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Chapter 13
I Came to Find My Girlfriend
Ji-hyuk informed the investigative team of the current situation and returned to the room where the investigators were gathered.
Prosecutor Park Su-ho, who had been sitting there, sprang to his feet.
Ji-hyuk quickly scanned the room.
Of course she wasn’t here.
In a situation like this, she wouldn’t have been able to just stay put.
He felt a surge of self-reproach.
But that aside—
Something about his junior prosecutor’s behavior felt suspicious.
“Spit it out.”
“……Pardon?”
“What is it.”
At Ji-hyuk’s low voice, Park Su-ho flinched. After hesitating briefly, he seemed to steel himself and spoke.
“Well… we’re currently carrying out an operation.”
“What operation.”
“I asked her, and she kindly agreed to help.”
Su-ho straightened his shoulders as he answered.
A brief silence fell.
Only the faint music from the club echoed in the background as Ji-hyuk narrowed his eyes.
“…What?”
“Oh—right. Instead of the female detective, the pet salon owner went in.”
“You—”
“You don’t need to worry. She said she’d fully cooperate, and she even changed clothes before going in. She looks exactly like a club girl.”
“So you’re telling me… Investigator Jin Da-sol went into that room?”
Ji-hyuk spoke slowly, biting down on each word. Su-ho answered casually.
“Yes.”
“You’re insane? You sent a civilian into a place like that for an operation?”
Ji-hyuk shot him a glare, and Su-ho swallowed hard.
“No, sir… she was just upstairs, and—”
“Didn’t you see most of the women already came out of there?”
“Pardon? Ah… that… well…”
Su-ho opened and closed his mouth.
“And you forgot Brian is a guy obsessed with women?”
“Sir, but there’s still one detective inside—”
“She’s gone.”
“W-what? When?”
Su-ho’s eyes widened in panic.
Only then did he remember the possibility of variables, as warned by the senior prosecutor, and scrambled to explain himself.
“…I didn’t think removing one officer would derail the operation. The salon owner just has to press a button anyway…”
At Su-ho’s absurd reasoning, Ji-hyuk felt his anger boil over.
“Prosecutor Park Su-ho. Are you playing detective? Making a movie?”
“I—I mean…”
“You think that female detective is an ordinary person? She’s an infiltration specialist. If it wasn’t her, there was no need for anyone to go in. Do you think those guys would just say, ‘Hey, we’ve got drug intel here, pay up’? If you don’t have someone who can read the situation, there’s no reason to send anyone into a place that dangerous.”
As expected of a prosecutor, his words came out sharp and relentless.
Su-ho muttered inwardly.
“What were you even listening to during the briefing on Brian?”
Ji-hyuk ignored the silent Su-ho and assessed the situation.
It was dangerous.
He couldn’t leave Jin Da-sol alone in there.
He couldn’t tell whether this was personal emotion or rational judgment.
He organized his thoughts calmly.
As always, he stripped away emotion and relied on logic.
The most reasonable conclusion.
After a moment, Ji-hyuk gave an order to the crouching Su-ho.
“I’m going in. You stay on standby.”
Inside the club room
Instead of a life-flashing-before-your-eyes moment, a movie came to mind.
“Crash Trigger.”
A protagonist who is normally calm but goes berserk whenever someone says, “You can’t do it.”
People around him keep saying it, unknowingly pushing him further into madness until he becomes a murderer.
Da-sol deeply related to that film.
The word beautiful—
That single word alone made her face burn with rage.
For Brian, his trigger was the stain on his cream suit.
Now the situation had spiraled beyond control.
Da-sol was being held by the hair, flailing her arms.
She was like a paper doll caught in the violent movement of a grim reaper in white.
The hand gripping her hair felt like a razor-sharp blade, and the fear crushing her ribs made her unable to even cry.
“Ugh!”
“Yerin? Look at me. Huh?”
Brian, breathing heavily, yanked her head up to force eye contact.
His eyes were bulging with veins, madness surging within them.
It was unnatural.
How could eyes that were calm just moments ago change so instantly?
Brian’s gaze seemed to say:
I will devour you alive.
Tears of desperation spilled out as she clung to the will to survive.
The pager. The pager.
With trembling hands, she forced strength into her body and shoved her hand into her tiny skirt pocket.
It didn’t work.
The skirt, like a child’s outfit, barely had any pocket space.
As she steadied her shaking hand and reached again—
Her body was suddenly yanked around.
“Ah!”
Pain like her scalp was being torn off exploded as she was slammed into something.
Brian, sensing something, reached out—at the same time, the pager flew out and rolled under the sofa.
Da-sol stared at him in despair.
Brian released her hair and turned toward where the pager had fallen.
“Yerin… what’s that?”
Bang.
The heavy door slammed into the wall.
Silence followed.
“I came to find my girlfriend.”
A low voice shattered the stillness.
“Who is it!”
Brian shouted.
Da-sol’s gaze turned toward the door.
And there he stood.
Ji-hyuk, framed in the doorway.
Composed posture. Relaxed yet overwhelming presence. Sharp, confident eyes. Tall frame in a black suit and black shirt.
He looked untouchable.
Like a king.
Ji-hyuk scanned the room.
All of Brian’s men tensed up like animals baring their teeth.
Ji-hyuk was a wolf entering a kennel—while the others, though growling, instinctively backed away.
“Haa…”
A breath Da-sol hadn’t realized she was holding slipped out.
He walked over and gently brushed her tangled hair back with his long fingers.
“Bad habit. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to touch someone else’s woman?”
His dark eyes briefly checked her over, relief flickering and disappearing almost instantly.
He understood the situation immediately.
He had come to rescue her without compromising the operation.
“Who are you?”
Brian scanned Ji-hyuk like a gang leader assessing a rival.
Eye contact—wolf versus pack leader.
Male versus male. A clash of dominance.
“Me? I’m her man.”
Ji-hyuk replied calmly.
He was eerily composed.
He pulled Da-sol behind him.
Brian could no longer see her behind Ji-hyuk’s broad back. That alone brought her overwhelming relief.
“Your man?”
Brian smirked.
“Yerin, your boyfriend’s pretty rough, huh? Interesting taste.”
Brian stepped forward, adjusting his cream jacket.
Ji-hyuk ignored him and looked down.
They were similar in height, but Ji-hyuk’s presence was far more overpowering.
Not intimidation. Not defense.
It was confidence.
Like a wolf king among a pack of white Maltese dogs.
Without realizing it, Da-sol grabbed Ji-hyuk’s jacket.
“So you moved on to another man that quickly? I’ll correct your behavior myself. You can step aside.”
Da-sol flinched.
He looked like a crime boss scolding a woman’s behavior—even though she knew it was an act.
She admired his composure, but—
Do you really think they’ll let us go?!
Then—
“Hahahaha!”
Brian burst into laughter, almost hysterical.
“Ohhh, so you’ve got some power, huh?”
He clearly misunderstood Ji-hyuk as some kind of organization boss.
“You need to discipline your woman. She has no manners.”
“I’ll be the one doing the disciplining. Don’t touch someone else’s woman.”
Ji-hyuk leaned in slightly.
Brian laughed again.
“Boss, the deal’s almost time. Shouldn’t we wrap this up?”
One of his men cautiously spoke up.
Brian cursed.
“You two got lucky. Ah… Yerin, your luck just ran out.”
He flicked his finger in the air.
Ji-hyuk remained calm.
“Go ahead and have your fun disciplining her. And keep our conversation private. Got it?”
He grabbed Da-sol’s hand tightly and walked out.
Once outside, she finally gasped for air.
“Oh, right. You should take this.”
Brian picked up the pager from the floor.
“A pager? What is this, some outdated cop gadget? Not even police anymore.”
Thinking it was some boyfriend gift, Brian pressed the button.
A red light blinked rapidly.
“Shit.”
Ji-hyuk muttered.
Rapid footsteps echoed.
And suddenly—
Police officers stormed into the room.
“Haa… arrest them all.”
Ji-hyuk ordered from the doorway.
“You! What the hell are you—agh!”
Watching Brian’s arm being twisted brought a strange sense of relief.
“…That white Maltese. Please break his arm.”
Da-sol murmured quietly, words no one else could understand.
Then something warm was placed over her shoulders.
A black jacket carrying a cool scent—Ji-hyuk’s.
“Let’s go.”
Held by his large hand, Da-sol followed him into another room.
