Chapter Text
“What? He’s trying to kill Yook Dong Sik? Are you sure it’s not the other way around?”
In retrospect, it was really stupid of Dong sik to take that drink from Sung chul. It was just your average knock off brand vitamin drink, but it’s not like he knew what that old man did to it. He supposed he was just feeling a bit bad for the guy, or maybe it was because he wasn’t paying much attention. Either way, it resulted in him currently dying on the roof of a parking lot as he sat in Chil sung’s car.
“I did it cause I agree with the predator killer.”
Ah. The predator killer. After Yook Dong sik got amnesia by being hit by officer Shim’s car, he was handed a red leather bound journal which the officers assumed was his. At first, Dong sik had thought it actually belonged to him and ended up impersonating the infamous killer for a couple of weeks before piecing together that it was, in fact, not his journal.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to stop having fun with his new life. Dong sik still didn’t remember anything about the life he was living before, but he knows this one was probably far more thrilling.
“The predator killer? That’s me.”
It wasn’t him. Dong sik knew that, but, just for the sake of getting back at the nasty man, he decided to play that role.
The muffled laugh from outside of the car was repulsive. Nothing about the man made Dong sik want to spare his life. Not only did he kill his hardworking wife for no reason other than because he admired the predator killer, but the overconfident, narcissistic behaviour could be called nothing other than overwhelmingly obnoxious.
“Yeah, right. You’re just saying that because you want me to let you out. You’re just like my wife. She pitied me and told me anything just to make me feel better,” the unsightly geezer laughed. “But she’d stay quiet for a while if I beat her!”
What an absolutely disgusting man.
“You…! You little.!”
Dong sik’s arm slid down from the passenger seat window, the gas finally getting to him and rendering him unconscious. The repulsive laugh along with predator wannabe sauntered away from the small car with the stability of a drunkard.
When Dong sik came to, he was on the ground next to the car coughing violently. Chil sung, his self proclaimed servant, was frantically talking with someone on the phone above where he was laying. Apparently, he had been hiding in the trunk of the car he had loaned him. Typical Chil sung.
The loud sound of a pipe hitting the back of Chil sung’s skull caused Dong sik to spring up from his position immediately and hide behind the car he was just dying in.
“Haaaa. I should wrap this up quickly.” The pipe dropped to the floor next to Chil sung’s now unconscious body. “But where did--!!”
The old man was rammed up against a metal beam with hands wrapped circling his neck.
“You’re the scum of the earth. People like you, who think they’re strong and step all over people make me sick. You wanted to meet the predator killer? Well now you get to be killed by him!”
“You,.. You’re really-..?”
Nope.
“Yeah, Surprise! It’s me.” Dong sik smiled and punched Sung chul in the face.
The old man landed on his back to the ground with the curly haired killer above him pulling out a red journal wrapped nicely with a thread.
The journal, which contained detailed killings of seven different people, obviously didn’t belong to Dong sik. Not only was the handwriting in the red book different than his, but the journal described a different lifestyle. Though it was fairly similar to his own, there did happen to be a few details here and there which varied.
The fact the journal wasn’t his though, didn’t stop Dong sik from enjoying continuing to add things to its empty pages. One of which will soon contain a new thumbprint of a man who was way too engrossed with the idea of becoming a serial killer. Unfortunately for him though, he was the one who would end up dead.
A look of realization took over the face of the man who was lying helplessly with his back to the concrete.
“You shouldn’t mess with things that are in over your head you old bat.”
Dong sik took the hand of the now frightened man and smeared the blood that had been dripping down his nose onto his thumb to put into the murder journal. A feeling of smugness of what was about to ensue filled his mind till he heard a mocking laugh coming from the same man he was just about to kill.
“Hahaha! Who the heck are you?”
Alright this fool was really starting to annoy him, time to die.
“Ah! Wait WAIT!!”
The ugly striped tie that hung around Sung chul’s neck was pulled taut, it being the only thing keeping him from falling a long way off the edge of the multiple story parking lot.
“You’re making a huge mistake!!” Dong sik scoffed.
Yeah. He was going to enjoy this.
“Mr. Yook?” Oh, shoot. “Mr. Yook are you there?” The voice of officer Shim calling out to him could be heard from just a few feet away.
Dong sik was really hesitant to not just let the tie slip out of his fingers and let Sung chul fall to his death, but with Bo kyung quickly approaching, she would probably be there to witness everything that would happen….. Agh!
“Oh my gosh! Mr. Yook!!”
“Aaaaa!!!”
The man finally yanked his tie free out of Dong sik’s grasp, quick to try to make a getaway.
“Are you okay?!” He supposed he was grateful, but did the officer have to pull him up off the ledge by his hair? Like, was there really nothing else less painful on Dong sik’s body that she could have grasped to be able to ‘save him’? Ouch!
“I’ve called back up. Stay here, I’m going after the killer!”
Bo kyung, being a trained officer of the law, was, of course, quick on her feet. She was out the door and after the criminal in just a few seconds leaving Dong sik to clutch a spot on his head where he could’ve sworn had more hair only a few moments ago.
Chil sung continue to lay blacked out on the concrete next to the smoking car on the roof. The scene looked pretty incriminating. Dong sik didn’t want to be the one left to answer the police questions so he got up onto his feet and strolled out of the building back to his horror themed apartment.
“I’m glad you’re okay. Almost being the victim of the famous predator killer.. I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.”
“Yeah. I’m fine though..”
Seo in woo was the director of the stock company that Dong sik worked at. Dong sik was fairly certain that he was, in fact, the predator killer that was so often discussed on the news these days. The director had told him at one point that his family and relatives were very similar to his own like written in the red journal, not only that, In woo had blatantly told him, the day he took Dong sik to that fancy bar, that his favorite hobby was crushing the weak and the poor like ants.
“But I heard that the killer ran into traffic. He was hit and killed by a truck.”
“Oh, Is that right?”
The smug micro expression that graced In woo’s face gave Dong sik the impression that Sung chul being killed that day wasn’t simply an accident.
“Um,.. Director Seo, why did you want to meet me?” And at my family’s restaurant of all places?
“I just wanted to check up on you see if you were doing okay,” In woo took a small sip of the drink that was set in front of him, “And to ask you about something that officer Shim had told me.”
“Officer Shim?”
“Yes. Is it true that you got amnesia a few weeks ago?”
Ah.
“Ah, Yes.. I’m doing okay though. I can still work.” Dong sik gave In woo a reassuring smile.
Getting hit by the officer’s car was quite the unlucky event, but Dong sik would go as far as to say that that situation perfectly represented the nova effect. Because of getting amnesia and being handed the journal, Dong sik was able to become who he was truly meant to be. Bad luck that had resulted in something good that wouldn’t have been able to occur if not for the circumstances life had thrown at him.
The director seemed to be trying to suppress laughter that was bubbling up out of his throat. It annoyed Dong sik just a little bit. What was he laughing at? At the fact that he had gotten amnesia? That he said he was okay? That he could still work?
The soft eyebrows on Dong sik’s pale forehead furrowed in his displeased stupor.
“No, haha, sorry, sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just.. Remembering a joke that was told to me a few days ago. Sorry, continue.”
Of course, there was no joke involved in In woo’s thought process, but the way the laughter seemed to force its way out of his lungs, this situation might as well be. In woo couldn’t believe himself. This past week, he had actually thought that the idiot sitting in front of him was a cold blooded meticulous killer like himself. Dong sik wasn’t a killer. He wasn’t anyone. He was a nobody who, until just a week ago before his amnesia, was a loser and a scapegoat his manager would blame mistakes on when he didn’t want to take the fall.
The situation was honestly hilarious to In woo. Well, now that he knew that Dong sik was just someone he could use, the director was going to utilize his new instrument for dirty work and someone to take the fall if his plans didn’t go exactly as expected.
“I was just saying that I’m fine. I can continue working at the company without a hitch.”
“Oh, that’s good then. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I’ll be going now, and Dong sik,” In woo placed his hand atop Dong sik’s that was laying on the table in front of him, “If you need anything, just call me. I’ll help you in anyway I can.”
“Right.. Thank you. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” Dong sik retracted his hand to his chest. In woo was being unnecessarily nice. But not in the way that he usually was. If Dong sik didn’t know any better, he would say that In woo acted as if he had been interested in him, in a romantic sense, but he didn’t really know.. The director just always seemed overly excited to see him.
Just now though, Dong sik couldn’t really say for certain, but he felt like he was trying too hard to seem nice. He didn’t know, his speech just seemed a little artificial and… forced.
Dong sik watched as Seo in woo walked out the doors of the restaurant his family owned and into his fancy looking car.
“Yeah, I could totally set you up on a blind date!” Jeong-a prattled on happily.
“Haha, Yeah..” Whoops. Dong sik hoped the reluctance in the way he agreed to his co worker's offer didn’t show through too much. He had to keep up a good image in front of his colleagues after all.
“Hey. Did you all enjoy your lunch?” A familiar voice from behind the workers called out.
Standing behind them with a friendly, but still stoic expression on his face was their supervisor. None other than Director Seo whom Dong sik had been having lunch with just the previous day. Well, all they did was exchange a few words. He supposed it couldn’t really be considered lunch if they didn’t really eat anything.
All the workers around Dong sik nodded their heads and confirmed the question previously asked by the Director.
“I was actually looking for you Dong sik.”
Dong sik smiled awkwardly and held his coffee cup closer to his chest.
“Me?”
“That’s right. I was thinking of using your image as advertisement for the company.”
What? Advertisement? Seo in woo wanted to use Dong sik’s image? Of all the workers in the office, he wanted to use someone as plain and scruffy looking as he was? Wow. The director really was obsessed.
“I was thinking of using one of aesop’s fables. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin. Have you heard of it?”
“Ahh,.. I can’t seem to recall..”
The trio of coworkers around Dong sik spoke up and offered their knowledge of the story.
“Yeah! That story was read to me when I was young! The ass found a lion’s skin and dressed in it. He went on to start scaring all the other animals.”
“Didn’t the fox find out the ass wasn’t actually a lion though?” a different worker added.
“Oh wait,” Dong sik turned back to face Seo in woo, “I think I remember now.”
A smug smile showed up on the Director’s face. It was the same one that had intentionally or not, made it onto In woo’s face when he and Dong sik met up yesterday.
“But how about we change the ending a bit? We can have the lion rip the ass to shreds.”
The workers went silent.
“Ah,.. like a horror movie!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
No matter how powerful Seo in woo was in his current position in the company, this was a terrible idea for an ad campaign and someone had to say something. None of his other bumbling co workers seemed to want to disagree with their boss, so Dong sik decided to take that responsibility on himself.
“Yeah, how about no?” The trio behind Dong sik seemed shocked and nervously mumbled to themselves hoping that the Director wouldn’t have too negative of a reaction to what Dong sik was about to say.
“No?” The amused expression on In woo’s face spurred him on.
“Yeah, actually, that’s a terrible idea. If anything an ad like that is going to drive the public away. What the heck are you thinking? We’re a stock company, do something normal like an aesthetically pleasing minimalistic design or something.”
A smile couldn’t help but make its way onto In woo’s face. He may now know that Dong sik was just some idiot who happened to have a stroke of bad luck by stumbling upon In woo’s diary and getting amnesia soon after, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most amusing people he’s ever met. It may be the fact that Dong sik believes he’s some notorious killer or the fact that Seo in woo has only ever treated him kindly, to a certain extent, but he seems to be one of the only people that dare stand up to or say anything against him.
“Perhaps you’re right,” the murmurs behind Dong sik got louder “That type of advertisement would typically only be appropriate for haunted houses or horror movies wouldn’t it?” Dong sik gave a curt nod in response which only made In woo smile wider “Well, I appreciate the feedback. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can help you folk with. Keep up the good work.” and with that, the Director was gone from the office causing everyone in the surrounding area to finally be able to relax.
Well. He took that better than expected.
“Joo Young Min.” Young min looked up from where he was tied up and gagged on the floor. Beads of sweat dripped down his pale face, the terror extremely apparent. The screams from behind the gag grew louder the closer the man stepped.
“Aww, look at you. So scared and helpless. Your money and power aren’t helping you now are they?” Dong sik crouched down and looked at Young min in the eyes.
“Y’know, Seo in woo, he really likes to kill the weak ones. They die and the world forgets about them in a few weeks. Sad really.” A small sarcastic pout made its way onto his face. Usually, Dong sik held a little empathy for the innocent people, but at the moment, he was too far gone into his dark mind to show any kind of remorse for those who died by In woo’s hand.
“But,” Dong sik took a large knife out of his pocket and held it up for the rich heir to see “I don’t share the same pleasure killing those types of people.” The office worker could see Young min’s body shaking from the anticipation of what was about to come.
“People like you, who think they’re powerful, who throw around their daddy’s name to get a foot over people in life. People who the world seems to actually give a shit about.” Dong sik held the knife up to the quivering jugular of the man in front of him “It’s people like you who I appear to hate the most. Their screams are my absolute favorite to listen to.”
Screams filled the entirety of the abandoned warehouse in a last attempt to notify anyone in the surrounding area of what was about to take place in a few seconds. Unfortunately for the smug bastard, no one would come to rescue him no matter how loud he screamed.
Dong sik smiled widely. A delighted, carefree smile that, in any other situation would have been uplifting. But in this circumstance, it meant the end of a life.
“Bye, bye~.”
“What? Joo Young min is dead?”