CHAPTER 9
The next day, Damju stood in front of the bulletin board on the first floor of City Hall, tearing off pieces of tape with a bundle of flyers tucked under her arm.
Half of the bulletin board was covered with various notices and community announcements, but among them, official wanted posters issued by the police were beginning to appear one by one.
Warning notices clearly printed alongside photographs of wanted suspects involved in violent crimes.
“Why does it feel so dangerous these days?”
“Exactly. Why are there so many criminals who still haven’t been caught?”
Damju could hear the whispers of citizens passing by the bulletin board, but she pretended not to hear them and quietly continued putting up the flyers.
Several sheets of paper she had brought separately were tucked beneath her arm. They were flyers about recently released sex offenders. She had no intention of putting those up. She had simply brought them along in case she needed to refer to them when explaining things to the owners of nearby businesses.
At that moment, a low voice came from behind her.
“Do City Hall officials handle things like this too?”
“Ah! You scared me!”
Startled, Damju turned around, dropping the paper she had been holding onto the floor.
And at the same time, she found herself face-to-face with Seo Kang Yul.
‘…Not this guy again?’
Her lips went dry.
From the moment he had brought up the ‘Royal Palace Hotel,’ Kang Yul had ceased to be just another prosecutor to Damju.
He was a ‘witness’ who remembered the humiliation of that day, someone who brought the shame of that day rushing back to her.
And because of that, he was someone she desperately wanted to avoid.
“What are you doing sneaking up behind me like that…? You startled me.”
Damju tried to sound as calm as possible, but her voice trembled slightly.
“You’re more easily frightened than I expected.”
“If someone suddenly comes up behind you like that, nine out of ten people would be startled.”
Kang Yul’s gaze paused subtly before he bent down, picked up the paper she had dropped, and handed it back to her.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. But if I did, I apologize.”
“Oh, so you know how to say things like that too?”
Damju accepted the paper and spoke sarcastically.
Kang Yul’s eyebrow arched slightly.
“What kind of impression did you have of me?”
“…Hmm.”
Damju unnecessarily brushed her fingertips through her hair and avoided his gaze.
Kang Yul glanced at the official wanted posters in her hands, as well as the other papers mixed in beside them.
“But isn’t this something the police are supposed to handle?”
“The residents are anxious. What difference does it make who does it? I went to the police station and got them myself because I wanted to put them up.”
“But why are there so many?”
“I’m planning to give them to the owners of the businesses nearby. If they put them up at supermarkets, real estate offices, snack shops, and places like that, everyone will be a little more careful. And this person was released from prison recently, so I brought this one just in case. It’s only for reference.”
Kang Yul gave a slight nod.
“You really are as enthusiastic as the rumors say.”
“It’s my job to ease the residents’ anxiety.”
For a moment, Kang Yul’s gaze settled on Damju’s face.
There was something different in his eyes this time—a strangely softened light.
His gaze did not retreat easily.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Instead of answering, Kang Yul quietly took a step closer.
“……Why, why are you doing that?”
When he came close enough for her to feel his breath, Damju unconsciously swallowed.
Kang Yul continued moving closer and reached toward her shoulder.
Damju reflexively closed her eyes.
A brief silence.
The faint sound of breathing.
Then a low voice brushed against the edge of her ear.
“This is stuck to you.”
With his fingertips, he slowly peeled off a piece of transparent tape that had been stuck to the edge of her blouse.
It lasted only a moment, but strangely enough, the movement seemed to happen in slow motion.
Her entire body stiffened with a tingling sensation where his fingertips had brushed past.
For an instant, it felt as though even the air had stopped moving.
Kang Yul rolled the tape between his fingertips and tossed it into the trash can, a brief smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
“That’s better now.”
At that moment, Damju stared blankly at him.
A warm expression had briefly crossed the face she had always thought was cold.
‘This guy can smile too? But… why does he look so handsome when he does that?’
The thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it.
Then, as if nothing had happened, Kang Yul picked up one of the sheets of paper she was holding.
“Can I take one of these?”
Damju hurriedly pulled herself together and rearranged the flyers and papers in her hands.
“Ahem. Yes, sure…. Take one.”
Although the corners of her mouth had stiffened awkwardly, her heart refused to obey her.
Her insides felt ticklish and strangely hot.
“Then.”
Kang Yul gave a brief nod and walked down the hallway.
Damju watched his retreating figure and muttered to herself.
“What was that about…. Why did he suddenly show up?”
She pressed her lips tightly together, but the smile from moments ago remained in her mind.
Instead of his usual prickly expression, the gentle look that had briefly crossed his face kept coming back to her.
Her heart began beating irregularly again.
Before she knew it, her eyes were following his back as he disappeared down the end of the hallway.
Late that night, Damju found herself working late on civil complaints as usual.
But this time, she took a shortcut she did not normally use.
Just as she was about to turn the corner of a narrow, deserted alley—
“Ugh… ngh… ngh!”
Short, broken groans leaked out from the darkness.
Damju instinctively stopped walking.
Under the streetlight, a man was roughly pulling a woman by the arm and forcing her into a white SUV.
Damju’s eyes trembled.
“Wh-what is that…?”
The woman struggled desperately, trying to resist through the hand covering her mouth.
It looked too dangerous for Damju to step in recklessly.
With trembling hands, she took out her phone and dialed 112.
“Hello? I’m… in an alley in Samho-dong.”
Damju whispered as she reported the situation.
“I think a woman is being kidnapped! Please come right away!”
—What did you say? A kidnapping? Where did you say you were?
“An alley next to Arang Mart in Samho-dong! It’s a white SUV. The license plate is… blurry, so I can’t see it clearly….”
—Understood. We’ll send a patrol car right away.
Damju pressed herself tightly against the corner of a building and watched the situation.
In the meantime, the man shoved the woman into the car, and soon disappeared into the darkness.
In the silence, the sound of police sirens never came.
The next morning, a breaking news report came on.
Damju, who was preparing breakfast, abruptly turned her head at the sound of the news anchor’s voice.
—Early this morning, the body of a woman believed to be in her thirties was discovered inside a vehicle parked near a river in Namcheon City. The body was reportedly discovered after a resident who was taking an early morning walk contacted the authorities. Police stated that they are currently investigating the exact circumstances, including the possibility that the woman took her own life, based on the circumstances at the scene.
The screen showed the riverside surrounded by yellow police tape.
Among the police officers and forensic investigators moving around the scene, a vehicle briefly passed through the frame.
A white SUV.
Damju’s face went pale.
“T-that car…”
It was unmistakably the same car she had seen the previous night.
The coffee cup in her hand slipped helplessly to the floor.
Crash!
Coffee spread across the floor among the shattered pieces.
Damju stood frozen, staring blankly at the spot.
It was as if every sound around her had disappeared, leaving only the hollow voice of the news anchor echoing through the room.
—Police added that an autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Damju’s gaze drifted aimlessly through the air.
That afternoon, Damju sat at her desk, rolling a pen between her fingertips.
Her thoughts kept tangling together and scattering.
The tip of the pen pressed into the paper.
‘It was definitely a kidnapping…. So why was it reported as suicide?’
Unable to bear it any longer, Damju eventually called the police station.
“This is Lee Damju from the Civil Affairs Administration Department of Namcheon City Hall. I’m calling regarding the incident reported this morning.”
—You mean the case involving the vehicle found near the river?
“Yes. But why was it reported as suicide?”
—Based on the circumstances at the scene, we are currently investigating with the possibility of suicide in mind.
“Suicide? But there was definitely a woman in that car….”
—This is an ongoing investigation, so I’m afraid we can’t provide any further details. I’m sorry.
Click.
The call ended.
Damju bit the inside of her lip.
She was at a loss for words.
‘Suicide? No. That’s not it. That woman was definitely… struggling to be saved.’
Damju tightened her grip around the pen.
Black ink spread across the notebook like a stain.
That evening, when Damju returned home with heavy footsteps, Hajin was already in the living room.
Unlike usual, her shoulders were slumped and her face was stiff.
“When did you get home?”
Damju asked as she put down her bag.
“The café closed, so I came straight home.”
“Suddenly? Why?”
Hajin was silent for a moment.
She slowly turned the mug between her fingertips before letting out a low sigh.
“Did you see the news today? The body that was found early this morning…. Apparently, it was Subin, the woman I worked with.”
“…What?”
Damju felt the breath catch in her throat, and her throat went stiff.
Hajin gripped the cup tightly.
The cup rattled slightly because her hands were trembling.
“She was completely fine when we left work yesterday….”
The corners of Hajin’s eyes reddened.
“How did you find out it was Ms. Subin?”
“A detective came by. He asked if she’d ever had depression or anything like that. They said she committed suicide.”
Damju tilted her head slightly.
“…Suicide?”
Her eyes trembled once again.
‘Did she really commit suicide?’
Hajin continued, her voice trembling with tears.
“They found charcoal briquettes too, and apparently there was a note at her house saying she was struggling because of debt. But she was smiling just yesterday. She even showed me her new nails. But suicide…? How does that make any sense?”
Without saying anything, Damju sat beside Hajin and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She could feel Hajin’s body trembling.
And because of that, Damju could not tell her about what she had witnessed.
That night, Damju could not fall asleep.
The short cries she had heard in the alley the previous night kept echoing in her ears.
The kidnapping she had clearly witnessed and the suicide the police were talking about.
The contradiction drove Damju crazy.
On top of that, a cold fear slowly crept into her heart.
‘What if I’m next? Or Hajin?’
At three in the morning, Damju kicked off her blanket and sat up.
“I’ll find out myself.”
The suffocating frustration that had been curled up deep inside her chest was slowly transforming into anger.
