Chapter Text
It has been a week, and I still can't get what happened during that convention out of my mind.
A crazy run in with two people, who were supposed to be just fictional characters from a horror wiki.
“...”
I clearly remember how they faded out of my sight, so it's hard to say that the experience wasn't real, but it did feel like otherwise.
“Argh, screw this. Stop thinking!” I could only scratch my head roughly in an attempt to brush all these distracting thoughts off.
“Whoa, have you finally gone insane?”
I turned to face Go Yeongeun, who had just arrived with bundles of drinks in hand and went straight to an aggravating remark without any greetings.
“Oh, wait. You were already crazy in the first place, my bad for asking the obvious.”
“I really think you have some vendetta against me.”
She only laughed at my answer and presented the drinks in front of me, urging me to pick one. I didn't want to bother arguing right now, so I just sighed and picked the grapeade from the bundle quietly. I didn't think much about fruits or grapes in particular back then, but it grew on me because of Soleum ordering drinks of the same flavor often.
‘...Wait.’
Just then, something unusual piqued my attention.
“You bought five drinks?” I asked Go Yeongeun.
She usually bought just four of them, one each for her, me, Jang Heoeun, and Chief Ryu. However at the moment, she was holding her drink with her left hand, while the bundle in her right hand carried four drinks, which I already picked one from.
“Apparently, Chief's mentor will be coming today, so he asked if I could get an additional one.”
The Chief's mentor… I've heard about him before from whenever Chief shares his earlier experiences in the field, and he gave me the impression of an easy-going but professional senior agent.
The stories about the missions he's been in sounded full of thrill and adventure, so it'd be very cool to finally see the man who lived those missions and the one who shaped up our competent chief.
“Hey.” I could feel a trace of playfulness in Go Yeongeun’s tone.
“What?”
“Wanna bet on what he’d look like?”
A bet? She seemed to be so confident of her guess to even suggest it. Whenever I'm the one to initiate, she always refuses, so I wonder what made her to be the one to start a bet now.
“What are you betting, then?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’ll bet two DER pop-up exhibition tickets on Chief's mentor to looking like Ahn Hyo Seop.”
“...?”
What?
What I heard sounded so ridiculous I had to take a full minute to understand what she meant.
The tickets were tempting ‘cause I can use it for a date with Soleum, but…why was her bet like that?
It's actually suspicious how specific it is!
“Yeah, no, I'm not doing this. I can tell you're up to something.”
“Aw, c'mon. I rarely bet like this, so humor me just this once.”
Go Yeongeun nudged at me with an annoying grin, but I ignored her completely.
“Fine, fine, I was betting because I might've gotten a glimpse of him yesterday.”
Only after that confession did I return my attention to Go Yeongeun. As I turned my gaze towards her, she continued to speak.
“I was out buying groceries after duty when I saw Chief Ryu coming into the same shop with a masked man. I got curious so I secretly followed them around a bit, and the Chief bowed to him before they parted even though they seemed close when they were interacting prior.”
“Huh.”
That does sound a bit odd. But wait…
“If that person you suspected to be Chief’s mentor was masked, how are you so confident he’s as good looking as Ahn Hyeoseon–or whatever his name was?”
“That might be the case, but I won't mistake a good looking face when I see one.”
What the hell is this woman even saying? The guy was masked, so how did she even see his face?? Are we even on the same page right now…?
Kachik
Go Yeongeun and I turned our heads towards the door as it creaked open. We could immediately see the familiar large build of Chief Ryu, so I stood up preparing to greet our superior.
With a swift motion, we saluted at Chief Ryu Jaekwan.
“...”
“Good morning, Chief! Here's the drinks, please go ahead and get yours.”
“Thank you. Here, have some too, sunbae.”
“Hmm.”
“Alright then. I'll put it away for you.”
Ah, shit. I almost let go of my drink.
‘What the fuck…?’
Chief Ryu wasn't alone when he came into the office. Behind him was another man wearing a face mask and had sunken eyes that seemed to say its owner has been through a lot recently.
However, there were some things that caught me off guard.
Chief Ryu’s new haircut made him look like that agent that called himself Bronze that I almost believed he had come back to find me. You could barely notice the change, but the Chief used to have a bit longer hair. He must've had it trimmed just recently, maybe yesterday or the day before that.
Actually, I find myself so ludicrously stupid as to how I didn't even realize the similarity in their appearance. I'd like to blame my blind left eye, but my perfectly fine right eye cannot be excused.
Not only that…
“...” I slowly turned my gaze at the masked man beside the Chief.
“Let me introduce you two,” Chief Ryu cleared his throat before continuing to speak. “This is Senior Inspector Choi . Due to recent developments, he’s been transferred into our unit from the NIS, so we'll be working together from now on.”
The Chief then pointed at me as if to urge our Senior to look at me. “Sunbae, this is Inspector Baek Saheon.” Then, they turned to Yeongeun next. “And this is Inspector Go Yeongeun. These two are some of the best in their batch, so rest assured they'll continue to bring good results and keep up.”
Senior Inspector Choi nodded at the Chief’s praise about us.
“...”
His body build, hairstyle, and eyes–albeit quite sunken–were too similar to that of Agent Choi's, not to mention both were Choi. I might not be able to confirm if he completely looks like the latter because of the mask, but the presence he gives off was similar to that of the agent.
Ah…I could already feel my head hurting…
“Hm? Saheon, is something the matter?” Chief Ryu's low voice entered my ears.
I forced out a smile and brushed off the concern, which the Chief, thankfully, ignored.
But one person didn't.
I felt a cold hand land on my shoulder, almost making me shudder.
That hand belonged to Senior Choi.
“...”
Then, he pointed a finger at me with his other hand, briefly waved his palm at his forehead, and pointed at himself as he tilted his head.
“...”
I shook my head in response.
“No, sir. I recently got acquainted with someone who had a similar appearance to you so I was taken aback for a moment.”
After lightly squeezing my shoulder, he patted it a few times as his eyes smiled at me with arches.
‘Phew…’
I didn't even realize I'd been holding my breath… Never once did I expect I'd be intimidated by a mute man in all the years I've lived–
Wait. Mute…?
The unfolding of events felt so sudden that I didn't even realize the gauze wrapped around his neck and brushed off the wordless communication we just had.
From the stories Chief Ryu told us about him, this Choi didn't seem to have any disability. In fact, he often used the man as an example when communicating with uncooperative civilians. If so, the injury under that bandage must've been the cause for him being unable to talk right now.
The Senior Inspector’s injury, and Agent Choi's neck scar…
Chief Ryu and Agent Bronze’s identical appearance…
…And my blind eye, in comparison to the eye Viper had lost in DER.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to deny the conclusion I was slowly starting to reach.
Don't you think it's disturbing that the characters you believed to be fictional, and probably enjoyed reading about despite the horrors they've faced, actually exist somewhere just beyond your knowledge?
I cannot excuse the fact that they’re real, now that I've realized what seems to be those two agents’ counterparts in this world.
…And that the Baek Saheon they knew and I are probably counterparts of each other.
“Baek Saheon-ssi?”
“AGHH!!”
What the fuck??!
In the usual Jang Heoeun fashion, this guy just suddenly appeared in front of me and almost gave me a heart attack.
I grabbed this guy's shoulders and shook them. “I am begging you, stop doing that. Please.”
Your stealthiness is great for investigative operations and infiltrations, but please don't use it on me. It creeps me out so bad.
How many times have I pleaded this…?
“Uhm, I was actually careful this time and called your name multiple times, but you weren't responding…”
“Ah.”
So I'm actually at fault for being startled just now…I'm so done. Fuck this shit.
I'm at work right now, so let's not get distracted.
I looked around me, just to finally realize that it's only me and Jang Heoeun in the office right now.
“Where did the others go?”
“Actually, a tip-off related to our recent major case just came, so everyone left to investigate. I was told to go with you once you've snapped out of your trance.”
If we're talking about a major case, he probably meant the Cheerful Research Institute.
I nodded at Jang Heoeun sternly and we made our way out of the office.
In connection to the injured individual who approached those DER cosplayers in the con, our follow up investigations proved its relation to the institute the researcher we caught was involved with, just like what my gut feeling was telling me. Unfortunately, our leads were currently lacking as the victim succumbed to their injuries after a few days of hospitalization.
Meanwhile, Heoeun filled me in with the new report we received as we drove to a supposed abandoned research facility.
“An anonymous caller claimed to have heard about the details of the victim in the convention and decided to report a possibly-related information regarding it. The research facility we're going to was apparently affiliated with a small church, although the caller didn't specify any specific names.”
A church, huh? That reminds me of the cult I've been pursuing so hard for years. Could this finally be a lead?
“We're here,” Jang Heoeun's voice broke me out of my thoughts.
We wasted no time and got out of the car, heading straight into the facility in front of us.
From where we were, we could see three figures standing by the entrance. We confirmed that those were Chief Ryu, Senior Choi, and Go Yeongeun once we got closer.
The Chief noticed us as we approached them and greeted us with a small nod. “...You two are finally here.”
“Are we not late or is it that they're closed, that's why you're all still here, sir?”
Chief Ryu wore a complicated expression as he shook his head. Instead, it was Go Yeongeun who spoke up about the situation.
“Rather, they are open, that's why we're still here.”
Huh?
“Look around. There are no signs of any security protocol and the door was unlocked when we checked.” Then, she pointed at the glass doors behind her with her thumb. “What's strange is that the lobby is empty. It's so…deserted, it gives off a weird vibe.”
“It's as if it's abandoned…”
…That's true. As I peered into the glass doors, my gut was telling me that something wasn't right.
“Unless we go in to check ourselves, we have no way of telling that there's no people inside.”
It is a tricky situation. If it turns out that there are indeed people inside if we proceed with the investigation, it'll put us in a difficult spot. We basically trespassed onto private property and conducted an unwarranted search if that happened, thus making us liable for legal and disciplinary action.
CRASH!!
“!!?”
Our heads turned towards the lobby at the loud sound, in which we saw a shocking sight.
“Chief, isn't that a…?!”
“...Go!”
At Chief Ryu's cry, we immediately rushed inside the lobby towards the desk, where a body landed from who knows where. Go Yeongeun immediately responded to the fallen individual as the Chief ordered Jang Heoeun to call for reinforcements.
As for Senior Choi and I, we scanned our surroundings, with our eyes eventually catching the sight looming above us.
“What the hell…”
Hanging above us was a ripped noose, made from telephone cables attached to the chandelier above.
I looked at the pale man Yeongeun was tending to.
‘How the fuck did he even reach up that high?!’
No matter where you look at every corner of this lobby, no trace of any ladder could be found. This only suggested the involvement of foul play regarding this situation.
“...Rigor mortis has already set in and the body is still stiff, so he may have been hanging dead there for more than eight hours now.” Go Yeongeun explained as she slowly stepped away from the desk with the body.
He’s been there for so long, yet no one has noticed him and reported it? Then, does that mean that there has been no other person within this building within that time frame? Well, other than the perpetrator who might've been involved with the victim’s death.
“What do you think is the cause of death?”
“I didn't see any other signs that suggested any other modes he could've died, so I think it's the regular cerebral hypoxia caused by hanging for now…”
“...I see.”
But if that's the case…involvement of foul play would be hard to determine. However, since that was not an official autopsy report, we can't rule out the possibility yet.
Anyways, this is such a bizarre scenario–and a convenient one too. It gave us the excuse of entering this premises without needing to get permission firsthand.
The coincidence was honestly disturbing that I don't know how to feel about it.
It didn't take too long for the other officers to arrive and they swiftly barricaded the area as soon as they got here. Chief Ryu went ahead and explained the situation to the others while the rest of us in our unit bundled together near the door.
“This case is such a headache.”
Well, all the cases we've handled before were also a headache, but this one in particular takes the cake with how annoying it was. Vague crime scenes and lacking evidence or witnesses can make a detective go crazy from having to rack their brains to make a plausible hypothesis out of basically nothing.
“It's so ominous…” Jang Heoeun muttered. “Looking back, the cheery voice of the whistleblower was disturbing too.”
“Right, that person. Don't you think it's possible that he was involved in the victim's death?”
“Fair point.” I nodded at Yeongeun’s words.
This could be a messed up game of a killer, with the goal of leading us in circles and making a fool out of us. It is possible that said killer was the one that tipped us off of this research facility.
If the investigation here turns out to be fruitless, then we could make use of the whistleblower’s identity as a lead.
“Hmm…he did say that we can go to a counseling center somewhere near Chungcheong-do if we needed more details.”
“Chungcheong-do? Well, it's not that far so that's great.”
“Everyone.” Chief Ryu called out to us as he approached. “Let’s split up and start with the search. We don't have our radios right now, so let's notify each other through our phones for now if you find something.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Chief looked at Senior Choi before speaking up again. “Senior, please come with me.”
The latter nodded and followed once the former started to walk away. Go Yeongeun and Jang Heoeun have also left, so I also began to pick up the pace and start searching.
Going through the corridor past the lobby, multiple doors were laid out, possibly leading to laboratories or offices. By the end of it was an elevator, which Chief Ryu and Senior Choi entered moments ago.
I peeked through some doors with windows and saw the other two already doing their rounds inside, so I decided to leave this floor to them. Instead, I used the emergency stairs near the elevator and went up to the highest floor of the building, assuming that Chief Ryu and Senior Choi went to the second floor.
Once I had reached the fourth floor, I was greeted with the same layout as earlier, except the open lounge by the end of the hallway. It had vending machines for snacks and drinks, but no signs of having been used recently with its full inventory. I looked through the trashbins beside it, but there was nothing inside, as if it had just been emptied.
I found nothing else in the area, so I went ahead and checked on the doors and searched the rooms one by one.
“...”
One room.
“.......”
After another.
“...There's basically nothing here.”
This entire floor has been cleared out, leaving only the heavy furniture and equipment alone. Never did I find any signs of this place being used at all. It felt like I was surveying a newly built building.
Strange…this is all so strange!
After my uneventful tour on the fourth floor, I descended the stairs to get to the third floor. There, I ran into Chief Ryu and Senior Choi just about to exit the elevator.
I saluted to greet them. “Sir.”
“Oh, you've already been to the fourth floor. Did you find anything?”
I shook my head in response to the Chief's question.
“...I see. There was nothing on the second floor either.”
“...”
We brushed off the looming disappointment for now and continued with the search.
However,
“...”
As expected…
“This is starting to get ridiculous…”
There was also nothing on this floor.
“Just what the hell happened here? This facility is empty!”
“Indeed, it's very suspicious. Let's go back and check on the other two. Maybe they found something.”
“We found nothing useful.” That was what Go Yeongeun told us as soon as we arrived back at the first floor.
“...”
Goddammit.
Did they know that we’d come here so they cleared every corner and vacated the place? And what was up with the hanging man in the lobby?
Our questions only increased as we continued to proceed with our investigation, reaching no answers to the existing ones.
Thwack!
Our attention turned towards Senior Choi, who had clapped his hands. Then, he flicked his wrist at us, urging everyone to come follow him. We did so with no questions asked, and we stopped in front of the elevator.
Senior Choi pushed the button to call the elevator, then immediately entered as soon as it arrived and opened the doors. We also entered with him and watched as he began to press on some buttons on the panel beside the doors.
‘What is he doing?’
The panel had seven buttons in total: numbered ones that went from one to four, one for opening the doors, another for closing them, and a red one in case of emergencies. And just now, Senior Choi just pushed all the numbered buttons in ascending order–
“!!!”
–before pushing the red one.
“Senior, what did you just–!?”
Bzzt
[...Hello?]
“!!!”
A low, tired voice echoed inside the elevator. That sudden answer from the emergency call made us close our mouth shut, unable to utter a word.
‘Whose voice is this…?’
[You pressed every button…did you want to go to the basement…?]
“...?!”
There was a basement in this place?!
When I used the stairs earlier, there was none leading to the basement floor. But now, whoever was on the other side of the intercom, was asking us now if we wanted to get there?
Senior Choi turned to look at us and nodded.
“...Yes, we want to go to the basement.”
[Okay…I'll take you there in a moment…]
A whirring noise initiated as the elevator started to move, the gravity making us feel lightheaded as we descended.
Not long after, the elevator stopped and opened its doors, revealing a gloomy labyrinth-like passage.
[I’ll take you up once you're done with your business…]
“Wait–”
Bzzt
“...”
Dumbfounded with what just happened, we walked out of the elevator.
Questions continued to pile up in our head, and there's a specific one that we needed to hear the answer to right now.
“Senior, how did you find out about this…?”
Senior Choi brought out his phone from his pocket then typed away before showing his reply to the Chief's inquiry.
-- The emergency button looked worn down. It must've been used often. I wanted to check it out when we were about to go to the third floor, but I figured I should push it back for later once no other leads were discovered. But then,
Senior Choi suddenly pulled back the phone and swiped at the screen here and there before showing it to us again, with it now showing a chat message history instead.
It was a text from an unknown number that read, “1, 2, 3, 4. It should get you to where you want to go.”
“That is…”
…Creepy.
Does that mean we've been being watched from the start? If so, then how? From where? And who was it that was watching us? Not only that, they knew the phone number of one of us and sent him a message?
‘Shit…just what is it that we're dealing with right now…?’
“Heoeun, contact the team above and alert them about our location. Yeongeun, stick with him and guard the elevator.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chief Ryu turns to look at me with a frown. “Saheon, you’ll come with us to explore this area.”
“...Understood.”
We immediately continued on with the investigation.
Our footsteps felt so loud in this silent atmosphere and gave me an odd feeling.
Just as I was looking around as we walked, Chief Ryu spoke up. “...Do you think this place is related to them?”
“...”
I did think about it. But so far, there was a lack of matching clues. However…
“I do hope that is the case.”
If they do turn out to be related, this'll be my chance to get a new lead after so long.
“Hm.”
Senior Choi patted my shoulder gently.
Did he mean to comfort me? I didn't know if the Chief had filled him in about it or not, but it still felt like he understood what I was feeling either way.
As we continued to walk through this passage, we'd pass through some doorless rooms that didn't have anything other than a bedside table and a narrow bed. The tables had drawers, but they barely contained anything.
We probably continued to look through these rooms for twenty or so minutes before reaching a blocked corridor. The way was blocked by multiple stacked chairs. There were too many of them and made it hard to look over the other side.
But just as we were about to turn back…
Step
Step
Step
All three of us put our hands right by our guns, in anticipation for the approaching steps.
Step
Step
Step
“Oh, the path’s blocked.”
Wait.
“Should we find another way?”
No, hold on.
“Nah, I'll just clear it away. Stay back.”
Those voices…
BAAM!!
We stepped back to avoid being hit by the flying chairs as our hands reflexively pulled out our guns and pointed them to the person that just got rid of the barricade.
This is…!
“...Eh?”
“Hands up, don't make any funny moves.”
The two men in front of us, as stupefied as they were, still complied at the Chief's order.
“...”
I lowered my gun in disbelief.
“...Detective Baek! I didn't really expect that we would meet again,” Agent Choi wryly smiled as he awkwardly tried to wave his hand in greetings.
And on the side, my two superiors looked at me incredulously. Their eyes seemed to ask me how I knew about these people, who they now realized strangely looked like them.
Unfortunately, I could not give them an answer.
Even I don't know what is actually going on!
“Inspector Baek Saheon, care to explain this situation?”
“Uhm, Chief, about this…”
“Well, let's not scare off your junior now, okay?...He seems to be doing his best.”
I could notice my superiors tensing up as Agent Choi spoke.
While I do appreciate him trying to defend me, his input right now would be more akin to a fuel added to the fire. So please, can you shut up for now?
“Chief, these people are Agent Choi and Agent Bronze. As for why they are here…it's a mystery to me as well.”
“Agents…?”
Senior Choi stared intently at the two agents in front of us before frowning and shaking his head at Chief Ryu.
I could tell that something was off with how I could see concern in Senior Choi’s eyes start to flare up.
“...They don't seem to be from the NIS, so which organization are they affiliated with?”
Just before I could open my mouth to give my ridiculous answer, Agent Bronze spoke up. “We're with the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.”
Then, he reached out his hand towards our Chief, and continued his words. “I am Bronze. Real name, Ryu Jaekwan. I’d appreciate it if we don't–”
“What?!!” I almost cursed out loud, but at least I was not the only one in shock.
Shit, well, I expected it already, but hearing it out loud from him himself makes it feel surreal.
Chief Ryu’s head snapped towards me as he stared at me wide eyed.
‘What is happening?’ was the question imprinted on his expression.
As much as I'd like to answer you, sir, I'm confused as well!
Ah, fuck. We’ll get nowhere like this…
I cleared my throat, and began to speak to the agents as I ignored my puzzled superiors. “...Anyways, what brought you two back here? I thought you already returned?”
Agent Bronze nodded. “Yes. In the time we spent after returning, a lot had happened and we also managed to locate Kim Soleum. It's just that we somehow found ourselves here again while trying to return from an expedition, through a way we haven't figured out for now.”
They must've been busy within this short period. I expected as much from agents, but there was one thing I found to be a relief.
“Oh, you already found Kim Soleum that quickly? That's great to hear.” It might not be the same Soleum I know and love, but I still felt genuinely relieved to know that he's back with them.
“...”
I noticed how his brows twitched at my remark. Both of us realized something was off, and Agent Choi was the one to first inquire about it.
“How much time has passed since we last saw each other, if you don't mind me asking?”
“Exactly eight days ago.” It's been a bit more than a week.
The two agents looked at each other.
“... It seems a single day here equates to around a month in ours.”
Eight months…considering how long it takes to wrap up a missing person's case, especially when the missing person himself doesn't want to be found, it could still be considered to be quite fast.
Right now, the biggest concern would be why these two ended up here again, and in this place out of all the ones they could've transported to. The concerns add up when our current situation is taken into account.
“Then, do you think you can use your items to return, just like last time?”
Agent Choi shook his head. “We’ve tried it as soon as we got here because of urgent circumstances on our side, but it didn't work.”
“...I see.”
Ah, shit. This feels like an omen of suffering for the next few days…
“Then…can you cooperate while you're here? We happened to come to this place for an investigation and time is ticking.”
The two agents nodded with a resolute expression. However, my two superiors frowned and pulled me in for a conversation.
“How do you exactly know those individuals?”
“It would take too long to explain, sir. But I can assure you they won't hinder us if they accompany us for now. I can explain later…”
Chief Ryu scrunched his brow like he didn't seem fond of the idea, but sighed after a while. “Inspector Baek Saheon, your performance has never fallen off once since you came to our unit, so I will trust your words for now. However, when their participation in this operation proves to be detrimental instead, I'll have you take responsibility.”
Aaahh….Goddammit…
“...Yes, sir.”
I really didn't want to say it, but fucking hell, it's not like we can just leave them here either…
Since they're supposed to be counterparts of my competent superiors, I can only hope they won't cause any trouble.
A sigh inevitably left my lips.
With our unexpected encounter sorted out, we began to head further inside the passage as I briefed the two agents that joined us about the purpose of this operation.
Interestingly enough, I'd catch Senior Choi sending quick glances towards Agent Choi. That wouldn't be strange because of the circumstance, but don't you think it's a bit awkward that Agent Choi returns the stare and just pierce through each other’s soul, not even batting an eye?
I'm not the one staring or being stared at, but it bothered me all the same.
In any case, at least the tension surrounding us eased a bit after we had found traces of human activity within the premises, thus our attention being directed to the current issue at hand.
Senior Choi was about to step forward and take the lead once we reached a door leading to an unknown room when Chief Ryu suddenly interjected and proposed to be the one to open the door instead.
The stern look he gave the mute Choi was enough for me to tell that he wants to avoid any mishaps that could be caused by whatever injury he still has under those bandages. Afterall, I received the same gaze back when I was still a rookie and the Chief was still unsure about my blind eye.
On the side, I noticed Agent Bronze looking at our Chief with sympathetic eyes.
“Then, I'll be opening the door.” With a wave of Chief Ryu's hands, each of us waited in our respective positions, with the agents adapting to our actions.
SLAM!
With a single powerful kick, the door flew open. All within a couple seconds, Chief Ryu took a step back as Senior Choi and I quickly scanned for any threats before nodding once the coast seemed clear. And so, we carefully entered the dark room, which turned out to be a lot more spacious than we had expected.
“The smell of rust…”
No, it was far too rotten to be mere rust.
“Blood.” Agent Choi's voice reached our ears, making us turn to his direction and saw him staring at the wall.
That imagery painted on the wall…!
“That's blood…?”
“We didn't catch a whiff of anything suspicious until we had entered. This mural is quite faint with brown-ish color,” Agent Choi spoke as took multiple steps to get closer to the wall. “...and the smell of rot and rust is stronger up close to it. I think It's safe to assume that this was indeed made using blood from some time ago. Approximately two or three months ago, maybe?”
Senior Choi brought down his mask as he walked towards Agent Choi’s side, then quietly nodded at Chief Ryu.
“Hmm…”
“...”
While they were discussing one thing, I was seething about another.
That mural…
“...Detective Baek?”
…depicted an altar and multiple robed figures.
All of which were too similar to how it was when my sister was sacrificed.
Ah. My head hurts.
“Detective Baek…!”
“...?”
Agent Bronze held onto my left hand, which I didn't even realize had balled up into a fist. “...Please ease up your grip.”
He slowly let go of me and I opened up my palm, just to see blood coming out from the marks my nails had left. Only then did I feel the pain they caused, and made worse by some sweat that had touched them.
“…”
I put my gun back to the holster and brought out my handkerchief from my pocket to wrap it around my bleeding palm.
Everyone’s gazes pricked me as I tended to my hand. How should I explain my reaction just now? Out of everyone with me here, only the Chief knew about my past circumstance, so he must've already had an idea as to why I was like this. However, the other three didn't exactly know about it, with one of them just newly transferred to our unit while the other two basically came from another world.
Just as I was about to raise my head to meet their gaze as I finished wrapping my hand, a loud bang echoed from the distance and caught our attention.
Assuming a confrontation had ensued on our comrades’ side, we were quick on our feet to head towards the origin of the gunshot. With how this passage was connected to branching corridors in all directions, it took us a bit of navigating here and before we reached a lot here in the underground, where we found Go Yeongeun kneeling on the filthy ground as she clutched onto her right ear.
As we ran up to her and checked on her condition, a gasp almost left our lips.
Senior Choi immediately brought out his handkerchief and clumped it before putting it against Yeongeun’s bleeding ear.
With haste, she immediately explained what had transpired without even letting us ask first if she was alright. “We ran into a suspicious individual carrying a box, which he seemed to want to discreetly bring with him. Inspector Heoeun and I went after him but his resistance resulted in an altercation, thus resulting in my injury.
“Where is Inspector Heoeun right now?” The Chief asked as we all looked around and spotted an open metal door at the corner of the lot.
Go Yeongeun pointed at that door with her free hand and spoke. “He pursued the suspect into that room. I've heard him shout that he's taken the suspect down, but he hasn't come out yet.”
The Chief and I nodded at each other, having a silent agreement to check out the room together.
“We’ll stay here with Officer Choi.” Agent Choi remarked, and I nodded in response. But because of him speaking up, Go Yeongeun finally noticed the two agents' presence, in which she reacted quite incredulously to.
We left them to discuss with each other as Chief Ryu and I made our way to the room.
It was quite dark so it was hard to see inside, but shallow quick breathes reached our ears as we went further inside the room.
When I brought out my phone to turn on the flashlight mode, there in the very middle of this chapel-like room, Jang Heoeun was pinning down a man with his knees. His head was drooped down, with his shoulders slightly trembling at every breath. On the other hand, the supposed suspect under him, appeared to be unconscious–his skin having a bright red hue as white foam covered his mouth.
‘What the hell…?’
As Chief Ryu got to Heoeun’s level and checked up on his condition, I looked around the place and saw what appeared to be a jewelry box resting nearby their feet.
Go Yeongeun said that the suspect was carrying something when they ran into him. Was it that thing?
I approached the box with small steps, careful not to trample on any potential evidence. I made sure to wear a pair of disposable gloves I kept in my belt bag before picking up the item.
‘Let's see here…’
The box was decorated with intricate designs, increasing its aesthetic value whilst keeping simplicity. It didn't have any locks, so I attempted to open it and check out what was inside. It creaked open easily, but I left it ajar for some time before completely pulling the cover open.
Huh? What is this?
For a second, I thought it was an antique pocket watch due to how it looked similarly to one. However, I realized that it was actually a compact mirror upon closer look.
‘It does look valuable, but…’
My gaze briefly landed on the suspect, who seems to already be deceased.
‘...Just how important is this thing for him to risk his life trying to retrieve it?’
Alas, we won't be able to know for now.
Out of curiosity, I opened the mirror to see the inside.
‘Huh…?’
It's not like I expected anything other than just a regular mirror inside, but the other half of this thing looked a bit strange.
What to call it…murky? Blurry? Rather than a dirty mirror, it felt like I was trying to look into an opaque glass. It could barely reflect my image, and it's not like it's see-through because of how it was attached to the casing.
Since one side already works fine as a regular mirror, maybe this one was just for decoration purposes?
My ears picked up on rustling sounds, noticing Chief Ryu getting up from the floor as he assisted Jang Heoeun to stand up as well.
I was about to close the mirror to put it back in the box when something had changed.
“What the fuck…”
My hand holding the mirror was still.
That's right, it’s supposed to be stable and frozen in place.
But why the fuck is the blurry mirror–which has suddenly turned clear by the way–showing a moving reflection, something completely opposite of what the mirror on the other side was showing??
Captivated by this strange phenomenon, I couldn't help but stare at this creepy sight despite hearing the Chief call out my name.
It shook, as if I was watching a video recorded with an unstable hold on the camera.
Then, the torso of a man wearing a black suit came into view, appearing like he was fixing up the mirror.
As the mirror was positioned towards his face, our eyes eventually met.
“...Hahaha…fuck.”
I was looking at the bewildered face of “Baek Saheon”.
After that, it was all dark.