The Bar (1)

Han Yuhyeon felt the thud of his own heart as he looked over the scene. Kim Jeong-sik was truly dead. Last night had been no dream. He had committed murder.

It did not matter that the man had killed Han Mi-na. He had finished his sentence and returned to society, and Han Yuhyeon had possessed no authority to punish him. This had not even been a simple beating. He had snuffed the man's life out for certain, and the process had been closer to torture.

He had killed a person as if it were nothing. He had done something that could never be undone. He had become a murderer who stained snow-white hands with filthy blood.

Han Yuhyeon swept his hair back. Deep inside him, something squirmed. Guilt? A revulsion at having killed?

No. It wasn't that.

Han Yuhyeon smiled.

Kim Jeong-sik had never been human to begin with. He had been nothing more than trash sprawled along the roadside, and cleaning up trash was something the world required. What the law had failed to settle, he had settled himself. This — this was true justice. Returning the stolen suffering in equal measure. And so he could smile without a shred of guilt.

"Huh? This guy's smiling?"

A young man had appeared at his side without warning. Jo Jin-hyeok wore a coat that had no business at a crime scene and a playful grin, and he was staring at Han Yuhyeon with open, delighted interest.

"A guy laughing where somebody just died. Now that's interesting."

The moment Han Yuhyeon laid eyes on Jo Jin-hyeok, his pupils shook.

Murder, written there in the open. Just like Kim Jeong-sik, the law had never punished him.

"You smell like my kind."

"Jo Jin-hyeok, what are you doing over there? Wrap it up already — I told you I have to go shopping. The new collection just dropped!"

Another woman had appeared behind them. She was draped in luxury pieces that gave off a refined, old-money air, but her manner of speaking did not match the look in the slightest.

"Check this out, Ha-na! This guy was smiling at the crime scene! Everybody else is too busy being scared out of their minds."

"Hah? And what of it? Wait a second..."

Shin Ha-na began to sniff the air the way a dog would, then drew in close to Han Yuhyeon. The sweet perfume rising off her hair pricked the tip of his nose.

Once again, he had no time to react.

Ding—!

A woman with a record of murder, the same as Jo Jin-hyeok. Two killers had appeared out of nowhere, and Han Yuhyeon stared straight through them. Pain lanced through him, as if hundreds of needles were being driven into his heart.

He had thought everything would be all right once Kim Jeong-sik was dead. It wasn't.

Killing intent began to seep up through his eyes.

"You smell good, you know that? And that face is exactly my type."

"...Who are you people?"

At the question, Shin Ha-na curved her lips into a bewitching smile.

"Oh my. I pay you a compliment and you ignore me? I've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never met a man like this."

"Pfft—ha! Listen to yourself! You walk around looking so cheap that guys dump you. That's all it is!"

At the mockery, Shin Ha-na's eyebrow twitched.

"I told you I'd kill you if you talked nonsense, didn't I?"

"You asked who we are?"

Jo Jin-hyeok ignored her and shoved his face in close to Han Yuhyeon's.

"For now, let's just say we're police. We're investigating the case."

At the word police, Han Yuhyeon's killing intent eased. Work that job long enough and you fought violent offenders often enough; killing a criminal without meaning to would not be unthinkable. He doubted they were really violent-crimes detectives — they looked far too young — but he had no way to confirm it, so he stayed where he was.

"Still, a guy who smiles at a crime scene? Funny thing, that."

"And why is that?"

Han Sia stepped out in front of her brother. Not a flicker of hesitation crossed her as she glared straight at Shin Ha-na and Jo Jin-hyeok.

"Hm? What was that, little miss?"

"I'm asking you what the problem is. That man is Kim Jeong-sik, isn't he?"

"Oh? What's this. You know the victim?"

"Victim? You call him a victim? Pfft!"

Han Sia let out a scoff, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No. That man is the one who did it. He's the trash who killed our sister. They say the trash finally dropped dead — so what, are we supposed to cry instead of being glad?"

Jo Jin-hyeok's eyes flew wide. He smacked a fist into his open palm.

"Aha! So you're the family! That's why you were smiling. Puhahaha! Now I get it. Mm-hm, then yeah, you've got every reason to smile. But still — that guy is the victim. He did his time and got out."

"Once a criminal serves his sentence and walks out of prison, does he become a new man?"

This time Han Yuhyeon stepped out in front of Han Sia.

"Sure. That's what the law says, right?"

Han Yuhyeon stared at his face for a long moment before he answered.

"I wonder if you'd say the same thing once another victim appears."

His eyes flashed, savage and cold.

"The law doesn't take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠responsibility, after all. We're busy. We'll be going."

He took Han Sia's hand and left the scene, the weight of their stares pressed to the back of his head the whole way.

He had only meant to confirm things roughly and get clear of the place. Instead he had gone and burned his face into the police's memory. If they dug deep enough, the crime might come to light — and then it would not only be prison. Han Sia would never be able to live a proper life at school. The worst possible outcome.

Han Yuhyeon wrung the last of last night out of his memory. In the end he had left Kim Jeong-sik where he lay — the man who had failed the test — and gotten off the street. It had been impulse. He hadn't spared a thought for the security cameras. He had gone straight home.

"Oppa, you okay? You just broke out in a cold sweat."

"Hm? Ah, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"It's those weird cops from earlier, isn't it? I seriously can't believe them. Standing right in front of the actual victims and spewing garbage like that — who does that?"

Han Sia poured out every grievance she had against them. Han Yuhyeon looked, to all appearances, as if he were listening. Inside, he was nowhere near the conversation. Last night had hold of him entirely.

Yes — he had definitely gone into the house. But he had not walked through the door. He had used a method he had never experienced in his life. All at once his vision had dropped flush with the ground, and he had felt the hard shape of his body turn yielding as liquid.

Han Yuhyeon's eyes flashed. He remembered.

He had become a shadow. He had melted into the dark and reached home as if he were swimming through it. It was something that should have been impossible, and he was certain of it all the same. The hour had been sunk in heavy dark. No one could have traced the path a shadow took.

Good. He let out a silent breath of relief. He wouldn't be found out.

Then he looked ahead.

Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!

The chime would not stop, and the world around him turned strange.

Profile windows had opened beside people walking the street as if nothing in the world were wrong.

The world was still rotting.

Han Yuhyeon walked toward the lecture hall with his thoughts in a knot. The corridor was full of students drinking university life down to the last drop, but he was not among them. What had happened to him consumed every scrap of his attention.

He reached the room, took his seat, and opened his laptop with a rattle and a soft click. Then his fingers began to move across the keys.

The anomaly had started last night. He could see people's criminal records — and more than that, he could track anyone he designated as a target. His body itself was changing, turning him into a grotesque thing possessed of power beyond the human. If he only willed it, he could even take on the form in which he had killed Kim Jeong-sik.

He had wanted to call it a dream. It was unmistakably real.

Why had this happened? Why had this power been given to him? Could it be a grace sent down from heaven? His head throbbed with the confusion, but of one thing he was certain. He had been handed the strength to make a desire real — the desire to purify this trash heap of a world and bring true justice into it. And something stirred in him, a will to spend that power on a single purpose.

Cleaning up trash.

The law of this world was feeble beyond measure. Criminals appeared without end. Those who finished their sentences walked out and offended again. The reason was simple. The law was horrifically weak.

And so the world needed fear. Overwhelming fear. Fear that anyone who committed a crime — whatever their status, whatever their honor — would receive a punishment that did not fail. If that fear existed, the world would produce even a little less trash.

"Oh? Sunbae. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You're here early."

At the gentle voice beside him, Han Yuhyeon smiled faintly and looked over.

Song Yu-na stood there, long straight hair dyed brown. After he returned from leave without a single friend to his name, she had been the only one to speak to him — a junior whose popularity in the department was soaring, both for her kindness and for looks that resembled a famous idol. He had never understood why someone like her would bother talking to a person like him.

"Yeah. Had some assignments to get through."

He turned the laptop so she could see the report on the screen.

"That's our sunbae. You'll be taking the scholarship this time, won't you? I need to push myself harder, too."

Never drops below an A in a single class, and still playing humble.

"Is that rumor actually true? That she got involved with the bar owner?"

The murmuring of other girls reached him from nearby.

"I'm telling you, it's true. Jihye told me. She saw the whole thing clear as day while they were working the same shift. She was the one who came on to him first — flirting, getting all handsy."

"Seriously? Wow. I never would've pegged her for that. Total vixen. And then she files a sexual harassment complaint? After she already got everything she wanted out of it?"

"That's what I'm saying. It's obviously a scheme to squeeze a settlement out of him. This is why two-faced girls are terrifying. The only one I feel sorry for is the owner."

When Han Yuhyeon turned his gaze on them, Song Yu-na's expression darkened.

"Ah, um — there's a freshman who just joined our department, and it seems she's had some trouble with a bar owner. So there's been a lot of talk lately... huh?"

Song Yu-na's eyes went wide. She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was no longer looking at him. Han Yuhyeon followed her gaze and turned toward the window.

In that instant, their eyes met — his, and the eyes of a girl plunging downward. She dropped straight to the ground.

Crack.