Donggab followed Yubin through the quiet halls to a door which unfortunately he remembered was not any bedroom. It was Old Bang’s office. What was he thinking? He needed to stop these lustful thoughts about Yubin. Were they lustful? Damn, whatever it was, he needed to control himself. There was not a chance for him to score a vengeful, grieving woman intend on catching her father’s killer now.

There was now a huge board standing in Old Bang’s office. It was covered by a cloth. Yubin walked to it and told him “I wanna show you this.” Then she pulled the cloth away.

Once Yubin revealed the board, Donggab widened his eyes at a very elaborate chart. It was the kind an investigator would create to find suspects. Photos and profiles were very detailed. Motives were indicated in detail too. Of course he focused on his profile the most and there was a “PRIME” sticker pasted on his photo. Was he still the prime suspect? He found that there were no motives written on his profile though. He looked at Yubin who was writing something on a post-it pad. She then took the written post-it and pasted it next to Donggab’s photo.

The post-it read “Motive unfounded. Already the chairman of clans and leader of most influential clan. Nothing to gain from Old Bang’s death.”

Yubin then removed the “prime” sticker from Donggab’s photo and handed him the sticker.

“Paste this sticker to the one you think is a prime suspect, unless you don’t agree with my latest post-it.” She said to him.

Donggab went on to read all the clan leaders’ data, which was mostly accurate. After he read the motives of all the clan leaders, he shook his head.

“I can’t paste this sticker anywhere yet. Most of the motives are unfounded too and only based on first-hand character behaviour assumptions. If you based on just evidence, this sticker will remain over my face for now. So we need to find more evidence that could lead us to the killer, not so much the motives of the clan leaders.” Donggab said.  

“So you think Kush would not be prime because his motive is unfounded?”

“Kush is rash and direct when he speaks but I doubt he can be the kind to craft such a murder plan.”

“He could have someone else plan it for him?”

“I don’t think so…He’s too egoistic to have someone plan things for him.” Donggab stated.

Then he felt a hint of guilt about the current police investigation status and decided to be more honest with Yubin. “Yubin-sshi, there’s something you should know and after that, you can decide if you still want to work with me on this.”

Donggab continued “Because most of the evidence point towards me, the police arrested me as the prime suspect until the suicide note was found ‘legit’ and I was allowed to go free. But I believe so hard that Old Bang will never kill himself. I was last chatting happily with him and he was a proud and happy father so why would he leave you? I told the detective I believe the suicide note was fake but the detective is a close friend of Old Bang and I and told me frankly that if he continued investigating, I would continue being locked up as prime suspect. The only way was to close the case as suicide and I could go free to find the killer myself. It’s not a justified scenario for your father’s death but I don’t want to be locked up without finding the real killer myself.”

Yubin remained silent as she took in his disclosure. After some thought, she said to him. “I would do the same thing too if I were you…. Besides I would rather deal with the killer myself than let the police do it.”

Donggab nodded in agreement and then added. “The good news is the detective is willing to help us discreetly in any way as well.”

Yubin noted and remembered something else. “I heard the CCTV was tampered?”

Donggab nodded. “We already questioned the guards in my building about the CCTV and the guard said that the screen fizzled out at that moment and they tried solving the technical issue at that point. When they were about to send a guard up to the rooftop to check, it was too late as they were informed of your father’s death fall already.” Donggab informed.

“Was there any damage caused or something covering the CCTV at the rooftop?”

Donggab shook his head.

“Any new hired guards recently in the CCTV security division?”

“No.”

“It could be done by the killer on the spot then. He could have hacked the CCTV and then pushed my father off the roof.” Yubin noted.

Focusing on the board again, Donggab and Yubin remained silent as they were both lost in thought searching for more clues.

“Can we look at possible expert handwriting forgers?” Yubin suggested.

Donggab looked at Yubin and nodded. “I think that’s a good start to check on.”

“Good!” Yubin then moved to her laptop to start searching.

“Yubin-sshi…” Donggab called her. “I think you need rest. We can start this tomorrow.”

“I’m not tired. I have been insomniac lately.” Yubin admitted to Donggab.

“Well, I don’t think forgers can be found easily online too. I suggest we do this the street-smart way. I have some contacts which we can start with. Shall I pick you up tomorrow morning at 10?”

He was right. Yubin nodded at Donggab and obediently closed her laptop.

====

The next morning, Yubin walked Dean to the car ready to leave for the airport. Before he got in, he told her again. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

“Dean, I’m going to be fine, ok? K-town needs you now and I can ONLY trust YOU to take care of it.” She turned to see a sad-looking Jay moving his and Dean’s luggage into the trunk of the car. Yubin then whispered to Dean. “Jay’s a good kid but he’s not ready.”

“I’m worried for your safety, noona.” Dean admitted. “You only have 30% of K-town men with you here and that’s not enough.”

“I have Gwangju, and I have the Seoul clan and Uncle Gill’s clan are on my side. Don’t worry, ok?” Yubin assured.

Just then Donggab drove into the driveway.

Dean frowned at the sight of Donggab and asked Yubin. “You really trust him?”

“He’s my only bet.” She looked into her God-brother’s deep pink eyes and hugged him tight. “Now go!”

After sending off Dean and Jay, Yubin hopped into Donggab’s Sports Benz. She was dressed in casual jeans and a loose striped shirt. Donggab noted it was a nice change from her high-end looks so far and it kind of matched his casual checked shirt and jeans now. They were heading to the streets so streetwear would make sense.

“Guess you managed to convince him to leave?” Donggab asked as he drove out of the bungalow.

Yubin nodded as she put on the seat belt. “I gave him an order, that’s all.”

“I would think most would love to be King of K-town. Why is he so reluctant to take over that title?”

“The people I choose to work and I trust are more loyalty driven than power hungry. People may worship that title but as far as my family’s concern, it’s just a dumb title. My papa told us that. But let’s just keep this to ourselves and let others continue their happy worship of The King of K-town.”

Donggab smiled and shook his head. He was surprised how Yubin and him were opening up to each other with such ease so far. Trust was often something mafia bosses found it hard to develop within a short period of time and Yubin and him were developing it somewhat a little too fast. It was weird yet it felt natural. Also, Donggab knew that he would risk his life to avenge Old Bang’s death and to protect his only daughter so he did not care much if Yubin might still be suspicious or cautious of him.

“So where are we headed?” Yubin asked.

“To see someone in Hongdae.” Donggab revealed and stepped harder on his accelerator.

“Can I make a request?” Yubin asked as she subconsciously grab the upper handle of the speeding car. “Let me drive after the meeting.”

“You worried about my driving?” Donggab asked.

“Nope! I just wanna take this baby for a speedy spin too.” She smiled at him.

A/Note: I couldn't help but put Yubin's latest ad campaign as the cover because it just depicts her character in this story so well.