“…What?” Jinhwan asked. It wasn't as if he hadn't heard, but he still hoped the answer would change. Maybe the alcohol and excitement were clouding his mind, or at least he hoped so, because if not, it meant Detective Oh really had a stalker, and he didn't like that idea at all.
“A few days ago, there was a blackout in my building. I went outside and thought I saw a shadow crossing the hallway. I thought I had imagined it, but then I saw the same shadow in the police station parking lot. Once again, it disappeared before I could identify who it was. When I returned to my apartment that night, I found an envelope on the floor. My door is a fireproof door, so nothing can pass under it. The only way someone could have placed a letter there was by entering the apartment. I asked the guard to review the surveillance footage, and we discovered that someone had entered my home—someone who knows the code. Now, my neighbor just called to tell me that this person has entered my apartment again, and she saw it.”
“ I expect you’ve talked to someone at the station about this,” Jin Hwan said. This time, his tone implied that if the answer were negative, he wouldn’t hesitate to give a stern lecture.
“I didn’t think it was necessary to alarm anyone else. Besides, I can handle myself, and I’m certainly not afraid of this maniac. I carry a gun, remember?” she said, shifting her black jacket to reveal the pistol strapped to her waist. “Before taking any action, I want to understand what this stalker wants. I have a feeling it’s somehow connected to the case.”
“The missing child case?” Jinhwan asked, raising an eyebrow. “How?”
“I don’t know for sure, and I might be wrong, but when I got home and found that letter, the message inside said ‘Nothing is as it seems,’ and I intuitively thought it might refer to the child,” Detective Oh explained, sitting on the coffee table in front of Jinhwan. Their knees briefly touched. “But it might also be unrelated.”
“Let’s take a step back. This person, this stalker, is in your apartment right now?” Jin Hwan asked.
“So it seems.”
“And you’re not planning to do anything?”
“What should I do?”
“Don’t you realize how dangerous this is? What would you have done if I weren’t here with you tonight? Would you have gone home? Faced him head-on?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t even know what to do now,” Detective Ho admitted. “There’s a feeling you get when someone violates your safest place. It’s like that home is no longer mine, just because a stranger can now enter it freely.”
“So what do you want to do, let him win? Give up your home? Allow him to terrorize you?”
“No, obviously not,” Detective Ho said, wiping her forehead with her hand. “The only thing I want is to stay clear-headed. I want to think like a detective, not like a woman preyed upon by a stranger.”
“You should think like someone who values their life,” Jin Hwan said, standing up from the couch. He took Detective Ho’s hands in his and pulled her to her feet. “Promise me you won’t ever hide something like this from me again.”
“Why should I make such a promise? Because we kissed? That doesn’t change anything. You’re still my subordinate, and I’m still your superior.”
“You said you wanted to think like a detective, not like a woman preyed upon by her stalker. Well, the first thing a detective would do to solve a case is delegate the dirty work to their subordinate. Isn’t that what you’re doing with the missing child case? I handle the paperwork and secondary analysis so you can focus on the core of the mystery. Handle this situation like one of your cases, Detective Ho.”
Jin Hwan’s words struck her deeply. A man with a weaker ego might have reacted angrily to what she had just said, but he managed to turn things around so she could ask for his help without compromising her position.
“Do you really want to do the dirty work?”
“Yes. And as my first task, I want to kick that bastard out of your home.”
Detective Oh has just returned to the city when she is assigned a new, complicated, and unsettling case. Things become more complicated when someone starts sending her strange, disturbing letters that seem to be connected to her past… This is a romantic story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!
Comments (0)
See all