"Professor Yang!"
Yeonjin's exclamation made someone in a doctor's coat, who was standing leaning against the wall, suddenly turn to look at him. Bowing briefly, the man immediately opened the door in front of him without a word. "Please come in, Mr. Ahn."
Yeonjin nodded. He entered the room followed by Namchul and Jungkyu. Even Jungkyu immediately entered in a hurry.
Taekwang, who was about to follow inside, had to give up his intention when he realized that Haru had just stayed where he was. He tapped Haru's shoulder lightly. "Don't want to come in?"
Haru glanced at Taekwang, then lifted his head. Without prompting, Taekwang followed Haru's gaze. Their focus was on the inscription written above the entrance to the room.
Morgue.
"Are you scared?"
Without even answering, Taekwang already knows the answer from Haru's grin.
"Go in. I'll just stay here." Haru rubbed his upper arm, feeling goosebumps. The smell of the balm mixed with formalin from inside was more than enough to make the hairs all over his body stand on end. He hasn't even entered, yet his legs are already shaking.
Taekwang nodded. Without another word, he stepped inside. His gaze darted around, then fell on several people gathered in one corner of the room. His feet walked towards them. With the echo of shoes filling the room, he finally arrived there, joining the others.
"First, I apologize for called you in the early hours like this," said Professor Yang, just making small talk to break the tense atmosphere. He then smiled. Looked calm, but his eyes showed an undeniable seriousness and tension.
Yeonjin shook his head. "Ah, nevermi-"
"Where's the body?"
Jungkyu's words interrupted. His thoughts were mixed. His patience was eroding, in sync with the increasing rhythm of his heartbeat as time passed. Among them, Jungkyu was the one who looked panicked the most.
Professor Yang nodded in understanding. "Here." He patted one of the mortuary cabinets beside him. "I'm not an autopsy doctor, so this might be a bit of procedural violation. But considering what I found, I think it's better to handle it myself to avoid problems and rumors later."
With his hands wrapped in rubber gloves, he opened a nearby cabinet and pulled the body out of it.
Jungkyu's breath hitched. His jaw tightened involuntarily. Even though he had seen the photo from Yeonjin's phone before, seeing it directly like this still felt different. There was a part of him that was churning, straining all his nerves, until he didn't feel the tears had welled up in his eyes. "Mr. Lee ...."
Meanwhile, Yeonjin squinted, especially when Professor Yang opened the body's mouth and put one hand in there to reach into the throat. Ignoring Namchul and Taekwang who had horrified expressions behind him, Yeonjin stepped forward to get a better look.
The process did not last long. And how surprised they were when Professor Yang pulled back his hand and took out a flashdisk from there. Spontaneously, each of them glared, not believing what was in front of their eyes.
"How could that be ...?" Yeonjin muttered, stifled.
Professor Yang took a deep breath. "Did you remember the big accident earlier?"
Yeonjin nodded.
Professor Yang lowered his head, adjusting the bloodied suit on the lifeless body in front of him. "I led the medical team to go to the scene this afternoon. And he is one of the victims."
He was silent for a moment, trying to remember the incident when he went directly to the scene of the accident and helped bring the victims to the hospital. "When I took his body out of the car, he was already lifeless."
Professor Yang handed the flashdisk in his hand to Yeonjin, then reached into his doctor's coat pocket to pull out a photo from it. "I don't know what really happened behind the accident this afternoon. But, looks like it has something to do with you." Different from before, this time he handed that photo to Jungkyu who had been frozen all the time. "I found it when I pulled him out of the car. He gripped it very tightly."
Even though he didn't understand why the accident was related to him, Jungkyu's hand was still stretched out to accept the dull looking photo. Blood spots adorn the photo in several places, not to mention the ink is almost fading with age. The smiling faces of the two people in the photo made him feel mixed between happy, sad, and relieved at the same time. He squeezed the photo with his trembling hand.
Yeonjin looked at the photo in Jungkyu's hand and the flashdisk in his hand alternately. Without saying a word, he put the flashdisk in his pocket. "Professor Yang," he called.
The person he called spontaneously turned his attention to him, waiting for him to continue speaking.
Yeonjin opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the sound of someone swearing outside followed by loud footsteps startled the five of them.
"Haru?" Namchul mumbled.
Realizing that something was wrong, Taekwang rushed to spur his leg out.
Namchul was about to follow, but Jungkyu stopped him. "It would be a problem if someone recognized you." Jungkyu adjusted his hat. "I will follow them."
Not giving Namchul a chance to respond, Jungkyu had already left there.
Forcing his legs to move as fast as he could, he ran down corridor after corridor which was deserted. Not surprising because most people would be asleep at this hour. Only one or two people passed by. He didn't even care about that even though they looked at him strange because he was running like a madman in the hospital hallway. Jungkyu didn't have time to care about them. Right now, the most important thing is to find traces of his two friends, Haru and Taekwang.
He had been running for a long time, moving from place to place, he finally arrived at the lobby, a place that looked more alive than the others. His eyes darted in all directions, scrutinizing the faces of people around him one by one in hopes of finding even a small clue.
But there's nothing. Nothing that looked familiar or suspicious in his eyes.
Therefore, Jungkyu resumed his steps. His brain was busy thinking. For a while he walked, finally his feet stopped in front of the tightly closed emergency door.
He stared at the door for a moment. Not wanting to waste any more time, he pushed open the door and went inside.
One place crossed his mind.
The basement.
Jungkyu felt very sure this time. His instincts are strong. He unhesitatingly descended the steps, then opened the door at the end that led to his destination.
"WATCH OUT!"
Jungkyu turned around quickly. Within a radius of less than three meters, a person dressed in all black was galloping towards him.
Jungkyu's reflex took a stance. Just as the person was in front of him, he twisted the person's arm and slammed him to the floor.
The sound of the slamming sound was very loud. Likewise with the sound of a mournful wail full of pain that is heard from someone who is now lying right near Jungkyu's feet. He groaned, as if his bones shattered at the same time.
However, Jungkyu did not look pity at all. Instead of feeling pity, he sharpened his gaze. He stepped on the person's chest hardly, without mercy. Like deaf, he ignored how the person looked so miserable that a nasal sound could be heard with every breath he took.
Meanwhile, Taekwang and Haru secretly breathed a sigh of relief that the person they were chasing had now been incapacitated. The two of them walked towards Jungkyu with steady steps. The hot and spicy taste from the tear gas that the person threw was still felt. And, well, it was because of the gas that the two of them had a hard time catching him earlier.
When the two of them got closer, Haru—who had felt his emotions had subsided—suddenly got angry again. Without warning, he ordered Jungkyu to shift and kicked the person's stomach hard. Channeling all his anger with one kick that can make anyone shudder in horror. His face turned bright red. Even Jungkyu and Taekwang swallowed hard because of it.
Haru being angry is really terrible. More terrifying than any demon in the world.
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! WHO SENT YOU?!"
"C, calm down first. If you are like this, instead of answering, he will actually pee in fear."
"I DON'T TALK TO YOU!"
"Okay. Sorry to interrupt. Please continue."
Ignoring the two people nearby who were busy alone—one was nagging while the other just looked down in resignation—Jungkyu lowered his body, using one knee as a support. His brow furrowed faintly. "Don't want to answer?"
The person was silent. He looked back at Jungkyu while shaking, but there was no sign that he would answer.
Jungkyu started to look doubtful. Various questions and conjectures were spinning in his mind endlessly.
He became suspicious of something. Therefore, in order to confirm the suspicion, he pulled the mask that the person was wearing. The sight that was presented successfully made his eyes widen.
On the other hand, two silver cars appeared suddenly in the distance. Shortly after, gunshots rang out, startling the three of them. Made them spontaneously duck down and take cover behind the nearest wall or pole in order to avoid the bullets that shot fast, almost without a break.
The three of them split up, looking for their respective shelters.
Just when they were off guard, one of the cars stopped near them. Someone comes out of there. The man quickly grabbed the person who was the prisoner of the three of them, then dragged him into the car.
None of Jungkyu, Taekwang, or Haru had the chance to see the person's appearance. They couldn't even just peek because from the other car bullets kept raining down on them. In a situation like this, they had no choice but to give in and wait for the situation to be safe.
Luckily, the hail of bullets didn't last too long. None of them were injured. But instead, when they came out of their hiding place, their only prisoner and source of information was no longer there.
"FUCK!" Haru looks frustrated. He kicked the wall nearby brutally.
Taekwang is also annoyed—though not as badly as Haru. He brushed his hair back and furrowed his brows, trying to think of his next move.
While Jungkyu was only able to clench his fists until his palms were almost bleeding from his nails. His eyes trembled slightly. His head suddenly dizzy. He's really feeling down at the moment.
He muttered under his breath, talking to himself, "His mouth was stitched up too ...."