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Recently, the police station’s situation room had started accepting reports via text messages.
However, since it was still a rare occurrence, Sergeant Kang Hanna looked a bit perplexed.
“Is it a situation where making a report by phone is difficult?”
Upon hearing her muttering, Haejun checked the reported location on the navigation system.
Then, he naturally began to act as though he were her protector.
“Luckily, the reported location isn’t far from us.”
“Yes. It’s an apartment in this studio apartment complex. Turn right over there.”
“But if someone is reporting via text, could it be a serious situation?”
“That’s usually the case... But, you know well, too, Haejun-ssi. We often get reports of people peeking into other people’s homes in this area.”
“...That’s true.”
“It probably isn’t anything major... But it’s bothering me that the person reported it by text. And there’s also the fact that someone was wearing a raincoat even though it’s not raining... Let’s get there as quickly as possible.”
Screeeech-!
Shortly afterward, the patrol car Haejun was driving arrived at the reported location.
When they got out of the car, they saw an old, worn-out apartment building that looked at least 30 years old.
On one of the floors, there were a total of four units.
As they approached the entrance, Kang Hanna quickly walked in first and asked,
“It was unit 102, right?”
“Yes.”
“If it’s unit 102... it’s here.”
Finally, standing in front of unit 102, Kang Hanna immediately pressed the doorbell.
Bzzzzt-
The doorbell made a groaning sound as if it had been a long time since it was last used.
However, even after waiting for a while, there was no response from inside.
Instead of pressing the doorbell again, Kang Hanna knocked on the door with a soft *tok-tok* sound.
“Hello? This is the Heukseon Police Station. Is the person who reported the incident inside?”
It was only after she asked this that the sound of a lock being unlatched from inside could be heard.
Next,
Creak-
The door opened about an inch, making an old, creaking noise.
Through the crack, a young man in his early thirties cautiously peeked out.
“Hello. Are you the resident of Unit 102?”
“Yes, that’s right. But why is the police here...?”
“Well... You reported to the 112 control room earlier. You said someone wearing a raincoat was peeping into your house.”
“Me?”
“Yes, exactly 12 minutes ago.”
“I didn’t report anything.”
Kang Hanna’s face turned puzzled at the young man’s confused expression.
‘Did the reporter make a mistake because they were nervous? Or was it just a prank call?’
For now, Kang Hanna thought she should contact the command center again.
They would have the reporter’s phone number.
“Um... I worked a late shift yesterday, so I’m really tired right now. If it’s nothing serious, can I go back in and sleep?”
“Um... Just one more thing. Do you live here alone? Could it be that someone else living here made the report?”
“I live here alone. This is such a small studio apartment that I can’t afford to live with anyone else. It’s probably someone from another unit who made the report.”
The man rubbed his sleepy eyes and spoke.
Kang Hanna had many more questions she wanted to ask, but she had no choice but to nod for now.
Without a warrant, they couldn’t enter someone’s house if they weren’t the person who filed the report.
It was right to first contact the command room, verify everything properly, and then visit again.
“Well then, take care.”
With that, the man closed the front door.
But then it happened.
“Excuse me... What are you doing?”
The man asked with a slightly flustered look on his face.
It was because Haejun was holding onto the door handle and hadn’t let go.
Due to his overwhelming strength, the man couldn’t close the door even a bit.
“Haejun-ssi... What are you doing all of a sudden...?”
Kang Hanna, with wide eyes like a rabbit, asked that, but Haejun was hearing Suho’s voice.
[That man. He is not the owner of this house.]
***
A little while ago, when Kang Hanna was talking with the man from apartment 102.
Haejun was having a conversation with Suho behind him.
[I saw something strange through the crack of the door that just opened.]
‘Something strange? What was it?’
[The front door shoe cabinet was pink.]
‘...And?’
[It was a stylish shoe cabinet that looked recently bought. And there was a fresh bouquet of flowers placed on top of it.]
‘............’
[It’s almost unheard of for a man living alone to buy a pink shoe cabinet. And a man who says he came home after working late last night brings a bouquet of flowers into the house? Doesn’t that seem odd? Is that man really the owner of unit 102?]
Suho’s words were plausible.
However, if other officers had heard this, they would likely dismiss it as nonsense.
After all, there were people with unique tastes in the world.
A man could very well like a pink shoe cabinet and a bouquet of flowers, couldn’t he?
So, suspecting the man in unit 102 based on these clues alone would be too far-fetched.
Above all, the man in unit 102, with his sleepy eyes crusted with eye gunk, looked genuinely exhausted.
If this man was lying, he deserved to win the Best Actor award at a film festival.
‘Is that all?’
[I’m not done yet. A fresh diffuser scent is wafting through the crack in the door. Women usually prefer this kind of light fragrance.]
‘That sounds like nonsense. There are men like me who also like light fragrances.’
[More importantly, there’s a decisive clue. Look at the garbage bag placed right in front of the door.]
Suho pointed to the garbage bag in front of unit 102’s door.
The tied-up bag seemed to have been placed there to be taken out soon.
[You can see tissues tangled with long hair sticking out from under the knot of the garbage bag. But the man in front of us right now has very short hair.]
‘........’
[If you still don’t believe me, rip open that garbage bag right now. You’ll probably find things like used cotton pads or mascara-stained cotton swabs—women’s products. When you put all these clues together, it’s clear that a woman lives in this house. This is not that man’s house! I’m a ghost attached to you, so I can’t go inside, but if I could, I’d prove to you that I’m right!]
Suho shouted with an extremely excited expression.
Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Haejun’s lips.
‘Not bad.’
***
In fact, just a moment ago, Haejun had noticed something suspicious the moment the man from Unit 102 opened the front door.
As a mercenary, his job was to carry out missions and survive by quickly assessing situations and sensing or detecting the real-time conditions on the ground.
So, the first thing he did was to take a quick glance at the contents of the trash bag from Unit 102.
However, instead of immediately sharing his observations, Haejun decided to silently listen to what Suho had to say.
He wanted to test how useful Suho would be, and how sharp his observation skills were.
If Suho couldn’t pick up on something this obvious, Haejun was even considering suggesting to the souls to replace him as his guide.
‘Up until now, you have been quite an unreliable guide, but now I see you’re actually quite useful.’
Even though it was the first time Haejun had complimented him since they met, Suho didn’t smile.
He was more surprised that Haejun already knew what he had deduced.
[You had already noticed...]
Moreover, Haejun, through his extensive experience, had also picked up on this detail:
‘Should I tell you one more thing?’
[?]
‘Do you hear the sound of the wind?’
[...The sound of the wind?]
‘If the wind is blowing this strongly through the crack of an open door, it means one of two things: either the window is wide open, or that man broke the window and entered this one-room apartment by force.’
[........!]
‘The informant definitely said that someone in a raincoat was peeking through the window. Would that same person have left the window wide open?’
[........!]
‘Of course not. This clearly means that guy broke the window and came inside.’
[So, we must hurry inside! The victim is probably bound and restrained right now! It could be an urgent situation!]
‘I was already planning to do that.’
Haejun responded as he prepared to storm into Room 102.
But at that moment, Suho stopped him.
[You’re a police officer now, not a mercenary.]
‘So what?’
[So, you need to go in as a police officer.]
‘As a police officer....?’
[Tell the man in Room 102: “As of this moment, I am arresting you as a flagrant trespasser.” Just like that.]
***
When Suho finished speaking, the man in Room 102 was frantically pulling on the doorknob with a flustered expression.
“Let go of this! Why are you bothering someone who’s tired?!”
“Y-Yes, Haejun-ssi. Let’s just release the doorknob and confirm with the control room first.....”
“Just because you’re police, you think you can barge into someone’s house like this?! You need a wake-up call!”
As the man in Room 102 raised his voice, Haejun suddenly gave a sinister smile.
It was an expression that puzzled everyone.
Next, he threw a bomb at the man in Room 102.
“Hey, you bastard.”
“Wha... what? Bastard?”
“Why the hell are you in someone else’s house?”
At Haejun’s sudden outburst, both Kang Hanna and the man in Room 102 were stunned.
Just a moment ago, they had been having a peaceful conversation as police and an ordinary citizen.
But someone else’s house? What was he talking about?
“Wha... what do you mean...? Th-this is my house...!”
“Haejun-ssi! What are you talking about all of a sudden!?”
Suho was equally bewildered.
[Didn’t I tell you to just repeat what I said! No one deals with criminals like that these days!]
‘...But everyone does it like this on TV?’
[That only happens in dramas! Just keep repeating after me! You have the right to remain silent, and you may refuse to answer questions that may be used against you! You have the right to an attorney, and anything you say from now on may be used against you in a court of law!]
It was the Miranda right that police were required to give when arresting someone in the act.
But once again, Haejun delivered the Miranda right “in his own way.”
“From now on, I’m arresting you for breaking and entering. If you resist, I’ll break your arms and legs, so it’s better if you cooperate.”
“..........!”
“But I’ll allow you the right to keep your mouth shut. I’ll also allow you to refuse to make any incriminating statements, and even to hire a lawyer. But it would be wise not to run your mouth carelessly. Because anything you say from now on could make things much worse for you in court.”
At Haejun’s overwhelming words, the man from Unit 102 turned pale.
Kang Hanna had the same expression.
The way Haejun was behaving now was definitely different from before.
‘...Is this really the Haejun-ssi I knew...?’
But the moment she saw the man from Unit 102 trembling, Kang Hanna had a gut feeling.
As Haejun had said, the man in front of them was not the owner of this house.
And in the next moment,
Snap-!
Haejun roughly grabbed the front door handle and yanked it open.
“Ugh!”
The man from Unit 102, who had been hiding behind the door, was dragged out and tumbled onto the hallway floor.
Next, the door swung wide open, revealing the scene beyond the entrance—a narrow studio apartment.
And at that moment,
“Gasp...!”
A gasp of shock escaped Kang Hanna’s mouth before she could stop herself.
