Ji-an's aunt came into the room, brandishing a kitchen knife and screaming.

“Shut up, you bastard!! I'm going to kill all of you!”

Instead of helping to restrain her, the youngest simply picked up their phone and started recording a video of the scene.

Ji-an's aunt thrust the knife straight at Shin Haesu’s stomach.

Haesu twisted his body to dodge the blade and swung his hand lightly.

Smack—!

“Kyahhh!”

Haesu’s palm landed squarely on Ji-an’s aunt’s face. She was sent flying sideways, crashed into the sofa once, and then collapsed onto the floor.

Thud.

Taking an open-palmed slap from Haesu with your mouth open meant losing teeth.

A few white teeth spilled out of the unconscious Ji-an’s aunt’s mouth.

Haesu cuffed both of her hands.

“You are under arrest for attempted murder. You have the right to an attorney and the opportunity to explain yourself.”

To have undeniable proof that she killed her husband, they had needed to confirm if she had purchased wallpaper or flooring. But she had panicked and acted out, making it even clearer.

The circumstances surrounding her husband's murder were as follows.

Ji-an's aunt had previously seen her husband looking at Ji-an with lecherous eyes, subtly massaging her shoulders, or touching her legs.

The day her husband came home with a bloody head, she reviewed the car’s black box footage and, through the audio, pieced together what had happened.

—Did you get hurt trying to assault that girl? Aren’t you ashamed? She’s not even twenty, not even a high schooler, but a middle schooler? Is your brain flooded with semen?

—What the hell, she takes the money compliantly, so I thought she’d be easy. Why? You don’t see her as a person either, do you? Just a wallet? Ah, but I’m just a wallet to you too, huh? I realized it back when you played that weird game.

—Shut up, you bastard! Before I kill you!!

—Bullshit. Your husband is about to get beaten to death by a monster, and you want me to get up and fight just for 2.4 million won? Be honest. Back then, you didn’t care if I died as long as you got that money, right?

—Yeah, you crazy bastard!

That was how Ji-an’s aunt ended up stabbing her husband to death with a knife. Then, she drove the car back to the scene and staged it to make it look like Ji-an had committed the murder.

As soon as Ji-an’s aunt was arrested, Kim Ji-an was immediately released.

When Ji-an and her aunt met face to face, the aunt went into another fit of rage.

“This is all your fault, you little bitch!!”

Even with handcuffs on, the aunt lunged at Ji-an, trying to grab her hair. But Ji-an swiftly deflected her hand and hooked her leg, making her fall.

Thud!

Ji-an’s aunt, having been struck back by Ji-an for the first time in her life, froze in shock as she lay on the ground. Ji-an looked down at her with contempt and spoke.

“Auntie, how is this my fault? It’s because of your greed… Rot in prison for the rest of your life.”

“You filthy little—!! Kyahhh!!”

Haesu firmly pressed down on the aunt’s shoulder to silence her, then took Ji-an away from the scene.

“You went through a lot. You really did.”

“…Thank you.”

Haesu took Ji-an to the Reed Building, where her younger siblings were waiting. In front of the building, Haru was there with her siblings to greet them.

As Haesu watched Haru welcome Ji-an, he opened his mouth to speak.

“…I’m sorry.”

It would be a lie to say he never doubted her at all. He felt guilty for not believing in her, even for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“Just… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to be someone that you feel sorry for.”

He didn’t quite understand what she meant, but it didn’t feel bad. Haesu let out a small chuckle.

“Alright, I won’t.”

As Haesu turned around to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Then… why was she there that day? What conversation did she have with Ji-an?

Haesu almost turned back but stopped himself. If it wasn’t about plotting a crime, it felt wrong to pry into a private conversation between women.

The gamjatang restaurant and the attached house originally belonged to Ji-an’s grandmother and were meant to be inherited by Ji-an when she turned twenty.

However, her aunt bribed a lawyer and quickly seized the inheritance.

When the lawyer learned that an investigation into the murder was underway, he panicked and turned himself in, returning everything to Ji-an.

All the money the aunt had taken, plus additional compensation, was recovered.

And now, Shin Haesu became the legal guardian of the three siblings.

“You said you lived there when you were young, right?”

“Yes… but I don’t want to go back there.”

After their grandmother passed away, the aunt and uncle, whom they had never even met before, showed up. From that moment on, their days became a living hell.

Respecting Ji-an’s wishes, Haesu helped sell both the house and the gamjatang restaurant. The three siblings then moved to the ninth floor of the Reed Building.

The belongings they brought from their one-room apartment barely filled a single box.

As a housewarming gift, Haesu provided them with a bed, a sofa, a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and various household appliances.

Moving from a cramped, damp semi-basement to a spacious 40-pyeong apartment made the house feel empty, but the children were overjoyed as if they had gained the whole world.

Ji-an, though not as openly expressive as her younger siblings, had a noticeable lightness to her face that hadn’t been there before.

Ding-dong.

For the first time, the doorbell to Haesu’s house rang.

“They’re here.”

Haru happily trotted to the door and opened it.

Dressed in new clothes, Kim Ji-an, Ji-won, and Ji-gu beamed as they held out a bag of snacks.

“The convenience store owner gave them to us!”

“Did you go see the owner?”

At Haesu’s question, Ji-an nodded.

“Yes, we brought him some meat. He cried.”

“Well done.”

For the first time, an extra chair was added to Haesu’s dining table.

Tonight’s menu was crab stew and shrimp.

Ji-an’s eyes widened as she asked,

“…Did you make this?”

“No, delivery.”

“Ah…”

Haru was surprisingly skilled at peeling shrimp. She removed the shells cleanly, leaving as much meat intact as possible.

After piling about five peeled shrimp onto her plate, she dipped one in sauce and placed it on Ji-an’s rice.

Ji-an, who had been eating, paused when she saw it.

“Ah.”

She silently stared at the shrimp for a moment, then suddenly lowered her head. Her eyes glistened, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

Seeing that, Haru looked flustered.

“I-I’ll peel some crab too.”

Still looking down, Ji-an shook her head.

“I love it so much. That’s why I’m scared. Am I… allowed to be this happy? It doesn’t feel like this is my place…”

At Ji-an’s heartfelt words, her second youngest sibling, Ji-won, stopped eating, lowered their head, and tears started streaming down. Seeing this, Ji-gu burst into tears as well.

“Hyung, why are you crying? Waaahhh!”

“Ji-gu, don’t cryyy!”

In an instant, the dining table turned into a sea of tears.

Haru bit her lower lip.

If she were to put into words the emotions she had felt not long ago, they would be exactly the same as what Ji-an had just said.

But she had been too foolish to express them like this.

Haru reached out and gently wiped Ji-an’s tears with her delicate fingers.

“It’s okay. Take your time. Slowly… let happiness seep in.”

Haru’s words, almost like a command, sank deep into Ji-an’s heart.

Ji-an, with tearful eyes, looked at Haru and nodded firmly.

Once the siblings' tears had dried up, the youngest, Ji-gu, who had been running around the house, suddenly shouted,

“I want to come over every day!”

Haru responded to his outburst.

“Every two days.”

“Huh?”

“Once every two days. If you come every day, you’ll get used to it and won’t appreciate it.”

“Awesome!”

“Wanna go to the outdoor bath?”

“Huh? Ah, no.”

Ji-gu turned pale and frantically shook his head.

At Gangjin Police Station, a rough-looking man with tattoos covering his arms strode into the building.

Screech—

He headed straight for the Major Crimes Unit office. After scanning the room with sharp eyes, he approached one of the detectives and bowed deeply.

“Greetings to the Physical Therapist!”

His loud greeting caught the attention of the detectives in the office.

Shin Haesu tore his gaze away from the monitor and glanced at the man.

Despite his unmistakable gangster appearance, he was wearing a convenience store vest.

“Aren’t you Dong-dong’s little brother?”

Haesu recognized him as one of the members of the Dongdong gang he had encountered before.

“My name is Go Jeong-hun. My boss told me to come find you if anything ever happened… So I took the liberty of visiting.”

Haesu turned his chair towards him and gestured with his index finger to the empty seat across from him.

“Sit down and talk.”

“It’s my fault. I got into gambling because of Young-sik…”

The story went like this: Jeong-hun had followed another gang member, Young-sik, to gamble a few times but had quit. Young-sik, however, continued.

Then one day, Young-sik became unreachable, and suddenly, Kim Dong-dong received a call.

“Save me. Bring one hundred million won. If not, they’ll take my organs…”

“And then?”

“My boss is a man of loyalty above all else. He didn’t have the money, but he just left a text saying he’d go handle it and then disappeared… It’s been two days since we lost contact.”

Haesu furrowed his brows and patted Jeong-hun’s shoulder.

“You did well to come here. If you had gone looking for Dong-dong, you’d be missing too. Maknae, trace Dong-dong and Young-sik’s location.”

“Yes, senior!”

Jeong-hun handed his phone to the youngest detective, who then requested a location trace from the intelligence team.

“Tell me everything you know.”

“That’s all I know… Oh, he mentioned a place called Starry Sky. But he said he didn’t know where it was.”

Haesu and Oh Gaeng exchanged glances.

“This sounds like ‘filtering.’”

“It does.”

The youngest detective, unfamiliar with the term, asked,

“What’s filtering?”

“They lure potential victims into small, low-stakes gambling dens, test them, and if they seem easy to exploit, they bring them to the real gambling den.”

“Ah…”

Just then, the intelligence team called back, but both of their phones were turned off, making tracking impossible.

The team leader scratched his head in frustration.

“Ugh… Investigating a gambling den means I’m gonna get chewed out by the chief. Who’s going in? Are we sending the rookie team again?”

At that moment, Go Jeong-hun spoke up.

“They screen young, strong men at the entrance. If they can’t confirm which group you belong to, they don’t take you to Starry Sky.”

Oh Gaeng turned to look at the team leader. Naturally, Haesu and the youngest detective did the same.

“Me? Me?! I’m the team leader!”

That night, in a rundown neighborhood, a shabby Chinese restaurant stood tucked away in a dark alley.

A middle-aged man with unkempt hair, crooked glasses, and worn-out clothes hesitated outside.

“O-okay, I’m going in.”

—Why are you shaking? You’re a veteran detective.

“I’m walking into a den where they harvest organs. Wouldn’t you be scared? It’s been five years since my last undercover mission… Ugh.”

His trembling voice suggested his fear was genuine.

—Stop whining and get in there.

—We believe in you, team leader.

“Damn it…”

Grumbling under his breath, the team leader stepped inside and sat at a table.

A young man with dark circles approached him.

“What will you have?”

“Not something that goes into my mouth, but something that goes into my pocket.”

The young man glanced him over and then jerked his chin, signaling him to follow.

They passed through two rooms and arrived at a back room connected to a rear exit. When the door opened, a haze of cigarette smoke revealed the gambling den.

Four tables. Around twenty people. As the team leader entered, people shot wary glances at him.

“Sit anywhere you like.”

“Sure.”

The team leader pulled out some crumpled cash and handed it over.

Despite the money being wrinkled, the fact that they were fifty-thousand-won bills surprised the young man and a few others.

As he took a seat among the rough-looking gamblers, one of them lit a cigarette and asked,

“Never seen you before. How’d you find this place?”

—Do you guys know what your team leader’s nickname was back in the day?

The team leader sniffled, raised his chin arrogantly, and answered.

“You think a gambler can’t sniff out a gambling den? I followed the wind.”

“You’ve got a nose like a damn bloodhound, huh? Let’s see if your luck is just as good.”

“If you’re confident, why don’t you check?”

—His last name is Kwak, so… Milk Carton?

As the game began, a dealer handed cards to the team leader.

But without even looking at them, he grabbed the nearby water cup and slammed it onto the dealer’s hand.

Bang!

“Agh! What the hell?!”

—No, it's Goam-dong Monkfish.

“Freeze. Do I look like an idiot? First round, and you’re already cheating? You gave me a fake winning hand and yourself a strong hand to catch me off guard. Wanna bet your hands on it?”