The voice of Mi-ra coming through the door crack was soft.
That softness was the problem. Jin-woo slowly removed his hand wrapping Da-yeon's shoulder. It was a signal meaning 'From now on, I step out.'
Da-yeon's eyes widened.
"Chief…."
Jin-woo raised his lips slightly. A smiling face.
That was Jin-woo's shield.
"Oh my, Ms. Mi-ra. You came all the way here?"
Jin-woo deliberately spoke loudly.
"Did you think I was playing hide-and-seek in the warehouse?"
Outside the door, Mi-ra laughed. The laughter was light. Too light.
"Chief, I knew you'd be here. The Team Leader is looking for you."
"The Team Leader? What for this time does he seek my neck?"
Jin-woo turned the flashlight off and on.
He deliberately shook the light beam.
Wanted to show that the inside of the warehouse was 'messy.'
Because an organized picture means 'something is hidden.'
Jin-woo whispered to Da-yeon in a very small voice.
"Stay here. Don't move."
"…Yes."
Da-yeon stepped half a step further behind the boxes.
Jin-woo confirmed that and placed his hand on the doorknob.
Stopped for a beat before opening the door.
If you stop in front of a door, the opponent waits.
If they wait, a breath comes out.
If a breath comes out, information leaks out.
Jin-woo wanted to extract that first.
"Ms. Mi-ra."
"Yes?"
"Is the reason the Team Leader is looking for me, perhaps 'urgent'? Or 'pretending to be urgent'?"
"Oh Chief, really. Right now, there's chaos because a data request came from the main contractor."
'Main contractor.'
Jin-woo noted that word inwardly.
Mi-ra raised the end of her sentence very naturally.
"Also, Chief. The warehouse is dangerous. Lots of dust… if you get hurt by chance…"
"If I get hurt, would the company feel sorry?"
Jin-woo smirked.
"No. If I get hurt, the company immediately finds a replacement."
Mi-ra paused for a moment, then laughed again.
"Still. Shall I help you?"
"Help?"
Jin-woo deliberately repeated that word.
"Ms. Mi-ra uses the word 'help' quite well."
Outside the door, Mi-ra would have tilted her head slightly.
Jin-woo opened the door.
Fluorescent light entered the warehouse thinly.
Mi-ra's face was visible.
She was smiling.
Not because the smile was pretty… but because it was precise, it was unpleasant.
"Chief."
Mi-ra spoke softly.
"What were you doing in there? It was so quiet. You two…"
Jin-woo cut it off right there.
Before the words 'you two' could pierce Da-yeon.
"Ah, I had a conversation with the boxes."
Jin-woo spoke slyly.
"The documents were crying to me 'save us.' I have a lot of affection, you know."
Mi-ra's gaze slid inside the warehouse.
Jin-woo didn't block that gaze.
If he blocked it, suspicion would grow.
Instead, he made it 'visible.'
Jin-woo turned halfway and said.
"Ms. Da-yeon, come out. The Team Leader is calling."
Da-yeon came out carefully from behind the boxes.
Her face was red. Fingertips trembled.
Mi-ra opened her eyes roundly.
"Oh my. Ms. Da-yeon was here too?"
Pretending to be surprised.
But Jin-woo knew.
This isn't surprise, it's verification.
Jin-woo intervened immediately.
"Because I have no sense of direction."
"You, Chief?"
"Yeah. I get lost easily."
Jin-woo laughed.
"So I asked Ms. Da-yeon for help. If I enter the warehouse alone, I might marry a box later."
Da-yeon laughed quietly. Very small.
That small laugh sounded like a 'normal signal' to Jin-woo.
Mi-ra said while maintaining her smile.
"The Team Leader says it's urgent. He said there's a document you can find the fastest, Chief."
"'Fastest' again."
Jin-woo pretended to click his tongue.
"I'm not a fast person, but a person who gets urged fast."
Jin-woo closed the door.
Deliberately slowed the closing speed.
A closing that completely hides Da-yeon.
A closing that doesn't give Mi-ra a 'chance to look inside again.'
Started walking down the hallway.
Jin-woo deliberately didn't let Da-yeon walk in front.
If Da-yeon stands in front, Mi-ra's gaze pierces first.
So Jin-woo in the middle, Da-yeon on the side, Mi-ra on the opposite side.
The movement paths of the three fit perfectly.
As if someone designed it.
Mi-ra threw a remark while walking.
"Chief, what was Ms. Da-yeon looking for in the warehouse?"
Jin-woo answered immediately.
"Me."
"Pardon?"
"There was something I was looking for."
Jin-woo laughed.
"The position of Section Chief always makes you forget 'what I am looking for' first."
Mi-ra laughed.
"You're funny."
"If it's funny, that's enough. You endure the company with fun."
Jin-woo turned his head.
"Ms. Da-yeon, you okay?"
"…Yes."
Da-yeon nodded.
But her voice trembled.
Jin-woo didn't miss that trembling.
So he spoke louder, lighter.
"Alright, let's go to the Team Leader. Today too, I'm in charge of 'I'm sorry'."
As soon as he opened the Team Leader's office door, Team Leader Cha Do-il's voice popped out first.
"Section Chief Kang! Are you in your right mind right now?"
Jin-woo bowed his head slightly as he closed the door.
"If I were in my right mind, I wouldn't be here, Team Leader."
"Contact came from the main contractor! They say a record remains that our side touched the server backdoor!"
Team Leader Cha slammed the documents on the desk. Tak.
"And that record… was stamped with your account!"
Da-yeon inhaled sharply.
Mi-ra made a worried expression next to her.
"Team Leader, please calm down first. The Chief isn't that kind of person."
The moment Jin-woo heard those words, he laughed inwardly.
'Isn't that kind of person.'
This phrase always sounds like a compliment, but in reality, it's a knife without a handle.
If the opponent refutes, it becomes "Why? It IS you."
Jin-woo took the documents.
Scanned quickly with his eyes.
And lifted his head very slowly.
"Team Leader."
"What!"
"You have to look at the time of this record first."
Jin-woo tapped a line on the document with his finger. Tok.
"1:15 PM."
Team Leader Cha frowned.
"So?"
"At that time, I… was on the rooftop."
Jin-woo spoke firmly.
"I was outside. With Min-su."
Mi-ra's eyes shook for a very brief moment.
Jin-woo didn't miss that shake.
"You were on the rooftop?"
Team Leader Cha yelled.
"Evidence?"
"There is."
Jin-woo laughed.
"Our company doesn't trust people, but trusts cameras. You can check the rooftop camera."
Team Leader Cha seemed choked for a moment.
Jin-woo stepped in one step further.
"And more importantly."
Jin-woo tapped the document again.
"This access attempt location… is stamped as the break room (pantry)."
Break room.
The moment that word fell into the room, the air split slightly.
Team Leader Cha opened his eyes wide.
"Break room?"
Jin-woo nodded.
"Yes. It means the person who attempted access with my account used the Wi-Fi on the break room side."
Mi-ra intervened with a smile.
"Then who… used the Chief's account in the break room…."
"Indeed."
Jin-woo looked at Mi-ra very softly.
"Who could have done it."
That gaze grew long.
Long, but no words.
No words, but louder than words.
Mi-ra maintained the corner of her mouth.
But her pupils became busy at a very small speed.
Jin-woo read that busyness as if 'debugging.'
Team Leader Cha gripped the documents.
"Section Chief Kang, if what you say is right… someone used your account…"
"Yes."
Jin-woo laughed.
"Someone used my account. And very kindly, left a 'problem' under my name."
Team Leader Cha bit his lip.
Mi-ra was still smiling.
Jin-woo thought inwardly.
'Good. From now on, I verify.'
'What I catch is not emotion… but records.'
Jin-woo put down the documents and said.
"Team Leader. I will go to my seat and organize this immediately."
Team Leader Cha nodded.
"Okay! Quickly! Must report to the main contractor!"
Jin-woo opened the door and came out.
The moment he came out to the hallway, breath escaped all at once.
Then the phone vibrated.
It was Min-su.
"Hey."
Min-su's voice was low.
"Found it."
"What."
"Yoon Mi-ra."
Min-su chewed the end of the sentence.
"It completely overlaps with the name where an accident happened at the previous company. Not just overlaps… back then too, it was the 'break room'."
Jin-woo's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"The place where people let their guard down the most."
Min-su said low.
"Break room. Restroom. Warehouse. Places where camera angles die."
Paused for a breath, Min-su added.
"The board is set up. Be careful."
Jin-woo hung up the call.
And returned to his seat.
Da-yeon was looking at Jin-woo from afar.
Eyes filled with worry.
Jin-woo tapped the desk twice with his finger very small, unnoticeably to Da-yeon. Tok tok.
Signal that it's okay.
Signal that 'I am here.'
And turned on the monitor.
Jin-woo placed his hands on the keyboard.
This time, it wasn't for 'work.'
"Good."
Jin-woo said like a monologue.
"From now on, I start debugging."
Tadak. Tadak.
Keyboard sound rang clearly in the quiet office.
Like a signal sent to someone.
'The intruder left a trace.'
'Then I… follow that trace.'