"Does it feel bad, Hangyul-ah?"
"No."
"I know you won't... you never did... you are my disgrace, shame, and flaw."
"I am."
That day, Hangyul knew how it felt to be abandoned.
"Today is a day you'll remember... throwing me away, Mother."
Hangyul's mother disappeared into darkness. He stood there, waiting for her to walk out of that door again—for him. But it was too late. She had left him on his own, to live his life all alone. Dark smoke seemed to engulf him, as he was swallowed by darkness.
Hangyul opened his eyes. The sheets were drenched with sweat, his heart pounding. Every night, he dreamt of fragments from his past, but this was the first time since leaving the asylum that he had dreamt about his mother.
"Is it because of the incident from last night?" Hangyul wondered. He got up from the bed and entered the shower. His satin nightshirt fell to the bathroom floor. As he stood in front of a large mirror, he looked at his reflection, his fingers gently caressing the scars on his bare back. Each scar held a memory—a memory he had already forgotten, now awakened by the sudden reappearance of Seong-ah in his life.
Thursday, 7 AM, Soyeong Hospital
Hangyul arrived at the hospital and waited in the car for Dr. Park near the main gate. A few minutes later, Dr. Park emerged from the gate, opened the door, and sat beside Hangyul.
"Here... your antibiotics," he handed over a packet filled with antibiotics and syringes to Hangyul.
"I've never asked you this, but are these antibiotics causing my violent behavior?"
"They will control your aggression and prevent unnecessary violent actions."
"Which means they are sedatives."
"Yes, I have no other way of controlling your behavior. It all depends on your will to control your actions. If you don't want to cause harm, but now that you are here, it tells me that you've failed in controlling your behavior."
Hangyul knew what happened the previous day; he had no control over his actions. He might have strangled Seong-ah if she hadn't defended herself, and she was strong enough to fight back.
"Shall I leave now, Lee Hangyul? I have a few appointments."
Hangyul looked away as the doctor exited the car.
4 PM, CBS Broadcasting Headquarters
"Where is our headline, Seong-ah? I told you for a special report on the Damyang serial killings case," Director Shim shouted.
"I am working on it, sir," Seong-ah replied, rolling her chair.
"You think it's a joke? Get it done by tomorrow! And you will report it on the show, no news anchors will be provided."
"Sir, I have other reports to work on!"
"This is your only important work for now! I want it tomorrow. No more arguments."
Seong-ah left the director's office and sat down at her desk. Her pinboard was filled with newspaper cutouts of the Damyang serial murder case, investigation reports, and information related to the suspect. She gazed at them while swaying gently in her chair. Suddenly, something caught her eye: "Fingerprints collected from a screwdriver found near the victim" in one of the reports pinned on the board.
"Shit, how did I miss this part? There is a record of fingerprints with the Forensic department... if only somehow I could manage to get fingerprints from Hangyul... and match them with those of the suspect's... All his lies would be exposed."
She took out her cell phone and dialed a number, "Meet me tonight behind the Forensic department's building," and then hung up.
Now, the challenge was to collect Hangyul's fingerprints. Seong-ah walked out of the office.
.
.
.
The sun hid behind dark clouds as the streets of Seoul bustled with people. Streetlights bathed the city in an intense glow that was almost blinding for Hangyul, who had grown accustomed to the perpetual darkness of his room. After purchasing some food, he hurried back to his car.
Seong-ah leaned casually against Hangyul's car, a half-burnt cigarette held between her lips. A sly smile graced her face as Hangyul approached.
"No food at home?" She exhaled a plume of smoke, which wafted towards Hangyul's face.
"Get lost." Hangyul pushed her away from the car door, his tone laced with irritation.
"Alright, Hangyul, aren't you the least bit curious about how I found you so easily?" Seong-ah removed the cigarette from her lips.
"I'm not interested." Hangyul unlocked the car and settled into the driver's seat.
Quickly, Seong-ah darted to the opposite side, opened the door, and slipped into the seat beside the driver.
"You certainly have a knack for taking risks, Yoon Seong-ah," Hangyul remarked as he started the car.
"Meeting you was perhaps the biggest risk in my life, yet here I am, sitting beside you." Seong-ah tossed the cigarette out of the window. "You do know where I live, right? How about letting me see your place now?"
Hangyul continued to gaze straight ahead, his expression blank. "Aren't you afraid that I could end your life without remorse? No one would ever know what happened to senior reporter Yoon Seong-ah."
"It's fine, Lee Hangyul," Seong-ah replied calmly. "I've managed to survive until now, and I can handle whatever comes next."
Hangyul started the car and drove to his apartment. Seong-ah remained nervous until they arrived, not uttering a single word. He pulled the car through the apartment gate. Seong-ah recognized the dimly lit building where she had first met Hangyul.
"So, do you really live here? In this abandoned building?" She inquired as she stepped out of the car.
Hangyul headed straight into the building, while Seong-ah hesitated for a moment, reevaluating her decision to follow him.
"Second-guessing your choices?" Hangyul called out as he reappeared at the building's entrance.
She looked into his eyes, wondering why he appeared so troubled. What had happened to him in that mental asylum? Was he truly the person she had been searching for over the past ten years?
Seong-ah lightly pushed his shoulder with her left arm and entered the building. Hangyul followed her inside. He entered the apartment after entering a security code.
"The way this building looks so shady and abandoned from the outside... no one would guess that someone lives here in such a lavish apartment," Seong-ah exclaimed as she stepped into the living room.
"The way this building looks so shady and abandoned from the outside... no one would guess that someone lives here in such a lavish apartment," Seong-ah exclaimed as she stepped into the living room.
"So, tell me, what's the deal?" Hangyul asked, taking a seat on the couch.
"Deal? Well, there is no deal between us. You need to tell me why you were in Damyang ten years ago."
"Damyang? I've already told you, I don't remember anything from my past!"
"Why can't you remember anything? You were there! I saw you running away from the dead body! With..."
"With? With what??? Tell me! My memories are wiped out! You need to tell me!"
"With a knife... Covered in blood... I saw you... you... you killed my parents."
Hangyul was shocked. Pain surged through his brain, and sudden flashbacks from the past flooded his mind. Forgotten memories and faces resurfaced, overwhelming him. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see; everything became a blur. Seong-ah, who stood before him, seemed to fade as he closed his eyes in agony.
"Lee Hangyul... Hangyul? Wake up," Seong-ah said, kneeling before him, attempting to bring him back to consciousness. She searched his jeans pockets for the sedatives she had seen the previous day, but they were nowhere to be found. Seong-ah hurried downstairs to his car, where she discovered a packet of syringes and antibiotics. She rushed back inside the apartment and injected one of those antibiotics into Hangyul's veins. To her shock, she realized that the chip she had inserted in his left wrist was missing. She sat down, bewildered, wondering how Professor could track his location when the tracker wasn't even functioning.
"Stop overthinking, Seong-ah. The tracker is safely placed inside my jacket," Hangyul said, abruptly opening his eyes. Seong-ah tried to stand and escape from him, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her down onto the couch.
"How foolish of you to think that you were the one tracking my location when, in fact, I allowed you to and let you track my location," he taunted. Seong-ah's heart raced as Hangyul's grip tightened on her slender neck. She struggled to breathe, on the verge of passing out. As she glanced around, she spotted an empty ceramic vase on the table beside the couch. Seong-ah reached for it, grabbed the vase, and struck Hangyul on the head, causing his grip to loosen. Seizing the opportunity, she pushed him away and sprinted out of the apartment.
She ran down to the main road, hailed a taxi, and arrived at the forensic department, where Bomin, her cameraman, was waiting with a forensic kit in hand.
"Quickly collect the fingerprints on my neck; we only have five minutes," she urged.
Bomin pressed a kromekote card against Seong-ah's neck and transferred the prints onto fingerprint tape.
"Senior, your neck... We should see a doctor; it's badly bruised," Bomin expressed his concern.
"Let's submit these fingerprints to Professor Sungtae first." Seong-ah ignored him and entered the forensic department building, with Bomin following quietly.
Professor Sungtae waited for her outside the laboratory. Seong-ah handed over the collected fingerprints to him, and they both entered the lab. He proceeded to match the fingerprints with the data from the Damyang serial killing file. The results displayed on the computer screen left them both speechless. Bomin exclaimed, "It's a match!"
Seong-ah stopped him, as they were not supposed to view confidential information, and no one inside should know that two media reporters were trespassing in the national intelligence department.
"No, it's peculiar. His fingerprints match those collected from the knife in the last murder case, but they don't match the ones from the other weapons," Professor whispered into Seong-ah's ear.
"There were more weapons used in that murder?"
"Yes, and the weapon used to kill your parents wasn't the knife; it was a screwdriver. I'm sorry, Seong-ah. I understand what you must be feeling right now."
"No, Professor, please tell me..."
"It was the screwdriver that was used to remove the victims' hearts. The same happened to your parents."
Seong-ah couldn't find the words. The image of her parents' bodies flashed before her eyes, and tears welled up. She took a deep breath to control the emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
"Professor, I hope this evidence confirms that Lee Hangyul is a significant suspect in this case. He may not be the sole perpetrator but could be an accomplice helping the real murderer. He is the key to reaching that psychopathic killer."
Suddenly, applause echoed outside the laboratory, and Kim Haneul entered.
"I didn't know that CBS News had an insider in forensics to keep them updated on the investigation's progress. Am I mistaken, Professor Sungtae?" he asked, tapping the professor's shoulder before turning to Seong-ah, who remained lost in her thoughts.
"Seong-ah, you know how seriously I could take action against you for this trespassing, right?" he smirked.
"Haneul, listen... I'm not in the mood to argue with you. These fingerprints I collected today are crucial for your investigation. I've done my part to give this case a direction; following that path depends on you and your team, even if it's filled with clowns. Don't think I'll stop investigating on my end. Let's see who can catch the murderer first: your legal detective team or me." Seong-ah walked out of the laboratory, with Bomin quietly following her.
"Yoon Seong-ah! Consider staying home for the next three months," Haneul called after her and dropped an envelope at her feet. Bomin picked it up.
"Suspension notice?" he asked, his eyes wide.
"Trespassing in the National Intelligence Center, unauthorized use of forensic equipment, and obstructing the investigation by monitoring the suspect. Enough reasons for a three-month suspension from your reporting duties."
"KIM HANEUL! YOU'RE GOING TOO FAR!"
"Stop yelling and just step away from this case. It's dangerous, and I don't want you to face the same danger as ten years ago," Haneul warned.
Seong-ah turned with teary eyes and walked away, leaving Haneul staring at the marks on her neck.