“Hey, hey! Where are you going?!”

“W-what? Is it a case?!”

At Shin Haesu’s urgent reaction, Oh Kang-seok and the team leader shouted. However, Haesu ignored them and rushed out of the office.

Clatter

“Haru!”

At Friends Language Academy, the moment he pushed open the entrance door, he saw a teacher holding a phone at the front desk, with Haru standing beside her.

The teacher gave an awkward smile and waved her phone.

“There was no need to rush… I tried calling again, but you didn’t pick up. Your boyfriend must really care about Haru.”

When registering Haru, Haesu had only listed himself as a guardian without clarifying their relationship. The teacher had assumed they were a couple.

“Where is the victim? How badly are they injured?”

“Huh? Victim?”

As the teacher failed to grasp the situation, Haru stepped in.

“I… didn’t hit anyone.”

“Ah… then?”

“Ahaha, well… Haru scored a perfect 100 on a dictation test!”

The teacher, sensing the tense atmosphere, tried to lighten the mood with an even brighter voice.

Haru blushed, lowered her head, and glanced at Haesu. Her eyes were filled with an intense plea for praise.

“Her skills have been improving remarkably every day. So, I wanted to ask if she could move to an advanced class… That’s why I called.”

Even though she had done nothing wrong, the teacher’s voice gradually shrank.

Haesu nodded proudly and patted Haru’s shoulder.

“Well done. Do you want to move up?”

“Yes…”

“Alright. Please place her in the advanced class.”

“That’s great! There are more students her age there, and it’ll be even more fun!”

And so, the incident that had sent Haesu dashing out ended anticlimactically.

Not long after, on his day off, Haesu was at home, waiting for Haru to return from the academy.

She entered cheerfully, even humming an offbeat tune. Haesu asked,

“Have you made any friends at the academy?”

“Friends… I have made some. Sam Kim, David Oh, Seo Taeyang, Ha Jung-hoo…”

Haesu’s brow furrowed slightly. All of them had male names.

“How many boys and girls are in your class?”

“Boys… six. Girls… eight.”

There were more girls, yet all her friends were boys.

“They are kind and… very friendly. They ask, ‘Should I buy you something delicious?’ ‘Shall I take you somewhere fun?’ ‘Shall we watch a movie?’ ‘Would you like to drink with me?’ ‘How about—’”

Haesu’s expression darkened more and more. Sensing his mood, Haru quickly shut her mouth.

“I see… is that so…”

Haru claimed she had only nodded and answered politely.

After hearing this, Haesu fell into deep thought.

He couldn’t stop imagining it—sleazy-looking foreigners hitting on Haru, her innocent self falling for their words.

If things got physical, Haru would handle it herself. But this sly, friendly approach was harder to counter.

‘I need to take drastic measures.’

As he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, he turned toward Haru, who was about to sleep.

“Haru, next time those guys talk to you…”

At Friends Language Academy.

As soon as break time began, the boys approached Haru again.

Haru quickly fiddled with her phone.

The boys saw her phone’s wallpaper and reacted with surprise. It was a picture of a heavily scarred, muscular man working out shirtless.

“Oh, Haru, you like muscular guys? I’ve got some muscles too. Wanna feel?”

“He is my boyfriend.”

“Oh, so you have a boyfriend. Well, of course, you would—Haru is beautiful.”

Foreigners rarely cared if someone had a boyfriend. So Haru, as if proving her point, opened her gallery and showed them a picture of herself with the same man.

Both of them faced the camera stiffly, like in an ID photo. But there were small spots on the man’s face.

“Oh, really? But what’s that on his face?”

“Blood. He is a detective who catches criminals. He often comes home covered in blood.”

“Ah…”

The boys finally started to back away.

At Gangjin Police Station.

It was Dong Namcheol’s dismissal day. His father hadn’t been expelled from the party, but his influence had been significantly weakened.

Having been dishonorably discharged, Dong Namcheol was sent off by Shin Haesu.

“Thanks.”

“W-what? Thanks for what?”

“For screwing yourself over. It’s a shame I couldn’t put you in jail, but stay the hell away from the police from now on.”

“You bastard, even at the end…”

Haesu simply smirked and extended his hand. Dong Namcheol stared at it before letting out a deep sigh and shaking it.

“Ha… AAAH!!”

Haesu gripped his hand so tightly that the bones seemed ready to shatter. Dong Namcheol couldn’t even pull away and collapsed onto his knees at the police station entrance.

“No swearing. It’s bad manners.”

After giving a cold warning, Haesu released his grip and turned to walk back inside.

Dong Namcheol watched his retreating figure, his eyes welling up.

“Damn bastard… he’s ridiculously strong…”

He mumbled in a voice barely above a whisper, just in case Haesu might hear.

Back at the office, Haesu’s face showed a rare, satisfied expression.

It felt like pulling out a rotten tooth. Refreshing beyond words.

He tapped the partition of Team 1 and spoke.

“How about a sauna after work? My treat.”

“A homebody inviting us somewhere? You sure are cheerful for someone whose neighboring team leader just got booted for the second time.”

“It’s the first time Haesu has ever asked us to go anywhere. But I have to pick up my kids from daycare. Too bad.”

“My wife’s birthday is today. How about tomorrow?”

Just then, the youngest member of the team shot up his hand.

“I’ll go!”

“What? Didn’t you have a date with your girlfriend?”

“I just rescheduled it.”

“That serious, huh…?”

Haesu nodded in approval, eyes gleaming.

Se Samcheon, a hot spring on the outskirts of Goam-dong, where Gangjin Police Station was located.

“Ugh.”

“Oh, man…”

Four burly men covered in animal tattoos strutted in.

Those who were already in the bath or showering flinched and instinctively moved away.

“Doksah hyung-nim, your body keeps getting better and better.”

The man called Doksah flexed his chest muscles as he replied.

“Is that so? I worked my chest a bit yesterday. But what’s this? This is all just fat, isn’t it? Back when I was your age, I was flying around. I split two of those Gangdu gang bastards’ heads with a single axe swing.”

“Wasn’t that during the Blue Night Massacre? When you were wearing those three-stripe slippers?”

“That’s right. Those slippers still haven’t worn out.”

“As expected of a living legend. Hey, you guys, Doksah hyung-nim is none other than the famous Yongsoodong Slippers!”

“That’s amazing, hyung-nim!”

“Haha, it’s all in the past, the past…”

Doksah trailed off, shifting his gaze toward the entrance. The other men followed his line of sight.

Bulging, rippling.

A towering man, easily over 190 cm, entered. What caught Doksah’s attention wasn’t just his height but the sheer thickness of his body. With each step he took, his muscles, looking as though they might burst, made their presence unmistakably known.

The once boastful tattooed men fell silent at his arrival. Doksah murmured cautiously, his wariness evident.

“Never seen that guy before.”

“Same here. It’s rare to find someone like that these days…”

“Guys like him only have big bodies, but they’re useless in a real fight. Look, not a single scar on him.”

“As expected of Doksah hyung-nim. Should we find out which crew he belongs to?”

“No need to stir things up. Just keep watch—”

At that moment, another man entered behind him. Unlike the first, this one was covered in scars, even bearing what looked like gunshot wounds.

If the first man had explosively developed muscles, this one’s physique was like tempered steel. Just looking at him from a distance sent a chill through the room.

The tattooed men glanced at him once, then instinctively averted their gazes.

Doksah, watching from the corner of his eye, noticed the muscular man bowing respectfully to the scarred man.

“I’ll head into the bath first.”

“Go ahead.”

Seeing the two exchange words, the tattooed men tensed.

Hissss.

The muscular man entered the same bath, causing the tattooed men to glance at him cautiously, choosing to stay silent.

Then the scarred man entered.

“Hoo…”

His dull, lifeless eyes slowly scanned the bath.

The tattooed men instinctively avoided his gaze. Doksah, trying to hold out, finally locked eyes with him. His survival instincts kicked in, and he immediately looked down.

The scarred man scrunched his nose before turning to the muscular man.

“Maknae, what did you do with that body?”

“The dismembered one? I disposed of it cleanly.”

Their savage bodies, brutal faces, and now a terrifying conversation—

The tattooed men flinched. These two weren’t bluffing. They were the real deal.

“Good job. Was it your first time seeing a corpse?”

“Third time.”

“You’ll be seeing a lot more from now on.”

“I’m mentally prepared. Please guide me well.”

As they spoke, Doksah was the first to give in and quietly rose from the bath.

“Ah… the water’s a bit too hot…”

As if on cue, the other tattooed men hurriedly followed. They moved with extreme caution, ensuring they made no noise.

But their elaborate tattoos made them stand out no matter how discreet they tried to be.

The scarred man’s gaze followed them.

“You there.”

All four men simultaneously froze, as if caught in a still frame. At the front, Doksah couldn’t even turn his head.

“You, with the carp.”

The only one with a carp tattoo covering his body was Doksah. With no other choice, he slowly turned around, forcing a smile as he spoke.

“Uh… me?”

“You dropped your scrubbing towel.”

Following the scarred man’s pointing finger, he saw a green scrubbing towel on the floor.

“I’m sorry!”

He quickly snatched it up and bolted out at an incredible speed. The other tattooed men scrambled after him.

Shin Haesu tilted his head.

“What was he apologizing for?”

“Maybe… for having tattoos?”

“I see. I guess tattoos are popular these days. They seemed pretty innocent.”

“Indeed.”

The next day, Kangjin Police Station’s Violent Crimes Division.

Haesu was intensely working his forearm muscles when his phone rang.

[Officer Lim Shia]

She had been an officer at the local precinct but was now a sergeant.

“This is Shin Haesu. What’s the matter?”

-Sergeant Shin, we just responded to a suicide report in Jijeong-dong. The deceased is related to a case your team handled, so I thought I should contact you.

“What’s the victim’s identity?”

-A woman in her early twenties… Her name is Shin Ira.

Shin Ira, the woman caught between the celebrity murder case and the congressman.

“I’m on my way.”

As Haesu stood up mid-call, he made eye contact with the youngest team member. When Haesu gave a nod, the rookie nodded back and immediately grabbed the car keys, leaving the office.

Seeing this, the team leader narrowed his eyes and muttered.

“What the hell? Since when did you two communicate with just your eyes? I feel left out.”

“Shin Ira committed suicide.”

“Shit.”

Both the team leader and Oh Kang-seok stood up simultaneously.

The Violent Crimes Unit 1 moved out in a van, while Haesu rode separately on his motorcycle.

Not knowing the exact situation, he needed to arrive at the scene as soon as possible.

Upon arrival, the precinct officers who had gotten there first recognized Haesu and saluted.

Inside the house, Sergeant Lim greeted him.

“Sergeant Shin.”

“It’s been a while. Do we have an estimated time of death?”

“Approximately four hours ago.”

It was already too late to reset anything. Shin Ira’s body lay on the bedroom floor. The strangulation marks on her neck were severe—she had hanged herself.

“Where was she hanging from?”

“Here, the bedroom balcony.”

Haesu furrowed his brow and moved toward the balcony. A noose had been fashioned from the ceiling-mounted drying rack’s cord.

The moment he saw the knot used to form the noose, his vision blurred, overlapping with a memory.

“Ugh…”

His head suddenly spun, dizziness overtaking him.

“Sergeant Shin!”

The knot’s structure, the suicide method, the location where the hanging took place—all identical.

It was the same way his father had killed himself.