AGENT 9

It takes one hour and forty minutes by train from Seoul to Jeonju. When he was going up to Seoul, Yongnae had thought that time passed slowly even while dozing off and watching Youtube. However, the one hour and forty minutes on the way down flashed by in an instant, even though he did nothing but stare out the window.

“Son, you’re here already? You’re early.”

“What’s this? Where are the souvenirs? Did you not buy anything to eat?”

Woof—!

His mother, his second older brother Yongri, and the family dog Gami—who were sitting in the living room stringing together persimmons brought from his grandmother’s field to make dried persimmons—welcomed Yongnae.

If it were the usual Yongnae, he would have sat in the living room scratching Gami’s belly while telling his family what he ate in Seoul, how the Seoul research institute was, and what happened today; however, the current Yongnae just wanted to sleep.

For some reason, he felt like he needed time alone.

“I… I am so tired, so I will sleep first. Please do not wake me up until I get up on my own.”

Yongnae usually organized his belongings immediately no matter where he had been, but this time, he tossed his bag aside and crawled straight into bed.

His mother, Yongri, and Gami followed behind him, saying the business trip must have been difficult, and they quietly closed the door and left after telling him to rest. But contrary to his words about sleeping first, Yongnae did not fall asleep right away and spent about two hours staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open.

He finally fell asleep around the time the sun had tilted far to the west, and he fell into such a deep sleep that, for the first time in his life, Yongnae skipped dinner and only opened his eyes the next morning.

“…”

And as soon as he opened his eyes, he had to sit on the bed blankly for a long while.

‘Am I handsome?’

This was because he had to chew over what kind of dream he had been having for a long time. The bed sheets were damp. No, his entire body was soaked through.

“Yongnae. Are you a bear? I thought you were hibernating.”

“I placed this pig Gami on top of Yongnae’s stomach and you still slept so well that I put my finger to your nose thinking Yongnae was dead.”

“Our youngest must have been stressed at the business trip site.”

The whole family was gathered around the dining table to eat breakfast as usual, and his older brothers snickered while teasing Yongnae. However, Yongnae, who didn’t even respond as if he were used to it, took a spoonful of soup and stared at the news appearing on the TV.

The news would likely appear on the morning broadcast. This was because as soon as he woke up, he had checked the internet news and saw an article stating that drug offenders had been caught at Y Hotel.

[Next is the news. Around three o’clock yesterday morning, police apprehended three individuals, including Person A, who were in possession of methamphetamine at Y Hotel. They are high-ranking members of a syndicate that has been distributing methamphetamine for a long time…]

There it was.

Yongnae picked up the remote and turned up the volume. He was curious if there would be any mention of the cooperation from the indoor air quality researcher, but in truth, what he was most curious about was something else.

‘Get back safely—.’

When watching the news, sometimes images of detectives making arrests at the scene appeared, and he wondered if Detective Park might show up. If he did appear, he really wanted to see that face just one more time.

[They showed the boldness of continuing production after ambushing a police officer who was lying in wait in the next room and knocking them out with drugs, but they were eventually caught by the police.]

However, content that made him doubt his eyes and ears reached him. Yongnae’s chopsticks stopped dead in mid-air.

Continuing production after knocking out a detective lying in wait with drugs?

[Fortunately, the life of the police officer in question is not in danger, but it has been confirmed that they have not yet regained consciousness. Next news—]

Yongnae’s eyes grew round. Could that unconscious police officer be Detective Park? Since they said someone was lying in wait, it would be either Detective Moon or Detective Park, but the one who remained in that hotel room was Detective Park alone. If so, there was a very high probability that the police officer on the news was Detective Park.

“Yongnae. You have to eat quickly and go. It is almost time for work.”

His father reminded him that it was time to leave for work, but Yongnae froze without even being able to chew the grains of rice in his mouth.

“Hasn’t an article come out yet?”

“…No.”

Afterward, Yongnae searched for articles on the internet whenever he had time. No, despite having a busy schedule, he repeatedly picked up and put down his phone, entering and exiting portal sites.

In case there was news that the police officer in question had woken up. However, he could not find such an article until he returned from a field assignment with Dawon and ate lunch.

“Just how handsome is that detective that you are so interested?”

“…He was indeed handsome, but I have no interest in men.”

“You have a huge amount of interest right now?”

“…I am simply interested regarding his well-being.”

As soon as he went to work, even before writing the field trip log, he had spoken passionately to Dawon about the full story of the incident—especially about the man’s appearance—and even mentioned that he was worried because of the news he saw in the morning. At that, Dawon cackled and teased Yongnae for being a “face-con,” but he was just ignoring it.

Originally, feeling that something is beautiful was independent of gender, age, or object. He felt that the man was beautiful, and even if Dawon teased him for being a face-con for seeing him, he was not gay, and he would meet a woman in the future…

“Well-being, my foot.”

If Dawon had gone on the advanced site field trip, Dawon would have met Detective Park, right? Then, instead of just ending with the thought that he was handsome like he did, she might have fallen in love at first sight. She would probably think about that detective even after coming back down, just like he was. He was only worried about the man’s safety… right. Although he called it a worry about safety, Dawon would have harbored other feelings as well.

“…”

Suddenly, he felt a strange mood.

To think that Dawon, whom he likes, might come to like someone else. To think she could have come to like that man.

And if Dawon had seen the man, it might not have ended with just liking him. With her bold personality, she might have asked for the man’s contact information immediately, and perhaps they could have started dating while exchanging messages like that.

Because Dawon was a woman, and he was a man.

“…”

He was glad that he had gone on the advanced site field trip.

He was glad that he had met the man.

‘Am I handsome?’

‘…Yes.’

‘Then, come see me.’

I am glad that I had that dream.

“Mr. Yongnae. A call came from the Seoul Police Agency?”

On the way back after eating lunch with Dawon, the Section Chief spoke to Yongnae as he was about to put the collected samples in the lab and sit at his desk.

“From the Seoul Police Agency?”

“Yeah. Detective Moon Seongsik was looking for you? He asked for a call when Mr. Yongnae arrived, so I sent the number to you via talk.”

Even while relaying the message, curiosity about what kind of issue it could be was floating on the Section Chief’s face. A call from the grand Seoul Police Agency looking for a researcher at this small and quiet rural research institute.

The name Moon Seongsik was very unfamiliar, but if it was a detective with the surname Moon, it could only be the Detective Moon he met yesterday.