Chapter – 20
The fingers that had been tapping on the phone came to a halt, and Yeonhee stared at Cheonga with her mouth hanging open.
“So they used that to monitor all the professors in the hospital? Damn, this is huge.”
“Wait, unni! Okay, fine, the pharmaceutical company planted the bugs. But just because Min Yusin recommended it to you doesn’t automatically make him the culprit, right?”
At Yeonhee’s objection, Cheonga shook her head.
“It’s definitely not our side. They kept attacking even though they knew I was a cop.”
As she listened to the explanation, Yeonhee’s expression gradually darkened.
“For now, Yang Dongjun is just a straw man. And… Min Yusin seems like another faction that’s hostile to Yang Dongjun.”
“So… a rival organization?”
Tap, tap. Cheonga drummed her fingers on the table, sinking into thought.
The ability to plant personnel inside a hospital, and on top of that prepare dozens—hundreds—of ultra-miniature listening devices.
No matter how you looked at it…
“Don’t tell me… it’s really the Yongyeon Association?”
Cheonga’s face went pale as she stared blankly at Yeonhee.
After a moment of hesitation, Yeonhee placed the phone she’d been holding down on the table and slid it toward her. The screen was filled with dense programming code, completely unreadable at a glance.
“Unni… I’m sorry to pile on bad news, but I think this is going to take more time.”
That Yeonhee herself was struggling this much was alarming in its own way.
If even her—who was known as the best hacker in the country—was having trouble tracking them down, it meant the opponent was far more capable than expected.
“So… once the bug inside you comes out, could you bring it to me?”
“Huh?”
“If I can check whether the maker’s signature matches the phone tapping app, we might get answers faster.”
Cheonga’s gaze slowly dropped to her own stomach.
A way to get the bug out.
There was only one.
-
Go to the bathroom.
-
Skip.
-
Rummage around.
“Is that… really necessary?”
“If possible.”
“…I’ll try.”
Cheonga’s face flushed bright red.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Jeon Hongnam’s expression soured as he entered the office. The sight of Cheonga slumped and glued to the table in the middle of the room was not pleasant.
Oh Seongmin made a grimace and shook his head.
“She’s been like that for days, ever since we pulled out of Boksan University.”
“Tch. I’m busy enough as it is.”
Hongnam clicked his tongue and headed to his desk. From behind him came Cheonga’s muttering.
“C-pop… C-bap? C-bang? No, I’m sure it was C-bang… was it C-pa C-bang…?”
“What?”
As the nonstop string of curse-like sounds continued, Hongnam’s head snapped around viciously.
Cheonga, seemingly oblivious to his fury, kept talking to herself.
Oh Seongmin and Park Ingyu rolled their eyes wildly, signaling her to shut up immediately—but Cheonga noticed nothing.
“C-pa unni… C-bang… C-bang with unni…?”
Finally, unable to take it anymore, Hongnam shouted so loudly the office shook.
“HEY!”
Startled, Cheonga jumped straight up like a frog. Only then did she notice her team leader, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.
“Oh. Uh… you’re here, sir.”
“You idiot! I’ve been here half the day already!”
“Oh. Is that so. You came early.”
At her careless reply, a vein bulged on Hongnam’s forehead.
“Yeah, asshole. I’ve been here all day—so why is one of my subordinates glued to a table muttering weird curse words, huh?! Damn it—”
Cheonga puckered her lips and made a pitiful face.
“No, sir. This is an important clue.”
Hongnam glared sharply, and unfortunately only Seongmin and Ingyu caught the full force of that murderous look.
“The day I quit the hospital! I saw it with my own eyes! The druggies’ names—right there on the treatment list!”
Hongnam crossed his thick arms.
“You saw them?”
“Yes!”
“Then show me the list.”
“Well…”
Cheonga bit her lip.
“I seriously dug through even the trash to find it, okay? But… some lunatic stole it.”
“……”
That part was true.
When she woke up in the on-call room, that crazy bastard Min Yusin had already run off with the drug users’ list.
She’d chased after Yang Dongjun in a frenzy and tried to squeeze him for answers, but all she got was shameless denial.
—
“Patient treatment records? That’s ridiculous. That’s information we wouldn’t even hand over to the police without a warrant! And you think we’d show it to some cleaning lady? Are you out of your mind?!”
—
The memory of Yang Dongjun’s brazen words made anger surge up in her chest.
Seeing Cheonga’s miserable expression, Hongnam clicked his tongue repeatedly.
“Hey. Without evidence, what you ‘saw’ doesn’t mean jack. Since when does a cop run their mouth without proof?”
Evidence.
Unfortunately, there was none left.
All Cheonga had were fragments of a conversation she’d overheard between Min Yusin and Yang Dongjun through the closed doctors’ office door—and even that was faint and unclear.
Sure, she could storm into Boksan University Hospital right now and demand the records.
But word would spread fast that the police were investigating, and the tail would surely be cut off.
“There’s no evidence… but.”
What stuck in Cheonga’s mind was—
“Sir. What the hell is C-pop C-bang? I think the answer is in that C-pop C-bang.”
“….”
“Was it C-pa? Did I mishear it? S-passi-bbang? Heehee. Damn, this is driving me crazy. It’s important.”
At the stream of innocent-sounding profanity spilling from her mouth, Hongnam’s lips trembled. His forearms bulged as he clenched them tighter.
Just then, Oh Seongmin jumped in to intercept.
“Ah, sir. Don’t you have that report at HQ tomorrow?”
Hongnam’s sharp gaze swung toward Seongmin.
“Jesus! You scared me. Relax your eyes a bit—damn.”
“What report?”
“The one Strong Crimes Team 1 is eyeing. You know.”
“Those sneaky bastards in Team 1—what are they trying to steal now?!”
Seongmin’s diversion seemed to work.
Hongnam’s anger shifted from Cheonga to Team 1 in an instant.
Taking advantage of the opening, Seongmin signaled behind his back to Park Ingyu to remove Cheonga.
Only then snapping out of it, Ingyu jumped up and grabbed Cheonga by the wrist.
“Looks like it’s time for our Cheonga to go for a walk. Come on. Let’s go take a walk with big bro.”
“Huh? A walk?”
“Canvassing. Field check. Didn’t you hear? There was a fight with some Russian ladies and customers yesterday. Let’s go check it out, yeah?”
Ingyu dragged her toward the door.
“Wait, hyung, this is important—C-pop, ah!”
As she started to blurt out “C-pop” again, Ingyu slapped his palm firmly over her mouth, forcing a smile as he hauled her out.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go meet the S-passiva ladies.”
Dragged by the arm and collar, Cheonga was shoved into the car against her will. Seeing her sulky face, Ingyu burst out laughing.
“You lost the evidence—what are you sulking for?”
He fastened her seatbelt and started the engine. The car rattled loudly as it came to life.
“And watch your mouth in the office. You’re usually sharp as hell—how do you not sense when the boss goes demon mode?”
“……”
“At the very least, if you’re gonna talk, you should explain the context. When you heard ‘C-pop’ or whatever, and in what situation.”
Cheonga hesitated, fiddling with her phone and glancing around the car. Then she lifted herself off the seat and leaned in close to Ingyu’s ear.
“Hyung. You know…”
The sudden closeness made the tip of Ingyu’s ear turn bright red.
“I actually found two suspicious people at the hospital.”
“Ah… huh? Then why didn’t you report it?”
Cheonga sighed heavily and leaned back.
“To report, like the boss said, I’d need evidence. But one guy ran, and the druggies’ treatment list got stolen.”
“……”
Tap, tap. Cheonga knocked on her own head.
“All that’s left in here is C-pop C-bang. How am I supposed to write a report with that?”
Ingyu nodded slowly.
“And on top of that, I’m being wiretapped.”
His nod stopped dead.
“…Did you seriously eat something weird?”
