The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 31

* * * 

 

The following evening.

 

Investigation Division Meeting Room. 

 

“……The above covers the entirety of Kevin Choi’s statement. Most of the contents have undergone fact-checking, and we are currently in the process of contacting the bereaved families. However, the identification of several VIPs remains incomplete, so we are focusing our investigation on that point.” 

 

In the conference room where Chief Hong Jaegyeol, Pi Sowon of Investigation Team 5, and several investigators from Investigation Team 1 had gathered, Kwon Ikseong finished his report.

 

This was a reporting session for a sort of task force created by Team 1 and Team 5, treating the Geumho-dong illegal weapons trade, the sub-dimension illicit trade, and Kevin Choi’s illegal arena operation as one large case. 

 

“Right. Well, we can proceed with that like this… Anyway, where’s the star of the case? Why isn’t she here?”

 

Hong Jaegyeol had been nodding, then abruptly pointed to the empty seat beside Pi Sowon.

 

“Your partner.”

 

At the word “partner,” Pi Sowon raised one eyebrow.

 

Hong Jaegyeol deliberately pretended not to notice Pi Sowon’s sharp reaction and tilted his head upward.

 

“Investigator Lee Yuji made the biggest contribution to this investigation. It’s a problem if you keep excluding her from the work.”

 

“It’s not exclusion. She was badly injured, so I told her to rest for a while. She’ll be back starting tomorrow.”

 

Even after Pi Sowon’s reply, Hong Jaegyeol still looked dissatisfied, but Pi Sowon ignored him just the same.

 

“And why haven’t I seen hair nor hide of the other guys on your team?”

 

“As you know, our team only has four members, so we’re always short on investigators and can’t afford to attend report meetings.”

 

“Then should I expand your team and increase your case assignments?”

 

“…”

 

Pi Sowon shut her mouth, looking as if she had just dug her own grave.

 

‘That temper of hers.’

 

Hong Jaegyeol clicked his tongue and told Kwon Ikseong, who was still standing, to return to his seat.

 

“Good work. There’s a rumor Kevin Choi is spending 10 billion won on legal fees; that law firm is about to hit the jackpot. Alright, meeting adjourned. Everyone except team leaders is dismissed.” 

 

“The meeting’s over, so why do the team leaders have to stay?”

 

After Hong Jaegyeol dismissed the Team 1 members, Pi Sowon grumbled with a tired expression.

 

Once the Team 1 members were gone, Hong Jaegyeol threw a thin ballpoint pen at Pi Sowon. 

 

“You brat. What’s with that attitude during a meeting?”

 

Pi Sowon caught the pen lightly, tucked it behind her ear, and answered nonchalantly. 

 

“Old man…”

 

“I can hear you, you know?”

 

“I said it so you could hear it. Try taking your subordinates’ words to heart for once.” 

 

Hong Jae-gyeol glanced at Kwon Ikseong, who remained unmoving even while Pi Sowon was acting up, and asked. 

 

“Is something up with you?”

 

At Hong Jaegyeol’s question, Pi Sowon looked at Kwon Ikseong.

 

As always, his face showed not the slightest sign of disorder, and his shirt—pressed neatly without anyone telling him to—was immaculate.

 

Pi Sowon found it strange that Hong Jaegyeol would even ask something like that of the usually stone-walled Kwon Ikseong, who looked no different from usual.

 

“…My condition isn’t very good.”

 

“Your condition? Yours?”

 

Pi Sowon looked at Kwon Ikseong.

 

Kwon Ikseong looked perfectly fine.

 

However, he himself was currently in a state where his concentration was heavily fractured.

 

The reason was—

 

‘Is there something wrong?’

 

Because of what had happened yesterday.

 

Yesterday morning when he came to work, he had been handling his tasks as usual. He organized statements and documents and checked the materials he needed to report to his superiors.

 

Everything had been no different from any other day. He spent his time buried in paperwork, and his morning routine—since he always arrived an hour earlier than his colleagues—was about to end as lunchtime approached.

 

12:30 PM, when all the other colleagues had gone out for lunch.

 

To be precise, 12:29 p.m.

 

He had planned to go out to buy a sandwich for a quick meal as usual, but the moment he stood up, he froze.

 

He froze so coldly that a team member, who had bought a cup of coffee for him and knocked before entering, asked if something was wrong.

 

‘No. It’s nothing. Thank you for the coffee. But it would be better if you didn’t buy any in the future.’

 

At the same gentle yet stiff reply as always, the team member left with an awkward smile.

 

Left alone, Kwon Ikseong stared at “it.”

 

On his desk, where everything was perfectly organized, sat a single blue ballpoint pen. 

 

Inside the wooden holder that should only contain black pens, a blue pen had been inserted. It looked like it had a black cap, but he knew. A blue ink refill had been placed inside, so it would write in blue.

 

“Isn’t there an operation early tomorrow morning? Are you going to be alright? It’s at four in the morning, so it’ll be a bit tricky.”

 

Hong Jaegyeol asked as he watched Kwon Ikseong, who seemed to be thinking about something again.

 

Having observed Kwon Ikseong for a long time, Hong Jaegyeol had already noticed that he was subtly different from usual.

 

At the question, Kwon Ikseong returned to his usual rigid expression and answered.

 

“It won’t interfere. It’s a personal matter.”

 

“A personal matter?”

 

Pi Sowon said in a low voice, sounding incredulous.

 

As if it were strange that someone like Kwon Ikseong could even have personal matters.

 

At that moment, Hong Jaegyeol asked Pi Sowon,

 

“And about your team’s rookie…….”

 

“Why are you so interested in our rookie……” 

 

“It seems some strange posts are popping up on the internet. We’ve cleaned them up on our end, but shouldn’t you look into it?” 

 

At the words “strange posts,” Pi Sowon’s face turned serious.

 

Public opinion is like that.

 

One moment they were calling Kwon Ikseong the HIB’s ace and claiming he had a face like a national treasure—even starting a fan cafe—but as soon as the Kevin Choi summons began, short-form videos began excavating his past interviews to nitpick at everything. 

 

And now public opinion was swinging back again.

 

It was the same with Lee Yuji.

 

Ever since the CCTV footage leaked of her beating down that terrorist and people began reacting with “Taekwondo girl,” Pi Sowon had disliked it.

 

Because it’s easy to lift someone up to the heavens only to drop them and smash them to pieces.

 

“So in the first place, how exactly are you managing internal CCTV if—”

 

Pi Sowon had just begun to seriously raise an objection when Chief Hong cut in first.

 

“Posts keep coming up saying Lee Yuji was expelled from being an athlete in the past for assaulting a fellow teammate. Well, we’ve already looked into it on our side, so I know it won’t become a big problem…”

 

Hong Jaegyeol smacked his lips and told Pi Sowon.

 

“Don’t just look after your partner’s body—look after her mental state too. Maybe keep her away from YouTube for a while.”

 

At those words, Pi Sowon’s face stiffened.

 

Pi Sowon had also heard things about Lee Yuji’s past—from Hong Jaegyeol and from stories within the athletes’ village.

 

[She’s a bit like that. The kid is, how should I put it…… to put it poorly, she’s a bit of a show-off.] 

 

Pi Sowon furrowed her brow, recalling what she had heard from an athlete she used to know.

 

She thought of Lee Yuji, who had been constantly watching strange videos on her computer for the past few days. 

 

‘…Was that not Animal Farm?’ 

 

Hong Jaegyeol briefly patted the shoulder of the slightly dazed Pi Sowon and left the conference room with Kwon Ikseong.

 

In the hallway, Kwon Ikseong asked Hong Jaegyeol,

 

“Is there a problem with Investigator Lee Yuji’s record?”

 

“No. It’s not a problem, it’s just…”

 

Hong Jaegyeol began to say something, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

 

“What, are you marking Lee Yuji as yours too? Lately the other team leaders have been asking about her a lot.”

 

“…”

 

“Forget it. I plan to keep Lee Yuji stashed in Team 5 for the time being. Unless she says she wants to go herself.” 

 

“I was only asking about the investigator’s record.”

 

“Since when are you the type to be curious about another team member’s record?” 

 

Hong Jaegyeol snorted with a faint laugh.

 

‘As if.’

 

“Well…… there’s no problem. It’s just that public opinion is a bit complicated. The HIB has been under fire lately. And this photo of Lee Yuji with Kevin Choi.”

 

Hong Jae-gyeol imitated a bright smile and a V-sign. He was recreating Lee Yuji’s photo, which had recently become a meme on the internet titled ‘I Smile Even When My Nose Bleeds.’

 

“Since this keeps getting brought up too.”

 

“Ah. I see.”

 

“Then, are you heading home now?”

 

“No.”

 

Kwon Ikseong answered like that, then lowered his head and walked ahead first.

 

Watching him, Hong Jaegyeol shook his head.

 

“He’s not normal either.”

 

Leaving Hong Jaegyeol’s words behind, Kwon Ikseong soon arrived at the archives room on the second floor.

 

Approaching a man with severe turtle neck posture—Park Minbae—Kwon Ikseong held out his ID with his usual expressionless face.

 

“I am the Team 1 Leader. I’d like to check the CCTV for my office.” 

 

* * *

 

And at 6:00 AM the following morning.

 

I was sitting at a bus stop. Amidst the crowd of people commuting with tired faces.

 

Since it was a typical long-distance commuter bus departing from Gyeonggi Province and heading to Seoul, everyone looked exhausted.

 

And I wasn’t much different.

 

Why?

 

‘…Because I still haven’t figured out who the mole in Team 1 is!’

 

Ugh. I even possessed Kwon Ikseong, but I barely found anything.

 

‘It’s not that there were zero gains, but……’ 

 

But in the end, this was the method I had left.

 

I let out a sigh while staring at the electronic display beneath the bus stop sign.

 

Bus arriving soon: 316

 

I had decided to board the bus the terrorist would take.