#6. Suspect

Inside the desk drawer was another envelope. Seo-wan went through the documents one by one.

—Medication Dispensing Log

—Seo-wan’s Investigation Notes

—Vehicle 11-1234 — Tollgate Records

—Seo Min-gyu Psychiatry Clinic — Medical Records

—Detective Choi Seo-wan’s Call Records Before Her Disappearance

At the very bottom lay a USB drive. Seo-wan picked it up and went still.

What was on it?

She opened the laptop and plugged in the drive. A password prompt appeared.

After staring blankly at the screen, she tried Jin-woo’s birthday.

[Incorrect password]

His phone number?

[Incorrect password]

His employee ID?

[Incorrect password]

“Ha…”

She tapped her fingers against the desk.

“Don’t tell me…”

When she entered her own date of birth, a soft chime sounded, and the contents appeared.

“[SR]? What’s SR?”

She clicked the folder. Inside were recordings of phone calls, organized by date.

Seo-wan clicked the first file.

“Why are you only answering now? Huh? Why is it so hard to get hold of you? Hello!”

What is this…?

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Startled, she hurriedly pulled the USB drive out of the laptop.

A series of beeps followed as someone entered the door code.

Seo-wan put the drive back where she had found it and hurried over to the sofa.

The lock chimed, and Jin-woo stepped inside with a light tread.

“Seo-wan, I’m back.”

The aroma of hot blood sausage soup followed him in, filling the apartment.

Seo-wan sat on the sofa with the towel still wrapped around her hair, as though nothing had happened.

Their eyes met, and they exchanged slightly awkward smiles.

Breaking the uneasy silence, Jin-woo set the hot soup on the dining table.

He opened a cupboard with practiced ease, took out two large bowls, spoons, and chopsticks, then carefully poured the soup from the hot plastic containers into the bowls.

“Come and eat. You always liked the soup from this place.”

“…Thank you.”

Jin-woo smiled as he set the table. As always, it was a smile that put people at ease and lifted their spirits.

“Just the blood sausage, no added seasoning, right? You always gave me all the offal.”

A small laugh escaped her.

“You remember that?”

“Of course. We must’ve had a hundred bowls of this together.”

She let out a little snort.

“You’re exaggerating.”

Seo-wan slowly took a spoonful of soup. As the warm broth spread through her body, even her mind seemed to clear.

Blood sausage soup. Pork backbone stew. Grilled pork belly with a glass of soju. The meals she had enjoyed with her colleagues after a day out in the field.

Only now did she find herself thinking of her ordinary days as Detective Choi Seo-wan.

What have I been eating all this time?

As she searched those missing days for an answer, she looked down at the fingers wrapped around her spoon. They were little more than skin and bone.

Jin-woo placed a piece of kimchi on her spoon as she stared down at it.

“Seo-wan, do you remember when we first met?”

“Of course. You were such a stiff, formal rookie back then.”

“Do you know how impressive you were back then?”

“Was I? That makes it sound like I’m not anymore.”

A sad smile touched her lips as she thought back to those days.

Jin-woo let out a short, amused breath at her familiar humor.

He had been beside her through the most painful case of her career as a detective.

“You cried a lot back then.”

“You knew? That’s a little embarrassing.”

Keeping his eyes on his spoon, Jin-woo gave a bitter smile.

“It was a hard case. For both of us.”

Seo-wan had never spoken aloud about the case that had left such a deep wound. Jin-woo had never brought it up, either.

But neither needed to say anything. They shared those memories, and now they were both looking back on them.

With the same memories between them, they simply ate in silence.

After the meal, Jin-woo took out the pour-over coffee supplies from beside the sink and put the kettle on.

Seo-wan remained at the table, quietly watching him.

“Here you go.”

He set a steaming cup of coffee before her.

“Thank you.”

She brought the cup to her nose. Warmth brushed her face, and the aroma made her head swim.

“Ethiopian.”

“That’s right. Nothing gets past you when it comes to coffee.”

Jin-woo sat across from her, holding his own cup in one hand.

Still gazing into her coffee, Seo-wan slowly spoke.

“Jin-woo. Do you think I really killed him?”

Somehow, she felt he would have the answer.

“Seo-wan, look at me.”

At the sound of his voice, she raised her head.

“Absolutely not. You would never do that.”

“But what I did to him… with my own hands…”

“Your mind isn’t clear right now. Can you be sure that’s what you actually remember?”

“I don’t know. During the time I was at the villa… it feels like I wasn’t myself.”

When she finished speaking, Jin-woo retrieved the documents he had left on the shoe cabinet and placed them in front of her.

“They found drugs in your system.”

Seo-wan slowly opened the envelope and took out the doctor’s written assessment.