Investigation

Chapter 18

Jihyun

"I've been married to Choi Jinyoung for quite a long time," she said, sitting in the interrogation room with two female detectives looking at her, "but it's no secret that I've been abusing him."

I looked at Chaeyeon and she seemed to have that firm look on her face, while I stood there wondering why this woman admitted to abusing her husband.

"Mrs. Choi, sorry, so you are aware that you are abusing your husband physically and mentally?" I asked.

"We're not happily married, detectives, obviously," she said. "I am an egocentric woman with a quite alarming anger issue. I always take out my anger on him and sometimes I snap."

"Okay, Mrs. Choi," Chaeyeon said, "but I must ask. Why are you here telling all of these to us?"

Chaeyeon had been wondering that since Mrs. Choi came down to the precinct. She was worried that Mrs. Choi was just a distraction so her husband could go killing other people without us chasing him down, so she sent Taehyung and Seokjin to look for him, though it was what we had been doing.

Mrs. Choi hesitated to answer Chaeyeon's question for a while. She kept biting her bottom lip and having cold sweats. Her body also couldn't stop shaking. She seemed to be scared.

"Mrs. Choi," I said, grabbing her hand, "tell us what worries you. We can help."

She took a couple of deep breaths before she finally spoke up. "My husband. He's, um," she said, shaking. "He was scared of me at first because of my high level of temper and the way I am quite aggressively violent, but ever since he went back to his killing pattern, he started to gain some confidence and courage a-and-"

"And he's trying to abuse you now," Chaeyeon said, but Mrs. Choi shook her head.

"Worse. When he found out that our home has been raided by the police and that all of the teeth that he has been keeping disappeared, he threatened to kill me," she said. "He said if he ever discovers that I'm the one who has been talking to the police, he won't hesitate to slit my throat."

I crossed my arms on my chest and turned to Chaeyeon who also turned to me.

"Please, detectives," she continued as she begged, "I'm really scared right now. I understand that I can be punished or arrested because of my non-compliance and lies with the police when I first gave my statement and I would accept those punishments, but please for the love of God, please catch that son of a bitch and give him a death penalty or whatever. I just want him gone."

It was Chaeyeon's turn to hold the woman's hand to comfort her. "Mrs. Choi, if you can help us find him, we can talk to the prosecutor to lessen your punishments," she said. "We just need you to tell us everything you know."

"If I do it, I need you to protect me, detectives," she said, "because there is no way I'm going to die in his arms."

We nodded, then she agreed to work together with us.

---

It was already late and Chaeyeon already went home, but I refused to do the same. I wanted to wait until Taehyung went back to the precinct safely.

Not long after that, a ding sound was heard from the elevator before it opened and revealed two men who looked exhausted from the man hunt.

I stood up, then I approached him, attempting to talk to him, at least to say that I was sorry about that night.

He saw me approaching and surprisingly he stopped. "Taehyung, please can we talk?"

He seemed hesitated at first, but he gave in eventually. We went to storage room so no one could interrupt us.

"It better be good, Jihyun, 'cause I'm tired as hell."

I looked up at him, at his eyes, and tried my best to look as remorseful as possible. "I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, Taehyung," I said. "I've never meant to hurt you. I was caught off guard and I reacted to your confession really poorly."

He sighed, but he didn't say anything, so I continued, "Tae, if I could rewind everything and put myself back to that night, I would. Believe me, I would do anything to give you a better and more proper response."

He looked away for a while before he looked back at me. "If you could rewind things, how would you respond to my confession?"

"I would say that I'm sorry I can't love you the same way you love me," I said. "I know that it hurts that I can only see you as my friend, so if it's gonna make you feel better, I can step aside from being your friend."

He looked disappointed, probably because I couldn't feel about him the way he wished I did, but then he suddenly reached for my hand and grabbed it.

"Please, uh, don't stop being my friend," he said, causing my eyes to widen a bit.

"Huh, why? Wouldn't it be better for you if I give you the space that you need?"

He smiled. "Yeah, sure I guess," he said, "but I don't want to lose my best friend. I know that I said the opposite earlier today, so I'm taking it back. Just please stay with me."

"But are you sure? Aren't you gonna be uncomfortable though?"

"If I can't have you as the girl of my dreams, then you being my best friend is more than enough for me," he said while smiling, causing me to smile too.