The final chase.
***
"Sigh...fuck."
A police station in Seoul, the capital and heart of South Korea, was a veritable party of chaos, with some people arguing that they hadn't done anything wrong and others demanding to know why the place wouldn't accept their complaints.
However, the 2nd Investigation Unit was a little different. A suffocating silence, a quiet and stillness, hung over the 2nd Investigation Unit. Everyone was fixated on their desks, searching for something. The silence was broken by Detective Lee Yeon-hwa's sigh and a soft curse.
Detective Lee Yeon-hwa. She overcame the obstacle of corruption to rise to the rank of sergeant. She was a rising star in a police force already rotten and dark, overflowing with corruption.
"I'm going to put this kid in jail and die."
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, sir."
"I was just coming back from meeting a witness."
"Please give me the witness statement."
"This slope is really steep."
Detective Lee Yeon-hwa, or Detective Lee for short, has been working tirelessly for weeks, staying up all night to catch a serial killer who has eluded capture. This is the fifth time this month alone. What's remarkable about this case is that all of the victims are celebrities. Celebrities with a touch of corruption.
The crime occurred between midnight and 4 a.m., in the dead of night. The victims' bodies were sometimes found in alleys, while others were left proudly in the middle of a shopping district. However, the presence of dragging marks suggested a different crime scene.
The perpetrator's actions were truly extraordinary and outrageous. With victims including celebrities, CEOs of major corporations, and members of the National Assembly, the nation was hell-bent on finding him. However, for nearly two weeks, no trace of him was found. In this midst of this, Detective Lee's colleague, Detective Kim Seok-jin, finally encountered the witness they had been searching for, a ray of light.
"This is a witness statement. Can I take this for a moment?"
"Do as you wish. I already knew everything when I wrote the statement."
"Officer Park, didn't you come to work today?"
"Yeah. I heard your mother suddenly collapsed. I guess the only person who can take care of her is Officer Park."
"Once this incident is over, let's go visit the hospital together. I know you're worried."
"Then I guess I'll have to hope this incident ends quickly."
"I guess so."
***
"Haam... I have to get up now."
Monday came again after a golden weekend. The girl, who had been rolling around in bed, stayed there for a while, then, as if she couldn't put it off any longer, decided she had to get up. After wasting about 20 minutes, after 25 attempts, she finally got out of bed, washed her face, and went into the kitchen.
"Huh? It's time for the old man to come!"
The girl went into the kitchen and belatedly checked her watch. As the time for the person she was waiting for approached, she began to move busily. She put the wireless earphones in both ears and played the playlist on her phone's screen.
I opened the refrigerator door with a familiarity, as if I'd done it countless times before. I glanced over it a few times, then grabbed a few ingredients and took them to the sink to wash them. One hand was preparing the food, the other was scouring the internet for recipes.
After washing everything, I shook off the water, took out my cutting board, and began chopping the ingredients with a knife. It was definitely that. It was that...
"Huh? You're here, mister?"
Someone ran up to the girl, hugging her from behind. The girl, completely oblivious to the presence of others due to her earphones being tucked in, was so startled she almost dropped her knife. Someone then said they would do it themselves and sent her out of the kitchen, effectively forcibly kicking her out.
The girl briefly threw a fit, but quickly calmed down. She opened the refrigerator, took out a few side dishes she'd been looking at, and placed them on the table. Then, she quietly went to the kitchen she'd been kicked out of, scooped up two bowls of rice from the rice cooker, and placed them on the table.
Looking at the completed table one by one, the two of them looked like a couple: identical bowls, identical cups, and even identical spoons.
Someone was staring intently at the girl who was enjoying the meal that had been prepared like that.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You think I'm cute??"
"Well then, let's make a promise."
The girl hesitated, then opened her mouth. "Why are you looking at me?" Upon hearing the answer, she chuckled, then stared intently at someone. "You were doing this to me," she said. She put down her spoon and offered a promise.
"No matter what happens, promise to stay by my side."
Someone who heard the girl's words gently patted her, finding her cute. Then, they gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and she hugged him tightly.
"Then, I will consider you to have agreed, sir."
So the two of them spent a long time, embracing each other in happiness. More than anyone else, they desperately hoped this happy time would last forever. This ordinary, happy time, the one they longed for more than anyone else.
***
"Why are you so stiff? Can't you find the information you need?"
"No. I found enough. But..."
Detective Lee Yeon-hwa frowned and her face remained frozen as she read the witness statement. She nervously tossed the statement aside and sighed. It was then that Detective Kim Seok-jin opened the door and came in.
Detective Kim Seok-jin frowned, looking at Detective Lee Yeon-hwa, who seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Why is she so uncomfortable? She must have found something. Detective Kim Seok-jin noticed her hesitation and silence. Even from this perspective, he could tell that Detective Lee Yeon-hwa, with her considerable experience, had something to say.
Curiosity doesn't hold back. Our detective Kim Seok-jin asked without a moment's hesitation, "Why is your expression so frozen?" But the answer he received was perfunctory. He had found enough. However,
"but?"
"...I've found so many things that I'm starting to doubt them."
You might think, "Suspicious enough? Shouldn't I like it?" but you'd be wrong. This could be a trick. Criminals who underestimate the police sometimes throw out clues that the police can easily find. But the likelihood that these clues are all true is extremely slim.
Besides, this guy is a serial killer. He's meticulously planned and meticulously executed. It's impossible for someone like him to provide this many clues.
"So, what did you find?"
We've discovered a lot. Combining the locations of previous crime scenes, the method used, and the distance between them, we can determine the location and time of the next crime. So why didn't the police take any action?
To be honest, I was a little angry. It was so easy to find, so why hadn't they done anything about it? Why had they just left it alone? As I explained it to them again, step by step, I became even more furious.
"So, the next crime scene is... here."
A small alley next to the school. This was the scene of my next crime. Just as I was anticipating the moment of the crime, someone slammed open the door and came running in, panting heavily. And then, a single word uttered by me surprised us.
"There's an incident. A victim was found in a small alley next to the school."
***
"Um... why are you so late??"
The girl, waiting for someone, glanced at her watch. It was 11:40 PM. It had already been more than three hours since she'd left work. She considered going out to pick him up, but with the countless snowflakes falling outside the window, the occasional cold snap, and the heavy snow warning text, she decided to put that thought aside.
Even though it was late, leaving me home alone in this weather? The girl suddenly felt resentful. She knew better than anyone how much I was struggling. Why were you leaving me alone?
Then, the girl suddenly began to reminisce. When had I been living with the old man? Why had I hated days when snow fell and the world was covered in white?
***
"It's snowing heavily. It's cold."
The snow was falling so furiously it felt like it was swallowing the world. No one would want to be outside in this weather. In this cold winter, the snow was falling so furiously that it chilled my skin. But I felt like neither school, home, nor academy would welcome me.
At school, I endured every single glare. You stinky kid. You beggar. You should just disappear. It's embarrassing to be in our class. I think I received every insult in the world.
So what was home like? Was it warm? Not at all. I became addicted to gambling, spending every penny I had, and eventually became an alcoholic, suffering daily abuse and beatings.
Was that all there was? Human relationships. Among them, my mother, a pleasure addict whose relationships with men were tangled and twisted. My father was a shut-in, never leaving the bedroom, and every night, a different man came home to my mother.
Fifteen years had passed since they'd lived like that. The girl, staring out the window at the pouring snow, wished she'd be swallowed by it too. Even as the rain poured down like mad, no one stopped her as she went out.
I left the house and walked aimlessly for 30 minutes. No, maybe even longer. I just walked wherever my feet took me. I arrived at a small alley next to the school. The girl wished she could die like this.
Either starve to death, or let my body temperature continue to drop and I freeze to death. It didn't matter.
The girl crouched against the wall at the end of the alley, exhausted. She felt no human warmth. She lay there, her eyes closed, waiting for death.
"Are you okay? It must be really cold here."
Someone approached the girl. She didn't even have the strength to respond. But something warmed her cold body. The warmth of a human being. Ah, it had been so long since someone had embraced me like this. Maybe it had never been before.
Before I knew it, tears were streaming from the girl's eyes, so hot it was hard to tell if they were tears or melted snow. Someone was hugging me tightly, as if they knew everything, as if they were telling me it was okay. The girl cried like that for a very long time.
***
"...Am I alone??"
After that incident, the girl trusted him. He was a ray of light in this hellish life. He was my personal savior, the one who saved me from wandering in the dark.
But even that time didn't last long. The girl and the man wandered the streets together for about an hour. They even bought food from a convenience store and shared it together, and they even had the longest conversation of their lives.
I heard he was now 19. He would complain about what I was saying, and sometimes even get angry. Naturally, I began to think of him as an old man. He looked like a high school student, but he had learned the pain of life too early.
He grumbled, "I'm not a man." But in that face, in the accusations he made, I wasn't there. There were only those who had made things difficult for me, not me.
The silence continued, and he opened his mouth. He told his story. Listening, I felt like he was living a life similar to mine. However, he seemed different from me, who lived in despair, staring at the floor. He seemed to always live with hope. Gradually, I began to feel a sense of kinship with him.
When the time came, he said he had to go home. The girl wanted to go with him. It was crazy. A runaway teenager. I could feel my parents' harsh gaze on me.
But I couldn't live like this. If things continued like this even a little longer, I felt like I'd die soon. I had to hold on to him, somehow. To survive. To comfort you, who was in the same situation as me.
"If you don't mind, may I comfort you?"
"...!"
At that moment, a police officer's voice was heard from behind. "Oh, my parents have finally had an accident." She turned around to find him gone, and the girl continued on her way to the police station.
At that time, he thought I was just a fantasy born from too much hardship. He thought I was finally going crazy.
A week passed like that. The girl was living in a shelter. She hadn't truly smiled since she'd been with him. It was a constant cycle: wake up, study, eat, sleep.
It was while I was spending such a meaningless day. The bell rang at 10 o'clock, signaling bedtime. The girl lay in bed, gazing out the window. A full moon. A full moon. A brilliant, clear full moon. A full moon living a life diametrically opposed to mine.
I closed my eyes and paused for a moment. Sleep still wouldn't come, so this time I gazed into the room, where shadows were falling on the other side of the window. It was quiet. So quiet, it felt like something was about to happen at any moment.
A shadow of a person has fallen. This must be a dream. That's right. It must be a dream. If it weren't a dream, would he still be before my eyes? Would he be there, knocking on the window and desperately calling out to me?
"Open the door quickly."
...huh?
Oh my goodness. The girl opened the window. A cold wind enveloped her body. But before she could even register it, he reached out to me. A voice called out to her from behind. "What's going on there? The door's locked. Hurry up and get the master key...!!"
The girl was so shocked that her whole body froze. She couldn't hear anyone clearly. She approached him, step by step, as if in a trance.
"I promise. I will always be by your side."
The whisper he whispered after pulling the girl's head toward him was sweeter than anyone's. For a very long time, I'd wished for someone to protect me. I'd wished for it more earnestly than anyone.
The girl took his hand. He smiled faintly, then held my hand tightly and promised me. We gazed into each other's eyes, trusting each other deeply, and disappeared into the brilliant moonlight.
""You promised to protect me."
"You said you would stay by my side."
"This liar..."
***
"Are you sure this is really taken here??"
"Yes, that's right."
Detective Lee Yeon-hwa was watching CCTV footage from an alley a short distance from the crime scene. Why she'd come here? I couldn't understand it. She was watching footage from a completely different location than the crime scene. Then, she suddenly wondered why she became a police officer.
While I was lost in thought, the officer opened the door and ran out, apparently seeing something. Before I could even grasp the situation, I followed him, panting.
"What's going on? Why do you have to drive here?"
"The criminal will escape here."
"If you don't get here right now, there will be another victim...!"
"Calm down. Calm down for now."
The man, breathing heavily, began to talk incessantly. He rambling, but his goal seemed to be the same: to track down the culprit. That was it.
I parked my car in front of an alley near the scene of the crime. Then I opened the car door and started running back down the alley.
In fact, even the way he predicted the next crime scene felt a little strange. It felt like a screw was missing somewhere. I'd never seen this detective this excited. Then, I started thinking about our first meeting. When did I meet him?
***
"Where did the old man go..."
The girl finally left the house. Outside, the snow was falling even harder than before. It was so heavy that it seemed as if a person could be swallowed up and disappear into the snow without anyone noticing.
The girl walked frantically. She walked and walked. Just like the first day she met the old man. Even then, she wasn't this desperate. Why did you save me? Why did you abandon me again?
At first, I was sad. He hadn't been home for a week. He must be really late, I thought. He had no reason to abandon me. He was someone who had suffered the same wounds as I had.
Two weeks had passed. Now, anger was building. The snow outside showed no sign of stopping. The faint warmth of human presence had vanished.
A month has passed. Now I can say with certainty. My uncle abandoned me. And he did it so cruelly. I feel nothing now. In the end, no one saved me.
I thought you were someone like me. I believed I could comfort you. I lived that way for five years. But I despaired when I realized that my trust had been shattered.
So I left the house I no longer needed. I stepped onto the cold, desolate street, barely able to put on two pairs of socks. My legs gave out, and I couldn't go any further. There was no need to go any further. There was no one waiting for me.
My eyes were losing strength. They kept closing. I just closed them. And I didn't open them again. There was no need to open them. Even if I did, there would be someone standing in front of me, making eye contact.
I wished I could just become one with the snow and disappear, that my body would grow cold and die.
I felt the streetlights dimming. Ah. Someone's here. Could it be the old man? Even then, I could still harbor a tiny hope. I hoped it was the old man who had given me these thoughts.
"are you okay?"
Ah. It wasn't the old man. Ultimately, due to my own petty expectations, I ended up being abandoned by people three times. I opened my eyes with difficulty. Still, I had to see who I finally met. That's what the old man taught me.
"You look very distressed. Should I take you to the hospital?"
They were men. One appeared to be a police officer and the other appeared to be a college student. The college student stared intently at me. Then, when our eyes met, he came over to me and hugged me tightly, his clothes wet or not.
I felt the warmth of a person. It felt like the warmth of the man from five years ago. I felt warm, but at the same time, goosebumps ran down my body. He's going to abandon me anyway. They all do that.
The girl pushed him away. "Don't hug me. Don't make me miserable anymore. Don't give me any more hope."
"Please... don't make me miss people..."
Then the man smiled as if he understood everything. Lies. All lies.
"If you don't want to miss someone, I'll make sure you don't have to wait for anyone."
"There's no need for that anymore. There's no need to wait."
The man patted the girl. She hugged him. "It was so hard," he said. "Why did you tell me so late?" Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. They stayed like that for a long time.
-
I calmed down a bit. The girl was taken to the hospital, and they said they were the police. I tried to leave, as if trying to calm her down enough, but the man stayed by my side. Then he looked at the girl and said.
"Come to think of it, I still don't know your name. Can I ask what your name is?"
He asked very cautiously, perhaps worried that I might have been hurt. The girl nodded. It was okay now. He seemed to understand.
"My name is Lee Yeon-hwa. Lee Yeon-hwa."
***
"Actually, it was on CCTV earlier."
"huh?"
Suddenly, the officer spoke to me. I listened to her slowly.
"I saw the criminal's face earlier. That's why I came here."
That face I can never forget. The face that smiled at me, the face I could reach out and touch. My desperate love, my person. My uncle. Min Yoongi, I never thought I'd see your face in a place like this. How foolish.
A world without you would be a world without me.
I love you too, Yeonhwa.
***
"It must be him. There was blood on his hands."
"...that."
"So, please let me go."
I stopped walking and locked eyes with Kim Seokjin. He looked a bit uneasy, as if surprised by my words. I finally managed to say something I hadn't been able to say since becoming a police officer.
"I'm okay now. It's that person. The person I hated."
"That guy is the culprit. Now, I'm going to shake him off."
"You can understand, Seokjin oppa?"
I said this while holding Seokjin oppa's hand. Then Seokjin oppa held my hand tightly, smiled as if he had finally lost, and spoke to me.
"Of course. She's our Yeonhwa."
I left Seokjin behind and went deeper into the alley. It seemed the culprit wouldn't welcome Seokjin. He showed his face, as if he knew I'd be watching the CCTV. He even had the victim in his hand.
Thanks to Seokjin, I was able to come this far. Perhaps he was my true savior. But I couldn't do anything for him. In fact, he didn't say a word to me, even though I couldn't even speak properly.
I've always just been on the receiving end. But now I feel like I have to take care of it. I'm sorry, Seokjin oppa.
I swallowed my words and went deeper into the room.
***
"..."
As I approached the dead end, I saw a silhouette standing under a streetlight. I instinctively knew it was the culprit. My most desperate bond. My first love.
The snow had already closed, and the bright moonlight was shining down on him. The cold, chilly winter air enveloped them both. It seemed as if all of this was foreshadowing the end.
What should I say as my first words? A greeting, perhaps, or perhaps a police officer's comment? My mind was spinning. He hadn't even looked at me yet, but he seemed to recognize my presence. He was acting like that because he was curious about what I'd say.
I was fiddling with my pistol with one hand, and I gradually closed the distance. At a distance where I could be heard, I opened my mouth.
"Long time no see."
He turned to me and gave me a wry smile. He was smiling with one of his lips raised, but his eyes were not at all like that.
He, too, opened his mouth. A low, ringing voice, a mocking sneer directed at me, a gaze devoid of emotion. He and I had the most horrific reunion in the world.
"Long time no see. I missed you."
Min Yoongi. I never imagined I'd see you again.
***
"I didn't want to see you at all."
Still the same. That sly personality. That talent for captivating people. I think I was briefly captivated by him, too. People seem so different, but if that's not true, then what is?
Just meeting Min Yoongi confused me. Why did he come to see me? Why did he kill someone to summon me? Why did he change so much?
"Why are you speaking so briefly? Just call me casually like before."
"Shut up. I'm not in the mood to joke around with you."
It's a lie. I thought I'd become calm. The thought of Min Yoongi actually standing before me made my heart race. If I came any closer, I felt like he'd hear my heartbeat.
To be honest, I missed him. The human heart is so fickle. I hate him so much, I loathe him so much. But why, why do I still like him? Why do I feel a thrill when I stop seeing him? Why do I still want to run to him and hug him?
He cared so much for me. But that was all a lie. But... no. Come to your senses. It's a repetition. Why do I keep thinking about him smiling brightly at me, hugging me?
"Should I hug you?"
"...Go away."
"You liked it when I hugged you."
"I have no more room for you."
"Then I can just go in."
"Stop beating around the bush."
My heart keeps wavering. I tried not to. I told myself it would be okay. But why do tears keep falling? Have I still not forgotten him? Do I still love you?
"It's just you and me here now."
"Only one person can go out."
"So, shall we play a game?"
"Don't make excuses."
"Here you go. Here's a pistol."
While I was confused, he suddenly found himself holding a pistol in his hand. He still had a relaxed expression on his face.
"There are two bullets in this revolver."
"The first person to grab this gun shoots the other person."
"Wouldn't that be fun?"
Clearly, you shouldn't do this. That's all a lie. He's surrounded by lies. Clearly, you shouldn't do this. You shouldn't do this...
"Okay. Don't do it."
I fell for his trick once again, just like I always have.
"preparation..."
I straightened my posture. He looked relaxed. He met my gaze, as if he'd known I'd do this. And yet, his gaze was so sweet. It felt like I'd gone back to those happy times. But that must have been my delusion.
***
"I knew it would turn out like this."
Everything sucks. I hate myself for not being able to defeat him, and you, who now raises your eyebrows and raises both hands in front of me, smirking. I hate everything. Still, what I couldn't deny was the cold winter wind, the temperature, the piles of snow surrounding us, and that damn moon. The white moon shining down on us both.
From the very beginning, the outcome was decided. Min Yoongi's victory and my defeat. His lips turned up sharply, his gaze cold. His silhouette, overwhelming me, almost made me lose my senses for a moment. Finally, the clouds obscuring the moon parted, and his figure, backlit by the white moonlight, became visible as a silhouette.
What was he thinking right now? Was he contemplating how brutally he would kill me, or was he formulating the questions he wanted to ask? The Min Yoongi I knew was probably the latter, but this wasn't the one I knew. Just as I had changed over the past ten years, so had he.
I took a deep breath and slowly looked down. I looked much different than ten years ago. Instead of thin legs, I had battle-hardened muscles. Instead of scarred skin, I had calluses. Instead of depression, my slightly more sensitive intuition had become a part of me.
"Congratulations. You are the winner of the game."
"I thought you would congratulate me."
"By the way, don't you have to pay it back? It's a condition for breaking the oath."
"A pact? Oh, right. There was that."
"But, our love wasn't enough to keep our promise."
"This is the result of the game, Yeonhwa."
At that moment, a betrayal I'd never felt before enveloped me. Love. Were we ever meant to be in love? When was that? Does he still love me?
I raised both hands as if I were the culprit. Then, unable to wipe away the tears streaming from my eyes, I stared at his face. Yes. This must have been his true nature. This appearance, devoid of even an inch of warmth.
The revolver's muzzle was pointed at me. It's really over now. I'm the only one finished. Seokjin oppa heard the gunshots and came here with reinforcements, and Min Yoongi will be caught soon.
What will Seokjin oppa's reaction be? Will he bite his lip at the sight of my now-cold face? Or will he embrace me, already one with the wind and the season, and shed tears that contrast hotly with my own?
Seokjin oppa. Yes. My savior, the one who saved me from dying. My family. There was a time when I thought maybe I already loved Seokjin oppa.
Whenever I looked at Seokjin oppa, my heart would always race, and he felt the same way. But now that I think about it, it wasn't love, but rather admiration and gratitude.
The last words were from Min Yoongi, not Seokjin. I guess I don't understand people. I've been waiting for this scene for so long, yet I've avoided it. Now, it's truly the end.
"Yes. Live well."
Then he chuckled, lowering his head. Then, with a single expression, he approached me, step by step. That gentle smile I'd seen back then. His gaze, so different from this weather, seemed to melt the chill from my body just by looking at it. It felt like I'd returned to that time when we truly loved each other.
Wait a minute. This guy is dangerous.
"Wait a minute, sir-."
"Yes, I love you, Yeonhwa."
Tang - .
It was a fleeting moment. He blocked my gaze with one hand, and with the other, he aimed a gun at his own head. Then he collapsed before me. His pure white eyes were dyed red. Without even grasping the situation, I embraced him. I embraced the body he had once been.
"Ah, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have been so cold to you. I should have at least asked how you were doing. I should have asked why you hadn't come back. If you leave me with so many questions, what am I supposed to do?"
Tears streamed down my face like mad. I hugged him, already cold, tightly, trying to hear his already broken heartbeat. I couldn't hear that sound I loved so much. The sound I'd heard in his arms whenever I felt anxious, I couldn't hear.
Perhaps we've already gone too far. Where should we turn? Where can we turn to break this vicious cycle, this tragedy? Where can we go to see that old man's smile once more?
It must have been that damn oath. Because of that oath, you couldn't kill me and turned the gun on yourself. Because I fell in love with you. Because I became your precious being. Because I invaded your world.
Let's not point guns at each other.
After I first witnessed his murder, he wiped the blood from his cheek with one hand and made a pact with me: never point a gun at each other. Hearing this, I was puzzled, so I asked him what he would do if I died. I was young then, and he was young too, so I gave him an answer that was completely out of touch.
"If you are not in this world, I am not in this world."
"Now it's time to pay the price for breaking that oath."
I glanced at the revolver. It clearly said it had two bullets. Ah, that's what it was. If I'd shot myself, aware of this oath, he'd probably have shot himself in the head with the remaining bullet.
You can do it, so I can't. Everything about me was created for you. I can never leave your side. Just like the promise I made back then.
I can hear Seokjin running from afar. He's probably running after hearing the gunshots. If that's the case, time isn't running out. I have to end this before Seokjin sees this.
I'm sorry I left first, Oppa.
--.
***
''Sigh...fuck.''
I had a rough idea this would happen, but I didn't know it would be this gruesome. The first gunshot, followed by the second. I frantically kicked my legs after the first, but ultimately, I couldn't stop the second.
A sudden breakup, the death of a loved one, the arrest of the criminal, the death of the criminal. All of these were great chaos to me.
The bodies of a man and a woman lying side by side. Found holding each other's hands, they were a tragic couple. My first love, whom I failed to stop. I longed to see them face to face again, but not like this.
The next day, after the two passed away, Chief Park, or rather, Park Ji-min, handed me a note. It was a message from the culprit of this case to Yeon-hwa. He asked her to give it to him. However, he said he bit his lip so hard that it bled, overcome with guilt over not being able to deliver the message.
In fact, Park Jimin was reportedly an accomplice to the perpetrator of this incident. Therefore, he was fully aware of the perpetrator's goal: to kill many people, purify the world, and bring happiness to Yeonhwa.
When Yeonhwa, the subject of his observation, disappeared, he too vanished. He said it would be best for Yeonhwa to keep the truth about me hidden. I agreed. I wanted to give Yeonhwa a moment of respite.
In fact, I already knew the culprit of this incident. I'd already encountered him four years ago. They'd once locked eyes while I'd briefly stepped outside. Min Yoongi was staring at Yeonhwa, his whole body covered, and Yeonhwa had pointed a gun at him.
While sorting through this incident, I learned about Min Yoongi's past. Exactly five years ago, after his parents' imprisonment, his location was discovered, he was arrested, and he suffered domestic violence for about two months. As a result, he reportedly had surgery on a torn corner of his mouth. I probably brought Yeonhwa home around that time.
I had a vague inkling of it back then, but the fact that these two were in such a relationship, and that I, as a police officer in this country, couldn't properly protect them, made me feel a pang of guilt. If they had found a better world sooner, what would they be doing now?
I sighed with a complicated heart. What could they be doing now? Have they reunited? Are they rescuing children in similar situations? Or are they taking revenge?
I recited the note Park Jimin had given me. I now had a rough idea of their connection, but seeing this made me decide it was polite not to analyze it further, so I decided to stop thinking about their relationship.
The wind was cold, and the snow was falling as if it was going to devour people. The pale white moonlight shining on him was so beautiful that it gave him a strange feeling.
The price for breaking the oath will be death.
You hug my corpse and cry.
I love you too, Yeonhwa.
The brilliant winter moonlight was eventually obscured by clouds, and Seokjin's figure became one with the dark room. Then, he quietly uttered a single word, the meaning of which no one could discern.
I love you, Yeonhwa.
The End.