case 143 | lee felix

12. attorney lee

HWAYOUNG

"What do you mean I'm not entirely out of trouble yet?" I ask. Hyunjin said it with such a grave expression, it was almost as if he said I going to die from a terminal illness I didn't know I had.

"Someone may be impersonating you."

"Impersonating her? How?" Felix asks.

"Yesterday, 'you' were at the cafe downstairs so I thought that you guys were back from Bali already. But then it got suspicious cause impostor Hwayoung ditched Jisung to come and talk to me. Have you ever asked me how I'm feeling before?" Hyunjin looks at me almost accusatorially.

"Damn, I'm sorry man," I raise my hands up in defense. "How are you?"

"See? I know exactly how you would ask me that question. But that girl...she was all over me being so touchy like heyyy how are youuuu~" he imitates in a girly voice and we burst out laughing. It was nice to laugh together after a long time.

"That's definitely not me. But on a serious note, who the hell is she? How did she pass off as me?"

"That I have no idea. But thanks to her I found you guys. My best guess is that she looks like you and she knows you to be able to copy your name and mannerisms. That's not the worst part though."

"Of course it never ends with one bad thing," Felix sighs.

"Two days ago there was a hit-and-run where a professor at SNU died. The problem here is that the culprit is fake Hwayoung. You can see it as clear as day in the camera footage. We received it by mail and there was a suspicious text with it telling you to 'watch out' and that 'you're next.' I know we get these kinds of false alarms all the time but something is telling me that this is serious. Plus, that anonymous sender probably knows who you are because they believe it's 'Hwayoung' who did it and not someone else."

We sit back and let his words soak in. Someone committed a crime in the guise of my identity and I could be taking the fall for it.

"If there are charges against her won't she need a lawyer?" Felix asks. I could expect to see myself in court if this progresses any further.

"Yeah. Under Captain Bang's recommendation Attorney Lee Minho will be assisting with your case. He's already working on it." He says, eyeing our expressions. "Don't worry, Minho is one of the best in his field of work. You can trust him."

"But what's there to prove I didn't do it?" I question. "There's no witness who saw me in Bali and I definitely wasn't on any CCTV cameras in the past few days. I didn't make any transactions at the bank, no phone calls and didn't take any photos either. This is a dead end." I bury my head in my palms, already exhausted thinking about this new case after barely making it out of a grueling situation.

"Calm down, you're overthinking. This is exactly why you have a lawyer, Hwa. He'll help prove your innocence," Felix says reassuringly.

"He's right. It's already bad enough that you're walking into the lion's den right after being in a mentally taxing situation. You need to relax a bit or else you'll make it more difficult for yourself," Hyunjin advices.

FELIX

"Lix, I really don't think you should be getting back on duty this early," Hwayoung says worriedly. We were at her apartment waiting for Minho to arrive.

"My medical examinations all had positive results so I think I'm more than fit enough to be back on track," I say reassuringly, cupping her hands with mine.

"I know but...you need to give yourself a mental break too."

"You know that no type of mental break would help unless I solve Jake's case. I won't have peace till I do." Fortunately, Jake was much better now and I was really glad to see him hog down two cheeseburgers in one go last night. I was making him stay over at my place until he fully recovers and in a way it was helping us both to heal from the whole thing.

"Aren't you like...traumatized or something?" I ask when Jake gets discharged from the hospital and jumps excitedly on the way back.

"Honestly? I would think so too but I'm just so happy to be back home I think it cured the PTSD," he says with a puppy-like smile. I laugh, shaking my head at the silly logic.

I think back on what happened last week, internally smiling at the memory. In that moment, it felt like everything was alright.

The doorbell rings and Hwayoung answers the door. Minho stood there in his usual attire that we've gotten used to seeing : a brown trench coat, a beige plaid scarf and thick black spectacles. His dressing sense was eerily similar to Jake's. Was it a lawyer thing?

"Morning, you two. Had a good breakfast?" He asks cheerfully. That was something I liked about the man. He was versatile with his emotions. He knew how to lighten up the mood even in critical circumstances, but he could also be serious when the situation called for it.

"Please tell me you have some good news," Hwayoung says vainly. She wasn't able to keep up with the case since she was mandatorily suspended till the case was over and her innocence was proven.

"I do, in fact. It's very good news and I'm sure you'll love it," Minho says, and we look at each other wide-eyed at the unexpected surprise. Good news was an old friend who never wanted to keep in touch again.

"We caught the impostor. Her name is Na Seoyoon and she is currently a prostitute at The Serpent."

"The Serpent? I worked a case there last year. Maybe that's how she knows me," Hwayoung says.

"We found her on public cameras on her way home and judging from the appearance of her place, you can tell she was trying to get some sort of monetary benefit out of your social status, although I don't know how. Detective Han took her in for questioning and she said that the hit-and-run was not at all intentional and was really an accident. He's not fully convinced because we found the car being crushed at some landfill. That was stolen too, just like your identity," Minho finishes keeping us up to speed with the latest happenings.

"That's really good. Well, not for me or the owner of the car but yeah. What's next? Will she appear in court for the trial day after tomorrow?" I ask.

"Yeah, we just need her to confess to her crimes and you'll be good to go soon. I'll handle it, just trust me on this," Minho says, adjusting his glasses and getting up from his seat. "Seoyoon is willing to testify in court. She seemed pretty spooked by all the officers so she was quick to accept her fate. Now, I have places to be so I'll see you on Wednesday. Toodles!" Minho sassily struts out of the apartment.

"Did he really just say toodles after giving a whole breakdown of the investigation?" Hwayoung questions in disbelief. I laugh.

"You're definitely in good hands."