A World Frozen in Time
The halo of light gradually faded and disappeared.
Woojin slowly opened his eyes, half expectant, half anxious, wondering where the diary's mysterious power would take him this time after sending him back to the past.
'Is this that virtual world?'
It was a bright morning, like a commute to work. Amid the towering buildings visible through the sunlight, he stood holding the diary in his hand.
"Huh?"
Woojin couldn't help but be startled as he looked around at the crosswalk in the middle of the road, right in front of the traffic light. The sight before his eyes was truly bizarre.
There were countless cars and people around him, but they were all frozen in place, as if someone had hit the pause button.
Tap tap.
At that moment, someone suddenly tapped Woojin on the shoulder from behind. With no prior sign of anyone approaching, Woojin whipped around in surprise.
There stood a man smiling and waving his hand, greeting him with, "Hi~"
He had permed hair, frameless glasses, and was dressed in simple tracksuit clothes.
"You're Baek Woojin, right?"
The man asked as if he already knew all about Woojin.
"You know me?"
"Of course."
"But who are you?"
In response to Woojin's question, he introduced himself plainly.
"I'm Choi Kyu-bo, forensic pathologist with the Korean Cold-cases Forensic Service."
Choi Kyu-bo. A very familiar name.
No way...
"Are you from Wanted..."
"Ding ding ding! Right on the money. Good job."
He was the character from the script Woojin had just been studying and practicing lines for.
"This guy's the character you auditioned for. Lucky you~"
To have a one-on-one with the actual character. It felt like a dream.
'It's bewildering, but I have to seize this chance no matter what!' Woojin shouted inwardly.
For an actor, getting to talk directly with the character was an unparalleled opportunity.
"Anyway, nice to meet you. I'm actor Baek Woojin."
"I know, I told you."
Ignoring the fact that he was using casual speech right from the first meeting, Choi Kyu-bo seemed pretty cheerful and easygoing. His tone and voice gave off the vibe of a total social butterfly—the kind you'd describe with internet slang from the original script.
He didn't seem like a weird guy or anything...
"I'm ten years older than you, so feel free to drop the formalities? Call me hyung. I'm not a weirdo, promise~"
...He couldn't read minds, could he?
At thirty-five, they were actually the same age originally... but anyway, now Woojin was twenty-five, so he decided to call him hyung.
"Got it, hyung. You go casual too."
"Good."
"Hyung, I've got one question."
"Shoot."
"Why's everything around us stopped?"
"Simple. 'Cause you accepted the mission~"
Choi Kyu-bo added an explanation to Woojin's still-puzzled expression.
"This is a virtual world made for you to experience my life. In other words, everything except us two only moves when necessary."
Woojin nodded. So the diary that had taken him ten years into the past had now arranged a meeting with this character. The situation was starting to make sense.
But one question lingered.
"Okay, one more."
"What is it, bro?"
"What's this mission thing exactly?"
"Well, about that..."
Choi Kyu-bo's voice and expression suddenly turned serious.
"The mission is..."
Woojin swallowed hard, focusing intently.
"I'll tell you later. No fun if I spoil it now!"
"What?"
"Jeez, so impatient. You fold right after getting your cards in poker?"
Was this guy really thirty-five? He felt endlessly lighthearted for his age. Well, positively speaking, cheerful and approachable.
"Too early for that. You'll find out if you wait."
Choi Kyu-bo playfully brushed it off and refused to say more. Woojin's curiosity spiked, but he didn't press, given the guy's teasing yet firm tone.
Woojin nodded and spoke again.
"Got it. So, what do I do here now?"
"You've got one job here."
Choi Kyu-bo paused dramatically before continuing in a grave tone.
"Experience this guy's life! Kuhaha~"
A genius with IQ 175 who entered med school at ten... The more Woojin saw, the more he seemed like an eccentric rather than a genius. Or maybe he was such a genius that he became eccentric? Hard to get a read on him.
'Experience his life...'
Woojin pondered the words for a moment. Actors analyze their roles layer by layer, gradually becoming the character, then perform in front of the camera. But acting is just acting—making falsehoods seem as true as possible, not 100% truth. It doesn't express the real actor's life.
'But now...'
This was literally merging the character's life with the actor's own. An enormous gift from the virtual world.
"Crystal clear."
"My explanation was pretty perfect~"
"Yeah... sure, let's say that."
Woojin had guessed from the first couple episodes of the script that he was outgoing, but in person, Choi Kyu-bo exceeded expectations. Could he handle this personality?
"Shall we go experience my life now?"
As soon as Choi Kyu-bo finished speaking, the paused world sprang back to life. Footsteps of walking people, honking cars, blowing wind—all sounds filled the air. The deathly silent, black-and-white world felt like it had been vividly colored by an artist, breathing life into it.
"Go go sing!"
Just then, the pedestrian signal turned green.
Woojin followed Choi Kyu-bo's lead across the street.
* * *
They arrived at the Korean Cold-cases Forensic Service building—KCFS. It was equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
As soon as they entered the central lobby, Woojin's eyes were drawn to the large engraving on the marble structure straight ahead.
The Truth Will Surely Be Revealed.
The reason KCFS existed. And the core belief of forensic pathologists like Choi Kyu-bo.
Just seeing the words made something boil up inside Woojin.
"Hey, Woojin bro~"
Choi Kyu-bo called out to Woojin, who had paused to stare at the inscription.
"Yeah?"
"My office is on the third floor. Move it~ Hurry up!"
"Oh, right. Coming."
Woojin followed him to the third floor.
Click.
He opened the door with the nameplate reading Forensic Pathologist Choi Kyu-bo, revealing a spotlessly organized office at a glance.
Medical books and documents filled the space. Suddenly, Choi Kyu-bo seemed different.
"Whoa."
"What, suddenly impressed?"
"It's super tidy. Did you clean up 'cause I was coming?"
"Pfft, as if. I'm always neat like this."
"I'll believe you."
Humans adapt quickly, they say. Woojin had already grown accustomed to Choi Kyu-bo's friendliness in such a short time.
"Can I look at this?"
Woojin, curiously scanning the room, picked up a binder on the desk. With Choi Kyu-bo's nod, he flipped it open.
Flip flip.
Inside were autopsy reports and photos taken during the examination.
"Fascinating?"
As Woojin examined the documents, Choi Kyu-bo—now wearing a white coat—approached beside him.
"Yeah. Pretty interesting."
"You must have a strong stomach. Not even flinching at corpse pics."
"I've seen a ton of horror and gory movies, so this is fine."
"Impressive~"
"They're just photos."
"Riiight~?"
Choi Kyu-bo's gaze held a meaningful glint as he watched Woojin calmly view the autopsy photos. His ambiguous smile added to the enigma.
Why the sudden unsettling expression?
"W-Why? You're freaking me out."
"Haha, chicken. Anyway, sit down."
As Woojin sat, Choi Kyu-bo adjusted his glasses and said,
"Guess I should give you a rundown, huh?"
"A rundown?"
"On what you're looking at~ I'll explain."
Two facts Woojin had momentarily forgotten resurfaced.
1. Choi Kyu-bo was a genius forensic pathologist.
2. He was a character from the script.
Everything he showed when demonstrating expertise was something Woojin absolutely needed to note.
"Hold on. Lend me a pen?"
Woojin opened the diary.
"Ready now."
"Ooh~ Gonna take notes?"
"Gotta study."
"Me? Awesome."
Choi Kyu-bo beamed and spread the photos from the binder across the desk. Pointing to the first one, he asked Woojin,
"What vibe do you get from this?"
The photo he pointed to was a full-body shot of the corpse. It looked like a young woman.
"She looks peacefully asleep."
"More detail."
"Like what adults call a 'good death'?"
"Good. Now, hint here."
Choi Kyu-bo pointed to a second photo of the body's torso.
"FYI, this is a drowning victim. Look at the body with that in mind. Thoughts?"
"No wounds, all clean."
"Right? What feeling?"
"Accident or suicide. One of those two."
Choi Kyu-bo grimaced slightly, snapping his fingers.
"Sharp, but wrong. Most civilians would guess that, so don't feel bad. Up to here, yeah, nothing weird, right? But..."
He placed two more photos on the desk. One a close-up of the face, the other the neck.
"This changes things. Check the neck closely. See the pressure marks?"
"Yeah."
"Plus red petechiae on the face. What does that mean?"
"Hmm, not sure."
Choi Kyu-bo perched on the desk and continued.
"Means external force on the neck. Strangulation. When someone's choked..."
He placed his hands on his own neck.
"Face turns red at first, then capillaries burst. That's the phenomenon. In other words?"
"Not suicide or accident..."
"Bingo! Someone strangled her and forced her face into the water. Clear homicide."
Hearing from a forensic pathologist's mouth what he'd searched online gave Woojin chills all over.
"The dead can't speak, but their bodies do. Telling why they died. Uncovering the final traces left on the body and determining cause of death—that's forensic pathology."
Choi Kyu-bo's voice was dead serious. His lighthearted image vanished. The white coat seemed to glow radiantly. In a word, cool.
"Questions?"
"For cold cases, aren't bodies usually gone or skeletal? But these photos..."
"Ooh~ Sharp question. Did some research?"
"Yeah, looked into forensics a bit."
"Love that studious attitude."
Choi Kyu-bo shifted posture and continued explaining.
"About 280,000 people die in Korea yearly on average. Homicides max out at 500."
"Way less than I thought."
"Only 40 forensic pathologists in the country. Including yours truly."
"So per person... around thirteen cases?"
"Nah, more. Lonely deaths, natural causes—deaths come in all varieties."
Woojin scribbled nonstop in the diary.
"Autopsies aren't just for crime victims. We do them regardless. Even non-cold cases. Understand?"
"Yes."
"More questions?"
"Then..."
Riiiing.
"Hold up."
As Woojin started his next question, the phone rang.
"Choi Kyu-bo speaking. Ah, yes. Yes. Got it."
After the brief call, Choi Kyu-bo smiled at Woojin.
"You said you had a strong stomach earlier?"
What was the intent behind that question? Something felt ominous.
"Let's see if you still do during an autopsy."
"Huh? What..."
Choi Kyu-bo's smile turned even more mischievous.
"Time for an autopsy. You're doing it yourself."
"Me? Suddenly?!"