Chapter 8 (1/2)

“Hello?” I say as the call connects.

“Why is it so hard to contact you?” says Ho-un’s frustrated voice on the other end.

I had about ten missed calls from him; he must have been pretty desperate to contact me.

“I was a little busy,” I reply.

“I thought you said you’re unemployed,” Ho-un says.

“Are you looking down on unemployed people? Unemployed people are busy with their own things.”

“Whatever. His name is Lee Yeong-tae, right? A day laborer at a factory in his mid-thirties. Resides somewhere in the Su-an area. Married, no children. His wife has a category 3 intellectual disability.”

This is the Spaniel’s personal information that I gave to Ho-un. I did my best to scrape that information together from memory, but listening to it read out like that, it’s pretty damn incomplete.

To think that Ho-un found him so quickly despite that. As expected from a genius hacker. No wonder he managed to leak the private sex tape of a National Assembly member.

“I know you paid me three million, but you really have no shame. I’m pretty proud that I managed to find him. Do you know that Su-an District has a population of 500,000?” he says.

“Yes, yes. You’re incredible. You’re gonna make it big, Ho-un,” I tell him.

He hadn’t forgotten to praise himself. They say that if you plant a bean, a beanstalk grows; he really is no different from the Ho-un that I know.

“First, I looked for all the women who are receiving disability allowances at each region’s neighborhood office. From there, I narrowed it down to the people who matched the age range, then I found the ones whose husband’s name is Lee Yeong-tae,” Ho-un explains.

Wow. He used his head a little, didn’t he? It’s definitely easier to track down his wife, who has more distinguishing characteristics.

“You did well,” I say.

“There were about five matching results. I think it’ll be faster for you to check which one is the one you’re looking for yourself from this point.”

“Okay. Send me the pictures.”

“Yeah, yeah. Once you find him, my job is done.”

“Alright. And one more thing, Ho-un.”

“What is it?”

“Once you graduate, don’t do this kind of work. Get a job. You’ve got the ability, so you’ll be welcomed no matter where you go.”

Ho-un laughs. “It’s funny to hear that from the one who just paid me for this job.”

“You ungrateful rascal. I’m just looking out for you,” I say.

There’s no way a guy who can earn millions or even tens of millions from a single job will be satisfied with a company salary. This kid knows himself too well.

I hang up, take out a cigarette, and put it in my mouth.

Go Min-guk, who is lying on the floor as comfortably as if it were a bed in a five-star hotel room, groans.

This is why alcohol is your enemy.

My cell phone’s shutter clicks as I take photos of his face from multiple angles. His ugly face, his dried saliva and the food particles on his clothes are appalling to look at.

Go Min-guk’s secretary shows up.

“Oh my god. Young Master!” he says.

With Chief Kim’s help, the secretary puts Go Min-guk on his back.

Wow, everyone is really going through a lot.

My phone vibrates. Ho-un has sent the photos. I scroll through them slowly and stop on the fourth photo.

Dim, unfocused eyes and crooked facial features. A memory that remained as a fading stain in my mind suddenly becomes fresh and vivid.

I’ve found you, Su-an Spaniel.

“Young Master, we have seen the second-born Young Master off. We should take our leave as well,” says Chief Kim.

“Good work,” I say.

I get into the car and fall deep into thought.

If I report the Spaniel, he will definitely be arrested. After all, his DNA is in the database of the National Forensic Service, waiting for its owner like Cinderella’s glass slipper.

And then they’ll question me, of course. Asking me how the hell I knew he was the Spaniel. I can’t exactly tell them, ‘I’m from the future,’ can I?

The report has to be made under circumstances that the police will understand. That’s the only way I can get the reward money and bonus points towards my exam. With that being the case, catching him in the act would be best.

That’s going to come with all sorts of dangers, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.

“Are you feeling unwell?” Chief Kim asks, seeming concerned by the frown on my face.

“Huh? No. I’m alright,” I say.

“Did you get hurt earlier?”

“Earlier?” I repeat. “Oh.”

He’s talking about my fight with Go Min-guk. I didn’t even get hit once, though.

I give Chief Kim a smile and shake my head, and he returns a giddy-looking expression.

“You saw that, didn’t you? I’ve never seen the second-born Young Master in such a state,” Chief Kim says.

“Thinking about it makes my heart pound again,” I say.

Chief Kim gives a small laugh. “He won’t be able to show his face anywhere for a while. It feels good.”

“… Are

His left cheek is slightly swollen as proof of the punch that he took for me.

Chief Kim waggles his eyebrows at me as if to say that there’s nothing wrong. “You have no work tomorrow, so get a good night’s rest,” he says.

“Ah, there’s somewhere I need to go. You can stay at home, Chief,” I tell him.

“Where are you going?”

“Yongsan. I have some things to buy.”

***

Autumn rain is falling on the street. There are quite a few shopping districts that have closed up early. The stores mostly deal in electronics, so on days like this, they use the rain as an excuse to stop business. That’s how the back streets of Yongsan are.

Maybe because it’s a space for elderly people, the liveliness typically seen in marketplaces is absent here.

I slowly make my way through the streets with an umbrella over my head.

There are two old men sitting on a bench, drinking

“Excuse me, sirs,” I say, calling out to them.

“Yeah?” one of them responds.

“I heard that there’s a Chief Ju around here.”

I haven’t been told anything of the sort, but the old men don’t show any signs of surprise. They just continue chewing their yellow, well-cooked

“Mr. Ju? There’s a few Mr. Jus around here,” one of them says.

“I must be getting old, my memory’s terrible these days,” says the other.

“Really? Me too.”

“Time really flies.”

As I expected, they know the neighborhood well.

I smile and take out my wallet.

These cheeky old bastards won’t have to worry about feeding themselves for the rest of their lives.

I put down four checks next to their

The old men smile, revealing their yellow front teeth.

“Seeing as you’re so quick to get your money out, it seems that you came prepared.”

I laugh. “It’s a good day to be drinking

“Chief Ju is on the third floor of the third building if you go into that street,” one of the old men tells me.

“He’ll probably still be in the store if you go now,” the other adds.

“Thank you,” I say.

I head in the direction that the old men pointed me in.

Alias: The old man of Yongsan. A boss who is famous among certain ‘professionals.’