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Join the Server“Achoo! I’m fine.
It’s not a cold.
Hey, I said it’s not like that—achoo!”
Contrary to her words, her sneezing kept bursting out nonstop, making it impossible for the conversation to continue properly.
Unable to watch any longer, Tae-oh brought over a whole box of tissues and placed it in front of Ji-won.
Ji-won gave a quick wink of thanks with her eyes, pulled out a tissue, and blew her nose.
“No.
I don’t think I can come in today either.
We figured out where the suspects’ hideout is, so I think we need to go stake it out now.
Yeah.
No, it’s fine.
Why would you come all this way when you’re tired?
I won’t even have time to eat anything anyway.
No—achoo!”
Tae-oh stood rooted in place, watching Ji-won talk on the phone with concern.
After roaming around drenched all night, it would honestly be stranger if it wasn’t a cold.
Deciding he couldn’t let it slide, he pulled out the medicine packet he’d brought in his pocket and held it out to her.
Ji-won, still on the call, lifted her round eyes as if asking what it was.
“Take it.
Cold medicine.”
Feeling oddly embarrassed, he said it flatly and turned to leave.
Just then, he felt a sharp gaze from afar and looked up.
Cha Seo-wan, wearing a cold expression, was striding toward them.
A faint hostility surfaced in Tae-oh’s eyes as he stared straight at the man.
From the very beginning, he hadn’t liked Cha Seo-wan.
His authoritarian, high-handed work style, and the arrogance with which he treated everyone but himself like idiots.
Most of all, the way he seemed desperate to torment Ji-won rubbed him the wrong way.
As the distance closed, Tae-oh masked his discomfort and bowed his head briefly in greeting.
Then, brushing past Seo-wan—who looked down at him arrogantly as if telling him to get lost—he exited the pantry.
“Grandma.
So, I did try talking to him, but I don’t think it’ll be easy.
Yeah, that accuser guy just won’t listen at all.
Achoo!”
Seo-wan, who had been standing still watching the back of her round head, felt his eyebrows twitch deeply.
The phrase “that accuser guy” coming out of her mouth seemed suspiciously like it was referring to him.
“Ha, that bastard, seriously.
Would it kill him to just let it slide once?
Someone’s begging him like that and he still refuses till the end.
Achoo!
He says seeing my face makes him want to do it even less?
He’s totally insane, insane.
How can someone be that rotten—!
Oh my god!”
As Ji-won abruptly spun around, she startled violently and dropped the phone she was holding with a clatter.
She had no idea how long he’d been there, but Cha Seo-wan was standing there like a ghost, arms crossed and leaning casually.
Her heart felt like it dropped straight through the floor.
“Busy, huh.
Talking trash about a ‘crazy bastard.’”
“N-no, that’s not— I mean—!”
“Go on.
Your grandma must be worried.”
Seo-wan jerked his chin briefly toward the floor.
Ji-won hurriedly bent down, scooped up her fallen phone, and whispered quickly, “I’ll call you later!”
Then she slipped it straight into her pocket.
She swallowed her dry saliva and opened her mouth.
“Um, Team Leader.
What you heard just now was a misunderstanding— achoo!
I mean, I can see how it could be interpreted badly, but—”
“What part is the misunderstanding.
‘That accuser guy.’
‘That bastard.’
‘Crazy bastard.’
‘Rotten bastard.’
Which one?”
“Ah… so you did hear everything.”
Ji-won let out a small sigh, her face drained of any will to argue.
“You’re not even begging anymore now.”
Suddenly, Ji-won’s embarrassed eyes flashed brightly.
“If I beg, will you let it go?
If there’s even a chance you’ll change your mind and withdraw the complaint, I’ll beg properly.”
“No.
I have no intention of doing that.”
At Seo-wan’s blunt reply, Ji-won flinched and her lips twitched.
Her face made it painfully obvious she was probably swallowing another “crazy bastard” inside her head.
That transparent reaction amused him, making him want to prod her even more—though she herself seemed completely unaware of it.
“What did you mean by finding the hideout.
Did you get something out of Kim Yong-cheol?”
“Ah, yes.
We identified a real estate broker they frequently dealt with.”
“A broker?”
“Yes.
Jung Min-seok has apparently been buying up a ton of officetels with money he made from pimping for years now.
That broker handled those properties.
They think the broker probably provided the hideout.”
“Location?”
“We’ve already requested phone tracking.
Just a moment ago, Detective Jo traced vehicle movements using the license plate and found one suspicious coordinate.
I think we should check there first.
What do you think?”
Given how desperately the man had fled earlier, Seo-wan hadn’t expected them to extract any solid information.
That she’d wrung out something this substantial from Kim Yong-cheol in such a short time was impressive.
Captain Hwang’s praise—that despite some noisy rumors, Ji-won was razor-sharp when it came to work—didn’t seem wrong after all.
“Tell Detective Choi and Detective Kang to head out first and start checking.
Request backup as well so we can mobilize immediately once it’s confirmed.”
“Yes.
Understood.”
Suddenly feeling rushed, Ji-won nodded and grabbed the belongings she’d set on the table.
“What’s that.”
At the unexpected question, Ji-won glanced down at the medicine packet in her hand and let out a small “ah.”
“Detective Kang gave it to me.
I sneezed a few times and I guess he got worried.
Cute, right?
He’s big, but his personality is really gentle.”
She chuckled and looked up—only to see Cha Seo-wan’s expression stiffened unpleasantly.
An awkward silence fell.
‘What now.
What’s bothering him this time?’
Unable to read his mood at all, Ji-won blinked slowly, holding her breath.
“Being recklessly optimistic is a disease too.”
“……”
“He didn’t give it out of concern.
He meant you should manage yourself properly.
So you don’t sneeze everywhere and interfere with investigations.”
She’d thought the conversation had been unusually smooth for quite a while.
Unable to hold back, Ji-won snapped.
“Being recklessly negative is a disease too, you know.
Twisting people’s goodwill instead of accepting it sincerely is a disease too.”
“Not understanding what someone says isn’t being pure.
It’s called being stupid.”
“Excuse me?”
“Getting mouthy, aren’t you.
Did being told you’re cute make you think I’m your friend?”
“Have you ever actually thought I was cute?”
“If I didn’t find you cute, don’t you think you’d be sitting in front of the audit office wall right now, crying your eyes out?”
“Ha, seriously.
Threatening someone using their weakness is incredibly petty, you know?”
“You’re using a lot of inappropriate language when talking to your superior.
Second time I’m asking—do you not speak Korean well?”
“Ah, yes.
I must have lost my temper responding to your provocations and used rather rough language.
I apologize for being rude.
I’m busy now, so I’ll be going.”
With an exaggerated bow, Ji-won brushed past Seo-wan and left the pantry.
Petty bastard.
He’d obviously gotten sulky after hearing her talk behind his back.
That’s why he kept picking fights and nitpicking everything.
Bzzzt.
As she picked up the vibrating phone and brought it to her ear, Choi Jae-hong’s urgent voice rang out.
– Jung Min-seok!
We found Jung Min-seok!
Ji-won froze in place, her eyes widening to the brink of bursting.
“I’ll bring the team right now, senior!”
Ding-dong.
The doorbell Tae-oh pressed rang out, and everyone held their breath.
Once the door opened and one of the bastards came out, the plan was to force their way in and subdue them all at once.
– Who is it?
After a long moment, a voice finally came from inside.
Wearing a cap pulled low with a delivery logo, Tae-oh replied in a natural tone.
“Delivery.
It’s an electronic item, so we need the recipient’s signature.”
– Ah, damn it.
Hey!
Choi In-gu, did you order another camera again?
Along with the irritated grumbling, the electronic door lock beeped and clicked open.
And in that instant—
The man who met Tae-oh’s eyes through the opening instinctively tried to slam the door shut.
Bang!
But Tae-oh’s foot jammed into the bottom of the door faster.
That was the signal.
The detectives hiding by the emergency stairs and hallway rushed in all at once and stormed the hideout.
Caught off guard, the men turned pale, scrambling in confusion.
The fear of a violent struggle proved unfounded.
“Ha… what the hell is all this?”
Detective Jo Min-jung, who had stepped into the large inner room, stopped short with a vicious expression.
The others, turning to look, felt contempt and fury surge within them.
The walls were plastered with nude photos of underage victims, displayed like pornographic posters.
“All of you here are under arrest for violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles, the Juvenile Protection Act, kidnapping and unlawful confinement, luring, threats, assault, extortion, and various other trash-level crimes.
You can refuse to testify.
You can remain silent.
You can hire lawyers.
Go ahead, do whatever the hell you want.
We’ll do whatever the hell we want too—make sure you eat prison food for the rest of your lives.
Tae-oh, cuff every last one of these bastards’ wrists!”
Waving the warrant, Choi Jae-hong shouted to seize control.
Cha Seo-wan scanned each of the gathered faces, searching for the ringleader, Jung Min-seok.
“He’s not here.”
Ji-won, having checked as well, spoke urgently to Seo-wan.
Just thirty minutes ago, both Captain Hwang and Choi Jae-hong had seen him enter.
Yet now, he was nowhere to be found.
“It looks like he slipped out while we weren’t looking.
He can’t have gone far, so canvass the area—”
Suddenly, Cha Seo-wan’s heels moved sharply toward the large window of the master bedroom.
He yanked open the old sliding window without hesitation and hurled himself straight outside.
“Team Leader!”
Ji-won’s face drained of color, her eyes widening as if they might burst.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, I Possessed the Obsessive-Captive Dominant Top is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : I Possessed the Obsessive-Captive Dominant Top
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