Small and Fragile Things - Chapter 49

He probably hadn’t expected Muk-hyun to flinch at a mere verbal threat—but Muk-hyun’s reaction still went beyond his imagination.

“If you can fill it, you might as well fill it up.”

“…What?”

Muk-hyun toyed with his sleeve as if he was ready to offer up his wrist right then and there. The audacity of it left him speechless.

“I heard you got a tip-off.”

The playful air that had been lingering on Muk-hyun’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by a sharp, cold edge.

“How’s the investigation going?”

“……”

“You said you’d be back soon, so I waited. But you never showed.”

Muk-hyun replayed what Jung Yoon had told him. There was no such “tip-off” that Oh Jiseok had come all the way to his office to brag about. But before Jiseok started moving, Muk-hyun had figured out exactly who he’d been meeting repeatedly. There was no need to dig further after that.

“Ahh… so you really are desperate, huh? Coming all the way here to sniff out the mood. What—want to know what I’ve got on you? Curious how much I know?”

“I hear you’ve been racking up some impressive numbers lately, Detective Oh.”

“Wow. I’ve lived long enough to hear a criminal bastard like you compliment my record? What now, you gonna help me bag another one? Sure, maybe I can snag a promotion while I’m at it.”

“You think promotion comes from busting prostitutes? Nah—you’d need to catch a serial killer or take down an entire drug ring. Oh… wait. Am I also a drug dealer now?”

“You little sh1t! Shut that mouth of yours—”

The youngest-looking detective in the room jumped in, cutting him off. His face flushed red, clearly burning with righteous anger.

“Who the hell do you think you are, making a scene here?”

Muk-hyun studied the baby-faced man staring back at him. He looked far younger, still soft fuzz on his cheeks—yet, unlike most, he didn’t shy away from Muk-hyun’s gaze for a surprisingly long time.

“What, you punk. You wanna swing at me? Huh? Think a gangster can glare at the police like that?”

But Muk-hyun’s mind had wandered elsewhere—overlaying someone else’s face over the young man’s. They looked about the same age. Standing together, they could’ve passed for friends.

What if she had grown up in an ordinary home? What would she be doing now? Could she have been a cop? No… that didn’t fit. At best, maybe some clueless countryside constable.

He tried to picture her in a crisp police uniform, but the image wouldn’t stick—he couldn’t help but chuckle.

The young detective must have thought he was being mocked, because he suddenly grabbed Muk-hyun by the collar.

“Team Leader, let’s just throw him in a cell now. We’ve got the tip-off, and today I’ll beat a confession out of him!”

Whether it was youthful hot-bloodedness or rookie bravado, the voice rang with too much confidence—like he was performing for an audience.

But that was the kind of thing that gave rookies away. Either they hadn’t yet learned to lie convincingly, or they still worried too much about what others thought.

Either way, Muk-hyun could spot it a mile away.

“Detective Kim. Don’t overdo it.”

“No, Team Leader! If you let me—”

“I said stop showing off, idiot!”

By now, Muk-hyun was sure of it—this was all staged by Jiseok’s own team. The vague tip-off, the snail-paced investigation, the wavering eyes right in front of him—he didn’t need more proof.

“…Sorry, sir.”

The young detective let go, flustered. Muk-hyun murmured,

“That’s right. Gotta listen to your master if you want to be loved.”

The rookie flushed even deeper and backed away. With the air turning colder, Jiseok finally asked.

“Tell me. What’s your real reason for coming here?”

Muk-hyun shoved both hands into his pockets and leaned casually against the edge of Jiseok’s desk. The sound of the other detectives breathing hard behind him didn’t bother him one bit.

The silence stretched, tension coiling until it felt like the air itself was being sucked toward him—until he finally spoke.

“Detective Oh Jiseok.”

Now they were getting to the real point.

“You must be sleeping like a baby these days. Feel full without eating. Humming to yourself. Passing the Han River, maybe your eyes keep straying to those fancy foreign cars with shiny emblems. Oh—and you must be calling your family more often now, huh? Your daughter’s graduation recital’s coming up, right? Bet you promised you’d be there.”

Jiseok stayed silent, but the meaning wasn’t lost on him.

“Don’t you think you’ve been promised a little too much, for just following some other man’s dog around? Enough to pay off your whole team and then some.”

Muk-hyun smirked at the way Jiseok’s face stiffened.

“You’re not that naïve, are you?”

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Do you really think there’s a cop among the people I’ve ‘cleaned up’?”

A twitch ran along Jiseok’s jaw. Gu Changmo… the man really did have a talent for sniffing out scum like this.

“Cleaned or not, the point is—you’re not a cop anymore. You’re a dog. If Gu tells you to bark, you bark. If he tells you to lick, you lick.”

“So think carefully before you move. Once you’re a dog, there’s no going back. Not until you die.”

The last words he whispered right into Jiseok’s ear.

“Advice from the longest-surviving mutt.”

Watching the shiver crawl up Jiseok’s neck, Muk-hyun straightened again.

“I’ll be happy to continue cooperating with the investigation. Now, I’ll take my leave.”

Ignoring the daggers aimed at his back, Muk-hyun strolled out just as leisurely as he had walked in.

He was only being this courteous as a precaution—Jiseok wasn’t all that threatening, but pests like him had a way of sticking their noses in at the worst moments.

Besides, the bastard had seen Irang’s face.

Sure, he could get rid of him now—but for the moment, it was better to keep him pinned underfoot and watch.

“Tsk. Annoying.”

Muk-hyun’s face twisted in irritation as he thought of the people who had made him deal with this mess in the first place.

These days, there was nothing he liked. Not one damn thing. It felt like a needle had lodged in his skull, stirring everything up.

“Haa…”

A thin trail of smoke curled up from his cigarette when his phone started ringing.

***

“Catch her!”

Irang ran. And ran. From the moment she bolted from her seat, she hadn’t stopped for a second.

If there was a door, she yanked it open. If there were stairs, she ran down them. She didn’t think about where she was going—just kept moving.

Hey. Smile for me. Be grateful. I’m making you a real woman. Don’t act so stiff. You started this—you flashed those pale legs and reeled me in, so why lie there like a corpse? Come on… make some noise.

The horrible memory chased her, feet pounding right behind her.

“Hhh… haah… hic—haaah…”

Every breath felt like her lungs were collapsing, like bl00d was boiling up her throat. If she stopped running, she knew he’d grab her by the hair and drag her away.

It’s him. He’s here to take me.

Even though she’d run with everything she had, one glance over her shoulder told her she hadn’t gotten far. The building she’d just escaped sat at the end of a narrow road. At this speed, they’d catch her easily.

“Where… where do I go…”

To make matters worse, her body—already weakened by days of fever—had burned through what little energy she had. Her knees kept buckling, her vision swam.

She searched frantically for somewhere to hide, but there was nothing. No one was around to help. Maybe she’d already used up all her luck when she’d escaped the first time.

When she’d seen the butterfly tattoo on the man’s hand, their eyes had locked—and just as his hand reached for her, Seong-pil had grabbed him, buying her a split second to run.

She’d yanked open a door she’d never dared to open before. For once, she’d been brave… but maybe her luck had ended there.

“Ah!”

She hit a downward slope and twisted her ankle, tumbling hard. Something small clattered to the ground. That was it—her strength was gone, pain flooding through every inch of her body. Her stomach churned, arms trembling as they held her up, sharp pain shooting through the soles of her feet.

It’s over. It’s all over.

They’d catch her, and this time they’d take her somewhere even worse.

She wouldn’t see him again. She’d be alone for a long, long time.

“No…”

She couldn’t go back to that kind of life.