That's Incredible, Jaewook

I let the Ghost chatter away from the passenger seat and kept my eyes on the road.

Of course I drove well. He should have seen who taught me.

I learned from Mr. Jubong — a Grade 7 escort secretary in Rep. Choi Giseok's office. Before that, he'd spent some twenty years behind the wheel for a chaebol chairman. Then he met me, and I brought him over to the Assemblyman's staff.

Mr. Jubong. The man was a vault.

The chairman he'd served had been notorious for abusing his people, and Jubong had been closer to him than anyone — which meant he'd taken the worst of it. You could see it on him. And still, he never said a word. Not to the end.

Anyway. The car was quiet.

My driving was smooth enough to keep it that way, Ha Eun-yul held that ice-cold composure the entire ride, and Lee Yujeong sat beside her with a face like a boarded-up house. Yujeong was small to begin with, and she'd curled herself so thoroughly into the corner you could barely tell she was there.

The two of them didn't speak to each other either. Which meant that aside from the Ghost's running commentary — audible to me alone — not a single person opened their mouth the entire drive.

Is there anyone who isn't a good one in your eyes?

I kept that to myself and parked where Team Leader Baek Sungwook was waving me in. He stepped up and peered through the dark tint of the driver's-side window.

The glass whirred down, and our eyes met at an awkward distance.

"So you're the new hire they picked up today?"

"Yes. Lee Jaewook. A pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, right. Nice to meet you. Think I caught a glimpse of you earlier. Yeah, I remember — at the office."

"Yes."

"We'll talk later. Park it and wait here, alright?"

"Yes."

He spun on his heel and headed for the rear door.

"You're good-looking. Nice face."

That was all he left me with before pulling the back door open.

"Eun-yul. No carsickness?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Good. Hey... you did well. I've got everything sorted on-site, so don't worry too much. If any reporters suddenly shove a phone or a recorder in your face, just don't answer."

"Got it."

"Alright. Let's go."

I watched Ha Eun-yul and Lee Yujeong climb out and walk off with Team Leader Baek Sungwook, then finally let out the words I'd been holding in.

"This Team Leader Baek Sungwook. How old is he?"

"......"

Older than me — I'd grant him that. But talking to me like I was some neighborhood kid was a bit much. This was exactly why I'd... my resume...

I was about to give the Ghost a piece of my mind, but one look at his flushed, excited face and the lecture died in my throat. He looked like a child who'd just arrived at an amusement park for the first time in years.

"Sure. Well... you can't go too far anyway."

We were connected by something like an invisible thread. According to the Ghost, ever since he'd met me at the hospital, he'd been bound to me rather than the building. That didn't mean he was glued to my side — he could move freely within a certain radius around me.

I watched him vanish without so much as opening the car door. Then my phone rang.

"Yes, Reporter. How have you been?"

The moment I picked up, he started grumbling from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the other end.

"How have you been?"

"We're still looking at a minority government. Cleaning up the mess is going to be a headache."

"You never know. Politics is a living thing."

Even when you asked him to look something up, he always fished around for a story. I felt a faint smile pull at my mouth.

Ji Seung-min, senior political desk reporter at the Daeheung Ilbo. We had a history.

Having a history didn't mean you could fully trust him — it was a give-and-take relationship. If he smelled a scoop, or if things went south, he could turn on you in a heartbeat. That was this business.

Still... it probably wouldn't come to that. I was the one holding the leash.

That last question was a reporter's instinct — checking the facts, mapping the relationships. Habit, more than anything.

"It's not related to the Assemblyman. It's personal."

"No. If I say it isn't, it isn't."

"I know."

"You wouldn't have mentioned it if it were just empty talk."

To call it "just" that, though. The value of money was subjective. To someone desperate, those few hundred or few thousand dollars could mean everything. It certainly had for me. What money meant in my orphanage days and what it meant now were two entirely different things.

But still.

"Go on."

"Hmm."

I agreed with him more than I cared to admit.

A road manager leaking a scandal. Then going dark. And the other party in the photos had a real lover of his own.

There was something malicious about it. The direction of the blade wasn't fully clear yet — but you could feel that someone had swung it with intent.

"Thank you. Let's grab a meal sometime."

"I'll let you go. I'll be in touch."

"Reporter Ji."

"The person Yoon Jun — the actor in the scandal photos — is actually seeing. The one that's closer to fact."

A reporter with years on the political desk — he caught on instantly.

I held the disconnected phone for a moment. I was about to make another call when—

Knock knock.

Team Leader Baek Sungwook tapped on the driver's-side window.

I got out and followed him to one side of the parking lot. Team Leader Baek Sungwook slipped a cigarette between his lips as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then held the pack out toward me.

"Want a smoke?"

"No."

"Yeah? Suit yourself."

He tucked the pack back into his pocket and lit up with practiced ease.

"Managing alright?"

"Yes."

At my short answer, Baek Sungwook grinned and stretched, long and slow.

"Ahhhh! Finally feel like I can breathe. Been exhausted since this morning."

"......"

"You always this quiet?"

"No. Not particularly."

"Right, right. I've never seen a chatterbox last long in this business. I like it. Got some weight to you."

The truth was, talking or not talking wasn't the point. You spoke when it was worth speaking, and you didn't when it wasn't. Right now my position was Road Manager. On top of that, I had just stepped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into a field I barely knew. So I was keeping my words to a minimum.

I hadn't found a reason to talk a lot just to sell myself. Like I'd told the Ghost, that was how the weak survived. You talked a lot because you were weak. If the other person drew you out, you let yourself be drawn.

Instead of choosing that survival tactic, I focused on adapting. Talking more or less could come later.

And then.

"What games do you like?"

"Pardon?"

"Games. You said you played for a long time. Just one, even."

Looking at Baek Sungwook's face as he smoked and smiled that easy, gentle smile...

Is this... pity?

Pity. And something like sympathy. It was a look I'd seen plenty of in the orphanage. One I hadn't felt once since I'd started working.

Ah... that damn Ghost.

So. I'd gotten the job, just as the Ghost had said — but I couldn't even explain myself. I was stuck as an actual gaming shut-in. I'd thrown everything away for a single position.

The gaming addict rumor already spread?

They said a rumor could travel a thousand miles, but this was fast even for that.

As if trying to keep the conversation going — and beyond that, like a well-meaning senior trying to pull me back into society — Team Leader Baek pressed on.

"Come on, tell me. I like games too. What game was so fun you played it that long?"

The Ghost had prepped me for this.

"I played LoL."

Color flooded back into Baek Sungwook's face.

"Ah...! Right? Yeah, if you're gonna play for ten years, it's gotta be LoL! What's your rank? What rank are you? What role?"

Wait. I hadn't prepped that far. Honestly, I knew that if you were going to lie, you should prepare perfectly. But I'd hated the twelve-year gaming addict cover so much I'd only half-listened.

The one saving grace: the Ghost had already sidled up next to Baek Sungwook.

"I main top."

"Ah, top... nice. More aggressive than I expected? Rank?"

At Baek's rapid-fire questions I kept signaling the Ghost with my eyes. After a slight pause, he answered in an uncertain voice.

"......"

If I waited any longer the timing of the conversation would fall apart, so I snatched the Ghost's answer and ran with it.

"I'm Gold."

The color that had just returned to Baek Sungwook's face curdled.

"Listen, Jaewook."

"Yes?"

"This is... a little awkward to say, but. Didn't you say you played just one game for twelve years...? That's what I heard from General Manager Kim Misook... or did I get that wrong?"

So that's where the rumor had started. Anyway, I confirmed it.

Then.

"...If you played LoL for twelve years straight and you're Gold..."

He glanced at my face again, then stubbed out his cigarette.

I watched in silence as he hurried back into the building, as if trying to put as much distance between us as possible. Then I looked at the Ghost.

"It's pretty obvious he's trying to get away from a piece of shit."

Hah. I scratched my head, mortified. I wanted to strangle him.

If only I could.

I looked up at the sky for a moment. Hazy — a lot like how I felt right now. Even so, I didn't stay down for long.

There was work to do as an aide... no, as a manager. Even if no one had acknowledged me yet, I did my job. That was what an aide was.

I pulled out my phone and made the call I hadn't gotten to finish earlier.

"Detective Park. This is Lee Jaewook."

"How have you been?"

At my greeting, the voice on the other end brightened considerably.

"I need you to find someone."

Hmm. Since we'd already jumped in headfirst, might as well pick up the pace.

"Could you find two by end of day?"

This one...

Was an expert at finding people.