Chapter 8

8. The Line of Suspicion

Jiseul was so startled that every hair on her body stood on end.

She was so shocked that a hiccup escaped her lips.

“Where have you been, Senior Han Jiseul?”

The person standing in front of her like a wall was Shin Woohyun.

Which made things even worse.

No, it was beyond awkward.

She could feel fear creeping in.

‘There’s no way he noticed something strange, right?’

Jiseul clenched her fists and struggled to keep her expression under control.

Then she forced the most natural smile she could manage.

“I just went out for some fresh air.”

Thankfully, the words came out smoothly.

But cold sweat was already running down her back.

“At this hour? In the emergency stairwell?”

Woohyun asked with a puzzled expression.

His already sharp eyes seemed even colder than usual.

The thought that he might have noticed something made Jiseul even more nervous.

Her mind raced as she searched for a believable excuse.

“I was actually playing a game. I couldn’t come up with any good ideas, so I wanted to clear my head.”

“That’s an unusual preference. We have plenty of nice places like the break room and cafeteria, yet you chose the emergency stairwell.”

“I like being somewhere quiet.”

Jiseul answered cautiously.

Fortunately, Woohyun didn’t seem particularly suspicious.

He simply nodded as if her explanation made sense.

“I suppose everyone needs a place like that. Are you having any difficulties at the company?”

“Not really. I haven’t been here very long yet.”

“Are things going smoothly with your mentor?”

“Yes. He’s been incredibly kind. Thanks to him, I met all the team members on my first day and toured the entire building from the first floor to the fifteenth.”

Remembering how Kangbin had practically dragged her around, Jiseul answered as casually as possible.

Woohyun nodded knowingly and smiled lightly.

“Manager Kangbin has a good personality. Getting to know him will be very helpful.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

A brief silence followed.

For some reason, Woohyun simply stared at her with a complicated expression.

Jiseul became extremely tense.

He looked as though he was about to say something important.

Maybe he really had noticed something.

But when he finally spoke, it was something she had never expected.

“I’m planning to sort through my brother’s belongings at his apartment this weekend. Would you be willing to come with me? If there’s anything important, you might recognize it.”

“Ah… I have the time. I’m just not sure how much help I’ll be.”

At Shin Junghyeon’s apartment, there was a chance they might find clues related to the case.

Still, Jiseul hesitated.

She couldn’t tell what Woohyun’s real intentions were.

“You’ll be plenty helpful. I also plan to examine his desktop and laptop, but they’re password-protected.”

“Oh. If that’s the problem, I think I can help.”

“That’s good to hear. Then I’ll pick you up from your officetel around two o’clock on Saturday.”

“Okay.”

When Jiseul nodded obediently, Woohyun smiled faintly.

“Then you should head back. You need some sleep too, don’t you? It’s almost two in the morning.”

“Okay. Then I’ll get going. You should get some rest too, CEO.”

Jiseul bowed and immediately walked away.

Her heart was still pounding violently.

* * *

Woohyun silently watched Jiseul return to the New Technology Team office.

Just what was that woman up to?

He had just come from the Server Room.

Jiseul hadn’t seen him, but he had already been there before she attempted to break in.

He was there for a routine inspection.

Hidden from view, he had watched everything from start to finish.

Even the moment she used the smartwatch he had given her to bypass the security system.

Since no network alarms had gone off, it seemed she hadn’t caused any serious problems.

But that wasn’t enough to reassure him.

With her hacking skills, she could easily accomplish whatever she wanted without triggering a single alert.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Woohyun headed back toward the CEO’s Office.

Despite her innocent appearance, there were far too many suspicious things about her.

There was the fact that she had suddenly applied for WS Soft’s recruitment test shortly after he visited her at the café.

And there was tonight’s suspicious behavior.

The suspicion that she might somehow be connected to his brother’s death grew stronger and stronger.

That was why he wanted to bring her to his brother’s apartment.

Before deciding how to proceed, he needed to determine whether she was an ally or an enemy.

* * *

On a chilly Saturday afternoon, Jiseul accompanied Woohyun to Junghyeon’s apartment.

The place had been vacant for three months.

Yet, to her surprise, it was a complete disaster.

Books and documents were scattered all over the floor.

Furniture had been moved around haphazardly.

Clothes were thrown carelessly in every direction.

“The detectives conducted a search of the apartment. They claimed they were investigating a corruption case that my brother was allegedly involved in.”

“Ah…”

Jiseul was deeply shaken by Woohyun’s bitter explanation.

The fact that they had framed Prosecutor Shin Junghyeon for corruption suddenly felt painfully real.

“If detectives already tore through the place, there probably isn’t much left. They must’ve taken anything important.”

Jiseul sighed heavily.

Woohyun, who had been quietly observing, slowly shook his head.

“Come with me. I took precautions beforehand.”

He led her into the master bedroom.

Opening the bedding closet, he removed all the stacked blankets.

Then he carefully detached the rear panel.

A hidden compartment appeared behind it.

It wasn’t large, but it was spacious enough to conceal several items.

Inside were a desktop computer, a laptop, and several notebooks.

Woohyun carried the desktop and laptop to the desk.

Then he set them up and connected the power.

Meanwhile, Jiseul began examining the notebooks one by one.

There were five in total.

None appeared to be recently used.

The dates only covered last year, the year before that, and the beginning of the current year.

Most of the contents were notes about cases Junghyeon had handled.

Various appointments were also written throughout.

When she checked the dates on which she had met Junghyeon, her name appeared only as the initials HJS.

Come to think of it, several other people seemed to be recorded by initials rather than their full names.

“The computer is ready.”

At Woohyun’s words, Jiseul nodded and immediately pulled out a USB drive she had prepared.

It contained a password-cracking program she had created herself.

“I’ll connect the password recovery program.”

She plugged the USB into the desktop.

After launching the program with a few clicks, she quietly waited.

While the software searched for the password, Jiseul continued flipping through the notebooks.

After reviewing several of them, one thing caught her attention.

A set of initials that appeared repeatedly.

CDH.

Based on the surrounding notes, it seemed to belong to someone in law enforcement.

Jiseul immediately brought it up.

“CEO, this person called CDH appears throughout the notebooks. Maybe we should try meeting them. I don’t know their real name since only the initials are written down, but they seem to be a detective. They might know something.”

“Is that so? I’ll look into it.”

Woohyun nodded and opened something on his phone.

Jiseul glanced over.

It looked like a list of names.

“It’s a list of people who attended my brother’s funeral. If they were close to him, they would’ve left their names on a condolence envelope or in the guest book.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“Choi Dohyup… I think this is probably him.”

After reviewing the list, Woohyun quickly identified the owner of the initials CDH.

Then he made a phone call.

Based on the conversation, it seemed he was speaking with an investigator who had worked alongside Prosecutor Shin Junghyeon.

“He’s Detective Choi Dohyup from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Violent Crimes Unit. Apparently, he was very close to my brother. They were in frequent contact.”

After ending the call, Woohyun immediately shared the information.

“Then Detective Choi Dohyup might know something.”

“That’s certainly possible.”

At that moment, a notification sound came from the computer.

The program had found the password.

Jiseul immediately entered it and unlocked the system.

“You really are talented. Cracking a password in just a few minutes.”

Woohyun shook his head and smiled at her.

Then he pulled an SD card from his pocket and inserted it into the computer.

It looked like he intended to copy everything from the hard drive.

Meanwhile, Jiseul plugged her USB into the laptop and launched the hacking program again to retrieve its password.

That was when her phone suddenly began vibrating loudly.

Looking at the screen, she saw an incoming call.

An uneasy feeling immediately washed over her.

It seemed likely that the call was from “the company.”

The words “Caller ID Blocked” displayed on the screen only made it more suspicious.

So she quietly left the room and answered the phone from a corner of the living room.

Under no circumstances could Woohyun hear that conversation.