Miho the Killer
Chapter 54: The Detective

Chapter 54: The Detective

Second floor - I started to hum. Happy. It was the first time I had seen Miho in a while as I was away for the weekend. It was a very nice place - Lily Garden that is. A place that I definitely wanted to visit again.

Third floor -I stopped humming as Shin glanced at me and let out a laugh, seeing just how excited I was like a little child at the prospect of seeing Miho again. Well, excuse me for being happy.

Fourth floor - I almost heard the AI-like voice announce it as ’the Miho Floor’. This cringey thought made me giggle, drawing Shin’s attention again. I must really look like some obsessed stalker now.

But did I really care how I came across anymore?

Not really. I hadn’t felt this good in a while. Everything felt gloomy since Miho had withdrawn herself. I wanted my positive vibe to melt Miho’s heart. Get her to open up again - see her smile again. Those wonderful smiles that made my heart beat faster.

I cheerfully stepped out as the doors opened, Shin following just behind me.

The path to Room 403 was annoying. Instead of 401 being close to the elevator and hence quick to reach, the last room - 420 - was the nearest one. That meant I had to walk down the hallway going past a bunch of doors behind which the crazies were locked away to go see my Miho. I first headed straight forward, my steps soft and light, Shin’s steps surprisingly quiet for a man. At the end of the hallway, I turned right, to enter the part where Rooms 401-405 was located.

The closer I got to Room 403 though, the heavier my footsteps felt and the slower I moved. Shin didn’t seem to notice - or didn’t care - and just walked past me. The old man got to the open door first, and from a few steps away I saw his face distort into a look of annoyance with a hint of anger. It wasn’t usual for Shin to let out emotions except when he was in a good mood and was laughing.

"What’s wrong?" I asked as I caught up with him.

"What are you doing here? Hakgeun?" Shin spoke to someone in the room.

I looked inside to see who he was talking to and froze on the spot. Perhaps the kind of inexplicable sinking feeling I was starting to have as I neared Miho’s room was a premonition that I didn’t realize I had the ability for.

"Good evening, Senior Shin." It was Detective Choi from the Gangnam Police Station, Organized Crime Department - the man who interviewed me on that day before Shin came to the rescue like deus ex machina.

"I’ll ask again, what are you doing here, Detective Choi?"

I felt a tension between them and I embarrassingly half-hid myself behind Shin.

"Oh, I just thought I’d pay a visit to your niece, Senior. After all, you said she was ill."

"I appreciate the gesture, but should you really be using the police resources to track down my sick niece? What are you here for?"

All through this, Miho was just on the bed as she had been doing for the past week, staring at the ceiling without even glancing at Choi, Shin, or even me.

"I’m sorry I was being intrusive. I just felt some things didn’t quite fit."

Shin took big strides toward Choi until he was maybe two steps away from him.

"What doesn’t fit?" By now, the old man sounded a little calmer. I was peeking into the room from outside.

"I don’t remember ever hearing that you had any siblings. So I thought it was odd you had a niece."

"So odd that you had to come and verify? What are you trying to verify?"

"It was also odd that you came to visit just as I was interviewing Ms. Han over there."

Choi looked over at me and our eyes met. I didn’t know how to react, but he greeted me politely with a gentle nod of the head.

"Coincidences, Senior. I saw so many coincidences."

"Which I told you to doubt and investigate. Yes, I get that." Shin said with a chuckle.

"I’m grateful that you understand."

Then without any warning, Shin grabbed Choi by his collar, lifted him up, charged toward one side of the room, and rammed him against the wall.

"And that also means you are doubting me and investigating me. I don’t appreciate that. At all, Detective."

"Senior, please calm down." Choi was surprisingly calm himself - until Shin turned the grab on the collars to a choke on his throat.

"Yes, it’s good that you learned to sniff and follow the suspicious trails. Well done, DETECTIVE."

"Senior... this... this isn’t right..." The detective was trying to breathe and was struggling to speak.

"You’ve made some grave mistakes here." Shin didn’t seem to care. I was amazed how the old man thought he could get away with choking a literal police officer.

"First, you sniffed the trail of a lion. Don’t follow the trail of something you cannot handle." His eyes were burning with cold flames.

"Second, you sniffed the trail of a lion. And walked into his den. Third, instead of turning around and running away for your life, you stuck around till the lion returned home to find that a hyena was looking at his cub. Fourth, you let your guard down and didn’t expect that this lion would bite you. Fifth, you forgot to think about your family. You were being selfish and didn’t think about how your naive actions would leave them to be a widow and orphans."

Shin then let go of his hold on Choi, who then fell and gasped for air. He was sweating profusely. His face was pale. There were red marks on his neck. This was a clear assault on a police officer.

"What’s wrong, DETECTIVE? Aren’t you going to arrest me for threatening a police officer? Where’s your backup? Why didn’t you bring the whole team? Oh, let me guess - you’ve turned this into your personal game. You came without reporting to the Chief. He will tear you a new one if he finds that you came to visit today. So you came here without telling anyone. Is that it?"

Oh no... is Shin talking about offing him now?

"Senior-, I didn’t mean to-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

That shut him up like an obedient dog.

"Do you see what you have done wrong? Did you think you were being smart with this move? I expected much better from you, Hakgeun. If I was the real suspect, you would have been dead by now and no one would know."

"I’m sorry..." To my amazement, the detective apologized as if it was really him who was in the wrong here.

Then also surprisingly, Shin bent down and helped Choi to get up, as if nothing had happened and he’d already put his one-sided outburst behind him.

"Hey, Hakgeun. I’m sorry it had to come to this. But listen - Miho is my niece. Maybe not a blood-related niece, but let’s just say... she’s the daughter of someone who bled for me. That makes her my blood-related niece. You see what I mean?"

"I really didn’t know. Senior. I’m really sorry, I just..."

"I would have done the same at your age. Don’t worry about it. But if you want to pull off a stunt like this, I recommend you convince the Chief back in the Department first. Have some backup ready for you. Don’t do these things alone. You will get yourself killed."

"You are right."

What kind of world is this? It looked like Shin was about to kill him just a minute ago but now he’s teaching him life lessons and Detective Choi was taking them seriously AND showing respect? Just who the hell was Shin actually?

"Come on. I’ll treat you to beef tonight. Korean beef. 1++ grade. Let’s go with Ms. Han together. You can ask her anything you want. No need to worry about legal procedures or work within police guidelines. Isn’t that great?"

"Thank you, Senior Shin."

"That’s alright with you, Ms. Han, right? You’ve been so nice to Miho and I wanted to treat you sometime too. Detective Choi here is a good cop and someone you can trust. Let’s not bullshit around in the police interview rooms. We go, have a drink, and talk freely holding nothing back. What do you say?"

I obviously didn’t want that!

"Er... Shin-, we’ve just had dinner."

"Haha! A growing young girl should eat more."

"I’m in my 20s..."

"You can still grow!"

"I’m fine with my height. Thank you very much. The only way I can grow is sideways."

"Aw, come on, Ms. Han. This Detective here will never let you go until you open up and tell him everything as is. There’s nothing for you to worry, no?"

Just what the hell is this old man playing at... he’s driving me into a corner with this...

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