❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎

Seungcheol arrived at the scene, getting down from the car. He saw many people around the house, trying to look in while some of the officers stood at the door.

"I need everyone away from the scene, right now!" He yelled, commanding the people who began to run away in fear. He walked through the remaining crowd before entering the home where he saw multiple footprints.

"Inspector Choi! You're here!" One of the police officers who Seungcheol knew well, Kwon Soonyoung, rushed to him. "Brief me." Seungcheol commanded, getting out his notepad and pen.

"Min Woojin, 57, owner of the MW Supermarket just down the road, married, 4 kids. Died at approximately 4-6am, possible stab wounds to stomach and chest."

Seungcheol wrote down the information before walking into the bedroom, the sight of the lifeless body making him sigh. "Is that his sign? The Justice Killer?" Seungcheol pointed to the piece of paper in one of the other officer's hands.

Soonyoung nodded while the officers bowed as they made eye contact with Seungcheol. "Have you searched the home for any evidence?" Seungcheol asked and Soonyoung shook his head.

"What are you waiting for? Begin the search." Seungcheol instructed Soonyoung who informed the others as they began to search. Seungcheol took out his camera, taking photos of the crime scene before allowing the Forensic Cleaners to take the body away for further inspection.

He turned to one of the officers before pointing to the floor. "Check for footprints." He instructed as the officer bowed before proceeding to do so. Seungcheol sauntered through the house, looking for anything irregular.

He couldn't be that smart. He had to have left some sort of trail. So why didn't he?

As Seungcheol walked to the kitchen, he was paused by a tap to his shoulder. He turned around to see Soonyoung, his hands pointing to the dark hallway. "Sir, we found the weapon!" He informed Seungcheol's whose eyes widened as he took in the information.

The two walked down the hallway to a somewhat hidden door which Soonyoung opened as they reached it. The stairs creaked as they moved downwards, getting to the basement.

Seungcheol saw the officer with the weapon which had been placed in a ziploc bag twice. "Why twice?" He questioned, pointing to the bag. "It was placed in a ziploc bag before we even got here." Soonyoung replied and Seungcheol's face contorted, confusion present in his expression.

There was no way this killer was sane. He had to be some sort of psychotic individual. "We identified multiple footprints here and the victim's blood was left to dry on the floor. It creates some sort of path for a moment then just stops." Soonyoung explained, pointing to the last drop of blood on the floor.

"We think he was killed around here and then was dragged upstairs, however, there's no blood on the stairs or in the hallway." Soonyoung theorised.

Seungcheol looked at the floor, his eyes following the short trail of blood then moving to the stairs. "Do you think he could have been dragged up the stairs?" Seungcheol queried, walking towards the staircase.

"But if he was dragged up the stairs, there would be blood everywhere." Another officer inputed and Seungcheol stroked his chin. "So he had to have been carried? Meaning our suspect has to be able-bodied."

Seungcheol huffed, his pen on his pad as be wrote down some little details. "What about his wife and kids?" He turned to Soonyoung who shrugged. "They travelled, we did call the wife though." He replied.

Seungcheol tilted his head as his eyebrows furrowed. He turned around, walking back up the stairs before rushing to the living room when he heard the sound of a car pull up to the house.

After a few seconds, a woman rushed into the house, staggering as she did, tears streaming down her face. "Where is my husband?!" She screamed as her body shook, her breaths raggedy and unstable as she walked towards Seungcheol, grabbing his collar.

"I'm sorry ma'am but your husband has passed away." He informed the lady who dropped to her knees, her hands slowly releasing from Seungcheol's shirt.

"Ma'am, we need you to follow us." One of the officers took over, directing the woman out of the house. Seungcheol looked at the calendar on the wall near the front door. The day's date had been circled.

Were they supposed to return home today? Why hadn't they travelled with Mr. Min? And why was the timing so perfect?

It had to have been someone who knew about the trip.

Seungcheol strode out of the house, towards the neighbours and the officers outside. "I'm going to be asking everyone here a few questions, okay? Then I will be choosing those who will come down to the station with me for further questioning." Seungcheol announced as the neighbours began to panic a bit.

"Don't panic, we're not arresting anyone." Seungcheol calmed the crowd down and the chatter diminished as he walked cautiously towards the lady he'd seen earlier who now had two kids beside her that looked fairly young.

"Excuse me miss, I'm going to need you to answer just a few questions for me, can you do that?" Seungcheol's voice was calming and comforting as he approached the lady who was still in tears with her children beside her.

"It's going to help me find out who did this as soon as possible, I need you to help me ma'am, can you do that?" Seungcheol squatted in front of her, his notepad opened to a fresh page.

The woman nodded, her eyes shut as she tried to stop herself from crying. "Can you tell me why you just got back to your house now?" He asked, his eyes focused on her and her body language.

"I-I just came back from a trip to my parents house, my father is sick so I went to visit him with the kids." She tried to maintain her composure but her hands were vibrating and her words were stuttered.

"Okay, when did you leave for this trip?" Seungcheol wrote down something before looking back at the lady who opened her mouth to respond when one of her kids interjected, "Last week Saturday, Sir." She replied and Seungcheol smiled at the girl.

"Thank you." He said as she smiled as well, although her eyes were teary. "Sir, is my dad going to be okay?" The other child asked and Seungcheol pursed his lips, slowly shaking his head. "No, but he wanted me to tell you that he loves you all very much and I'm going to find whoever hurt your dad, no matter what, okay?"

He lifted his pinky and folded his other fingers, bringing it towards the child who wrapped his own pinky around Seungcheol's. "Okay." The child replied before Seungcheol let go and turned back to the mother.

"Ma'am, do you know which of your neighbours knew about the trip?" Seungcheol questioned and she tilted her head, still trying to clean away her tears as she replied.

"Probably all of them, we own the supermarket everyone buys stuff from just down the street and I'm usually in the store to manage things along with my husband but I told everyone I would be leaving for about a week." She replied. Seungcheol sucked his teeth.

He couldn't narrow it down yet. He had to interview everyone. "But I did tell Yeoreum and her fiancé to look after the store for me so they were the first people I told about the trip."

Seungcheol's brows raised as he glanced up. "And who is Yeoreum?" His eyes squinted a bit as he waited for her answer. "My daughter. They live just across, she isn't around now, but her husband should be." The lady leaned forward, twisting her head to the crowd.

"There he is, Chan-ah!" She called as a pale man with sharp features and a black mullet walked up to them. "Lee Chan, Yeoreum's fiancé." She gestured to him.

Seungcheol nodded before pointing back to the crowd which was a bit far from them. "Thank you for showing me, you can go back, I'll come for a proper interview later." Seungcheol informed Chan who nodded before walking back towards the crowd.

"Are these all your neighbours?" Seungcheol asked and the woman scanned the crowd, counting each and every person before shaking her head. "No." She answered.

"No?" Seungcheol glanced at the huge crowd. "Who isn't here?" He questioned and she pointed to the street beside her house. "He lives a few minutes away, in the last house on this street. Yoon Jeonghan."

The name rang a bell in Seungcheol's head. Yoon Jeonghan, he was Joshua's friend!

So he lived here? Interesting. He would have to interview him later, maybe also not let Joshua know.

Seungcheol looked around at the whole scene. Everyone was being very loud and even other people from other streets had come to watch the scene and yet Yoon Jeonghan wasn't here?

Something was odd.

"He never comes out of his house, he's always in there playing games, I even cook for him sometimes." She added and Seungcheol wrote his name down quickly. There was something abnormal.

"Do you think he knew about the trip?" Seungcheol asked but the lady shook her head. "No, I doubt he did."

Seungcheol bit down on the inside of his lip, thinking to himself.

Yoon Jeonghan. He was oddly suspicious.

❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎

Jeonghan heard the cries and screams all the way from Mr. Min's house and he chuckled as he poured the noodles into a pot, allowing them to soften.

By now, they must've found the body. By now, Mrs. Woo must've been crying about her husband's death.

Jeonghan didn't mean to hurt any of his relatives, truly, but Mr. Min had it coming and Jeonghan just served him the meal he warranted.

A steaming hot plate of death. One that would transport him to where he belonged.

Hell.

Along with all the other men Jeonghan had killed. Incompetent, pathetic, nauseating and insatiable dirtbags. People who didn't even deserve to have families.

Jeonghan wasn't a villain. He was a justice seeker. Too bad no one would ever understand him and too bad he didn't care either.

Jeonghan walked over to the living room, turning on the TV and changing the channel to the news. The headline caught his eye immediately, the words twinkling in his pupils.

CHIEF INSPECTOR CHOI SEUNGCHEOL ASSIGNED TO JUSTICE KILLER CASE, PROMISES TO DELIVER REAL JUSTICE

Jeonghan turned off the TV, throwing the remote at it with so much force, the TV cracked on impact.

He recognised that name anywhere. Choi Seungcheol. The highest detective at the Seoul Police Department along with his best friend, Joshua.

Why did they have to get them involved? Would Jeonghan really have to kill Seungcheol, Joshua's closest colleague?

It wouldn't be his fault anyways. He had no idea what Seungcheol even looked like. He'd only heard of the man from Joshua so this was just the universe bringing Seungcheol to his death.

Perhaps it was karma, maybe he was secretly just like Jeonghan's other victims. Jeonghan didn't want to know and didn't care to know either. He was confident Seungcheol wouldn't be able to find him immediately but if he did end up deciphering the Justice Killer's identity,

Jeonghan wouldn't waste any time to kill him and protect himself. His job mattered, his actions mattered. Others didn't know and they didn't need to know but Jeonghan was serving justice.

He was being a hero.

If the world knew who he was and what he was aiming for, they would thank him, not send detectives to annihilate him.

Jeonghan turned the TV on again, the cracks interfering with the screen's display. He changed the channel before turning back to the kitchen and resuming his ramyeon.

As he finished cooking and plating his ramyeon, he washed up the pot and stocked it away. He carried his plate to the little table by the side of the kitchen to eat and as he sat down, he heard a knock on his door.

Maintaining his countenance and calm demeanor, he walked up to the door opening it. Once he looked up, he paused, taking in the sight of the man in front of him.

He was a bit taller than Jeonghan with brown hair that stopped just at the end of his neck before his shoulders, defined eyebrows and plump lips along with his chocolate eyes that drew Jeonghan in.

Not to mention his muscular body that was designed to fit into the outfit he had on which highlighted each curve, enhancing his shape.

Jeonghan stepped backwards, giving him space as he took out a badge from his pocket. "I'm Chief Inspector Choi Seungcheol, I'm here to ask you a few questions."

Jeonghan gulped at the mention of his name. He was Choi Seungcheol? The glorious, alluring, jaw-dropping individual in front of him was the Choi Seungcheol?

Damn, this was going to be way harder than he thought. In every single way.

Ⓒ︎OHWAYOHWAYOH
𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖉 - 11/11/2024
𝕰𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖉 - N/A

❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎❦︎