In a Maze...

Chapter 6

The media were starting to dig into these connected murder cases. For days, this mystery was what everyone talked about. The killer was walking free, and the public was furious with the fact that there had been no satisfactory response from the law enforcement officers.

The CEO, Park Jinyoung, accepted no interview requests from the media. There was this news that he had refused to be interrogated at the law enforcement building. Despite there being no official statement, there was the gossip floating around. That the CEO Park was, in one way or the other, involved in this crime. There was no evidence against him, it was true, but him being the most likely killer, had become an unanimous opinion.

The superintendent was pressuring the chief detective, who, in turn, urged his team and was disappointed by the lack of a solid result.

Two weeks had passed since Yoon Seunghyun's death and the detectives were focusing on the people who had had the connection with him and his mother. Park Jinyoung was still on the top of their suspect list and Mark had continued his close watch on Jinyoung.

Jinyoung did not move to the Pyeongchangdong estate; his life was pretty much the same in his small apartment.

Often, Mark was with him at the apartment or outside. Sometimes, it was Jinyoung, who called Mark to keep him company.

This afternoon as well, Jinyoung had asked him, on phone, to come to his place - not as a detective, he would always say, but of course, Mark could not afford to forget his duty.

The living-room was where they usually were; but Mark had been to the kitchen to make a cold drink for himself and he had been told about a small study room, where Jinyoung's father used to be to do his paperwork - it was a quiet room, with a bookshelf and a desk. The rooms he had not been invited to were Jinyoung's bedroom, which was most of the times closed, and his parents' bedroom, which was both closed and locked.

Jinyoung did not like mingling with people; he was what people would call 'aloof'. Mark could feel a sense of isolation in him. He talked about nothing with passion. Nothing seemed to interest him or excite him.

"My life'll never be the same anymore," Jinyoung muttered, "Those reporters and the public eyes. I hate them. When will they ever let me alone?"

"When they know who's responsible for those deaths and thus it could satisfy their curiosty," Mark replied.

"Why can't they mind their own business? Why is it me they all are interested in? And you too. You always run to me whenever I call you. I've no doubt about the reason behind. As long as you don't refuse to come to me, it's clear that you're suspicious of me. But what can I say? Of course, you're a detective and that's what you're supposed to do."

"I fear, it's true, what you said," Mark said, "But I'm concerned about you as well. I don't want you to feel lonely. That's why I'm always willing to keep you company."

Mark did not miss Jinyoung's eyes, slightly brightened for a moment, but then turning grave again.

"Your words comfort me a little. But it's obvious that I'm a suspect in your eyes. I should've stopped meeting you. But you need to know more about me and I need someone's presence. Basically, we're just fulfilling each other's needs."

Jinyoung's words were so exact that Mark felt a little uncomfortable. No matter how he claimed he was here as a sort of companion to Jinyoung, his mind was always alert and noting Jinyoung's every action to report back to the chief and the other detectives.

Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder that he could, in fact, be stepping into Jinyoung's trap. If it was Jinyoung, who had murdered his stepmother and stepbrother, it might not be difficult for him to finish Mark's life as well. But of course, it would then be like exposing himself as the culprit.

Mark thought of something else to say, to change the subject. He recalled the paintings in the living-room of the Park house and said, "Those paintings in your father's house, they're impressive. I guess they must cost a fortune. Was it your father who collected them or your stepmother?"

"My mother," Jinyoung said.

"Oh, I didn't think of your mother. Of course, you must have lived with your parents in that estate. You said you live here to feel your family's presence. But why not there now that your stepmother and stepbrother are not there anymore? You lived with your parents there, after all."

"You don't seem to want me to live here," said Jinyoung, with a slight chuckle. "No, I don't want to live there. I don't want to be reminded of the life I had with my stepmother and stepbrother."

"They were nice people, Jinyoung."

"They were, especially my stepmother. I'd have liked her better if she had not been my stepmother. When my mother died, my father was my world. But he didn't give me all of his attention. I couldn't do anything about that."

Suddenly, Mark felt sorry for bringing up this topic. Those words caused Mark to feel that Jinyoung was just an ordinary person, who longed for affection. At that moment, he could see Jinyoung as Jinyoung, not as a murder suspect or a strange, eccentric CEO.

"Then, there is Chunja. She had been my stepmother's housemaid even before my stepmother was married to my father. But, Chunja, she was and is nice to me. I trust her enough to keep her in that house to maintain it. She isn't on your suspect list, is she?"

"No. If she wanted to do it, she had ample time before. It isn't easy to cross someone out from the list but it's just impossible for her to have committed that crime."

"But it's possible for me?" Jinyoung asked, seeming rather amused.

"Well, that's-"

"Anyway, I don't mind it that much. All I want to say is you really are wasting your time here."

Jinyoung's words sounded so certain that for a moment, Mark felt he really was barking up the wrong tree, by devoting most of his time to watching Jinyoung closely. But when Jinyoung happened to be the most suspected person even in the public's eyes, what Mark should do was to continue keeping his eyes on this possibly dangerous man.