A Tangled Web of Grudges

Fortunately, the reaction I wanted came out.

“Hmm, it seems you weren’t just a casual smoking buddy.”
“Th-that’s…”

The owner’s face, which had instantly flushed red, turned pale at a similar speed.
Still, it was better this way, with everything out in the open.
Neither of us had to waste our energy.

“You have to be honest with me. That way, you won’t get unnecessarily involved in things. And I can help prevent that.”

I skillfully pressured him with a composed expression.
A hologram appeared between me and the hesitant comic book cafe owner.

[That… isn’t this blackmail?]
[Jeong Jiwoon never said such a thing.]

‘It’s not blackmail, it’s for the client. If this person’s story contains lies, the client will suffer the most.’

About three seconds after I finished my reply, the hologram disappeared.
At the same time, the owner’s tightly sealed lips also opened.

“…Are you sure you can help me, lawyer?”
“Of course.”
“Haah… that guy came at first just to say hello. Saying he was going to open a cafe in this building. So I asked where, and he said the basement.”
“The basement?”
“Yes, I had a bad feeling from there. Who opens a cafe in a basement? It’s the perfect way to go bankrupt.”

The owner, who seemed to have accumulated quite a bit of resentment, plopped back down in his seat and continued.

“But what could I do when he said so himself? I couldn’t question him on our first meeting. Then, suddenly, computers started coming in.”

Computers…

“It wasn’t a cafe, it was a PC bang. And the menu they offered was exactly the same as ours.”
“Hmm, from your perspective, it would have felt like espionage.”
“So how could I not be furious? And on top of that, their prices were cheaper than ours. By five hundred won, a thousand won. My sales dropped drastically after that PC bang opened, so I even worked as a designated driver at night.”

It couldn’t be seen as a friendly relationship.
Absolutely not.
The emotionally charged comic book cafe owner raised his voice a little more.

“He’s a guy with no business ethics! I’m not the only one who hated him!”

This is new information.
I tried to hide my shining eyes and asked again.

“Was the victim’s relationship with the people in the surrounding stores not good?”
“Sigh. That guy didn’t just visit my place before opening.”

The victim seemed to be a diligent person in a good sense, and a complex person in another sense.

“He sold the same menus as the snack bar right downstairs, and even sold chicken. Was that all? He even sold a full meal set at the PC bang!”
“A full meal set, you say?”
“He sold everything from the food in this commercial district. So it didn’t take long for him to earn resentment.”

This wasn’t in the file.
As expected, you always gain something more by running around yourself.

“And the smell from the garbage he threw out indiscriminately… Even when thugs caused a ruckus, he just let them be. And he yelled in the streets day and night, so the neighborhood’s image got worse too.”

The more I listened to the comic book cafe owner, the more it seemed that there was more than one or two people who had feelings for the victim.

‘The range of suspects has expanded too much.’

The owner pointed out the door with his index finger and added one last thing.

“As far as I know, the building owner also had a huge headache. He wanted to kick him out but couldn’t because of the contract period.”
“Thank you for your words. I will work hard so that no harm comes to you. If anything happens, please contact me at the number on my business card.”

I naturally concluded the conversation and left the comic book cafe.

Chime.

Leaving the Daruma’s farewell behind, the hologram appeared.

[I think I now understand to some extent why Lawyer Yoon Eunho had such a high win rate.]

Instead of answering, I shrugged once and headed to the crime scene.

Who is that person bravely crossing the yellow police line in this bright daylight?

“Excuse me.”

Did he not hear my voice?

“Excuse me?”

When I called again, the man turned around.
With a very sullen face.
I didn’t give up and asked a question.

“That’s a crime scene. Are you involved by any chance?”
“And who are you?”
“I’m the lawyer for the suspect in this case.”

I took out my business card from my pocket and showed it along with my lawyer’s badge.
The man took my card with his sullen fingertips and examined it back and front. He didn’t seem hostile, but I felt a little…

“Cha… Yohan, lawyer?”
“Yes. And who are you?”

The man, with my card in one hand, unceremoniously rummaged through his inner pocket.
And what came out of his hand was…

“I’m the detective in charge of this case.”

A police ID card dangled from the end of a lanyard that the man had casually grabbed.
The photo inside and the face in front of me now both had the same bored, expressionless look.
As if nothing was fun.
But the man’s rank was enough to pique my interest.

‘He looks to be in his 30s at most. Probably late 20s, but a lieutenant. That means he’s a police university graduate.’

While I was thinking, the man spoke with a similar expression.

“As far as I know, this case is not a public defender case. Wasn’t it Lawyer Won Youngoh’s case?”
“Ah, things got a little complicated.”

Judging that there was no time or need to explain everything one by one, I got straight to the point.
From a quick glance, he seemed to be a similar type.

“I thought the investigation was already over. Why are you here, detective?”
“You’re keeping your own affairs quiet and only digging into mine? Isn’t interrogation the prosecutor’s job?”

Hmm, not wrong.
He had a right to be upset.
I nodded once in affirmation and spoke.

“I apologize if you were offended. I came to confirm something I found strange while reviewing the case file I received from Lawyer Won Youngoh.”
“Hmm?”
“The biggest reason my client was arrested as a suspect was the lack of an alibi. But there was also no evidence to specify the crime.”

Choi Suhyeok’s neat eyebrows momentarily furrowed.
No matter how you look at it, he had a face that should be a celebrity rather than a detective.

“That sounds a lot like you’re blaming the police. Is it just me?”

From a police officer’s perspective, he had no choice but to be offended.
But contrary to my thoughts, Choi Suhyeok continued speaking after that answer.
He glanced at the stairs beyond the police line once, and then looked back at me.

“…I just came to check because something felt off. It’s my hard-earned day off, but this case is giving me insomnia and I can’t sleep.”

He’s suffering from insomnia because of a case?
Hmm, he doesn’t seem like one of those bad cops you see in the media.

‘Is he more of a righteous type? Usually, they try to hide mistakes in an investigation, not dig them up.’

Then it seemed like I didn’t need to hide the cards I had. It didn’t seem like they would be very useful in this case anyway.

“I just came from the comic book cafe across the street.”
“Why did you go there?”
“To investigate. The owner there said that most of the self-employed people in this area didn’t like the PC bang owner.”

Choi Suhyeok’s eyes, which had been filled with boredom and sensitivity until just now, changed.
To my eyes, that meant he had become a little interested in me.

“Do you think ‘we’ didn’t know that?”

No way.
A detective who comes to a crime scene on his day off just because something feels off would have already turned this area inside out again and again.

“Nevertheless, you also had doubts about why Jeong Jiwoon became a suspect, didn’t you? How about we look at the scene together.”

Choi Suhyeok felt an inexplicable sense of unease from the man in front of him who was asking him that.
A man with a face that looked quite young, yet was hard to forget after seeing it once, and a peculiar name that was on the tip of his tongue.
But a man who also possessed the skill of a seasoned lawyer that Choi Suhyeok had dealt with.
Choi Suhyeok ostentatiously examined the thin business card he had been holding in his hand back and front again.
It was the simple, almost plain, business card of a public defender.

‘A name I don’t remember… Am I not matching the face and name?’

While Choi Suhyeok was openly examining the card, the man waited silently.
Even though it was an action intended to intimidate him.

‘I was curious about what kind of reaction he would have if I did this.’

Most people would not hide their displeasure, asking if he was ignoring them.
But this lawyer named Cha Yohan was consistently composed. That part piqued Choi Suhyeok’s interest.

“……”

Cha Yohan liked the current situation and the man in front of him.
The attitude of not hiding a moderate amount of hostility and appropriate curiosity, and the attitude of having pride in his profession.
Because these behaviors are typical of someone who is confident in themselves.

‘I might be able to get some useful information.’

Choi Suhyeok thought.

‘What the hell is this guy?’

He had been on the front lines right after graduating from the police university.
To the point where he could get a general idea of a case just by looking at the crime scene.
Of course, he was no match for detectives with more experience than himself.
But he was a fairly recognized talent in the violent crimes unit. He had to be, since he lived with a narrative that he had to become a police officer.
Everyone told him this.

“It’s harder to know what’s on Detective Choi’s mind than what’s at the bottom of a ten-fathom deep water.”
“How are you going to live without work if you work like crazy like that?”
“How do you use your mouth when you’re so quiet?”

It was hard to determine whether those people were all fools, or if this man was a particular exception.
Because they were so extreme.

“Haha…”

Choi Suhyeok laughed lowly as he watched Cha Yohan’s back disappear in the opposite direction.
He had been completely fleeced of all his cards.
And completely at that.

‘His skill at making people open their mouths with a consistent face is no joke.’

If Choi Suhyeok kept his mouth shut, Cha Yohan would bring up another topic and talk about something else, naturally making him spit out what he had been keeping quiet about.
While scanning the scene, which was still preserved for evidence, Cha Yohan familiarly took out latex gloves from his bag, put them on, and handed a pair to Choi Suhyeok.
He covered his shoes so as not to overlap footprints, and similarly handed them to Choi Suhyeok.
Like a habit that was so naturally ingrained in his body.
Only then did he look around and speak.

“Reputation, that is, something that inevitably accumulates as a person lives. I have one too.”

I wondered what kind of out-of-the-blue thing this man was saying in front of a bloodstain that was so dry and gruesome that it would take a lot of effort to erase.

“What is it?”
“Actually, I thought you might recognize me if you heard this. Or at least have heard of it.”
“So what is it?”
“Zero-Wins.”
“…What-Wins?”

The man, instead of answering, smiled with his eyes and brought up a new word.

“But the victim had a nickname like this too, you know? ‘One-Hit’.”