Chapter 268 - Blue Fish (14)
Siwan pulled up in front of the police station. Jiwoon was too shy to look at him and was fumbling about how to thank him for his generosity. Siwan, on the other hand, was a little worried that he may have overstepped his boundaries last night after he barged into her house uninvited.
"Here you go," he said.
"Uhh…" Jiwoon began. "Thanks for the treat."
She flashed him a small smile which he returned.
"I'm sorry again," he said. "I shouldn't have barged into your house unexpectedly last night."
"That's okay! I'm kinda glad you came. It shows that you...you think of me as a friend."
Siwan blinked and then let out an amused laughter. Jiwoon was confused. Did she say anything wrong?
"Of course I think of you as a friend!" he exclaimed. "A really good friend. Why else would I tell you such a big secret? I didn't even tell that to my brother!"
Jiwoon blushed harder. What is wrong with me? She wondered. I'm not usually like this.
It was true. She was mostly quiet and cold to others but around Siwan, her mask slipped and she felt very giddy. His warm and genuine smile made her day better and she wanted to see more of it. But she would never admit it out loud.
Siwan got out of the car and opened the door for her. Jiwoon thanked him again.
"Will you be returning to the hospital now?" She asked him.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I have to. Even though I performed a long surgery last night."
Siwan lamented his fate. He wanted to go home and sleep but for a doctor, patients came first. Jiwoon snickered.
"Go to work," she slightly teased. "I know you're at your happiest when you work."
"True," he nodded. "See you tonight."
"Oh? You're not going back to the mansion?"
"I can't," he replied. "I have duty tomorrow. Besides, Soobin texted me. She's going to sleepover at your place tonight because she needs to do her school work with Baekha."
"Ah…"
Jiwoon was inwardly happy that Siwan was going to stay in their building that night. Then she frowned and looked around.
"What happened?" Siwan asked.
"I thought… I just had the feeling that someone is watching us," she murmured. Her eyes peered and she saw a couple of figures behind a pillar.
"I'll catch up with you later," she said.
"Are you sure you don't want me to check?" Siwan asked, hesitant to leave her behind like that.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. "You'll be late for work."
Siwan nodded and got into his car. Jiwoon waved at him as he drove off and then turned towards the troublemakers who were hiding behind the pillar.
"Come out of there!" She ordered them. Slowly, Woohee, Chanmi and Jaebum came out of the pillar, shamefaced. They were awkward and fidgeted as if they were caught red handed while committing a crime. Jiwoon crossed her arms on her chest, tapping her foot impatiently.
"What are you doing?" She demanded.
"We...er…" Woohee fumbled. How were they going to explain that they were watching their usually cold and aloof superior becoming coy near a guy?
"We were appreciating the weather!" Jaebum claimed. "Right Chanmi?"
"Yes!" Chanmi lied. "The weather is so nice! Right, second boss?"
Jiwoon frowned at them but did not say anything. She sighed and went inside towards her workstation. The trio stared at her in shock.
"Do you think there's something going on between Detective Kim and that doctor?" Jaebum hissed. "It's so weird!"
"I think it's kinda cute," Woohee snickered. "She was blushing!"
"Do you think the doctor likes her?" Chanmi asked. "He did go to save her that night from her in-laws and got hurt!"
"Wasn't he talking about meeting her tonight?" Jaebum pointed out. "Are they dating?"
They crept back inside and peeked at Jiwoon who was busy with her work. There was a slight smile on her face which was rare. The trio were completely shocked.
"I wonder if they're really dating," Woohee moaned.
"I bet they're just friends," Jaebum said outright. "Detective Kim isn't the type to date!"
"I think they are," Chanmi nodded. "Or on the verge of dating."
"Let's make a bet!" Woohee declared. "That these two will start to date soon."
"I bet 50 dollars that they're gonna date!" Chanmi said at once.
"I bet 100 that they're not dating and won't date," Jaebum chipped in.
"I bet 100 as well," Woohee said. "That they are or will date."
Jiwoon, who overheard them, only sighed. These guys really have no other work, she thought in dismay.
She returned to her work and was reading the case files on the Blue Fish crimes. Turning to her laptop, she tried to enter the website again but to no avail. She flipped the pages to re-read the information.
After deducing that the site activates at midnight, Jina, Jiwoon and Hobin decided not to visit the site because they were still not sure how it worked. What if the site copied their signatures and tricked them into a contract. Hence, they decided to track down someone who actually signed a contract.
"How are we going to find someone like that?" She wondered. Jiwoon thought hard. She opened her social media site and typed in the phrase 'Blue Fish'.
To her shock, her account was blocked within seconds.
"What the hell?" she muttered. Jiwoon pressed the refresh button and tried to enter her account but she was completely blocked. Frowning, she searched for the game online but there were no search results. It was as if the game was completely blocked. Any news or information was totally banned on the web which was suspicious.
I better tell this to boss, she decided.
…
Jina and Hobin were outside Dalton Academy. Hobin had advised her to talk to Eli's boyfriend but he did not divulge the exact reason. He simply stated that Yisub and Myungsoo had fought days before Yisub's death as per Eli's previous testimony so they should check out the lead.
"Did you see something in Eli's memories?" She asked.
"I did but I can't tell you," he winced. "Otherwise, I'll be violating the rights of a minor. I can, however, direct you to the right path."
She nodded. The principal had already been informed about the case and Myungsoo's parents were also informed. Jina and Hobin entered the principal's office where Myungsoo's father, Yeon Byeol, was sitting along with Myungsoo.
"What is the meaning of this?" Byeol demanded from the duo. "Why is my son being interrogated? That boy killed himself, didn't he?"
"We are merely going to ask him a few questions," Jina stated, flashing her badge. "He's not being arrested. He just needs to answer us properly, that's all."
"You can't question him!" Byeol claimed. "He's a minor!"
"You can stay here and watch," Hobin suggested. "He can stay silent but he's the most suspicious one here. After all, he had a fight with Yisub a few days back. It won't be surprising if he did manage to kill Yisub-"
"HOW DARE YOU?" Byeol threatened. "He didn't kill anyone!"
"Let your son answer our questions and we'll know for sure," Jina calmly retorted.
The Principal stood up to calm down the angry father.
"Mr. Yeon please be reasonable," the Principal said. "This is police procedure! You cannot interfere."
Byeol scowled at them and sat down. Myungsoo was quite arrogant. He leaned back on his chair and scoffed as Jina sat opposite to him.
"You are Yeon Myungsoo, right?" She asked. "Tell us about what happened that night. The night when you fought with Yisub."
"That retard came out of nowhere and began to attack me!" Myungsoo claimed. "Everyone saw it. He was the one who started it."
"Why?" Hobin asked. "What did you do?"
"Me? I'm innocent! I was just talking to a girl when he punched me. And then he was screaming that I betrayed his sister. Like, his sister and I aren't even exclusive! She just wanted to sleep with me and she got what she wanted. I got what I wanted. In fact, we weren't serious. I was dating a few other girls."
He spoke as if it was the most natural thing to do. Hobin fought the urge to roll his eyes at the kid's stupidity. Jina wanted to berate the boy for his attitude but this was not the right time nor place.
"Anyways," he went on. "The retard went crazy and beat me up. I was supposed to be with his sister that night but it soured my mood so I didn't sleep with her that night. She slept on the couch. But she was with me the night her brother died."
Jina was surprised and glanced at Hobin. So this is what he found out from her memories, she deduced.
"She wasn't that sad when her brother was found dead the next day," Myungsoo claimed. "In fact, she used to complain about her brother all the time! It's embarrassing. The twins are really weird. That night in the car, she screamed and complained that her brother was in danger even though he was nowhere around. I got pissed and told her that she either stop her madness or we have fun that night. That's all."
Jina shook her head while Hobin was wary.
"Is there anything else you need to know?" Byeol spat at them. "We have to go."
"One more question," Jina said. She leaned forward and asked, "What do you know about the Blue Fish site?"
Myungsoo was quiet for a few seconds.
"Nothing," he finally said. "I've never heard of it. Can we go now?"
Jina and Hobin instantly noticed the change in his expression as if he was scared. The boy knew something about the game but was hiding it.
Byeol stood up and said, "Come son. Let's go."
Myungsoo followed his father out, feeling relieved. The Principal went with them to guide them to the parking lot.
"He's hiding something," Jina concluded. "And is he telling the truth? Was Eli really with him that night?"
"She was," Hobin confirmed. "And his claim about what she said is also true. She felt her brother's death."
"Huh? How's that possible?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's go."
Outside, Byeol was comforting his son. "I'll sue those cops!" he claimed. "How dare they question you?"
"Whatever," Myungsoo muttered and walked towards the car. His father was following him but he did not care. Instead, he glanced at his wrist.
A symbol of a star encased in a pentagon with a cross on it was etched on his skin. Myungsoo gulped at the symbol, unsure of how to get rid of it.
He wrote it all as a joke but to think it came true…
No! He told himself. The retard killed himself. There's no way I made a deal with a demon! That's impossible.
Assuring himself, he climbed into the car and threw aside all other thoughts.. He had a date that night with a cheerleader.