Grandma Mak-sun's Land - 2
"Unbelievable! This guy's completely lost his mind. A club is the only medicine for lunatics like you!"
Kim Seong-gyun flung his car door open, unfolded his three-section baton, and swung at me without a shred of restraint.
Whap!
"Hey, you little punk! What did you do to our father, huh? You son of a—! If you won't do it in front of him, at least get it over with right here, right now!"
Whack, whack, whack. The baton came slamming down into the leather seats.
But I had already slipped out through the other door.
"Too slow!"
"Get over here, you bastard!"
"Yeah, yeah, coming."
All I'd thought was that I ought to kick this guy into next week — and then my body shot up into the air like a spring.
Carrying my full weight plus the acceleration, I drove my heel straight into Kim Seong-gyun's chest.
"Hwuk!"
With a strangled scream, Kim Seong-gyun vanished into the deep darkness.
Superhuman strength.
The terrifying kind of power that could split a boulder with an iron axe. Grandma White Porcelain had said the Former-Former Village Chief had been blessed with world-class strength in his youth, and that he'd passed that gift on to me.
But that kick I'd just thrown was a move no one without martial training could have executed.
Could the soldiers sleeping in the Back Mountain be lending me their strength?
Among the remains would surely have been student conscripts, but there must have been officers trained in combat as well.
What if my superhuman strength was interwoven with a trained fighter's technique?
Oh, this is going to be fun.
I suddenly wanted to test my combat skills right now. And as it happened, a sparring partner was ready and waiting.
"Uuurgh."
Kim Seong-gyun came shambling out of the darkness like a zombie.
My kick had sent him flying clean over the trees — he'd landed in a thicket rather than on rock or bare ground.
His hair had been whipped into a bird's nest, and blood was streaming from his nose, but nothing seemed to be broken. His arms and legs were all still attached, after all.
He even had the audacity to glare at me and growl.
"You know obstructing an officer in the line of duty can get you actual prison time, even for a first offense?"
"Line of duty? You call dragging a man eating his peanuts out to some secluded spot to threaten him 'executing official duties'?"
"Anyone suspicious, I beat first and ask questions later. That's how I've always worked."
"Really? Then by all means, continue."
I balled my fists and settled into a shadowboxing stance, facing him down.
"Please, do go on executing your official duties."
"You think I won't just because you say so?"
Clack!
Kim Seong-gyun snatched up the baton he'd dropped and charged at me.
Still slow. And hopelessly weak.
The moment I focused, the baton's trajectory sharpened into perfect clarity. More than that — I could feel the force behind it, the resistance of the air it split, all on its own.
Taking that thing flush would hurt plenty, no doubt about it. But it wouldn't hit hard enough to take me down.
Still, no sense eating a hit just to find out. Dodging it is.
I dropped low, let the baton slice through the empty air above my head, and snapped a short right hook into Kim Seong-gyun's flank.
Crack!
The jab buried itself in his ribs and Kim Seong-gyun doubled over with a grunt.
"Kkuheup!"
The blow sank deep enough to reach his organs, and drool began trickling from his mouth.
"You little—!"
He tensed his legs and twisted his body for another strike. This time the baton came whistling toward my waist.
I hopped back and kicked the wrist that gripped it.
"Ugh!"
The pain made him lose his grip on the baton — and then he suddenly yanked something from his back pocket.
A taser?
When the black shape of a weapon I'd only ever seen on the news appeared, genuine anger flared through me.
"So it's true, then? You really could kill someone out here and nobody would ever know?"
"What, scared?"
"Me? No — you should be the one shaking. From here on out, I'm done holding back."
"Let me start by zapping that flapping mouth of yours."
Tatatatatang!
He pulled the trigger, and electrified barbs burst forth in a spray of sparks.
Even that looked sluggish to me. I swayed aside with room to spare and charged at Kim Seong-gyun at full speed.
Crack!
My headbutt snapped his neck backward, and suddenly droplets of water flew at my face.
Kim Seong-gyun had burst into tears, and they'd splattered onto me.
You've got to be kidding me.
I seized his wrist, wrenched it around, ripped the taser from his grip, and cracked it across his skull. Blood sprayed everywhere as the hulking body swayed and buckled.
Thud. Kim Seong-gyun toppled sideways, eyes rolled white, out cold.
"Did I hit you too hard?"
I bent down and studied him. He was breathing, at least. I rubbed my own forehead — the spot where the headbutt had connected felt oddly refreshed.
Whatever martial arts my body absorbed, it's clearly not the refined technique of a trained martial artist.
My temper had gotten the better of me and I'd gone straight for a headbutt, after all.
"Hey, Kim Seong-gyun. Time to get up, isn't it?"
Even when I nudged him with my toe, he didn't stir.
"Come on, I can't drive after drinking. You gonna get up or what? Excuse me, Detective! You really shouldn't be sleeping here. Hey! Your father's looking for you, you know?"
The moment I invoked Kim Yong-gu, Kim Seong-gyun snapped back to his senses.
"Uuuugh... spare me... please, spare me. I only brought you out to this remote place to scare you... I thought if I corrected your bad habits and brought you back, my father would be pleased with me..."
Kim Seong-gyun hauled himself up unsteadily, dropped to his knees, and began babbling through the blood on his face.
I quietly lowered my hand and dialed the number of the investigations chief — the man Na Jeong-hwan had put in charge of the preliminary inquiry. A man of that rank would be sharp enough to hear Kim Seong-gyun's confession coming through my phone and decide the direction of the investigation himself.
I set the phone down where the conversation would carry clearly, and opened my mouth.
"Kim Seong-hoon confessed in front of the Governor this afternoon. That you took the lead in destroying the evidence in the Hwang Sun-ja hit-and-run case."
"That absolute bastard! He wanted to live for himself, so he pinned it on me — wiping the CCTV was his idea, and he conveniently left that part out, didn't he?"
"Exactly."
I answered briefly and glanced at my phone screen. The call was live, the screen glowing, and the investigations chief was listening in silence.
He's caught on to what I'm doing.
This road was walled in by trees on all sides — no ambient noise would muddy the recording.
I turned to Kim Seong-gyun and asked, calm and even.
"Twelve years ago — the hit-and-run that killed Hwang Sun-ja, wife of the Ugok 1-ri village head. It was your father, Kim Yong-gu, wasn't it?"
"Yes. It was."
"And you destroyed the evidence?"
"Seong-hoon was the one who said to wipe the CCTV! My father got greedy when he heard that, and gave the order to me... I didn't have a choice."
Okay!
With a knowing smile, I pressed on.
"And you sold drugs to migrant workers today. Don't even think about weaseling out — I already know everything."
My finely honed nose had caught the scent of crime, after all.
After collecting every last word of Kim Seong-gyun's confession, I arrived at the house where Kim Yong-gu lived.
"Well, well. Look how the other half lives."
Kim Yong-gu's house was a handsome country home built in solid concrete on a perfectly level plot of land. The yard was carpeted with lawn, and a pine tree had been planted for atmosphere. In one corner sat a barbecue grill worth two million won.
I'd been eyeing that exact model, so I know the price down to the won.
He must throw barbecues often — the pile of charcoal stacked near the flower bed was substantial.
"Ha! Well, this is something."
Stepping inside, I let out an empty laugh out of sheer disbelief. An expensive-looking display cabinet, a chandelier, tasteful paintings on the walls — the man had clearly spared no expense on the interior.
Kim Seong-gyun, reading the fury in my eyes, hovered nervously nearby.
"I, uh, I sent the kids and my wife to my in-laws'. It's just my father in the house right now — I'll go bring him out."
Then he added:
"Please make allowances — my father's mind drifts in and out these days."
Supported under his son's arm, Kim Yong-gu emerged from the inner room.
"Father, I've brought Mr. Kim Yunho."
"Wh-where? Ahh, Mr. Kim."
The moment Kim Yong-gu saw me, tears streamed down his face and he groveled to the floor.
"Mr. Kim, I've done wrong. I know I've done wrong."
He must have suffered brutally under No. 1's torments — the skin beneath his eyes was black as ash, and his pupils had gone glassy and unfocused.
[Master, what took you so long?]
At that moment, an endless stream of black smoke began pouring out of Kim Yong-gu's nose.
Whoa! What on earth are you?
Only after a long while did the smoke coalesce, swelling into a cat evil spirit so massive it filled half the living room.
Just how much have you been gorging yourself?
[If you'd come even a little later, Master, I would've used this wicked old man's body as my vessel.]
Meaning you drove him right up to the edge of death?
[Would've driven him there. Not killed him, though. Can't go against your orders, after all.]
No. 1, clearly delighted that I'd come to collect him on schedule, flopped onto his back, baring his belly, and purred contentedly.
Good work regardless.
[Oh, right! I've been making Kim Yong-gu dream over and over about the grandma he ran down with his motorcycle — the snake, remember? It's the only way he'd sell the land you want to buy. I did good, right?]
Yeah. You did.
Having finished my conversation with No. 1, I turned my gaze to Kim Yong-gu and spoke.
"The reason I've come all this way in the middle of the night, Mr. Kim Yong-gu, is to hear you confess to the sins you've committed over the course of your life. Shall we begin?"
"Mr. Kim, I have a great deal of money. I earned it like a dog all my life and saved every won. Out here in the country, people think you don't need money — that's a mistake. So, about that — if I could just offer you some money..."
"Hey. No. 1!"
I scowled in the direction where No. 1 was sitting.
"Why are you sweet-talking him on your own? What's gotten into you?"
"Er... where exactly are you looking when you say that?"
"Deal with it. Now."
At my command, No. 1 sprang to his feet.
[That old fart STILL hasn't learned his lesson? I can't stand it.]
No. 1 padded up to Kim Yong-gu, bared the claws on his front paws, and raked them across the old man's face without mercy.
"GYAAAAH! Aigoo, ow, ow!"
Kim Yong-gu clutched his face in both hands and trembled violently. But look closely — he was clawing at himself with his own fingernails.
Digging at his own eyes, tearing at his skin — the sight of him mutilating himself made Kim Seong-gyun's brow furrow.
"Father, what's wrong with you? Have you completely lost it?"
"Save me. Please, save me. My face, my eyes — aaaagh! It hurts so much."
Even as he carved his wounds deeper with his own nails, Kim Yong-gu couldn't stop. Blood ran freely, soaking his hands and face, and still he kept tearing at himself.
"M-Mr. Kim! Save me, please!"
"Father, that's enough! Seriously, have you gone insane?!"
"Get away from me! The snake — the snake is trying to kill me! Aaaagh!"
Kim Yong-gu began strangling his own son. Kim Seong-gyun shoved him away with all his strength.
SLAM!
Kim Yong-gu rolled across the living room, cracked his head against the display cabinet, and began to bleed.
"My own son is trying to kill his father! Aigoo, you people in the neighborhood, come see!"
Kim Yong-gu grabbed a golf club and began swinging it wildly. Cabinet glass shattered, and the chandelier crashed down and burst into pieces.
"Stop it! Stop this!"
"Let go! Let go of me!"
The struggle between father and son was savage. Neither gave an inch — they beat and shoved at each other as if trying to kill one another.
Is this what they call the tragedy of kin turning on kin?
My teeth clenched at the sight of humanity at its absolute lowest, and I gave No. 1 the order.
Enough.
[He'll probably need a little more suffering before he talks properly?]
For the sake of my own sanity, I want to stop watching.
[Fine, fine.]
No. 1 smacked Kim Yong-gu on the back of the head with a front paw. The old man, released at last from the evil spirit's grip, came back to his senses — took in the ruined living room and his son panting and glaring daggers at him — and collapsed to his knees.
"I-I'll confess. I'll do whatever you say, Mr. Kim. Anything."
Only then, thoroughly pleased with himself, did No. 1 flip upward, cling to the ceiling, and scuttle along upside-down until he landed beside me.
[Heheh! I'm pretty amazing, aren't I?]
Sure.
I settled into a leisurely stance and looked down at Kim Yong-gu.
"Let's start with the stolen gold rings. Confess."
"Yes, sir. That was..."