21. Seventy three
I calmed Yeong-mi and drove her home.
When I got off the elevator and rang the doorbell on Yeong-mi’s door, the person who opened the door was none other than Yeong-mi’s father.
“Is my daughter here? uh? Is Jung-ho coming with you?”
“uh… ! Ah, hello… do it.”
“Dad—!”
Youngmi rushed into her father’s arms.
“Ouch! Why is he like this?”
When Young-mi in her father’s arms began to cry out loud, Young-mi’s father asked me with a bewildered expression.
“What happened at school today?”
“Youngmi says… He said he was caught in a police car… I think Youngmi was worried a lot inside.”
“ah… ! You must have seen the police car in the morning.”
Young-mi’s father continued stroking Young-mi’s hair.
“Did the precious only daughter in our house worry about this father? It’s just to make you feel better, haha—!”
Seeing Youngmi still crying, the uncle continued.
“I had something to ask about my father’s work, so I went to the police station for a while.”
“Have you ever been investigated for something?”
Young-mi’s father’s eyes widened a little at my question, and he realized that he had made a speech mistake out of curiosity.
“ah… That’s because Youngmi is so worried… I asked. sorry.”
“no. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
The uncle said to me.
“Not long ago, I bought a new computer in the computer room of my uncle’s company, and they said that something went wrong in the process of connecting to the Internet.”
Youngmi still asked with a worried expression.
“By the way, does your father work on computers and the Internet at work?”
The uncle shook his head and said.
“no.”
“Then why did Dad go to the police station?”
“that is… Daddy doesn’t know either.”
The uncle spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.
“no. The cops who say they are catching hackers take that ridiculous and strange thing and tell a strict person to come and go for two days not a day, hey!”
Anglo-American father wasn’t arrested because of embezzlement… .
I was really happy.
Still, I was curious.
If you are a hacker-catching police officer, you are referring to the hacker investigation team with team leader Kim Jeong-soo.
What was the cause of the investigation of Anglo-American father there?
When I got home, I called Kim Jung-soo, team leader.
– Yes, this is Kim Jung-soo from the 2nd hacker investigation team.
“Hello, uncle. This is Jung-ho, Chae Jeong-ho.”
-uh… ! Anyway, I was just trying to contact you. As you said, this morning, a check came in from the Euljiro branch of Korea Exchange Bank, and I even confirmed that 60.73 million won was paid.
“So, is the investigation going on now?”
His laughter was heard over the receiver.
-haha—. Well… Should I wait for the company to report embezzlement?
“ah… ! okay.”
– As I said yesterday, this is not a case I can take on. If it’s a 6,000 dollar embezzlement… The Jongno Police Station, which has jurisdiction over it, will be in charge.
“all right. But, I… I have one more question.”
-What?
“Did you investigate Kim Sang-in? I heard that you went to the hacker investigation unit yesterday and today.”
“right.”
“I’m sorry, maybe… Can you tell me what you investigated him for?”
– Do you have a lot of questions?
“My friend was very surprised. I was very surprised too. I was worried that something else might have happened.”
With a short sigh, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo said.
-Is there any better alibi than being investigated by the police?
“… !”
His words blew my mind.
In the words of team leader Kim Jeong-soo, it means that Young-mi’s father was deliberately brought to the police station for an alibi.
If the investigation into the embezzlement case begins soon, the Anglo-American father will be immediately excluded from the list of dragons.
This morning, the time the check was paid for $80,000… .
This is because Young-mi’s father, who was being investigated by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was unable to withdraw the money from the Korea Exchange Bank located in Eulji-ro.
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo’s voice came over the phone.
-By the way, what would you do if you had 2 million won?
“Two million won?”
-Yeah, Park Byeong-tae was arrested last night. He’s a wanted man with a bounty on it, so he’ll get a bounty soon.
“ah… ! Really?”
The first thought that came to my mind was my mother’s return to school.
Although my mother did not express it to me, I am well aware that my family’s economic situation is not doing well.
This is the reason why my mother recently took a leave of absence from Bangtong University and started working as a lecturer at a private academy.
But on the other hand, if you get a bounty… I was worried that I might not be exposed to the media.
two million won.
It’s definitely not a small amount of money, but… .
That’s not a lot of money to take the risk either.
I opened my mouth carefully.
“thank you. But, that money… I don’t think I should get it. It’s a burden to be exposed to people.”
– I already know it well. So you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll make up the story in moderation, ah… ! Wait a minute!
A short conversation followed with a voice looking for Team Leader Kim Jung-soo from the other side of the receiver, and then Team Leader Kim Jung-soo spoke to me.
– Now I have a place to go urgently. Are you okay next Monday? Come see me after school. I have something to ask you face-to-face. Are you fine?
“Then are we going to buy you pizza again?”
-ha ha ha! OK!
read at noblemtl.com
Next monday.
We ate four pizzas at Pizza Hot.
In-cheol ate almost two plates by himself, but when he heard that team leader Kim Jeong-soo would buy him another pizza, he said he deliberately skipped lunch.
After eating pizza to my stomach, Team Leader Kim Jeong-su drove In-cheol and Yeong-mi home, and drove to a park a little far from the apartment complex.
As he got out of the car and sat down on a park bench, he pulled out a cigarette and put it to his mouth.
“oh! No!”
“Yes? What?”
“You can’t smoke next to me.”
After meeting him last time, he explained that his mother had misunderstood him, and he put the cigarette in his mouth back into the cigarette pack with a regretful expression.
He started talking that the bounty would be paid out next week.
All the necessary documents were ready, and when I got a call next week, I said that all I had to do was come to the Southwest Police Box with my mother to collect the bounty.
The thought of my mother being able to re-register for the Kwangtongdae class made me feel good.
My mother often told me about the contents of the Chinese lessons I learned in the lectures, and I could tell how much she enjoyed the lectures from her expression.
I told Team Leader Kim Jung-soo.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“Thank you, I should thank you. I had a good performance. Hmm, and… .”
He looked at me with his eyes wide open and continued.
“I’ve been here for a long time… I think I know for sure now.”
“… ?”
“I’ll ask you straight up. when did you die
“yes?!”
“I don’t know about the World Cup, so I’m saying he died before 2002… .”
He clicked his tongue and continued.
“You must have a story too.”
I shook my head and said.
“what… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s okay to be honest now. men and horses!”
“What… yo. this?”
He chuckled and said to me.
“Let’s say you guessed the check number was because you were smart. But the fact that the criminal set the date the check was paid… There really is only one.”
“… !”
In an instant, several thoughts ran through my mind.
The World Cup he just mentioned and whether he died before 2002… .
The number 2002 on the back of his business card… .
Since the 1994 World Cup was held this summer and the World Cup is held every four years, the World Cup will be held in 2002, 12 years later.
then… .
The words on the back of his business card.
‘Soccer 2002 quarterfinals If you know this, I will contact you.’
If you know the team that made it to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, it means contact them!
This means that team leader Kim Jeong-soo was trying to make sure that I remember my previous life.
He read my expression and opened his mouth.
“actually… I am a returnee.”
“… !”
I couldn’t open my mouth for a while in shock.
he asked with a worried expression.
“you… Are you okay?”
“ah… ! yes… I think so.”
I looked around and lowered my voice and asked him.
“Then, uncle… You mean you have memories of a previous life?”
He nodded without a word.
“OMG… Nonsense… . Then, we… Are there other people like you?”
He nodded again.
“Uh, how… Are you there?”
“I don’t know for sure. But there must be quite a bit more than you think?”
“How many are there?”
“haha–! Well… .”
“then… What should we do?”
“What do you do? All you need to do is to use your memory well before returning to eat well and live a good life! What’s wrong with life? haha—!”
“Then is it okay if I tell someone close to me? I often have to lie to my mother… Every time I do that, I feel a little guilty.”
He shook his head with a determined expression.
“never! Never say it out loud.”
He continued to speak with a bitter smile as if recalling memories of the past.
“The moment it comes out of your mouth, no matter how close you are… They’ll think you’re crazy.”
“You can prove it. Wouldn’t you believe me if I told you ahead of time what’s going to happen?”
He still shook his head.
“then… They’ll think you’re really crazy. And then I will start to fear you.”
After a moment of silence I asked him.
“There is something written on the back of your business card. Are you referring to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals?”
He nodded.
“Why are you in the quarterfinals? Isn’t that the winning team?”
“When Korea advances to the quarterfinals.”
“I beg your pardon? Whoa! Fuhahahaha—-.”
I laughed for a while and then said to him.
“You can’t lie like that, that I don’t know! He is a person who embodies a just society.”
He looked at me and said.
“Then shall we bet?”
“A bet?”
He nodded and said.
“If my country advances to the quarterfinals, you will help me prepare.”
By the way… This man’s expression doesn’t look like a lie.
no way… Really?
Is Korea really in the 4th?
I’m not the Riemann hypothesis… Did you mean to play soccer?
He smiled at my worried expression and said.
“Okay, when did you die?”
“It’s 2020.”
He turned his head towards me and said as if chasing.
“What? But don’t you know about the 2002 World Cup?”
“I was living in America at the time. I’ve been studying math all my life.”
In response to my answer, he took out a cigarette and put it into his mouth.
Then he lit it with a lighter and inhaled the cigarette smoke deep in his chest.
“ah–! Uncle, please smoke… .”
he said with a smirk.
“If you die in 2020, aren’t you really old?”
“OMG–! Your mother is misunderstood.”
He ignored me and exhaled white cigarette smoke.
“then… Is this your first comeback?”