At Shin Haesu’s whisper, Lee Hyejeong, half-entranced, slowly handed over her phone.

Just before it reached Haesu’s hand, she suddenly pulled it back.

“No, I can’t.”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

“Ah, I said no!!”

Hyejeong suddenly threw the phone to the ground and stomped on it firmly with her foot.

The detectives looked dumbfounded at her abrupt action.

Haesu calmly moved her leg aside, picked up the broken phone, and tried turning it on. The screen was shattered, but the power came on.

—I hacked the woman’s phone and checked it out. There’s not much in the recordings, but there was something strange in the messages.

Just as Jeong Yeong-su said, the recordings weren’t useful. Nor were the suspicious messages he mentioned visible. She had clearly deleted them.

“Maknae, send this in for digital forensics.”

“Yes, sunbae.”

Hyejeong’s eyes trembled with anxiety. The text recovered through forensics was this:

—Don’t contact me with your phone.

It meant she had another phone.

After securing a search warrant, they turned over the Haetnim Mansion, but no burner phone was found.

Next, Oh Gaeng tracked her down and found her real residence. There, in the bathroom water tank, they discovered a phone wrapped in plastic.

“Found it.”

“That’s one very suspicious phone.”

Several audio recordings were neatly stored inside the phone.

A common trait of people who do this kind of work—they hold onto dirt on their clients in case things go south.

The recording from when the job was commissioned was the most telling.

Haesu played it on the spot. A familiar voice rang out.

—So get that bastard tangled up and thrown in jail. The law’s on our side these days, so as long as you insist, he’s going to prison no matter what. Or just go all the way, sleep with him for real, and report it after that.

┗Haa… What am I, some hooker? So how much are you offering?

—I told you, three thousand.

┗How much?

—God, all you ever care about is money. Fine, five thousand. Five thousand more when it’s done.

┗You know, you’re the sexiest when you blow money like this.

—Crazy bitch. Just shut up and do the job cleanly.

Haesu let out a soft chuckle.

He had assumed there would be some degree of separation, but this was undoubtedly Jang Kang-cheon’s own voice. He had personally instigated this to Lee Hyejeong.

Judging by the context, Hyejeong wasn’t a professional but likely someone Jang had dated in the past.

That explained why the whole plan had so many holes and was so poorly executed.

Despite being a third-generation chaebol, Jang Kang-cheon seemed to be an absolute fool. Thanks to that, the case just got a whole lot easier.

Shin Haesu sat across from Hyejeong in the interrogation room.

“Ms. Lee Hyejeong, do you know why Jang Kang-cheon ordered this?”

“No idea. Why should I care about crap like that? Maybe he just doesn’t like cops.”

She looked like she’d given up completely.

“Because I beat up his bodyguard and ruined his party, embarrassing him.”

At Haesu’s words, she uncrossed her legs and leaned in closer.

“Wow… impressive. Was it that CEO inauguration party by any chance?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re amazing. A guy who lives off his ego getting embarrassed by a cop? No wonder he wanted you dead.”

“He probably figured there was no other way to get back at me physically.”

“You’re ridiculously confident, huh?”

“I’m going to send this recording to Jang Kang-cheon now.”

At Haesu’s bombshell statement, Hyejeong shot up from her seat.

“Are you crazy? You want to start a bloodbath?!”

Haesu simply looked at her and continued calmly.

“Whether I charge you for false accusation, or whether the recording is sent to Jang Kang-cheon, all depends on your cooperation.”

“That’s some serious blackmail. What do you want me to do?”

“Very simple. Just tell me everything you know about Jang Kang-cheon, slowly.”

“That perverted bastard… Jang Kang-cheon…”

She had known Jang Kang-cheon for a long time and was close enough for him to ask her to do this.

“...There are at least two girls I know he forced to get abortions and then dumped. He’s complete trash.”

“I see.”

She didn’t seem to realize the irony of taking money from such trash to do trashy things herself.

One thing many repeat offenders have in common is they don’t see their actions as crimes.

Hyejeong knew a lot, but there wasn’t a single piece of decisive evidence to bring Jang Kang-cheon down. The rest was all circumstantial and would require investigation.

If he were a celebrity, maybe. But forcing an ex to get an abortion and dumping her wasn’t a legal issue.

This case wasn’t about a contract killing, either. Framing someone for sexual assault would, at worst, lead to a suspended sentence.

“Let’s call it a day for now. Get your phone fixed, and I’ll be in touch again soon.”

Since Hyejeong was cooperating, they chose not to detain her. They hadn’t charged her with false accusation yet either. The idea was to keep her comfortable and extract as much information as possible.

“...You’re really not going to send that to Jang Kang-cheon, right?”

“As long as you keep cooperating, there’s no reason to.”

Hyejeong gave him a suspicious glare before abruptly standing up.

After she left, Oh Gaeng approached.

“Did you get anything?”

“Just some scraps. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Damn… both of them deserve twenty years behind bars.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Haesu clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Shit… suddenly asking to see my phone, what a pain… my poor money…”

Lee Hyejeong muttered as she walked down an alley. She pulled her newly repaired phone from her handbag and closely examined the screen.

“Wait, is that a scratch? Those bastards looked like thugs… or maybe not.”

As she tilted her head, puzzled, and went to put the phone back in her handbag—

Tap.

Someone brushed past her arm, and the phone flew out of her hand, flipping through the air.

Tadak! Taktak! Crack!

The corner of the phone hit the ground, spinning several times before landing with the screen facing down. Unfortunately, a small rock was sticking up right where it fell.

Hyejeong froze in shock, her mouth agape. She dropped to her knees and picked up the phone. The screen, just repaired, was now completely shattered again.

Her hand trembled. Her gaze slowly shifted toward the person who had just bumped into her arm.

Slender legs, curvy hips, a tightly cinched waist—female.

Hyejeong clenched her teeth and shouted, full of rage.

“Stop right there, you bitch!”

At her shout, the woman came to a halt. Then, she slowly turned around.

Even as someone confident in her own looks, Hyejeong had to admit she was stunning—enough to make her feel intimidated. That only fueled her anger further.

Hyejeong shook her shattered phone in the air.

“Where the hell are your eyes? What are you gonna do about this?”

The woman looked at her indifferently, glanced at the phone, then turned back around.

“You crazy bitch! Where do you think you're going?!”

With eyes full of murderous intent, Hyejeong rushed forward and grabbed the woman's hair.

The woman turned to face her, and Hyejeong slapped her across the face, full of fury.

Smack—!

Just as she went in for another slap—

Thud—

The woman grabbed Hyejeong’s wrist. Looking down at her with icy eyes, she spoke in an even colder voice.

“Now it's self-defense.”

“What?”

Smack!

Hyejeong’s mind went blank. The woman’s wrist was slimmer than hers, but the impact felt like lightning had struck her skull.

“You…”

Crack!

“Dare…”

Crack!

“To lay hands on me?”

Craaack—!

At the fourth slap, Hyejeong rolled onto the ground, her eyes rolling back. Blood and saliva dribbled from her torn mouth.

“P-Please, s-spare me…”

The woman grabbed Hyejeong’s jaw and lifted her head, raising her hand once more.

“Yeah. You should be thankful I’m letting you live.”

Clap clap clap craaaack!!

Hyejeong felt her teeth getting knocked loose inside her mouth and lost consciousness.

Beep—click.

At the sound of the door opening, Haesu, who was in the kitchen making chive pancakes, came out with a spatula in hand. It almost looked like a weapon.

“Where were you…”

Thud.

The moment Haesu saw Haru, he froze like a paused frame. The spatula slipped from his hand and hit the floor.

“I’m back…”

Haru bowed her head. Her cheek was swollen and red.

Except for when she was first rescued, Haru had never once been injured—not even while fighting off four Joseonjok wielding sashimi knives.

But now there was a clear handprint on her cheek, and Haesu was so shocked he couldn’t even speak.

It felt strange. Even when he’d been stabbed in the stomach, he hadn’t felt much. But seeing that handprint on her cheek—it pierced his heart like a needle.

He grabbed Haru’s wrist as she tried to pass him on her way to the bathroom.

“Who was it.”

Haesu’s voice trembled. There was a clear trace of murderous intent in it.

Haru made a troubled expression.

“I-I’m fine.”

“I’m not fine. Who was it? I’ll rip them apart.”

Haesu's raw fury was palpable even from up close. But Haru didn’t dislike it—in fact, she rather liked it. She stared at him quietly, watching his anger.

Meeting her gaze, Haesu realized the emotion in her eyes wasn’t negative. His rage softened slightly as he turned away.

“Tell me when you’re ready.”

“…Okay.”

Inside the bathroom, Haru looked at the wrist Haesu had grabbed and smiled faintly.

On his way home from work on his motorcycle, just as Haesu was entering the underground parking lot of the Reed Building—

VROOOOOM—!

A van behind him suddenly floored the gas and charged at him. Haesu urgently twisted the throttle and sped forward.

Then, a van that had been parked nearby suddenly jumped out to block his path.

Screeeech—CRASH!

To avoid the van behind him, Haesu jumped off the motorcycle. At the same time, the van rammed into the bike with full force.

Skrrrreeee—

Haesu rolled across the ground, grabbing onto a parked car to stand up. Just then, the doors of both vans opened, and masked men with sashimi knives and steel pipes poured out. There were at least ten of them.

“Look at this rat bastard dodging like that.”

“He dodged the car, but can he dodge the knives?”

The men surrounded him with menacing auras.

Haesu clutched his left wrist, which had stung when he hit the ground. It hadn’t fully healed yet.

“Looks like his left hand’s injured.”

“Right, let’s go in from the left. Listen up! No need to capture him—stab all you want!”

“YEEAAHH!!”

“DIE!!”

Haesu swung his left fist at the nearest guy coming from the left. The punch narrowly grazed the side of the man’s knife.

Thwack—!

Haesu’s fist landed square on the guy’s face. With the added momentum of his charge, the man was half-lifted off the ground before collapsing.

Haesu shook his left hand and grinned at the group of thugs.

“It was a fake, you bastards. Damn, I missed you.”