The Shadow of a Threat

“You, come here too.”

But I wasn’t the only one who had seen the opponent’s shadow.
The man waved the arm that was holding the gun.
I moved slightly to the side, in sync with Lee Ilwoo’s subtle hand gesture.
And when I was standing behind Lee Ilwoo, the man in front of me spoke again.

“Both of you, back off.”

Even when I searched my memory, it was a voice I had never heard before.
The man moved his arm threateningly and slowly created distance between us as we backed away.
From the moment I had appeared, the man’s gun had been pointed not at Lee Ilwoo, but at me.

‘Is that a real gun?’

I couldn’t confirm it properly because of the man who was using the darkness of the secluded alley, which didn’t even have a streetlight.
I moved a little more to the side and hid my face behind Lee Ilwoo.

“Mr. Lee Ilwoo, if that’s a real gun, just flick your index finger.”
“Hey! Get away from each other!”

While the man was yelling at me, Lee Ilwoo kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.
I nodded and then came out from behind Lee Ilwoo again.

Flick.

Lee Ilwoo’s finger moved in a fraction of a second.

‘Then I can’t move carelessly.’

I let out a sigh and spoke in a resigned tone.

“What do you want?”

The man was already quite far away.
The man’s long shadow was aimed at our feet.
In the darkness, a brief light appeared and then disappeared, repeatedly.
It was the moment the light was reflected on the gun.
I didn’t miss that light and stared at it.
After a long time, an answer came back.

“…I’ll back off quietly this time, so don’t make things complicated.”
“This time?”
“Yeah, I’m letting a bug like you live. Because the boss didn’t give me permission to kill you.”

The man’s voice was full of anger.
The tone of reluctant compliance was a bonus.

‘The boss?’

As I was frowning at that strange word, the man muttered in an irritated voice.

“This was a perfect opportunity to kill that annoying bastard, but why did the boss…”

I felt a sense of incongruity.
The answer was not difficult to deduce.

‘He knows me. That is, the original Cha Yohan.’

Glance.

I could feel Lee Ilwoo’s gaze from the side.
Lee Ilwoo was asking with his eyes.

‘What should I do?’

I slowly shook my head.
In the meantime, the sound of running was heard from the alley. That sound was getting farther and farther away.
And when all the sounds had disappeared, Lee Ilwoo grabbed me and pulled me out of the alley.

“Lawyer, are you okay?”

I brushed off Lee Ilwoo’s clothes and let out a sigh of worry.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who doesn’t look fine. Your condition is, now… That guy must be a pretty good fighter.”

Lee Ilwoo, who had checked his own condition, smiled awkwardly.
His lip was busted, and his clothes, which had been fine until a moment ago, were a mess.
It was clear that a considerable amount of hand-to-hand combat had taken place in a short time. Because a corner of Lee Ilwoo’s neat shirt was torn.

“I’m fine.”
“…I’m raising a friend named guilt in my heart these days, and that friend has grown a little more, using your words as nourishment. I’m sorry for constantly getting you involved in things like this.”
“I’m really fine. But I think the problem is that we lost that guy. Will it be okay?”
“That’s really fine. Instead, give me your hand.”
“My hand?”
“Yes, this isn’t your blood, is it?”
“…Ah.”

After checking the blood on the back of Lee Ilwoo’s hand, I took out a bag containing cotton swabs from my inner coat pocket.
Lee Ilwoo showed a reaction as if he hadn’t expected that.
I carefully collected the man’s blood with a cotton swab and put it in the bag.

“Come to think of it, he was wearing a mask. How did he bleed…”

Lee Ilwoo smiled awkwardly and, after a few hesitations, moved his lips.

“Uh… I hit him in the eye area. It’s more advantageous for an opponent wearing sunglasses. The vision is momentarily shaken, making it difficult to defend.”
“…Thanks to you, I’ve learned something useful.”

I shook my head once and entered the alley.
I didn’t feel any presence.
While Lee Ilwoo was watching me, I diligently collected the traces of the two men’s fight.
Fortunately, it wasn’t just Lee Ilwoo’s clothes that were torn.
By the time I had put the few bags that had served their purpose back into my inner pocket, a few pairs of footsteps were heard from beyond the alley.
It was just as Lee Ilwoo and I were on guard and about to retreat out of the alley.

“…What’s with your appearance? Is it because of this guy?”

Ah, this friendly tone.
I smiled and waved my hand.
To Choi Suhyeok and his partner Han Seungmin, and to the guy who had been waving a gun in this alley until just now.
The condition of the man who was brought out of the alley by Choi Suhyeok’s hand was a little worse than Lee Ilwoo’s.
Especially the busted eye area under those broken sunglasses was a point.
The man glared at me as if he were about to rush at me at any moment.

‘Hmm.’

After some thought, I rubbed my arms with an exaggeratedly scared expression and opened my mouth.

“Ah. Chief Inspector Choi, has our country legalized firearms without my knowledge? That friend of mine just… with a gun…”
“A gun? Did you just say a gun?”

Choi Suhyeok frowned at my words and asked back.
I nodded, my gaze fixed on the man.
I couldn’t read his expression because of the mask, but I could see the look in his eyes between the broken black lenses.
A clear hostility was revealed in the man’s eyes.

“Wow, it’s worth hugging and running for.”

The bag that the man had somehow managed to hold onto while fleeing contained a considerable amount of money.

“It’s amazing that this much money can fit in here.”
“Usually, a vitamin drink box holds exactly one hundred million won. With this size of a bag, well. There’s more space.”

Choi Suhyeok had collected the gun and the paper bag outside the station before putting the man in a holding cell.
We were now talking in our car.
Choi Suhyeok, who had thrown the bag on the side, leaned his head forward from the back seat.

“So, are you not going to tell me exactly what happened? After making me stake out there for hours, now.”

As both Lee Ilwoo and I remained silent, Choi Suhyeok let out a big sigh.

“I don’t know what connection there is between this syringe and the guy we just caught, but no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem like they’re unrelated.”

Choi Suhyeok briefly looked at the bag containing the syringe and the empty bottle that I had handed him.

“Please take good care of Ms. Lee Jimin’s case.”
“I’ll do that even if you don’t ask, Lawyer Cha. Because that’s my job. I’ll be going now, since it’s obvious you’ll keep your mouth shut no matter how much I ask.”

I opened my mouth the moment Choi Suhyeok pulled the handle.

“Thank you, Detective Choi.”

Choi Suhyeok, who had taken his hand off the handle, let out a sigh for a moment.
He finished his dry face wash with a somewhat dark expression and then answered.

“…Thank you for what? Actually, I’m a little embarrassed. Because this is evidence that the victim’s family’s lawyer found by going all the way to Japan, not the police.”
“I know it’s not easy to cooperate on an overseas case. No matter who found the evidence, the conclusion the family will get is the same, as long as Ms. Lee Jimin’s injustice is resolved. And the punishment the culprit will receive.”

As I offered my own form of comfort to him, who was feeling a sense of guilt as a police officer, Choi Suhyeok finally smiled faintly.

“You’re so eloquent at times like these, aren’t you? While never answering my questions, always. I’m going. I’ll be in touch.”

Thump.

And so, Choi Suhyeok headed to where he had to go with his characteristic large strides.
I glanced at the paper bag that Choi Suhyeok had thrown in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
Then I met Lee Ilwoo’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Do you have something to say?”
“Why did you only hand over the syringe? What about the other evidence you collected from the alley?”
“Ah, that’s because Detective Choi can do that right away. And I have someone to entrust it to separately.”
“Who is that?”

As if my question had ended, I took out small bags from my inner pocket.
And I held them out to Lee Ilwoo.
Instead of taking the bags, Lee Ilwoo just stared at my hand.

“…When did you know?”

After a long time, Lee Ilwoo broke the silence and asked.
I shrugged once and gave him an answer.

“Actually, at first, I thought I was being paranoid. The Mr. Lee Ilwoo I first met as a client was a very ordinary person.”

He wanted to protect his family, was disappointed that his lawyer was ‘Zero-Wins’, and when he was released from the detention center by that lawyer…
He looked more purely happy than anyone else.

“If I hadn’t gone to Japan with you this time, I would still be just suspicious, but yes. That diplomat named Im Jaewon. His business card was quite different from the diplomat business cards I know.”

It was a business card that agents used when they revealed their identity as a diplomat abroad.
There wasn’t a big difference from a normal business card, but there was a separate reason why I had noticed.

‘Because I’ve seen it once before.’

Lee Ilwoo laughed, letting out a breath at my words.

“Then the reason you asked me if the gun was real earlier was…”
“Yes, I thought you would recognize it at a glance. And this clue would probably be faster for you than the police. Isn’t that right?”

Lee Ilwoo took the bags from my hand as an affirmative answer.

Ah, I’m finally home.
I had solved so many things in these few days.
But something was missing.

‘Normally, a flood of questions should be pouring in by now.’

Come to think of it, it’s been quiet from a while ago.

“Gram.”

No answer came even when I called her name.

“Gram? What’s wrong?”

When I called again, a voice full of fear was heard in my ear.

[…I, I think I’ve heard that voice before.]

The remaining days of December passed quickly, and the new year arrived.
I sat in the audience and looked at the defendant’s seat.
At the end of my gaze sat Kim Jeonghyeon, wearing a prison uniform.
The judge began to read the verdict in a solemn atmosphere.

“The defendant has been planning a crime for a long time with the purpose of financial gain and has murdered the victim in a cruel manner. Accordingly, this court sentences the defendant to…”

Next to me, Lee Juyeong clasped her hands and called her sister’s name over and over again with her eyes closed.
Her parents were the same.

“Jimin, Jimin…”

And so, the verdict was over.

“Life imprisonment.”
“Ah, ah… Jimin.”

A sob burst out from the side.
From the opposite side, the sound of typing scattered like gunshots.
I patted Lee Juyeong’s shoulder once and then left the courtroom.

“You’ve been through a lot.”
“Thank you, lawyer.”

The court had acknowledged Kim Jeonghyeon’s premeditated crime.
The prosecution had demanded the death penalty, citing that Kim Jeonghyeon had shown no remorse and had consistently made false statements, but the result was life imprisonment.

[But life imprisonment has the possibility of parole. It’s an insufficient punishment.]

‘I think so too. But recently, the courts have been handing down life imprisonment as the maximum sentence instead of the death penalty.’

Unless it was the murder of a minor, or a serial murder, it was more common these days to sentence them to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.

[The victim can never come back, so I really hope these punishments change. If the defendant appeals or something…]

‘But we can be at ease with that prosecutor. The prosecution will probably appeal.’

[I didn’t get a good look, who was it?]

A few days ago, the hologram had returned to its usual self from its scared state.
I was inwardly relieved at that.

‘Hmm, a person like that? Don’t worry too much.’

I answered like that and then stared at the phone that had lit up.
Because from this time on, Kim Jeonghyeon would rather want to stay in prison for the rest of his life.