Chapter 153 - The Code

KJ was frozen on the spot.

"What did you say?" his voice quivered. He felt his hands getting clammy as dread filled him.

Hyun Jung and Mirae were surprised by his reaction.

"SD said that the key is 'the day when time changed,'" Mirae frowned. "Are you okay?"

KJ was in a daze. The day when time changed…

How did this mysterious SD know about his secret? It was impossible. No one knew about this except Jade. And Jade was still recovering. 

"KJ?" Hyun Jung shook him. 

"Huh?" KJ broke out of his reverie. 

"Are you alright?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm fine," KJ lied. But his forehead was sweating.

"You don't look okay," Mirae pointed out. "Do you know anything about the code SD informed us of?"

"No," KJ said shortly. "I need to go. Send Jade over when he wakes up."

"KJ-" Hyun Jung started but KJ waved him off and darted towards his apartment. 

Mirae and Hyun Jung were very puzzled by his behavior. "What do you reckon happened to him?" Hyun Jung asked.

"I don't know," Mirae admitted. "He looked...lost. He's hiding something."

"Does it have something to do with the phrase this SD sent?" Hyun Jung demanded. "The day when time changed...what does it even mean?"

"I don't know," Mirae replied. "But it seems like KJ does. The way he acted was suspicious."

"Let's ask him tomorrow," Hyun Jung suggested. "Maybe he figured out the password and simply wants to open the box alone. I'm sure he'll tell us what's in it once he finds the evidence."

"Maybe," Mirae said absentmindedly, still staring at KJ's apartment.

"By the way," Hyun Jung said. "Did you find anything about that man?"

Mirae knew quite well which man he was talking about. Years ago, she had SD check in on Somi's case secretly. Unfortunately, the culprit is one of SD's clients and had already paid for his silence. However, while SD did not break his rule directly, he had decided to slip in one clue for Mirae.

"I may be a scum but even I can't see a girl cry," he had told her.

"There is one clue which I have," Mirae said. "It was not of much help since the only way to confirm this evidence is by directly catching the culprit."

"What is it?" Hyun Jung demanded. 

"The man has the tattoo of a crown on his lower back," Mirae answered. "Which is why every time I catch one of the Cartel's men, I always check their bodies for any tattoos. But I still could not find that person. Moreover, none of my informers nor the Cartel prisoners have any clue about this mysterious tattoo guy."

"Did you check Shun Oguri?" Hyun Jung asked. "What if he has the tattoo?"

"Somi already saw Shun Oguri," Mirae pointed out. "Even if she almost murdered him, she did it only after finding out about what he had done to Song Tamlin's daughter. She was behaving perfectly fine with him before that. Since she's too traumatized to even help us with a sketch of the man, if Shun Oguri was her culprit, then she'd have flipped out from the very beginning."

"True," Hyun Jung agreed. "But the Cartel is so big. How are we gonna find this guy?"

"Only the leaders know all the details about their underlings," Mirae replied. "If you manage to prosecute Shun Oguri, he may spill. Or we can catch Ziko first. I highly doubt Ziko will say anything."

"He himself might be Somi's culprit," Hyun Jung said. The very thought of what that man was capable of made Hyun Jung's blood boil. He had heard many stories of how Ziko had assaulted and molested women over the years. All he lacked was evidence and he did not want Somi to face that man either.

"Everything now falls upon the meeting in Sunny Daze," Mirae commented. "We have only two days left for the meeting. We need to act fast."

Hyun Jung nodded. They must somehow catch Ziko there. Otherwise they would not get a chance like this ever again.

"What's the-" Hyun Jung started but his phone rang up. He took it out to see the caller ID. It was Eli.

"Hello, Eli," he greeted. "What's up?"

He listened to her words carefully. A look of astonishment dawned on his hardened features.

"What is it?" Mirae asked when he hung up.

"CEO…" he began. "Song Tamlin filed a case against Shun Oguri. The Prosecutor on this case has demanded for his arrest and it has been accepted."

Mirae stared at him in astonishment. "He's pressing charges?" she asked. "That's unlike him."

The little she knew about Song Tamlin, he was not the type of person who would be satisfied with sending his enemies to jail. He would torture them mercilessly and then kill them. Before killing Madam Hong, he played a psychological game with her by giving her hopes of freedom. If there was something Madam Hong loved was her own life and freedom. He pretended to free her before taking her life. It was probably the tamest punishment he had given to an enemy but Mirae suspected it was because she was his wife.

"Let's go and meet this prosecutor," Mirae said. "We may not like Song Tamlin, but this case might benefit us. We'll be able to keep an eye directly on Shun Oguri and make him spill the Cartel's secrets."

Let's go," Hyun Jung nodded.

….

KJ shut the door behind him. Leaning against it, a strange nervousness gripped him. How did SD know about his secret? He was so damn sure that the information broker was referring to the day he decided to erase his past. The date was still etched into his mind.

14th October 2011…

It was the day Mirae died in the original timeline and it was the day KJ had changed their fates. No one knew about it except for Jade and…

"That woman in red," KJ whispered. She was the one who had sent Jade to him. Was she trying to send a message through this SD? He must find her. But how?

KJ racked his brains, trying to remember the times when the woman showed up. She only appeared in front of him during the original timeline. He had not seen her for many years in the new one. Moreover, she only turned up in front of him when he was least expecting it. Only Mirae was able to summon her that too accidentally using that locket. 

If only there was some way…

He cursed himself. Jade would have probably been able to find her but the cat still did not recover. It was important to find that woman. But there was also a more pressing matter.

The box.

KJ rushed into his room and ripped out his luggage bag, looking for the box. He finally found it. Taking it out, he took a deep breath.

"This is it," he told himself. "I'm finally going to get a clue to their deaths."

His hands were trembling when he pressed the code in. The box began to process the code. KJ waited impatiently, holding his breath in...