Crazy A Married Life

#02

Idam was shocked. Seduced? When had he ever done that to Taemin? They had only engaged in awkward conversation, and then he woke up drunk on wine in bed. Above all, Idam didn’t have the charm or courage to seduce anyone. He wanted to believe this moment was a nightmare. So he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, but Taemin’s voice and face were vividly present before him.

Idam works several part-time jobs. One of them was as an office assistant at a detective agency. As he was mopping the warehouse near the end of his shift, he realized a customer had arrived. Usually, Idam would greet customers first, but today the boss, Youngchun, was in the office and spotted Taemin first.

Too surprised, Idam retreated to the pantry. The door was thin, and a palm-sized piece of the glass window was broken, allowing him to see outside. As a result, he ended up inadvertently spying. The distance was close enough that he could clearly see Taemin’s face.

“Don’t worry. I’m exceptionally good at finding people.”

Taemin smiled at Youngchun’s banter. He took out a business card from his wallet and handed it to Youngchun. Simultaneously, Youngchun’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

“Oh my, you’re the CEO of Baekwol Corporation?”

Baekwol Corporation? It was a familiar name Idam had often encountered in the news, one of the few large corporations in Korea. But why had he introduced himself to Idam as Han Jiwoo, working for a trading company?

Youngchun hurriedly picked up the pad and pencil on the sofa.

“So, to summarize, you’re looking for the person you met a week ago, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Was it a blind date?”

“Well, let’s call it that.”

Taemin answered vaguely, seemingly unsure how to officially label the meeting.

“Then, didn’t you receive the other person’s information before the blind date?”

“I was so busy that I went to the meeting without checking. But the name that person gave me at the scene was fake.”

“What? Fake? Have you asked the person who arranged the blind date?”

“Yes. It seems they were deceived too.”

“Oh no, is it some kind of scammer?”

Youngchun’s pupils dilated. In contrast, Taemin remained calm. He was like an emotionless statue.

“Whether they’re a scammer or not doesn’t matter. I’m desperate to find that person.”

Idam felt his heart flutter strangely at Taemin’s statement.

“Then, did you take any pictures together or get their contact information when you met?”

Youngchun asked, his expression holding a glimmer of hope.

“No… Unfortunately…”

At Taemin’s answer, Idam felt relieved and his heart settled.

It seemed that while Idam was unconscious, Taemin hadn’t secretly taken photos with a camera or looked through his phone. There had been many recent crimes and issues related to cameras, so Idam had been worried, but it appeared Taemin wasn’t that kind of bad person. Also, since the phone had a pattern lock, he wouldn’t have been able to check it anyway.

Youngchun, who had been focusing on the pad, looked at the table and made an embarrassed expression.

“Oh my, our CEO must be thirsty, and I forgot to offer a drink. This humble office only has instant coffee mix and green tea. What would you like?”

“I’ll have coffee.”

“Alright. Idam, come and make some coffee.”

At Youngchun’s order, Idam’s heart, which had been momentarily relieved, started to race anxiously again. It was natural to offer drinks when a guest arrived. But that meant he would have to face Taemin. Cold sweat began to form on Idam’s forehead. He rummaged through the storage cabinet, hoping to find something to hide his face. Fortunately, he found disposable masks. He quickly put one on.

He prepared a tray with two cups of coffee mix (made with less water than usual) and some cheap cookies. Taemin was in the middle of a conversation with Youngchun. In contrast to the old office, he was exuding elegance.

“The person’s image was captured on the hotel corridor CCTV. However, the quality wasn’t good enough to clearly identify the face. Other CCTVs were the same.”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate. What about dashcams?”

“We haven’t been able to locate the owners of the vehicles along the person’s route, so we haven’t checked those yet.”

“Hmm.”

Youngchun furrowed his brow. Idam approached Taemin one step at a time. Even though he was wearing a mask and had messed up his hair, he thought Taemin might still recognize him because of his exposed eyes. Just as the tension was building, a vibration sounded.

“Ah, excuse me for a moment while I take this call.”

Taemin excused himself to Youngchun and went out with his phone. It was an incredibly fortunate timing. Idam felt relieved, as if God had taken his side. Seizing the opportunity, he moved the contents to the table. Youngchun, who was looking at the pad with a serious expression, muttered lowly.

“That scammer is quite stupid. Why run away after seducing someone? If it were me, I’d make the most of it after seducing. Heh, really.”

It wasn’t seduction. I don’t know how to do such things. Idam felt wronged but couldn’t reveal that he was the protagonist of the story.

“Huh?”

Youngchun, who had been clicking his tongue, looked at Idam and tilted his head.

“Idam, why are you wearing a mask?”

“I… I’m feeling a bit under the weather… *cough cough*”

Idam even forced a cough to support his lie.

“I heard spring colds are going around these days. Be careful. It’s time for you to clock out now, right? Go home and rest.”

“Yes… I understand.”

Seeing it as a chance to escape, Idam hurried back to the pantry. He put on his coat, slung his bag over his shoulder, and put on a cap before coming out. Taemin was still not back from his call. After quickly saying goodbye to Youngchun, he nervously opened the door. He was worried Taemin might be in the hallway, but he was nowhere to be seen. Had he gone outside the building? Hoping not to run into him, Idam carefully descended the stairs.

“Phew”

After confirming that Taemin wasn’t outside the building either, Idam felt relieved for now. But it was still an emergency situation. He quickly took out his phone and contacted Hayun.

[What’s up, Idam?]

“Where are you right now?”

[I’m at 3rd Street. I had some business nearby]

3rd Street was near the detective agency.

“Let’s meet right now.”

[Why?]

“I’m in big trouble! It’s something I can’t talk about over the phone. Let’s meet!”

[What’s going on?]

“It’s because of that person I met a week ago.”

[Han Jiwoo? Why? Okay, come to the Starbucks at Naebokjeom]

* * *

“What? Really? That person came looking for you?”

Hayun exclaimed in disbelief. His voice was so loud that even customers at the next table glanced over. Idam put his index finger to his lips, signaling Hayun to lower his voice, and nodded.

“Yeah…”

“But Han Jiwoo is unreachable right now.”

“What?”

Idam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Hayun continued with the same expression as Idam.

“He hasn’t come to the store for a week now, and he’s not answering calls or texts. But it’s mind-blowing that he went to the detective agency where you work. And isn’t it strange? Rather than going to a detective agency and spending money and time, wouldn’t it be faster to contact me, who introduced you, to find you? Also, how many detective agencies are there in Korea? It’s weird that he specifically went there. It seems like he already knew you were working there and went on purpose.”

“Oh no!”

Idam was shocked. If Hayun’s guess was right, it was an incredibly creepy situation.

“Did you run into him?”

“No. Our timing was off, so that didn’t happen.”

“That’s a relief.”

“But when he came today, he introduced himself as Ji Taemin.”

“Huh? Ji Taemin?”

Hayun looked at Idam as if he was speaking nonsense.

“Where did the name Ji Taemin suddenly come from?”

“Well, the man we knew as Han Jiwoo is actually Ji Taemin. He said he’s the CEO of Baekwol Corporation.”

“What!”

Hayun shouted in shock.

“So you’re saying the person who was with you a week ago wasn’t Han Jiwoo, but actually Ji Taemin?”

“Yeah…”

“So Ji Taemin disguised himself as Han Jiwoo and met you?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, this is insane…”

Hayun, like a reporter who had just gotten a scoop, took out his phone and started touching it frantically. Then he turned the screen towards Idam.

“Isn’t this the person who showed up?”

On the screen was a man with dark brown hair and striking thick eyebrows. Idam rolled his big eyes and tilted his head.

“Who is this?”

“This is Han Jiwoo, the VIP customer.”

“The person I met was completely different.”

At Idam’s response, Hayun showed another picture.

“Then was it this person?”

The screen showed Ji Taemin in a suit, sitting on a sofa with a cigarette in his mouth. He seemed to be a smoker.

“That’s right. It was him. Where did you get this photo?”

“This guy is a VVIP customer at our place. I secretly took this at a recent secret party.”

“Why did you take a secret photo?”

“He was so handsome that my fingers moved on their own, I guess. Anyway, this is too shocking. Why did this person pretend to be Han Jiwoo and meet you? Oh, I’m really confused right now.”

Hayun, who had turned pale, let out a deep sigh.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have just gone… I’m sorry, Idam. Actually, that day was the anniversary of my brother’s death, and I had to attend the memorial service.”

Hayun had an older brother who was 5 years older but had passed away in an accident long ago.

“Oh, really?”

If Idam had known about this circumstance, he would have left that meeting more willingly.

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you might feel uncomfortable.”

“…”

Idam didn’t want to blame Hayun because he had his reasons, and he didn’t know that Ji Taemin had concealed his identity, nor could he have predicted things would turn out like this. The problem now was how to untangle this mess.

“By the way, Ji Taemin didn’t treat you badly, did he?”

“No, nothing like that. Rather…”

In fact, when he met him a week ago, Idam was so nervous that he spilled a glass of water. The water splashed on Taemin, wetting his shirt. However, he showed no signs of displeasure and even helped clean up. He was really kind.

“That guy is really handsome, but he has an eccentric personality. They say he crushes people with polite language. There’s also a rumor that Baekwol Corporation is a gangster company.”

“Oh no, gangsters?”

“Yeah. They say Ji Taemin is a big shot in that world.”