Sejung Apartment, Unit 1003

Click—

The kidnapper hung up.

As the husband and wife’s faces filled with shock, the intelligence officer shouted.

“We've got a location! The payphone booth across from the old Shinsung Bank. I've requested tracking and surveillance from the control center.”

The intelligence officer’s words snapped the detectives of Major Crimes Unit 1 back to full alert. The team leader sprang to his feet.

“Send us the full call file immediately. Oh Kang-seok, request backup from Teams 2 and 3. Let’s move.”

“I’ll take the motorcycle.”

“Okay, stay on the radio.”

“Understood!”

Since they had been living and working out of this apartment for days, Shin Haesu’s motorcycle was parked in the first-floor parking lot.

For a pursuit like this, having more than one vehicle was advantageous.

Vrrrrrrr—

On the way to the payphone booth, Haesu heard a radio update from the intelligence officer.

- Suspect wearing a gray hoodie, heading towards Maeil Market.

The control center was relaying real-time information.

- Suspect turned right at Saeseom Motel.

Haesu arrived at the location of the payphone and headed in the indicated direction.

- Lost track near Yeonjae Mart! Control center can’t monitor beyond that!

As Haesu was about to enter the street where the suspect had disappeared, a car emerged.

He glanced inside. A woman was driving, and the backseat was empty.

Click.

Haesu hesitated, then turned around. Just then, the team leader's voice came over the radio.

- Nothing here, nothing near the Saemiro Hotel either. What about you, rookie?

The intelligence officer remained silent, with nothing further to report.

Haesu suddenly recalled reviewing the CCTV footage. The playground, the park—her face was familiar. He raised his radio.

“Team leader, I’ve seen the same person three times at different locations. Not the male suspect.”

- The same person? Twice could be a coincidence, but three times? That’s our perp.

Haesu turned his motorcycle and started tailing the car.

“Following the suspect.”

- Copy that, stay close.

“27Nabi-3301, black Avante, heading towards the station.”

- Stay on it, we’ll be right behind.

“Roger.”

The car wasn’t moving fast, so Haesu maintained a cautious distance.

“Destination… Sejung Apartment…”

- …What?

Sejung Apartment. The place where the kidnapped Arin lived. Also the home of the pregnant woman he had seen three times.

Haesu watched as the car entered the underground parking lot, then parked his motorcycle outside and pressed the elevator button.

The pregnant woman was inside, alone. The 8th floor button was lit. Haesu pressed for the 10th floor—Arin’s home.

- Ding! 8th floor.

As the door opened, Haesu kept it from closing, observing her closely. She glanced around nervously, then quickly stepped out. Not wanting to raise suspicion, he let the doors close.

“Team leader, stand by in the underground parking lot.”

- Huh? Oh, got it.

Haesu arrived at Arin’s apartment on the 10th floor. The door was slightly open, and loud voices echoed from inside.

“I told you, I told you not to call the police! What do we do now? What about our Arin?!”

“They’ll catch them soon! Arin will be safe, please, honey, calm down…”

As Haesu entered, the husband rushed toward him, clinging to his arm.

“Detective! What happened? Our Arin…!”

Seeing Haesu alone, their eyes filled with disappointment. But there was no time for emotions. Haesu gently pushed the husband back, gripping his shoulders firmly.

“When you heard Arin’s voice on the phone, how did she sound? What exactly did she say?”

The intensity in Haesu’s gaze made the husband shrink slightly.

“Sh-she said… just like I told you before… she asked when Daddy was coming, said she missed me…”

“What about her tone? Was she scared?”

“Well, of course she—huh? Now that I think about it… she didn’t sound scared.”

A nine-year-old child, abducted, but not frightened? That meant she didn’t even know she was kidnapped. The perpetrator was someone she knew—someone familiar.

Haesu’s eyes grew even sharper.

“Do you know which unit that pregnant woman from the playground lives in?”

“End of the 8th floor. Unit 810.”

“Let’s go.”

Haesu, along with the couple, headed to Unit 810. The wife rang the doorbell.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

No response. Pressing his ear to the door, Haesu heard hurried movements inside. He gestured for them to keep ringing.

Bang, bang, bang!

“Miss, are you home? We have something to ask. Please open the door!”

After the persistent knocking, the door finally opened, revealing the pregnant woman. Her eyes were filled more with anxiety than annoyance.

“…What do you want?”

She barely cracked the door open, but the moment she saw Haesu’s face, her expression changed. She immediately tried to slam the door shut.

Thunk—

Haesu forced the door open and stepped inside.

“Please cooperate with our investigation.”

Her visible distress only deepened.

The apartment was a mess. Clothes were scattered everywhere, and one corner was piled with empty soju bottles.

Inside a small room, Haesu spotted duct tape and a utility knife.

“Wh-why are you here? Get out right now!”

As Haesu and the couple frantically searched the apartment, they found no sign of Arin. Then Haesu noticed a framed wedding photo in the living room. The height difference between the couple—175 cm. Lean build. The description matched their suspect.

Thud.

The wife’s legs gave out. She collapsed to the floor, clutching something in her hands.

It was a pink hair tie, decorated with cherries.

“Arin’s… This is Arin’s…”

A definitive piece of evidence.

The pregnant woman’s face turned pale, her gaze instinctively meeting Haesu’s.

It was almost impossible to believe, but Arin had been held captive in the same apartment complex.

The wife’s tear-filled eyes quickly changed to burning fury.

“Where is my Arin?!”

As she lunged forward, the pregnant woman stumbled back, shaking her head in panic.

“I-I didn’t do anything wrong! I told them not to hurt her, I—ahhh!”

The wife grabbed her hair, slapping her repeatedly. Haesu quickly intervened, pulling them apart.

“Ma’am, if you do this, we won’t find Arin. We need to hear what she has to say.”

Just as he managed to separate them—

Bang, bang, bang—

Footsteps could be heard. Not approaching, but rapidly fading away.

Haesu glanced at his husband once before dashing out, shouting,

“Hold onto the woman!”

As he stepped outside, a man in a gray hoodie was sprinting down the apartment corridor. Haesu took off after him while calling into his radio.

“Suspect spotted! Fleeing via the central stairwell on the 8th floor!”

- "Oh, okay! I’m heading up!"

As Haesu chased the suspect down to the 5th floor, the man spotted the team leader and Kang-seok coming up. He quickly veered off toward the 4th floor.

Seeing this, Haesu rushed up one floor higher and entered through the emergency exit, while the team leader covered the lower floor and Oh Kang-seok continued the pursuit.

Thud, thud, thud—

- "He's going up!"

Smack!

The apartment complex had two emergency stairwells—one beside Unit 1 and the other near the elevator. The suspect emerged from the elevator stairwell and tried to ascend using the other set of stairs, only to come face-to-face with Haesu coming down.

“Shit!”

The suspect yanked a knife from his pocket and lunged at Haesu without hesitation.

Haesu twisted his upper body, letting the blade slide past before catching the suspect’s wrist and wrenching it. Then, he grabbed the man’s hair and slammed his face into the stairwell wall.

Thud!

The impact shattered his nose, smearing blood across the concrete wall. Haesu yanked his head back sharply and spoke.

“According to ancient law, a kidnapper—”

Thud—

“Is sentenced to death even if they sell the child.”

Thud.

“Is sentenced to death even if they keep the child unharmed.”

Thud.

“Which means I could kill you right now.”

Thud!

“P-please… spare m—”

“No.”

Thud—

The man finally lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor, leaving a long streak of blood on the wall.

Haesu raised his foot, about to stomp on the man’s head but hesitated.

He wanted to vent his frustration at not being able to punish the pregnant woman, but if he went any further, he might actually kill him.

The couple had been struggling financially. The husband was deep in gambling debt, having borrowed from loan sharks. Meanwhile, the wife had suffered severe hemorrhaging and had to quit her job. When the loan sharks threatened to sell her to a brothel, they decided on the kidnapping.

The child had been confined for a long time. Every time Arin cried, the husband grew anxious and tried to kill her. The pregnant wife stopped him twice, but the third time, she suggested they sell the child to the loan sharks instead. They handed Arin over, clearing their 20 million won debt.

Oh Kang-seok muttered as he read through the report.

“Should we call this misfortune or luck?”

“Up until now, it’s been luck. I’m not here to defend criminals, but the child survived this long thanks to that woman.”

Haesu nodded in agreement.

“That’s true.”

Even in the worst-case scenario—being trafficked to China or the Philippines—children under 13 weren’t targeted for organ trafficking. At least for now, she wouldn’t have been killed.

Haesu grabbed the kidnapper—who was now missing eight front teeth—by the hair and hauled him up.

“Let’s go raid the loan sharks now.”

The team leader clung to Haesu as if begging. In front of him was a plate of fried rice.

“Rookie, let me finish this first. If I don’t eat, I won’t have the strength to fight. Who knows when we’ll get another chance to eat?”

“…Fine.”

In front of an old four-story building, a sign on the top floor read "Haewon Trading Company."

“This is the place?”

“Y-yes, it is.”

The kidnapper nodded several times. Without teeth, his words were slurred.

Haesu looked at the team leader and Oh Kang-seok.

“Cover the front and back exits. I’ll go inside.”

“Look at the rookie’s guts. Doesn’t even ask for backup, just tells us to catch anyone who runs. I like this. We’ve got someone who hits hard besides Oh Kang-seok. Go ahead, Captain Charge!”

The team leader mimed firing a gun with his hand toward the entrance. Haesu grabbed the kidnapper by the collar and dragged him inside.

Fourth floor, Haewon Trading Company office.

Bam—!

The metal door swung open violently. Inside, four men sat around looking like they had “I’m a gangster” written on their faces.

Haesu shoved the kidnapper toward the man sitting in the head seat and asked,

“Where’s the child he brought here?”

“A kid? Kids belong in daycare. Why look for one here?”

The boss smirked, and the others chuckled.

Haesu pushed the kidnapper aside and raised his fist.

“Alright. You’ll remember after a few punches.”

“You crazy bastard… Kneel him down.”

At the boss’s order, three heavily tattooed men stood up menacingly.

The biggest one, a bald man, reached out to grab Haesu’s collar first.

“You know where—? Argh!”

Crack!

Haesu twisted the thug’s wrist upward and hooked his foot behind the man’s ankle. The massive body flipped midair and crashed headfirst into the long table.

Crack!

The table couldn’t withstand the impact and split in half. The other gangsters flinched at the sight.

Haesu stepped on the fallen man’s neck and smirked.

“I don’t have time. Come at me all at once.”

“You son of a—”

Thud. Thud—

As another thug charged, Haesu snapped a short punch into his nose, then extended his arm to land a second punch on his jaw.

The man staggered like a drunk before collapsing backward.

As Haesu moved, another man’s fist swung past him, barely missing.

Haesu grabbed his wrist and slammed his palm into the man's elbow.

Crack!

“Aghh!”

Then, he seized the thug’s face and slammed it against the wall.

Thud!

Ignoring the blood trickling down the wall, Haesu turned toward the last remaining man—the boss. Though he was trying to smirk, his eyes were trembling.

“Let’s just talk—”

Haesu grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the glass ashtray on the desk.

Thud!

Then, he yanked the man up, blood gushing from his nose, and locked eyes with him.

“Remember now?”

“N-no, I really don’t know anyth—”

Thud. Thud!

“Do you remember now?”

“S-sir, wait—”

As Haesu raised the boss’s head to slam it down again, the man frantically blocked with his hands and cried out,

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Finally, Haesu’s hand stopped.