November 2023, Night of Kang Jurin's Murder, Yangyang Beach.
"So easily manipulated," Hong Siwoo murmured, his eyes vacant, an eerie smile playing on his lips as he observed Lee Hangyul driving away from the beach. Their eyes met briefly through the rearview mirror of Hangyul's car.
Seated in the rented car from a nearby garage, Siwoo headed towards the Damyang resort, where an eager accomplice awaited him. The smile on his face waned as he entered the lodging building, twirling the car keys on his index finger. Jung Bomin, the one whose head he had struck with a stone earlier, stood on the stairs leading to the first floor, blood trickling from his hair. Their eyes locked as Siwoo ascended, his gaze darkening as he focused on his prey.
"You survived that hit?" Siwoo inquired, his eyes piercing as they bore into Bomin.
"Of course. That wasn't strong enough to kill me, Hong Siwoo," Bomin retorted, smirking as he leaned against the wall, facing Siwoo.
"Never imagined me to be famous in this country," Siwoo chuckled eerily.
"You weren't until now... but you might gain that popularity, thanks to me," Bomin replied, crossing his arms and fixing his gaze on Siwoo's pale, expressionless face.
Siwoo took a few steps closer to Bomin until only air separated them, his eyes locking onto Bomin's confident gaze. "I liked that bad attitude of yours. You saw what happened with Kang Jurin, yet here you are talking to me with those overconfident eyes. Tell me, what do you need?"
"I crave this spine-chilling thrill... You didn't kill Kang Jurin with your own hands, I know... But I'm curious about what you did to her," Bomin's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Hong Siwoo looked at him with crescent eyes, a smile appearing on his face as he raised his hand and slowly brushed Bomin's red jacket. Surprisingly, Bomin didn't resist as he was pulled into Siwoo's room. The door locked from inside, and Bomin's screams echoed through the entire floor. A few minutes later, a creepy silence settled in the corridor.
.
.
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Present Day, 5 AM, Seoul
Seong-ah emerged from the subway station exit, her shoulders weighed down by bags. Her headache intensified during the journey from Damyang to Seoul. Since Jung Bomin had vanished while gathering information on Hong Siwoo, Seong-ah had to leave her house. It had become risky to reside alone in the village with a killer on the loose. Lee Hangyul, who had boarded the same train, avoided interacting with Seong-ah throughout the journey. He briskly walked past her, ignoring her presence beside him.
"Hey! Did you get awkward because of that kiss? Are you a teenager or what?" Seong-ah interrupted his tranquil walk, taking long strides towards him and tapping his shoulder.
Hangyul remained silent as Seong-ah continued to nag him while walking out of the gate. Hangyul reached his car in the parking area, opened the door, and tossed his bags inside. Seong-ah, who followed him, stood there looking at him with her big eyes, expecting him to offer a ride. However, Hangyul sat in the driver's seat, started the car without speaking a word, and drove past Seong-ah, denying her even the chance to call out his name.
"Was he really a sociopath a decade ago? Who would believe that when he's being such an emotional guy affected by one kiss? Lee Hangyul, you're something else," Seong-ah rolled her eyes in annoyance. She pulled out her cell phone from her handbag and dialed Jung Bomin's number, receiving no reply. She then dialed Professor Sungtae's number, but it went unanswered as well.
"What's wrong with everyone? Does no one want to talk to me today?" she muttered, holding her head. Frustrated, she walked out of the parking area and reached the main road to wait for the taxi she had booked earlier. Sitting at the bus stop, surrounded by the pre-dawn darkness, Seong-ah observed the empty roads on a working day, puzzled about what had transpired overnight. Very few vehicles were running, contrary to Seoul's usual bustling traffic. Suddenly, a luxurious BMW sped past the bus stop, abruptly stopping a few meters away. The car paused, reversed slowly, and stopped at the bus stop. The door opened, and Hong Siwoo stepped out, dressed in an ash grey shirt tucked into denim pants, walking towards her with his left hand extended for a handshake.
"Yoon Seong-ah? What an unusual time to sit at a bus stop!" he exclaimed, wearing a surprised expression.
"It's fine. No time is unusual for a journalist; we could be out reporting 24/7," Seong-ah replied sternly.
"Oh right! I almost forgot that you were a media reporter... CBS news network... Senior Reporter Yoon Seong-ah," he laughed, lightly tapping his forehead.
Seong-ah stood up and took a few steps forward, ignoring his small talk. She checked her mobile to see how far her cab was from the bus stop. Siwoo, standing behind her, looked at her with blank eyes as his laughter faded when she turned her back.
"Looking for the taxi? I guess it would be difficult today," he said in a deep, almost whispering tone. Seong-ah turned back towards him, and in a split second, his face transformed into a smile, making his eyes crescent-shaped.
"Why?" Seong-ah asked, suspiciously scanning his face.
"How could you not know? When you are the one reporting the Damyang Serial Killings case," he said, wide-eyed.
"Get to the point," Seong-ah demanded assertively.
"Mayor Kang Minseok has lost his senses after receiving his dead daughter's heart, and the national security department was ordered to impose a partial curfew in the entire city to catch the murderer. You need to undergo a police check at every intersection road as there are police camps built up everywhere," he explained with a worried face.
Seong-ah was shocked, but she controlled her emotions as Hong Siwoo was still standing in front of her.
"If you don't mind, I can give you a ride to your house," he offered. Seong-ah stood there, puzzled by the situation.
"Uh, no, thanks, Mr. Hong. I can manage; the taxi is on the way."
"Don't be so formal, Miss Seong-ah. You won't get a taxi at this hour and in this situation."
Hesitant, Seong-ah stood there, torn about how to reject the offer from the orphanage's charity donor. Eventually, she accepted the ride as she needed to rush and meet Professor Sungtae to get a hold of the current situation.
"Okay, fine. Just drop me off at the CBS broadcasting headquarters," she said with an awkward smile.
Siwoo offered to help her with her bags, but she stopped him and picked them up herself, smiling sheepishly. He opened the front door for her, and Seong-ah settled into the front seat as Siwoo took the driver's seat.
"A CEO doesn't have a driver... that's quite surprising," Seong-ah commented as she scanned her hawk eyes around the car.
"I like driving my own car. It's hard to trust people these days. What if my driver turns out to be a serial killer?" Siwoo remarked as he inserted the key into the ignition slot, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead on the road.
"Quite weird humor... By the way, could you please turn down the air conditioning? It's a bit cold in here," Seong-ah requested as she rubbed her palms together for warmth.
"Oh really? Maybe I love the cold climate a bit too much," Siwoo smiled as he adjusted the car's AC.
"Isn't your intimidating aura cold enough?" Seong-ah rolled her eyes, whispering to herself.
"I didn't know that you're such a chatty person, Yoon Seong-ah," he said, looking at her with a side-eye.
"A lot of tabs kept on a mere reporter... I see... you're quite interested in the case," Seong-ah looked at him suspiciously.
"I'm quite interested—not in the case. I'm interested to witness... how you will tackle this case," Siwoo said as he shifted gears, pulling the car to the roadside.
Seong-ah was startled when he suddenly stopped the car. "What happened?" she asked nervously.
"CBS headquarters," Siwoo gestured with his eyes towards the building outside the window. "We've reached."
Seong-ah was bewildered to realize that it had already been thirty minutes. It felt as if time had stopped when she was talking with Siwoo, under some influence that prevented her from realizing the duration.
She got out of the car, and this time, Siwoo took her bags out of the backseat. She bowed down as a gesture of thanks, which he reciprocated. "Looking forward to meeting you again, Miss Seong-ah," he said as he drove away from the headquarters building. Seong-ah stood there, gazing at his car, wondering what really happened to her while sitting inside it.
Seong-ah received a call that brought her back to reality—an unknown number flashed on her mobile screen. "Hello? Who's this?" she answered
"It's me, Sungtae. Just keep your bags in the office and reach the location as soon as possible." The call was abruptly ended, and a message with the location popped up on her screen.
The sun was rising slowly, brightening up the dark surroundings. The city, once covered in the black dawn, was being revealed by the morning light.
...
8 AM, Outskirts of Incheon District
A police camp had been erected in the woods, away from the city, turning the usually silent rural area into a chaotic base for cops and detective officers' investigation. Three tents stood amidst the woods: two smaller ones for the cops and a larger tent in the middle housing the tracking system, equipped with numerous computers.
Yoon Seong-ah walked slowly towards the main base, where Professor Sungtae awaited her. They exchanged faint smiles as he lifted the plastic curtain, allowing them entry into the tent. Seong-ah stepped inside and immediately spotted Kim Haneul on the left, explaining some strategy to his team. Haneul noticed her presence, and their eyes briefly met. Seong-ah quickly averted her gaze, remaining silent until Professor directed her to sit in a chair near his computer desk. Haneul took a deep breath, refocusing his mind on the work at hand.
"Professor," she began, only to be cut off by Professor.
"Let me explain first. As you already know, Kang Jurin's heart was found in the Mayor's mansion. According to Kang Minseok, it was thrown into his room wrapped in a polythene bag. Forensics have retrieved both objects, and we have found several fingerprints on the bag. Among them, one matches Lee Hangyul's—the primary suspect in your parents' murder case. For the world, he is still missing, and the Mayor is exerting extreme pressure on the department to find him for interrogation. So, we think that you should convince him to surrender himself," Professor said with a tense tone, gulping down a glass of water.
"What are you saying, Professor? It's impossible for Hangyul to do this. He was with me the entire time; he was in Damyang with..." Seong-ah looked up at Haneul with a shocked face.
"Hey! Can't you tell them that you guys were together for the past two days in Damyang? How could you expect me to bring him here to surrender himself?" she asked Haneul, her eyes filled with puzzlement.
"Because we can't push it further anymore, Seong-ah! Lee Hangyul has to present himself for interrogation so that we can clear the allegations against him once and for all," Haneul explained as he approached Professor's desk.
Seong-ah leaned back in the chair, contemplating the repercussions. The moment she had waited for a whole decade was here— the suspect she had searched for all these years was about to be interrogated. All she had to do was convince a mentally unstable patient to surrender. Her revenge was about to be fulfilled; the person she hated the most was about to be punished. But her heart beat faster than ever, not from the satisfaction of avenging her parents' murder, but from the possibility of wrongly accusing an innocent person. Her feelings had softened for Lee Hangyul over the two months they had interacted.
"What are you thinking so much for, Seong-ah? Wasn't this what you wanted from the start? Finding the serial killer—wasn't that the main purpose for us to start this plan?" Professor Sungtae questioned Seong-ah's silence.
"But, Professor, what if he's not the murderer? He was just a suspect; none of his fingerprints matched the ones on the screwdriver!" Seong-ah spoke heavily as her throat constricted with a rush of emotions.
"Yoon Seong-ah! You're saying this? You started this game, and now you're backing off just because of your growing feelings for Lee Hangyul? You think I can't read your face and those eyes full of affection for him? What did you say at Kang Jurin's funeral? That you don't care if he's hurt, all you want is revenge?" Professor shook her shoulders to bring a sense of reality to her mind.
Kim Haneul, listening to this confrontation, watched silently, controlling the tears in his eyes. The truth he had tried to hide in the past was no longer required to be concealed. The feelings he had suppressed had somehow found their way back—the red thread of fate connecting two souls couldn't be easily broken.
...
10 PM, Hannamdong, Seoul
Hong Siwoo ascended the stairs in his bungalow, reaching the second level. Turning right, he traversed the corridor towards the extreme end. His gaze fixated on the painting of King Yeonsangun, the tyrant of the Joseon dynasty, hanging on the wall. Tilting the painting, he entered the password in an electronic lock concealed behind it. The room emitted two beeps, and Siwoo pushed the door, disguised as a wall, aside, revealing the entrance to a secret room.
The room, designed as a special medical care facility for the treatment of bedridden patients, welcomed Siwoo. He walked towards the bed, observing the person lying there soundly asleep. Approaching the patient's ear, who slept with his back turned to Siwoo, he whispered, "Sleep well, Father."
Hong Yushik, 65-year-old, bed ridden was shocked to hear his son's voice. Panic seized him as he turned around to witness Siwoo's darkened face, his eyes lost in the realms of insanity—a reflection of Yushik's own past self. Shivers of fear ran down Yushik's spine.
"Don't be scared, Father. Just one syringe full of antidote, and you'll sleep painlessly for the next whole week," Siwoo smiled like a maniac, injecting the syringe into Yushik's veins.
As Hong Yushik gradually lost consciousness, descending into a deep slumber, Siwoo stepped away from the bed and stood at a distance, surveying his bedridden father—bedridden due to amputated legs, the same legs that once kicked Siwoo for not working for him.
"Perfect," chuckled Hong Siwoo, delighted by the sight of his legless father. He turned around, walked out of the room, whistling an eerie tune, and rolled the syringe on his fingers.