String of Memory (3)

Having followed Oh Sa-jun all the way to his office, Son Tae-rin opened by flashing her police credentials.

"I doubt anything that would make you nervous around the police has come to light yet... Director Ryu, we did bury all the books properly, right?"

"Shall I go hide them now?"

"That's not why I'm here."

At the easy banter between Oh Sa-jun and Ryu Hae-yeol, Son Tae-rin stiffened. Oh Beom-jun had been the very picture of composure—unfailingly correct posture, a manner that was cold yet always courteous.

Oh Sa-jun was another animal entirely. Apparently unable to shake his street-thug habits, he swaggered as he walked and slouched into his seat like a boneless rag even in front of a guest—an attitude so rude it bordered on insulting. His legs were splayed obscenely wide, diluting the effect of a genuinely handsome face.

That man is not Oh Beom-jun. He just wears the same shell—someone else entirely. The moment that truth landed, Son Tae-rin pulled herself together.

"The reason I've come looking for you, Mr. Oh Sa-jun, concerns Team Leader Oh Beom-jun."

"Beomjun? My brother? He made team leader?"

"Yes. You didn't know?"

With one arm slung over the back of his chair, lounging in a pose that practically announced not my problem, he suddenly leaned forward the instant Beom-jun's name came up. He shed the backrest altogether and planted his arms on his knees, closing the distance. Unnerved by the approach, Son Tae-rin leaned back.

Does he not even watch the news?

Oh Beom-jun had been a star of the police force. He'd graduated at the top of his class at the police academy, and within just a few years of his first posting he had cracked a serial murder case and an organized child abduction ring, clearing cold cases along the way and rising through the ranks at record speed. After he dismantled a major criminal organization, the press had taken notice as well. Even after transferring to the economic crimes unit he kept landing big cases, which meant the political world had its eye on him too.

Still, you'd think they'd at least keep tabs on each other. They were family—twins, no less. Surely there was some contact between them.

Whenever the subject of his twin came up, Beom-jun had seemed genuinely close to him. And yet the phone Beom-jun had left behind didn't even have Oh Sa-jun's number saved—no call history with him, either. Which version was true?

"Team Leader Oh Beom-jun has disappeared."

"Disappeared? You're sure the search was done properly?"

"Do you think I'd fail at something like that?"

A flicker of irritation crept into Son Tae-rin's voice. She took pride in being a police officer, and she wasn't about to be intimidated by an ex-gangster. If anything, the man in front of her seemed... manageable. Easy.

"What was he to you?"

"...What kind of question is that? He was my team leader. I was his team member. That's all."

"Doesn't seem like it."

Son Tae-rin felt a sudden, powerful urge to punch that smirking face.

"So. You're not asking me to file a missing persons report, are you?"

"No, that's not it."

She hesitated over whether to say the next part, drew a long breath, and got to the point. If she wanted something from him, she had to lay her cards on the table. Levelly, she laid out the cases Beom-jun had been responsible for and the situation the team now faced.

"You want me to stand in for him?"

"Yes."

"Why would I?"

She'd expected as much. His brother ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had vanished and the man didn't bat an eye. And he calls himself the warm one? How would he even know? How little did he actually know his own brother?

"This arrangement would benefit you too, Director."

"How so?"

Son Tae-rin hadn't come to Oh Sa-jun on a whim. She had done her homework on the relationship between Ilwol Holdings and other corporations.

"The man you were talking to earlier—Lim Chae-myeong of Unra Construction, correct?"

"Yes."

"We were investigating President Lim Chae-myeong and Assemblyman Park Hyun-do."

"And?"

"We had secured decisive evidence and a witness, and were in the process of obtaining warrants. Then the team leader suddenly left the station, saying something had come up."

"And after that he disappeared?"

"...Yes."

The light in Oh Sa-jun's eyes changed completely. The atmosphere around the man she'd written off as easy began to grow heavy, pressing down on the room. He let his guard down on purpose. He's got a viper coiled inside him.

"So what our Inspector Son is telling me is... whoever made my brother disappear is one of those two."

"Based on the evidence, that's what we believe."

Son Tae-rin stared, momentarily dazed, at the sight of him resting his elbows on his knees and pressing his clasped hands to his face as if in prayer.

So this is who he really is.

And that gesture—it was exactly what Oh Beom-jun used to do when he sank deep into thought. They really are twins. THAT, at least, they share. A faint longing surfaced in Son Tae-rin's eyes.

"Hey, Director. Lim Chae-myeong's the guy who's been sabotaging our operations for ages."

"Right. He dropped by earlier too—checking whether I was alive, or whether anyone was digging into me."

"Didn't realize you were the one doing the digging, boss. What a coincidence."

Oh Sa-jun lazily craned his head back and found himself eye to eye with Ryu Hae-yeol, standing just behind him. A strange current passed between the two men.

"What do you mean, 'coincidence'?"

"Oh, come on, shit. Just watch the footage."

But that current didn't last long.

When Oh Sa-jun lifted his head again and turned to Son Tae-rin, she saw that his gaze had shifted into something else entirely, and swallowed hard.

"Now you're interested?"

It wasn't a bad offer, all things considered. Her team got to close out its investigation; Oh Sa-jun got the chance to wipe a rival off the board.

And of course, we have to find the team leader. Every indication pointed to Assemblyman Park and Lim Chae-myeong being behind Beom-jun's disappearance. And while it might not be a simple missing-persons case—Son Tae-rin refused to let go of hope.

Seon Yu-seok, cast as Ryu Hae-yeol in String of Memory, arrived at the set well before his call time.

"Oh my, Mr. Yu-seok. You're here already?"

"Ah, yes. Hello."

"There's the coffee truck over there—go grab a cup."

"Another one?"

They just kept coming. Since his acting debut, Seon Yu-seok had taken supporting roles in several productions, most of them little more than bit parts. But no set he'd been on sent coffee trucks and snack trucks as often as this one.

"Whoa..."

And this time, it was from Yoon Jay again. Two days ago it came from the fan club, yesterday from Moon Chang-min, and today from Kwon Min-jae.

"You're here?"

"Yes, hyung. Thank you for the coffee."

"Sure."

Ordinarily Yoon Jay would have stopped to chat, but today he simply walked past him—apparently heading off to prepare, to lose himself in the next scene.

Seon Yu-seok kept his distance so as not to disturb him. Yoon Jay was someone he wanted to meet privately someday, too.

He'd assumed the man was famous simply for being gorgeous, but after watching one of his works his mind had changed. What must his acting technique be like?

Yoon Jay was walking in a corner of the set. At first Seon Yu-seok wondered if he was just walking off a late lunch.

What is he doing?

Seon Yu-seok's eyes went wide as he studied his every movement.

Yoon Jay walked as he normally did—then, midway, shortened his stride. He let his shoulders tilt slightly to one side and put a subtle rhythm into his body, swaggering as he moved. Is that... Oh Sa-jun?

He turned at some invisible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mark and walked back. This time it was different—spine and shoulders squared as if posing for a textbook on perfect posture, his gaze fixed straight ahead. It resembled Yoon Jay's usual walk, and yet it didn't.

Seon Yu-seok understood at once. That's Oh Beom-jun.

His old acting coach's words surfaced unbidden. Walking, breathing technique—that was the foundation of the craft.

"Whoa..."

Even without lines or expressions, you could see that he was playing someone else. It was nothing but walking, and yet plenty of others on set had stopped to watch him, just as Seon Yu-seok had.

Even so, Yoon Jay didn't seem satisfied; his head was tilted, dissolving into thought.

Sensing he was allowed to approach, Seon Yu-seok asked carefully.

"Hyung, is something wrong?"

"Huh? Ah. It just doesn't feel like it's clicking."

"That's not clicking?"

Seon Yu-seok shot back, incredulous, but Yoon Jay simply sank into quiet contemplation.

"Inspector, you actually met that twin brother of his?"

"I did."

"What's he like?"

Son Tae-rin sighed. Sergeant Han Jae-ho was a veteran detective who had come up from the rank of beat cop. Veterans like him usually had no patience for academy brats, but Han Jae-ho was different. He treated both Beom-jun and Son Tae-rin with unfailing respect as his superiors, and he was capable—one of the teammates Beom-jun trusted most.

Son Tae-rin had thrown everything she had into reforging Oh Sa-jun—who had accepted the stand-in role—into an Oh Beom-jun.

Whatever viper-like edge had flashed earlier was gone; what remained was a man so dimwitted it made her wonder if his brain was the last place the muscle had reached.

"He's an idiot. You'd think after all that coaching he'd retain something, but not a damn word sticks."

"Hahaha! And that's the team leader's brother? That big a difference?"

"Apparently all his stat points got dumped in one pool at birth. Brains for the older one, fists for the younger."

Han Jae-ho stroked his chin.

"Hmm... are you sure about that?"

"Sorry?"

"This is the man who swallowed a corporation with its roots in a massive crime syndicate on nothing but raw brawn."

Han Jae-ho respected Oh Beom-jun personally. Regardless of age, the man had real insight, and he never treated his teammates carelessly. Besides, staying under Beom-jun's wing practically guaranteed a promotion.

"We'd best be careful not to get bitten ourselves, don't you think?"

"...Why would we get bitten? Our interests line up. They get rid of a rival, we close our case. Everyone wins."

"He's not exactly a close brother, is he? What if he takes the evidence we're holding and sells it to Assemblyman Park's camp? From his position, that could be the better deal. Park Hyun-do specializes in protecting exactly that kind of man."

But Oh Sa-jun had been different. She'd never seen the whole of him, and that was precisely why she couldn't trust him yet. Vigilance was a must.

"So when's he supposed to show up?"

"He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠should've been here by now... he's late."

"He didn't bail on us, did he?"

Just as the two exchanged uneasy glances toward the entrance, the new station chief stormed into the office.

"Where is Team Leader Oh Beom-jun?"

"...Sir!"

"I asked where he is."

What do I do? No—why the hell isn't this bastard answering his phone? As Son Tae-rin anxiously snuck a glance at her phone, a cool voice came from behind the station chief.

"Were you looking for me?"

Oh Beom-jun—that is, Oh Sa-jun—had appeared right on cue.

"He's more presentable than I expected..."

They're identical? Nobody heard Han Jae-ho's mutter. Son Tae-rin could only stare at Oh Sa-jun, transfixed.

The station chief met his eyes and studied him at length.

How? Wasn't he missing?

He had taken this seat after the upper brass pulled the previous chief down, and the old chief had been well loved—there was still plenty of internal resistance. And with Beom-jun enjoying his colleagues' full support, stirring up more of a scene here would do no one any good.

"...Come up to my office later."

"Yes, sir."

Oh Sa-jun glared after the chief's retreating back, then flicked a glance at Son Tae-rin and slipped into an empty meeting room. At that signal, Son Tae-rin and Han Jae-ho followed him inside.

"God, damn. Thought we were busted for a second."

"Keep your voice down. The soundproofing in here is terrible."

"Oh, is it?"

Once safely inside the meeting room, Oh Sa-jun was clowning around, cheapness oozing from every pore.

Wow. He really is a different person. For a second I honestly thought Beom-jun himself had walked in. Han Jae-ho suddenly found himself meeting Oh Sa-jun's gaze.

"Why did this one come in with us? Who is he?"

"Sergeant Han Jae-ho."

"Can he be trusted?"

"...Why do you ask?"

Son Tae-rin's eyes narrowed.

"Well, hyung—you said he suddenly left the station, didn't you?"

"So?"

"So how did you know he was about to leave, and have him disappear on cue?"

"That's..."

"It means there's a spy inside the station, doesn't it?"

It was a possibility Son Tae-rin had already considered—but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she hadn't expected Oh Sa-jun to be the one to say it first.

He's sharper than he looks...

"Sharper than—what, exactly?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"I heard it. Sharper than you look, huh? You were thinking exactly that, weren't you?"

"Then maybe next time you imitate Mr. Beom-jun, you'll do it properly."

"I'm a hands-on learner."

Oh, wonderful. Congratulations, you're amazing. Son Tae-rin sighed. She had gone to the trouble of installing him as a stand-in, but if he was exposed, neither she nor Han Jae-ho would come out of it unscathed.

"So. What do we do now?"

"...Mr. Sa-jun, you just play your part as the stand-in. Without getting caught. We'll handle the investigation ourselves from here."

"Playing the clown. Now that, I'm actually good at."

Something about the smug, slouching way he answered made her uneasy. He's not going to pull something stupid, is he? Son Tae-rin studied Oh Sa-jun carefully.