Chapter 18: The Second Death

Sooyoung’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the woman who hesitated to reveal who she was. Considering how the woman had asked whether they were from Saecheonmyeong, it seemed likely she belonged to the same apostates’ group as Jo In-ho.

And yet, Sooyoung couldn’t fully let go of her suspicions.

The woman’s eyes darted wildly from side to side before she squeezed them shut again. Tears leaked out through her eyelids. Letting out a short, strained breath, she weakly tapped the wall with her free hand.

“I—I’ll tell you. So p-please… let go of me.”

At her words, Si-eon’s dark brows twitched.

“And why should I trust you?”

“I’m not a thief!”

She shouted, sounding wronged.

“Then tell the truth. Who are you?”

Still, she didn’t answer right away. Sooyoung lowered her gaze from the woman and looked down instead, picking up the file folder that had fallen to the floor and checking its contents.

“…Why did you take this out of the apartment?”

The woman weakly tapped the wall again, curling her fingers.

“I-I’ll tell you if you let me go. I swear. I won’t run.”

At her pleading voice, Sooyoung looked toward Si-eon. His expression made it clear he wasn’t comfortable releasing someone who had come out of a house where a death had occurred just days ago.

Sooyoung took a step closer and spoke to the woman.

“We’ll let you go. Let’s just talk for a moment.”

“……”

“If you answer our questions properly, we won’t take you to the station.”

“Officer Han.”

At this point, the woman was no different from someone caught in the act. She had trespassed and taken items from another person’s home. And yet Sooyoung was offering to let her go.

Meeting Si-eon’s hardened expression, Sooyoung spoke calmly.

“She’s really not a thief.”

To the man who still looked unconvinced, Sooyoung slightly raised the file folder in her hand.

“She’s either a member of the Apostates Alliance—or a believer of Saecheonmyeong.”

At that, Si-eon finally released the arm he had twisted behind her back. As soon as the pressure disappeared, the woman collapsed to the floor.

“Ha…”

She rubbed her arm, grimacing in pain. Looking down at her, Sooyoung spoke again.

“Shall we talk now?”

The woman slowly lifted her gaze.

****

The woman kept fiddling with her wrist, which still seemed to ache from Si-eon’s grip. She glanced up briefly, her eyes still filled with suspicion.

Her lips puckered slightly before she finally broke the silence.

“…You really are police, right?”

Even after seeing the ID, she clearly hadn’t been fully convinced. Sooyoung opened her bag and took out her business card holder and documents one after another. She laid the papers on the table, then placed a single business card on top.

“I’m Han Sooyoung, a criminal profiler with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she reached out with both hands and picked up the stiff card. After checking the name and affiliation, her expression finally softened—just a little.

But Si-eon, seated across from her, still regarded her with open suspicion. Under his sharp gaze, she gnawed at her lower lip and dropped her eyes.

Sooyoung took a steady breath before asking,

“May I have your name?”

“M-me?”

After hesitating, the woman parted her lips.

“…I—I’m Lee Jia.”

“Ms. Lee Jia.”

“…Yes.”

“Ms. Lee, you’re a member of the Apostates Alliance, correct?”

Her eyes flew open, the tremor in her pupils unmistakable. Jia swallowed hard and pressed her lips together before finally nodding up and down.

“How did you get into that apartment?”

Unlike Sooyoung’s careful tone, Si-eon asked bluntly.

“…Team Leader.”

At the coercive tone, Sooyoung shot him a sharp look. He was staring at Jia with a cold gaze, as if conducting an interrogation.

The hand that had been nervously fiddling with the business card froze.

“Well, um…”

After glancing at them nervously, Jia spoke.

“…As you saw earlier, there were documents in Uncle In-ho’s apartment—records of 피해 cases involving Apostates Alliance members. I went in to retrieve them. Until yesterday, there was police tape, so I couldn’t enter.”

She wasn’t lying. The file folder she’d dropped was filled with exactly the kind of victim reports she described.

“Where did you get the key?”

Jia wiped the tears streaming down her face with the back of her hand.

“Our members each made copies, just in case something happened. I used that key to get inside.”

Sooyoung’s brow furrowed slightly.

“By ‘just in case,’ do you mean an attack from Saecheonmyeong?”

“Yes. Because we filed charges against Lee Young-se, we’ve been threatened constantly by Saecheonmyeong believers. We thought… we never knew when something might happen.”

Jia wiped her tears again and looked up. With bloodshot eyes, she glanced between the two of them before asking in a shaky voice,

“B-but… why are the police here? I heard the case was closed—as a suicide.”

Her eyes trembled violently.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she suddenly straightened in her chair. Her eyes widened far beyond normal, and she asked again, her voice rising with agitation.

“Did you find something? Evidence?”

At her question, Sooyoung replied quietly,

“Evidence of what?”

“That he was murdered.”

There was certainty in the word murder.

Sooyoung studied her expression, then lowered her gaze. On the table, Jia’s clasped hands were trembling uncontrollably.

“Ms. Lee… do you believe Jo In-ho was murdered?”

Jia nodded vigorously.

“He wasn’t the kind of person who’d kill himself. He wouldn’t have ended his life in such a brutal way.”

Tears pooled in her reddened eyes.

“And why do you think that?” Si-eon asked flatly.

Jia bit down hard on her trembling lips before speaking.

“…Uncle In-ho was like the spiritual pillar of our group. He always said he’d never give up. That he wouldn’t die until Saecheonmyeong—and Lee Young-se—paid for their crimes.”

She wiped her tears again.

“…And you’re saying someone like that wrote a suicide note and killed himself? That’s impossible.”

“Then why didn’t you tell the police?”

“I did! But they said there were no signs of homicide at all… that it was clearly a suicide. And that the case would be closed that way.”

Jia sniffed.

“Have there been any recent death threats?”

“…We always receive death threats. But no one had ever come in person to hurt us. Not until now.”

The Saecheonmyeong that Sooyoung knew was highly collective by nature. Individuals didn’t act alone. Everything moved by Lee Young-se’s will—and for his sake.

“But it is strange. Not long after Uncle In-ho died, Uncle Jin-seok died too…”

Si-eon, who had been leaning back, leaned closer to the table.

“Jin-seok? Who is that? Are you saying someone else died?”

“He was also a member of the Apostates Alliance… Two days ago, he went on a hiking trip with a group and died from a fall.”

“A fall?”

“…Yes. That’s why I was trying to retrieve those documents. If they disappeared… everyone would be in danger.”

“Are you certain it was an accidental fall?”

“…Yes. He was found near a cliff, and the fire department and police both said it looked that way.”

Deaths by accidental falls were often not reported in the news. They were more common than people realized—frequent, unfortunate accidents.

But now, members of the Apostates Alliance were dying one after another.

It could be coincidence.
But it was far too unsettling to dismiss as mere chance.

—

‘We, the Apostates Alliance, are here today to expose the true nature of Lee Young-se, leader of Saecheonmyeong.’

—

They were people who had united to reveal the truth about Saecheonmyeong—and its leader, Lee Young-se—to the world.

“…Ah… there is something I heard at the funeral.”

“What was it?”

“They said no one witnessed the accident. Not a single person.”

No witnesses?

For a simple accident, that was entirely possible.

But if it were an intentional killing—

“Ms. Lee Jia.”

If this wasn’t an accident, then it was only a matter of time before the next victim appeared.

_____________________________________________

‘Catching the culprit is important. But preventing further victims is just as much our responsibility.’

_____________________________________________

For a brief moment, Sooyoung recalled the words Si-eon had once said.