ACJY C67

Leaving Detective Oh to handle the cleanup, Taeheun rushed down to the house as if he had urgent business. He was sure the man would arrive, driving Detective Oh’s car.

Sure enough, Detective Oh’s car was parked in front of the main gate. Feeling a surge of delight, Taeheun pushed open the gate and went inside.

“Mr. Gibeom, you’re here already?”

It was quiet. The mutts were lying under the wooden porch, taking a nap.

Has he been here for a while?

The sliding door was closed. The man always opened that door first thing when he got home.

“Mr. Gibeom, Mr. Gibeom!”

Without even taking off his sandals, he placed his palm on the edge of the porch and practically threw himself down to open the sliding door. There was no trace of the man having been there.

It seemed he had just dropped off the car and left immediately. Disappointed, Taeheun plopped down on the porch.

Did he walk?

The thought of the man walking along the rough road in this heat, limping, made anger surge within him.

“Did you have to take a shit or something?”

Detective Oh, poking just his head through the gate, threw a joke his way.

Son of a bitch.

A curse almost slipped out of his mouth. Even if it had, what would Detective Oh do? He’d probably just think, what’s wrong with that guy, and leave it at that.

“Let’s go out for lunch, too.”

“I don’t have an appetite.”

“Then we can just have a drink.”

Detective Oh said this with his good-natured face and disappeared back outside the gate.

He was about to lie and say he couldn’t go because of a stomachache, but then it occurred to him that he might run into the man on the way. Or maybe he’d be napping at the youth association office. Suddenly, his energy returned.

Detective Oh had already started the car and was waiting for Taeheun.

“I knew it was hot for a reason, it’s over 30 degrees. Ugh, this kid, couldn’t even leave the car doors open. He has no sense.”

Detective Oh grumbled, a little louder than a mumble. Instead of being grateful that the car was brought to him in this heat, he was complaining. Taeheun unknowingly clenched his fists. He barely restrained himself from punching the man in the mouth.

“Detective Oh-nim, let’s stop by the village community center before we head to town.”

His voice trembled from clenching his teeth. Fortunately, Detective Oh didn’t seem to notice.

“The village community center? Why there-“

Having said this much, Detective Oh slapped his own forehead.

“Oh my gosh, my memory. If it weren’t for you, Chief, I would have completely forgotten. I even told the village chief yesterday that I’d stop by his house.”

He made a comical expression at Taeheun. A small laugh escaped. He was a man you couldn’t hate even if you tried. There were probably a hundred cunning snakes slithering around inside him. Why else would he be a veteran detective? He shook his head.

Detective Oh parked the car in the community center lot and went to meet the village chief, while Taeheun dashed to the youth association office. As usual, the youth association president was sitting at his desk, his head buried in the monitor. He was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice Taeheun enter.

The sofa was empty. He scowled without realizing it.

“Hyung-nim, where did Mr. Gibeom go?”

At Taeheun’s question, the president was so startled he nearly fell out of his chair.

“Jeez, you scared me! Why do you come in without making a sound?”

“I asked where Mr. Gibeom went.”

The president straightened his posture and said, ‘How would I know?’

“Did he even come by?”

“I don’t know. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen him today.”

Fuck. Where did he go?

“My father was looking for Gibeom, too. Chief Kim, if you see Gibeom, give me a call.”

Taeheun left the office without a word.

He took out his utterly useless cell phone and then put it back. The man didn’t have a cell phone, not even a beeper that even middle schoolers carried. He tried to remember if the man had written down where he was going on the calendar, but there was no way he could recall anything that wasn’t a number. He blamed himself for not asking where he was going today, as he usually did at breakfast, wondering what had made him so busy.

He stopped by the community room, but none of the elders were there. For some reason, there were no passersby on the streets either. Everyone was out in the paddies and fields. Since it had rained yesterday, everyone was busy checking on their crops. He could occasionally see people replanting seedlings or covering fields with black plastic. He figured the man must be working in someone’s paddy or field, just like them.

In the end, Taeheun didn’t meet anyone and sat in the shade in front of the community center. He had thought it was a palm-sized village, but when he tried to find the man, it was fucking huge. After killing time meaninglessly, he met up with Detective Oh again. Like a cow being dragged to a slaughterhouse, he got into his car.

Lunch was a half-hearted affair. The cold noodles that had been so delicious when he ate with the man now tasted of nothing. He didn’t even touch the dumplings, of which he had previously devoured a whole plate.

Detective Oh assumed Taeheun was just someone born with a small appetite, so he ate his own portion without saying much. After lunch, the two went to a coffee shop. The coffee was at least drinkable, and having it made him feel more alive.

From their respective seats, they each read the sports paper and the morning paper they had bought before entering the coffee shop. They weren’t the kind of people who felt uncomfortable even without speaking to each other. That was why Taeheun had actually quite liked Detective Oh. His life was full of people who couldn’t stand awkwardness and would ask clumsy questions and make small talk. If Detective Oh had been like that too, he probably wouldn’t have decided to do that job.

The two swapped papers and read them meticulously. Occasionally, they would comment on an article, and if their interests aligned, they would have a conversation about it. Before they knew it, two hours had flown by. Taeheun’s sunken mood had recovered. Just as they were getting bored of the newspapers, a new person appeared in the coffee shop.

“Chief, it’s been a while.”

Detective Park greeted him cheerfully. His complexion was much brighter than the last time he’d seen him.

“You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you. You look healthy.”

“You look more at ease yourself, Chief Park.”

“Do I?”

Detective Park laughed, stroking his cheek with his palm.

“But I see you get tanned too, Chief.”

Detective Park said admiringly, taking a seat next to Detective Oh.

“I’m tanned?”

“Yes. Well, you’re still pale, but you definitely seem a bit tanner.”

“Really?”

Taeheun grinned from ear to ear. He was somewhat aware that the color of the back of his hands had darkened, but he had no idea his face was tanned.

“What do you mean, tanned? You look the same as ever. And Chief, what’s so good about that to be smiling? I wish I could get a little paler.”

Detective Oh laughed heartily and chided Taeheun.

“Sir, I’d like-“

“Hey, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

Detective Oh stopped Detective Park as he was about to order a drink.

“Chief, shall we get going?”

“Let’s.”

Without even getting a drink to wet his throat, Detective Park immediately got up from his seat. Detective Oh paid the bill.

The three of them walked out of the coffee shop side by side.

“Donghee, you lead the way.”

Detective Oh pushed Detective Park on the back.

“Aw, hyung-nim, you should lead. This is your turf, isn’t it?”

“Is that so? Haha. Alright. I’ll take you to the best place in this neighborhood. It’s a bit early now, but later.”

Detective Oh said this, shaking his wallet at Taeheun.

“Let’s have a hot night tonight. The old man gave me a thick wad of cash and told me to treat you right, Chief.”

He said triumphantly.

He’s probably planning to take us to a room salon, Taeheun thought, lazily trailing behind the two men.

Since it was a weekday and the sun was still high in the sky, few entertainment establishments were open. A makgeolli bar, a so-called daepotjip, was open for business, but they had drunk their fill of makgeolli yesterday, so they passed right by. Unaware of this, only Detective Park was getting antsy.

The place Detective Oh led them to was a small chicken shop. A savory smell filled the air. Naturally, he thought of the man. The man, who liked drumsticks and preferred fried over seasoned chicken, would eat one drumstick and one wing and then slow down. He didn’t eat the breast meat, so that was Taeheun’s share. A slight smile touched his lips at the thought.

“Seeing you smile, Chief, I guess I chose the menu well. The smell of chicken is good, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I thought you had entered my mind and come back out, Detective Oh-nim.”

Taeheun joked.

They ordered fried chicken and a pitcher of beer, starting their drinking session early. For Detective Park, who hadn’t eaten yet, they added seasoned chicken and chicken gizzards. Taeheun tore into a drumstick. For some reason, the chicken tasted better than the franchise kind. He memorized the shop’s name and phone number. I should buy a chicken to take home later, he thought, downing his beer.

Now that his mood had improved and he was feeling hungry, the drinking session was enjoyable. The three of them used their private code names as they swapped past anecdotes as side dishes for their drinks. They were mostly things that didn’t need to be kept secret, things that would make anyone who overheard them call them a friendly group of seniors and juniors.

To Taeheun, the 16 days in the safe house felt like a past life. No, it probably was a past life. If he thought of it as a kind of purgatory one passes through before being reborn, then those 16 days didn’t feel so unjust. He could have fallen into hell, but instead, hadn’t he come to heaven? What was so special about heaven? The place where the man was, that was heaven. On top of that, he had met detectives who were like friends, with whom he could laugh off his erased past with just a few jokes.

Whenever he went to the bathroom, he would call the man’s house. One time, no one answered. Another time, the line was busy. Since it was busy, he called back 5 minutes later, but it was still busy. It was still busy 10 minutes after that. He figured the child must be chatting with her Sojin unni again. If not that, then one of the villagers must have called to ask the man for a favor.

What did the man have for dinner? Is he thinking of me? Since I left with Detective Oh, is he just assuming I’m out having a good time on my own? Whenever he was alone, his thoughts were purely of the man.