Chapter 117: Did I Doze Off for a Bit?
Had I dozed off for a moment? Coming to my senses, I saw blue light filtering through the balcony curtains. The sun was about to rise. What woke me was the blaring phone ring from the bedroom.
"Ugh, phone's ringing. Pick it up..."
Choi Jonghyeon's drowsy voice came from inside. But Kim Jeongu was out cold, snoring away without even stirring.
"Ah, come on, just answer the damn phone..."
"Ah shit, this fucker. The phone's ringing! Who's this, X...? Call from X? Just pick it up."
Choi Jonghyeon's grumbling voice trailed off, and soon the ringing stopped.
I got up from the sofa and headed to the bedroom. Choi Jonghyeon, now fully awake from the noise, held Kim Jeongu's phone with a half-asleep look. He'd probably cut the call since Kim Jeongu showed no signs of waking.
I silently beckoned him out.
"Let me wash my face first."
He downed a glass of water and shuffled to the bathroom. In the meantime, I closed the bedroom door where Kim Jeongu was still fast asleep, picked up the pill packets from the trash bin, and set them on the dining table. Then I grabbed the black bag Kim Jeongu had left by the entrance and brought it inside. Inside were a bag of jerky and three bottles of soju—completely empty.
"Kid's perfectly fine, my ass. Depression this, depression that. You really misread him, Prosecutor Cha."
Choi Jonghyeon approached, towel around his neck, and snatched the crumpled cigarette pack from the table.
"What? Got something to say?"
He headed to the balcony as he asked. I nodded.
Kim Jeongu was still snoring, but he might wake up midway and overhear. Better to step out together.
He placed the ashtray between us.
"So, what's up?"
"Kim Jeongu is a severe depression patient."
He froze mid-light of his cigarette, staring at me in shock.
"...Got any proof?"
I set down the pill packets I'd been holding.
"These are what Kim Jeongu took after you fell asleep."
"Stilnox, Indenol... Wait, eight packets? Both after I went to bed?"
"Yes."
"You're saying he took 80mg of Stilnox? Isn't that way over the daily recommended dose?"
I nodded, and he rubbed his forehead, recalling what he knew about zolpidem.
After a long pause, he finally lit the cigarette.
"Hospitals don't prescribe more than 10mg."
"Probably got extra off-insurance from somewhere else. Serious addiction."
Choi Jonghyeon let out a deep sigh. But that wasn't all.
"Side effects seem pretty bad too."
"Side effects?"
"He got up in the middle of the night, went to the convenience store. Then into the study..."
I slid the black bag toward him.
"Downed three bottles alone. Then back to bed. Side effects hit without him even realizing, so he doesn't see it as a problem... but coming to your place like this means it's been going on awhile."
Taking 80mg of zolpidem was severe addiction. Started with 10mg, tolerance built up over time, pills piling on until eight at once.
"Even if we chalk it up to not side effects, he's got severe depressive disorder and alcohol dependency."
That was serious in its own right.
"Ha, what the hell..."
Choi Jonghyeon shook his head in confusion.
"When you went to Mokpo for reporting, how long were you planning to stay?"
"Mokpo? As long as the story needed."
"No matter how long?"
"...What, you saying it'd keep failing?"
He shot me an irritated glare.
"Fine, it'd been a week since I got there. If no results by next week, I'd have come back up."
Kim Jeongu attempted suicide while Choi Jonghyeon was in Mokpo. He said he'd have given up and returned to Seoul a week after my call in the previous life. After hearing of the death, he'd rushed back, canceling everything. So something would happen within a week at latest.
"Just watch him another week."
Choi Jonghyeon fiddled with the packets, biting his lip.
"You said he's your favorite junior, but you had no idea he was suffering this bad."
He looked dejected, shoulders slumping, eyes darting.
After a silent smoke, something dawned on him, and he looked up.
"Prosecutor Cha."
"Yes."
"Everything you've said so far lines up—he's got serious depression. So assuming the rest is true too... upper management pressuring him using me? That's real?"
"I've said from the start it was. You just didn't believe me."
As my once-dismissed words proved true one by one, anxiety gripped him. Rightfully so. If his junior endured pressure because of his convictions, without a hint... it'd eat at him. Like how he'd worried for Section Chief Oh after clashing with prosecutors—though Oh's veteran status offered some protection, Kim Jeongu was different.
"Gotta check this out. Who the hell..."
"That in your hand—Kim Jeongu's phone?"
He followed my gaze to his hand and lifted it.
"Yeah, it kept ringing loud, kid wouldn't wake. Hung up for him, but kept coming, so I brought it out. He's sleeping like a rock."
"Let me see."
"Huh?"
"Not the most ethical, but his situation might be in there."
He looked reluctant but handed it over. No lock screen—easy access.
"Oh, the caller was saved as 'X'. Probably marked to ignore."
I opened the call log. Tons of calls, but nightly ones from 'X'. Kim Jeongu ignored or rejected most.
"Wonder who gets saved as X."
"Got texts from them."
I checked messages.
[Why aren't you picking up?]
[You bastard, your mom's suffering and you won't answer?]
[Wanna see your mom die?]
[I miss you, son...]
[Die like your worthless dad, get out and drop dead, hit by a car]
[Jeongu... let's die together, mom and you]
"......"
We stared in silence. 'X' was his mother.
No other convos beyond those six, but it was clear.
"Complicated family situation."
Choi Jonghyeon snatched the phone, scrolling messages. Something caught his eye—he tapped one.
[Kim reporter, thought about what I said?]
[Leave Choi Jonghyeon be and that fucker really dies. You stop him.]
[Not even listening? How long you gonna be a rookie? Tired of Choi blocking your promotions?]
[Just share what he digs up with me. Not hard, right? Do that, you're full reporter next March. Think smart.]
[Everyone knows Choi's obsessed with Wooshin and Lee Jeongchan. Pin something on him, fire him. Higher-ups got the pretext ready. He's already on thin ice. But I wanna settle peaceful. Jeongu, just suffer this once.]
[Take all the tests you want. You promoting? Think you can job-hop? Papers share lists of screw-ups.]
His hand trembled. Neck to ears flushed red, breathing ragged. Pure rage.
"Reporter Choi."
"That fucking bastard..."
Sender: Editor-in-Chief.
Family hell plus year-long blackmail. First time I knew he was still a rookie, promotions stalled.
"Fucking pricks, goddamn motherfuckers..."
He clawed his hair, sobbing. I offered silence over comfort.
He bowed his head, choking tears. I smoked quietly beside him, gazing out.
Far off, the morning sun rose.