Finding You

CHAPTER 5

Little did Eon Jin know that Tae Pyung was actually anticipating the same thing when they did that handshake. Unfortunately, they were both disappointed in the end as not a single thing happened after their contact.

Eon Jin was the first to loosen her hold from his hand. Both of them put up a pretense to make it seem like it was a casual gesture and there weren't any motives behind it.

So it wasn't because we touched, Tae Pyung concluded in his thoughts. If it's not because of that, then what?

Eon Jin nervously cleared her throat, bringing Tae Pyung's attention back to her.

"See you around, then," she told Tae Pyung with a tense smile, then gave him a quick nod before she climbed on to her car and drove off.

Tae Pyung went back to his team shortly after Eon Jin left. However, his mind was still trying to figure out the connection between his visions and the woman whom he met today as Son Eon Jin.

"Everything okay, sir?" Kyung Won, his second in command, asked as he handed Tae Pyung a cup of coffee from a nearby vending machine.

"Of course," he replied, trying his best to sound normal. "Have they wrapped things up by the river?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago," Kyung Won confirmed. "Initially, it doesn't seem like there was foul play. The man was a known drunkard and the assumption is that he fell in the water by accident."

Tae Pyung took a sip of his coffee while Kyung Won and the other team members filled him in on the rest of the preliminary findings. He was listening, but somehow his thoughts were still hovering over the possible catalysts for his déjà vu. Even so, a part of him felt quite disheartened knowing that he was back to the drawing board.

"Should I tell the team to pack up and return to the station so we can discuss?" Kyung Won asked, pulling Tae Pyung's mind back to their conversation.

"That's a good idea," he agreed, keeping his pretense that he was attentive the entire time.

In one gulp, he chugged his already lukewarm coffee and crushed the cup before throwing it in the nearby waste bin.

"I'll meet you guys there," he told Kyung Won, giving him a pat on the shoulder before he headed back to his car.

The following days were hectic for Tae Pyung and his team. As it turned out, the drowning of the man in the river was not an accident. They were able to find a lead on the culprit, who was in fact the second cousin of the dead man. The perpetrator plotted the crime to swindle the man's insurance money and almost got away with it, until several suspicious transactions were traced back to his bank accounts. Reporters were having a field day covering the progress of the investigation due to the interesting backstory, which made it extra difficult for Tae Pyung's team to covertly carry out the manhunt.

A week passed since Tae Pyung's team found out that the incident was a probable murder. Everyone was on their toes, desperately wanting to close this case as soon as possible. They worked day and night and were basically taking up residence at the police station as they carried out with their investigation.

Tae Pyung threw his head back in frustration upon hearing from one of his subordinates over the phone that the suspect left his motel room hideout five to ten minutes before the police arrived.

"How could one person beat us over and over!?" Kyung Won lashed out as soon as Tae Pyung hung up, slamming his fist on the table.

"It's like we're looking for a needle in a haystack," one of the junior investigators said. "We don't even have an idea what he looks like now. How do we expect to catch him?"