Chapter 27 …
“Hey, youngest. About what I asked you yesterday….”
“Yes! I just sent it, the CCTV footage!”
“Oh? Oh… thanks…”
Pi Sowon let out a small sigh as she listened to Lee Yuji and Byun Gudo’s conversation.
Ever since Chief Hong had visited, Lee Yuji had been in that state all the time.
How should I put it…
“Senior, how about the Chinese restaurant next door for lunch today?”
“Sounds good. I’ll have jjambbong.”
Pi Sowon watched Lee Yuji approaching, his invisible tail wagging as if it were a real dog, and couldn’t help but feel exasperated.
“And what will you have, Team Leader?”
Look at how excited he is…
The bruises on Lee Yuji’s nose and lips were still vivid.
He had supposedly avoided the infirmary on purpose to get treated there later?
When told to get such things treated in advance, he sheepishly admitted he hadn’t thought of it.
Pi Sowon was the first to see the video of Lee Yuji mercilessly enduring Lamia in the illegal fighting arena.
Other hunters screamed just by touching the cage, but Lee Yuji stayed pressed against the cage wall under Lamia’s attacks for a full ten minutes without letting out a single scream.
Even as blood streamed from his nose and mouth, he just gripped Lamia’s tail stinger, waiting for an opportunity.
“Crazy bastard.”
The words slipped out as Pi Sowon watched.
“A mad dog has joined Team 5.”
She remembered someone saying something as she herself got muddy rolling around with a criminal during a joint operation.
…Did that person see me like this too?
Pi Sowon pondered briefly, then responded bluntly.
“What kind of lunch orders start at 10 a.m. anyway?”
“Hehe, really? Well, I guess since I’m our embarrassing ‘youngest’….”
Seeing him awkwardly scratch the back of his head, Pi Sowon furrowed her brows.
Not the 300 million won, but the “our” part—he emphasized that?
“That ‘our’ you keep saying…”
“I know. Just a formality. After all, we’re one team. Team 5.”
Lee Yuji pointed at the whiteboard with a tone that suggested he didn’t quite understand it was a formality.
“I brought in the results too. Of course, that…”
Seeing Pi Sowon’s cold glare, Lee Yuji’s voice faltered.
“…didn’t please you.”
Byun Gudo noticed the air between Pi Sowon and Lee Yuji suddenly chill and stepped in.
“Ah, well, thanks to our youngest, Team 5’s allowances went up. Sure, we got more cases assigned too, but they’re minor compared to Team 1. No ‘funny powder’ incidents either.”
“Funny powder incidents?”
When Lee Yuji asked, Byun Gudo explained.
“Messy if funny powder gets involved. The ones who deal with it are insane. Totally unpredictable what trouble they’ll cause.”
Ah.
Lee Yuji recalled Kang Il-yeon losing control due to illegal dungeon materials and understood. The original story’s funny powder came back to mind as well.
Meanwhile, Pi Sowon stood up and said,
“Lee Yuji, you’re off cases for a while. For now, just feed Lulu.”
“Huh?”
“…?”
Next to be flustered after Lee Yuji was Ma Deokho.
The MZ investigator who spent every moment looking at cat photos.
Lee Yuji had known he liked going to the kennel, so he was about to yield.
Besides—
‘I want something cool too! Handcuffing and stuff! I want to do that!’
Lee Yuji had desire.
“Don’t go wandering around with that face. Stay in the office until your face heals.”
But Pi Sowon was firm.
So once again—
“Senior Lulu… hello?”
Near the end of lunch break, I stood in front of the kennel.
Pi Sowon, Byun Gudo, and I had eaten jjajangmyeon and jjambbong, while MZ Ma Deokho had gone out to get a salad.
‘Ah, I really….’
Jealous.
I wanted that kind of guts too.
Still, I obediently followed Pi Sowon’s orders and came to feed Lulu.
For now, better to obey. I got 300 million won after all…
‘Hehe… I’ll pay off the apartment loan.’
Exciting. Money earned legally.
Then a window popped up in front of me.
Lulu’s affection increases by 10!
How did she know I brought sundae just for her…?
I carefully lifted Lulu from the kennel, stroking under her chin and her belly.
‘At Hensudae, no one loves me like you do.’
Though it was conditional love—she could feel me sneak sundae from my pocket.
“Oh! The famous newcomer from Team 5, huh?”
A voice called from behind.
Turning, I saw a new security guard greeting me. I let Lulu’s face show as I responded.
“Ah… hello…”
“Taekwon! I did a bit of Taekwondo when I was young… wow, you’re amazing? I saw the videos too.”
Videos?
“But you two are both Team 5, did you eat separately?”
“Eh? You two?”
I asked back, and the guard gestured to the flowerbed along the fence around the kennel.
A man squatting there could be seen from behind, wearing a headset.
I recognized him.
‘I don’t want to acknowledge him…’
But the new guard wasn’t very perceptive.
“Here! Another Team 5 member!”
When the guard shouted, Ma Deokho glanced over at me.
Surprisingly gentle expression.
A joyful expression I hadn’t seen before.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Lulu ran over.
She tried to roll onto her back in front of Ma Deokho, then sniffed something and paused.
I reluctantly followed her. Otherwise, the guard might keep talking.
“Are those kittens?”
Four kittens were huddled asleep in the flowerbed, pressing against each other like…
“Doughnuts…”
I was drawn in without realizing it.
Then Ma Deokho spoke softly.
“Bagel.”
“…Eh?”
“Like a bagel.”
Wow. Speaking full sentences like this—I think I’ve never heard him do that.
“What’s the difference between the two?”
“Bagels are plumper and whiter…”
“Oh, got it…”
I nodded, pretending to understand. Lunch break would be ending soon anyway, so I could excuse myself as going to the bathroom and leave.
Just then, Ma Deokho suddenly took something out of his pocket.
Some bruise-relief medicine and a cat-printed bandage, like from a pharmacy.
No way… he bought that after going to get a salad?
“Team Leader Pi is afraid of the team members getting hurt.”
Then he said suddenly:
“Afraid?”
Afraid? Not dislike? Strange choice of words.
“When Chief Hong was leading Team 1, while working with Team 1, Pi’s partner died.”
“…!”
I felt like I had just heard a huge secret.
“Performance scores were big, so Chief Hong, Chief Cha, and Team Leader Pi all got promoted… but…”
Ma Deokho glanced at my lips and nose and said,
“…performance isn’t everything.”
Performance isn’t everything.
That hit me strangely.
My life-risking work wasn’t a bother to Team Leader Pi—
‘He was afraid.’
As if someone had hit me in the back of the head, I sat stunned. Then Ma Deokho muttered something.
“By the way, where did Kkamang go?”
Petting the kittens, he kept murmuring.
What is this?
“Are… you having a conversation?”
“Yes.”
I realized he preferred talking to animals than people. As I watched, Ma Deokho looked at one kitten and murmured:
“Oh, no. If you vomit again, that’s bad.”
As soon as he said that, the kitten opened its eyes and threw up onto the flowerbed.
‘…Wait? Not a conversation… he’s reading their minds?’
Seeing him, Ma Deokho seemed to sense my gaze and answered:
“Animal communicator.”
“Eh?”
“Communicating with animals is my skill.”
At that moment, a chill ran down my spine, and I recalled the times I had possessed Lulu.
Could this human be—
Silently patting the vomited kitten, Ma Deokho spoke to me without even looking, face unchanged:
“By the way, why did you lie when catching the terrorist? I’ve always wondered.”
Damn.
