The Killer Unmasked
The long-awaited sixth shoot.
The morning of the final day of filming for Kang Tae-san, who had just taken his first steps as an actor, dawned.
A "take" simply meant a count of filming days.
For any project, the number of shooting days determined the schedule. Since most costs—locations, equipment rentals, and labor—were calculated on a daily basis, the production divided filming into takes for convenience.
Each episode could require anywhere from four takes to more than twenty, depending on the scale and budget of the work.
Because Detective's Record was a crime drama, it naturally demanded a high number of takes.
Tae-san appeared in episodes one and two out of the sixteen-episode script, playing the role of Jo Chang-mok. Though a supporting character, he was a key day player who drove the plot forward, which was why the schedule called for six takes.
From Tae-san's perspective, that meant three million won per episode—six million won for two episodes. With six takes, his daily rate came to one million won.
It was by far the highest daily wage he had ever earned from any part-time job.
Probably one of the highest-paying gigs he would ever have.
He had heard that the lead actors commanded far higher fees than he did. Their work was much more demanding and their shooting schedules were significantly longer, but it was clear that acting could be a lucrative profession if you succeeded at it.
Of course, the biggest drawback was the lack of steady work.
'Since I'm doing this, I might as well give it everything I've got.'
After ten years of part-time jobs, Tae-san knew that pouring sincerity and diligence into any task often brought unexpected opportunities.
He wasn't aiming to become a lead actor. Even if he only got two or three more chances like this, it would be more than enough to keep doing cleaning gigs on the side.
"Tae-san, are you ready?"
Assistant Director Choi Song-ah hurried over after seeing Tae-san in his prison uniform.
She had been incredibly helpful to someone as new to filming as Tae-san, explaining what takes meant, where to wait, and even making sure he got fed.
"Yes!"
Tae-san answered with an especially bright smile. Every time he did, Choi Song-ah would clear her throat and look away. Tae-san figured the cough must have lasted quite a while.
'Can't blame her. She's running around this set all day.'
Actors only needed to show up for their own scenes, but the countless crew members had to manage every single shot and situation. They barely got any rest, so catching a cold wasn't something that would clear up easily in this environment.
Of course, Choi Song-ah's cough wasn't that kind of cough.
"Art director! Over here."
"Oh, Tae-san. We meet again."
"Hello."
When they entered the set designed to look like a detention center, the art director, holding a length of rope, greeted them. It was the same director who had tightly bound the victim actor in a cross shape during the previous shoot.
Today was the day to tie Jo Chang-mok's hands with rope after he had been arrested and brought to the detention center by the protagonist, Detective Han Soo-ji.
"How does it feel? Too tight?"
"No, it's fine."
Tae-san twisted his body and tested the rope by pulling against it.
"There's a scene where you slam the desk, so it might get uncomfortable if it's too tight. Director! Can you check this?"
"Oh, Tae-san's here?"
Director Sung Tae-man, who had been coordinating camera movements, rushed over at the art director's call.
"Can you raise your arms like this? Is that possible?"
"Yes, I can stretch them out."
"Okay. This should be good."
"Got it. The knot looks convincing?"
"Of course. Director Choi's work is always top-notch."
While Director Sung was flattering the senior art director, Eun Chae-won, finished with makeup, stepped onto the set.
"Oh, there's Chae-won. This is your first scene together, right?"
"Yes."
"Don't be nervous. Hey, say hello to each other."
Eun Chae-won strode straight up to Tae-san.
"Please take care of me."
Tae-san greeted her while still bound by the rope. Chae-won gave a slight nod.
"Do your best."
The words "all of us" were implied before her reply, though Tae-san had no way of knowing that.
He simply thought, So she's pulling rank as a senior in the industry.
'More territorial nonsense? How exhausting.'
No matter which part-time job he took, there were always people who threw their weight around. Their common trait was that it had nothing to do with talent or looks—it was purely a personality issue.
A stubborn senior with a personality controversy. So the rumors about TV celebrities being untrustworthy were true after all.
'Well, if someone had that kind of skill, face, and good character, it would be cheating.'
Tae-san straightened his posture as he watched Eun Chae-won walk away from the camera.
The way to deal with territorial behavior was simple: just do your own job well.
Waiting for Director Sung's signal, Kang Tae-san focused entirely on himself.
He gently closed his eyes, and with a soft click, the Memorial Box opened.
The lives of the clients he had stored deep inside using the item's power unfolded one by one.
Among those memories, he concentrated on the emotions he would need for today's performance.
With the sound of a chair scraping across the floor, Han Soo-ji sat down across from Jo Chang-mok.
Jo Chang-mok, who had kept his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
"Cheon Hee-ji, Yoo Na-rae, Song Min-joo, Kim Chae-rok, Hwang Na-young, Jung Ji-min."
Han Soo-ji recited the victims' names without even glancing at her notes.
"The people you killed. The dismembered bodies, the burned belongings. We worked hard to find even the smallest piece of evidence."
"……"
"Jo Chang-mok. Do you have any idea how many people's lives you destroyed with the horrific things you did?"
"……"
Even as Han Soo-ji continued speaking, Jo Chang-mok simply stared into her light brown eyes.
"If you had known, you wouldn't have done it. If you had tried to understand, you wouldn't have even started."
"……"
"I've met plenty of people like you. You probably think you're special, but you're not. People who hurt those weaker than them just to feel superior—there are truckloads of them in prison."
"……"
"Don't flatter yourself."
"……Detective Han Soo-ji."
"?"
"What a shame. If I'd caught you before I was arrested, I would have wanted to make you my subject—you're that beautiful."
"What?"
Jo Chang-mok straightened his hunched body. Though bound by ropes, he showed no sign of fear or intimidation. It was the relaxed confidence of a cat that had cornered a mouse.
The certainty that no matter how much she struggled, she wouldn't leave a single scratch on him.
"For me, it's simply whether something is beautiful or not. That's all there is to it. I only paint beautiful things."
Even in prison clothes, Jo Chang-mok's appearance seemed to glow. More precisely, his pitch-black eyes now held a strange gleam.
Han Soo-ji felt a chill run down her spine.
She was afraid.
The twisted mind of the man who had brutally murdered people, the blue veins bulging on the back of his pale hands.
If this weren't a detention center but a dark street at night, could she subdue him? Without a taser or handcuffs, could she neutralize him with just her bare hands?
"……"
Still, she tried her best to hide her emotions and not forget her objective. She needed to agitate Jo Chang-mok, make him slip up, and find out the identity of the third victim—the one whose head had been completely crushed and whose body had been found in a drum filled with cement.
"Detective Han. Just like catching me was your job, painting those people was mine. Killing them was merely a process. A necessary step to create the final work."
"……"
"Do I think I'm special? Of course. This isn't something just anyone can do. I was chosen. I could do it because I had the talent. Those pathetic losers in prison—do you really think they could do what I did? No!"
Jo Chang-mok suddenly lunged forward toward Han Soo-ji.
"Even if someone gave them the chance, they couldn't do it. Even if the stage was set for them, they still couldn't. Neither the killing nor the painting. The women who died by my hand? They were chosen. Chosen by a genius artist."
"Will you be quiet?"
"Heh heh heh. You know it too, Detective. People like me only come around once in a lifetime, if that. In your entire career as a detective, you'll never meet another killer like me again. That's why you're scared, isn't it?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"That expression on your face right now… where have I seen it before? Ah, the woman I just put in the box. She had the exact same look. Terrified and horrified, but pretending not to be, desperately trying not to lose her composure."
"……"
"Don't worry. I'm tied up right now, thanks to you, Detective Han. I won't hurt you."
Jo Chang-mok spread both hands wide as if to prove his innocence and waved his fingers lightly.
Han Soo-ji felt rage boiling up at the man trying to manipulate her from the top of her head. She clenched her trembling hands and forced herself to stay calm.
She couldn't let herself be dragged along any further.
"You… Cheon Hee-ji wasn't your first victim, was she?"
"?"
"Do you remember Choi Seung-mi? Your university classmate from the same department. She's been reported missing."
"……"
"Where did she go? If she also became one of your so-called 'works,' then—"
"What are you talking about?"
"But here's the strange part. Choi Seung-mi wasn't the only one who went missing. Her classmate Kim Hyun-woo disappeared too."
"!"
"Isn't that odd? Two people from the same department, disappearing on different days for different reasons. That's not common."
"……"
"While digging into your past, I suddenly had a thought."
After combining the profile from the case files with testimonies from people around Jo Chang-mok, Han Soo-ji had formed a hypothesis.
Perhaps Jo Chang-mok was using art as an excuse to fulfill his twisted desires.
And what were those desires?
"If you killed those two, what was the reason? Choi Seung-mi and Kim Hyun-woo."
Han Soo-ji pulled out their photos from the file and placed them in front of Jo Chang-mok.
"They don't exactly match your idea of a 'beautiful female subject,' do they?"
All the women Jo Chang-mok had killed so far had objectively met conventional standards of beauty. They were dance majors, aspiring idols, or beauty models.
But Choi Seung-mi was different. She had a large burn scar on her face.
"What… are you trying to do right now?"
Jo Chang-mok tore his gaze away from Choi Seung-mi's photo and glared at Han Soo-ji. For the first time, she saw a new emotion in his eyes—rage.
"You probably think you're some legendary serial killer, a psychopath who can't feel emotions, a demon. But you're just a pathetic loser who brutally murdered your classmate who rejected you and even killed your own lover, Kim Hyun-woo."
Bang! Unable to contain his emotions, Jo Chang-mok slammed his fist on the desk.
"……Shut your mouth."
"You claim you planned everything and created your works, but that's not true at all. Your first murder was impulsive. From that very first misaligned button, you've never been a genius—you've only ever been a disgusting human being. No different from the trash in that prison."
"I said shut up!!!"
Jo Chang-mok shoved the desk between them aside and grabbed Han Soo-ji by the collar.
The guards rushed in at the sight, but Han Soo-ji calmly raised her hand to stop them.
Jo Chang-mok, eyes wild with fury, pulled her close until their faces were nearly touching and began ranting.
"You bitch. That fucking bitch with the ruined face actually rejected me. What the hell do you know?!"
Han Soo-ji tried not to look away from him even as her body swayed.
"That bitch gave herself to any random guy. Someone like that deserves to die. She fucking deserves to die!!!"
The legendary serial killer who never lost his composure.
The demon who used his handsome appearance to lure victims and commit brutal murders.
The genius painter who turned the entire process into art.
Just as Han Soo-ji had said, he was no longer a demon or a genius.
He was nothing more than a pathetic man spitting out desperate excuses with wild eyes.
Just another antisocial fool who killed people because they wouldn't accept his feelings.
"Shut your mouth. You stink."
Han Soo-ji spoke softly.
Seeing that she no longer feared him, Jo Chang-mok completely lost control.
"Aaaaargh! You bitch! I'll kill you!"
Han Soo-ji kicked Jo Chang-mok's knee and easily subdued him as he thrashed.
"Guards. Take him away."
"Come here, you bitch! I'll kill your parents and your whole family too!!!"
As Jo Chang-mok was dragged out by the guards, Han Soo-ji straightened her collar. She forced her trembling hands to clench tightly.
"Cut! Cut. Chae-won, if you tremble there, it looks like you're afraid of Jo Chang-mok."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"We'll keep the two-shot as is and redo just Soo-ji's close-up. Keep that cold expression. Okay?"
"Yes, I understand."
Eun Chae-won replayed the emotions she had just channeled as Han Soo-ji.
In truth, her trembling hadn't come from fear of Jo Chang-mok.
'That person changed completely in an instant.'
It had been pure awe at Kang Tae-san's performance as Jo Chang-mok.
When she had only read the script, the idea of a cold-blooded killer instantly turning into a pathetic incel hadn't felt convincing.
She understood it on paper, but could it be sold through acting? If the performance wasn't strong enough, it would come across as cringeworthy.
After all, this wasn't a split-personality setup—it was the story of someone who had hidden his pathetic true self behind the mask of a demon.
But after watching Kang Tae-san's acting, Eun Chae-won had no choice but to accept it.
'His depth really is extraordinary.'
And she had to admit it.
In that scene, Han Soo-ji had been nothing more than a supporting player to Jo Chang-mok's performance.