Paper Friendship Chapter 15

Choi Juoon stared at me for a long time. I met his eyes for a moment, then looked away first. Knowing the fact that Choi Juoon likes me, I felt shy to meet his gaze. Strangely, my face felt hot. This means he likes me… about 72 percent… confirmed.

“Ah, it’s fine.”

I swatted Choi Juoon’s hand away a bit forcefully. Then, Choi Juoon slightly frowned and said:

“You little shit, even when I’m worrying about you….”

Choi Juoon punched me once in the side. Why, why are you hitting me? Is it momentum for skinship? As I stared at Choi Juoon with a strange look, Choi Juoon put me in a headlock. This time, it was too hard to overlook as a playful gesture. To exaggerate, I could almost see my life flash before my eyes. So, reset to 0 percent.

Like that, I walked to the karaoke room while being Choi Juoon’s punching bag.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Please just go.”

“Please just get lost.”

“Just go away.”

“Park Yoonchul, get lost.”

“Even though you try, you just bully me.”

“Woo-woo-woo.”

I sang along, adding ad-libs enthusiastically next to Park Yoonchul. Choi Juoon laughed loudly while watching Park Yoonchul and me.

Choi Juoon has a nice voice, but he can’t sing. Personally, I consider it one of the eight wonders of the world. What’s even more surprising is that the girls say Choi Juoon is the best singer among us. Even though, objectively, Park Yoonchul is the best singer in our group….

“Ah, what are you doing? Delete it.”

Choi Juoon took a picture of me adding ad-libs. When I checked, it was practically at the level of an unflattering photo. I was wondering why he was laughing so hard earlier…. Strangely, Choi Juoon takes a ton of pictures of me and collects them. Choi Juoon said, looking at the picture of me he had just taken:

“Why, you’re cute.”

“I’m ugly. Hurry up and delete it.”

Honestly, if it were a good picture, I might suspect he likes me. But it’s a picture to the point of being unattractive, yet he’s staring at it while laughing like that…. Leaving aside the fact that he likes me, he just seems like a strange person.

After that, I couldn’t focus on Choi Juoon because I was busy singing. In the karaoke room, 0 percent; no decline, no rise. Bang-bang.

After leaving the karaoke room, we went to eat dinner. It was a regular restaurant we always go to. We settled on stir-fried spicy pork without much trouble regarding the menu.

I carefully observed Choi Juoon, who was sitting in front of me and setting out the spoons and chopsticks. It is still too early to draw a conclusion from this. While deducing, my heart felt strangely fluttery. The suspect is Choi Juoon, and I am the lead detective in charge of this case. Thinking this way made it even more fun.

The food we ordered arrived, and we were eating frantically for a while when the suspect rubbed the corner of my mouth with a tissue.

“Lift your chin up more.”

I kept my gaze on the spicy pork and moved my face according to the suspect’s touch.

Wait, hold on. What is the meaning of this? This is a bit dangerous. But the suspect does this to me often, even normally. Ah, not that often, though…. Ah, I don’t know, for now, it’s mealtime. I’m hungry. Let’s eat first.

Then, perhaps Park Yoonchul saw this, as he puckered his lips out and said to the suspect:

“Wipe mine too.”

“….”

And Park Yoonchul died.

It’s not an exaggerated expression; he really did die at the hands of Choi Juoon. I quietly got up from my seat and put pickled radish on my plate from the self-serve side dish corner. I don’t know if they were doing construction work, but it was a little noisy behind me.

Hmm, this is a pass. Moving on.

After finishing the meal, which was slightly noisy, we went to the bowling alley where the others were gathered. The suspect and I ended up on different teams. The suspect is very good at bowling. Compared to the suspect, my skills are slightly lacking. That’s because my main stage is billiards.

I kept a close watch on the suspect’s behavior without anyone knowing. Since there is distance now, I could be off guard, but for a pro, letting one’s guard down is absolutely forbidden.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

The suspect is moving out of my field of investigation. Did he notice my undercover mission? Should I follow him? He’s not a very cunning guy. I contemplated it for a moment, then withdrew the thought in consideration of the suspect’s human rights. This is a big problem. The more the investigation net narrows, the more the meaning of human rights fades for me. At that moment, Yang Woo-min touched me.

“Why have you been staring only at Choi Juoon since earlier? It’s your turn.”

“Ah, uh-uh.”

“Hey, Lee Juun. Focus a bit. They said those bastards are eating Haagen-Dazs.”

Only then did I get up from my seat and seriously grab a bowling ball. The losing team pays for ice cream. I etched that fact into my mind as much as possible. Detective Lee Juun has now become a bowling player.

∞ ∞ ∞

Whenever Choi Juoon grabs a bowling ball, he gets a strike. He’s flying around as if it’s his own stage. This is why I have to be on the same team as Choi Juoon for bowling, at least…. Unfortunately, since it wasn’t my stage, my skills were practically crawling on the floor. My bowling ball kept falling into the gutter.

Perhaps because the score gap with our team became too wide, Choi Juoon said it was boring and sat down to check his phone. In the meantime, I rolled the bowling ball diligently. Not well, just…. just when I was closing my eyes and borrowing the power of shamanism.

“Do you want me to help you?”

Suddenly Choi Juoon, no, the suspect, spoke close to my ear. We were very close, but because the song was playing so loudly in the bowling alley, almost at club level, this is a pass. Moving on.

My current investigative budget is 100,000 won.

If I lose the bet, I have to subtract 90,000 won, subtract 6,000 won, add 3,000 won, and finally subtract 3,000 won from my 100,000 won investigative budget. It’s a small amount, but it’s all I have right now. If I get this taken away…. honestly, it would be hopelessly insufficient to chase the suspect for the remaining period.

I didn’t fall for the suspect’s temptation; I briefly joined hands with the enemy purely to lead my team to victory. When I nodded in affirmation, the suspect turned his head and spoke loudly to the kids on his team.

“I’m switching teams with Park Yoonchul.”

Then the kids booed. Where do you get off switching teams now, if you leave we lose, if Choi Juoon leaves I’m going too, etc. Listening, it seems the suspect has an excellent reputation in his surroundings. Park Yoonchul resisted a little while leaving, but in the end, he couldn’t win against the suspect, and while leaving our team, he said:

“What kind of sin did I commit, exactly?”

Hmm, this is also a pass. Moving on.

∞ ∞ ∞

Surprisingly, worrying about whether we could win or not, the score gap closed. It seemed the biggest factor was that the suspect was on our team and the suspect was not on that team. When we finally turned the tables, I shouted briefly, hugged Choi Juoon, and jumped up and down. Choi Juoon, no, the suspect (get a grip. Detective Lee Juun.) raised his hand and patted my head.

Wait a second…. He patted my head? Beep-beep, the horn is sounding. I hurriedly moved away from the suspect’s side. I revealed my feelings too much, unprofessionally. The suspect turned around nonchalantly and high-fived the kids on our team.

The spot the suspect touched felt hot. So I sat down and tried to cool my head. It was a huge relief that this place wasn’t bright. I looked at the suspect drinking water and thought:

The opponent is a formidable enemy. He uses diversion tactics. Let’s remember, Detective Lee Juun.

Like that, thanks to the suspect’s great performance, our team won, and we left the bowling alley and went to the convenience store right below. The suspect handed me my favorite ice cream. Originally, the suspect has figured out at least what kind of ice cream is my preference.

Ah, but does this also have to be included in the investigation? But Captain. I know about what kind of ice cream the suspect likes, too, you know?

I was about to receive the ice cream the suspect was giving me, but a strange psychology kicked in, so I picked a different ice cream. The suspect saw that and said to me as if reproaching me:

“You probably won’t like that one.”

“I need to grow up now, too.”

I said, patting the suspect on the shoulder.

∞ ∞ ∞

It tastes the worst….

I genuinely wanted to hit the past me once, no, twice. Why am I experimenting with ice cream? I should have just made it sweet. I took one bite, and there was a bitter taste in the ice cream. It was honestly a taste I was eating for the first time in my life.

Looking around, the kids were happily eating their Haagen-Dazs. I felt guilty about my conscience, so I didn’t buy any, but I should have bought Haagen-Dazs, too. I should have just eaten what I usually eat. Should I have listened to the suspect….