GCT 39

Yohan found Taeoh, who was looking at him with clear eyes, a little burdensome. Should he say he saw a hint of madness…? Usually, guys like that were the ones who would immediately tell the teacher if a friend did something wrong. Of course, it was highly likely to be a prejudice, but Yohan thought he needed to take the lead properly before that happened.

“Anyway, I’m counting on you, Tae-min. Let’s do a good job from now on.”

“Then, can I treat you familiarly too? Sunbae.”

“Sunbae? Since when am I your sunbae? Where did you learn to call someone that?”

“But… isn’t it better than calling you Kitty?”

“Hah, that’s…! Right, just call me that.”

“Kitty?”

“The Koreatown thing.”

“Yes. Sunbae.”

Thinking this was enough, Yohan, having dealt with Taeoh cursorily, gestured for him to go and do his job. Then, Yohan looked at Lear, who was standing beside him with a sulky face.

“Lear, you’ll get old if you keep scowling like that.”

“It’s fine. I have an old-looking face, so I’ll look like this until I’m 50, don’t worry.”

“So grumpy… Don’t be like that. First, get a hotel, wash up, and get some rest. Contact me when you get there. Okay?”

Lear swept his hair back once and sighed. He had quit smoking because Yohan hated it, but he was craving it like crazy today. With Yohan, who was like a baby tiger(?), and Taeoh as partners, he couldn’t help but worry.

“It’s good that you’re working, honey, but this is a little… sudden. A partner. Besides, that guy has a nice-looking face, but… aren’t his eyes a little too sparkly?”

Seeing Lear’s anxious state, Yohan patted his butt and said.

“It’s okay. Both the Bureau Chief and Aisha said he’s not a weird kid.”

“But…”

“Besides, I can do anything for our family.”

“Yohan. Honey.”

Hearing the word ‘family’ from Yohan’s lips anew, Lear’s heart didn’t just pound; it swelled with emotion. It was even more so because, at times like this, it truly sank in that he was married to Yohan.

“I don’t like you getting your hands dirty. So hurry up and go to the hotel and wait. I’ll be there early today.”

Lear momentarily glanced at Taeoh. He disliked Taeoh so much that even non-existent grudges were forming.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Yohan, but he thought that because Yohan was so attractive, the people around him wouldn’t leave him alone.

Even Taeoh, with his sparkling eyes and kind face now, could harbor insidious thoughts later.

“Lear?”

At Yohan’s pressing for an answer, Lear spoke as if he had no choice.

“For today, I’ll do as you say… but if anything happens, call me right away. Got it?”

At Lear’s words, Yohan nodded and said he understood, then grabbed him by the collar, pulled him close, and whispered in his ear.

“I’ll come without my wife knowing. Buy some condoms and wait for me, Mr. Crawford.”

Lear was slightly flustered by the role-playing line they’d taken a break from, but Yohan, unfazed, gave him a light kiss on the cheek, followed by a wink, and walked toward Taeoh.

Lear watched Yohan’s retreating back and thought.

‘For now… should I be a good boy today, just as Yohan wants.’

Taking out his phone, Lear called an Uber and headed to the Patrice Grand Hotel in West Hollywood.

Yohan watched Lear from a distance, and only after confirming that he had completely left the scene did he put on nitrile gloves and begin to seriously inspect the surroundings.

“Damn it.”

The more he looked, the more curses naturally came out.

“Are you okay?”

“How many times are you going to ask? Do I not look okay to you?”

“I was worried.”

“Well, I appreciate you worrying about me as a partner. But too much worry just gets in the way. It’s not like this is your first or second time doing this job. Right?”

As he spoke, Yohan wondered if he was being too sharp with Taeoh. He glanced at his expression, then gave his back a light pat and said.

“So, how far have we progressed?”

“They said a part of a body, presumed to be Ms. Sheridan’s, has been found.”

“Where?”

“Over there, where you see the refrigerator debris.”

Looking at the spot Taeoh pointed to, Yohan thought the refrigerator had survived the explosion remarkably well.

“The kitchen?”

“They said a large number of nails were also discovered nearby. Of course, we’ll have to investigate further to know what kind of bomb it was.”

Yohan furrowed his brow for a moment in thought, then said to Taeoh.

“I don’t cook much, so I’m a bit confused, but I remember a rice cooker being over there…”

“A rice cooker?”

“Yeah. An electric rice cooker.”

“Ah…”

“Well, does anything come to mind? I heard you were a Ranger, too.”

Taeoh’s expression hardened completely.

“So… are you talking about an IED?”

“Right. For an explosion of that magnitude, if a rice cooker was used as the container, what could it be but a homemade bomb? The problem is who made it, why, and what they were aiming for.”

Yohan kicked at the building debris, then approached the agents who were in the middle of a forensic examination of the scene.

“Sonia.”

“Ah, Yohan. I was waiting for you.”

In front of them was an arm, which appeared to be a part of Sheridan’s shattered body. Yohan’s face contorted as he stared at the arm that had been revealed, buried in the dust.

“Can you confirm it for me?”

“That’s right. It’s Sheridan. I complimented her today, saying her beige suit looked good on her.”

Yohan prayed for Sheridan in his heart. He could only hope that she had gone to a better place.

“It’ll take a while to find everything.”

“Please do. If you happen to find anything else, please contact me right away.”

Just as Yohan was making his request to Sonia, Taeoh suddenly moved as if he had discovered something.

“Wait, just a moment.”

Yohan, wondering what was going on, followed his movement with his eyes.

“What are you doing?”

Taeoh suddenly started rummaging through the building debris and lifted up something that looked like a large chunk of rock. Yohan tilted his head, wondering what on earth he had found to be acting like that.

“Sunbae, could you… help me with this?”

Yohan strode over at Taeoh’s request for help.

“What is it?”

“Underneath, a cell phone.”

Just as Taeoh said, there was a cell phone under the debris he was holding. He wondered how he had even spotted it, half-broken and a mess. Yohan first pulled out the cell phone and patted the dust off it.

“It’s fried.”

The cracked screen was one thing, but it was already practically split in half, so he wondered if it could even be properly recovered.

Taeoh, who had now put down the debris and was dusting off his hands, approached Yohan’s side and said with a serious face.

“Will it not work?”

“Well, we’ll have to send it in to know for sure… but honestly, with it in this state, isn’t it better not to get our hopes up? Even if it’s recovered, it’ll probably take a long time. It would be better to…”

“Yes?”

Yohan started moving somewhere, holding the broken cell phone. Taeoh followed behind Yohan like a duckling.

“I had CCTVs installed in various places. Fortunately, that wall over there is still standing.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“It wouldn’t be fun if you could see it. And the point of surveillance would be diminished.”

Should he be happy about this…? Yohan’s mind was still in turmoil, but he thought it was better than having nothing at all.

Thanks to Lear’s paranoia, he might be able to get a lot of information from the CCTV if he was lucky. Moreover, since they weren’t visible, the terrorists might have made a mistake.

“I don’t know how the footage from the other cameras is stored, but first… I think it would be best to go to my husband and check.”

“Your husband?”

“Why, don’t you like the idea?”

“Haha, it’s not that I don’t like it…”

Taeoh trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Yohan, but while he was gone, Lear had been glaring at Taeoh with a face full of discontent the whole time. It was so uncomfortable.

“My husband manages all of that. I’ll ask about cell phone recovery while I’m at it, too.”

“That’s incredible.”

“It’s a bit… like that. I’m the type of person who only eats and sleeps at home. Ahaha.”

“Your husband must be very domestic.”

“Huh? Uh… uh, right. Domestic.”

Slightly flustered by the word ‘domestic,’ Yohan scratched his head. It was even more so because it was unexpected.

“More importantly, Tae-moon. You drive.”

“Are you going to your husband’s place?”

“Yeah. That’s the fastest way. It might feel shady now, but you’ll be convinced as soon as you see it with your own two eyes.”

He felt sorry for Aisha, but she had her own work to do, so it couldn’t be helped. Speed was one thing, but Lear was perfect for being asked to do things that shouldn’t be done as a regular hacker, not an agent.

“What are you doing? Are you going to wait for a warrant to be issued and a FISA court approval to come through? Or fly all the way to Quantico?”

Lear, who had bought a laptop before coming to the hotel, diligently followed Yohan’s instructions.

Of course, there were plenty of things he was unhappy about, but he groomed himself, thinking that Yohan would surely reward him.

He scrubbed his dust-covered body until it was squeaky clean and put on a bathrobe. As for underwear, he’d be taking it off anyway, so thinking he shouldn’t waste time, he looked in the mirror and recalled the line Yohan had said to him.

‘I’ll come without my wife knowing. Buy some condoms and wait for me, Mr. Crawford.’

He knew Yohan was saying that to appease him, but even so, his husband was just too sly and adorable for his own good. To drop a line like that… in that kind of situation, he was a pervert, plain and simple.

‘By the way, his name was Joo… Taeoh, was it?’

Lear took out the business card Taeoh had given him.

“Hmm.”

Thinking of the FBI agent who was probably with Yohan right now, he furrowed his brow deeply. He knew very well that Yohan wouldn’t give a man like that a second glance, but being anxious was being anxious. Honestly, who would have thought that Yohan, who only knew Beta women, would marry him, an Alpha? Yohan probably didn’t know either.

“I don’t like him.”

He couldn’t believe that such a wholesome young man was Yohan’s new partner. Of all the many agents…

Lear, thinking he couldn’t understand what on earth Bureau Chief Nasim Hadid was thinking to make such a decision, began to look into Taeoh.

It was cheap and petty, but there was nothing wrong with having a weakness to hold onto. It would be even better if something came up that he could use to threaten and shake him.

“Hmm.”

Starting with the FBI files, Lear’s expression began to harden as he quickly scanned through Taeoh’s history.

Born into an ordinary Beta family, an Army Ranger veteran who served as a sniper, then the FBI Counterterrorism Division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force… The guy, who had a lot of short but significant experience, even did volunteer work helping drug addicts in his spare time.

He didn’t really use social media and had never even gotten a common parking ticket. At this point, Lear wondered if he was even human.

‘A human can’t be like this…’

Lear hadn’t intended to dig this far, but he had no choice but to look through his bank accounts and credit card statements. In his experience, people like this usually pretended to be nice on the outside while doing dirty things behind the scenes. Or they were huge perverts.

“Supermarket, gas station, cafe… let’s see, what’s this?”

A club? The name was unusual for a club. <Midnight Healing Club>. The word ‘healing’ caught Lear’s eye, and only then did his eyes sparkle. Of course, it had a name that sounded just like a pervert club.

Lear let out a smirk and rejoiced, thinking he’d caught him. However, when he looked into the club’s identity, it was an extremely ordinary health club.

“What is this…?”

Filled only with disappointment, Lear sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. He had no idea where they had found and brought in such a specimen.

“Tenacious. Really.”

Shaking his head, Lear picked up the cell phone that was lying carelessly on the desk and looked at the time. Thinking it was about time for Yohan to arrive, he sent a text.

Honey│

Lear, who was habitually typing the word ‘honey,’ muttered to himself and immediately deleted what he had typed. Then, with a smile forming on his lips, he began to send the text.

Agent Crawford

No one is home now

Right then and there, Lear slightly loosened the tie of his bathrobe, exposing his chest, and took a picture. Honestly, he wanted to take a picture of a little lower down, but he restrained himself, reflecting on the fact that Yohan was at work. He was a surprisingly jealous person, so he might go crazy if a colleague saw his picture during work.

<Photo>

I’ll be waiting ♥

Now, all he had to do was wait for Yohan to come. In the meantime, Lear thought he would call his family and then look into Sheridan and the FBI case file. Mourning her death was good, but first, a proper investigation was needed.

No matter how much he thought about it, nothing particular came to mind between himself and Yohan, and if he had to pick something out of the ordinary, it was only Sheridan coming to look after the house. Moreover, the timing of the bomb explosion was also exquisite. It was too clumsy to be an attempt on his and Yohan’s lives. Though he had nothing to say if they had done it on purpose not to take their lives but to get on their nerves.

♥Honey♥

On my way

Only after seeing Yohan’s text did Lear let out a deep sigh and stand up from his seat. And he began to prepare in earnest to greet Yohan.

He planned to light a scented candle, sprinkle condoms on the bed, and try to erase the worst things that had happened today as much as possible. It sounded crazy, but at times like this, it was best to just turn a blind eye and pretend to be crazy.

Besides, Yohan was the one who started it.

‘Anyway, he’s just too fearless.’

Just as he was running a simulation in his head, thinking about how he should punish Yohan, the doorbell rang. Lear pulled the belt of his bathrobe, undoing it completely, strode over, and opened the door.

“You’re he—”

He had intended to faithfully play the role of a lover enjoying a secret rendezvous, but at the sight of Taeoh as soon as he opened the door, Lear’s expression hardened completely.

“I don’t have a hobby for threesomes.”

Lear stood crookedly and looked at Yohan.

“Ah, so.”

Yohan, without realizing it, lowered his head to look at Lear’s lower body, then raised his head and said with an embarrassed face.

“I have no intention of sharing you with anyone either. This situation is… should I call it a communication error?”

“Honey, could you please explain what you mean? Because I don’t understand right now.”

“Uh… before that, can’t you cover up a bit?”

“It’s not like you’re seeing your husband’s dick for the first time.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem.”

Lear clicked his tongue at Yohan’s words and looked at Taeoh, who was standing there awkwardly.

“What are you looking at?”

“No, I… I wasn’t trying to look. It’s just, it’s right in front of my eyes.”

“So you looked?”

“No, what I mean is. You’re so majestic. It’s really… amazing.”

Taeoh laughed, “Ahaha,” and, saying he respected him as a fellow man, raised both hands and gave a thumbs up. Even that annoyed Lear. He didn’t like him from his first appearance, and now he’s not only taken Yohan’s partner position but what kind of nonsense is he spouting?

“What does that…”

Yohan, who was listening to the two men’s conversation from the side, pulled Lear’s robe closed and said. It was because Lear was emitting such a tremendous killing intent that even Yohan’s Beta skin was tingling. It really felt like something was about to happen.

“Ah, really. What are you two doing?”

Lear shamelessly answered Yohan’s question.

“Talking?”

Yohan clicked his tongue once, then turned his head toward Taeoh and said.

“You… just close your eyes for now. And stand in the hallway for a minute.”

“Sunbae, will you be okay?”

Lear cut in at Taeoh’s words.

“What, are you going to give us marriage counseling?”

Yohan shook his head at Taeoh, then pushed Lear’s body and entered the hotel room.

“Why did you bring him?”

“I couldn’t help it, it was for work. He’s my partner for now, after all.”

“……”

“It was an urgent matter, so I couldn’t help it. Since you’re such a genius. If I were to entrust it to the FBI side, I’d have to send it to headquarters, but there’s no time for that.”

He strung together excuses that weren’t really excuses, but Lear’s expression still didn’t loosen. Normally, with a few words from him, he would have returned to his usual self, telling him not to do it again, but not today.

Yohan, without realizing it, found himself gauging Lear’s mood.

“Lear, so…”

He was the one who had provoked Lear, and he was the one who had given him expectations. Yohan now felt that his mistake was very grave.

“I should have at least sent a text… I was talking about working out with Taeoh, and it just slipped my mind. Ahaha.”

“You even talked about that?”

Yohan explained that they just talked about how much weight they lift at the gym and what they focus on, stringing together the conversation they had in the car like an excuse. But the more he said such things, the more murderous Lear’s expression became compared to before.

Yohan stopped his awkward laugh, swallowed hard, and avoided Lear’s gaze. Now he really didn’t know what to do. He wished Lear would say something, but as he just stared silently with his lips sealed shut, it felt like his heart was going to leap out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

The only thing Yohan could do in this situation was to apologize outright.

“For what?”

“Just, for this and that… It’s a difficult situation.”

“And?”

“And… want to kiss?”

Yohan slowly approached Lear. Lear’s expression was still stiff, but he didn’t particularly avoid Yohan.

“Let’s do the rest after sending that guy off.”

“Agent Crawford, you always try to manipulate people’s hearts that way.”

Yohan, who had now come right up to Lear, wore a very apologetic face as he heard him blame him.

Even so, Yohan retorted to what Lear was saying, grabbing and pulling the bathrobe he was wearing.

“You know life as an agent isn’t easy. Weren’t you seeing me knowing that, Mr. Lear?”

Yohan stuck out his tongue and licked his lower lip, then lightly bit down with his teeth. At that, Lear’s large hand slipped inside Yohan’s Hawaiian shirt. Yohan flinched involuntarily for a moment, but he pushed Lear against the wall and began a passionate kiss, thrusting his tongue into his mouth.

Hot breaths and each other’s saliva mixed, and soft tongues explored every corner of their mouths to the point where it wouldn’t have been strange for a moan to escape between their teeth. Lear wanted to pull off Yohan’s crappy orange shorts right then and there, throw him onto the bed, and get on top of him, but he held back.

“I’m going to collect this debt, with interest, Agent Crawford.”

Lear gave Yohan’s lips another light kiss, then lowered his head, buried his nose in the nape of his neck, and took a slight breath.

“Lear…”

“Yohan, I’ll give you anything you want… but do everything in moderation. You’re not alone anymore.”

Yohan raised his hand and stroked Lear’s broad back.

“I know.”

“If I had my way, I’d make you quit everything, but I’m holding back a lot.”

“I know.”

“Sheridan is gone and the house is a mess. If I don’t have you, I can’t live.”

“It’s the same for me.”

Lear raised his head and looked at Yohan again. He was now fiddling with the wedding ring on Yohan’s finger.

“Yohan…”

Yohan felt a pang of pity as he saw the deeply trembling purple eyes become moist.

‘Get a grip! Yohan Crawford!’

The moment he saw Lear’s face, Yohan’s heart wavered greatly. He sneakily reached down with one hand and pinched his own thigh. He couldn’t let his heart soften and give in right here.

“Cough, ahem. More importantly… Lear. As I said earlier, there’s something you need to do… Would it be okay to call the guy in the hallway in?”

At Yohan’s cautious words, Lear let out a deep sigh, then spoke bluntly with a slightly displeased face.

“Fine. I’ll get changed and come out, so bring him in.”

“Thanks, Lear.”

Yohan held Lear’s cheeks and gave him a peck on the lips. Lear, sighing deeply at his own softness when it came to Yohan, walked toward the closet.

In the meantime, Yohan wiped his palms, which felt somehow damp, on his pants and opened the door.

“Come in.”

Taeoh, who had been standing in the hallway waiting for Yohan all this time, put the phone he was holding into his pants pocket and came inside at the sight of him gesturing with his head.

“Sunbae, why are you really doing agent work?”

“What’s this, all of a sudden?”

“If you have a rich husband who can rent a hotel room like this in a Malibu home on the same day… I thought you wouldn’t have to do such a dangerous job.”

At Taeoh’s words, spoken in pure admiration of the hotel room without any ulterior motive, Yohan clicked his tongue.

“It’s because my skills are so outstanding. It’s hard to find a talent like me. I’m doing it with a heart of service to the country.”

“I see.”

At Taeoh’s nonchalant acceptance, Yohan shook his head. He wondered if it was okay for an FBI agent to be so nice.

“What do you mean, ‘I see.’ Anyway, give me the phone.”

“Ah, just a moment.”

Taeoh took the broken cell phone he had brought from the scene out of his pocket and handed it to Yohan.

“Hah, really. I don’t know why a body that’s supposed to be in Italy is doing this.”

“Sunbae, does no one really come to mind?”

“That’s the thing. It’s driving me crazy. The guys who can handle detailed IEDs are still in prison… Besides, to blow up a house that big, you need a certain level of professional knowledge and money, and my main area was drug investigations.”

Yohan let out a deep sigh, then stood in front of the desk where Lear’s things were scattered, holding the item in the plastic bag. His eyes met Lear’s as he came out, carelessly buttoning his shirt.

At the sight of Lear with disheveled hair, wearing a bluish linen shirt, Yohan gulped, then slapped his own cheek to get a grip.

At that sudden action, Lear’s eyes widened in surprise, but Yohan soon smiled with his eyes and said nonchalantly.

“I thought I was getting a little sleepy.”

“Honey, if you’re tired, do you want to lie down for a bit?”

“No, now’s not the time for that. I’ll be fine after a can of Monster Energy in a little while.”

Seeing the worried look in Lear’s eyes, Yohan thought the conversation would get long, so he handed the object in his hand to Lear.

“We found this at the scene. It was near Sheridan, so I think it might be her cell phone.”

“Isn’t it too broken?”

“As I thought… If it’s this broken, will it be difficult to recover?”

At Yohan’s question, Lear glanced at Taeoh standing to one side, then sighed and said.

“I can do it, but it’s difficult in a hotel room with nothing in it.”

“Ah…”

“If the core memory inside the phone is alive, we should be able to look inside the phone… but we don’t have the equipment here. You know what I mean, right?”

At Lear’s words, Yohan looked at Taeoh and said.

“You heard him, right? It seems my husband and I need to pay a visit to the office.”

“But… we can’t just let a civilian in—”

“So rigid. The Bureau Chief knows Lear well, so it’ll be fine. We were able to catch Joel Declan all thanks to this guy.”

“Still…”

“We’re trying to find out who the terrorist is. It’s fine.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear, with a look of resignation, said to Taeoh.

“The FBI, the LAPD, they’re always short-staffed, that’s the problem. Besides, the higher-ups are busy with President Caraway’s matter these days… The second Watergate scandal has broken out, and the presidential election is just around the corner. Once each party declares their candidacy and the party conventions begin, our work will be pushed to the back burner.”

At Lear’s calm words, Yohan chimed in and added.

“Exactly. No matter how much I rush them, they won’t bat an eye, busy uncovering a political scandal. Between an event the whole world is watching and a single family home being bombed, which do you think they’ll give more weight to?”

“It’s not like a building in the middle of the city was blown up. At this rate, they might just say the gas pipe in the house exploded and caused all that mess. The acting president, Speaker of the House Murdoch’s national policy stance seems to be along those lines as well.”

As Lear said, with President Caraway suspended from duty and even the Vice President caught up in the scandal, the presidential authority had passed to the Speaker of the House, Vanessa Murdoch. She seemed to have enough headaches with the events in Washington D.C., and she was taking a passive approach to other matters. Perhaps that would help in leading a chaotic government, but Yohan found it a little frustrating.

“Hah, now that I think about it, that’s a bit unfair. We’re not people who deserve to be treated like that.”

“Right. We pay our taxes diligently and live quietly. My honey is going to have insomnia again.”

“Exactly.”

Taeoh looked troubled as the couple spoke, looking at him simultaneously. In the end, Yohan couldn’t hold back and spoke to Taeoh directly.

“Taeoh, don’t you want to solve this case?”

“What? It’s not that…”

“Hmm? Then what? Are you going to keep being so rigid and inflexible, young man?”

Yohan finally called Taeoh by his proper name and pushed him even harder. At the sight of his senior pressing him with his black eyes, Taeoh squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, speaking as if he had no choice.

“Alright. Sunbae, I’ll follow your lead.”

Honestly, what Lear and Yohan were saying wasn’t entirely wrong, and timing was crucial in cases like this.

“Good thinking. I like obedient men.”

Yohan gave Taeoh a little wink, then grinned and tossed his cell phone to him.

“The password is 120300. Call Aisha Patton and ask her when her team members are getting off work. Just make up some excuse.”

“Yes…”

Not only did Yohan boldly say his cell phone password, which was saved as Lear’s birthday, but he also made a comment about obedient men and even winked.

Taeoh himself didn’t seem to think much of it, but Lear felt like his stomach was turning inside out. However, he held it in, wanting to be a cool and awesome husband in front of Yohan.

“Honey, are you done talking with your junior?”

“Huh? For now? Ah, right. More importantly, I had something to tell you.”

“What is it? If my honey wants it, I can pull out my heart for you right now.”

Yohan snorted as if to say he was being absurd, but his face showed that he didn’t dislike it.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“It’s true.”

“You and I have different blood types, we’d both die. So stop with the useless remarks and check the CCTV from our house for me.”

“That’s… well, not difficult. I save it in real-time.”

“Will it be okay to watch the video even if the camera was blown away with the bomb?”

“I don’t know about the footage from that exact moment, but I think we’ll be able to see who the people who planted the bomb were.”

At Lear’s words, Yohan nodded and sat him down in front of the desk. Lear quickly began to check the CCTV. At the videos neatly organized by date in the folder, Yohan had a slightly fed-up look on his face, but he massaged Lear’s shoulders and said.

“First, we cooked at home the day before yesterday.”

“Cooked? Why cooking?”

“A part of Ms. Sheridan’s body was found in the kitchen. The forensics team also believes the container for the bomb was an electric rice cooker. For an explosion of that scale, it’s probably over 90 percent certain.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear let out a short curse.

“Lear?”

“It’s just… I didn’t know Sheridan would go like that. And we could have been the ones.”

“Right.”

Lear prayed for Sheridan in his heart. He would have to inform the family soon and hold a funeral. Sheridan was alone and sometimes drew a line with the Crawford people, but she was one of the people Lear had trusted for a long time.

Letting out a small sigh, Lear looked up at Yohan and talked about the CCTV footage again.

“So, Yohan. Since we didn’t go near the electric rice cooker yesterday or today, if we look around the time we were out of the house, shouldn’t we be able to find the culprit?”

“Yeah, look.”

At Yohan’s answer, Lear looked back at the laptop screen and began to search through the videos. Yohan blankly watched the CCTV screen with Lear and said.

“Well, the time frame has narrowed.”

Yohan, clicking his tongue, rested his chin on top of Lear’s head and furrowed his brow deeply.

“I know, right.”

Lear threw out a single phrase in response to Yohan’s words and fast-forwarded the video even more. The two of them stared intently at the screen, just waiting for the culprit to appear.

“Oh! Wait, there. A car just pulled in.”

At Yohan’s words, Lear rewound the video slightly and slowed it down. Two men in ski masks got out of the car. They seemed to be white men, about the same height as Yohan or a little shorter.

“Can you zoom in?”

“Just a second.”

Lear moved deftly, doing as Yohan instructed. It was a blue 2019 Toyota Camry with California license plates.

“It has California plates.”

“More importantly, what’s pissing me off is that those guys just waltzed right through our home security.”

“What time was it?”

“It was when we went to watch the basketball game.”

“……”

“And at that time, I called the maintenance people. To ask them to do some cleaning.”

Yohan felt a throbbing in his head. To sum up Lear’s words, the terrorists came while they were out on a date, and someone among the maintenance staff might be involved.

Sure enough, the men went into the house without any trouble. Anyone watching would have thought they were just visiting a friend’s house.

Come to think of it, when they came home yesterday, there wasn’t a single scratch on the main gate or the flower beds.

The two of them silently watched the screen for a long time. Lear quickly switched between screens, following the two masked men. Since he couldn’t install CCTVs in every corner of the house, there were many blind spots, so they couldn’t clearly see what they were doing. Of course, this might also be because one of the maintenance staff, who knew the layout of the house well, helped them.

“The list of maintenance staff, can I get it?”

Yohan was the first to break the silence and ask Lear. Lear paused the screen for a moment and looked at his face, saying.

“That’s not difficult. By the way, it’s a little surprising… It was a pretty reputable company. The people were trustworthy too.”

“You can’t see through your employees’ minds. Hah, my head is throbbing.”

Lear’s expression quickly turned worried.

“Honey, should I call the front desk and ask them to bring some medicine?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just because my mind is troubled.”

“Want me to give you a massage?”

Yohan, as if asking how he could say such a thing in this situation, glanced at him and gave his thigh a slap.

“Honey, I said that with a pure heart… If you want something this rough, I won’t refuse.”

“Enough. Let’s get some work done. This isn’t the time for us to be joking around.”

“Then give me a kiss. I’m just as troubled as you are right now.”

“Why don’t you just ask me to go to bed with you.”

“There’s an intruder. Besides, I believe I said I don’t have a hobby for threesomes. Especially, I’m against open marriages. Against it. I’m even more against showing your sexy side to someone else!”

At Lear’s words, Yohan found it so absurd that a chuckle escaped him. Then Lear reached out, took Yohan’s hand, and fiddled with the wedding ring he was wearing as he spoke.

“Come to think of it… Sheridan was disapproving as soon as she came to our house.”

“That’s true…”

“She didn’t seem to know anything in particular, did she?”

“No way, would she do something like that, sacrificing her own life?”

“That’s true.”

Agreeing with Yohan’s words, Lear looked back at the laptop screen. Honestly, if they were to talk about what was suspicious, there wasn’t just one or two things. Of course, it was wrong from the start to let people wander into an empty house.

No matter how much insurance he had on the house, Lear slightly regretted that he had been too complacent in this day and age. A house could be bought or built again, but he had lost too much.

However, Lear thought that at times like this, he had to keep a firm grip on his mind. He trailed off in his answer to Yohan’s words, then started doing what he did best.

And just in time, Taeoh, who had finished his call with Aisha, approached the two of them.

“Sunbae, I think we can go in an hour or two. They said almost everyone will be gone by then.”

“Almost everyone?”

“There’s more than one or two team members, how would she know about everyone.”

“That’s… well, true.”

Yohan nodded, then took the phone Taeoh handed him and changed the subject.

“By the way, what were you talking about for so long?”

“Haha, it seems Agent Patton was a little drunk.”

“What?”

“She said she got off work and came to drink beer with a few colleagues.”

“Our Agent Patton, she has it good. Her friend is here in a hotel room without a house, with his husband.”

Deeply envying Aisha in his heart, Yohan sent her a text.

Happy now?

Normally, a reply would come quickly, but today, there was no reply. Yohan pouted slightly, then his eyes met Taeoh’s, who was looking at him.

“Why?”

“No, it’s just… I was wondering if you found anything in the meantime.”

“If you mean found something, we did. The fact that at least two people planted a bomb in our house, and…”

“……”

“A maintenance worker is involved?”

Just then, Lear changed the screen and said.

“This is the person who came to work at our house that day.”

Taeoh and Yohan moved closer to Lear to see the screen. Lear, if he had his way, would have wanted to seat Yohan on his lap, but he held back. It was for his husband’s social standing.

“A total of three people?”

“Among them, there’s one with a criminal record.”

“Peter Gibson?”