“Kim Yieum, what the hell is this? You inviting me over first? Did you buy a new TV or something? Oh, shit, you got a PS5. Can I play? Where’s the power button? Powerrrr—holy fuck!”
Seongyu jerked backward with a yelp.
A massive man stood in the doorway rubbing his eyes, staring blankly at him.
Seongyu’s jaw dropped.
“Hey—hey, Kim Yieum.” His eyes stayed glued to the stranger. “Who the hell is that?”
Yieum, who was finishing getting ready for work, grabbed his car keys.
“I need you to watch him for the day.”
“…What?”
Keeping his voice low enough that Yeongsik couldn’t hear, Yieum briefly explained everything—how he’d found the man collapsed by the roadside, how he’d lost his memory, and how mentally he seemed almost childlike.
The more Seongyu listened, the worse his expression became.
“I knew something was wrong the moment you asked me over this nicely.”
He immediately turned to leave.
Yieum caught him by the arm, pulled out two fifty-thousand-won bills, folded them, and shoved them into Seongyu’s pocket. Then he handed over his card too.
“Use it to order food for both of you. He’s gentler than he looks. He won’t cause trouble.”
Seongyu glanced down at the money, considered it for a moment, then held out his hand again.
“Not enough. Add another fifty.”
Yieum let out a long sigh before reluctantly pulling out one more bill.
Only then did Seongyu grin.
“So what am I calling him?”
“Yeongsik.”
“His real name?”
“No. He couldn’t remember it, so I made one up.”
“Wow,” Seongyu snorted. “You basically adopted a stray dog.”
Yieum elbowed him with a glare that clearly told him to shut up.
Then he walked over to Yeongsik and crouched slightly to explain.
“I have work today, so stay here and play with this mister until I come back, okay?”
Yeongsik’s lower lip immediately pushed out into a pout.
“That mister… looks scary…”
Seongyu barked out a laugh.
“You should look in a mirror before saying that.”
He stretched his grin wide like some deranged comic-book villain.
Back in his school days, Seongyu had been a promising judo athlete, but his temper had always been explosive. One violent incident too many had ended his career for good.
Even after putting on his shoes, Yieum kept repeating warnings.
“Don’t lose your temper with him.”
“I won’t.”
“I’m serious.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Just as Yieum was about to leave, Yeongsik suddenly hurried over.
He placed both hands neatly over his stomach and bowed deeply.
“Mister… have a safe day at work…”
Yieum blinked in surprise before smiling faintly.
Looks like he was raised properly.
Whatever family he came from, they must have been decent people.
“I’ll be back this evening.”
After heading downstairs to the parking lot, Yieum pulled out onto the road. Flowers bloomed brightly along the sidewalks, vivid with spring color. He rolled down the window, letting the cool breeze wash over him.
Then his phone rang.
Jeong Namsu.
“Sunbae-nim, where are you?”
“Driving to work. Why?”
“I’m sending you an address. Please come right away—something happened.”
Namsu gave a quick explanation before hanging up and texting the location.
Yieum immediately made a U-turn.
The destination was a mountain near his neighborhood, popular with hikers. He’d climbed it himself a few times before.
When he arrived, police officers had already blocked off the entrance with tape. Hikers gathered nearby, whispering among themselves while officers stopped people from taking photos.
Yieum ducked under the tape and headed inside.
“You’re here.”
Namsu grimaced, covering his nose with the back of his hand.
Behind him sat a large black bag.
The smell hit immediately.
As Yieum stepped closer, he saw a severed human hand protruding from the opening.
“Forensics?”
“Ten minutes out. The person who found it is giving a statement over there.” Namsu jerked his chin toward a pale-faced young man speaking to another officer. “Apparently he came looking for water, thought the bag looked suspicious, and opened it himself. Honestly, good thing it was a younger guy. An older person might’ve died from shock.”
Yieum stared silently at the bag.
Inside was a dismembered body in an advanced state of decomposition. A faded tattoo marked what looked like part of a forearm.
His eyes narrowed.
“The cuts…” he muttered. “Looks like they dismembered the body while the victim was still alive.”
Namsu came closer and nodded grimly.
“Looks that way.”
The stench quickly became unbearable.
Yieum stepped back while uniformed officers spread out to search the surrounding area for evidence. Not long after, the forensic team and the rest of Violent Crimes Unit 2 arrived.
Their team leader already looked ready to explode.
“I knew it,” he growled. “I had a shitty dream last night. This is exactly why.”
He quickly gathered the team.
“Detective Kim, Detective Jeong—you two secure nearby CCTV footage. Judging by the condition of the body, it hasn’t been there long. Move fast before anything gets overwritten.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Detective Lee stays here. Everyone else follows me.”
As the others headed deeper into the mountain, Yieum and Namsu drove downhill together.
Even inside the car, the smell of decay seemed stuck inside Yieum’s nose.
The first time he’d seen a corpse, he’d lost sleep for days.
Now he was used to it.
Or at least good at pretending he was.
“You think they dumped it there on purpose?” Namsu asked.
“No idea.”
“Man, things were finally getting quiet too.”
Namsu grumbled for another moment before suddenly remembering something.
“Oh right. What happened to that amnesiac?”
“He stayed at my place.”
Namsu stared.
“Wow. But when I asked to sleep over, you rejected me instantly.”
“Your apartment’s fifteen minutes away. Why would you sleep at mine?”
“What if your adorable junior wants to know every secret detail about his sunbae-nim?”
Yieum let out a disbelieving laugh.
Then Namsu tilted his head thoughtfully.
“But seriously… it’s weird.”
“What is?”
“How can there be no fingerprints or DNA records at all?”
Usually, the police database could identify criminals, missing persons, even homeless people through fingerprints alone.
Yet nothing about Yeongsik existed in the system.
No records.
No matches.
Nothing.
Honestly, it made no sense.
“What, did he fall from outer space or something?”
“Maybe he’s an alien.”
“Should I ask him later?”
“Careful. What if tentacles come out of his mouth?”
The two exchanged dumb jokes as they checked nearby stores for surveillance cameras.
Unfortunately, the small supermarket only had a fake camera installed. Namsu even checked a parked car nearby after spotting a black-box recorder, but the owner informed them it had been turned off.
Nothing was going right.
Just as they got back into the car, Yieum’s phone rang again.
Seongyu.
“Yeah?”
“Yeongsik keeps begging to go outside. What do I do?”
“Take him for a walk nearby.”
“You’re paying extra for outdoor activities too, right?”
Yieum closed his eyes.
“…”
“Thanks. I’ll make sure we have lots of fun.”
The call ended.
Yieum stared blankly ahead before letting out a laugh.
Outside, the sky had darkened considerably. Heavy clouds rolled overhead like rain was about to pour any minute.
Creak. Creak.
Every time the swing moved, every pair of eyes in the playground drifted toward it.
Sweat rolled down Seongyu’s forehead as he pushed Yeongsik from behind.
With his free hand, he snapped a picture and sent it to Yieum.
[You better pay double. I’m dying here.]
The message had barely sent when Yeongsik turned around with a huge smile.
“Mister! Push harder!”
“Huh?”
“So I can fly all the way up there!”
He pointed enthusiastically at the sky.
Seongyu burst out laughing.
“You giant bastard, look at your size first.”
Honestly, he was already nervous enough from all the mothers staring at them.
Two huge, intimidating men occupying the playground swings?
Of course everyone was wary.
Parents practically snatched their children away the moment they wandered too close.
Then Seongyu noticed the slide on the other side of the playground sitting mostly empty.
“Hey, Mr. Yeongsik. Wanna try the slide instead? That looks more fun.”
Without complaint, Yeongsik immediately climbed off the swing and headed for it.
Just then, Seongyu’s girlfriend called.
Distracted, he waved Yeongsik ahead while answering the phone.
A few minutes later, he looked up—
—and froze.
Yeongsik was gone.
“Mr. Yeongsik?!”
Seongyu spun around frantically.
“Yeongsik-ah!”
“Misteeerrrr…”
A faint voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
Seongyu’s eyes slowly lifted toward the tube slide.
“…No way.”
He ran up the stairs.
Then stopped dead.
Yeongsik was lodged firmly inside the slide tunnel.
Completely stuck.
“…What are you doing?”
“My shoulder…” Yeongsik whimpered pitifully. “My shoulder’s stuck…”
Murmurs immediately spread among the nearby parents.
Cold sweat poured down Seongyu’s back.
“Come on, pull yourself out!”
He grabbed Yeongsik’s shirt and yanked with all his strength.
Nothing.
A few mothers cautiously approached to help.
“Is… something wrong?”
“My idiot brother got stuck.”
Together they pulled and tugged until everyone was sweating, but Yeongsik refused to budge even slightly.
In the end, apartment maintenance had to come dismantle part of the slide to get him out.