected naturally.

It wasn’t surprising that a reporter knew it was a police officer who caught Myung Jinhan.

The general public might not know, but within the police station, the rumor had spread.

There were even reporters stationed inside the police department, so it wasn’t strange that she’d heard about it somewhere.

— And that same officer also revealed the truth about the Park Chunbeom case from five years ago.

It was a little surprising she knew that much.

The Myung Jinhan case had caused a nationwide uproar.

But the Park Chunbeom case wasn’t as much of a hot topic.

There had been talk here and there over the past few days after the truth was revealed, but compared to the Myung Jinhan case, it wasn’t even a tenth as big.

So even within the police organization, rumors probably hadn’t spread much.

If she found that out, it meant she’d really done her research.

— I think the officer in those rumors might be you, Officer Lee Jaehyun. I have a few reasons why I think so…

Yoon Minha was starting to explain in a gentle, coaxing tone.

But Lee Jaehyun cut her off.

There was no reason to listen further.

He had absolutely no intention of admitting to the reporter that he was the one who caught Myung Jinhan or revealed the truth behind the Park Chunbeom case.

“I’m sorry, you can believe whatever you like… but I’m busy, so I’ll have to hang up now.”

— Oh, wait a second.

“Then, have a good day. Dongyeong Ilbo’s… Yoon Minha reporter.”

Lee Jaehyun ended the call neatly and put his smartphone away.

Fortunately, there was no follow-up call.

As he turned to go back into the restaurant, Se-re-hen was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you pretending not to know?”

“Hmm?”

Se-re-hen made a little sound and asked.

Lee Jaehyun met her eyes.

“Aren’t humans supposed to like being famous? That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.”

Like being famous?

Well, most people probably don’t like ‘fame’ itself, but rather ‘being recognized by more people.’

Lee Jaehyun didn’t hate being recognized.

But getting articles written about him was troublesome.

The reason was simple.

He still had bad guys to catch in the future. If he became the focus of the media, things would get inconvenient.

With so many criminals left for him to catch, having his face known by the media would only make his police work harder.

After saying so and walking back, a strange expression appeared on Se-re-hen’s face as she watched Lee Jaehyun’s retreating back.

“In the end, you’re destined to stand in the spotlight. You just don’t know it yet.”

Or maybe you’re just pretending not to know.

She murmured quietly.