Haejoon took another sip from his coffee. The fatigue had finally caught up and he unintentionally slept for more than half a day only to wake up to a text message from Himchan's supervisor.
It was a request for him to come to a café downtown because the supervisor had information about Himchan that he felt was important.
So there he was, waiting for the man to show up while he had his late lunch.
"Good afternoon, Inspector Kim."
He looked up to see the supervisor approaching and stood up to greet him.
"I'm sorry to have dragged you out here but the guilt is eating me up," said the man the moment both of them had taken their seats.
"Guilt? What are you talking about, Mister Han?"
"Sohoon," the man mentioned Himchan's fake name. "I didn't tell you everything when you came to see me the other day."
Haejoon raised his eyebrows but waited patiently for the man to continue.
"First of all, I noticed bruises on his face shortly before he disappeared but he told me that he stupidly walked into a door and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he got into a fight with someone on a drunk night out. It's common. I've seen it happen," he said. "Secondly, he told me to keep this a secret so I did but I can't stop feeling guilty for withholding this information. Who knows it might be able to help you in your investigation." The man took another deep breath as if to summon his courage before continuing, "He had asked for a transfer to Seoul."
"What?"
The supervisor nodded. "He came to see me a few days before he disappeared and asked whether it was possible to transfer to our sister hospital in Seoul. He also asked for a recommendation from me and told me to keep it quiet since he didn't want anyone to know, especially Yeonji. He was afraid that it would break her heart."
"You knew about him and Yeonji?"
"Everybody knows, Inspector. They were very close. When Sohoon finally asked Yeonji out on a date, the girl was so happy that she practically told everyone about it."
"So he was... moving to Seoul?" mumbled Haejoon in disbelief.
"Yes. He told me that something personal came up and he had to be there for his family. I didn't want to pry. His personal life was his business, not mine. So I told him that I would see what I could do," explained the man. "I didn't think that it was important to mention. Plus that whole secrecy thing he requested... I didn't want to air his dirty laundry, so to speak. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with his family and I didn't want to spread rumors about it." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I should've told you this sooner."
"Better late than never, Mister Han," said Haejoon. "Thank you for the information."
"You're welcome."
—-
Taeyeon stood frowning over the spot where the body was found, ignoring the hustle and bustle behind her.
Yuri was talking to Yoona who rushed to the scene as soon as she was informed while the coroner took the body away. The uniforms were busy keeping the onlookers away and forensics were scouring the scene, collecting evidence and taking photographs.
"I'm here! Sorry I'm late."
Taeyeon heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Juhyun approaching.
"No worries. Check the scene for any similarity to Himchan's and document everything," she told the lab technician who quickly went to work. "No one knows the details better than you do so I prefer having you here, directly at the scene, in addition to the forensic team."
