36 I Found You

June 21, 2021

Eomeoni Sigdag

For the umpteenth time in almost half an hour, Jung Young Dae checked his cellphone, which was clearly silent from incoming messages or incoming calls, even unimportant spam messages did not enter his cellphone at all. He is currently awaiting a response from Moon Tae Shik, the author of a gumiho article he read a few days ago. After reading the article and having high curiosity, Young Dae finally decided to send an email to the person to ask him to meet. But until this moment, he never got a message or call from Tae Shik, coincidentally, he listed his cellphone number so that the person contacted him via short message.

What the man was doing clearly caught the attention of all his teammates, who were gathered for lunch together. They were all very curious about Young Dae, who had rarely checked his phone when he was eating together like this.

"Detective Jung, are you waiting for your girlfriend's call?" tease Jae Wook, make the others chuckle.

"No," Young Dae said emphatically, looking at his interlocutor. "I don't have a lover yet anyway. You all know, don't you?"

"If you're not waiting for a call from your girlfriend, then why did you keep looking at your phone?" Ji Young asked. "You're not the kind of person who watches your phone while eating."

Young Dae sighed softly, then immediately put his phone in his pants pocket. "None of your business, Kim Ji Young," he replied with a faint smile.

Just as Young Dae was about to take his last bite of food, the cell phone in his pants pocket shook briefly, which of course made the man immediately take out his cell phone again. He activated the rectangular object and saw a message from a number he did not recognize.

From:010-xxx-xxx

Message: Good afternoon Jung Young Dae, I'm Moon Tae Shik, a producer and author of articles and stories about Lee Myeong.cAs for your offer to meet, how about we meet this Saturday at Ivory Joy Cafe at 11 in the afternoon? But, would you mind if there was someone else at our meeting? Because it happens that the person is also the same as you, he wants to know the story behind the article and the story. Thank you.

A smile flashed on Young Dae's face after Moon Tae Shik finally accepted his offer to meet. On Saturday, he will investigate the man regarding the article as well as the story about Lee Myeong. Hopefully he can get a satisfactory answer so he doesn't think about it anymore. But wait, why would anyone else want to know the story behind the article?

***

Miho Bakery and Pastry

Emma had just closed her bakery when the moon was enthroned in the Seoul night sky. After making sure the store door was securely locked, the woman moved from there to a bus stop a short distance from her store. Although she has a car, she prefers to use the bus or taxi if going to the store and returning home from there. She uses his car when he goes shopping, because of course she will come home with a lot of things.

The woman's gumiho smiled as she looked at the decorated sky with the moon and some stars. Her footsteps suddenly slowed down as she felt like someone was following her. She even turned her head back, but there were no suspicious people following her, only other people who happened to be going in the same direction as her.

She felt like someone was following her the longer she ran. Despite being a gumiho, she is still a woman who can be bullied. Her hand then reached into her sash bag, took out his cellphone. Instead of having to keep walking to the bus stop, she should order a taxi to be safer.

After ordering a taxi and getting her driver, she waited on the side of the road while sharpening her sense of sight. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long because the taxi arrived. After making sure the identity of the driver was the same as that listed on the application, Emma immediately got into the passenger's back seat. She sighed because she felt safe.

Meanwhile, it turned out that someone had been following Emma since the woman came out of her bakery. The man was still standing, not far from where Emma had gotten into the taxi earlier.

"I finally found you, Lee Myeong."

***

Nightingale Bar

Ian was just stirring his drink with a straw without any intention of drinking it. The young man's mind doesn't seem to be with his body, which is hanging out with his gang at Tae Hyung's bar. And, of course, it aroused the curiosity of Yoo Ri, Min Hyung, and Su Bin, who were with him. Without realizing it, Ian and the others had noticed the young man with the same look, which was a suspicious one shrouded in curiosity.

"What are you thinking, Hwang Ian?" Tae Hyung asked while putting away the two snacks that Min Hyung had ordered earlier.

Ian turned to Taeyong and shook his head. "There's nothing I'm thinking about," he replied, lying.

"There's nothing he's thinking about, so stop looking at him," Tae Hyung said as he addressed Min Hyung and his sister's two friends. "Well, enjoy the snack."

"Are you sure there's nothing you're thinking about? Your face clearly shows if there's something you're thinking about," said Su Bin, opening his voice.

"Su Bin is right. If you're in trouble, just tell us; there's no need to be shy," Min Hyung said as he ate the snack his brother had just brought.

Ian sighed, then for the first time, he smiled in front of his friends. Instead of being amazed or charmed by Hwang Ian's charming smile, the three shuddered in horror at it.

"Please don't ever show your smile again; it's so sickening," Su Bin protested.

"Sickening? Why is it disgusting?" Ian seemed not to accept Su Bin's comment.

"You know what? When you smile, you look like the Joker. Your lips smile, but your eyes don't show it," added Min Hyung.

"You're right, honey. When Ian smiles, he does look like a joker," agreed Yoo Ri, then chuckled a little.

Ian could only chuckle as he turned his face to hear his friends protest about his smile. He doesn't seem to be smiling in front of his friends anymore, especially the three of them. Please remind him of that.

The young man's hand then raised his drinking glass, he was just about to sip his drink when suddenly he felt like someone was watching him. He immediately looked back with a surprised expression. There was no suspicious person staring at the table. There are only other visitors who are eating and drinking or chatting with their friends.

"Why?" Yoo Ri inquired, intrigued by Ian's actions.

Ian turned around and sipped his drink without responding to Yoo Ri's question.This is the second time in one day that he has felt someone is watching him, first on campus and now in this location.

Is it just me, or is someone watching me?