🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 05
On the way out of Manbok Supermarket, where they had gone to gather information, Seungcheol and Jincheol had gained quite a lot from their long conversation with the store owner.
“It was dark outside, sure, but it wasn’t even raining, so I thought it was strange seeing someone walking around in a black raincoat.”
“Right. Normally raincoats are brightly colored so people can see them easily.”
“Exactly! That’s why I remembered him.”
“What did he look like?”
“I saw his face clearly. So…”
Seungcheol and Jincheol bit into the chocolate bars in their hands.
Even now, that old woman still managed to squeeze out extra profit.
And with chocolate bars that cost twice as much as convenience store prices, too.
But despite the ridiculous price, Jincheol didn’t complain about it for the first time.
‘Honestly… it’s cheap considering the information.’
Crunch.
The corners of Jincheol’s lips lifted as he bit into the expensive 5,000 won chocolate bar.
“That guy… I couldn’t see his eyes because of the raincoat, but he had a sharp nose like a white foreigner. And his lips were pretty big and thick.”
“How old did he seem?”
“Early thirties, maybe.”
“Was there anything else distinctive?”
“Ah! There was a scar on the left side of his neck. Maybe from a burn when he was younger? It was pretty large, so that’s what stood out first.”
For six whole months, Jincheol had chased this case like a madman and still couldn’t even gather enough details for a sketch.
So how was it that the moment the investigation changed hands, decisive testimony and information suddenly started appearing?
It felt unfair.
But more than that, he felt happy.
‘Finally…’
Now they had a feature that could identify him.
The mysterious existence that had felt like chasing an empty shadow was finally starting to take shape.
Yeah…
Little by little.
Step by step.
And at the end of it—
Whoosh.
“I’ll definitely catch you.”
He tossed the last piece of the chocolate bar into the air and caught it in his mouth.
Tap.
“Ah!”
“Hey punk. Why are you eating everything when I paid for it? You’re the youngest one here and you’ve got no manners.”
Rubbing the back of his head where he’d been hit, Jincheol glared at Seungcheol.
“Hm? Why are your eyes looking suspicious?”
Seungcheol smirked and pointed at Jincheol’s bulging pants pocket.
“Now I really want to know what’s in there.”
“Ugh… n-no, it’s nothing.”
Crinkle.
Jincheol aggressively crushed the chocolate wrapper while avoiding Seungcheol’s gaze.
Since they started investigating the moment they arrived, Jincheol still hadn’t had the chance to properly examine the evidence.
Until he checked it and secretly put it back, he absolutely couldn’t get caught.
“Behave yourself. Before I crack your center open.”
“Yessir…”
This was basically the greatest weakness of the so-called physical monster Jincheol.
Watching him nod obediently, Seungcheol chuckled.
Then he pulled another document from the car and handed it over.
“What’s this?”
Jincheol naturally opened the orange envelope.
Inside were more than ten pages of documents along with a bundle of photos clipped together.
“This is the case we’re handling.”
[Kim Yura Missing Person Case]
[Reported Location: 118-58 Sangwolgok-dong]
[Estimated Time of Incident: Around 2 AM, May 18, 2020]
[Age: 17]
[Name: Kim Yura]
The documents showed investigation records for a missing person case, along with CCTV photos taken around the time of the incident.
And the first thing Jincheol thought after seeing it was—
“Why are we investigating this?”
“Did you forget? You’re not in Violent Crimes anymore. You’re in Missing Persons now.”
“T-then what about that assignment as the lead detective on the murder case…”
“Ah, this?”
Seungcheol waved the black raincoat murder case file.
“This is the side job.”
Jincheol was speechless.
How could a murder case become the side job while a missing person case became the main priority?
“Senior? I don’t think this is right…”
“What isn’t?”
“No, I mean, isn’t the black raincoat killer way more dangerous? Obviously the murder case should come first, and the missing person case after—”
Smack.
Seungcheol’s hand swung toward the back of Jincheol’s head again.
But this time Jincheol reacted first.
He grabbed Seungcheol’s wrist instantly and frowned.
Seungcheol looked up and down at the arm restraining him.
“Oh? You wanna square up?”
“Ugh…”
In the end, Jincheol let go.
Smack.
And despite knowing it was coming, he still had to accept another hit to the back of his head.
“Listen carefully from now on. Cases don’t have ranks. And there’s no such thing as ‘the way things are supposed to be.’”
“Oww…”
“Normally, all murder cases should belong to Violent Crimes anyway.”
“Then why do we have this one…”
Seungcheol smirked at him.
“Because Jongam Police Station is about to go through a massive personnel reshuffle.”
“…What?”
“Anyway, that’s all you need to know for now. You can thank me later.”
“What does that even—”
Thunk.
Seungcheol suddenly climbed into the car and started the engine.
“If you don’t get in, I’m leaving you behind.”
“W-wait a second. What do you mean by personnel reshuffle—”
Vroom.
The car immediately started moving.
“Huh? Hey—”
Startled, Jincheol quickly opened the moving passenger door and threw himself inside.
“They really weren’t exaggerating when they called you a physical monster.”
Seungcheol admired Jincheol’s ridiculous agility as he pressed the accelerator and drove away from the hillside neighborhood.
= = =
While driving, the car stopped at a traffic light.
Watching Jincheol fidget around, Seungcheol spoke.
“Stop trying to sneak around and just take it out.”
Jincheol looked at him and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. It’s nothing.”
“You think secretly taking evidence is a small thing? I know how hard you fought to protect it, so just take it out already.”
Jincheol stared at him in shock.
“If I wanted to expose you, I would’ve done it the moment we entered the office earlier.”
“You… knew?”
“Of course I knew. Not just Violent Crimes, the entire Jongam Police Station knows how obsessed you are with that black raincoat killer.”
Jincheol hesitated with his hand buried in his pocket.
Seungcheol kept his eyes on the traffic light.
“If you don’t pull it out before the light changes, I’ll expose you the moment we get back.”
“I-I’ll take it out.”
Along with the hand buried deep in his pocket came the killer’s only piece of evidence.
The blue stone slowly emerged into the open air.
Honestly, Jincheol desperately wanted to take it out too.
Now that they had physical details identifying the killer, he wanted even more to find out what this evidence actually was.
Following the atmosphere Seungcheol created, Jincheol finally pulled out the evidence.
“Huh?”
And immediately froze in shock.
“That’s it? The evidence from the killer bastard?”
“It is, but…”
“Aw, what a letdown. It’s just an ordinary rock.”
What Jincheol held in his hand was literally just a normal stone.
‘What the hell happened?’
Jincheol had clearly seen the stone fall from the suspect.
And the stone he picked up had glowed with such intense blue light that it barely seemed real.
So what happened?
The evidence Junseong gave back to him wasn’t blue at all.
It was just another common stone you could kick around on the street.
Seeing Jincheol’s blank expression, Seungcheol asked,
“Why? It’s not the same?”
“This wasn’t it… It was definitely glowing blue…”
“A glowing rock? Don’t be ridiculous. It was raining, and you were too worked up. You probably imagined it.”
“No… it definitely wasn’t this…”
“The light changed. Stop whining and put it away. It’ll be a pain if you lose it.”
Seungcheol stepped on the accelerator again and the car lurched forward.
Despite his appearance, his driving style was rough.
The sudden acceleration caused Jincheol to slam backward into the passenger seat due to inertia.
“Whoa—?”
And because of that, the only evidence slipped from his hand and flew into the air.
But before he was called a mad dog, Jincheol was first known as a physical monster.
Even in this situation, he displayed unbelievable reflexes and dynamic vision.
Grab.
As his body slammed back into the seat, his arm shot forward.
And in that tiny instant, he caught the stone midair.
“That’s impressive.”
“Hoo…”
His face had nearly gotten smashed.
“You realize how dangerous that was—”
Thump.
“Ghk!”
“W-what’s wrong?!”
Jincheol, who had been angrily speaking, suddenly grabbed his chest.
His face twisted in agony like he couldn’t breathe.
“What’s happening to you?!”
Panicked, Seungcheol immediately pulled the car over near the sidewalk.
“Ghk! Ghhk!”
Jincheol stumbled out of the passenger seat, twisting in pain as he struggled to breathe.
“Jincheol! Jincheol!! Stay with me!”
Seungcheol grabbed him and shook him violently.
Then suddenly, his eyes landed on the evidence clenched tightly in Jincheol’s hand.
Fwaaaaash.
“L-light…”
Just like Jincheol said.
The stone was glowing blue.
“T-the blue light…”
“Ghhk!”
But only for a moment.
Crack.
Maybe the strength of the physical monster activated unconsciously.
The glowing stone shattered apart inside Jincheol’s tightly clenched fist.
“GAAAAAAAH!”
The blue light spun through the air and seeped directly into Jincheol’s heart.
At that moment, Jincheol arched backward like a bow, his face twisting into more agony than ever before.
‘Get ahold of yourself!’
Seungcheol, frozen by the bizarre sight, slapped himself hard across the face.
Smack.
Then he grabbed both of Jincheol’s shoulders and shook him violently.
Anyone who’s experienced something like this would know.
Watching someone you know suffer like that completely destroys your ability to think clearly.
Even so, Seungcheol forced himself to stay calm and figure out what to do.
“S-stay with me! We need to call 119!”
Panicking, Seungcheol pulled out his phone with trembling hands.
Finally regaining some composure, he forced down his pounding heartbeat and slowly dialed 119.
“H-hello, emergency?! Someone collapsed here! The location is… it’s… it’s…”
Seungcheol looked around frantically, trying to identify where they were.
And because of that—
He failed to notice the blue light flashing intensely inside Jincheol’s eyes before slowly fading away.
“Ghh…”
The blue light.
= = =
“Ugh… my head…”
Holding his aching head, Jincheol slowly sat up and forced his eyes open.
“Again?”
This was already the second time.
Experiencing unbearable pain from something unknown and waking up somewhere else afterward.
“Is there actually something wrong with my body?”
He had never once visited a major hospital in his life.
But now, in less than a month, he had already woken up staring at the same hospital ceiling twice.
Naturally, he started worrying about his health.
‘What’s the problem…’
He tried recalling what happened before losing consciousness.
He took out the evidence.
The car suddenly accelerated, so he grabbed the stone tightly.
And then…
“Oh shit!”
He destroyed the evidence.
His body immediately sprang upright.
Any concerns about his health disappeared instantly.
Now all that filled his mind was panic over the fact that he had not only stolen the evidence, but destroyed it too.
“Damn it…”
Jincheol quickly pulled out the IV needle from his arm.
And just as he tried putting on his shoes—
“Ugh…”
A sudden headache made him stagger.
He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed the bed for support.
Then, the moment he opened his eyes again—
“……”
Jincheol witnessed something unbelievable.
“W-what the hell is that…?”
