Chapter 40 – Tour – Part 5

Chapter 40 – Tour – Part 5

Kim Taehyun cursed when Woojin said that the Criminal would sacrifice himself.

“I knew he was crazy, but he’s even more of a psycho than I thought.”

Choi Gicheol asked.

“Woojin, how on earth do you know such things?”

Woojin answered casually.

“I’m just matching the Criminal’s level.”

Kim Taehyun nodded repeatedly.

“Exactly! Exactly! Compared to our Woojin, the Criminal is a fool! Woojin, is there a possibility that this crazy guy will commit crimes elsewhere?”

Woojin shook his head.

“The Criminal, although he may not be aware of it, is very bound by symbolism and form. Since he has to complete one triangle first, the probability of him committing crimes elsewhere is very slim.”

“Woojin, then…”

Kim Taehyun searched for something on his cellphone, then enlarged an image and showed it.

It was an area densely packed with studio apartments, about 7 kilometers along the Righteous Path, directly connected to the crime scene.

“So the Criminal is likely to appear here?”

“Yes, tomorrow is important.”

Kim Taehyun eagerly grabbed Woojin’s hand.

His body was filled with ecstasy, and he even had goosebumps.

“Thank you, Woojin. I missed him last time because I stirred things up, but I’ll definitely catch him this time, especially considering all the trouble you went through to tell me this.”

“The criminal can choose suicide rather than being caught. Therefore, there’s a high possibility they always carry a weapon. Be careful.”

“As expected of my handsome younger brother, even worrying about his older brother. Don’t worry, your brother is really good at fighting. Gicheol, please escort Woojin carefully.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure he’s safe, even if I have to sacrifice myself. Let’s go, Woojin.”

As Kim Taehyun watched Woojin get into the car and disappear, he approached the Team Leader who was talking to Profiler Han Johoon.

“Team Leader, the criminal’s location has been identified.”

“What did you say?”

The Team Leader asked back in surprise, and Han Johoon furrowed his brows.

Kim Taehyun, with a triumphant voice, took a water-based pen to his cellphone and drew a line.

“He’s a devil worshiper. The first murder happened at Bugaksan. And the second murder happened here, 7 kilometers from Bugaksan, and another murder occurred after 7 days. He’s committing murders as if drawing stars…”

“What are you talking about?”

“So…”

Profiler Han Johoon cut off Kim Taehyun.

“No, Detective Kim, are you saying you’ve identified the criminal’s location based on what a mere student told you? Where is that student now? Is a murder case a joke?”

“It’s not a joke…”

Kim Taehyun, who was about to continue, ran a hand through his hair.

As he tried to explain, he couldn’t help but realize once again how amazing Woojin was.

Come to think of it, Woojin had concisely conveyed a vast amount of knowledge.

He had considered all possible assumptions and narrowed them down to find the criminal.

And he immediately convinced them of the next destination.

He had always thought it was natural because it was Woojin, but this incident made him see him differently.

It was like a giant looking down on the world.

The Team Leader said,

“Don’t talk nonsense…”

Kim Taehyun half-listened to the Team Leader, recalling Woojin’s words.

“Team Leader, listen carefully to what I’m about to say. You’ll understand. How my younger sibling at Candle deduced the Criminal’s profession. This is absolutely, absolutely no coincidence.”

Kim Taehyun recalled Woojin’s words as much as possible and began explaining from the first murder.

As Kim Taehyun continued speaking, the Team Leader’s eyes, which had been full of disbelief, unfocused as if enchanted, then began to fill with curiosity.

“So, there’s a very high probability that the Criminal will appear here.”

The Team Leader, with dilated pupils, spoke urgently.

“Where is he?”

“Who?”

“Your younger sibling, the student, where is he?”

“I sent him home.”

“Damn it! You should have told me that earlier!”

“You went out to smoke a cigarette, Team Leader!”

Profiler Han Johoon said,

“Team Leader Jang…”

The Team Leader raised his hand, cutting him off.

“Johoon, let’s talk later, later. Taehyun, focus investigation personnel on this area, and don’t let them sniff around like before. As much as possible, act like civilians. Where did Gicheol go?”

“He went to escort our younger sibling.”

“Then tell Gicheol…”

***

The next day, Kim Taehyun was walking through an area dense with studio apartments from the morning.

As Woojin had said, he didn’t know if the Criminal would recognize his face, so he wore a hat and a mask.

To make it not look strange, he had tattoos, or rather, Irezumi drawings, on his arm.

Kim Taehyun spoke into the small microphone as if wiping his nose.

“Van, 2874 van turning left at the convenience store. Keep an eye on it.”

He didn’t know which van it was.

Nevertheless, the police were on high alert.

-2874 van, 2874 van, it’s out on the road.

The voices of the undercover detectives were constantly heard through the earpiece.

The same went for Kim Taehyun.

“4235 van, to the convenience store…”

Kim Taehyun, who had been speaking, closed his mouth.

His eyes sank frighteningly.

The tension made his heart pound.

This was because a person dressed as a cleaner, a common sight that no one paid attention to, got out of the van that stopped in front of the convenience store.

The most important thing was that a person dressed as a cleaner got out of the van.

His face was covered with cloth, and he seemed to be over 180 centimeters tall.

“Suspected criminal found, request nearby personnel assistance.”

As he entered the convenience store, Kim Taehyun began to approach, pretending to look at his cellphone.

Keeping open the possibility that if it was a criminal, they would be carrying a weapon…

Jingle,

When he came out again, Kim Taehyun brushed past him.

No, he spoke, grabbing him from behind.

“Han Junhak.”

As his steps abruptly stopped, Kim Taehyun, who had spent years as a detective, instinctively grabbed his arm and twisted it.

No, he tried to.

Crash!

Kim Taehyun, who didn’t know how he ended up on the floor, felt it.

The immense strength.

The criminal who had thrown down Kim Taehyun moved his body as if he were a hammer.

“Where are you going, you bastard!”

Kim Taehyun grabbed his ankle and held on.

The criminal reacted immediately and began to stomp on Kim Taehyun. But Kim Taehyun didn’t just take it.

He dodged his kicks by moving his head from side to side.

“You’re screwed now, you bastard!”

As Kim Taehyun clung to him like a leech and wouldn’t let go, the criminal pulled out a sashimi knife from his pocket.

And he aimed for Kim Taehyun’s chest and thrust it in.

Thwack!

Kim Taehyun, who barely managed to grab the criminal’s wrist holding the knife, scowled.

The pressing force was no joke.

At this rate, the knife would be embedded in his chest.

“Has he only been eating good things…? What kind of strength…”

Kim Taehyun struggled with all his might, but the tip of the knife trembled and was coming closer to his chest.

Kim Taehyun, realizing the end was near, smirked.

“Even if I die, you’ll be caught, you psycho bastard.”

Suddenly.

Thwack!

The criminal fell to his side with a thud from someone’s kick.

“It’s a soccer kick, you bastard! What kind of son of a bitch is using a weapon here! Are you alright, senior?”

It was Choi Gicheol.

“Hey, are you the main character? Why are you so late? I almost died, seriously.”

Kim Taehyun and Choi Gicheol immediately went after the criminal, who was getting up strangely, his brain rattled.

No, it was then.

Whoosh!

The criminal swung his knife, maintaining distance from the two.

Choi Gicheol spoke to the criminal, who was shaking his head as if coming to his senses, aiming the knife.

A handgun was in his hand.

“Drop the knife! You son of a bitch!”

Kim Taehyun grabbed Choi Gicheol’s gun.

He said he would choose suicide rather than being caught.

The bastard in front of him looked like he could stab a knife into his neck at any moment.

He wasn’t a normal guy.

As soon as the gun barrel was obscured, the criminal immediately turned and began to flee.

“Fuck!”

“Criminal heading to the room at 3 o’clock, fleeing west, west from the convenience store!”

The criminal was fleeing, gritting his teeth as if filled with anger.

He had taken into account all the car dashcams and CCTVs, moving without leaving any traces.

He wondered how they knew he was there, but he had to get out of this place first.

And this spiderweb-like alley was familiar to him.

Because he had reconnoitered it several times in case of an unforeseen situation.

He could easily shake off the police.

“Get out of the way!”

The running criminal shouted, looking straight ahead.

This was because a guy in a green tracksuit was blocking the narrow path.

Even though he was holding a knife, the guy just stared blankly, not seeming afraid at all.

“You bastard!”

The criminal’s rough hand snatched Woojin’s clothes.

Woojin’s clothes stretched diagonally, and the wound on his waist was clearly visible to the criminal.

“What are you doin’—”

Woojin, who seemed to be smiling slightly, opened his mouth while keeping his eyes fixed on the Criminal.

“Such an obvious person.”

“You fake? Die, you bastard.”

The Criminal’s knife aimed for Woojin’s collarbone.

*

Kim Taehyun and Choi Gicheol were running down the Alley.

Then.

Thump!

With the sound of leather tearing, their steps suddenly stopped.

The fleeing Criminal was lying on the ground, and Woojin, dressed in a green tracksuit, stood over his head.

“W-Woojin, how did you get here…?”

“The Criminal is trying to regain consciousness.”

“Huh? Oh! You can’t do that! You can’t do that!”

Kim Taehyun’s body lifted into the air.

And he struck the Criminal with his Elbow, as if using a wrestling move.

Thump!

“You can exercise your right to remain silent, but if you don’t speak, you’ll die by my hand.”

Thump!

“You can also have a lawyer and a senior officer…”

Thump!

“But don’t get your hopes up.”

Choi Gicheol applauded Kim Taehyun, who was reciting the Miranda Rights and striking the Criminal with his Elbow.

Thump!

“Senior, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that move.”

Choi Gicheol pressed the Criminal down with his knee and put Handcuffs on his hands.

“Woojin, did you really foresee all of this too? Is that why you came? It’s dangerous…”

Just then, Woojin answered a call.

It was Lee Hyerim.

“Yes, Hyerim.”

-Sigh… I just got the call, you got the interview.

“That’s good. But why the sigh?”

Her tone of voice was different than usual.

It was bitterness, emptiness, powerlessness, and so on.

People who speak with such breath and tone usually do so when they are in an environment they cannot control by their own strength.

-But it’s the Management Support Team.

“Management Support Team?”

-There must be other good departments… The Management Support Team just runs errands for other departments. Sigh… I’ll talk to them again.

Her voice was now filled with indignation.

But Woojin, on the other hand, was relaxed.

The Management Support Team, a place where he could encompass all departments and gain diverse experiences.

Contrary to Lee Hyerim’s thoughts, it was exactly where Woojin wanted to go.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

-Huh?

Lee Hyerim was flustered by Woojin’s voice.

But she couldn’t hear anything more.

“Hyerim, I’m busy right now, I’ll call you later. I really like the Management Support Team.”

-Huh? Oh.

“Get up, you bastard.”

While Choi Gicheol was forcibly raising the criminal, Kim Taehyun, still dumbfounded, said to Woojin.

“How did you get here? Woojin, I’m really grateful, but that was a very dangerous thing to do.”

“If you know the danger beforehand, you can deal with it.”

Kim Taehyun couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by the overly nonchalant tone.

But he seemed to have no interest in the criminal at all.

“Woojin, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“No.”

“Now that I think about it, my younger brother is good at fighting, too, isn’t he? But don’t do that again next time. Oh, I’m not asking for help again…”

“Detective, have you eaten?”

“Huh? No, why?”

“I haven’t eaten yet either, and there’s a beef restaurant near the main road. I found out they even sell 1++ No.9 (Beef) grade meat.”