Chapter 6

Seo-jun and Detective Kim walked out of the hospital, feeling a chill from the change in temperature as they left the air-conditioned hospital and the outside, Detective Kim noticing his partner's unusually tense attitude, decided to break the silence.

—"Hey Seo-jun, what was that in there? You seemed quite uncomfortable with the doctor." — Seo-jun stopped, looking at Kim with a disgusted expression and answers —Kim, that man... I don't want to jump to conclusions just from a first impression, but based on my experience I think that guy is a psychopath. And I'm not talking about those who just don't care about anyone. I'm talking about the ones who are truly scary."

Kim couldn't help but let out a small laugh, more out of disbelief than amusement. —"A psychopath? Dr. Min? What makes you think that?" —Seo-jun took a deep breath, and with a serious tone said —"Because I've met one of those before. I know how they behave. They are charming, charismatic. They attract people like moths to the light. They always know what to say, how to act. They are perfect in public, but in private... they are monsters."

Kim, noticing the seriousness in Seo-jun's voice, stopped smiling. —"Seo-jun... Do you have a history with that person?"

Seo-jun closed his eyes, allowing the memories to flood over him.

[Flashback]

A young 12-year-old Seo-jun was running around the backyard of his house. His family was gathered together, his mother was preparing the meal, his father was chatting animatedly on the phone with his coworker, his little sister was playing with her dolls. And there he was, Seo-jun's cousin, his mother's nephew Jae-min, he was about 19 years old.

Jae-min was the center of attention, always with a charming smile and a kind word for everyone. He was Seo-jun's hero, Jae-min's role model was handsome, tall and studying to be a pediatrician, he was seen by everyone in the village as the perfect young man and he He was appreciated for being a grateful young man to his adoptive parents who were his aunt, Seo-jun's mother, and his uncle-in-law, Seo-jun's father, his aunt's husband.

But one day, everything changed. Seo-jun, excited, was looking for his cousin to play basketball with at the village court, searching everywhere and finding him in a shed. There, Jae-min was raping a 16-year-old girl from the neighborhood. The horror of the scene paralyzed Seo-jun.

Jae-min, realizing Seo-jun's presence, manipulated the boy into silence, subtly threatening him. Fear sealed Seo-jun's lips, and from that moment on his hero became a monster who tormented him in private while maintaining his public facade.

Three years later, Seo-jun, now 15, again witnessed Jae-min abusing another girl, this time only 13 years old. Unable to bear it any longer, Seo-jun gathered the courage to tell his mother.

At first, she didn't believe him, but the anxiety in her son's eyes convinced her to confront Jae-min. The confrontation ended in tragedy. Jae-min, finding himself discovered, tortured and killed Seo-jun's mother in front of her eyes. He then tried to kill Seo-jun, but his father arrived from his patrol job just in time to save him.

[End of Flashback]

The scene returned to the present. Seo-jun and Detective Kim were standing in silence. Kim was visibly shaken, his face pale and his eyes filled with a mix of horror and compassion. Seeing his inner conflict, Seo-jun told him, —"Just don't be fooled by the doctor. I hope I'm wrong, but we better be careful. Just from what I've seen today, I think he's our killer. But, in this job, we can't just go by what we believe. We need proof."

Kim, still processing the story, nodded slowly and said, —"Seo-jun, I… I'm so sorry. I had no idea, I won't let my guard down, I'm really sorry about your family." —Seo-jun replies —"It's okay, Kim. I've gotten over it, but thank you anyway."

They both said goodbye and headed to their respective cars. As Seo-jun sits behind the wheel, the image of his mother appears again in his thoughts, his mother's beauty and joy is replaced by the memories of that fateful day. The sirens of the ambulance, the heartbreaking pain, the betrayal. His cousin being arrested as he looks at him with a macabre smile, his father mourning the death of his wife while being interrogated, his sister in disbelief at what happened during his absence.

Seo-jun is completely lost in his own meditation and while he is in that state he turns on his car and heads off towards his house.

Seo-jun arrived at his apartment, exhausted from the long day. As he walked up to his apartment and entered, he dropped his keys on the small table in the entryway and headed to the couch to collapse on it. Just as he was about to close his eyes, his phone rang. It was his sister, Hye-jin.

—"Hi Jin-jin, is everything okay?" —Seo-jun asked, shifting his position to be more comfortable. —"Oppa! I just wanted to tell you about my day. Guess what? My friends and I are going on a blind date this weekend." —Seo-jun frowned, his protective older brother instincts immediately kicking in. —"Jin-jin, you know I don't like you going to things like that. It can be dangerous." —Hye-jin rebutted, —"Oppa, don't be so old-fashioned. We'll be in a public place and we're a group. Nothing will happen."

—"Still, I don't think it's a good idea, but you're grown up now, just promise me you'll be careful and call me if anything weird happens."

—"Yeah, yeah, I promise. Stop worrying so much," Hye-jin replied, her tone a mix of exasperation and affection.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Seo-jun hung up, sighing deeply. He'd barely had time to process the call when his phone rang again. Thinking it was Hye-jin again, he answered without looking at the number.

—"What's up now, Hye-jin?"

—"Excuse me, am I speaking to Detective Lin Seo-jun?" an unfamiliar male voice answered, Seo-jun straightened up, alert. —"Yes, it's me. Who's speaking?"

—"My name is Lee Min-ho. I'm... well, let's just say I'm a computer expert. I've been following the Unknown Vigilante case and I think you and I could collaborate."

Seo-jun narrowed his eyes, feeling suspicious, and asked. —"How did you get my number?"

Min-ho chuckled nervously. —"Well, that's one of the reasons I think I can be useful. I'm pretty good at finding information. I've been investigating this case on my own and I have data that might interest you."

—"Are you a hacker?" —Seo-jun asked, straight to the point.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. —"I prefer the term 'computer security specialist.' But yes, I do have skills that could be considered... borderline legal." —Seo-jun ran a hand through his hair, considering his options. On one hand, collaborating with a hacker could be risky and potentially illegal. On the other, if Min-ho really did have valuable information...

—"Okay, I'm curious. How about we meet tomorrow at noon- to discuss this in person?"

—"Perfect!" —Min-ho exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement. —"I'll send you the address of a discreet cafe. See you tomorrow, Detective."

Seo-jun hangs up the phone, feeling a little strange, things are getting surreal for him, today he has met the kind of person he has avoided the most in his life, who is now his main suspect in his case and now a hacker falls out of the sky who seems to be an amateur at solving crimes, if he were told, he wouldn't believe it.

The alarm clock rang at 6:00 AM, jolting Seo-jun out of a restless sleep. He got up, went through his morning routine, and while making his coffee, called his sister Hye-jin.

—"Good morning, Jin-jin. How are you?"

—"Okay, oppa. Don't worry so much about the blind date and it's not the weekend," —Hye-jin replied, anticipating her brother's concern.

—"Just be careful, okay? Call me if you need anything," —Seo-jun insisted before hanging up.

Seo-jun left his house, the cool morning air clearing away the last vestiges of sleep. As he drove to the police station, he mentally reviewed the details of the case. Upon arrival, he greeted his colleagues with a friendly but distracted nod. Detective Kim was waiting for him by the coffee machine.

—"Good morning, Seo-jun. Ready for the meeting with the Captain?" —Kim asked, offering him a cup.

Seo-jun nodded, thanking him for the coffee. —"Yes, we have a lot to discuss."

The two of them headed to Captain Park's office, where the mood immediately turned serious.

—"Well, gentlemen," —the Captain began, —"bring me up to date. What progress have we made on the case?"

Kim spoke first. —"We've been analyzing the patterns of the victims, Captain. They all have criminal records, but were either acquitted or had their cases dismissed."

—"We already knew that," —the Captain said. —"Any other connections?"

Kim continued, —"We're still investigating, sir. For now, we've only come to the conclusion that the killer is a doctor."

The Captain nodded thoughtfully. —"I understand. Any other ideas?"

—"We don't have anything concrete yet, Captain," —Kim replied. —"But we are exploring all possibilities."

—"Do you have any suspects in mind?" —the Captain asked, looking at both detectives.

Kim cleared his throat. "For now, we are only considering doctors, more specifically surgeons in general as possible suspects, given the level of involvement in the murders."

Seo-jun took a deep breath before speaking. —"Captain," —he began, —"I have a suspect, it is Dr. Min Ji-hoon, he might be involved in the murders."

Captain Park frowned, studying Seo-jun closely. —"Why do you suspect Dr. Min, Seo-jun?"

Seo-jun hesitated for a moment, aware of Kim's gaze on him. —"It's just conjecture for now, Captain. I would rather not elaborate further until we have something more concrete."

The Captain leaned back in his chair, his expression serious. —"Seo-jun, we can't base an investigation on mere conjecture. We need something solid to legally investigate someone like Dr. Min."

He paused, looking directly at Seo-jun. —"I've reviewed your file, Seo-jun. I know about your past. I understand that you may have… particular sensitivities in cases like this. But you can't let your feelings cloud your judgment."

Seo-jun visibly tensed, but kept his composure.

The Captain continued, his tone softer. —"You need to find a solid reason to link Dr. Min to the investigation. Him being a surgeon is not enough reason. More, much more, is needed."

—"I understand, Captain," —Seo-jun replied, nodding slowly. —"I'll keep investigating and bring you concrete evidence."

—"Good," —the Captain concluded. —"Keep working on the case. I want regular updates. And Seo-jun, be careful. We don't want to alert our suspect, whoever he is."

After the meeting, Seo-jun headed to the cafe to meet with Min-ho, his mind still reeling from the Captain's words.

The shop was almost empty when he entered. In a corner, a nervous-looking young man with a laptop in front of him raised his hand timidly. Seo-jun walked over, studying Min-ho as he sat down.

—"Detective Lin," —Min-ho greeted, his voice barely a whisper. —"Thank you for coming."

Seo-jun was surprised. —"How did you recognize me?"

Min-ho smiled shyly. —"I know a lot about you and some bigwigs in the police. It's part of my… job." —Seo-jun nodded, intrigued. —"Fine. Show me what you got."

Min-ho turned his laptop toward Seo-jun. The screen displayed a complex web of connections between names and dates.

—"I've been tracking the murders since they started over 4 months ago," —Min-ho explained. —"All of the victims have criminal records, but they were either acquitted or their cases were dismissed on legal technicalities. But there's another common point that I think is crucial."

—"What is it?" —Seo-jun asked, leaning forward.

—"All of these criminals are famous, but in a bad way. Their crimes were revealed by the news, except for the last case. That woman had no media exposure, which leads me to believe that she was an accomplice of Park Sung-ho. The killer's modus operandi reveals that he usually goes for famous criminals exposed in the news."

Seo-jun nodded, processing the information. —"This confirms and reinforces our suspicions about this madman's tastes. What else do you have?"

—"The killer has a routine," —Min-ho continued, his confidence growing. —"He strikes on specific nights, near areas with little surveillance. And there's a pattern in the time between murders, 5 days, then 4, then 9. If you investigate how much time has passed between Park Sung-ho's murder and that woman, we'll know when the next one will be."

—"Looks like you've given me a big clue," —Seo-jun murmured. —"If he keeps up this routine and pace, we might be able to predict his next move. Now I have something concrete, I'll investigate the time difference between the last two murders as you suggested."

—"Okay," Min-ho nodded enthusiastically. —"But there's a risk in all this, if for some reason he changes his routine or pace of killings, he'll become unpredictable. And that would be very bad."

Seo-jun frowned, considering the implications. —"Min-ho, I need you to investigate someone else. Dr. Min Ji-hoon from Seoul Hospital."

Min-ho blinked in surprise. —"You want me to investigate a doctor? Why?"

—"Just a hunch," —Seo-jun replied, avoiding elaboration. —"Can you do it?"

—"Of course," Min-ho said, his fingers already flying over the keyboard. After a few minutes, he looked up. —"He seems to have an impeccable record. Graduated with honors, recognition for his work… nothing suspicious at first glance."

—"Do you think it's possible that a renowned surgeon could be the serial killer?" —Min-ho asked, curious.

Seo-jun stared at him and replied, —"Dr. Min is just a suspect for now, we have no way of directly linking him to the murders."

—"So, what's the next step?" —Min-ho asked.

—"We'll focus on studying the killer's routine better," —Seo-jun replied. —"We need to identify more of his patterns, his tastes, to better predict his future targets. If we can do that…"

—"They could set him up," —Min-ho finished, his eyes shining with excitement.

Seo-jun nodded, but his expression was serious. —"Exactly. But we must be extremely careful. This killer is clever. One mistake and we could lose him forever. The fact that his victims are usually those advertised on TV means that we can have a reliable list of potential targets. We'll start from there. Do you have a list of these people?"

—"I don't," —Min-ho replied, —"but I can create one in one night for you."

—"Fine, then I'll be waiting for that list," —Seo-jun said.

Seo-jun and Min-ho didn't see the time pass as they argued. The conversation flowed, revealing more details about the murders. Min-ho demonstrated an impressive knowledge of technology and information networks.

Suddenly, Seo-jun's phone rang, pulling him out of the conversation. It was his sister. Surprised by the time, he realized they had been talking for hours.

—"Sorry, Min-ho, I have to go," —Seo-jun said, standing up. —"You've been a great help. We'll meet tomorrow to go over that list, okay?"

Min-ho nodded enthusiastically. —"Of course, Detective. I'll have everything ready by then."