The Cat Cries Meow - 2
Even though I rushed as hard as I possibly could, it still took over forty minutes.
So I ran even harder.
"Kyaa!"
Fortunately, we didn't collide. The woman I nearly slammed into let out a scream, but I twisted my body at the last possible second and slipped past her by a hair's breadth.
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!!"
Of course I apologized. Even so, I never stopped my legs and bolted straight into the emergency room.
"Noona!! Noona!!!"
"Be quiet..!"
"Noona!!!!"
"Augh, seriously..!"
Jeong Suyeon yanked the curtain shut to block the flood of stares, but I flung it wide open again and checked her over.
"Are you okay?! Where and how are you hurt?!"
"I said I'm fine..! So please just shut up for a second..!!"
"What bastard had the guts to lay a hand on a Korean prosecutor..! Who is that son of a bitch?! I'll deal with him right now— Aah!!"
"Deal with him? What are you, a cop? A prosecutor? Or a gangster?!"
"That's not what I meant..."
"It's really nothing. It wasn't an assault—just a mishap. No... it was a situation that couldn't be helped... because of me..."
Jeong Suyeon hung her head. I closed the curtain I had just thrown open. Right now she looked like she needed someone to listen more than someone to worry over her.
"Like you said, I'm neither a cop nor a prosecutor."
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden..?"
"So just spill it. I'm not involved in the case, and I won't go blabbing about it anywhere."
"......"
I pulled a chair over and sat down. Jeong Suyeon, who had been wearing a frustrated expression, fixed me with a sharp look and made me swear.
"You really can't go telling anyone about this."
"Got it."
"For real?"
"You don't trust me?"
"Haa... so..."
While she was briefly laying out the story, the emergency room grew noisy again.
"Unnie!! Suyeon unnie!!!"
"......"
"......"
"She's over there!"
"Unnie!!!"
The curtain was yanked open, and a young woman and a man in his forties burst in.
"Huh??"
"Unnie! Are you okay?!"
The woman who didn't recognize me and immediately began checking Jeong Suyeon over was the same one I had nearly run into earlier.
"It's the section chief again..!"
"I'm sorry... but..!"
"It wasn't an assault! I just tripped!!"
The man in his forties was an investigator who worked with Jeong Suyeon—the very person who had answered my call and told me she had been attacked. After speaking with her again and learning she was at the hospital, he had rushed over.
"So you're saying it wasn't an assault, but the family of the person who committed suicide were protesting and she fell?"
"It wasn't just a fall! They brandished a weapon and threatened her! This is clearly terrorism—"
"Section chief, go back to work. I'll return soon as well."
"Ah.. yes..."
Once the most agitated investigator left the curtained area, Jeong Suyeon let out a deep sigh and brushed her hair back.
"Sorry. Our section chief cares about me a lot."
"That's a good thing. Having a coworker who looks out for you like that."
"It is, but... anyway, thanks for both of you coming. I'd like to buy you a meal, but I think I need to head back in."
Before the two of them arrived, the incident I had heard in brief went like this:
Recently, women in their early to mid-twenties living alone had been committing suicide one after another. Korea's suicide rate is high enough to rank first among OECD countries, of course. Even so, five people had taken their own lives in the Gangnam area alone over the past month—all of them early to mid-twenties, with completely different living situations and family backgrounds. The only common points were their age and the fact that they were all quite beautiful women.
"Noona, can you tell me a little more of the story you were telling earlier?"
"No more. So you two should head back—"
"Did those women who committed suicide do drugs?"
"H-how do you know that??"
Just as I expected. Honestly, I had been half-doubting it. I had never seen any news about women committing suicide in connection with that case. But this timing, Gangnam, young and beautiful women—the conditions lined up too perfectly.
"Answer me. How did you know drug reactions showed up in the bodies of the people who committed suicide? Is there some rumor going around among young people or something?!"
"Ahem..!"
Instead of answering, I cleared my throat and glanced sideways. The young woman sitting on the bed with Jeong Suyeon was still right there.
"Ah... first, introductions. This is my cousin Jeong Hana. This is a little brother I've known since we were kids."
"I'm Cha Sunwoo."
"Hello. I'm Jeong Hana."
"Hana, can you step out for a bit? And don't tell your parents or our parents about what happened today. Dad will find out somehow, but if Mom finds out, I'll really have a hard time."
"Okay, unnie. Then talk among yourselves."
After Jeong Hana stepped aside, I shared as much information as I knew. The real flashpoint of this incident would come in late November 2018. A customer who visited the club would get assaulted by the staff, and that was how this filthy mess would finally surface.
"Club Burning Moon..?"
"It's more famous as a club run by a member of Big Burn. Like I said, it's not just a simple club. High-ranking police officers at the superintendent level and above, and even the Gangnam Police Station, are protecting Burning Moon. On top of that, a lot of public officials are likely involved, and quite a few big overseas investors are connected to it. Drugs, sexual assaults using them, production and distribution of illegal recordings. There are probably more than a few people receiving sexual entertainment. Tax evasion is the bare minimum."
"......"
"What?"
"How do you... know things like that..?"
"Huh?? Ah.. that... no, is how I know important right now?! The fact that something this horrible is happening is what's important!"
"No, how you found out is also important."
She clearly had no intention of letting it slide. I had tried to help with good intentions, and somehow I was the one who ended up in a tight spot.
"Don't tell me you did drugs there too..."
"Go ahead and test me."
"....Then tell me. How you know."
I plucked a few hairs, but Jeong Suyeon didn't take them. She just kept pressing for an answer.
Sorry, Geum Gangsan. It's you after all.
"There's a thug I met in middle school. He told me."
"A thug?"
"He's living somewhat decently now."
"Identity, phone number."
"He said he never went there directly either. Since he works a bit in the underworld, he overheard some things over his shoulder."
"Still, I need to hear it directly. There might be other testimony."
"Hey now. It's not only the prosecution that protects informants. I may not have an official duty to protect him, but I do have loyalty."
"Then will you testify in court?"
"I could, but it wouldn't be credible, right? I'm not connected to them, and I have no entry records for that club. It would just become perfect bait for the other side to claim the prosecution prepared an actor."
"......"
Thank goodness. It seemed to have gone over well.
"If you dig into it right away, things will only get more complicated. Just slap a temporary business suspension on them at a reasonable level and investigate slowly. Where they get the drugs from, who moves when the suspension order hits."
"Hah... why don't you just investigate instead?"
"Should I? Maybe I should have just become a prosecutor. But why did the family brandish a weapon at you? You said they brandished it, but not why."
"I persuaded them to do an autopsy."
They had performed an autopsy on the suicide victim's body. She had persuaded and persuaded the opposing bereaved family and barely managed to get consent. But other than detecting drug components and high concentrations of alcohol, they couldn't overturn the cause of death itself as suicide.
She had persuaded them as if she would uncover some hidden meaning behind the death, and when it ended as a simple suicide, the enraged family brandished a weapon, demanding to know why she had made them dig into their dead child's body if this was how it was going to turn out. Fortunately, Jeong Suyeon had only fallen from the shock, and that had overlapped with her accumulated overwork, so she briefly lost consciousness.
"Then go carefully."
"Noona, don't overdo it too much either."
"You've grown up, our little kid."
"I've grown enough to speak casually now. Then good luck~"
Really luckily, Jeong Suyeon had come to the Central District Prosecutors' Office. In the past, another prosecutor would have handled this case, but now that Jeong Suyeon had caught the scent, it wouldn't fizzle out. Behind her stood Jeong Seokmun, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
Jeong Seokmun, who had once held the post of deputy chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, had been a strong candidate for high prosecutors' office chief and even prosecutor general. Due to political issues, however, the high prosecutors' office chief rose to prosecutor general, and Seokmun was "demoted" to chief of the Central District Prosecutors' Office. They called it a demotion, but in reality a stage had been set for him to properly dance with the sword.
"Is the talk over?"
"You haven't left yet?"
"I was waiting."
Jeong Hana, the cousin she had mentioned, was waiting on a chair in the hallway. They must have been quite close.
"I'm done talking, so go on in."
"No. I was waiting for Mr. Cha Sunwoo."
"For me??"
"I overheard. Drugs, club, collusion with the police. Tell me that story too, please."
"What??"
"Please... it's such an... such an amazing material!!"
Material..? Is she a writer??
"I don't know what kind of writing you do, but that story is investigation confidential, so I can't tell you."
"You're not a prosecutor or a cop—just a college student, right?"
"Anyway! No. Noona also told me not to say."
"But how old are you to keep calling unnie 'noona'?"
"I'm twenty."
"Whoa.. younger than me even."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"Tsk... so where should I drop you off?"
"I'm fine like this."
"What?"
"We can talk here."
"I said I won't tell you..!"
Round glasses, hair tightly tied back, white T-shirt and jeans. At an age when most people were busy dressing up, she showed zero interest in her appearance and was completely full of interest in material. Especially those sparkling eyes created a very bright, innocent image. Similar to Eunsol, yet different. Anyway, was it because she was Jeong Suyeon's cousin? Even with a little makeup, she looked like she would be quite pretty.
"Even if you stare like that, I absolutely won't drop you off until you tell me. I need to be recognized."
"By whom?"
"My parents. They really hate that I write."
"Why?"
"Because they want me to become a doctor like them."
"You must be good at studying."
"I had no choice but to get good."
"As a med student, wouldn't it be better to make use of your major?"
"Writing is much more fun for me. And it suits my aptitude."
Crazy. As I had told Jeong Suyeon, this matter needed to be investigated in secret. That meant not only the investigation itself but also the number of people who knew about the incident had to stay small. Of course, as Jeong Suyeon's cousin she wouldn't go blabbing around, but there was no need to create unnecessary risk factors.
"What does being recognized have to do with this incident?"
"My parents don't even recognize things like childish love stories as real works."
"Maybe it's a quality issue with the work itself? In other words, no talent."
"Th-that's..!!"
For the first time, the words that had been pouring out without pause got stuck. That was a very good situation.
"Then show me once."
"Wh-what..?"
"The work you wrote, Hana."
"That's not allowed!"
"Why? Do you think it's not good yourself?"
"It's not that..! People who don't understand... will just say it's childish...."
"Saying that makes me more curious. Then let's do this."
"How..?"
"I'll look at the work you wrote, and if the content is good, I'll tell you the story you want to hear."
"That's too much..!!"
"If you don't like it, fine."
Saying I was curious was a lie. I had simply made up an excuse because I didn't want to talk about an incident that hadn't even surfaced yet. Ah, there was a subway station over there. I had left the Express Bus Terminal Station right across from the hospital and come all the way to Apgujeong Station to stop the car.
"Then go carefully."
"......"
"Shall I open the door for you?"
"That.. so..."
"What?"
"Don't laugh when you see it...."
"Are you really going to show me?"
"You said you'd tell me if I do!"
I had no intention of telling her even if the work was good. Thanks to that, I moved the car parked on the roadside again into the department store parking lot right next door. Then I took the tablet Jeong Hana handed me and slowly began reading the novel she had written.
But this.... why did it feel so familiar?
"H-hey! What's the title of this??"
"......"
"The title! Is there none??"
"You're definitely going to laugh..."
"I won't laugh. I promise."
"Really..?"
"Yes."
"Th-the title isn't confirmed yet!"
"So what is it?"
"So the title is.... The Cat Cries Meow... heeing... I don't know..!"
It was a title that wouldn't have been strange to burst out laughing at the moment you heard it. But I couldn't laugh. Because it was the work I had been looking for.
Grab!
I set the tablet down between my legs and firmly took Jeong Hana's hand.
"S-Sunwoo-ssi..."
"Let's do it with me."
"What?!! H-here?! No, we just met..!!"