Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Evidence Found
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Park Dae-hyung, sitting in the police substation office, immediately picked up his phone when it vibrated.
It was a call from Oh Min-seok, who was waiting for a search warrant at Myeong Jin-han's pet shop.
"Hey, did the search warrant come through?"
—No.
He had opened his mouth with the hopeful expectation that it had finally come through.
But the response was different from what he had anticipated.
Park Dae-hyung gave him a puzzled look.
He wouldn't call just because he was bored, and the warrant hadn't come yet—what could it be about?
"Then why are you calling?"
—Found it.
"Found what?"
—Evidence.
At the abrupt declaration that he'd found it, Park Dae-hyung furrowed his brow.
Then, at Oh Min-seok's follow-up answer, his face lit up.
"You found evidence? It's that bastard, right?"
—Yeah, no doubt about it.
"I knew it."
Park Dae-hyung clenched his fist tight at Oh Min-seok's confident reply.
Yeah, it couldn't be anyone else.
Who else would think to stuff a person into a suitcase and carry it around?
Park Dae-hyung let out a rough breath, buzzing with excitement.
Just then, Lee Jae-hyun walked into the office.
He'd said he was heading out, but he'd left in his work clothes, so he must have come back to change.
Park Dae-hyung shot to his feet.
After all, it was Lee Jae-hyun who'd caught Myeong Jin-han, so he needed to pass on the news about the evidence.
"Yeah, yeah, Min-seok, hold on a sec."
He said that into the phone, then turned to Lee Jae-hyun.
"Jae-hyun."
"Oh, Inspector Park Dae-hyung."
"You head out in your work clothes, and now you're back to change?"
"Yes, sir."
"You've been wandering around like a zombie since this morning. Get it together, kid."
"Yes, sir. Sorry."
Lee Jae-hyun bowed his head simply and apologized.
Even amid that, Park Dae-hyung noticed a strange heat in Lee Jae-hyun's eyes and felt a flicker of curiosity, but now wasn't the time for that.
He continued with a grin.
"Nah, no need to apologize. Oh, that serial killer you nabbed? They found evidence."
"Oh, got it."
"What? You're not surprised? You knew?"
Park Dae-hyung blinked at Lee Jae-hyun's unexpectedly calm reaction.
He'd expected a big response, so it threw him off a bit.
Earlier, he'd roughly subdued Myeong Jin-han and conducted a thorough interrogation, yet here he was reacting flatly to news of evidence.
"Yeah. It just... happened that way."
Park Dae-hyung tilted his head at Lee Jae-hyun's words, implying he already knew somehow.
How'd he know?
It was odd, but... whatever. Knowing already wasn't a bad thing.
Park Dae-hyung nodded lightly.
"Anyway, good work today. Head home and rest up."
"Yes, sir. Loyalty."
"Yeah. Loyalty."
Park Dae-hyung waved him off in response to Lee Jae-hyun's salute.
Lee Jae-hyun headed to the locker room, and Park Dae-hyung raised the phone again.
To confirm what had happened, he asked Oh Min-seok on the other end.
"So, what went down? You found evidence before the search warrant even came?"
—No, your maknae shows up at the scene, smashes the door down like a bulldozer, and finds evidence? Where'd you pick up a kid like that? What'd you say earlier? Mild-mannered?
"...What?"
Did he hear that wrong?
Lee Jae-hyun went to the scene, broke down the door, and found evidence?
At Oh Min-seok's words, Park Dae-hyung froze for a moment before asking again.
—You said the maknae was mild-mannered or whatever... Hey, make sense. How's that mild-mannered?
"No, I mean..."
Park Dae-hyung trailed off, unable to hide his bewilderment.
Oh Min-seok didn't care about his reaction and kept laughing heartily.
—He straight-up calls 112, says he's been robbed, and smashes the front door right then. I thought he was a total psycho.
Park Dae-hyung blinked vacantly at Oh Min-seok's words.
What the hell was all this?
112, robbery...?
The story was so absurd that Park Dae-hyung could only stop thinking.
He just stared in bewilderment toward the locker room where Lee Jae-hyun had disappeared.
* * *
After changing in the locker room, Lee Jae-hyun went straight to find Myeong Jin-han.
"You're back?"
The guy had been losing his cool with informal speech and curses right up until Lee Jae-hyun left the substation, but now, after a little time, he was acting all relaxed.
Lee Jae-hyun smirked at the sight.
How long could he keep up that act?
Not much longer.
Myeong Jin-han saw Lee Jae-hyun smirk and twitched his eyebrows before speaking.
"Whatever. So, did you find evidence?"
"That's why I'm back."
Lee Jae-hyun shrugged casually in response.
Myeong Jin-han, refusing to believe it based on Lee Jae-hyun's relaxed demeanor, opened his mouth with a smug face.
"Liar."
"Why do you think that?"
"If you had, you wouldn't come back here. You didn't find anything. You're just here to squeeze more out of me."
When Lee Jae-hyun asked, the guy leaned back in his chair with a refreshed expression.
He seemed to enjoy Lee Jae-hyun's attention as he scrambled for evidence.
It was just like the guy who'd committed crimes for show and displayed his tools in an urn at his shop.
As Lee Jae-hyun silently stared at him, Myeong Jin-han shrugged and continued.
"See? What'd I tell you? I'm innocent."
"You're definitely not a sociopath."
Lee Jae-hyun nodded in agreement.
At first, he'd suspected Myeong Jin-han might be a sociopath.
Stuffing tissue into the victims' genitals and tying ribbons on their heads before dumping them—that's what made him think so.
But now, it was clear he wasn't.
Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't the serial killer.
"Of course not. Do I look like..."
"Usually sociopaths are supposed to be smart, but you seem kinda dumb."
Did he take Lee Jae-hyun's words as a surrender?
As Myeong Jin-han started to smirk.
Lee Jae-hyun cut him off.
"What?"
"Innocent? You got nabbed in the act of kidnapping. Innocent my ass."
Lee Jae-hyun sneered at Myeong Jin-han.
Naturally, Myeong Jin-han's face twisted even more.
Yeah.
That expression suited him.
A guy who'd killed two innocent people and got caught kidnapping, claiming innocence.
Even a passing dog would snort at that.
Lee Jae-hyun shrugged as he gazed at the guy's face and continued.
"Or maybe not? Putting the dog collar from the crime on the urn of the dog you raised—kinda sociopathic."
"...You son of a bitch."
At the teasing back-and-forth about whether he was a sociopath, Myeong Jin-han ground his teeth and glared at Lee Jae-hyun.
Then, suddenly, he froze and blinked.
Had he finally caught on to what Lee Jae-hyun said?
Myeong Jin-han spoke in a trembling voice.
"...Wait, what did you just say?"
His face as he asked was rigid.
An expression like he couldn't believe his ears.
As if facing something that shouldn't happen, Myeong Jin-han's pupils began to quiver faintly, and his breathing grew rougher.
"You... what did you just say!"
Dropping the calm act, eyes bulging, he glared at Lee Jae-hyun.
Lee Jae-hyun smirked as he watched Myeong Jin-han shed his mask.
"Found your crime tool."
"Uwaaaah!"
At those words, Myeong Jin-han finally leaped from his seat, forgetting his broken ankle, and charged at Lee Jae-hyun in an instant.
Of course, it was pointless.
Even when he was fine, he'd been easily subdued.
Now, with handcuffs on and a cast, no less.
Lee Jae-hyun grabbed the back of his neck in a flash and slammed him down onto the desk.
Bang!
It didn't end with one.
Twice, three times.
Until the resistance felt in the hand gripping his neck faded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
No, even after the resistance vanished from his hand, Lee Jae-hyun didn't stop.
He kept slamming the guy's head onto the desk and spoke.
"It's really incomprehensible."
Bang!
Of course, his hand didn't stop even as he said it.
He knew the interrogation room had 24-hour CCTV, but he didn't care.
"Why are you the one getting mad?"
Bang!
He looked down at Myeong Jin-han with cold eyes and moved his hand again.
"You're not the one who should be mad."
Bang!
The voice saying that burned with rage, contrasting his icy gaze.
"The victims, the victims' families—that's who should be mad at you."
Bang!
How many times had he regretted this day over the past ten years because of the trash in front of him?
How many tears of blood had been shed?
"Trash like you has no right to get mad!"
Kwaaang!
Lee Jae-hyun slammed Myeong Jin-han's head onto the desk with all his fury.
The guy finally lost consciousness and slumped to the floor.
That's when Serhen appeared.
"Done venting?"
"..."
Lee Jae-hyun didn't answer.
Just as she said, this was venting.
In this life, his father hadn't died.
The victims killed by Myeong Jin-han weren't people he knew.
As a cop, this was unacceptable.
But...
'Whatever.'
Compared to what the guy had done, this was nothing.
In his past life or this one.
Lee Jae-hyun's stance hadn't changed.
No need to hold the line for those who ignored law and morals.
He looked down at the collapsed Myeong Jin-han with emotionless eyes.
Seeing Lee Jae-hyun not respond, Serhen gave a slight smile.
"That expression looks good on you."
With that, she flicked her hand.
A thick, massive energy far beyond what had come from those tattooed thugs earlier poured out from Myeong Jin-han.
The black energy was sucked straight into Serhen's mouth.
As she made a satisfied face.
The interrogation room door burst open.
Someone entered.
Lee Jae-hyun turned to look.
Park Dae-hyung stood there with a stiff face.
"...What the hell is going on here?"
Lee Jae-hyun followed his gaze around the room.
Myeong Jin-han sprawled on the floor, face a bloody mess with a broken nose.
The desk and walls splattered with blood.
And the CCTV that had captured the whole brutal process.
In that moment, only one thought crossed Lee Jae-hyun's mind.
'Excessive force complaints incoming again.'
After a beating like this, it wouldn't pass quietly.
Clear evidence it'd been him—plenty of people would be unhappy.
But still...
'No regrets.'
He'd had enough regrets over ten years.