CHAPTER 8
Swallowing hard, Lee Damju forced her expression back into place as the man added,
“You might not remember. Since you only saw me. Why did you take off your glasses? I almost didn’t recognize you. It was quite a memorable day.”
Then he gave a short smile.
It was unclear whether it was sarcasm or mockery.
“Anyway, I’ll be going now.”
Leaving those words behind, he walked off without even looking back.
Lee Damju stared blankly at his retreating figure, only inhaling deeply after a long moment.
“What is wrong with that guy…”
She almost cursed out loud, but his words suddenly echoed in her mind.
“Ah! And it turns out this isn’t our first meeting.”
“Wasn’t it a year ago at the Royal Palace Hotel?”
“You might not remember. Since you only saw me. Why did you take off your glasses? I almost didn’t recognize you. It was quite a memorable day.”
‘Royal… Palace Hotel? Then… that wedding hall… he was there too?’
Her throat went dry as if it were burning.
Her heart pounded loudly.
The humiliating scenes from that day spread through her mind in an instant.
“…Ha.”
As Lee Damju bit her lip while staring into space, Bokyeong tapped her shoulder from behind.
“Did you get the coffee? What are you staring at like that?”
Following her gaze, Bokyeong’s eyes landed on Kang Yul’s broad shoulders and straight back.
“You were pretending not to care, but I guess you can’t help it when someone’s handsome. But hey, are you really going to stare that hard? You’ll burn a hole in the back of his head.”
“……”
As if her insides weren’t already burning enough.
Lee Damju muttered absentmindedly,
“Bokyeong… about Jung Siho’s wedding.”
“Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”
“Back then… how was I?”
“You?”
Bokyeong thought for a moment, then burst into a laugh.
“What’s there to say? You were completely insane.”
“……”
Lee Damju murmured quietly, almost in a whisper,
“Then… I’m really screwed.”
—
On the way home after work, Lee Damju couldn’t even remember how she had gotten through the day.
Her bag hanging on her shoulder felt as heavy as lead.
Dragging her tired steps, she arrived in front of the ‘Warm Meal House,’ and her gaze stopped on its own.
An elderly woman with a hunched back was sitting on a chair in front of the restaurant.
She was unable to speak and had difficulty walking, a person managed under protection by Namcheon City.
At that moment, Siwoo came out of the restaurant holding a bag of soup and handed it to the old woman.
“Ma’am, you probably haven’t eaten… Please have it while it’s warm.”
The old woman took the bag with trembling hands, and Siwoo gently supported her arm and helped her stand.
“Will you be able to go on your own?”
The old woman silently nodded.
As she slowly walked away, Siwoo watched her back for quite a while with concern.
Seeing that, a quiet admiration slipped from Lee Damju’s lips.
“…He’s like an angel.”
With a faint smile, she quietly approached him and lightly patted his back.
Startled, Siwoo turned around.
“Huh? Damju?”
“Where did you hide it?”
“Huh? What?”
Lee Damju winked playfully.
“Your wings. Where did you hide them?”
A gentle smile spread across Siwoo’s lips.
“What are you talking about? Wings? Are you heading home after work now?”
“Yeah.”
Siwoo looked at her carefully, then his smile faded slightly.
“But why do you look so tired? Another flood of complaints?”
Lee Damju shrugged casually.
“It’s nothing new. But…”
She gave a bitter smile.
“I think I ran into a particularly persistent complainant today.”
“A persistent complainant?”
At that moment, his face suddenly appeared in her mind.
“Seems like raising your voice is your specialty.”
“Or is cutting in line your specialty.”
That cold gaze, that sarcastic tone.
And above all—
“Wasn’t it a year ago at the Royal Palace Hotel?”
“You might not remember. Since you only saw me. Why did you take off your glasses? I almost didn’t recognize you. It was quite a memorable day.”
The fact that he remembered her clearly.
Lee Damju forced a bitter smile.
“Well… it’s all my fault.”
Siwoo tilted his head as if asking what she meant, but she didn’t continue.
Only a cold feeling lingered in one corner of her chest.
Even if she wanted to avoid it, this was not a connection she could escape.
They didn’t live in the same building, but they were close enough to run into each other every day.
And even without direct ties, as public officials, it felt like only a matter of time before they would collide again.
An unavoidable fate.
‘Who knew life would get this tangled…’
Lee Damju stared into the air, swallowing the despair that seeped deep into her bones.
—
Late at night, in a private room of a bar in Namcheon City, prosecutors and investigators from the Namcheon District Office sat around a long table.
It was Kang Yul’s welcome party.
Glasses clinked, and laughter filled the wide space.
“But… did you really volunteer to come down from Seoul?”
A junior prosecutor with flushed cheeks asked, blinking drunkenly.
Kang Yul slowly lifted his glass and answered calmly.
“Yes.”
“Was there really a need…”
“Yes?”
“I mean, isn’t Seoul much better? More connections, more opportunities. Namcheon is honestly…”
The junior lowered his voice and whispered,
“…a demotion post, isn’t it?”
The atmosphere at the table instantly turned cold.
Hands holding glasses froze midair, and the laughter stopped abruptly.
No one openly agreed, but their avoiding gazes suggested the statement wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Ahem…”
Yoon Taesik cleared his throat and quickly grabbed a bottle.
“Prosecutor Choi, looks like you’ve had too much to drink. Talking nonsense like that.”
He quickly poured a drink into Kang Yul’s glass, trying to ease the tension.
“Here, Prosecutor Seo, don’t mind it and just have a drink.”
Kang Yul tilted his glass without a trace of a smile.
The bitter taste of alcohol slid down his throat, but his expression didn’t waver at all.
Only the sound of the glass being set down rang unusually sharp.
As time passed and the gathering deepened, Kang Yul quietly stood up from his seat.
The cold night air brushed against his cheeks.
Loosening his tie, he took a deep breath.
“Guess I’m not sleeping tonight either.”
His low murmur faded into the night.
At that moment, a familiar face caught his eye in front of a club glowing with neon lights.
“…That woman again?”
It was Lee Damju.
She stood near the entrance, fidgeting with her phone as if waiting for someone.
“So much for being a diligent civil servant.”
Kang Yul scoffed and shook his head.
In truth, after finishing judo, he often—no, almost every day—saw her standing there.
As if it were part of her routine.
“Very diligent. Even at night.”
There was clear sarcasm in his muttered words.
At that moment, Junsu, who had followed him out, stood beside him.
“Here you are.”
“I came out for some air.”
Even as he answered, his gaze remained fixed on the club.
Junsu followed his line of sight and widened his eyes.
“Huh? Looks like Lee Damju came to pick up her younger sibling again.”
Kang Yul turned his head.
“…Her sibling?”
“Yes. After that murder case in Namcheon and rumors about released sex offenders, she’s been coming every day to pick up her sibling. There’s a café behind that club—I’m a regular there. One of the staff is her sibling. That’s what they told me.”
Before he even finished speaking, a young woman walked out from behind the club.
“Oh, there she is. Lee Damju’s sibling.”
Lee Damju approached Hajin and naturally took the bag she was holding.
Kang Yul watched the scene silently.
‘…So she’s been here all this time because of her sibling?’
The sarcasm from earlier slowly faded in his mouth.
His neck stiffened awkwardly, and his gaze wavered.
Judging her based only on appearances without knowing anything made him feel uneasy.
It was a strange feeling—something like guilt pricking at one corner of his heart.
At that moment, Junsu’s voice passed by.
“Prosecutor, shall we go back in? The Chief has been looking for you for a while.”
“Let’s go.”
He answered briefly and turned his head.
But his steps didn’t move easily.
The backs of the two sisters disappearing at the end of the alley lingered in his mind for a long time.
