Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Meeting Between Lee Soo-yeon and Eun Ha-min
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The questioning as a suspect went far more smoothly than I'd expected.
Yu I-seol, who was diligently playing the role of my representative, looked pretty damn cool.
Was it because I'd come with a lawyer? Or maybe because the Shorts video I'd uploaded had gone viral on the algorithm?
Or perhaps there was some other behind-the-scenes influence I wasn't aware of.
Still... it's a bit anticlimactic.
I'd walked in all tensed up, and now it felt almost disappointing.
The case itself had been filed in such an absurd way that I'd figured the investigation would be a chain of absurdities.
Have I just been thinking too badly of the police?
All the cop shop stories I'd seen on internet forums and YouTube were pretty vicious.
They said there were cops who pushed cases to indictment for performance stats even when evidence was lacking.
And malicious ones who locked suspects in as perpetrators and pressured them, and so on...
Haa. Maybe I should cut back on YouTube a bit?
With so many unreasonable things happening in the world, it starts making you think only unreasonable things will happen to you too.
I'd watched way too many "I heard" videos that blurred the line between real stories and fiction.
Reality was quite different.
There wasn't even any raised voices in the interrogation room.
"Then please put your thumbprint here."
"Sure."
I pressed my thumb firmly onto the inked paper and stamped it onto the document.
I'd seen in a video that this is called a Contract Seal, a contract seal.
Right up to the end, we stayed calm. The questions and answers were all normal and reasonable.
In fact, I didn't even get to use all the responses I'd prepared, which left me a little unsatisfied.
Well, better than things getting tangled up unnecessarily.
And the conclusion was a bit underwhelming too.
That rice-eating troll merchant had just filed the complaint—nothing crazy like fabricating evidence.
His goal wasn't to win; it was just to drag me down to the station as a suspect and waste my time.
Petty as hell.
"You've been through a lot."
"You too, Officer."
Yu I-seol gathered the documents and gave me a look.
Time to go.
"Um, Mr. Kim Min-jae."
At that moment, Inspector Park Cheol-su stood up from his seat.
And suddenly bowed his head.
What the?
"I'm sorry."
"Pardon?"
"Sorry it's late. I planned to apologize once things wrapped up."
"..."
"If anything during the investigation upset you, I'm truly sorry."
I stayed silent for now.
He continued without showing any discomfort.
"I listened to the call recording again. My tone... it was pretty rough. I've reflected a lot on it."
"..."
"I guess I got cocky relying on the flimsy authority of being a police inspector. It was pointless pride. I'm ashamed."
His tone felt genuine.
Who knew people could change this suddenly?
I had no clue what had hit him so effectively.
As I stared in bewilderment, he gave a wry smile and added,
"And please understand this much: this complaint wasn't filed directly at Gangnam Station."
"Then where?"
"It was transferred from a station in Chungbuk Province. I just got assigned when the investigation was handed over."
"Hmm..."
It didn't sound like an excuse.
Anyway, I'd heard before that police can't just reject complaints outright.
"Police can't arbitrarily reject a complaint."
"Yeah, I heard that."
"Even if they do, if the complainant files with the prosecutors, the investigation directive comes back to the police anyway. It's not an excuse—it's how the system works."
"..."
"Of course, I know that doesn't excuse my rudeness. I'm sorry."
Inspector Park Cheol-su bowed his head once more.
Watching him, I let out a short sigh.
"Got it. I didn't plan to blow this out of proportion anyway. Apology accepted—I'm satisfied."
"Thank you."
Our inspector.
I hope you learned a lot from today.
The police are the people's cane, not something to rot away, right?
Yu I-seol and I opened the door to leave the interrogation room.
As the door swung wide, someone was standing right there.
A middle-aged man in a black suit.
I didn't know who he was, but Inspector Park Cheol-su behind me shouted loudly.
Actually, he saluted.
"Sir!"
His salute echoed down the hallway it was so loud.
The middle-aged man lightly returned it with a nod, then turned to me.
"You're Kim Min-jae, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"I'm Gangnam Station Chief Kim Han-sik."
Station chief?
Why was the police chief out here?
I just blinked in confusion, and Chief Kim Han-sik politely bowed at the waist.
"This whole thing is entirely my oversight. I'm sorry for the worry it caused."
His posture was so deferential it threw me off.
The station chief personally apologizing to a suspect?
"No, Chief, this isn't something you need to apologize for. The lead investigator and I cleared up the misunderstanding."
"No."
The chief shook his head firmly.
"A subordinate's mistake is the commander's fault. Apologizing for my failing is only proper."
Not wrong, but how many bosses like that are there in the world?
Especially in a strictly hierarchical organization like the police.
This didn't feel like just moral posturing.
Something was definitely up.
"Well... I heard it'll be dropped for lack of evidence, and I've gotten apologies, so it's fine."
"Thank you for your understanding."
The chief let out a sigh of relief.
I could see beads of sweat on his forehead.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbed his brow, and carefully spoke.
"Then... could you please just tell the chairman that the matter resolved smoothly?"
"...The chairman?"
"Yes. I'd really appreciate it."
Chairman? Who?
No one came to mind.
The only chairman I knew was my game guild master.
But asking "who?" here would make me look bad, so I just nodded.
"Sure. I'll put in a good word."
At those words, the chief's face visibly brightened.
He and Inspector Park Cheol-su stood at attention until we got in the car and drove out of sight.
Yu I-seol, watching them in the rearview, laughed in disbelief.
"Min-jae, you're scarier than I thought."
"Me?"
"First time I've seen a chief bow and scrape like that. I've handled plenty of clients as a lawyer, but this level of treatment is new."
Yu I-seol shot me a playful sidelong glance.
"I thought it was because of me being a lawyer, but nah. It was fear of your backup."
"I have no idea. Chairman? No clue who that could be."
"Come on, liar."
"For real."
I gave a wry smile and kept driving.
I'll ask Eun Ha-min later.
No way the chaebol head called personally, but...
Maybe she pulled some strings.
"Anyway, glad it ended well. I'll send the no-indictment decision as soon as it comes."
"Thanks. All thanks to you, Lawyer."
"Don't just say it—keep your promise, okay?"
"Promise... oh."
The interview.
We'd agreed to make a video about the whole incident and the issues with the police investigation.
"Of course. Where though? Rent a studio?"
"No need. Come to my filming room. All the gear's set up."
"Y-Your filming room, Lawyer?"
Yu I-seol grinned mischievously.
Her tone was pretty suggestive.
Why suggestive?
Because Yu I-seol's filming room isn't your average setup...
Fans all know...
Where she does her personal streams and shoots videos...
Is none other than her bedroom.
I'd binge-watched them all.
That place with the king-size bed smack in the back.
"Um... Lawyer, even if I'm a client, bringing a guy you've just met into your bedroom... isn't that a bit much?"
Yu I-seol burst out laughing at my words.
At a stoplight, she leaned toward me.
A whiff of her sweet perfume hit me.
She reached out and straightened my messy bangs with her fingers.
"Any other guy? Absolutely not."
"..."
"But you? I'd actually like that."
"Ahem..."
My face heated up instantly.
Yu I-seol laughed, clearly enjoying my reaction.
"Kidding, kidding. Look at you blush."
"Haha..."
"It looks like a bedroom, but once you're in, it's just an office space. The bed's just for crashing after late nights."
"Oh..."
"Our Min-jae has some pretty conservative ideas, huh? You don't look the type. So cute."
Why do all the women around me itch to tease me like this?
Lee Soo-yeon does it, Eun Ha-min does it...
And their teasing makes my heart race, making me hyper-aware.
"...If Min-jae is okay with it..."
Yu I-seol flushed mid-sentence.
I pretended not to hear and shifted my gaze slightly.
I checked my reflection in the window.
My ears were pretty red.
The shoot went smoothly.
It'd been four days already, and the edited video from three days ago was still steadily racking up views.
And that wasn't all.
Yu I-seol's channel subscribers broke through 500k from being stuck at 400k.
At this rate, feels like I'm a subscriber unclogger.
Anyone who teams up with me seems to bust through their sub limits.
Lee Soo-yeon hit the magic 1k thanks to me.
For reference, Lee Soo-yeon was already at 1 million subs, and Eun Ha-min, past 100k, was heading for 7 million.
Yu I-seol's channel at around 500k would probably climb steadily too.
Why can't my channel break 100k though?
Even with a potential 100-million-view video coming soon, subs aren't hitting 100k.
People won't sub to a channel that just spouts nonsense.
Tch. They just watch the videos...
Shorts channel limitations, I guess.
Anyway, I'm not the type to pour effort into making videos.
The AI app whips them up in 3 minutes, so I don't sweat the sub fluctuations.
More importantly, today was my meetup with Lee Soo-yeon.
She'd messaged first, like usual, suggesting we meet.
I arrived at the cafe, our usual spot.
As I went to head in, I stopped short.
"Huh?"
The huge floor-to-ceiling window gave a clear view inside.
Lee Soo-yeon wasn't alone.
A familiar face sat across from her.
Eun Ha-min.
Why was our Ha-mini there?
The two were chatting surprisingly normally.
Lee Soo-yeon had her arms crossed, leg over knee, while Eun Ha-min propped her chin, staring straight at her.
Should I go in...?
I hesitated, peeking from outside, when my eyes met Lee Soo-yeon's.
She spotted me, smirked, and beckoned.
Hurry in.
I took a deep breath and opened the cafe door.
"Welcome."
The lady owner greeted me warmly and approached.
I thanked her for the cheesecake gift from before—said I'd enjoyed it—and ordered a coffee before heading over.
Eun Ha-min saw me and curled her lips up.
"Our suspect has arrived?"
"..."
Eun Ha-min stroked my cheek.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and pulled out a chair to sit.
"Ahem. Don't tease. More importantly, why are you here, Ha-min?"
"Why? Can't I come?"
"No, it's not that, but..."
She was free to be here, sure.
I was just curious why she was with Lee Soo-yeon.
Lee Soo-yeon smiled seductively and tapped the table with a finger.
"Puppy oppa... got some guts, huh?"
"Ahem. What do you mean?"
"Well, we're not exactly dating or anything? No right to complain if oppa meets other girls."
Eun Ha-min yawned hugely, propped her chin again, and chugged her coffee.
"Still, we did kiss pretty intensely. Right?"
"..."
"You groped my butt. Touched my chest too."
"No..."
My eyes flicked to Lee Soo-yeon involuntarily.
She was just quietly sipping her coffee, listening.
Eun Ha-min shrugged.
Like it was no big deal.
"Didn't expect puppy oppa and Soo-yeon unnie to keep meeting after that germanium video."
"You said it yourself earlier, Ha-min. No need for your permission."
Lee Soo-yeon set down her iced cup calmly.
But Eun Ha-min's reaction was a bit odd.
"W-Who said anything? Just saying. Why get so sensitive? Not like you, unnie."
What?
Why did it feel like the usually fierce Eun Ha-min was backing down?
And casual speech too.
They definitely weren't strangers.
I sneakily reached under the table and tapped Lee Soo-yeon's pale thigh.
I signaled with my eyes.
Soo-yeon, ease up.
What did I do?
She's a chaebol heiress, come on...
I glanced slightly at Eun Ha-min.
She glared at me.
"Why ask so timidly, oppa?"
"Uh..."
"If you're curious, just ask. And..."
Eun Ha-min looked around, then slightly lifted her skirt hem.
Her pale thigh came into view.
"You can tap my thigh too?"
"Ahem..."
Lucky no other customers today.
Or maybe she planned it that way.
Eun Ha-min tapped her own thigh impatiently.
She'd keep it up if I didn't.
"Not gonna? I'm hurt, oppa."
No choice—I tapped Eun Ha-min's thigh.
It was so smooth, my hand nearly slid inward.
"T-There."
"Yup. Satisfied~♬"
Eun Ha-min finally smiled contentedly and dropped her skirt.
Lee Soo-yeon sighed in exasperation.
"Competing over something like that."
"Unnie's too shy to ask first, right?"
"...Not true?"
"Yeah. Too embarrassed to ask upfront."
"N-No, that's not it."
Now Lee Soo-yeon seemed to be on the defensive.
She crossed her legs the other way and looked at me.
"There's something I didn't tell you, Min-jae. Ha-min and I know each other."
"...Really?"
"Remember when I warned you about her? Told you a few things."
"Oh... yeah, kinda rings a bell..."
Lee Soo-yeon had said to be careful with her.
I recalled her implying she knew some things about Eun Ha-min.
"It's no big deal."
Lee Soo-yeon said it casually.
"The Hanbit Group chairman frequented the hospital where my dad was director. So we had some private dealings."
"That kind of secret?"
"That's how I met Ha-min too. Though the last time was when she was in middle school."
Lee Soo-yeon got a distant, nostalgic look.
But it seemed full of intent to tease Eun Ha-min.
"She was so cute back then. Following me around, 'unnie, unnie.'"
"Ack! Stop!"
"Middle school her—step near and the tteokbokki smell hit you hard..."
Eun Ha-min plugged her ears like she couldn't hear.
Her face was tomato red.
"When did I follow you around! We just had the same route home!"
"Same route my ass. You waited in the hospital lobby for me."
"N-No! Soo-yeon unnie's twisting memories, for real!"
"Twisting? You followed me in middle school too. Want proof? I have photos."
As Lee Soo-yeon reached for her phone, Eun Ha-min freaked and grabbed her arm.
"D-Don't! Show them and you're dead!!!"
The mighty Eun Ha-min, that flustered...
Gotta ask Soo-yeon for those pics later.