There's always room for another

Chapter 6: Interlude: A meeting

Ining sighed as she leant back in her chair. She was used to weird characters coming into her office as a private eye, but this one had to take the cake.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to look for this... Moon Byulyi? Who may or may not have died at the river?"

"I want you to find her. Because I know she's alive." The man looked haunted, eye bags heavier than hers on his face. He was much older, maybe in his late-forties. Ining suspected he'd been divorced at least once - the suit looked like the type of suit a woman would pick out to make a man look good. It was fraying at the sleeves - the man tugged them into his hands when he noticed her scrutiny.

Ining pulled out a paper meant for reporting, clicking her pen as she set the recorder closer to him and turned it on.

"Date is the 2nd of October. Time 4.24pm. Client is... name?"

"Jung Taemin."

"Mr Jung stepped into my office today with supposed evidence that idol Moon Byulyi from popular girl group Mamamoo somehow survived a fall into the Han River. It should be noted that her fall was an accident - in trying to stop a boy from committing suicide, she was somehow tugged over and fell herself. Her body has not been found. She has been declared missing, presumed dead. It has been a week." The man nodded along to all the facts. Ining clicked her pen again. "Those are the facts as we know it. Tell me Mr Jung, what evidence do you have that Ms Moon is alive?"

"I'm a taxi driver. That night I was driving by the river. There's always a lot of couples looking to get home from there late at night. A girl flagged me down, and she had her friend - or someone I guessed was her friend - by her side. I had to help her into the car."

"And the girl was Moon Byulyi?"

"I think so." The man scratched his neck nervously. "I didn't recognize her. She was a little wet - the first girl told me her friend got drunk and fell into the river."

Ining put her pen down and crossed her arms. Plausible reasoning. Good way to cover her tracks - whoever this girl was. "And where did you take them?"

"I don't remember. But it was near here." Taemin reached out for her pen and paper and scribbled down an address. "When the news came out that she was missing, I thought about it again. The girl was really fidgety." It was a lead that was worth looking into at least. But one bit stood out to her. She clicked her pen again.

"Why haven't you gone to the police with this information?"

"I did. But nothing came out of it." Typical. The world didn't stop turning just because one woman went missing, unfortunately. And in a country like South Korea, suicides were commonplace. "That's why I came to you."

Ining wanted to ask about how he knew about her, but decided not to in favour of focusing on the important things. "Fine. I'll look into it." She tapped her pen on the table. "I'm assuming we should talk about payment?"

The man blanched, but to his credit, he didn't back down. Instead, he reached into his pocket to draw out his wallet. "How much?"

"Wow, you're really serious." Ining reached over and stopped the recording. "How much are you able to give?" Her rates were on the low side, especially considering her skill sets and track record. Taemin sighed as he began to rifle through his notes. A measly $200.

Ining held his gaze for a long moment. And then she slid the money back to him. "Buy me the dollar ramen at the corner shop and I'll look into it." Taemin's mouth dropped, but Ining was already getting out of her chair and pulling on her coat. When the man hadn't moved, she tilted her head questioningly. "You coming?"

"Yes, yes." He nearly fell out of his seat. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Ining muttered, tucking the slip of paper with the address into her pocket. She held the door open for Taemin to slip past, her thoughts already on the case. "We might already be too late."