Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Father's Anguish
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No sooner had Woo Kyung-hwan arrived than chaos erupted in front of Ilsan West Police Station.
“Let go! You think you're cops, so you can drag people around like this?!”
“Shut up and come along quietly since you're here, you bastard.”
Woo Kyung-hwan was hauled into the station, his arms gripped tightly by the officers.
He thrashed wildly, trying to break free.
But no matter what, he couldn't overpower two grown men escorting him.
Lee Jae-hyun clicked his tongue at the sight.
‘Still clinging to delusions, huh.’
Woo Kyung-hwan's name had already come up from An Do-hyun's mouth, and he'd trapped himself by mentioning the ‘mask.’
No amount of struggling would change things now.
Lee Jae-hyun watched him for a moment before turning away.
At the end of his gaze stood Woo Kyung-hwan's father.
“Detective.”
“……Yes.”
As Lee Jae-hyun stared silently at the man, he called out with hollow eyes.
Truth be told, the most heartbreaking figure in this case was Woo Kyung-hwan's father.
He was both the victim's family and the perpetrator's.
His emotions had to be a tangled mess.
Lee Jae-hyun had never been in such a position himself, so he had no idea what to say.
What would he feel if he were that father?
Woo Kyung-hwan's father wore a half-zombified expression, as if he couldn't believe what was happening.
After a brief silence, he finally spoke.
“Is it really true…… that my boy did this?”
His voice trembled slightly.
His wife was dead.
And the killer was his son.
Even with the affair, she was still someone he'd loved.
How could anyone easily accept that his son had killed her?
It had to be devastating, agonizing.
Lee Jae-hyun couldn't know all those feelings, but the pain was clear from his face alone.
Still, his response to the father was firm.
“Yes, it is.”
He pitied the father, but Woo Kyung-hwan was a criminal.
He'd committed murder and needed to face judgment through due process.
The father's plight was tragic, but not the son's.
Woo Kyung-hwan's father stared blankly at Lee Jae-hyun before speaking.
“That can't be. Kyung-hwan's mom died, and you're saying not only did he not know his own wife was the killer, but he tried to commit serial murders with another culprit? The Kyung-hwan I know isn't some unfilial monster.”
“Based on the circumstances and evidence so far…… it was Woo Kyung-hwan's doing.”
Lee Jae-hyun bowed his head.
He wasn't sure how to address the father.
‘Father’ would make it seem like he was viewing him through the perpetrator's lens.
‘Husband’ would remind him of the victim.
In the end, he skipped the honorific and continued.
“So…… what happens to my boy? Prison?”
Woo Kyung-hwan's father looked incredulous for a long moment before asking.
He seemed worried about his son.
As a father, that worry was natural, no matter what.
Lee Jae-hyun met his eyes and spoke carefully, his voice steady.
“Woo Kyung-hwan will receive punishment fitting his crimes. And it's not us who decides that—it's the judge.”
“Whew…….”
The father let out a long sigh.
It carried so many meanings.
How should he treat his own son?
A sigh mixed with anger, despair, sorrow, and contemplation.
“So…… what should I do?”
He spoke again.
Lee Jae-hyun answered calmly.
“The perpetrator's side can request leniency at trial. Of course, whether it's accepted is up to the victim's family.”
“I see…….”
Woo Kyung-hwan's father's shoulders slumped.
The shock of his son killing his wife was bad enough, but realizing there was little he could do for that son seemed to torment him further.
Lee Jae-hyun watched him for a moment before speaking cautiously.
“The weight of murder is heavy.”
His emotions must be complicated, but Woo Kyung-hwan deserved punishment fitting his crimes.
It was a subtle way of saying not to request leniency.
He knew how heavy and painful that plea would be for the man.
Even so, Lee Jae-hyun hoped he wouldn't.
As someone upholding the law and a cop protecting citizens, his conviction was unshakable.
There could be no mercy for a killer like Woo Kyung-hwan.
“Detective…….”
The father called out in a trembling voice, tears streaming down his face.
His expression screamed confusion.
The father wept endlessly.
Lee Jae-hyun watched him briefly before heading into the station.
* * *
Plenty of evidence already pointed to An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan as the culprits.
No matter how careful Woo Kyung-hwan had been, evidence was bound to surface somewhere.
Even if he'd erased traces of crimes before the investigation began.
The fact that he'd moved to fabricate evidence assuming An Do-hyun was the sole perpetrator…… couldn't be hidden, no matter what he did.
His absence from the funeral home was quickly confirmed via CCTV footage everywhere.
His path toward Gobong Mountain showed up on nearby cameras too.
Woo Kyung-hwan was still ranting that he couldn't be sure the man filmed there was him.
At this point, doubting it would be the strange thing.
Unlike at the start, when Lee Jae-hyun had said there were two culprits—half-believed, half open to other possibilities, splitting the investigation.
Now, all the cops were certain both were guilty, focusing the probe in one direction.
Evidence piled up faster, disproving his lies at breakneck speed.
Lies breed bigger lies, and in the end, with nothing left to say, Woo Kyung-hwan finally nodded.
“Yeah, fuck it. I killed them. So what? Got a problem?”
In the interrogation room, Lee Jae-hyun glanced at the texts planning the Gobong Mountain murder and their community chats.
At first, he'd stubbornly claimed he’d only talked, not acted—that An Do-hyun did it all.
But as his claims were dismantled piece by piece with fresh evidence, he switched to brazen defiance.
Lee Jae-hyun suppressed the urge to smash his fist into the guy's face and spoke.
“Of course there's a problem. You committed parricide. Not just that—you murdered others too. Bludgeoned two people mercilessly, in an instant.”
He forced down his rage, emphasizing each word.
Woo Kyung-hwan nodded along, as if to say it was a good deed.
“I killed two, right? Two adulterous criminal scum with the worst morals. I judged both, so shouldn't the country give me a medal?”
Was that something the man who'd killed his own mother should say?
Lee Jae-hyun clenched then unclenched his fist, staring him down.
The law in this country prevented cops from touching bastards who killed and spouted this crap.
Desperate for personal justice, Lee Jae-hyun exhaled slowly.
“If I judge the guy who killed two people, should I get a medal too?”
“…….”
Woo Kyung-hwan shut up under Lee Jae-hyun's glare.
Judging he could get no more, Lee Jae-hyun stood.
He'd confessed on record, all taped—nothing left to say in court but face judgment.
Lee Jae-hyun nudged him.
“Get up. Time to move.”
“Why touch me if you can just say it? You're pissing me off.”
“These days, even animal bastards talk.”
It was reflexive to Woo Kyung-hwan's snarl.
The thought popped into his head and straight out his mouth, unfiltered.
Hearing it, Woo Kyung-hwan scowled.
“You son of a……! Wanna die too? Even from prison, killing one more like you is nothing!”
Lee Jae-hyun just tsked and shook his head.
“Killing me won't be easy.”
“What's hard about it? Give me a bat, and you'd be…….”
Woo Kyung-hwan raged at Lee Jae-hyun's words.
Seeing his reaction, Lee Jae-hyun smirked.
Just one bat?
Even with a baseball bat, Lee Jae-hyun doubted he'd lose.
He trusted his own abilities, but it wasn't just that.
“Even if you tie me up and set me on fire, I won't die—that's what I mean.”
“What bullshit……!”
“It's true. Let's go.”
Lee Jae-hyun shoved him again, dragging him from the room.
Woo Kyung-hwan grimaced, stumbling along.
They headed to the holding cell inside the station.
He moved silently with a pissed-off look.
But his eyes darted busily.
Lee Jae-hyun tensed his muscles, ready.
And then.
“Die, you bastard!”
Woo Kyung-hwan lunged, swinging his leg at Lee Jae-hyun.
Lee Jae-hyun dodged, stepping back half a pace.
Woo Kyung-hwan pivoted, grabbed a tumbler from a desk, and menaced him.
“This is all I need to kill you!”
“Okay, add special assault and threats.”
Lee Jae-hyun muttered, clenching his fist.
Had he really been dumb enough to let him grab it?
He'd let it happen on purpose.
Lee Jae-hyun grinned faintly and charged.
Thwack! Thud!
“Guh……?”
Woo Kyung-hwan could only scream as fists slammed into him.
Lee Jae-hyun seized his arm, twisted, and slammed him forward.
Crack.
“Arrrgh!”
Bones snapped; he shrieked.
Woo Kyung-hwan crumpled limply to the station floor.
“Should've come quietly.”
Lee Jae-hyun dusted off his hands.
A bit of personal justice, at least.
Both An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan had confessed outright.
Now, just call Serhen to devour the evil karma, and it was done.
Case closed.
So he thought, heading back to the cells.
Moments later, that thought shattered.
The case wasn't over yet.