Chapter 13: The Edge of Twelve Floors

“Team Leader!”

Startled, Ji-won ran straight to the window.

Below the wide-open window, she caught sight of suspect Jung Min-seok clinging to the narrow ledge.

Right beside him stood Cha Seo-wan, expressionless, gripping the back of the panicking man’s neck.

For a split second, the man flinched, lost his balance, and screamed.

“Aaagh!”

“Don’t move.

If you move, you’ll fall.

You know this is the twelfth floor, right.”

A chill ran down her spine at Cha Seo-wan’s calm voice.

Anyone hearing it would think he wasn’t standing on a twelfth-floor ledge himself.

No matter how important catching the suspect was, how could he jump onto a ledge twelve floors up without a moment’s hesitation.

Ji-won was left speechless at that reckless stupidity.

“Holy—what do we do?

Should we call the fire department?”

Min-jung, who had witnessed the terrifying scene beside Ji-won, asked.

Captain Hwang nodded in response.

Min-jung quickly pulled out her phone.

“Do you want to go down, or come back up.

Do whatever’s easier.

I don’t really care either way.”

“You crazy bastard!”

“Then why make me deal with this insane crap.

If you’d stayed put, both you and I could’ve safely gone to the police station.”

“f*ck, I didn’t want to go back to prison!

That’s why!”

“Of course.

You commit crimes but don’t want the punishment.

That’s exactly why I despise criminals like you.

Irresponsible trash.”

Cha Seo-wan spoke flatly, without a change in tone.

Something in those words flipped a switch in Jung Min-seok, who whipped his head around to glare at him.

“f*ck you, you pig cop!

What do you know, asshole!”

“You’re the type who asks for a beating, huh.”

“Shut up!

I’d rather die falling from here than go back to prison!”

With that, he moved his large body without hesitation, grabbed a fistful of Cha Seo-wan’s clothes, and threatened him as if he might jump at any second.

“Yeah, going down’s faster than going up.

Jump.

I’m exhausted because of you anyway.

Let’s just clock out.”

“Team Leader!

Enough!”

Unable to stand it, Ji-won shouted.

This was a situation where persuasion was desperately needed, yet Cha Seo-wan was provoking the suspect instead.

The fire truck would take at least a few more minutes to arrive.

Ji-won desperately wished someone would shut his mouth until then.

“What are you doing just standing there.

You’ve arrested everyone else and now you’re relaxing?”

Cha Seo-wan snapped at Ji-won, lifting his head sharply.

“We’ve got things under control here.

Are you planning to stay there forever?”

“No.

This bastard says he’s going to jump.”

“Seriously!

Team Leader!”

Growing frantic, Ji-won grabbed her hair and raised her voice.

If Jung Min-seok tried to struggle, or even misplaced his footing, he would plunge straight down twelve floors.

Just imagining it made her knees weak and her head spin.

Yet Cha Seo-wan looked infuriatingly calm.

What on earth made him so confident.

Why was he going this far over catching one suspect.

Why.

Fear made her heart start pounding.

A horrific memory—still an open wound even after all these years—flooded her mind.

Ji-won abruptly turned to Min-jung.

“Not yet?”

“They said they’ll arrive within five minutes, so it should be soon.”

Every second felt like an eternity.

Ji-won clenched her fingers and bit down hard on her lips.

The rising anxiety made her feel like she was about to throw up.

Then, after what felt like forever, a loud siren blared.

Beyond the window, a red fire truck could be seen racing into the officetel complex.

“f*ck…!”

A rough curse slipped through Jung Min-seok’s teeth as he glanced back.

With nowhere left to run, he realized his plan had completely failed.

Rage twisted his face.

“Damn…”

At last, scowling deeply, he looked down as if he’d made up his mind.

And in the briefest instant.

Still gripping Cha Seo-wan’s sleeve, he hurled his body downward.

“Aaaah!”

“Team Leader!”

Min-jung screamed, leaning her upper body out the window.

Ji-won felt her heart drop as she squeezed her eyes shut.

She couldn’t watch anymore.

Her head spun, a loud ringing filled her ears, and she couldn’t even stand there properly.

Behind her tightly shut eyes, a scene like a black-and-white film flickered into view.

A sharp fragment of memory she’d buried deep inside herself.

Her throat tightened as if someone were choking her, and sweat pooled in her clenched palms.

Just like that day.

Seventeen years ago.

“Team Leader!”

At that moment, someone called out to Cha Seo-wan again, their sharp voice cutting through the ringing in her ears.

It wasn’t a scream of despair.

It was just a startled shout.

Only then did Ji-won slowly lift her wet eyelids.

Gathering her courage, she stepped back toward the window where Cha Seo-wan had fallen.

Please.

Please.

Let today be different from back then.

“…Ha.”

The moment she saw the scene below with trembling eyes, an unbidden sigh of relief escaped her.

A hastily deployed yellow air mat.

Jung Min-seok sprawled on top of it.

And Cha Seo-wan restraining him, snapping handcuffs onto his wrists.

Not the nightmare she’d imagined, but the scene she’d prayed for filled her vision.

Only then did Ji-won feel like she could breathe again, releasing the breath she’d been holding.

Even so, her fragile heart continued to pound erratically.

When would she finally escape this suffocating trauma.

“Detective Song!

Come down to the first floor!

We’re transporting the suspects!”

Hearing Min-jung’s urgent shout, Ji-won wiped the tears from her cheeks with trembling hands.

“Ah, Team Leadeeer!

We seriously thought our hearts were going to stop!”

As Choi Jae-hong made a loud fuss, Seo-wan calmly brushed the dust off his suit.

“Are you okay?

Shouldn’t you get checked at the hospital?”

“I’m fine.

Not injured anywhere.”

Cha Seo-wan lightly waved off the paramedics lingering nearby, telling them he was fine.

At his response, they began packing up and leaving one by one.

“That was reckless though.

If the air mat hadn’t been ready, it could’ve been really bad.”

“But it wasn’t.

And we caught all the suspects.”

Seo-wan replied indifferently to Jo Min-jung and lifted his head slightly.

Something about the calm atmosphere felt off.

The voice he expected to hear the fastest—Song Ji-won’s loud nagging—was nowhere to be heard.

She’d been making a scene upstairs, acting worried, yet now she was nowhere in sight.

Strangely consistent in the oddest ways.

Without realizing it, Seo-wan leisurely swept his gaze around the scene.

That was when he spotted Song Ji-won walking out of the officetel entrance.

Something was off.

Her steps were sluggish, nothing like her usual energetic stride.

Had she already exhausted herself.

Or something else.

Then, an unwelcome figure entered his line of sight.

Kang Tae-oh.

“Senior, what’s wrong?

You don’t look so good.

Did something happen?”

Despite Tae-oh’s question, Ji-won only shook her head and weakly passed by him.

Watching the scene, Seo-wan’s brows twitched deeply.

“Hey, Detective Kang!

Let’s move out!”

At Choi Jae-hong’s urging, Tae-oh reluctantly turned away.

Jo Min-jung also resumed moving briskly, checking the suspects one by one.

Amid the chaos, Seo-wan followed Ji-won as she slipped behind a large fire truck.

How many steps had he taken.

Suddenly, he spotted a woman crouched in a dark corner without even a streetlight.

It was baffling.

What was she doing there alone.

Just as he was about to scold her for zoning out at a time like this.

A woman’s sobbing reached his ears.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the owner of that broken, hiccupping cry was Song Ji-won.

‘She’s… crying?’

His brow slowly furrowed at the unexpected sight.

“Hhh, hic, ngh, ugh!”

She didn’t even notice his presence, crying openly.

It was unfamiliar.

Too unfamiliar.

Wasn’t she the type who never cried.

Who endured beatings from men twice her size.

Who stood firm even when ostracized by an entire task force for whistleblowing.

Who snapped back no matter how harshly a superior berated her.

So why was she crying like this now.

A woman impossible to interpret or predict through ordinary logic.

No matter how he tried, his eyes were drawn to her.

Every one of her foolish actions grated on his nerves.

Clicking his tongue, Seo-wan moved.

Tap.

Tap.

At the sound of his footsteps, Ji-won slowly lifted her face from her knees.

The man looked down at her tear-soaked face.

A deep ripple surged through his eyes.

And before he knew it, he was caught in a strange emotion he couldn’t quite understand.

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