The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 59

I reached out and slowly grabbed the milk-flavored ice cream, but the bag had already gone soft from all the melting. Even though I’d waited at the villa, it was still winter; it would have taken at least a few hours for it to melt completely. At least two hours.

“…You waited for me for several hours.”

A realization dawned on me belatedly.

I hurriedly pulled my phone from my coat pocket and turned it on. It was the first time I had felt the short time it took for the carrier logo to appear on the black screen and for it to transition to the home screen feel so slow. I should have turned it on as soon as the movie was over, but I’d forgotten.

Just as I had suspected, there were messages from Prosecutor Joo.

Officer Lee, you’re not at the residence. And your phone is off. Contact me as soon as you check this.

Did you get into an accident?

There were two messages. As I had expected looking at the melted ice cream, they were sent two hours ago and one hour ago, respectively.

As I clearly confirmed the estimated time, I felt a little—no, a lot—anxious, and I bit my lower lip. I hated the fact that I had made Prosecutor Joo wait, and my head felt dizzy. Moreover, he hadn’t come looking for me because of work, as usual. If that had been the case, even if he were annoyed that I wasn’t responding, he would have come inside and stated his business first.

Could it be that if I had met Prosecutor Joo today first, I could have spent time with him just like I did eating and watching a movie with Chief Song?

Facing an opportunity that had slipped away like sand in my hands, I felt unbearably restless. Yet, when I was actually with Prosecutor Joo, I felt an unbearable urge to run away. It was the same as any other night—when I returned home and was left alone, I would toss and turn all night thinking of him.

Since we hadn’t made an appointment in advance, the burden of waiting was entirely Prosecutor Joo’s. He realized that, too, which was why he hadn’t scolded me or gotten angry, but simply left.

I toyed with the soft ice cream bag again.

The milk-flavored ice cream I liked.

‘Did you get into an accident?’ The worry in Prosecutor Joo’s message lingered in my mind.

‘I was afraid you might have had dark thoughts. You know there’s a river on the way to the residence where Officer Lee lives, right? A lot of people die off that bridge.’ 

I clearly remembered the words he’d said the day after we argued at the playground. Because his job involves dealing with so many cases and accidents, perhaps—unlike his appearance—he constantly worries about such things.

I tried to calm my heart by pressing down on the soft ice cream bag. But as I imagined Prosecutor Joo waiting for me on the villa stairs for several hours, worrying about me, I eventually couldn’t stand it anymore.

The moment my patience, which had been maintained precariously until now, snapped like a worn-out string scratched by a bow, my feet were already aimed toward the entrance. I walked down the stairs at first, but soon rushed down in a hurry and ran frantically toward the main road. Prosecutor Joo’s car would have left a long time ago. My breath, which quickly reached my chin, turned into a small white mist and rose into the air.

Taxis are rare in Danhyeon, so I had no choice but to take the bus. While the large wheels rolled toward Prosecutor Joo’s house, my trembling emotions grew, like a snowball rolling across a snowy field.

‘You can’t go. Let it go.’

My brain told me that, but my heart, lacking edges, had no intention of stopping its roll.

I remembered Prosecutor Joo’s house number and apartment number clearly. If you do investigative work for a long time, you memorize those numbers out of habit. I was worried I might be kicked out in front of the communal entrance, but a resident happened to be going in, so I slipped inside just in time.

“It was the 15th floor.”

My fingertips, as I pressed the buttons, and my skin pulsed with my heartbeat as if it had become my entire being.

I finally stood in front of Prosecutor Joo’s door, but for a long time, I couldn’t muster the courage to ring the bell. I stood still like a ghost, looking up at the apartment number, until I finally knocked on the door with my pale, white-knuckled hand. Even knowing that if Prosecutor Joo realized my feelings, the tower I had painstakingly built might collapse, I couldn’t stop my racing emotions.

This is all because the milk-flavored ice cream melted.

Prosecutor Joo opened the door quickly. He was still in the light suit I had seen earlier, as if he hadn’t changed clothes yet.

“What is it?”

Prosecutor Joo seemed slightly surprised by my sudden appearance. I looked up at him and said with emphasis.

“If I had known you were coming, I wouldn’t have gone out.”

“…You came all the way here to tell me that? I have no interest in whether Officer Lee and Chief Song are flirting or not. Whether you go out or not.”

It felt as if he were about to leave me behind and go inside. I said hurriedly once again.

“I remember everything you said that day I was drunk, Prosecutor Joo.”

I could see him tightening his grip on the hand holding the open door. His thick knuckles turned white.

Prosecutor Joo must not forget. That I, too, am a person who knows well how to interrogate and how to get the truth out of others. Just like Prosecutor Joo.

“What did you mean by that?”

However, even though my outer shell was that of a sturdy investigator, my inner core was as fragile as could be, so my voice, filled with those words, came out trembling.

This was a gamble. An act that shouldn’t be done.

I took one more step inside. If the secret messages I had felt were not sincere, if he had no interest in me other than using me for his investigation, he would push me away here.

In that case, I planned to act as if I hadn’t crossed the line, to retreat as if we had never looked at each other across the boundary between work and personal life. In any case, he would want to keep using me. That was the only ‘backing’ I believed in.

Tell me, Prosecutor.

What do you want to do?

But he remained silent, looking down at me for a long time with his pitch-black eyes. His gaze, swallowed by the abyss, was as deep as the deep sea from which I could not escape.

Prosecutor Joo finally opened his lips slowly.

“Today, I used up all my patience waiting for Officer Lee. When I found out you were having a good time with Chief Song, I even drew on my patience for tomorrow, so I’m less patient than usual. Of course, I know the fault lies with me for leaving without even contacting you. That’s why I just came, but why did you come here? And….”

“…”

“…There was no business for us to meet today. Why on earth did I go there?”

This time, while still holding the open door, he took one step toward me. His fingers brushed against my fingertips, which I was letting hang listlessly. The contact was clearly intentional. I can no longer ignore him touching me while pretending he isn’t.

This time, I wasn’t startled, and I quietly felt the thumping in the fingertips that had made contact with him. I moved my constricted throat, swallowed the dry saliva with difficulty, and met his eyes.

His lips, possessing delicate lines, slowly opened.

“I want to tell you that I don’t know why I did that to Officer Lee….”

He bowed his head slightly. To a position where his lips were about to touch my forehead. His voice, ringing coolly like a deep cave, slowly swept down over my skin.

“Actually, I know the reason.”

With my eyelids, which I wanted to close, barely open, I looked up at Prosecutor Joo.

“Does Officer Lee know why he came here?”

“…I know.”

“…Then you shouldn’t have come. Trying so hard to have a good career. There aren’t many things that can reach such a worst-case scenario between a superior and a subordinate than this.”

“I know that, too.”

“Officer Lee should have endured it as usual. Especially today.”

The fingers that had only touched my fingertips occasionally gripped my hand. This time, my shoulders jumped from surprise, but I didn’t pull away. As I stood still with my head bowed, he pulled my arm inward.

“If you want to leave, turn around and go now. I told you. My patience is gone.”

Even though I’m usually trembling and scared on the inside, I, who would answer even if it killed me, couldn’t find my voice this time. I was afraid. Because as he said, it was clear that this would be an act of ruining everything and racing toward the worst possible outcome.

My reason looked at the boundary between the entrance and the hallway at my feet, thinking I shouldn’t cross this silver marker, but my emotions, from the empty and lonely opposite side, wanted to lift my feet and move inside to a place that might be chaotic and barbaric. In the end, as Prosecutor Joo’s hand led me, I placed one foot inside the entrance.