Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Village Head's Secret
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lee Jae-hyun looked at Han Sun-ah and greeted her with feigned delight.
“Eh? We meet here again.”
“……Who are you?”
She didn’t seem to remember him, stepping back half a pace warily as she tilted her head.
They had only crossed paths once, and they had parted ways right after he gave her directions, so it probably hadn’t stuck in her memory.
Lee Jae-hyun flashed her a grin.
“We met at the hospital yesterday. You’re the nurse, right?”
“Ah……?”
“Sun-ah, you know this guy?”
“What, boyfriend? You said you didn’t have one.”
While Han Sun-ah floundered in embarrassment, the nearby elders chimed in happily.
After struggling with what to do, she found herself unable to deny it and quickly nodded, putting on a calm act.
“Ah, yeah! Hello.”
“Wow, fancy running into you here.”
“Yeah…… Um, how did you end up here……?”
“Well, I’m scouting neighborhoods to move to.”
“Moving? Why come to the senior center?”
Lee Jae-hyun bantered playfully in response, and she tilted her head.
It was odd enough for a young man to move to such a rural area, but visiting the senior center was even stranger.
“Ah, I live with my grandma. I can crash anywhere, but it’s different for her. Whether there’s a senior center, what kind of folks go there…… That stuff matters, so I came all the way out here.”
“Ah.”
Han Sun-ah nodded as if she understood.
Of course, Lee Jae-hyun’s grandma actually lived out in the countryside, and she was more the hiking type than the senior center crowd.
He rattled off the lie smoothly.
“Oh my, what a filial grandson.”
The elders who had been listening applauded.
Serhen, watching it all, let out a smirk.
“See, this is why you can’t trust humans.”
She muttered under her breath.
But Lee Jae-hyun ignored it and kept talking to Han Sun-ah.
“Anyway, what brings you here, nurse?”
“Oh, I do volunteer work here once a month.”
“Wow, this place is great and all, but I was worried about no hospital nearby. With someone like you around, I can move here with peace of mind.”
Lee Jae-hyun said with a smile.
Han Sun-ah was still guarded, but her tension was easing bit by bit.
That was when, as the two conversed—
“Who came?”
An elderly man emerged from the small room Han Sun-ah had just left, leaning on a cane.
He seemed to have leg issues, dragging one foot and relying heavily on the staff.
Lee Jae-hyun watched him silently.
“Contractor.”
Serhen popped up abruptly.
Hearing her voice, Lee Jae-hyun startled slightly and turned to look at her.
A chilling tone and eyes gleaming with demonic greed.
Eyes like she had spotted a gold nugget on the street.
‘What’s going on?’
“I want to eat that.”
When he asked, Serhen pointed and spoke.
Lee Jae-hyun followed her finger and frowned.
‘……That guy?’
Serhen’s finger wasn’t aimed at the nurse, but at the old man who had just appeared.
She stared straight at him and continued.
“That one’s killed people.”
Her eyes as she said it resembled the greedy gaze she had shown before devouring Myeong Jin-han’s karma.
The old man looked like a kindly elder.
But his true nature was that of a murderer.
Realizing this, Lee Jae-hyun’s face hardened.
* * *
Theft, fraud…… If you came chasing petty crooks and suddenly ran into a killer, how would you react?
Your body would probably stiffen in the unexpected shock.
Even Lee Jae-hyun couldn’t help but tense up with a murderer right in front of him.
“Who’s this……?”
“Ah, this is the village head.”
“What? The village head?”
Lee Jae-hyun glanced back at Han Sun-ah and asked softly.
He frowned and asked again at her response.
A murderer as village head.
There was only one possibility in a case like this.
‘The murder hasn’t come to light.’
If it had, he couldn’t possibly be village head.
Which meant he surely hadn’t faced legal judgment either.
Lee Jae-hyun’s face grew even stiffer as he realized this.
Han Sun-ah tilted her head at his odd reaction.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, just surprised there’s a village head here. It’s not that far from the city.”
“Yeah, I was shocked at first too. Guess it’s an old village, so the position stuck around.”
Lee Jae-hyun threw out an excuse and asked Han Sun-ah.
She nodded and replied.
It was a spur-of-the-moment cover, but not bad.
Even setting aside the murder, it was surprising for a village head to still exist in a place like this.
It was a bit out from the city, but not exactly deep countryside.
‘I thought village heads were only in remote areas. Didn’t expect one here.’
Lee Jae-hyun rolled his eyes, scanning the village head up and down.
He was hunched over, walking awkwardly with the cane, likely due to his back.
At a glance, he seemed like any ordinary elder you’d see anywhere.
But Lee Jae-hyun didn’t drop his guard.
Serhen had vouched for it…….
And it was just yesterday that he’d realized from Han Sun-ah at the hospital not to judge by appearances.
As he carefully observed the village head, he lifted his gaze again.
‘Yeah, he’s killed.’
After locking eyes through the man’s drooping eyelids, he was certain.
The look in his eyes was different.
In his career as a detective, Lee Jae-hyun had personally caught plenty of vicious criminals, including Myeong Jin-han recently.
He could tell just by looking—the chilling, sharp glint.
It was the gaze you saw in killers.
“Village head, this is Sun-ah’s acquaintance.”
“He wouldn’t introduce my grandson no matter what, but look—turns out she had a secret boyfriend after all.”
While he spoke with Han Sun-ah, the surrounding elders introduced Lee Jae-hyun to the village head.
The village head put on a kindly smile at their words and extended a hand to Lee Jae-hyun.
“Nice to meet you, young man. I’m Park Chun-beom.”
“Nice to meet you. Lee Jae-hyun. Looking forward to it.”
Lee Jae-hyun smiled at the corners of his mouth, gripped the man’s hand, and shook.
Jackpot.
A murderer who hadn’t faced proper judgment.
He’d probably dumped the body where no one would find it or slipped off the suspect list through some clever means.
And now he was brazenly serving as village head.
‘I’ll nab you myself.’
Lee Jae-hyun released the hand he’d shaken with the village head and resolved inwardly.
While the village head was distracted chatting with someone else, he turned to Serhen.
‘Serhen, I’ll feed you that guy, so check out that small room first.’
He pointed toward the room inside the senior center from which Han Sun-ah and the village head had emerged.
Serhen nodded with a smile, no words needed, and flew into the small room.
It didn’t take long for her to reappear before Lee Jae-hyun.
‘See anything? What’s inside?’
“Lots of old humans in there.”
‘Lots? Exactly how many? Genders and age groups? What are they doing?’
Lee Jae-hyun fired off questions rapidly.
Han Sun-ah, a repeat offender.
And the village head, presumed guilty of murder.
He was anxious not knowing what the two had been up to inside.
“There are five inside, two women and three men. Old, other than that I don’t know, and they’re all just lying there. Some sleeping, some talking.”
It was a barrage of questions most wouldn’t retain.
But Serhen shrugged lightly and answered.
Lee Jae-hyun frowned at the response.
That alone wouldn’t hold up as evidence.
Elders chatting wasn’t a crime.
Still, he didn’t let go of hope.
‘Nothing else stand out?’
He asked her for confirmation.
A throwaway question.
But Serhen pondered briefly before speaking up.
“They all had an IV needle in their arms.”
The moment he heard it, Lee Jae-hyun let out a hollow chuckle and glanced at Han Sun-ah, who was chatting with the other elders.
He had a rough idea of what was going on now.
‘Figured it was something like that. IV Aunt, huh.’
“IV Aunt? What’s that?”
Serhen tilted her head at his words, and Lee Jae-hyun explained roughly.
IV Aunt.
Slang for people who go around homes or private offices giving IV drips.
Usually retired nurses or nursing assistants.
Under current medical law, prescription drugs can’t be sold or bought without a doctor’s script—straight-up illegal.
Serhen turned to Han Sun-ah after hearing the explanation and spoke.
“Hmm, working at a hospital, she’d have easy access to those fluids or whatever.”
‘As a nurse, should’ve been my first thought. I overlooked it.’
Truthfully, it was natural Lee Jae-hyun hadn’t jumped to IV Aunt right away.
These days, nutrient IVs were dirt cheap, so aside from sedatives like zolpidem or propofol, IV Aunts were practically extinct.
Plus, using prescription meds without a script risked side effects—who knew what could happen.
Especially with elderly patients.
Metabolism already sluggish in seniors; mess with meds recklessly, and anything could go wrong.
‘No one who values life would touch that.’
Lee Jae-hyun scowled at Han Sun-ah.
How could an on-duty nurse, who should cherish life most, stoop to this?
He couldn’t fathom it.
But Serhen didn’t see it that way and tilted her head.
“Really? All the humans I’ve seen do stuff like that. Killing each other for money, starting wars.”
‘Not all humans do.’
“Then why do those humans kill other humans?”
She pointed at Han Sun-ah and Park Chun-beom as she asked.
Lee Jae-hyun hesitated at Serhen’s question.
He didn’t know Han Sun-ah’s motive for this crime either.
Could be money, or some other goal.
But.
The crimes were clear, and Lee Jae-hyun had no intention of letting it slide.
Just one curiosity.
‘So, what’s the deal between Han Sun-ah and this Park Chun-beom?’
He alternated glances between Han Sun-ah and Park Chun-beom, racking his brain.
The demon herself had said he seemed to have killed.
To Lee Jae-hyun’s eyes too, Park Chun-beom’s gaze wasn’t that of an ordinary person.
The murder seemed certain.
But whether Han Sun-ah was involved was key.
‘Not sure.’
Were the two together purely by chance?
No evidence of their connection.
‘How should I handle this?’
Han Sun-ah, still unable to fully hide her unease, and Park Chun-beom, with his kindly face.
Lee Jae-hyun’s dilemma deepened as he looked at them.