Even a Lonely Squirrel Has Its Burrow - Chapter 128

“Have a safe trip.”

“I don’t feel at ease leaving just our baby behind. Should I just take the day off today as well?”

“I’m not a child….”

The conversation between the two continued in front of a car with its door open. Garam seemed momentarily tempted by Sa Muheon’s suggestion but quickly regained his senses and shook his head.

“As I said before, for me….”

“Uh, just go already!”

Chief Han was already waiting for Sa Muheon in the driver’s seat, but Sa Muheon, as if he had forgotten Han’s presence, subtly tried to pull Garam into an embrace.

In the end, Garam practically shoved him into the back seat of the car. Even as Sa Muheon reluctantly got in, he did not forget to plant a light kiss on Garam’s cheek.

Though Garam appeared to be wary of Han’s presence, he eventually gave in and returned the kiss on Sa Muheon’s cheek. Sa Muheon smiled lazily, like a well-fed beast, and rolled up the window. Until the car departed, he continued waving at Garam.

It was only when Garam had become nothing more than a small dot in the distance that Sa Muheon finally turned his gaze forward.

Chief Han, who had been watching him through the rearview mirror, finally spoke.

“You seem to be doing well these days.”

“Do I?”

At those words, Sa Muheon uncharacteristically looked a little embarrassed. However, Chief Han simply chuckled, as if he found even that sight amusing.

Sa Muheon, feeling awkward about the rare display of emotion, quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, how did the test results come out last time?”

“They said it’s not an addictive drug. As they mentioned, it’s simply a drug that accelerates heat-rut cycles.”

“I see. I figured as much.”

Sa Muheon nodded as if he had expected it and turned his gaze out the window.

Because of that incident at the club, his rut had been forced to come early, and as a result, he had to undergo an unwanted examination.

Since he had always suppressed his rut cycle with inhibitors, people around him were concerned that artificially accelerating the cycle with another drug might cause problems.

Though he had suspected that his body was fine since his rut had ended much faster than usual, he couldn’t refuse his lover’s request to get checked.

Fortunately, as expected, the results showed no abnormalities.

Even though he had been almost certain that nothing was wrong, the thought that his lover would have been more distressed than he would have been if something had gone wrong made him realize he should be more careful with his body in the future.

With that thought, Sa Muheon let out a chuckle. Just thinking about Garam made him feel good, which amused him a little. It was still hard to believe that he was allowed this kind of happiness.

Seeing that Sa Muheon, sitting in the back seat, seemed to be in a good mood, Chief Han, who had been keeping an eye on him, spoke again.

“There’s something more I need to report regarding the club incident last time.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing Chief Han’s words, Sa Muheon quickly adjusted his expression. He knew he had already been seen, but he didn’t want to be caught smiling foolishly.

“Is there anything else I should know?”

It was a bit unexpected. As far as Sa Muheon was concerned, what had happened at the club was nothing more than an annoying accident, and that should have been the end of it. He hadn’t thought there would be anything else for him to be involved in, so he was curious about why Chief Han was bringing it up again.

“There have been no notable movements since that day. As you suspected, they seem to be searching for Ryu Beom-ju, but they appear to be avoiding conflict with our side.”

“Hmm….”

“However, since we share the same goal, avoiding all contact is impossible. Recently, there was a minor conflict with them. What should we do?”

At Chief Han’s question, Sa Muheon fell into brief contemplation.

Although the forced rut acceleration caused by the drug had been annoying, he hadn’t been overly concerned about the incident itself.

After all, all shifter experience heat-rut cycles. While the timing varies for each individual, it’s not something that threatens one’s life or health.

Besides, although it wasn’t intentional, the accelerated rut had allowed him and Garam to confirm their feelings for each other.

After a short deliberation, he reached a conclusion.

“Just leave it alone.”

“Will that be alright?”

Chief Han still seemed a little worried, but Sa Muheon recalled the conversation he had that day and nodded again.

“If what I heard that day was true, they just want to recover what they need from Ryu Beom-ju. They said we could hand him over after we’re done with him.”

Of course, it was possible that they had lied, but to Sa Muheon, their words had seemed genuine. It wasn’t surprising that Ryu Beom-ju’s hidden source of funds was illegal drugs.

“As long as we don’t provoke them first, they likely won’t attack us either. Let’s leave them alone and keep watch for now. It might actually be helpful.”

“Understood.”

It wasn’t that he trusted them. But for now, since they shared the same objective, he just hoped they would be of some assistance in capturing Ryu Beom-ju.

Before long, Sa Muheon arrived at his office building. His deeply furrowed brow made it clear that he was in a foul mood.

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be going to work at all. He wanted to spend the entire day with Garam. Now that Garam was on break, the temptation was even stronger.

Unlike Sa Muheon, who had only cared about graduating during his college years, Garam was a model student. It was only after meeting Garam that Sa Muheon had to acknowledge that some people genuinely enjoyed studying.

Now that his injured shoulder was healing well, he would have loved to spend a relaxing day with Garam in his arms, but the biggest problem was that he couldn’t rest until Ryu Beom-ju was caught.

Moreover, he didn’t want Garam to see him as an incompetent and irresponsible person.

As he arrived on the office floor, the previously empty reception desk was now occupied, and the person sitting there quickly stood up to greet him. It was Jang Seok-gyu, who had returned to his original duties now that Garam was on break.

“It’s been a while.”

“Team Leader Jang, you look like you have too much free time.”

Sa Muheon responded petulantly, feigning annoyance, but Jang Seokgyu merely let out a hearty laugh.

“Haha, there’s no way. I’m swamped with piled-up work and barely have time to breathe.”

Perhaps worried that Sa Muheon might assign him another troublesome task, he quickly took his seat and avoided meeting his gaze. Sa Muheon chuckled softly and stepped further inside.

Chief Han followed him in. Holding a folder of documents in his hand, it seemed he had another report to deliver. Since Sa Muheon thought he had already received most of the reports on the way, he asked in a puzzled voice,

“Is there something else I need to hear?”

At his question, Chief Han remained silent for a moment. It wasn’t until Sa Muheon sat down and looked up at him that his tightly shut lips finally parted. His expression was grim, and Sa Muheon suddenly felt an ominous chill run down his spine.

“It’s still unverified information.”

“What is it? Even if it’s uncertain, if you think it’s serious enough to report to me, it must be important.”

At Sa Muheon’s words, Chief Han gave a heavy nod. The foreboding feeling in his chest grew stronger. For some reason, he had the eerie sense that once he heard this, something irreversible would unfold. But avoiding it wasn’t an option.

As Sa Muheon stared at him, urging him to speak, Chief Han slowly opened his mouth.

“Recently, while searching for Ryu Beomju’s whereabouts, we’ve been investigating his past activities. There might have been details we previously overlooked.”

“That makes sense. So? Did you find anything useful?”

At Sa Muheon’s question, Chief Han pressed his lips together momentarily. His strange, uncharacteristic hesitation made Sa Muheon start to question his demeanor, but before he could, Chief Han continued speaking.

“A person claiming to know Hong Siljang recently came forward. They don’t have information on his recent whereabouts, but they insist that, in the past, they handled some matters for him and were paid for it.”

“They handled matters? Just what kind of dirty work was it that he needed to pay someone off for it…?”

Instead of answering directly, Chief Han handed over the folder he had been holding.

“I’ve compiled only the confirmed details along with the claims made by this individual. You’d better read through it yourself.”

Chief Han had never acted like this before, so Sa Muheon didn’t hesitate for a moment before accepting the documents.

He couldn’t understand what kind of significant information was in them that would make Chief Han react this way.

However, as he skimmed through the folder with a light heart, his expression gradually hardened.

By the time he reached the final page, he had fallen into a long silence.

Only after a considerable pause did Sa Muheon finally speak.

“This… is this real?”