"What? Our son, a criminal...?"
At Jae-hwan's words, the victim's parents didn't hide their displeasure.
"You people... you said you were cops, but you're in league with that lot after all, aren't you?"
"In league? You're the ones who brought up a crime, aren't you?"
"You bastards...!"
Unable to offer any real rebuttal, the man lunged at Jae-hwan.
But Ji-yeon subdued him easily.
"What the... how is a woman this strong...?!"
Seeing this, the woman grabbed a club and charged at Ji-yeon.
But she too was easily stopped by Chang-ho.
"Thank you for your cooperation, ma'am."
Chang-ho spoke as he gripped the wrist holding the club.
"You... crazy cop...!"
"Ah, but there's one thing we forgot to mention."
Having said that, Chang-ho gave a twisted smile.
"Actually, we're not the police."
"...What?"
"What...? I'm calling the police right now! You crazy bastard...!"
"Well, there's a saying, isn't there? The law is far away, but fists are close. So think carefully about who's standing right next to you."
Chang-ho immediately glared at the middle-aged couple with murder in his eyes.
Only then did the couple seem to realize their place, breaking into a cold sweat and averting their eyes.
"Then just a few more questions. What did your boy do?"
"......."
The couple, gone deathly pale, said nothing.
At that, Chang-ho signaled Ji-yeon, and Ji-yeon began to advance menacingly on the husband.
"AAAAAGH!!!!!"
"I haven't even done anything and you're already whining... If you want this to end at whining, talk. What did your son do?"
"Eek...! He, he... they ganged up on a schoolgirl and..."
"...Filthy."
Chang-ho sighed and shook his head.
"So what happened to the girl?"
"I-I don't know...! Only that she killed herself!"
The couple began pleading with Chang-ho in unison, desperately.
At that, the team exchanged glances for a moment and nodded.
"Looks like that part's the truth."
"Seems so. Then, last question."
Chang-ho spoke with a fierce expression.
"Your son was friends with the other victim in this case, wasn't he?"
"H-how did you know that...?"
"Then there must've been a pack of accomplices they ran around with, right? Hand over his friends' personal details. Now."
"O... okay! I know there are two more. Their names were Jang Yi-seok and Choi Jae-hyun, I think, so..."
The moment the couple, flustered, handed the details over to the team, Chang-ho's phone suddenly rang.
"Yes, speaking. ...I see. Understood."
"HQ?"
"Yeah, that's right. And unfortunately, it seems we're a little late."
Jae-hwan was taken aback by Chang-ho's sudden remark.
"Got word. That Choi Jae-hyun kid just died."
***
The sole survivor, Jang Yi-seok, was soon taken into custody by the police.
Accordingly, the team set off by car to provide protection for Jang Yi-seok.
And so, while they were on the road.
"Seems like we've got time to spare. Want to stop by a coffee shop?"
Chang-ho, who was driving, said something out of the blue.
"...Sorry?"
Jae-hwan and Ji-yeon doubted their ears.
"What, don't tell me you two can't drink coffee? It's rare to see anyone turn down a freebie."
"No, that's not it. People's lives are on the line right now, aren't they?"
"That's true, but rushing too much does no good. This kind of thing, you untangle slowly, the way things naturally go."
The moment Jae-hwan was left dumbfounded by Chang-ho's absurd remark.
Chang-ho sighed and began talking about something else.
"You two. What do you think about this case?"
Chang-ho slowly opened his mouth and asked for the team's opinion.
"Sorry? About what?"
"Just the whole case. The victims, the aberration, whatever."
"Well... On one hand, I feel sorry that young kids died, but honestly, it does make me kind of angry. All that juvenile offender stuff."
"You too?"
"Of course."
At that, Chang-ho gave a smile whose meaning was hard to read.
"Then that's enough."
Having said that, Chang-ho got up from his seat.
"All right, time to get to work."
Jae-hwan shot Chang-ho a suspicious look for a moment.
"Um, Team Leader."
"What, what is it now?"
"You seem to be oddly dragging your feet on this case... Is it just my imagination?"
"Does it look that way?"
At that, Chang-ho let out a short laugh.
"Well, you'll find out in time."
Leaving those cryptic words, Chang-ho got out of the car.
***
A short while later.
Arriving at their destination, the team took custody of the suspect Jang Yi-seok from the police.
"Let go of me! You bastards, I'm a juvenile offender right now! And you lot, I bet you don't know who my dad is...!"
"Oh, is that so."
Chang-ho openly showed his displeasure toward Yi-seok.
"But what to do? Your fancy parents aren't here right now, are they?"
"Wh... what? What are you people doing?!"
Ignoring Yi-seok's protests, Chang-ho silently tied him to a utility pole.
"Untie me! Now! You have no right to do this to me! Even the law can't punish m..."
Smack –
A crisp slap echoed through the back alley.
Ji-yeon slapped Yi-seok across the cheek, shutting his mouth.
"Listen up. I hear your accomplices are all dropping dead right now?"
"Yeah, so what's that got to do with me?"
Yi-seok nodded as if it were no big deal.
"Now that murderer will come for you. And we're going to catch it. So from now on, you're our bait."
Only then did Yi-seok grasp the situation and begin trembling with fear.
"W... wait, you're cops! If you're cops, you're supposed to protect me! Where's the justice in this?!"
"Sorry, but we're not cops. So whether you live or die doesn't matter to us at all."
"No, no! Save me, I don't want to die! I'm still just a kid! Save me!!"
"I bet the victim you killed said the same thing."
"That's different! That bitch brought it on herself! Who told her to go wandering around a back alley like that alone? Like some kind of wh..."
Smaaack –
A second slap echoed through the back alley.
"Shut up. Before we kill you ourselves."
At Ji-yeon's chilling warning, Yi-seok finally shut his mouth.
"Then when do you think the aberration will show up? After sunset, like last time?"
"Probably. It'll be here soon. For now, we just wait."
"The sun's already almost down."
"So it is. Then before it gets any later..."
Chang-ho abruptly stood up and spoke to Ji-yeon.
"Ji-yeon. Let's go have a smoke for a bit."
"I don't smoke, you know."
Ji-yeon gave Chang-ho an incredulous look for a moment.
But only for a moment.
At the look Chang-ho gave her, Ji-yeon's expression showed she'd caught on to something.
"...Well, fine. Then shall we go get some air for a bit?"
"Sorry? Senior?"
"Yeah, just wait here a minute. It won't take long."
From Chang-ho and Ji-yeon's suspicious behavior, Jae-hwan realized they were up to something.
'Something's been off for a while now... First the Team Leader, and now even Senior Ji-yeon? What on earth are they thinking?'
"Hey, Jae-hwan. Keep a good eye on that brat. Ah, but don't guard him too hard."
"Sorry...?"
Chang-ho left Jae-hwan with that suspicious request.
After the two of them had left.
Yi-seok began thrashing and screaming again.
"H... hey, you! Listen to me! You're a guy too, so you'll understand, won't you?! Huh? Untie me! I'm still just a kid!"
"So if you're young, you don't have to take responsibility for your actions?"
Jae-hwan answered Yi-seok's words with a look of disgust.
"Of course! The law says so! I don't know anything about that stuff! So..."
Yi-seok's drivel was cut off by a groan coming from somewhere.
"Gh... ghgghk..."
A grotesque sound, as if forcibly wrung from a broken neck, could be heard.
The sound was coming from behind the pole Yi-seok was tied to.
A surprisingly neat school uniform, pale skin, and bare feet with nothing on them.
This aberration looked more intact than expected.
Except for the fact that its neck was bent sideways.
"What is it?! What is that?! Untie me! Now! I don't want to die!"
"Shut up for a sec...!"
Jae-hwan immediately created a dark red sword and charged at the aberration.
The sword Jae-hwan swung traced a red arc and slashed through the middle of the aberration's body.
But the aberration showed no resistance at all.
"Gh... ghgghk..."
Despite the continued attacks, the aberration simply groaned and kept backing away.
Sensing something strange, Jae-hwan stopped attacking.
A tense moment, facing off against the aberration.
Jae-hwan opened his mouth and asked the aberration a question.
"...You're not attacking me?"
At Jae-hwan's question, the aberration nodded its bent head as much as it could.
'I see. So unlike other aberrations, it isn't one that attacks just anyone?'
Satisfied with the situation, Jae-hwan asked the aberration a second question.
"Then... what do you want? Revenge, after all?"
"Ghgk... ghgggggg..."
At Jae-hwan's words, the aberration pointed at Yi-seok and nodded.
Having finished speaking, Jae-hwan quietly looked at Yi-seok.
"Why... why are you looking at me?! You're supposed to protect me! Stop messing around! So kill that bastard! It's already dead! What's so hard about killing it one more time?!"
The more Yi-seok talked, the colder Jae-hwan's gaze became.
Oblivious to that, Yi-seok blurted out the fatal slip.
"That bitch was a crazy bitch who wouldn't shut up about going to college when she didn't even have money! We just made her realize her place! She could've done great for herself selling her body! So...!"
The moment Yi-seok touched Jae-hwan's trauma surrounding his sister's death.
Jae-hwan's patience vanished.
Squelch –
Without a word, Jae-hwan drove a blade into Yi-seok's thigh.
"AAAAAAAGH!!!!"
Yi-seok began to scream in a shrill voice.
But Jae-hwan spoke to Yi-seok as if it were nothing.
"How does it feel to crawl on the ground without being able to fight back even once?"
"Hiiiiik! You crazy monster bastard...!"
Having said that, Jae-hwan cut the bonds tying Yi-seok.
"Uaah... gaaaaah..."
Jae-hwan coldly watched Yi-seok crawl along the ground, dragging his leg.
But only for a moment.
"GHGGGGGGGK!!!!!"
Grasping the situation, the aberration began charging at Yi-seok at tremendous speed.
"What is this?!!! Save me! Stop this thing! No, gaaaah, ah...aaaaah..."
The aberration controlled its hair and began strangling Yi-seok by the neck.
He reached out a hand toward Jae-hwan one last time, as if begging to be saved.
But Jae-hwan coldly ignored it.
"...You should take responsibility for your own actions. Right?"
Flop.
Yi-seok's struggling came to a feeble end.
Yi-seok's bulging eyes and long protruding tongue were ugly beyond words.
Meanwhile, the aberration, its grudge resolved, slowly began to regain its human form.
The aberration looked at Jae-hwan with tear-filled eyes.
"Thank you."
The aberration vanished after leaving those last words.
***
"Team Leader. It's all done."
"Is that so? And the aberration's been exterminated?"
"Yes. But..."
"What, did the perpetrator die or something?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. It was my negligence."
"No, forget it. These things happen."
Chang-ho lightly brushed off Jae-hwan's words.
But something still bothered Jae-hwan.
"Team Leader. There's something I'd like to ask."
"What is it? Why so serious all of a sudden? Doesn't suit you."
"You knew, didn't you, Team Leader? That this aberration would be done once it killed the juvenile offenders. So you dragged the case out on purpose. Until the perpetrators were all dead."
"...Half right and half wrong."
Chang-ho spoke, blowing out a long stream of cigarette smoke.
"I knew full well it'd be over once it killed the perpetrators. But I didn't drag things out on purpose just because the aberration disappears once all the perpetrators are dead."
"...Then?"
"You... what do you think would've happened if this aberration hadn't managed to kill those kids?"
"......."
"They'd never face judgment. They'd grow up just like that. Hiding their past. That's the limit of this country's law."
Chang-ho finished speaking as he dumped out the ashtray.
"If the law can't judge them anyway, isn't this the best we can do?"
At Chang-ho's words, Jae-hwan felt a moment of bitterness.
But the way Yi-seok had looked in his final moments.
Having witnessed shamelessness instead of remorse, Jae-hwan couldn't bring himself to deny those words.
"...Is that so?"
Jae-hwan let out a deep sigh.
Ji-yeon approached Jae-hwan and Chang-ho and spoke to them.
"Let's head back. I think we just need to report to HQ. We got word to return anyway."
"All right, got it. They probably want to toss us another job. Let's go."
Jae-hwan quietly followed the others.
At the same time, Jae-hwan recalled the final moments of Yi-seok and the aberration.
Yi-seok, dying in that horrific state, and the aberration, offering its thanks.
"At this rate, who knows who the real aberration is."
Jae-hwan muttered to himself, swallowing his bitterness.