Counterattack Mairrage [Novel] Chapter 12 – A Searchable Man

“Hello. I’m Park Sang-hyeon from the Gwanak Police Station Traffic Crime Investigation Team. We came after receiving word that you woke up.”

Noticing Yu-yeon’s tense expression, the man immediately stated his department and business. Yu-yeon remembered Jeong-yeon telling her this morning that she had contacted the police station.

“Uncle Lim Chun-gyu called. He said we had to report it to the police station. So I called them, and they’ll probably drop by in person.”

‘Ah, right, my accident was a hit-and-run. And they still haven’t caught the culprit.’

“Yes. Hello.”

“How are you feeling?”

“They told me recovery will take some time since I was in a coma for so long. Fortunately, my head is fine.”

“That’s truly a relief.”

After the brief greeting, the detective got straight to the point.

“As you’ve likely heard, we haven’t been able to identify a suspect in the accident yet. We conducted canvasses in the area, but nothing meaningful came up. There were no cameras there, either.”

“…”

“How about you? Do you remember anything at all? Even the smallest clue would help.”

Yesterday, consumed with thoughts of her father, she hadn’t been able to recall the accident properly. Perhaps because of the comfort she received from Choi Hyeon-myeong and having had time to mourn, her head felt somewhat clearer. Even as she thought back to the moment of the crash, however, she didn’t have any information that could truly help the police.

“It happened so suddenly that there’s really nothing to remember. The headlights were so bright that I couldn’t even get a good look at the vehicle. It was just the size of a regular passenger car, but as for the color, nothing at all…”

Whether or not Yu-yeon’s unremarkable answer was of any help, the two detectives exchanged glances and nodded.

“We suspect the car rammed straight into you without braking. The alley where the accident occurred has poor visibility and sees almost no traffic, yet judging from the marks, the car was driving straight ahead at tremendous speed.”

“…”

“It was too reckless a speed to consider it a simple accidental collision, and the traces left behind after the incident are strange as well.”

“Traces?”

“Rather than fleeing in a hurry, there were signs that the culprit stepped out of the vehicle, confirmed whether anyone had died, and only then drove away.”

“Then… you mean this might not be a simple hit-and-run?”

“We need to leave the possibilities open.”

Yu-yeon’s brow furrowed at the detective’s reply.

“So, I’d like to ask: did your father have anyone who bore a grudge against him?”

Yu-yeon looked utterly at a loss at the question.

Could her father really have made an enemy?

He was a man loved and respected by many for his natural integrity and virtue. At least, that was how he had appeared in Yu-yeon’s eyes.

Yet she knew nothing about who her father was at the company.

“At least, no one ever came looking for him at our house. But I think his business was struggling at the time. I heard Uncle Lim Chun-gyu, who was the executive director, had a hard time settling company matters after my father passed away.”

“We’ve also investigated everyone connected to Jideok Trading and its partners, but found no meaningful clues.”

“…”

“In any case, as far as you recall, there were no personal grudges either, correct?”

“I’m not sure… Maybe Uncle Lim Chun-gyu would know. The two of them were close.”

“Understood. We’ll take that into account. Aside from that, has anyone suspicious come to see you since you woke up?”

“Nothing unusual happened… Ah, wait, there was a slightly strange person three nights ago.”

Her eyes shifting in thought, Yu-yeon recalled that night three days ago.

“I even remember the time. It was 1:25 in the morning. A man walked into the hospital room and came toward me without turning on the light. But when I asked who it was, he immediately left, saying he had the wrong room.”

“1:25 AM… That is certainly strange. By any chance, is that camera over there working?”

Sensing something suspicious just as Yu-yeon had, the detective pointed to the camera at the corner of the room.

“Yes. But the room lights were off, so I doubt anyone could be identified. I couldn’t see his face either.”

“CCTV is installed in the hospital hallway too, right?”

“Yes. But it was dark there as well…”

The detective nodded with a grave look and wrote something down in his notebook.

“Understood. We’ll look into it. And if you have a phone, could you give us your number?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Yu-yeon wrote down her newly activated phone number on the fresh page the detective turned to and held out.

“I truly hope the culprit gets caught.”

Yu-yeon handed the notebook back with earnest hope.

“We’ll do our best.”

The detective, who had maintained a solemn expression throughout, offered a faint smile only at the end of the visit. He then added a personal remark.

“It seems President Lim Chun-gyu is close with our chief of police. He specifically requested that we pay extra attention to this case.”

Yu-yeon gave a blank nod, letting out a soft “Ah…”

“Well then, please contact us if you remember anything later on.”

“Yes.”

Yu-yeon watched the detectives leave.

Once they were gone, she groaned and sank back against the wheelchair rest.

“Uuuuugh…”

Dealing with the police first thing in the morning drained her energy before she could even do anything.

As her gaze drifted, a laptop caught her eye. Her sister had left it sitting on top of the mini-fridge.

‘Maybe just for a little bit…’

Since starting college, she had never gone a single day without a computer, yet ever since waking from her coma, she hadn’t touched one.

Her sister, who had become her guardian, had strictly urged her to recover a bit more before touching the laptop. Knowing her older sister all too well, she knew Yu-yeon would sit in front of the screen all day without caring about building her strength back up.

‘Just until the caregiver arrives.’

Giving herself that excuse, Yu-yeon placed the laptop on her lap.

She had barely touched the newly activated phone her sister gave her, even though one could do anything on a smartphone these days, yet a PC tempted her like this. A developer’s instinct was simply inescapable.

Now, what should she do with it?

Staring blankly at the default search portal homepage, Yu-yeon randomly clicked on a few news articles that caught her eye before typing the name ‘Choi Hyeon-myeong’ into the search bar. A flood of search results, including various news articles, spilled across the screen.

Executive Director Choi Hyeon-myeong, Head of Distribution Division at Choi Sun Mulsan.

Eldest grandson of Chairman Choi Yong-chol, who built the Choi Sun Group into the conglomerate it was today, and only son of Vice Chairman Choi Jun-sik.

Leading the digital transformation strategy; implementing a logistics infrastructure efficiency forecast system; spearheading strategic M&As with global retail corporations; securing international resource cooperation projects…

‘Seeing how he pulled off all these massive projects, he must squeeze his subordinates dry.’

Finding it fascinating that every article reported pure success without a single mention of failure in any initiative he led, Yu-yeon clicked through them as if entranced. A moment later, after studying the screen, she burst into a muffled laugh.

‘He really hates having his picture taken, doesn’t he?’

Hardly any photo snapped by reporters showed him properly. There were photos of him covering his face with a phone, photos of him trying to talk to the person beside him, photos of him taking massive strides as if running away, and photos of him quickly ducking behind his secretary…

One article even featured real-time snapshots of him fleeing from what must have been an exceptionally persistent photojournalist.

Clicking through several articles, a smile lingered on Yu-yeon’s lips. Then, she felt a slight twinge of guilt.

‘The poor man must have been completely serious, and here I am laughing at him.’

Letting out a needless cough, Yu-yeon navigated away from the news section and browsed other web pages.

Since all she had known about Choi Hyeon-myeong was that they were alumni from the same university, everything on the web pages was new information.

Between investigating a new person and the joy of using a computer after so long, Yu-yeon kept a smile on her face for quite a while.

Then, pausing, her expression froze at a single, dry line in a wiki article.

— Biological mother passed away in a helicopter crash at age nine.

‘…His mother passed away a long time ago.’

He had experienced the exact same ninth year as she had.

Yu-yeon stared blankly at the screen for a long time, then shook her head and closed the page.

That was enough reading about Choi Hyeon-myeong.

Reminding herself of who she was, Yu-yeon began searching for articles on recent IT tech.

Before long, however, her expression crumpled into distress.

“Wh-what on earth is all this?”

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Counterattack Mairrage [Novel] Chapter 12 – A Searchable Man

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