Three Ways to Kill Your Boss (12)
Minjun expected two things from the interrogation of Kim Yeonju.
First, he hoped to uncover what she had done with Edelenes in collusion with Jang Taejoon. Even if the kidnapping had failed, by probing the process and the motives, he could get closer to understanding Jang Taejoon's true nature.
Second, if Frying Pan's statement was true, then Kim Yeonju's testimony had been a lie from the start, and the two of them had been quite close. Kim Yeonju might know secrets about him that no one else did.
However, Minjun never expected Kim Yeonju to cooperate willingly in this interrogation.
"It was all that dragon's plan! I was forced to do what I was told because I was being threatened!"
Jeongpal had locked Kim Yeonju in a private storage facility that Minjun had rented for situations like this. It was the same place where he had previously left a footprint during a joint investigation on another matter.
As Kim Yeonju was transported, she was informed of the charges, and the suspect was desperately denying them.
Minjun sat facing her.
"······!"
For a moment, Kim Yeonju felt a crushing pressure on her body.
The man's eyes, which she met, were icy cold. She felt as if her pupils might frost over from his gaze.
Minjun spoke calmly.
"The accomplice, Edelenes, has already been arrested."
The suspect's muscles stiffened even more.
"From what I heard in today's call, it seems like you two are quite close. When did you start knowing each other?"
He repeated the question he had not gotten an answer to in the office.
Kim Yeonju barely mustered all her courage to argue back.
"T-That... that's a misunderstanding... I'll say it again. That dragon unilaterally threatened me..."
Minjun interrupted her.
"That can't be true."
The hormones Kim Yeonju was emitting were too strong to consider that possibility. A chemical substance that intensifies the more one is in close contact with an exotic species for a long time. If the scent was so thick it hurt Minjun's nose, the answer was clear.
"I'm certain. The two of you had a relationship that went beyond the testimony you've just given. So, your shallow attempt to escape suspicion by lying won't work."
His gaze briefly skimmed her hands. The redness in her face deepened. Minjun did not believe her claim of being threatened.
In fact, there was a flaw in Jenkinson's reasoning about Kim Yeonju's collusion with the reckless dragon.
"Jenkinson comes from a family close to nobility, and his exile to Earth was for political reasons. So, he understands the mindset of dragons—especially the younger ones—but only partially."
Despite possessing far superior abilities and wealth compared to ordinary species, the dragons had grown resentful, comparing themselves to the Elder Dragons, the actual rulers of Earth. This anger often manifested in degrading and despising other species.
"If we assume that it was such a dragon's doing, then there's something odd about this case."
The questions that had remained unanswered until Minjun met Kim Yeonju.
If Kim Yeonju had intended to leak Jang Taejoon's secrets to the dragon, what came next? How had she known which dragon would cooperate with her, and how did she find it?
And according to Minjun's understanding of "such dragons," if they had intended to use someone like Kim Yeonju, they would have torn her apart. How dare she try to use a mighty dragon as a mere pawn! Crash!
But Kim Yeonju had survived intact, HyoSeong Industries was still standing strong, and even more, she was now the de facto number one.
When all of this was pieced together, there was only one conclusion.
"That dragon had a legitimate reason not only to spare Kim Yeonju but also to help her."
And the answer came from the hormones Minjun had sensed when he first met her, which had been aimed at the dragon.
"She didn't go to find the dragon to kidnap Jang Taejoon. The timeline is reversed."
Kim Yeonju had known that dragon long before she had decided to kidnap Jang Taejoon.
And not just casually, but in a very close relationship. For long enough to trigger the ISP.
"?"
Jeongpal, sensing that the conversation was heading in an unexpected direction, fumbled.
"Ah... Could it be...?"
A few hours earlier, this orc had wondered how Minjun had accurately identified Edelenes from the three suspects.
The answer was simple.
Edelenes was the only lesbian among the three.
Kim Yeonju trembled, her body shaking.
"The evidence obtained through eavesdropping is invalid in court!"
Minjun interrupted her again.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to get a proper confession, right here."
Looks like magic is going to be necessary.
Minjun had tried to use less harmful methods, since the suspect wasn't from a supernatural crime organization, but it was clear she wasn't going to cooperate.
"Guess there's no choice."
Grumbling, Minjun raised his perfectly fine right hand. He had charged his dark magic enough to capture the dragon, so there was no need to hurt himself again.
Bubbling!
A small boil rose on his finger and burst. The red, raw skin beneath it wriggled with insects. Kim Yeonju let out a gasp as she saw it. Her body instinctively recoiled, sensing the ominousness.
But it was no use.
Whoosh!
The Happy Bug, sensing her breath, sprang into action and burrowed into her nasal cavity.
What followed was a process similar to when interrogating Society members. After the bug settled in her brain, Minjun recited an incantation, and the violent stimuli created an illusion. A brief, counterfeit sense of happiness flowed through her, immediately dominating her. Ten minutes later, the overwhelming sensation completely faded.
"Ugh... uuugh!"
Kim Yeonju trembled all over, as if she had faced a forgotten cold once again.
"Pl-please... please, send me back... send me back again..."
Minjun wasn't curious about what she had seen in that illusion.
In a cold voice, Minjun spoke.
"Everything you say from now on will be recorded. Slowly, thoroughly, don't leave anything out. Tell me everything you plotted with Edelenes against President Jang Taejoon. And everything you know about him."
Minjun gave Jeongpal a glance. The recording preparations were complete.
"Shall we begin?"
As Minjun knew, Kim Yeonju and Jang Taejoon had first met ten years ago, when the company was just founded.
President Jang Taejoon had built the company from a small start-up into its current size in just ten years with his vast knowledge, keen business sense, and genius ideas. With explosive growth came an intensely busy schedule, leaving him with little time to spare. Back then, just like now, both were unmarried, and they spent their days together, eating together, sharing personal stories, and eventually even occasionally sleeping together.
It was an ambiguous relationship. They had never discussed their future. Kim Yeonju simply knew that Jang Taejoon had no other women in his life, as his schedule left no room for it. Kim Yeonju herself was in the same position.
So, though they never spoke of it, Kim Yeonju had thought their relationship would continue.
That was until the day Jang Taejoon said something strange.
"Don't misunderstand, just listen."
The words that followed were impossible to misunderstand.
"I think I'm going to have to leave soon. I'll be going to a faraway place."
It was an absurd statement. He had worked so hard to grow the company and now he was going to leave?
Kim Yeonju asked where he was going, but Jang Taejoon avoided answering.
"So, you should start seeing someone else."
The man she had worked with for nearly ten years, sharing both professional and personal lives, didn't explain when he would leave, where he was going, or why he had to go.
Kim Yeonju was angry, but she couldn't bring herself to say, "Let's end it here." She feared that it would be irreversible if she did. Instead, she went to a bar she never frequented and drank heavily. It was there that a woman, covered in tattoos and piercings, approached her.
Though she knew she had this side to her, she never expected such a thing to happen at forty. The woman, who introduced herself as "Edell," eventually revealed that she was a dragon after several encounters.
For a time, Kim Yeonju maintained relationships with both Edelenes and Jang Taejoon. Romance with a different species was thrilling, and with Jang Taejoon's departure looming, she felt a bittersweet longing—yet there was also a comforting stability that came from years of shared history.
"In the first place, it was Taejoon who told me to meet someone else. I was just doing as I was told."
Of course, she never said to meet both at once, but self-justification felt sweet.
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Several months after beginning the affair, Kim Yeonju noticed something strange in her body. Fearing it might be Jang Taejoon's child, she rushed to a gynecologist, only to hear unexpected news.
"You're probably not familiar with this concept."
ISP manifestation.
It sounded like a recommendation from an entity beyond her cognition. She had already walked a dangerous tightrope. It was time to end this situation.
Drawn by some instinct or premonition, Kim Yeonju spoke to Jang Taejoon that day.
At the time, Jang Taejoon didn't show it, but she had the feeling he was being pursued by something. She ignored it.
"I went to the hospital today. They told me I'm an ISP manifestor. I think I'm a dragon."
This was, in essence, a confession of her infidelity.
But Jang Taejoon showed no surprise at all. In fact, he responded with such calmness that it stunned her.
"Oh, is that so?"
Then, after a moment of thought, he said something she could never have imagined.
"Well then, could I ask you for a favor?"
When she heard what followed, the complex emotions she felt in that moment are something Kim Yeonju would never forget.
Disappointment, anger, a sense of incredulity, and yet... a faint glimmer of hope.
Jang Taejoon said to her:
"If it's okay, could I get some of your blood?"
As Kim Yeonju mimicked Jang Taejoon's words, Minjun's face turned pale and hardened.