Chapter 176 – Peace – Part 12

Chapter 176 – Peace – Part 12

“The gate’s going to break. It’s going to break! Who is it?!”

Thug’s voice was heard roughly from inside the gate.

Woojin ended the call and said,

“Is Ms. Im Jingyeong here? I’m here for a quick delivery. I need a signature.”

“Oh, what did she order again?”

The gate was pulled inward and opened with an unpleasant sound.

Immediately, Yoon Jangjun’s figure came into Woojin’s sight.

His eyes, visible below his gull-like eyebrows, were narrow and lacked double eyelids.

His nose had a hint of an aquiline shape, and his lips were thin.

His jaw was angular, and his shoulders looked firm.

At that moment, Yoon Jangjun’s narrow eyes, which had been scanning Woojin up and down, narrowed further, forming a disapproving glare.

“What? You said it was a quick delivery?”

There was nothing in Woojin’s hands.

“Ah, here it is.”

Woojin pulled out Handcuffs from his pocket and held them out.

“Will you put them on yourself? Or should I put them on you?”

“Damn it!”

Yoon Jangjun roughly slammed the gate shut. No.

Bang!

Woojin’s foot kicked the gate as it was about to close.

Thanks to that, Yoon Jangjun was hit by the gate and sprawled on the ground.

As Woojin stepped inside, Yoon Jangjun scrambled to his feet and snickered.

“Oh… I’m really out of luck. You’re right. I stole that Golden Toad. Here, put them on.”

As he readily held out both hands, Woojin’s foot landed on his chest.

Thud!

“Gah!”

He fell backward again and clutched his chest as if the spot he was hit in was bothering him.

“Cough, cough! Isn’t this an abuse of power!”

“I’m allowed to.”

Woojin knelt on one knee in front of him, meeting his gaze.

“You’ve been quite clever. Golden Toad? Is that a device to cover up murder? Going into prison for a short time for that would be the perfect way to deceive the police.”

His narrow eyes widened slightly, and Woojin continued.

“Lead the way. To where you’ve hidden the stolen goods. Otherwise, I’ll do it my way. That means I’ll grab you by your hair and drag you along.”

His pupils moved around.

Woojin understood what that meant better than anyone.

“Lead, the way.”

“Understood.”

He limped to his feet, slid open the door, and went inside.

Woojin followed right behind him, but then,

Swish!

A kitchen knife flashed towards Woojin’s neck, as if he always had something prepared by the door.

However, Woojin’s hand lightly blocked it.

“It’s obvious. I saw where your eyes briefly lingered. I heard that narrow eyes are stronger than others, but that’s not always the case.”

He felt hard calluses on his hand.

Crack.

“Aaaargh!”

His wrist, holding the knife, was bent downwards.

“Your live-in girlfriend, Im Jingyeong, is at the police station. I think you know what that means.”

“Ugh!”

Woojin looked at him, still clutching his wrist in pain, and said,

“You guys seem to have a knack for making me repeat the same things. I guess my method will be better after all.”

Woojin tore down a curtain from one of the windows, fashioned it into a loop, and wrapped it around his neck like a dog collar.

“It suits you well.”

“Gah! Cough… Who are you? You’re not, you’re not a police officer, are you?”

His actions, and the look in his eyes, clearly showed he was here to kill him, didn’t they?

“I think there should be police officers like me too. Now, then, shall we look for our treasure?”

“Cough!”

Woojin pulled the curtain he was holding, and the man began to be dragged on all fours.

Of course, one of his wrist joints was dislocated, so he had to crawl on that elbow.

He couldn’t stand up.

Because the moment he tried, Woojin pulled the curtain he was holding like a dog collar.

“Cough!”

Woojin pulled the curtain, bringing his face close to it with a sorrowful expression.

“Is it here?”

It was almost like a scene where a dog is made to sniff something.

“Please let go of this…”

Woojin didn’t listen to him.

This time, he stepped firmly on his neck, making him look under the bed.

His face flushed crimson, as if blood was about to burst out.

“Doesn’t seem to be here either.”

“Cl-closet… Cough! Cough!”

Woojin, using the curtain over his shoulder like a lever, pulled and dragged him.

Thanks to that, Yoon Jangjun’s back slid as he was dragged along.

Struggling was useless.

From the start, Woojin was restraining his actions by pressing on his neck, as if training a dog.

Woojin immediately opened the window and said,

“It’s not here?”

“The drawer! The drawer!”

Creak.

When I opened the drawer, I saw jewelry in a red basket.

It looked like they were tangled together, as if they had been stolen and then thrown aside.

The fact that they weren’t managed meant that the jewelry wasn’t the goal.

She immediately murdered Ms. Shin Heeyeon, who was dreaming of a future with her husband.

The woman who was smiling happily in the picture.

Murder is the goal.

Woojin slowly tightened his grip on the curtain he was holding, looking at the jewelry and saying,

“This one was stolen from the east. This one from the west, and this one from the north. You traveled all over the country looking for work, that’s plausible.”

He must have traveled around to commit murder.

And then, after choosing a target, long-term observation.

Including the people around the target.

They use CCTV and disguises.

To kill people.

As Woojin sat on his stomach, Yoon Jangjun gasped for air like a pig squealing.

“How many people have you murdered? Even if their lives were hard, they must have been happy. Dreaming of hope, of a future. But you ruined it all. Tell me. How many people have you murdered?”

“O-one. One…”

Woojin suddenly stood up, picked up the dropped knife, and closed the room door.

Not stopping there.

Click.

He locked the door.

Yoon Jangjun, who had been watching the scene unfold, quickly pulled the curtain from his neck, spitting as he spoke.

“W-what are you doing! You’re not the police! You’re not the police! Who the hell are you!”

Woojin, ignoring his words, casually rolled up his sleeve.

A lightning-like scar, reaching his wrist, was fully revealed.

Woojin, who briefly looked at the scar, muttered and placed the knife on his forearm.

“These kinds of wounds, I consider them my retribution.”

And he made a shallow cut.

As Woojin lowered his arm, drops of blood trickled down his fingers.

“You crazy bastard…! Fine! You want to do this, huh!? Huh! You want to do this with me, you son of a bitch!”

Yoon Jangjun, shouting furiously, looked around as if searching for something.

“You goddamn! You’re going to die by my hand today! You bastard!”

Smash!

Yoon Jangjun smashed the window with his fist and grabbed a piece of glass.

“Come on! Come on! You bastard!”

Woojin asked him,

“Ms. Kim Heeyeon, why did you kill her?”

“Do you think there’s a reason for one person to kill another? That bitch was laughing because the weather was so nice. So I killed her. Why?”

Woojin tilted his head to the side.

Crack.

He approached him, making the sound of cracking joints.

“You have the right to remain silent, to consult with a lawyer, and to refuse to make statements that might incriminate you in court.”

“Come in, you bastard!”

***

A few days later.

At 9 PM, news about Yoon Jangjun’s case was playing.

[With the arrest of the criminal in the studio apartment murder case, the murder case that was almost left unsolved…]

Yoon Jangjun had murdered a total of five victims. Those who heard about it were filled with anger. No, they were horrified.

Not only was his crime meticulously planned, and he used the victims’ acquaintances to hinder the investigation, but he also created minor offenses so he could enter prison at any time.

[Surprisingly, the person who caught the criminal was an ordinary citizen. He resisted to the end, wielding a knife…]

Senior Officer Kim, who was watching the news with his hands behind his back, clicked his tongue and said,

“There’s more than one crazy person.”

Woojin, dressed in an officer’s uniform with puppy-dog eyes, nodded beside him.

“He’s a bad guy.”

“People like that should be executed. Executed.”

Woojin nodded again.

He had shown him death several times.

He made him feel what it was like to die, repeatedly.

It was five times in total.

“But shouldn’t we also give him a brave citizen award?”

As if answering Senior Officer Kim’s words, the announcer’s voice flowed out.

[Mr. A was reluctant to be exposed, saying he only did what was natural. He left an impressive message, didn’t he?]

[Yes. He reportedly said, ‘If you do bad things, I’ll come find you.’ It’s almost like a warning to criminals…]

Senior Officer Kim chuckled.

“Whoever it is, they’re an amazing friend! Hahaha!”

Woojin didn’t nod this time.

Because he wasn’t an amazing person, but the same person.

It was an action imbued with Woojin’s desire to be ordinary.

“Senior Officer Kim, I’m going to leave work now.”

“Alright, good job. Don’t wander off somewhere else.”

Saying that, Senior Officer Kim looked at Woojin with suspicious eyes.

After work, he’d go looking for a lost dog, or secretly plow a field cultivated by an elderly couple…

So he asked.

‘Officer Shin, what are you doing right now?’

‘I’m steadily honing my wasted effort skills so they don’t get dull.’

If someone asked him to help a pregnant cow give birth, he’d rush off without looking back, saying, ‘Life is precious.’

There were so many other anecdotes that his mouth would ache just listing them.

“Go home and get some good rest.”

“Yes. You too!”

Tomorrow is another day off.

Woojin bid farewell to the senior officers and stepped outside.

And he looked up at the night sky.

The weather was good, and the stars filled his eyes.

If you consider the composition of stars like the sun, hydrogen accounts for 70% and helium for 28%…

Woojin, who had been recalling the star’s composition, cut off any further thoughts.

And with a faint smile, he said,

“It’s beautiful.”

There are times when there’s no need to deeply ponder to know the essence.

This was one of those times.

He decided to simply think of beautiful things as beautiful.

“The wind is nice too.”

This is how Woojin was gradually composing himself.

Little by little, he was learning to enjoy his emotions.

***

The next day.

Woojin was playing rock-paper-scissors in front of an elementary school snack bar with a middle schooler wearing soccer sneakers.

“Scissors, rock, paper!”

Woojin blinked, and the middle schooler cheered.

“Yay! Another rice cake skewer!”

He had been making a rock-paper-scissors bet with a child whose dream was to be a soccer player.

Woojin always, without fail, lost when playing rock-paper-scissors with this middle schooler.

Of course, he was letting him win.

Woojin handed the money to the snack bar owner and then said to the child,

“Next time, let’s play muk-jji-ppa.”

“Sounds good!”

Woojin smiled subtly and left.

And immediately hailed a taxi.

They drove for a full three hours.

They even stopped at a rest area halfway, where he and the taxi driver enjoyed hot bar and udon.

After that, the taxi climbed the winding mountain roads and then stopped.

“Good luck.”

“Oh my! Thank you. Have a good day.”

Click.

Woojin got out of the car, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

The humid air filled his lungs, making him feel refreshed.

Soon, Woojin’s feet began to move.

Before him, a large mansion backed by a mountain greeted Woojin.