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Chapter 05
Temporary Measure
“Ah, this? Do you have some tissue I could use?”
Da-sol’s mouth fell open as she looked at where Ji-hyuk had opened his palm. Her whole body even seemed to tremble slightly.
Thinking she was startled, Ji-hyuk clenched his bleeding fist and hid the wound. A sharp pain made his brow tighten.
“This way, please.”
Da-sol, clearing her throat, spoke.
Ji-hyuk followed her inside. There was a space used for bathing dogs.
Ssshhh.
Water flowed from a small bathtub faucet that reached up to waist height.
“Wash your hands here.”
He placed his hand under the running water. It was a comfortable temperature.
Ji-hyuk watched the blood mix with the water, spreading like ink in the white basin. The wound was smaller than expected, but the stinging pain made his brows twitch.
When he turned off the water, Da-sol handed him a towel as if she had been waiting.
“Thank you.”
He dried his hand with the towel.
“Please sit here for a moment.”
“Here?”
“Yes. I’ll disinfect it and put some medicine on it.”
Da-sol spoke gently as she took something out of a drawer.
“It’s split open, so even a little movement will make it bleed. I’ll wrap it so it won’t bleed.”
Ji-hyuk stood there blankly for a moment, looking at her.
Da-sol had also brought out a first-aid kit and was looking up at him with round eyes, as if asking why he was still standing there, why he wasn’t sitting down immediately.
Sit. Stand.
These must be words she used often here.
Ji-hyuk considered it overly kind, but not wrong, and sat down.
Da-sol approached, faintly smelling of flowers.
Her hands were soft. He had never thought much about the size of his own hands, but with her small, pale ones holding his, his hand felt like a giant’s.
Ji-hyuk watched her disinfect the wound and gently wipe it with cotton held by tweezers.
Her long, thick eyelashes cast a deep shadow over her face.
She was strikingly beautiful.
Her small face looked like it could be enclosed in his palm. Her straight nose and thin lips, and her softly curved jawline were harmoniously balanced.
Her skin was fair and smooth—like white jade.
While Ji-hyuk looked at her face, she continued treating the wound with practiced ease.
It didn’t hurt much. Excellent technique.
After wrapping gauze around his hand, she spoke.
“All done. Please keep your arm slightly raised and bent so it doesn’t bleed.”
Da-sol looked quite satisfied. Ji-hyuk felt the moment her hands left his that his own hand had turned cold.
“This is just a temporary measure, so you should go to the hospital.”
“Did you learn this somewhere?”
Ji-hyuk asked, impressed by her skill.
“A little, a long time ago.”
Da-sol touched the nape of her neck with an awkward smile.
“You’re busy, but you should go right away. The wound is open, so it looks like it needs stitches. If you leave it, it’ll start bleeding again with even small movements.”
“I understand.”
After leaving the grooming space, Ji-hyuk raised his phone to take a picture of the broken security door.
At some point, Da-sol had come out holding a broom and peeked over. Two police officers were waiting in front.
“Can’t we just clean this up?”
“I’ll take photos first, then I’ll clean it.”
“It’s okay. I can clean it. But you should go to the hospital first.”
“I’ll just take these pictures and go. I need records.”
As he held his phone with one hand, Da-sol called out.
“Excuse me, Prosecutor… should I take it for you?”
Da-sol looked at Ji-hyuk, who didn’t answer.
Thinking she might be interfering with official work, she felt embarrassed and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“You injured your hand… and to get everything in frame you’d need to shoot horizontally, so it might be difficult.”
Bzzzt.
Ji-hyuk’s phone rang. Looking at the screen, he said,
“Then please, if you don’t mind.”
“Yes! I’ll make sure everything is in the shot.”
Da-sol smiled silently and quickly pulled out her phone from her apron.
Click.
Once near the counter. Once closer up.
She captured the broken wreckage in detail on camera.
It felt like taking evidence photos from a movie.
She chuckled inwardly.
Even though it was essentially her own shop’s front door that had been destroyed, she found it oddly amusing—and felt a small pride in being helpful in something related to a criminal case.
But more than anything, it felt like a movie.
The satisfaction of acting out a scene she had only ever seen in films was immense.
Click. Click.
She went outside and took several more photos. On the screen, Ji-hyuk could be seen on a call, looking in this direction.
A handsome man standing there—it looked like a movie poster.
Da-sol changed angles and positions, taking the photos with great enthusiasm.
“Senior, are you okay?”
As she finished taking pictures and came back inside, unfamiliar male voices were heard from behind.
Men in suits approached Ji-hyuk, while two police officers approached Da-sol and began asking her questions.
“They finally got here.”
“We were finishing up at the other scene. There was another suspect who ran off besides that guy.”
“The one who ran?”
“Two detectives and I went there and caught him. As expected, senior Ji-hyuk’s judo skills are the best. If we’d lost him, it would’ve been a big problem. Senior, I respect you.”
Da-sol’s eyes shifted toward the two men.
The “senior” address, their deep bows, and respectful tone suggested they were Ji-hyuk’s subordinates.
After finishing with the police, Ji-hyuk approached her and handed her a business card.
“Please send the photos you took to this number.”
“Yes, I’ll send them right away.”
Taking the card, Da-sol met his eyes as she replied.
But Ji-hyuk said nothing, just looked down at her.
With his tall height, solid build, and overwhelming presence, Da-sol averted her gaze.
Sensing her discomfort, Ji-hyuk coughed into his fist.
“I’ll reimburse you for the broken security door if you submit the receipt.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Though it was inconvenient since she had to replace the door, Da-sol simply smiled brightly, finding the situation both a little scary and oddly entertaining.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble.”
“It’s fine. You were doing a good deed.”
He bowed slightly and left. As before, his polite manner and formal tone felt strangely cold.
Is this how all prosecutors are? Probably not.
Still, Jang Ji-hyuk felt like exactly what she imagined a prosecutor should be.
A man who didn’t seem like he’d bleed even if stabbed.
If your job is to deal with criminals intellectually, then maybe you should be like that. He had used physical force today, though.
Probably a tiring person to deal with.
Holding her phone, Da-sol sent him the photos she had taken.
She considered selecting only the best ones, then gave up and sent them all, thinking they might be useful.
Ji-hyuk returned to the prosecutor’s office after getting stitches at the hospital.
It wasn’t a serious injury—about twelve stitches. The doctor had even admired the wound care.
“If the emergency treatment had been done this well, it’s excellent. No infection at all. Very good.”
Recalling those words, Ji-hyuk looked down briefly at his bandaged left hand before transferring Da-sol’s photos.
There were quite a lot.
At that moment, his junior prosecutor Park Su-ho walked in.
“Senior, I just finished the first victim statement.”
“Nothing unusual?”
Ji-hyuk scrolled through the preview images in the open folder.
“Yes. But what are these photos? You took so many?”
Su-ho was now looking at the monitor too. Ji-hyuk clicked one image to enlarge it.
As he moved to the next, Su-ho let out an impressed sound.
“This is from the pet grooming shop incident, right? Wow… look at all the different angles. You didn’t take these, did you?”
“No.”
“Then the shop owner took them? That beautiful owner must’ve done it so the repair costs wouldn’t be dodged?”
Su-ho spoke jokingly, and Ji-hyuk narrowed his eyes at him.
“Ah… usually you only need a few photos, but there are so many. Look at this zoomed-in one.”
“Park.”
“Oh—yes, senior!”
His tone and expression changed instantly as he read the warning in Ji-hyuk’s gaze.
“What do you feel from these photos?”
At the sudden question, Su-ho hesitated.
“Well… she has a talent for photography?”
Ji-hyuk let out a short sigh of frustration.
“If a citizen puts in this much effort, you just say thank you.”
“Understood, senior. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Go out.”
After Su-ho left after a quick salute, Ji-hyuk rotated through the photos again.
He knew how much effort she had put in.
People often do things carelessly when it’s not their problem.
She had every right to be angry—people often yell, point fingers, and curse at police or investigators in situations like this.
But Da-sol had been calm and kind.
She even offered to take the photos herself.
With a serious expression, no less.
The continuous shutter sounds still seemed to echo in his ears.
Ji-hyuk scrolled through the photos and let out a short laugh.
It was a different experience.
Jin Da-sol…
He lowered his gaze to his aching left hand.
The place where her hand had touched.
For some reason, it felt like the pain would linger for a long time.
