An Unexpected Intervention

I wanted to believe it was just a feeling, but it was usually because of the situation.
And a very clear situation at that.
Lee Ilwoo and I were sitting in the middle of the police station, witnessing a scene where the guys who had tried to attack us were now being treated as the victims.
I tilted my head back and whispered in Lee Ilwoo’s ear.

“It seems like the situation is going strangely. Is it just me?”
“…It will be fine.”

Instead of me, who was frowning, Lee Ilwoo had a similar expression all along.
The men were explaining to the police with exaggerated gestures and tones how violently Lee Ilwoo had treated them.

“[Just for putting an arm around his shoulder! Can you do this to a person!]”
“[We didn’t do anything wrong!]”
“[Hospital! Take me to the hospital! Aah! My arm!]”

No matter how I looked at it, it was not a situation that would be fine.
Because unlike those men who clearly had external injuries, we were fine without a single scratch.
Although we had collected all of their knives at the scene, there was not a single drop of blood on them.
At this point, the Japanese police officers’ gazes also began to change.
A police officer pointed to the screen and shrugged his shoulders.
On the monitor, a video of Lee Ilwoo immediately throwing down the man who had put his arm around us was playing.

“[Here, if you look at the CCTV, it doesn’t seem like there was an intention to attack, as these people are saying.]”

Hah, I let out a laugh once and opened my mouth.

“[In this country, is it not considered an intention to attack when a stranger approaches with a knife? He touched me and my companion with a knife without asking for our consent.]”

At my words, a man turned to me and shouted as if to yell.

“[Hey, on a dark night like this, a self-defense weapon is a must!]”
“[That’s right! What do you know what tourists like you will do!]”

I’ll just spend some foreign currency and leave.
I sighed and answered inwardly, then stared at the police officer sitting opposite me.
Because it was a funny situation no matter how you looked at it.
But it was always the case that the crab sides with the crab.

“[…Assault and possession of a weapon are separate incidents. That is a matter for us, the Japanese police, to handle separately.]”

The men, who had been listening to the police officer’s answer, whistled and cheered among themselves.

“[As expected, the police are on the side of the people!]”

‘At this rate, we’re really going to get into trouble.’

But even as the situation was flowing so unfavorably for us, Lee Ilwoo’s face was still the same.

[Don’t you have any acquaintances in Japan?]

At the voice I heard in my ear, I scratched the corner of my eye as if I were embarrassed.

‘Even if I did, it would be from my Yoon Eunho days. If I contact them now, they’ll look at me like I’m crazy. But should I try to contact them anyway?’

It was just as I was pondering that.

Step, step.

The door of the police station opened, and a few pairs of footsteps were heard.
Among them, there was a very strange footsteps sound.
The interval between the left and right foot hitting the ground was exactly the same, and the sound of the footsteps was also similar in strength.
As if, trained…
The footsteps sound that was giving me a question was getting closer and closer.

“[Ah, good afternoon!]”
“[Good afternoon!]”

The noisy police station became quiet, and only the same greeting was repeated.
When I looked far away, a man in a black suit and a man in a uniform were walking towards us together.
Even when I looked to the side, I still didn’t feel any agitation from Lee Ilwoo.

‘A person who would normally react is staying still…’

That must mean he knows them.

Step.

The two men stopped in front of us.
The police officer, who had been trying to pressure us with a stern expression until just now, jumped up from his seat and saluted as well.

“[Ah, good afternoon! Chief!]”

The man in the uniform glanced at us and then started talking to the police officer.
Judging from the conversation, he seemed to be the chief of this Narita police station.
In the meantime, the man who was probably the owner of the footsteps I had been wondering about spoke to us.
To be precise, to Lee Ilwoo.

“Are you hurt?”

In Korean, not Japanese.
Lee Ilwoo glanced at me and then opened his mouth.

“Yes.”
“I told you to control your temper. What is this, just a few hours after you entered the country?”
“…I apologize for the trouble.”

Lee Ilwoo politely bowed his head to the man.

“Wow, to hear you say such things. It was worth coming all this way. It’s fine as long as you’re not hurt.”

I blinked with a look of wonder between the man, who was looking at me with surprised eyes, and Lee Ilwoo, who had an uncharacteristically awkward expression.

‘It’s the first time he’s heard him say such things?’

As if he had taken my look of wonder in a different way, the man let out a small sigh and then took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to me.

“Ah, you must be surprised. My name is Im Jaewon. I’m acquainted with Ilwoo.”

The word ‘diplomat’ on the man’s business card caught my eye.

‘But the business card is…’

It was different from the numerous diplomat business cards I had seen so far.
Instead of a number starting with +82, an email was written, and the material of the business card was also not the paper material for civil servant business cards.
But I pretended not to have noticed anything and likewise took out my business card from my pocket and handed it to him.

“Not at all. It’s fine. I’m Cha Yohan.”
“Ah, so you’re the one. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Mr. Lee Ilwoo told you about me?”
“Yes, I heard you were Ilwoo’s lawyer. I also saw the broadcast recently. It was a shame. But you were cool.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”

Im Jaewon skillfully led the conversation. I reacted appropriately.
In the meantime, Lee Ilwoo did not say another word.
While we were talking, the problem on the other side seemed to be being solved steadily.
Because the man who was the chief had turned to look at us.

“Ah, is there anything else I can help you with?”

As an answer to Im Jaewon’s question, Lee Ilwoo looked at me.
I pointed to the screen, thinking of the CCTV footage that I had been thinking about since the police had shown it to me.

“Could I get the CCTV footage from a month ago of this area?”
“Is there a reason?”
“Actually, I came here to investigate a case that happened at that time and got into a fight.”
“Hmm, just a moment.”

After answering me, Im Jaewon, who had been thinking for a moment, conveyed my request to the chief.
The chief spoke to the police officers as if to show off.

“[Besides that, please cooperate as much as possible with whatever these people request.]”
“[Yes!]”

After leaving a message to contact him again if we needed anything, Im Jaewon left with the chief.
The footage that they had said they couldn’t show me for security reasons when the victim’s family had requested it was now in my hands in just a few minutes.
The police officer even handed me the laptop.
The screen showed the bustling scene of the market as it was.

‘I felt it earlier, but for a night market CCTV, the quality is quite good. Do accidents happen often?’

The quality was so good that I could see all the faces with my naked eye even when I zoomed in.

“Here it is.”

I pointed to the screen with my fingertip, talking to Lee Ilwoo who was sitting next to me.
After confirming the appearance of the suspect and Lee Jimin leaving the skewer restaurant, I rewound the video along their route.
All of their movements, from the moment they first left the hotel to the moment they stopped by the skewer restaurant and returned to the hotel, were captured without exception.

“They walked out of the hotel from the beginning, and they didn’t go anywhere except for two restaurants and the skewer restaurant. The convenience store too.”

There was no sign of them taking a taxi or a bus.
Just walking.

“That owner was right.”

As Lee Ilwoo said, just as the owner of the skewer restaurant had said, I could also confirm that they were not drunk at all.

[It was a relief that there was no rental car.]

‘Unless it’s a long-term stay, people don’t usually prepare an international driver’s license just for a few nights.’

[Then Mr. Lee Ilwoo is…]

‘It means he had one originally. He must have had to stay overseas for a long time.’

I turned my gaze to Lee Ilwoo, who was also watching the screen next to me.

‘Fluent Japanese, skillful driving, a diplomat whose identity is unknown but is clear enough to control a police station…’

“Is there anything strange in the video? If you need anything else, I’ll let them know. Please take a look.”
“I’d like to see the case file from that time. Is that possible too?”

Lee Ilwoo nodded at my nonchalant answer.
The police officer soon brought a paper file in Japanese.

“Korean woman’s suicide… no suspicion.”

The time the two had entered the hotel in the video was 21:37.

“And the time Kim Jeonghyeon reported was…”
“It was 23:08.”

It was a gap of about an hour and a half.
I nodded once and then opened my mouth.

“At that time, neither Kim Jeonghyeon nor Lee Jimin had bought alcohol at the duty-free shop. There was no customs declaration, and no alcohol in the route we just confirmed, or in the hotel’s payment records.”

Then that means the suspect had intentionally hidden the alcohol and entered the country.
I stood up from my seat and gestured to Lee Ilwoo.

“Let’s go back to the hotel.”

Then I remembered the document I had been holding in my hand all along.
Because the police officer was looking at me with an anxious expression.
He had been like that ever since I had said my profession was a lawyer and had asked for Lee Jimin’s case file.

‘There was a reason they couldn’t cooperate.’

“They said they couldn’t even show me a single file because of this and that reason. I wonder how on earth those guys handle their work.”

I lightly scratched my cheek, recalling the annoyed Choi Suhyeok.
Without forgetting to open my mouth, looking at the file once and then at the anxious police officer once.

“Ah, this original can’t be taken out.”

Lee Ilwoo gently took the file from my hand.

“I’ll ask for a copy. Or a file.”
“Yes, that would be good. Thank you. Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”

And so, after getting everything from the CCTV file to the case file, I left the police station with Lee Ilwoo.
The men who had attacked us were nowhere to be seen from some point on.

It was already midnight when we came out of the police station.

[In a few hours, you’ve been a victim, a perpetrator, and then a lawyer again.]

‘Well, I was going to ask for them based on the situation when they asked me to accompany them to the police station, but the situation became so much easier.’

Lee Ilwoo, who had gone out a little before me, let out a short breath and opened his mouth.

“Lawyer, we left the car at the night market, so we have to go back there. I tried to catch a taxi, but I couldn’t. I’ll try again.”

There was a reason why Lee Ilwoo had gone out first.
I shook my head, meaning it was fine.

“It’s late, will we be able to catch a taxi? I’m fine with walking. It didn’t take a few minutes by police car, so I think it will be fine to walk.”
“Yes. I don’t mind.”
“Then I’ll just make one call while we walk.”
“Yes.”

Lee Ilwoo found the way, a few steps ahead of me.
He looked like a person who already knew the way.

‘Did he memorize it in the car? Just like that? Or is it a place he already knows.’

I briefly looked at the back of Lee Ilwoo, who was blending in with the few people I could see, and then rummaged through my contacts.

Ring, ring, ring, click.

He picked up faster than I thought.
I tilted my head back and opened my mouth to the silent person.

“As you already know, it’s me. Cha Yohan.”