What kind of person is this? If he says it never happened, does it really become as if it never happened?

Park Ra Jin was dumbfounded by his resolute attitude as he turned away without any lingering attachment.

She understood this was Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho’s workplace and he didn’t want any misunderstandings. But still, to completely disregard her like this? If he was going to act this way, he shouldn’t have brought up the story of being with Kim Yu Jun in the first place.

It felt like washing up and putting on the same clothes again.

Now that Kim Yu Jun’s name had come up, whether she liked it or not, there was only one answer if some kind of clarification was needed.

A quick meeting and clear explanation.

As her thoughts settled to some extent, her trembling heart calmed down. Park Ra Jin exhaled lightly and held out her hand.

“Please give me your phone.”

For a moment, his expression moved very subtly and then disappeared without a trace.

“I have no intention of gossiping about this.”

The man’s attitude of telling her not to worry was extremely businesslike. Do you know how much it bothers me when you say it like that? Park Ra Jin almost added another word.

But she tried to appear calm and met his gaze again.

“Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho, if you give me your phone, I’ll enter my number.”

The minister’s voice drawing closer as if about to burst in at any moment, the man standing still like a rock.

Moreover, she had carefully put away the business card Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho had given her in a drawer without even saving the number. She couldn’t wait until she finished the rest of her schedule for the day and went home.

‘You’re going to act like this over one moment of hesitation?’

If so, the one who wants something has no choice but to be more proactive. Park Ra Jin opened her bag and took out her own phone.

“Or would you like to enter it here?”

Park Ra Jin held out her hand to him again. He stared at her as if asking why she hadn’t entered the contact yet.

“I’m afraid it might sync with KakaoTalk.”

Though he hadn’t asked, Park Ra Jin gave an answer, reading the situation.

“I was going to receive it since you didn’t contact me. Even now.”

“No! It’s really okay.”

Park Ra Jin gestured with her eyes for him to hurry up and enter the number without further ado. At that, he moved his neatly drawn eyebrows slightly and deftly navigated between the keypad buttons.

Only after pressing the call button did he take out the ringing phone from inside his jacket.

“I’ll think about the time and place and contact you.”

“After 8 PM would be good.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

When all business was concluded, he turned away again as if nothing had happened. It’s one thing to be a man of few words, but how could he show so little change in expression?

Using the bouquet placed in the middle of the sofa as a reference point, he stared straight ahead like a person trapped behind an invisible wall.

Leaving aside the fact that she was a top star enjoying popularity, this kind of treatment was a first, so it felt fresh. Or maybe strange. Park Ra Jin just felt dazed.

As she blankly stared at his side profile like a frozen image, the door opened with the minister’s boisterous laughter.

A clear sky without a speck of fine dust.

Small flower petals scattered in the gentle breeze blowing from beyond the mountains. Ji Ho, standing in front of the brown glass door, gazed at the scene intently.

Suddenly, he was reminded of Park Ra Jin’s face that had flushed like those flower petals.

‘Did I do the right thing?’

Ji Ho asked himself.

Her gaze that had lingered as if she had something to say, the way she bit her lips and swallowed her words. And her eyes that had wavered upon hearing Kim Yu Jun’s name.

It bothered him so much.

Ji Ho slowly descended the stairs, mulling over his words and actions.

If it hadn’t been in the presence of the minister, he wouldn’t have acted so stiffly. But he couldn’t show that she had her own circumstances either. She probably doesn’t know that it was the best effort he could make, even if not the ideal solution.

“Hoo……”

Just as he stepped off the last stair, Ji Ho’s jacket pocket buzzed.

“Oh, Ho Jin. I just came out. Yeah, I’m coming. Coming.”

Despite saying that, Ji Ho strolled through the flower-filled rain as if out for a walk on a bright spring day.

“Aren’t you being too leisurely, sir?”

As soon as the passenger door opened, Ho Jin added a comment.

“The weather is nice today. It’s spring, spring.”

Ho Jin chuckled, apparently finding the sudden talk of spring amusing.

“Let’s talk in detail as we go.”

As Ji Ho fastened his seatbelt, Ho Jin’s car shot out in an instant.

“The minister is exactly as we expected.”

“You mean he’s on Myung Jin’s side?”

“Of course, it’s just circumstantial evidence.”

Ji Ho muttered, resting his arm on the window frame.

“Since the madam’s nephew was awkwardly entangled with Myung Jin before. There must have already been some talk.”

“What did the minister say?”

“Expectations for the special investigation and excessive encouragement. Then he casually asked about the search and seizure schedule.”

“Huh! He asked about the search and seizure schedule? He practically declared he’s on Myung Jin’s side.”

The lush shade of the Myung Jin Group.

In fact, he hadn’t known about the people hiding in it before. But soon after taking on the special investigation, entities revealing their identities one by one and approaching. Among them, losing the most influential minister to Myung Jin – should he say it’s a big deal? Or fortunate?

Ji Ho was overwhelmed by emotions he couldn’t quite put into words.

In a situation where the special investigation wasn’t producing any notable results, Myung Jin’s influence had grown even stronger than before.

“Did you talk with Park Ra Jin?”

“Just briefly.”

“You went there all prepared and that’s all? No wonder you were going on about spring.”

Ji Ho smiled at Ho Jin’s frivolous remark.

He had always been too busy with the constant influx of work to waste half a day just to receive a commendation, so he had consistently declined to attend. But today, he had forced himself to go upon hearing she would be there.

In fact, for the past ten days, Ji Ho’s daily routine had been coming home at dawn and leaving at dawn.

Even in the midst of his busy schedule, he had briefly thought of Park Ra Jin who hadn’t contacted him, but to think he would end up having refreshments with her.

“Tell me more details. Was there anything special?”

“You’ll know when you meet her.”

“M-meet? Who? The goddess?”

“Detective Yeo Ho Jin. You’ll cause trouble before even meeting her. Watch the road.”

Regardless of what Ji Ho said, Ho Jin kept asking about the beginning and end of the conversation with Park Ra Jin.

“If she was so flustered by the mention of Kim Yu Jun, don’t you think she might know something?”

“Who knows.”

“You said their relationship didn’t seem like just business.”

That meticulous Kim Yu Jun leaking confidential information?

Normally, he would have dismissed it as nonsense. But given Kim Yu Jun’s behavior witnessed in the hotel lobby, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

“We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Those slippery Myung Jin bastards, it really grinds my gears.”

“Ha. As the deputy director said, there’s no progress in the case. No progress.”

“That’s right. We can’t search OH Entertainment without any evidence. Of course, we wouldn’t get a warrant either.”

Ji Ho massaged his stiff neck, frustrated by the situation.

“If only the goddess could pinpoint a few sources for us, we might be able to breathe a little easier.”

After inadvertently overhearing Park Ra Jin’s conversation ten days ago, Ji Ho had started tracking the relationship between Kim Yu Jun and the agency.

Following Myung Jin’s suspicious flow of funds, they kept hitting dead ends several times. There was clearly something there, but it was suspiciously legal to the point of perfection.

They had split it into so many branches that even with 6 experts working on it for ten days, they were still chasing their tails.

“Did you receive the documents from Myung Jin Securities’ US subsidiary today?”

“Yes. Now I feel nauseous just looking at numbers. How are we supposed to go through all that?”

Ho Jin said, pounding on the steering wheel.

“We’ll file charges first and then dig deeper.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to figure out how to persuade the goddess? There’s nothing more certain than help from an insider.”

“What persuasion? If Park Ra Jin says no, that’s the end of it.”

“Can’t we at least try in this situation?”

Try, he says.

As Ho Jin said, time was pressing, the documents were piled high, and manpower was severely lacking.

Park Ra Jin’s help, who was familiar with the agency’s situation, was desperately needed, but…

To her who had fled from the hotel like she was escaping, to her who trembled at just the mention of Kim Yu Jun’s name, wasn’t it too much of a burden?

Ji Ho gazed blankly at the streets where flower petals were falling like rain.

The glossy justification of the legitimacy of the investigation, was it right to persuade her with that? He couldn’t readily make a judgment.

“Sigh, I don’t know either.”

At that moment, the fatigue accumulated from overtime work settled on Ji Ho’s eyelids. He pressed his aching eyelids firmly, letting Ho Jin’s torrent of logic wash over him.

Just then, his jacket pocket vibrated briefly.

It was her, Park Ra Jin.

Screech―.

As Ji Ho’s SUV entered the 4th basement floor of the hospital, the ground let out a loud scream.

Near 10 PM, he slowly circled the large parking lot looking for the spot Park Ra Jin had indicated.

Every time he passed the square pillars lined up in a row, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling flickered on the windshield.

“Checked here too.”

Ji Ho muttered, examining each of the sparsely parked cars one by one.

It was a consideration for Park Ra Jin, whose face was well-known, and there was also the reason that it wouldn’t be good for either of them to be seen by many people.

Since there was no harm in being cautious about people or black boxes, Ji Ho’s gaze became even sharper as he looked around.

“Perfect.”

The innermost part of the parking lot.

Above the only walled-off, isolated spot that could pass for a private garage, the mark A1 was visible. Still, just in case, he turned the steering wheel towards the outer wall so that the driver’s seat wouldn’t be visible.

9:45 PM.

After checking the time, Ji Ho turned off the engine. As the humming engine sound faded away with a swish, the wide space fell into silence as if in a vacuum.

Facing the cold cement wall, he leaned deep into the seat.

He smiled, thinking about what words he would hear from her today and what he could obtain.

It’s forbidden to demand or expect too much from someone you’re meeting for only the fourth time. No, if he listens to her corrections of what she wants to say, maybe some gap will appear. Then maybe he can at least bring something up.

“Hoo.”

Ji Ho reclined the driver’s seat back and closed his eyes with a swish. He placed the back of his hand over his tired eyeballs to let them rest and slowly, leisurely, just exhaled.

‘It’s not like I’ve left the decision up to her. Let’s not push too hard.’

Just as he was reminding himself to be more ‘careful’ than ever before.

Knock knock―.

At the quiet knocking sound, Ji Ho’s gaze turned to the passenger seat.

A silhouette with a hat pulled low was looking around. As he unlocked the door with a click, she hopped into the passenger seat like a rabbit still on guard.

“Ha, hello. Haa.”

“You’re here.”

“Haa, ha. Yes.”

“Did you run here?”

“Huff, I was afraid someone might recognize me. Ha… I ran from my mom’s hospital room to the stairs.”

He could imagine her appearance, running with her face tightly wrapped from the 15th floor to the 4th basement. How much must she have run through the dark emergency staircase to be so out of breath?

Still not calmed down, she pulled her mask down to the tip of her chin.

Unlike during the day, her face was fair without a trace of makeup, and she panted, sticking out her pink tongue. Just like a white puppy after a hard walk.

This was an official meeting, and moreover, an important matter to discuss. But what was so funny about her exhausted puppy-like appearance…? At that moment, he burst out laughing.

‘This is crazy.’

Would you like me to explain or break down the translation?