IWT 30

 Chapter 30

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“Alright. Let’s begin.”

After receiving In-hye’s signal on the monitor, Chief Choi looked solemnly at Chaerin and Seong-jin.

Chaerin, who had been silently keeping her eyes closed, opened them and quietly took a seat next to Seong-jin.

“Chaerin… what should I do?”

Seong-jin’s voice trembled slightly. Entering a criminal’s memory was… a completely different feeling than going into Chief Choi’s memory.

“Do it like last time. Just visualize Seung-beom in your mind and focus.”

Chaerin spoke calmly, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“O-Okay…”
“Then we’ll start.”

Exchanging glances, the two closed their eyes together.

“Open your eyes.”

Once again, the familiar stench of garbage mixed with the metallic scent of blood assaulted Chaerin’s nose.

“Ugh! What is this smell? Chaerin… what is this? Smells like blood.”

Seong-jin wrinkled his nose and covered it with the back of his hand.

“I don’t know either… it’s just… this smell.”
“Isn’t it because we’re in a killer’s memory? Why is it so dark and grim here?”

Seong-jin frowned deeply, scanning the surroundings.

“Let’s hurry to the crime scene. We can’t make the same mistakes as last time.”

Chaerin, determined not to lose track of Seung-beom again, took the lead, quickening their pace.

A little later, the two settled at the alley where Hwang Jung-sik first met Seung-beom, hiding every sound of their breathing, waiting for the two to appear.

“When will they come?”
“Soon.”

Chaerin glanced at the dual clock on her phone and whispered. When the memory-time on her phone showed 7:30 PM, the dragging sound of slippers echoed from the end of the alley.

“They’re coming.”

Chaerin slipped her phone into her pocket and pointed toward the alley.

“Where? Where? That’s really Jung-sik? No way… he’s supposed to be dead…”

Hearing Chaerin whisper, Seong-jin turned and rubbed his eyes in disbelief as the very much alive Jung-sik appeared before him.

“Shh!”

Chaerin pressed a finger to her lips, crouching lower to avoid being noticed.

“Got it.”

Seong-jin instinctively covered his mouth, just as a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Hwang Jung-sik?”

It was unmistakably Seung-beom’s voice.

“Yep, that bastard. I have to… get him right now…”

Seong-jin, hiding and watching, clenched his fists, his body ready to jump out and strike.

“You’re really Hwang Jung-sik, right?”
“Who are you?”
“You’re really Hwang Jung-sik, aren’t you?”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Time’s short. Make your choice. I’ve got an interview later, so let’s finish quickly. One—two—”

After watching the struggle in silence for a while, Chaerin gently tapped Seong-jin’s arm.

“Get ready. We’ll have to move soon.”

With the same steely determination as last time, Chaerin pushed herself up from the shadows.

“Move?”

Seong-jin tilted his head, confused.

“Get lost!”
“Then I’ll go with the second choice.”

Jung-sik pushed Seung-beom with all his strength and sprinted down the alley, Seung-beom grinning with lethal delight as he chased him like a madman.

“Now!”

As Seung-beom’s figure disappeared around the alley corner, Chaerin shot forward into the darkness like a spring.

“H-H-H-Go ahead. I’ll follow!”

Gasping for breath, Chaerin shouted at Seong-jin, already far ahead. Though confident in her own running ability, she couldn’t keep up with national athlete-level Seong-jin.

“Then I’ll wait ahead. See you there.”

A short while later.

“They’re not here yet.”

Seong-jin arrived at the crime scene at full speed, breathing heavily, scanning the area. Fortunately, the shortcut Chaerin had suggested prevented them from running into Jung-sik and Seung-beom prematurely.

“H-H-H-They’ll be here soon. Hide over there!”

Chaerin, cheeks flushed, led Seong-jin into the shadows of the alley.

“It’s so dark, I can barely see.”

Seong-jin, crouching like a cat, peered toward the alley entrance, but the only light came from nearby building billboards, barely outlining human shapes.

“Hah… hah… huff—”

A man’s ragged breathing echoed in the alley.

“He’s here.”

Seong-jin’s attention locked onto the figure charging through the darkness.

“Huff—”

The man collapsed against a wall, gasping heavily. It was Hwang Jung-sik.

“Look at that.”

Chaerin pointed to the bright billboard, which illuminated the alley and the figures.

“Damn it.”

Seung-beom’s previously murderous grin was gone, replaced by the calm, sinister smile of a predator hiding behind a mask. Seong-jin furrowed his brow.

Jung-sik struggled to rise, staring at Seung-beom’s face on the billboard, fear and terror etched across his features.

“Ugh—ugh—ugh—”

Suddenly, Jung-sik vomited violently against the wall. The sight of Seung-beom’s smiling face left him no escape—either from despair or premonition of his impending death.

Chaerin, hidden in the darkness, averted her gaze slightly. She knew the horrors awaiting Jung-sik and that there was nothing she could do to change the outcome—watching felt like a thousand-pound weight.

“H-H-H-Here… huff… here it is.”

Seung-beom’s voice, a mixture of malice and excitement, reached them.

“He’s here.”

Chaerin whispered to Seong-jin.

“D-Don’t go!”

Seeing Seung-beom, Jung-sik stepped back, pleading.

“Come here. Let’s finish quickly. I’m busy today.”

Seung-beom, hands in his pockets, smirked as he casually approached Jung-sik.

“Save me… please. I won’t say a word. I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”

Cornered, Jung-sik dropped to his knees, a desperate struggle to survive.

“Ah, so you had something to say.”

Seung-beom’s cold smile twisted.

“N-No… I was wrong. Please, just once… let me live.”
“Ever heard of ‘The Mouth is the Gate of Disaster’?”

Seung-beom slowly withdrew his hand from his pocket, speaking brusquely.

“I thought I had something… damn, it’s not visible.”

Seong-jin twisted his head, trying to see what Seung-beom held, but the faint light of the billboard made it impossible.

“You’ll live as if you’re dead until the day you die. So… one last chance to live.”
“My favorite saying. ‘The mouth is the gate of disaster.’”

Seung-beom grabbed Jung-sik by the collar, lifting him to his feet.

“And you’ve already opened the gate.”

“L-Live… ah!”

Jung-sik screamed in agony and collapsed. Around him, a red shadow of death spread like paint.

Seung-beom watched him for a moment, then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, cleaning his hands of the evidence.

“Ugh—”

Chaerin instinctively covered her mouth, unable to scream.

Even knowing this was a memory of past events, witnessing the murder play out so vividly was still unbearable.

“That bastard.”

Seong-jin clenched his fists until the knuckles whitened, ready to leap, but Chaerin blocked him.

“Don’t. If you go now, it’s over. Remember where you are.”

Seong-jin, forgetting it was just a memory, glared at Seung-beom.

“Damn it… wait just a bit. I’ll catch him, I swear.”

“Shall we go?”

Seung-beom, leaving Jung-sik on the ground, removed his gloves and shoved them into his pocket. Suddenly, he began taking off his jumper and sweatpants.

“What the hell is he doing? A pervert?”

Seong-jin frowned, bewildered.

But Seung-beom simply flipped the jumper and pants back on and walked out casually.

“Chaerin, let’s go.”
“Yeah.”

They followed him. Soon, they saw him getting into a car parked on the main road and starting the engine.

“Chaerin… he’s getting in the car?”

Seong-jin stomped his foot, frustrated at losing sight of him.

“This way… the Chief’s car is over there.”

Chaerin pulled a flustered Seong-jin toward the car.

“The Chief’s car? Why is it here?”

Seeing Chief Choi’s parked car, Seong-jin was speechless.

“No time to explain. Hurry, or we’ll lose him.”

Chaerin shoved Seong-jin into the driver’s seat and took the passenger seat.

“Hold tight. We’re going.”

Seong-jin, taken aback, grabbed the wheel and floored the accelerator.

“Sauna? Why a sauna, Chaerin? Do you know why?”

They followed Seung-beom to a sauna’s underground parking near the broadcasting station.

“I’m not sure… last time we never got this far.”

Seung-beom parked, glanced around, even hummed as he pressed the elevator button.

“He’s actually going to a sauna?”

Seong-jin grimaced, incredulous at the calmness of a murderer heading to a sauna, realizing Seung-beom had no trace of conscience.

“Go. Chase him.”

Chaerin fixed Seong-jin with a serious look.

“Chase him?”

Seong-jin tilted his head.

“Even in a memory, I can’t exactly follow him into a men’s sauna.”

“True, but… isn’t it dangerous?”

If Seung-beom noticed, they could be ejected from the memory with nothing accomplished.

“Yes, it’s dangerous. But this is our only option.”

“H-Huh… alright.”

Seong-jin nodded gravely.

“And watch everything, no matter how small. That’s the key to solving this case.”

“Don’t worry. That’s my specialty. Oh! And…”

Seong-jin paused, glancing at Chaerin as he opened the door with confidence.

“Yes?”
“If anything happens, don’t worry about me. Just leave the memory, understood?”
“Nothing will happen. I’ll be careful.”

Chaerin’s words carried calm assurance, though she didn’t dislike his concern.

“I’ll be back.”

Seong-jin smiled and gave a thumbs-up, sprinting toward the sauna elevator.