Chapter Text
– A few days later, Seoul Police Headquarters
DAYTIME, Morning
I arrived at Seoul Police Headquarters. It’s been a while since I last came here. I took a deep breath from the entrance and went in.
To human eyes, this place is nothing special except that it has an old sign which reads <Special Investigation Team>. But to me, it has a very special sign with the three clear letters: < M. I. U. > written on it.
A familiar, yet still strange, sight caught my eyes as I entered after taking a deep breath. It took me 14 years to return here. So of course I stood there dumbly at the entrance without so much as a word.
And of course the busy crowd turned their attention around to me.
The long and black haired man standing furthest from the crowd walked towards me and smiled broadly.
“Long time, no see. You have no idea how happy I was to hear of your return.”
Myeong Hwi. The most familiar of faces I know.
“Long time no see,” I returned his smile, “I see you are now… Captain.” The gold button on the lapel of his suit as black as his hair twinkled at me.
“Only happened a few months back.” Always so humble. Then somehow his eyes were apologetic. “I was too swamped to keep in touch more often. I’d love to catch up, but I'm afraid we have to get right to work.”
“I’m fine,” I cast a reassuring look to my longest friend, “Arresting the suspect is our job.”
Hwi’s smile was thankful. “Yes,” he pulled a lanyard from the nearest desk. “Here, take your HQ ID badge.”
Min Sehee. My name, typed out, justified and neat.
“Thank you.”
"In 10 minutes we will start the case briefing, so take your time and introduce yourself. Some are new, but most of them you already know."
"Sure."
I began with two familiar faces. “Long time no see.”
I glanced at them both. They seem the total opposite of each other. “I see you two haven’t changed at all.”
“Wow, that’s depressing to hear.”
Senior Officer Kang Joonseo and the ever-present air of cheekiness that always seems to follow him. “I thought I changed loads.”
“Not even the slightest.” I couldn't resist teasing him. He is, after all, centuries my junior. “He definitely has the eyes of a snake. Who would believe that he’s actually the mighty Sangun of the mountains ?”
Joonseo grinned a grin that made crescents of his eyes. “Ah, well, I can't help it. The mighty Sangun* never ceases to be great.”
“You wish. You are still a baby cub,” I said.
“Still better than a puppy with a bell collar,” Joonseo said pointedly in the direction behind me.
“Hahaha…” as I turned around with an awkward laugh, a man with a serious expression on his face stood before me.
He said nothing at Joonseo’s remark, though I could've sworn I heard a growl.
“It’s been a while, Lieutenant Lee,” I said.
Lieutenant Lee Geonwook’s expression softened.
“Yes, sure has been,” he said, easing into a smile. Despite his large build he looks a lot less intimidating this way, though the untrained eye might swear he was still scowling.
“...I was surprised to hear the news,” Geonwook started.
“As was I, for a different reason,” I said. “I… can’t believe that happened.”
“It’s a tragic case,” his eyebrows creased, “It was an even bigger shock since nobody expected it.”
“I suppose so…”
“Ah, you two have never met, right?”
I turned to the investigator standing next to Geonwook. The new face.
“Yes, I believe we haven’t,” I said.
“This is Sergeant Kim. We have been working together for months now.”
I stood before a lady who seemed experienced. She looked at me with her odd coloured eyes, with a calm expression.
“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Sergeant Kang Hyunjoo,” she greeted me with a smile that seemed to soften her sharp cheekbones. I involuntarily beamed back.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lieutenant Min Sehee. I look forward to working together.”
“Likewise.”
I think my smile might have been contagious. Her eyes sparkled gently along with her smile.
“Now that we’ve all said hi, let’s go into the briefing room and get you up to speed.”
“Of course.”
We all went into the briefing room. Captain Hwi entered last.
“Everyone said hi to each other?”
“Yes sir,” Joonseo said, grinning. “It’s been so long, we gave her a warm welcome.” He stretched his hand out across the meeting room table at me, expecting me to hold it. I slapped his palm.
“Alright. I’ll start the case briefing right away,” Hwi said.
“Yes,” I said.
Hwi loaded the files on the screen.
“Two days ago in Sillim District, a member of the Mystic Investigation Unit team was found dead.”
Hwi paused.
A sombre silence filled the room.
Hwi continued. He displayed the official report side-by-side with our unit’s. The contrast between the titles was clear as day.
“The press calls it the Sillim District police murder case . Internally, we call it the Gumwa Mystic murder case –”
“Funny how Mystic is written as Taek in Chinese, although it used to be Mei .” Joonseo’s voice popped out of nowhere. Even Hwi halted. “Mei is actually… the letter used for those petty goblins . How could they use it for us…?”
I should really stop him from talking, but I want to see where he’s going with this sudden tangent. Joonseo continued as we let him talk.
“I mean, the humans used to fear us. They thought of us as Sanshin , or mythical creatures ,” he said. “But now we’re forced to pretend we’re humans, fitting into their lives . What’s the point of it all–”
“Yes. I understand what you’re saying.” Hwi cut Joonseo off.
Joonseo hummed in response. Hwi ignored him and continued on.
“Given that only Mystics can see other Mystics, and that humans can’t physically harm Mystics … this is a serious case.” Hwi’s eyes hardened. “Among us Mystics, one has killed its own.”
I couldn't ignore the unsettling feeling deep in my stomach.
Hyunjoo spoke. “As you already know, cases that involved Mystic were mostly assaults that resulted in injuries . There has never been a case where a Mystic killed another Mystic.”
I glanced at Hyunjoo and considered that.
“Or… maybe it happened before, but we just didn’t know about it,” Hwi said.
“That is always a possibility,” I said. “Then how did the MIU end up with this one?”
Hwi turned the slide to the next page. What appeared on the screen was a photo of a pale corpse and a dead toad. And the toad had been painted gold . I contemplated the photograph in silence.
“As you’ve already heard, the dead cop was a Gumwa**. The toad carcass painted in gold next to the corpse suggests that whoever did this already knew he was a Gumwa Mystic .”
“Then do you have any idea what the suspect’s motives are?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. We have no idea what the suspect wants yet,” Hwi replied.
A thought crept up to me. “Is someone trying to let the world know about the existence of Mystics?”
“My, my, this is getting spooky.” Joonseo smirked.
“But I do think you have a point,” Hwi turned to me.
I pursed my lips. “...This is a very scary person.”
Hwi nodded. “Yes. Judging from the scene, this may not be the first time the culprit did this. On top of that, the crime scene is rather… unnatural.”
“Was it staged?”
“Something like that. I believe the corpse was moved.” Moved ?
“I’ve collated all the data, but why don’t you check the scene and the autopsy lab again yourself? We need your skills and a fresh pair of eyes,” he smiled as he mentioned my skills .
“Sure.”
I headed to the crime scene with my team.
– Year 20XX, Autumn. Seoul Gwanak District Crime Scene
The scene was in an alleyway full of bars and pubs. Though it was daytime, the place felt dark and desolate.
The narrow alleyway of the crime scene was located next to a café that seemed especially more isolated. I scanned the place in silence.
“This is it,” Joonseo said.
There was no one else near the scene besides us. It was as if the street was completely empty during the day.
“I barely see anyone around here…”
“It’s quite lively at night, but it seems to be empty during the day.”
“The suspect abandoned the corpse here…?”
Joonseo let out a morbid laugh. “What an awful person.”
I searched around the area while talking with Joonseo.
“You should head inside to take a look,” he said.
“Yes, I suppose so.”
I prepared to enter the scene. The patrol officer at the scene saluted us.
“Thank you.”
The officer wasn’t a Mystic, so we had to be careful not to let anything slip by.
I carefully stepped over the police line to take a closer look. The blood and chalk outlines are still left on the floor. I examined the scene closely.
“Are you working on this alone, Lieutenant?”
“Oh–you–!”
Joonseo quietly sneaked up on me. I couldn't hide my surprise. Joonseo grinned at my reaction. I pulled him closer to my height. The blood on the floor looked muddy in comparison to his bright crimson irises.
“Senior Officer Kang.”
“Yup, Joonseo here at your service.” Joonseo flashed a cheeky smile and a mock salute.
I glanced over at him and whispered softly.
“I need to tell you…” I asked my question as I lowered my voice. “Joonseo, did you try tracking this?”
“Yes, of course.” Joonseo also lowered his voice as he answered. “You never had the chance to see it, so here. I’ll show you. It was so messy with all the footprints.”
He smiled and held his hand up. Then he placed his hand on the floor, and blue light shone out of his hand. Under the glow of the light, the footprints on the floor were revealed. Countless footprints were overlapping each other.
“Ta-da, so many footprints on the scene.”
There are too many footprints mixed up together to be able to track the right one.
“It’s going to be too difficult for me to track the perp. Above all, there are more people walking through every night, overlapping and erasing the previous footsteps,” he said.
“Tiger cub, Kang Joonseo. When will you grow up…” I teased him lightly, “You need to grow up faster so that you can track something like this more quickly and accurately.”
Joonseo met my smile with his own. “Well? I guess I need to train more with Sanshin, the mountain god,” Joonseo replied in a cheeky voice.
Hyunjoo and Hwi caught up with us in a few brisk steps. “We followed the footprints Joonseo showed us, but it seems like the perp has already fled far away.” Hyunjoo stood next to us and started to explain. “As you can see, it was hard for us to track the suspect. Here, this is the extra report.”
Hyunjoo took a tablet to show me the crime scene photos. I compared the photos at the time it happened, and what is left now. …Hmm.
“We've already gone through it several times and gotten used to it… how about you? What do you think?” Hwi asked.
I scanned through the scene and the photos. In the photo, there were quite a few people in the scene. But now, there was almost an entire neighbourhood of people missing.
“I see that there is a huge difference in the number of people… Is it possible the body was moved in the morning?
“Maybe. According to the autopsy, it had been a while since the time of death.”
“Does that mean the suspect owns a building and a vehicle that can be used to take care of the corpse?”
“Judging from the rigour mortis, it is highly possible the body was moved around. Then, the suspect must have his own space, to use as his working room .”
“Was there any other evidence left by the suspect?”
“We’ve looked through the crime scene, but couldn't track anything, even with Lieutenant Lee or Senior Officer Kang’s powers.”
The Lieutenant Lee in question silently crossed his arms. He stared at the red string strapped around his wrist, which had tiny bells attached.
“Any witnesses?” I asked.
“We have been asking around. But there were not many surveillance cameras nearby and no one saw anything.”
“Then… do you have any more information about the corpse?” I asked.
“Doctor Shin should know more about that. So what do you think, Lieutenant Min?”
“Pardon?”
“Any more questions?” Hwi always knew I'd never leave a question unasked.
“Yes, I have one.”
“Shoot.”
“In the crime scene…”
As I began to ask,
“How is everyone doing?”
A soft and very gentle voice spoke to us.
“Look who it is, Mr. Hyun!” Hwi exclaimed.