Chapter 61 – The Customer from Hell is Going Up

[…AG Community Credit Cooperatives is by your side…]

“Geez, why do they play so many commercials endlessly.”

“Sigh. Just wait a bit, it will start soon.”

Geum Nae-yeong’s parents had turned on the TV in the living room and were waiting for *We Want to Know That* to start.

Although they knew today was the broadcast day, Geum Nae-yeong seemed to have already fallen asleep in his room.

[We Want to Know That.

The Disappearance Method of a Suspect Uncaught for 9 Years]

“Oh, oh! It’s starting, it’s starting!”

When the father shouted, the mother got off the sofa and approached the TV.

“In the early morning of a certain day in 20**, an urgent report was received at the 119 situation room.”

The overview of the case flowed out calmly, and then the scene transitioned to the studio.

The PD, the criminal psychologist, and Geum Nae-yeong shared their opinions on the case in a studio space elegantly decorated like a conference room.

“Oh dear, looking at our son on the screen, he is even more handsome.”

The mother smiled warmly.

Even before those words ended, Geum Nae-yeong’s voice was heard from the screen.

“Please show it again.”

“Pardon?”

The host’s narration followed.

“Lawyer Geum Nae-yeong, who was conducting a meeting with the production team, suddenly stops his gaze at a certain video. And a word from Lawyer Geum.”

“…PD. You drew the montage incorrectly.”

A heavy weight was carried in host Kim Jung-ha’s voice.

“Lawyer Geum Nae-yeong says something strange. What did they draw incorrectly?

The part where he requested to pause the video is exactly this scene. The interview scene of the female owner of a nearby entertainment establishment.”

“Ji-yoon! Do you know this person?”

“…What is this? Ah, I don’t do this kind of thing.”

“This part.”

Kim Jung-ha’s explanation continued.

“The scene where the owner, who was responding to the interview, calls over a passing woman.

The woman waves her hand once with an irritated expression, turns her face, and leaves the spot just like that. The time captured on screen is only about 5 seconds.

But, you see.

At that moment, Lawyer Geum Nae-yeong tilts his head at a 45-degree angle and soon picks out one of the suspect mugshots presented by the production team.”

*Slide*.

Geum Nae-yeong overlapped the photo containing the profile of suspect A, taken 9 years ago, on the screen.

The moment the photos overlapped, the scene was closed up.

At that time, PD Do Jun-gi asked.

“Lawyer, what are you trying to match? This person is a completely different person. The gender is different from the suspect, and the facial contour does not match either.”

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Geum Nae-yeong tilted the photo slightly and matched it to one spot.

“Yes, it is different. However, there is just one thing. That is the same.”

“…What is it?”

“The shape of the ear.”

“???”

“This man did not pierce his ears, and this woman is wearing earrings. However, the helix, tragus, and even the angle of the earlobe match completely in shape.”

“Pardon???… What does that mean?”

It was the PD’s surprised voice.

The narration followed.

“At first, the production team was also half-in-doubt… but following Lawyer Geum Nae-yeong’s words, they requested a 3D video analysis.

And they precisely compared the photo of the suspect at the time of the search 9 years ago with the ear shape of the woman on the screen currently.”

The surprised voice of the video reporter flowed out.

“Heck… they match completely?”

“Pardon? But how can the ear shapes be the same? They are completely different people?”

“We requested a forensic video analyst to estimate this woman’s physical proportions.”

“Hmm… she doesn’t seem to be 170 cm, maybe around 167 to 168 cm?”

“The result. The height of suspect A at the time of search and the woman matched exactly.”

A moment later.

A camera shaking urgently. The scene footage intersected.

“We urgently arrest you as the suspect for the murder of Kim In-su. You have the right to remain silent…”

The police’s voice followed.

The suspect arrested in that way eventually confessed to the crime.

A moment later, the suspect’s voice, which had undergone voice modulation, flowed out through the speaker.

“…Not long before that incident occurred, I received transgender surgery. Before that, I was only getting hormones. I… really trusted that friend.

When I confessed that I had surgery, he poured out insulting words. So…”

The investigator in charge conveyed the details of the additional statement.

“The motive for the crime was accidental homicide.

He was in a state of continuing hormone therapy even while fleeing, and afterwards, it seems he also received facial plastic surgery by borrowing the name of an acquaintance.

Since cross-dressing was added to plastic surgery, tracking was impossible with the existing montage.

It seems he didn’t think of getting ear plastic surgery even while changing everything else.”

[Colleague in the Same Local Industry]

“Oh, we really didn’t know either. Since everyone smokes so much… we just thought his voice being a bit husky was just how it was.”

“Unless women go to the bathhouse together, they don’t have a reason to see each other’s bodies, do they?

She was actually really feminine. Even more demure than us. So of course I thought she was a woman.”

“Since that unni always used cash only… I just thought she was a credit delinquent. Because there are many such women in this neighborhood.”

Kim Jung-ha’s explanation followed.

“No one suspected. 9 years ago, fugitive A was already living a completely different life under the name ‘Ji-yoon’.”

The screen slowly went dark. Over it, the narration flowed.

“The truth hidden for 9 years.

What found it was a single photo of an ear.”

“Wow!!”

*Slap!*

Watching the screen, Geum Nae-yeong’s father slapped his knee hard in excitement.

“As expected of our Nae-yeong! We shouldn’t have made him a lawyer but a prosecutor! He even solves cold cases like that!”

“See, I told you our Nae-yeong is different!”

There was a hint of choking in the mother’s voice.

Pride and deep emotion for her son seemed to intersect.

“Is Nae-yeong sleeping? Shall we tell him to watch it again and have a drink?”

“What drink for a kid who doesn’t drink. Drink alone!”

At the mother’s glare, the father smiled sheepishly, walked to the refrigerator, and pulled out a beer can.

*Click*. The sound of popping open a can.

A smile never faded from the father’s face.

***

The next afternoon.

Geum Nae-yeong was busily handling consultations today as well.

“There are still 2 weeks left until the contract expiration date. For now, you can consider the contract to still be valid. However, afterwards…”

Riiiiing.

The cell phone on the desk rang.

Geum Nae-yeong stopped speaking and quietly raised his hand.

“Just a moment.”

He took the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Lawyer. This is Officer Kim Yong-jin from the Dongbu Police Station.”

“Ah. Hello.”

“Regarding the lawsuit, we have first secured a list of malicious commenters whose IPs can be tracked.

We will secure the list of those who haven’t been identified yet later and contact you again.”

Geum Nae-yeong was proceeding with lawsuits by gathering those who left high-level malicious comments on him on social media, YouTube, etc.

“By the way… should I send you the list in advance?”

“The list?”

“Yes. Well, because occasionally there are acquaintances among those who leave malicious comments.

As you know, in such cases, rather than a lawsuit, they often talk it out well and conclude it.”

Geum Nae-yeong’s voice was firm.

“No. There is no settlement. Please proceed as it is.”

“Yes… Understood.”

“…Um, wait a moment. I’d like to check the list first, can I receive it by fax?”

“Of course. I will send it right away.”

A few minutes after hanging up,

the office fax machine began to run, making a beeping sound.

White papers slid out one by one, and unfamiliar names caught his eye one by one.

*Rustle*.

He flipped through the printed list and scanned each name.

“Hmm…”

A moment later, his gaze stopped.

He drew a line with a highlighter over one name.

[Park Ki-on]

***

A few hours later.

Screeech-!

“Fuck! You bastard! Move out of the way!!”

Curses poured out incessantly from the mouth of Park Ki-on, who grabbed the steering wheel.

His car sped along the road, changing lanes like crazy.

Furious at the phone call he just received, he couldn’t hold back and went straight to Geum Nae-yeong at Law Firm Teum.

“This is the Dongbu Police Station. You left a restaurant review, correct? A complaint has been received for obstruction of business and defamation.

Also, circumstances of posting swear words and insulting remarks targeting a specific person on social media and YouTube have been confirmed. Nowadays, all of these are tracked. The number of charges is not just one or two right now. You must attend and be investigated.”

Once the short call ended, Park Ki-on’s expression stiffened.

“That retard, reporting me just because I wrote some comments? Ha… Absurd.

If this were the US, this is Free Speech, you idiots.”

He spat out a curse and stepped deep on the accelerator.

Vrooooom-

The tires made a loud noise.

Park Ki-on’s luxury foreign car sped along the road, cutting lanes closely.

Screeech, thud!

It was then.

A red sedan suddenly cut in front of him and came to a sudden stop.

“What the!!”

Slamming on the brakes reflexively, Park Ki-on’s car stopped with a loud friction noise.

In an instant, a burning anger spread across his face. Park Ki-on kicked open the door roughly and rushed out of the car.

Click-

“How dare you block my path?”

In the middle of the road.

The driver who had already gotten out of the front car was approaching him.

“Excuse me, mister! Did you get your driver’s license in a dream?”

“What? Mister?”

Park Ki-on’s face distorted.

The woman raised her eyes high and took another step closer.

“Or do you happen to have color weakness? Why aren’t you obeying the traffic signal?”

“What? Is she crazy! Whether I obey the signal or not, what business is it of yours! With that trashy car of yours…”

The woman smirked.

“Trashy car? Look closely at whose car is trashy before speaking. Well, in any case, it doesn’t matter. Since the traffic violation ticket will fly to your house anyway.”

Only then did Park Ki-on look at the woman’s car. Seeing that, the woman continued speaking.

“Full throttle on Gangnam-daero is just burning tires. The speed doesn’t come out, and only the noise is loud.”

“What?”

Park Ki-on stared blankly at the woman as if dumbfounded.

“Since my Ferrari is a much more precious baby than your car, drive carefully. Understood?”

Finishing her words, the woman put her sunglasses back on and got into the car.

The red car slid away through the road.

“Fuck, some crazy bitch is bullshitting since broad daylight.”

Park Ki-on spat out a curse and got back into the car.

And before long, he arrived in front of Law Firm Teum.

When he parked his car in the parking lot, the Ferrari he had seen earlier was parked in the next space.

“Is it the same car? Don’t know. Anyway, Geum Nae-yeong, this bastard, I won’t let him be. What’s a measly fine even if he sues? He should have gotten beaten by me and died back then.”

Unable to contain his rage, Park Ki-on pressed the [Up] button for the elevator.

Slam!

Pushing open the door roughly and entering, Park Ki-on approached the entrance counter and tossed a word.

“Geum Nae-yeong.”

“Pardon?”

“I came to see the bastard Geum Nae-yeong.”

“Do you have a reservation?”

“What reservation? Is this place a hotel or something? To make a reservation?”

Even at Park Ki-on’s high-handed tone, Im Seon-hui answered indifferently, as if she had dealt with such clients hundreds of times already.

“Number 68.”

“What? What is 68?”

“The number of people waiting currently. If you want to wait, wait, or else come back after reserving next time.

Naver reservations are also possible.”

Park Ki-on’s face distorted.

“What? Fuck, is he some kind of celebrity?

Get lost, I don’t need to get permission from the likes of you.”

He spat out a curse and headed blindly toward the elevator.

Venting his emotions, he slammed down on the button for the floor labeled as Geum Nae-yeong’s office.

Watching that sight silently, Im Seon-hui quietly opened the company messenger and sent a notification.

[The customer from hell is going up.]