chapter twelve (*edited 2021)

“Did I . . . do something wrong?”

Matthew looked up from his laptop in surprise. When he didn’t respond, Somin broke her gaze from the TV to glance at him; his confusion must have shown on his face, because she clarified, “You haven’t said a word since we came back.” Then she refocused her attention on the TV.

He sighed and pushed his laptop aside, leaving it open on the dining table. He made his way to the sofa, where Somin was sitting, wrapped up in her blanket. Sitting down next to her, he was careful to avoid her foot as he scooted toward her, putting an arm over her shoulder to pull her closer him.

“You did nothing wrong. It’s just . . . stressful, knowing that this had to do with J.Seph. That’s all.”

Somin turned slightly to face him. She opened as if to say something, but then thought better of it. Matthew noticed, though. “What is it?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s on your mind?”

Somin bit her lip, thinking, and after a few seconds finally asked, “What does he do? J.Seph, I mean.”

Matthew made an effort to not freeze up. If she didn’t know . . . that was a good sign, right? Even as he pondered how best to explain, he subconsciously pulled Somin a bit closer.

“He’s a criminal, but that much you know already, right?” When Somin nodded, Matthew continued. “His business . . . from what we know, he’s involved in a lot different industries. Drugs, weapons, ion, and more.”

“An empire,” Somin said quietly. Matthew had a feeling that he wasn’t supposed to hear that, so he kept silent, opting to ignore the uneasy feeling for now.

“He mainly deals with drugs, though . . . or at least, that’s what we know, since most of the information we have connects to him through Sangchul Medical.”

Like Choi, Lee, Ahn . . . Youngji . . . Hongbin. . He was supposed to follow up on what Hongbin mentioned that night, about the car accident—Somin was safe now, so whatever he was saying about trying to not make the situation worse—

“Need to get back to work?” Somin asked suddenly, yanking him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

She laughed. “You have that look on your face. Go on, don’t let me keep you from working.”

Matthew smiled—Somin had a way of reading him. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the clock above the TV. “I’ll have to head to the station, though . . . will you—”

“I’ll be fine!” When he looked hesitant to leave, Somin rolled her eyes and said, “Matt. I think I know how to manage for a few more hours on my own. Aren’t I usually the one worried about leaving you alone?”

“Right,” Matthew said, laughing. In a moment of bliss, it felt like nothing had changed at all. But the moments passed too quickly. “Well . . . call if you need anything, okay? I’ll try to be back by dinner.”

When Matthew stepped into the team’s office, he was greeted by stacks of case files. He stepped out of the doorway just in time to avoid running into Jae, who was holding another stack higher than his head.

“What’s all this?” Matthew asked.

Jiwoo looked up from the file she was flipping through. “All the cases that can be linked to J.Seph.”

Matthew glanced around the room. “I don’t remember there being this many?”

“It’s anything even possibly linked,” Jae piped up from his desk after he set the new stack down.

“So we’re including anything involving Sangchul Medical,” Kevin added, “even if it doesn’t explicitly mention J.Seph.”

“Gotcha,” Matthew said as he took a seat at his own desk, where there was a smaller stack of case files. As he skimmed through the summaries, he was relieved that they were all cases he recognized. Pushing them to the side of his desk, he stood up, and when he noticed that everyone was still absorbed in their work, he quietly excused himself into the hallway to head to the records room.

The case was stored digitally since most of the evidence was in the form of statements and some CCTV footage. It took place only four years ago, so even though the case had been closed, the file still accessible; a few more years and it would probably be moved to deep storage, which would take more time to access. He emailed the file to himself, glad that they had taken up on department-issued private emails rather than department-issued USB drives, which were a pain to keep track of.

Matthew returned to the team’s office, intending to research more about the case through online articles and the like.

“New info about Ahn,” Kevin said as Matthew entered, and that quickly became the new objective. Matthew’s investigation of Hongbin would have to wait.

“He’s actually a drug lord, known for his connections with North Korea. He helps them sell illegal drugs abroad, particularly methamphetamine and opium.”

Matthew frowned. “And it took this long to find out because . . .”

“It has to do with North Korea. Plus, he always operated under a pseudonym—Mawang.” That was a name Matthew recognized, though only barely. “No one knew what he looked like. He wasn’t too important . . . did smaller deals, mostly stayed near the border.”

“Then how did you find out?”

“Leaked phone call recording. Don’t know who sent it.”

Matthew sat down at his desk. “Who would leave an anonymous tip like that?”

“But it works, right?”

Matthew nodded—it did help—but he felt uneasy. When he looked up he met the eyes of Jiwoo, who was looking at him curiously. What is it?

He shook his head. Nothing.

Then, Jae walked in. “I come with food. You can all thank me later.”

Jiwoo sat up straighter to catch a glimpse of what Jae was holding. “That’s coffee. Not food.”

“It’s better than food.” He placed the coffees down on the table next to one of the stacks of files. “Right now, at least,” he added as an afterthought.

Jae passed out a cup to everyone, though Kevin politely declined, stating that he had already had enough coffee in the last few days to last him the rest of the month. Matthew could relate, but he wasn’t about to decline the coffee. Setting the cup down next to his computer, he rummaged through his bag for the case files from the last two weeks, including the one for Ahn’s murder, only to find that they weren’t in there. Neither was his laptop.

Mentally retracing his steps, he almost slapped his hand to his forehead as he realized. “I left the files at home.” He stood up, taking his bag with him. “I’ll go get them and come back.”

“Then take Kevin’s coffee for Somin,” Jiwoo said, pointing to the remaining cup. “So it won’t go to waste.”

Jae laughed. “Yeah, do that, then you’ll have a less embarrassing excuse for coming home early.”

Matthew rolled his eyes, but took the coffee anyway.

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Immediately after Matthew left, Somin dropped her smile and massaged her cheeks. It was strange, how quickly smiling had turned into a straining rather than natural activity. It felt too unreal, that she was actually back in their apartment. That two weeks ago, her life had been completely normal.

She was glad she needed to leave the apartment. With Matthew gone for the next few hours, this might be the best chance she would have for a while. She needed to get some air anyway; it was too suffocating.

Donning a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, Somin stopped on her way out the room, staring at the full-length mirror on the opposite wall. Her reflection stared back at her, its expression unreadable.

Somin ran her hands through her hair, combing through it with her fingers as she pushed it back. She was doing this for Matthew. This was justified. This was the right thing to do.

The ankle brace felt slightly strange as she wore the shoes, but she was used to worse. By the time she walked out of the apartment complex, she no longer felt the extra pressure on that foot.

The taxi dropped her off at the coffee shop a few kilometers from their apartment. When Somin had searched it up, she learned that the shop had only recently been opened; the driver had seemed skeptical that a shop even existed at that address, but Somin knew that she had memorized it correctly.

There were a few customers there, sitting at the small round tables. Some had their laptops open, and others were just talking, but it was rather vacant for a coffee shop, at least when compared to the one that Somin frequented near the apartment. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she walked up to the counter. The person attending the register was a young boy, and behind him was a middle-aged man who was making the drinks.

The boy’s demeanor was cheerful. “Hello! What would you like to order?”

Out of habit, Somin replied without even glancing at the menu. “Americano, medium.” She smacked herself internally. As the boy began to ring up her order, Somin forced herself to act. Clearing to get his attention, she said, “Um, excuse me, I was wondering if you could . . . if you would . . .” Unsure of how to voice her question, she wordlessly placed the ring on the counter.

The boy looked at it curiously. “Sorry, ma’am, I don’t think I understand.”

Sighing, Somin tried again, making sure to keep her voice soft to avoid being overheard. “He said, well, it was this address, and if I showed you this then—” The bell of the entrance door chimed as more customers entered.

“I’m sorry,” the boy said, shaking his head. “But . . . well, this is a coffee shop. I’m not sure what we’d do with a ring, we don’t—”

“A ring?” The older man stopped what he was doing and gently nudged the boy aside. Picking up the ring carefully, he gestured for Somin to come to the side and spoke to the boy in hushed tones. The boy only nodded and proceeded to take the orders of the next customers, but not without looking askance at Somin.

The older man led Somin to the back of the coffee shop, where a nondescript door led to a small, well-lit room. Though they were still in the coffee shop, Somin felt oddly isolated.

“You can make your call here.” The man pointed to the table next to the wall. There were a few landlines there, along with a couple of cell phones. “Come back to the front to exit,” he said, holding up the ring. He then left, leaving her alone in the room.

Somin slowly headed to the table. The cell phones were old flip phones, and when she opened one of them she was surprised to see it turn on, despite knowing that they would obviously be functional if they were here. She dialed the phone number without hesitation, her fingers simply following the digits her mind remembered. It was only when she put the phone to her ear that she swallowed nervously.

He picked up on the second ring. “You made it.” J.Seph’s voice was pleasant, approving. She felt her heartbeat slow, the familiar tone easing her nerves—wait, what?

“Yes.”

“You learned something of value, then?”

Somin nodded, and then remembered that he couldn’t see her. “Drugs, weapons, ion, and more,” she recited. “Mostly drugs, and through Sangchul Medical.”

“So they know it’s Sangchul Medical . . .” he mused. “Did he mention specific names?”

She shook her head, belatedly remembering that he still couldn’t see her. She was not in the same room as him. “No . . . only that most of the information they have connects to you through it.”

After a moment, J.Seph spoke again. “Get the name.”

“Sorry?”

“They probably have a name. You need to find out if they have a name, and then report back.” His voice was sharp, giving out orders. And then he softened his tone. “Not bad for the first time. Keep this up.”

Somin had to gulp back her revulsion—at herself. Why did she feel herself relax when he was pleased?

She waited till the beep signaled that he had hung up. Closing the phone, she left, only barely paying attention to the way the old man’s hands were trembling as he handed her the ring back.

As she stepped out of the coffee shop, she took out her own phone, which she had put on silent before leaving the apartment. Glancing at the notifications, she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, her blood running cold.

Matthew

Missed Call (2)

slowly, more of j.seph's plan is being revealed ... *evil laugh*

as always, thank you for reading!