Chapter 5

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍He followed behind him . To be honest he had seen so many parents look this way . It is exactly like his entire world is crashing down and he seems to think that the police will bring Jinyoung to him with a large red ribbon and a huge smile

After nearly six hours of checking and tracing from location to location ,apparently Jinyoung had not contacted anyone nor did he partake in his usual routines for close to three weeks..

DoekHwan said the last time they hung out was atleast two weeks ago when Jinyoung was still training . Jinyoung didn't say or do anything unusual just that he was training thoroughly. He wasn't really being different either.

The whole search team returned to the station with zero success and the last thing left being to issue last seen reward.

On the ride back,the doctor in the passenger seat was quiet . He stared into the world but only saw the scenery through his tears. When Garam pulled up , Namkyu robotically got out of the police car with his brother's clothes still in his embrace. A large part of him knew something but the rest of him didn't want to believe the possibility of it being true.

A few seconds passed and he reached his personal vehicle. He open the backdoor of his car but instead he squatted near the wheel proceeding to cry his heart out . He sobbed the living day lights with Jinyoung's delicate and flat teenage voice flashing through his brain. Instead of burning or echoing, it was getting more and more faint with the more that Namkyu tried to listen to it. The hardedr he attempted to understand what he was hearing, the more it seemed he was losing his auditory abilities along with Jinyoung

Garam looked at him feeling guilty. He is supposed to serve and protect the citizens . Yet seeing Namkyu in this state somehow proves to him that he has failed his job and oaths. One officer suggested that the best thing Garam can do is to take Namkyu home but it's usually the worst idea to drive someone to a place were they will be surrounded by memories and accompanied by silence. Maybe he could take him to a hotel but who is going to pay for all of that ?

So the last alternative is to take his home. His house.

Garam lives with his parents who have a small salon and barbershop in the neighborhood..

He went to him and ten more minutes of cry turned to silence and lifelessness. Namkyu got into the back seat and Garam the driver's.

Two hours passed .

He packed outside his residence. He went to open the door for Namkyu but he was just closing his eyes. He didn't want to call him by his name or his tittle so he decided to tuck him.

" Sir, please go into the house and rest . We will continue to look for Jinyoung", he told him and Namkyu opened his blood-red eyes and got out.

He walked in a daze to his house and upon reaching the living room, he melted on the sofa.

Garam fetched him some water from the fridge and leftover food .When he returned , Namkyu held Jinyoung's jacket and clung to it with some streams of tears still falling. The rest of his things were on the floor.

He placed down the food on the table , picked what was on the floor and went to go take a shower since it was already late. As he walked off , he hoped they can find Jinyoung so he can be able to send Namkyu to jail for dealing with Kitae.

Twenty minutes later when he got out of the shower , the first place he journeyed was towards Namkyu who was still in the same position, only that he wasn't crying.

As a worker in Namkyu 's field , he has come across such cases where someone leaves home and doesn't come back but if they do , it's in a coffin. So that must be what is going on through his mind.

" I want go home", he cracked and Garam knodded. He turned backwards to fetch the keys and his jacket but Namkyu continued talking.

" ... Only if he is there". Garam arrested on his footsteps.

He didn't turn on the lights and was using the moonlight to luminate the room . However he could almost imagine that warm , pain-filled tear falling softly down Namkyu's eyes.

Just then a pair headlights stopped by the gate. It was his parents.

' they are going to ask a lot of questions ', , after that statement, he ran outside to counteract them.

***

" Mom, can you spend the night at uncle's place?", He begged them but she would not listen insisting she wants to meet the girl that is the chase of such behavior.

She believes that Garam will die a bachelor and has made peace with that Janhee will be the closest she will ever come to being a grandmother. Howbeit that doesn't stop her from always playing matchmaker for Garam with nearly all the ladies that come to her salon , even ones she has never seen before.

As for his father , he doesn't really care what happens in Garam's life , as long as Garam is healthy and kicking. Nonetheless he would also appreciate a little child running through the house and calling Garam daddy.

" I will nerve introduce anyone to you", he screamed and she said that on that case , she will go inside.

" Fine ,you can meet her three months from now", he begged and she agreed.

A few minutes later they reversed out of the parking lot and went home.

" She is rich. Did you see her car?", The mother giggled in high expectations.

***

" Sorry, my parents were...", He explained to Namkyu the second he got in the house but he had been standing and looking at the backyard .

He hates to have to tend to a grown man like this but just as he was about to invite him to rest, he got a text from his colleagues.

He told him that he would bring his car tomorrow as he has to check some dead uni-woman out of town.

" Yeah she was found in her bath tub ,foaming", YeongHwan explained when Garam called and Garam told him it's a suicide.

He also told him that Kitae's minion ,Chanyeol was just at the station and he is handling some pickpocketing case . By the looks of things , Chanyeol is defending the guy but he was caught in 4k , stealing .

He hung up already knowing that the chief is going to assign the case to him again.

Despite Garam fighting to apprehend Kitae, the chief is undoubtedly in complete opposal of that. He is so against Garam that he always hands him all the case that might risk Garam's career as a detective. He purposefully allocated the previous case to Garam and whenever any member of Kitae's nest including famous criminals are reported , Garam is always registered on the warrants or commanded to tag along with whoever is leading.

**

Kitae threw the cup on the table and he looked KwangSun who was smoking. He was seating on the table, closer to him while KwangSun was on the chair with his legs stacked. They were in his study in KwangSun's extremely large mansion.

He took the cigarette out of KwangSun's mouth and throw it in the cup of water . Seconds later KwangSun slowly puffed the smoke onto Kitae's face then proceeding to smirk. He took a sip of his whiskey and asked why Kitae is here at so late instead of reaching his flight .

" I told you to be careful yet your puppets are leaving scraps all over the place. Do you know how hard it is to clean after them? ",

" That's why I pay you so much, to do the cleaning for me. Besides what scraps are you talking about? ", KwangSun didn't look at him though he knew Kitae was probably staring daggers

" Gambling in surveillance cameras, jacking car batteries in patrolled zones, organ trafficking registered civilians and immigrants , the list goes on ",

" Those things have one thing in common. Money! ", KwangSun shook the whiskey and stared at the ice caps.

KwangSun wants to have the current commissioner fired and then have someone else vote his minion into position. there is no personal attachment that he had to this .he is just power hungry. . Kitae told him that KwangSun is causing unnecessary trouble. If this is the way that he wants to have one of his people be in the position of police commander , then he is using the literal worst approach.

" Kitae, work for me",he looked to him and smiled seductively

" No !" ,

He plain-cold declined and he stood up then he walked to the door.

Kitae is just famous along the lines of crooks but he refuses to directly accept money from KwangSun even when he knows the money they are paying him comes from him. He really refuses.And everytime that he asks him, Kitae just plainly steps out of the door and leaves .

At first people thought it's because he doesn't want to have any connections but he visits KwangSun casually and they might even share a meal together, while talking about topics similar to one that they just had . It really doesn't make sense why Kitae refuses to admit that he is working for KwangSun and why KwangSun keeps asking him like he already isn't. It's like a dog and cat game because they have already caught each other.

Maybe it's the law of the shadows. A dog that never acknowledges its leash is never be a trusted dog. A bond of word is more stronger than that written on paper . If Kitae doesn't agree or admit to work for him , KwangSun can't hold him liable for anything at all.

Two knocks came to the door and a man of below average height in combat wear walked into the dim lit office . he saluted to Kitae without even a glance at him and directed all his attention to his boss.

Meet IlSeong , KwangSun's literally most diabolical employee. Just to sum it up, a rottweiler is a daisy and a schizophrenic bull is a cotton ball compared to him on a normal day and on his worst day, a natural disaster equipped with a pandemic would be a blessing .

He gyrated to his boss and he told him that he had been watching over the commissioner's secretary and she seems very busy fitting things in his schedule. Apparently some minister is coming to divide the national funds but the funds are twelve million short .

" Kitae!!", He called him childishly as they both know what he wants

" No!!", He spoke and as he aimed for the door , IlSeong had already withdrew his knife and held it to his throat.

"Sit down. He won't kill you but I can't promise he won't make you bleed", KwangSun smiled as if gambling with Kitae's life was a thrill to him

Kitae didn't move back and eyed KwangSun through his peripheral. he told him that there is no way that he is going to get involved in the national corruption. It's too dangerous and even if there was concrete evidence, he really doesn't want to.

" They might kill us", Kitae added

" You, maybe. Me , probably! But him (IlSeong), never", he joked still seeping the whiskey and he had already lit another cigarette

Kitae turned and moved back to KwangSun.

" I said , no!", He pulled out the cigarette and this time threw it in the whiskey then he stormed towards the door

When IlSeong tried to stop him , KwangSun instructed him not to . A few seconds later he slammed the door and he poisedly strolled to his car.

" Stop trying to kill him. His dead body is really not valuable", KwangSun yawned

" For now! ", IlSeong answered and KwangSun giggled.

( After five minutes)

Kitae was still navigating out of the mansion that was heavily guarded with lunatics.

Every turn he made there would be some figure that looks at him like they want to sell his organs on the black market for bucket change. KwangSun just goes around collecting criminals who's only significance could probably be converting oxygen to carbondioxide.

When he got outside he saw that the time was already nine o'clock, he has a flight out at eleven. To be specific, he has a meeting with another thug, just that this one wants to take KwangSun's place as mafia ruler not to help him rise up the leader.

With how nonreciprocal Kitae is , it's quite obvious to KwangSun that Kitae is being too cautious. But he is not sure what exactly is the cause. Is it because Kitae is working for the law or Kitae working for someone else? Nevertheless IlSeong knows that Kitae is dealing with this person but he hasn't told KwangSun yet... why?

Does he think KwangSun already knows? If so , why would IlSeong assume it's okay to keep quiet about it ? And if indeed KwangSun did know , why does he still keep Kitae around?