The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 130

Happily Ever After (2)

“Wow, Oppa, you can cook like this?”

Han Ji-yoo, after tasting the food, couldn’t stop exclaiming in admiration.

“It’s really delicious, amazing.”

She even raised her thumb.

It was a different kind of satisfaction from when I cooked for myself while living alone.

I felt like I could understand the feelings of mothers watching their children eat deliciously.

“It makes me feel good to see you eat so well.”

“It’s really delicious. If Oppa weren’t a public official, I’d want to go on a cooking show with you.”

“Hahaha, that’s too much praise, isn’t it?”

“But it’s the truth.”

She widened her eyes but didn’t stop eating.

I had considered putting a ring in the food, but Yoon Seol-ha and Jo Ara rejected it right away.

They said it was a confession method from 20 years ago.

It was a method I had come up with, unlike the ice cream… Thinking about it now, I’m glad I didn’t do it.

“Oppa, try it quickly.”

She personally put a shrimp in my mouth.

“Coming to Jeju Island with Oppa like this is completely healing…”

I finished dinner, chatting with her at the table for a long time.

“Since Oppa cooked, I’ll do the dishes.”

“Okay.”

I got up from my seat and casually brought up a suggestion.

“Shall we watch a movie together?”

“It’s quite far to go to a movie theater from here, isn’t it?”

“No, there’s a beam projector in the master bedroom. Let’s watch it with that.”

“That sounds good.”

“Okay. I’ll get it ready.”

“Alright.”

Leaving her putting on rubber gloves, I nonchalantly entered the master bedroom.

As soon as I came in, I hurriedly took out the USB from the carrier, connected it to the laptop, and finished all the settings.

I checked the video again in case there was a problem, checked the volume several times to make sure it was okay, and even brushed my teeth and gargled several times in case I had bad breath before welcoming Han Ji-yoo.

She must have washed up again in the bathroom in the living room, as a bright fragrance wafted from her.

“What movie are we watching?”

Han Ji-yoo twisted her hair up and sat down next to me.

“You’ll know when you see it.”

“What is it, what is it?”

Instead of answering her question, I smiled and played the video.

As the black light cleared from the screen projected by the beam projector, my face, filled with tension, appeared.

-Hello, Ji-yoo.

Instantly, my hands and feet curled up [a Korean expression for feeling extremely embarrassed or shy].

“Oh, what is this?”

Han Ji-yoo widened her eyes and stood up.

She repeatedly looked at the screen and my face, unable to hide her surprised expression.

-From the first time I saw you… no, even before I first met you, I originally liked you. Of course, at that time, it was pure fan sentiment. And then…

As the me in the video message spoke seriously, Han Ji-yoo’s gaze was fixed on the screen.

My face flushed with embarrassment.

However, I had put the contents I had only thought about in my heart into the video message and was telling her, so I didn’t want to hide.

While Han Ji-yoo was still focused on the contents of the video message, I took out the ring case I had prepared in advance and naturally took my place.

And as the video message came to an end, the me in the video said quietly.

-Ji-yoo. I have one last thing to say to you.

With those words, the video stopped, and I naturally knelt down on one knee towards her, opened the ring case, and held it out.

“Will you marry me?”

Han Ji-yoo covered her mouth with both hands.

Her eyes, already red, were filled with tears that trickled down.

Soon, as if her throat was choked, she replied in a voice filled with emotion.

“Yes, I love you.”

She hugged me tightly before I could even put the ring on her finger.

Han Ji-yoo hugged me so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

I smiled broadly and patted her back.

“I’ll put the ring on you.”

Han Ji-yoo nodded and stepped back.

I took the ring out of the ring case and put it on her left ring finger.

“It’s so pretty.”

Han Ji-yoo, looking at her ring, burst into tears again.

“Why are you crying so much? Anyone would think you don’t want to get married.”

“That’s not true.”

She sniffled and took my hand.

“I didn’t expect you to propose so suddenly like this. This was my dream.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Rather than something flashy outside, in a way that’s unexpected in our own space… Waaah.”

Han Ji-yoo’s lips trembled as she spoke, overwhelmed with emotion.

The epitome of innocence looked even cute.

But I didn’t know this was her dream.

Thanks to Yoon Seol-ha and Jo Ara’s advice, it was very effective.

I’ll have to take good care of them when I get back.

Just a moment ago, my face was flushed because of the video message, but now I felt happy and proud.

I held her hand tightly and said.

“Let’s get married on Chilseok [The seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, a traditional Korean holiday often associated with romance]. You said you wanted to do it on that day.”

At my words, Han Ji-yoo remembered what her younger sibling had told her when they went on a trip together, and she quietly recited.

“Ah, Han Ji-soo, really…”

“Why, do you not like Chilseok?”

“…I like it.”

“Then you’ll be my wife from Chilseok this year?”

Han Ji-yoo carefully looked up at me, blinked her round eyes a couple of times, and then.

“Can’t we start from today?”

The moment I heard those words, I let go of the string of reason I was barely holding onto.

I covered her lips in an instant.

That’s how the night in Jeju deepened.

***

“You’ve worked hard.”

I nonchalantly handed a small bag to Jo Ara and Yoon Seol-ha.

Yoon Seol-ha, who immediately recognized the contents of the bag, smiled and asked.

“It seems to have been quite effective.”

“She said that was her dream.”

“I knew it!”

Yoon Seol-ha rejoiced, clenching her fist as if she had solved a case.

“When the wedding invitations come out later, I’ll give them to you two first.”

“Ah, so this was meant to be put directly into the congratulatory money [customary gift of money given at weddings in Korea]?”

“Is there anything that would violate the Kim Young-ran Act [South Korean anti-corruption law]?”

“Hahaha, I’m just kidding. I’ll use it well.”

After laughing for a moment, they naturally returned to work-related topics.

“Did anything special happen this morning? I was dragged straight into the conference room as soon as I got to work, so I couldn’t pay attention.”

Jo Ara immediately looked at her notepad and replied.

“Ah, Song Hyun-sung, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, came around 10 a.m.”

“Hyun-sung did?”

“Yes. He didn’t come because of anything special, but it seemed like he had something to complain about. I think it might be because the Chief Prosecutor came by a while ago… Anyway, it seemed like he came with the intention of having a cigarette together.”

“He didn’t say anything separately or ask you to pass anything on to me?”

“No. It didn’t seem like it was anything important.”

“I understand. I’ll contact him.”

“Yes. There were no other special notes.”

“Then you two go ahead and work. I’ll go make a phone call for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Leaving the two behind, I went out of the office and immediately called Song Hyun-sung.

The voice came as soon as the ringtone rang a couple of times.

-Hello?

“Hyun-sung, I heard you came by earlier?”

-Yeah. I dropped by because your phone was off, but I heard you were in a meeting.

“Yeah. I turned it off completely and went in. What’s wrong?”

-No, there’s a rumor going around that you talked to the Chief Prosecutor a few days ago, is that true?

“He suddenly came to the office. Why is that?”

-Ah, suddenly that guy… Ah, where are you? Come out for a second. Let’s talk face to face.”

“I’ll go down now.”

It was the first time I had seen Song Hyun-sung so frustrated.

Did he have a problem with Chief Prosecutor Park Jae-pil?

I immediately took the elevator down and went to the back of the prosecutor’s office building, where Song Hyun-sung was, as expected, holding a cigarette and puffing away.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

I naturally lit a cigarette next to him and sat down.

“Did you get chewed out by the Chief Prosecutor?”

He shook his head at my question.

“No, first of all, aside from me, was there anything strange when you met him?”

“The way I met him was completely unexpected. Considering what he’s done so far, I wouldn’t have expected it at all, but he was rather gentle.”

“Ah, I think I know what kind of expression that is.”

Song Hyun-sung grimaced and exhaled cigarette smoke.

“That guy is usually slick and ordinary, but once he gets angry, he goes completely crazy. It’s like he has rabies.”

“What did you do?”

“Haa.”

He opened his mouth with a deep sigh.

“This time, the case of Chief Kang Joong-sik, that bastard, that was passed on, you know. Anyway, since it’s about the punishment of a prosecutor, the Inspection Department has no choice but to get involved, right?”

“That’s right. I heard that the Narcotics Investigation Department and you guys are working on it together this time?”

“That’s right. But suddenly he came and started cursing about Chief Kang Joong-sik with that and overturned the office.”

Thinking about his gentle expression from a few days ago, it was hard to imagine at all.

But somehow, intuitively, it felt like it was possible.

In other words, it didn’t make sense in my head, but I felt like I knew it in my heart.

“For no reason?”

“That’s why I’m saying he’s crazy. It’s not the first or second time he’s had these outbursts. I used to think it was just him being a jerk when he had his usual tantrums, but this time it was too much. One of the investigators is in a cast because of it, you know?”

If he was in a cast, it must have been more than just being a jerk, he must have gone on a rampage.

“But our investigator heard a few days ago that you met the Chief Prosecutor. So I went straight to you. I was wondering if anything had happened.”

He took out a new cigarette and lit it as soon as he threw away the cigarette butt.

“Didn’t he show any strange signs when he met you?”

“He actually told me to get along well.”

“Wow, I’m getting goosebumps listening to you right now.”

He rolled up his sleeves and showed me the goosebumps on his arm.

“That’s him trying to reassure you and preparing to stab you in the back. Don’t let your guard down.”

“That’s why I’m thinking it’s even more suspicious. Even if he thought I was dangerous, it’s strange that he would declare a truce right after cutting off his right-hand man.”

“I think that’s even scarier.”

Song Hyun-sung shuddered.

“He said that with a gentle expression in that situation?”

“Yeah. If that viper wasn’t his right-hand man, I would have thought he was a heavenly scholar.”

“Ugh, it’s a complete mask. It’s really a persona itself. He’s the kindest person you’ll ever meet when we’re just having a meeting. I really wonder if he has multiple personalities.”

He let out a sigh.

“So, he didn’t show that side of the mask in front of you?”

“Yeah. I even thought it was strange that he was so calm.”

Song Hyun-sung clicked his tongue and admired.

“Really, he’s doing a good job of cosplaying, as if he’s not a mad dog.”

Wait a minute.

One of the words he said caught my ear.

“What did you just say?”

“What, cosplay?”

“No, I mean ‘mad dog.’ Are you saying that to the Chief Prosecutor?”

“Yeah. Deputy Chief Park Seung-soo and I gave him that nickname. It’s like a code name that only the two of us know.”

He shook his head.