Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Lingering Doubts
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Lee Jae-hyun dragged Woo Kyung-hwan along and shoved him into the holding cell.
An Do-hyun, who was sitting on the floor in the cell right next to it, squirmed as he watched Woo Kyung-hwan get tossed in, letting out a smirk.
“Looks like you threw a pointless tantrum and got smacked for it?”
“You stay quiet, you bastard! Fucking idiot…”
As An Do-hyun muttered something under his breath, Woo Kyung-hwan snapped and jumped to his feet, approaching An Do-hyun’s cell as he spoke.
“If I’m an idiot, then what the hell does that make you?”
“What?”
“I mean, come on? You got caught trying to stupidly fabricate evidence. At least I got nabbed right at the scene, fair and square.”
An Do-hyun shrugged his shoulders as he replied.
Woo Kyung-hwan furrowed his brow.
Lee Jae-hyun clicked his tongue as he listened to their exchange.
He didn’t like how these two, who had both committed murder and gotten caught, showed no sign of remorse and were chatting so casually.
‘Enjoying your chit-chat while you can… It won’t last much longer.’
They’d soon be handed over to the prosecutors, face trial… Considering the severity of their crimes, they were looking at a minimum of ten years, no matter what.
Of course, thinking about how they’d only be in their mid-thirties to early forties after ten years, it might not seem that long.
But depending on public opinion and how the prosecution pushed it, life imprisonment was entirely possible given their crimes.
Hoping they’d rot in prison for life, Lee Jae-hyun silently called out to Serhen in his mind.
He’d caught both of them, secured the evidence… And An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan had both admitted to their crimes with their own mouths. It was over.
Time for them to face proper judgment.
‘Serhen, it feels like it’s time for you to come out and eat now.’
As he called for her like that, Serhen appeared right away.
She looked a bit tired as she glanced over An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan… then made an ambiguous expression.
“What’s this? You said to call me when they were ready to eat…”
‘I called you because it seems like it’s time now…?’
Lee Jae-hyun started to respond to her but trailed off, narrowing his brow.
There had to be a reason she was saying that.
Meaning, they weren’t ready to be eaten yet.
‘Why?’
He couldn’t understand it.
They’d confessed to all their crimes, and though the sentence hadn’t been handed down yet, their fate based on their evil karma was already sealed.
Up until now, once the criminals were arrested and the evidence for trial was secured, Serhen could consume their evil karma—so it should be the same this time…
What was different?
While Lee Jae-hyun pondered, Serhen let out a hum through her nose and continued.
“I specifically asked during our last deal to let me eat ‘all’ of their evil karma, but right now? No dice. Kinda disappointing?”
Serhen looked at Lee Jae-hyun as she said that.
Watching her say “kinda disappointing” in that playful tone, Lee Jae-hyun twitched his eyebrow.
It wasn’t genuine disappointment.
But it was clear her expectations for him hadn’t been fully met either.
More importantly…
‘If there’s evil karma even Serhen can’t eat, that means there’s an unresolved part to this case.’
As a cop, letting a criminal’s crime slip by was a blow to his pride.
Especially when he’d caught both of them, only to potentially miss the actual crime.
Lee Jae-hyun’s face twisted slightly as he glared at An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan.
“Petty enough to fabricate evidence just to frame me?”
“You crazy bastard? Petty?”
An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan were bickering with each other.
But that squabble wasn’t what mattered to Lee Jae-hyun.
What mattered was uncovering the crime that still hadn’t come to light.
He took a short breath, then silently called out to Serhen again.
‘Serhen.’
“Yes, Contractor?”
‘I’ll call you back soon, so hang tight a bit longer.’
“Fine… But don’t take too long. Unless you want to test a demon’s patience.”
Serhen nodded slightly as if she understood.
He’d thought the case was wrapped up, but apparently not.
Now he had another chance.
A chance to properly close the case.
Lee Jae-hyun had no intention of letting it slip away.
He spun on his heel.
* * *
Lee Jae-hyun went straight to find Park Dae-hyung.
Park Dae-hyung was frantically sorting through the evidence on An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan when he looked up at Lee Jae-hyun.
“Hey, kid. What’s up?”
“Something…”
“Whoa, whoa, no bad vibes talk.”
Before Lee Jae-hyun could even finish, Park Dae-hyung cut him off, covering his mouth lightly.
Lee Jae-hyun shut his mouth at Park Dae-hyung’s words.
Park Dae-hyung glanced around at the others nearby, then jerked his chin toward the door as if to say let’s step out.
In the end, Lee Jae-hyun followed Park Dae-hyung to the smoking room behind the station.
Park Dae-hyung lit a cigarette and spoke as soon as he took a drag.
“No need to jinx it by saying you’ve got a bad feeling and something’s gonna blow up inside the station.”
“…You’re right.”
It wasn’t an unwritten rule for nothing.
No point stirring things up by talking about bad hunches or boredom in the station.
Of course, what Lee Jae-hyun wanted to say wasn’t exactly a bad hunch.
“So, is it really a bad hunch?”
“Well, less a hunch and more… something feels off.”
“About this case?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded in response.
It hadn’t felt off before, but Serhen had made it feel off.
There was definitely something more.
Park Dae-hyung, who would’ve usually brushed it off with a chuckle, seemed different now.
Maybe because of everything Lee Jae-hyun had shown so far.
He put on a serious face and pondered alongside him.
“What’s feeling off? Turns out there’s a third perp or something?”
“…Doesn’t seem like it.”
Lee Jae-hyun paused to think before answering Park Dae-hyung.
A third perp felt a bit off.
Not impossible, of course.
The traces at the scene pointed to two people, but crimes don’t always happen right there.
If An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan were the ones who acted directly, and someone else planned and gave orders from afar… that’d make three.
‘But that doesn’t add up either.’
If there really were three, An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan would’ve mentioned the other one by now.
But neither had—An Do-hyun blamed Woo Kyung-hwan’s threats, while Woo Kyung-hwan said An Do-hyun egged him on first.
Both claiming the other started it, which didn’t really matter anyway.
“Not three perps, then what… More victims?”
“…”
Park Dae-hyung ruffled his hair as he spoke.
Lee Jae-hyun hesitated to answer right away, even as Park Dae-hyung looked at him expectantly.
More victims… felt awkward too, honestly.
Though more plausible than a third perp.
Right before the last kidnapping case, hadn’t cats been mysteriously dozing off in a row?
Criminals often do dry runs before the real thing, and these two could’ve committed another crime together.
They might’ve clammed up about it, figuring it wouldn’t add to their sentence anyway.
But…
“No recent unidentified bodies, right?”
“Nope. If there were, we’d have found them already.”
“Missing persons reports?”
“Always some. But, eh.”
Three bodies found with crushed skulls from blunt force.
No, there hadn’t been any other bodies discovered beyond what they’d already uncovered.
They could still be out there, well-hidden…
But hiding bodies is harder than it sounds.
If it happened before this crime, it should’ve been found by now.
Special circumstances could explain it, but Lee Jae-hyun didn’t think the odds were high.
Park Dae-hyung felt the same, hence the “eh” on missing persons.
Lee Jae-hyun racked his brain a bit more, then spoke up.
“Or maybe it’s not a recent case.”
“Huh?”
Park Dae-hyung blinked at him, confused.
Lee Jae-hyun was diving in knowing full well from Serhen that some evil karma couldn’t be judged yet.
Park Dae-hyung was just looking at this case in isolation.
So their perspectives differed—evil karma wasn’t made just from this case.
Like the Park Chun-beom case from way back, unsolved crimes left karma lingering.
The “all” evil karma Serhen mentioned could be from something like that.
“They’re way too brazen for first-time violent offenders.”
“Well, yeah, criminals have that mindset.”
“Isn’t that attitude typical of repeat offenders who got deals, or ones who’ve slipped out of tough spots easy?”
“…Huh, yeah. Makes sense.”
Park Dae-hyung furrowed his brow at Lee Jae-hyun’s words, then nodded in agreement.
Think of those drunk drivers yawning obnoxiously at the station.
Chaebol heirs, politicians’ kids…
People who can brush off crimes easily, or have before.
They come off cocky and relaxed.
It’s inevitable.
They learn crimes don’t come with big punishments.
“These guys aren’t big shots, but maybe past punishments were too light—or none at all—so they act this way.”
In other words, they needed to dig into all prior crimes these two had committed.
Having reached that conclusion, Lee Jae-hyun looked up at Park Dae-hyung and spoke.
“When do they go to the prosecutors?”
“Two days from now. Calling the press, dropping it all at once.”
“Gotta find it within two days.”
Two days was all the time they had.
Lee Jae-hyun’s eyes sharpened.