I’m Obsessed With the Suspect - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24

“Where does Bokseon live?”

Woo-jin leaned his elbow on the counter and stared intently at Cheong-a as he asked. Under that burdensome gaze, her eyes quickly dropped away.

Cheong-a pressed down her fist that kept wanting to fly out with her other hand and barely managed to answer in a small voice.

“Um… Over in Seo-gu. Seo-gu…”

“Is all of Seo-gu Bokseon’s house?”

“…”

“But why do you come all the way here to work part-time? It’s far, isn’t it?”

“…”

“Well, I guess. The hourly wage is good here, right? Still, Bokseon’s work hours end at such an awkward time.”

There was nothing wrong with what the man said.

Cheong-a’s shift ended at an awkward time when buses weren’t running. Moreover, since her home wasn’t close, getting off work wasn’t easy either.

However, during the interview, she couldn’t even bring up the topic of adjusting her hours.

If she had mentioned that the hours were awkward and didn’t get hired, the loss would have been entirely hers. So she had no other choice.

It would be nice if she could commute by car.

But it would look too suspicious for a mere part-timer to drive around in a black SUV.

“The night streets here are dangerous. Should oppa give you a ride home later? Or… how about we have a company dinner to celebrate your first day? Let’s go eat some lobster. Oppa will pay. There’s a good restaurant if we go over to Gimpo.”

Certainly, humoring him was an extremely difficult task for Cheong-a.

It seemed like the only normal thing about the handsome man in front of her was his face.

Far from getting closer, if she let her guard down even a little, she might end up throwing a straight punch at his face.

It was past midnight.

Just when her patience was nearly at its limit from the non-stop conversation, what saved Min Woo-jin from Cheong-a’s violence was a man who entered the store.

No matter how you looked at him, he seemed to have no connection to a PC bang.

A perfectly fitted suit. A briefcase from a luxury brand. The man neatly adjusted his necktie a couple of times and looked around the store.

Then he walked to the counter and asked in a secretive voice.

“I’m looking for Luna.”

Cheong-a’s gaze instantly turned toward Min Woo-jin.

There was no particular change in Woo-jin’s expression. He slowly turned his gaze to the monitor and muttered in an indifferent voice.

“Sorry. We don’t service that kind of game here.”

“…”

The man coughed a couple of times. Then he politely said again that he was looking for Luna. Only then did an “Ah” sound escape from Min Woo-jin’s mouth.

“You came to the wrong building. You need to go to the adjacent block for that.”

“Is that so…?”

Min Woo-jin got up and left the counter, gesturing with his hand.

“I’ll guide you. Please follow me this way.”

The customer immediately followed him out.

Cheong-a watched the backs of Min Woo-jin and the man as they left the store and climbed the staircase.

They really existed.

Customers looking for noona. No, Luna.

And there was another fact that became clear.

The managers knew exactly where to guide suspicious customers who came to the store.

She desperately wanted to follow them right away to see where those two were heading. However, she couldn’t ruin things with rash actions without any preparation.

Min Woo-jin returned to the store after about 5 minutes had passed. Where on earth had he guided the man that it took this long?

Cheong-a glanced at him and threw out a question.

“That’s part of what was written in the work guidelines, right?”

“…”

“Where should I guide people like that?”

Min Woo-jin walked to the counter without answering and slumped into his chair. Then he pulled the chair close to Cheong-a and rested his chin on his hand.

“It says to just hand them over to a manager. Why are you curious about that?”

Under his blatantly staring gaze, Cheong-a smoothly turned her head away.

“If you’re curious, there’s nothing I can’t tell you.”

Cheong-a’s expression, which had brightened momentarily, immediately hardened at Woo-jin’s next words.

“Let’s go have an intimate company dinner just the two of us, and I’ll kindly tell you everything. Ahahahahat!”

Cheong-a had to take time to contemplate her patience once again.

***

2 AM.

After finishing work, Cheong-a quickly left the store and walked a couple of blocks. She crossed an overpass and passed through a small building.

There was Inkyu’s car waiting for Cheong-a with the engine off.

She roughly opened the door and got in, immediately starting to pour out crude profanity.

“Fucking bastard. Isn’t he really a crazy son of a bitch? Ah, really, I!”

Park Inkyu, who had been dozing off in the car, was subjected to this verbal assault. He hurriedly opened the lid of a drink can he had placed in the cup holder and handed it to Cheong-a.

“What’s wrong? Why are you so pissed off? What happened?”

“Hyung was completely right.”

“About what?”

“There’s no decent guy among handsome men!”

“…”

This seemed to be about the second time a handsome man had come up in Cheong-a’s conversation. Park Inkyu wore a gloomy expression for a moment.

Not noticing this, Cheong-a gulped down the drink to calm her anger.

“There were several strange people who came to the store.”

The large-framed Park Inkyu jumped in surprise, making the SUV sway along with him.

“Did you find out anything?”

“No. It seems like there are separate signals that only get handed over to managers.”

“…”

“There were three suspicious customers, and the manager handled each one differently. He sent one to the adjacent block, one to the rear building. But with the last customer, he firmly denied knowing anything about it.”

Gulp, the sound of Park Inkyu swallowing echoed.

“It seems like they’re screening customers. I think we need to confirm more details before barging in.”

“Right. If we act too hastily, we’ll end up like a dog chasing chickens.”

Cheong-a grabbed her hair tightly in frustration and then released it.

“I tried to subtly probe to find out more.”

Cheong-a paused and drank all the remaining beverage as if her throat was burning. Throughout this, Inkyu’s gaze never left Cheong-a.

“But do you know what that night manager bastard said?”

“What did he say!”

“If you come have an intimate company dinner with me after work, I’ll kindly tell you everything. Pahahaha.”

As soon as she finished imitating Min Woo-jin’s voice, Cheong-a let out a shriek and roared, while Inkyu scowled like an asura.

“Isn’t that guy really crazy? How dare he try to hit on you? Huh?”

“What should I do?”

“What do you mean what! I should beat him half to death!”

“If you kill him, will some monk from Jirisan catch Sangseon for us instead?”

Cheong-a muttered while crushing the empty can in her hand.

“In the evening, the store is sooooo busy. Really, there’s no time to even wipe away tears.”

“…”

“I don’t think there’ll be time to ask anything. If I want to dig up information, I’ll have to skillfully seduce that crazy bastard. …Shit. Really, what should I do?”

Shadows as dark as 2 AM fell over both Inkyu and Cheong-a’s faces, each for their own reasons.

***

Today too, PC POP PC bang became eerily quiet once it passed 10 o’clock.

The exhausted afternoon shift part-timers exchanged greetings with Bokseon and quickly left work. Se-yeon called Cheong-a over to ask if there was anything she hadn’t learned from Min Woo-jin yesterday, or if she was having any difficulties.

“Manager. But do many customers come looking for Luna?”

“Huh?”

Suspicious eyes turned toward Cheong-a.

“Well, yesterday at dawn, Manager Woo-jin was busy. I was wondering… if that happens again, maybe I’d need to help out?”

Se-yeon finally grinned and waved her hand dismissively.

“Ah. You don’t need to worry about Bokseon. The managers get paid extra to do that kind of work. It’s manager duties, so don’t covet it, okay?”

It seemed Se-yeon’s shifty eyes were due to not wanting her work territory interfered with.

The hourly wage for PC POP PC bang part-timers was 20,000 won.

If managers were receiving extra pay, working just 8 hours a day, 5 days a week would mean they were getting over 4 million won a month in salary.

The work Se-yeon didn’t want to talk about. They were probably paying allowances for that kind of job.

The more she learned, the more suspicion filled her mind.

However, there was no more excuse to continue the conversation.

Now the only person she could ask about Luna was Min Woo-jin, the night manager.

“….”

However, Cheong-a couldn’t bring herself to talk to Woo-jin even after the store became quiet past twelve o’clock. Of course, part of it was fear that he might say something strange again if she spoke to him, but there was a bigger reason.

It was because of Park Inkyu, who had somehow appeared without anyone noticing and settled into a seat pretending to be a customer.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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