Chapter 1: Bleeding Into Yesterday

It was a Saturday night.

The city’s nightscape was reflected in the puddles left by the rain that had fallen all afternoon.

The scenery, which had been mirroring the dazzling neon signs, was soon crushed under tires with a heavy squelch.

 

The ambulance doors opened, accompanied by sirens signaling an emergency.

 

“What’s the patient’s status?”

The ER doctor on standby reached toward the gurney and asked.

 

“A stab wound to the abdomen.

Heavy bleeding.”

At the paramedic’s explanation, the doctor’s gaze swept over the patient on the bed.

A bright red tint was visible through the hastily wrapped hemostatic bandage over the clothes.

That was not a good sign.

 

“Last check showed 80 over 40, pulse 130.”

The paramedic reported the patient’s vitals.

 

The doctor looked at the patient’s face.

It was thin and pale.

Still young in age.

 

“Was the weapon removed at the scene?”

His eyes, having scanned the face, returned to the wound without hesitation.

 

Despite the abdominal stab, the weapon that caused it was nowhere to be seen.

In such cases, it would have been better if it were still embedded.

 

“No.

It wasn’t there from the beginning.”

A sigh was inevitable, followed by an explanation.

 

The gurney was pushed forcefully into the ER, and because voices were barely audible over the commotion, they had to repeat themselves several times at high volume.

 

“Bed 11 is empty.”

Nurses came running.

 

“One, two!”

After skillfully transferring the patient, multiple hands descended at once.

 

“I’ll get a line in.

Please prepare a warm cell line.”

“Ready.”

“Run it wide open at 2 liters.”

“Yes.”

At the ER doctor’s order, a nurse grabbed one of the dangling IV bags.

 

“Mr. Kim!”

“Yes!”

“Curtain!”

A nurse who had rushed over drew the curtain.

 

The paramedic who had transported the patient let out a breath.

His heart was pounding violently.

 

“Sergeant Lee!”

The paramedic turned around.

It was a familiar face.

A man who came almost running with a grave expression grabbed him by both arms.

 

“That patient you just brought in!

What’s his condition?”

The paramedic shook his head.

Fortunately, field treatment had been administered and they arrived on time, but the patient’s condition was far too critical.

 

“By the way, who is he?

Do you know him?”

He had heard that the caller was a fire investigator, but from the moment they arrived on scene, all his focus had been on the injured person, so any personal information had already evaporated from his mind.

 

The fire investigator swallowed hard, then let out a long, pent-up breath as if he couldn’t hold it any longer.

 

“He’s a detective.

The one investigating the arson case I asked for help with.”

At those words, the paramedic turned back around.

 

Upon hearing that the patient he had brought was a detective, his expression turned equally grim.

 

The fire investigator’s face was anxious.

He ran his fingers through his hair with a nervous gesture, the fingers stained with dried blood.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Their gazes turned toward the gap in the curtain.

The area around the bed had become busy, as if the patient was beginning to go into hemorrhagic shock.

The tense atmosphere even hushed the other patients and their guardians passing nearby.

 

“Sir!”

The doctor checked the detective’s pupils.

 

There was a lot of blood loss, and the condition was bad.

 

“Sir?”

The patient’s consciousness was wavering.

 

The detective’s long eyelashes flickered.

Then his eyes drifted to the side as if rolling away.

 

“No… way…”

His lips moved.

The unuttered cry scattered into the air along with his breath.

 

Beep, beep, beep.

 

The vitals that had been jumping irregularly suddenly plummeted.

The doctor’s hand touched the detective’s neck.

 

“Intubating!”

 

The clothes draped over the gaunt, dry body were cut away with a series of sharp snaps.

At the same time, a long, piercing alarm sounded.

 

***

 

March 5th

Beeeeeeep—

“Whoa.”

He fumbled for his hands as soon as he opened his eyes, startled.

Then he quickly pulled the walkie-talkie from his vest pocket and adjusted the frequency.

The deafening noise that had been giving him a headache instantly stopped.

 

His gaze, now relieved, narrowed again.

 

The pristine, blue shirt sleeve caught his eye.

He looked down and saw black pants and a vest with a fluorescent reflector.

 

It was a familiar outfit.

 

“Why am I… wearing this…”

It wasn’t strange for him to be wearing a police duty uniform, but it had been over ten years since he’d had anything to do with this attire…

“Ugh!”

He let out a groan, pressed his hand to his temple, and frowned.

 

Oddly, his head throbbed and ached as if being drilled from the inside.

He closed his eyes tightly and waited a moment, and a wave of pain washed over him.

 

He opened his eyes again.

 

This time, his gaze swept the surroundings.

 

Where he stood was a dark hallway.

At the end of the narrow corridor, a window let in a faint light, offering a dim view of the interior.

Doors lined the long hallway, and above them, numbers that had lost their luster, as if rusted, were visible.

The floor was covered with a grimy, carpet-like material where dust balls rolled about.

And overall, the place reeked of a stale, musty mold smell.

 

“Where on earth…”

A second question escaped his lips.

He furrowed his brow with a serious look.

Then he pressed his lips tightly shut again.

 

Because an even more serious question followed.

 

“What is this?”

Even asking himself in a low voice felt strangely odd.

 

He examined his own appearance once more, then checked where he was standing.

Everything felt familiar, yet unfamiliar.

Even himself.

He knew he was wearing a police duty uniform, but he didn’t know why.

Similarly, he couldn’t tell who he was.

 

No—he knew it was himself, but he felt strangely alien to himself.

As if he were seeing himself for the first time, yet also as if he were seeing himself after a long time.

[Area 14.

Report of a broken window.

Please report the situation.]

He flinched at the sound of the walkie-talkie, his shoulders jerking.

He swallowed the rough noise and let out a sigh instead.

[Patrol 15.

Checking the scene.]

Although the name and memory were hazy, it felt only natural that he was the one being hailed on the radio.

 

He raised the walkie-talkie.

 

“Patrol 24.

Checking the interior.

Nothing unusual.”

 

He didn’t know anything, but he was certain there was no problem.

As if someone had told him to, the words flowed out of his mouth.

After waiting blankly for a moment, a call came telling him to come outside.

 

“Understood.”

 

He finally moved his feet.

He had been staying in that place ever since he regained consciousness.

He wondered if it was okay to go outside knowing nothing.

But regardless of his thoughts, his feet moved.

 

Going down to the lower floor through a fire escape cluttered with items, he stepped outside through an open window.

 

He saw a patrol car parked in front of the building.

And next to it, a person in a patrol officer’s uniform, frowning.

 

“If there’s nothing going on, why the hell are you so slow coming out?”

 

He squinted his eyes.

A sharp pain spread from somewhere in his head.

 

“What’s wrong?”

Apparently seeing his poor condition, the person standing there strode over.

He shook his head.

The identity of the person he had completely forgotten just moments ago surfaced in his mind.

 

“No, it’s just… a brief headache.”

 

Sergeant Park Da-ho smiled.

A large hand patted him on the back.

 

“So Mu-yun!

I told you to go in alone, and you got scared, huh?”

 

Mu-yun looked up.

 

It was truly strange.

Things he had completely forgotten until just now surfaced in an instant, as if they were the most natural thing in the world.

He also understood why he was wearing this stiff duty uniform.

He had only been assigned here a week ago, and he must have been so nervous that his head went haywire.

 

“Anyway, there really was nothing unusual?”

 

At his senior officer’s question, Mu-yun frowned at the still-throbbing headache and asked back.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Sergeant Park looked up at the building towering behind Mu-yun.

Mu-yun also turned his head.

Where the sign’s letters had once been attached and then fallen off, dust had accumulated, leaving faint traces of characters that revealed a forgotten name.

[Peace Motel]

“This place is a hot spot, you know.”

“Excuse me?”

“That thing appears here.”

Sergeant Park imitated a ghost and whispered very softly.

Mu-yun’s face instantly turned pale.

Sergeant Park burst into a cackling laugh.

 

“Really?

No, you’re joking, right?”

Sergeant Park raised an eyebrow.

 

“For real.

Team 3 saw it clearly when they did their night patrol.”

Mu-yun looked back at the abandoned motel he had just exited and then hunched his shoulders.

 

“Why?

You said nothing happened?”

“That’s true, but…”

As Sergeant Park pressed him, Mu-yun trailed off.

 

Nothing unusual had definitely happened.

But for a moment, he had been confused about who he was, and he had felt incredibly alien to himself, as if he were observing someone else.

As if he had been possessed by something.

 

When Mu-yun didn’t finish his sentence, Sergeant Park smiled teasingly.

 

“Scared you.

Anyway, I’d like to do something about that window, but I wonder if we’re allowed to touch it?”

 

Mu-yun looked back at the window he had come out of.

A single thin window, covered in a hazy layer of dried dust, was loudly shattered.

Looking back on what he had experienced inside, goosebumps rose on his skin anew.

He rubbed his arms and opened his mouth.

 

“We shouldn’t touch it, just in case, right?”

“That’s true, but if we leave it like that, kids might climb over it.

It’s a bit problematic.”

Sergeant Park glanced around.

Mu-yun also looked beyond the single house in between toward the back of the row of academy buildings.

Sergeant Park scratched his head and then raised his walkie-talkie again.

 

“Patrol 15.

Report of a broken window in Area 14.

Confirmed.

No one seems to have entered the building, but the broken glass shards are sharp.

Permission to temporarily cover it?”

 

An order on how to proceed came down shortly.

 

Following the team leader’s instructions, Mu-yun quickly opened the car trunk.

He took out the emergency plastic sheeting and tape.

Sergeant Park rechecked the width of the window.

 

“Let’s finish up quickly and head back.”

 

Mu-yun thought that would be a good idea too.

 

They covered the broken window with plastic to prevent anyone from entering and taped it down.

Even though it was a building no one frequented, Sergeant Park grumbled that accidents always happen in places like this.

Mu-yun deliberately avoided looking at the abandoned motel and just moved his hands busily.

 

After finishing in a hurry, he got into the patrol car.

 

Emerging from the alley lined with old buildings that looked well over thirty or forty years old, an ordinary neighborhood scene unfolded, no different from anywhere else.

 

Checking the street name on the two-lane road, Mu-yun confirmed which way to go.

 

“Instead of here, let’s turn at that intersection ahead.”

“Geumjincheon Intersection?”

“Yeah.

Then right.”

“Understood.”

 

Mu-yun checked the signals and speed, then drove calmly.

Sergeant Park yawned and looked out the window.

It was the final patrol of the night shift, on their way back.

 

The streets, where the early morning darkness had begun to fade, were quite lively.

 

“Aish, my bones are aching.”

 

Mu-yun smiled calmly and turned the steering wheel.

 

“How about you?

Starting to get used to this neighborhood?”

At Sergeant Park’s question, he gave a bitter smile.

 

“I think I’m getting there a little.”

 

He couldn’t honestly say he was fully used to it.

Sergeant Park chuckled.

 

“Well, you’re not saying you want to die yet, so youth is nice.

Let’s turn.”

 

The vehicles waiting at the left-turn signal moved in line.

From the intersection, it was a short distance to Jeongsan-ro, where Seoheung Police Box was located.

Mu-yun followed the parking sign and pulled into the side of the building, parking the car neatly.

 

“Good work.”

 

As Sergeant Park got out of the car and spoke, Mu-yun greeted him back and quickly got out as well.

Inside the police box, Sergeant Lee Dae-hoon and Senior Patrol Officer Kim Hye-shin from Team 1, Squad 1, who had finished patrol before them, looked up with tired faces.

 

“Back?”

“Yes.

We’re back.”

 

Mu-yun moved his weary legs and sat down.

Now that the patrol was over, he had to write up the duty log and patrol log.

He also needed to clean the car again.

 

As he was recording the events that happened during patrol, the police box door burst open.

 

“You’re here?”

 

Lieutenant Jo Dong-myeong, the police box chief with short hair streaked with gray, poked only his head through the glass door.

 

“Someone, come help me.”

 

At their superior’s call for help, everyone rushed out without question.

 

“Here.”

 

Lieutenant Jo Dong-myeong pulled a box from the trunk of a car parked right in front of the police box and placed it into Mu-yun’s arms.

One box was also placed into everyone else’s arms.

 

“What are all these?”

Sergeant Park’s eyes widened as he asked back.

Even as he did so, his gaze was busy scanning the slightly differently sized box in Mu-yun’s arms.

 

“Rice cakes.”

The police box chief gave a reluctant smile and said flatly.

 

“No way?

Did you finally pass?”

When Sergeant Lee, who had been standing there blankly with a pale face, asked, the police box chief nodded.

 

Unlike Mu-yun, who was clueless about the context, the seniors seemed to know what was going on, and a mixture of amusement and bewilderment spread across their lips.

 

“Who goes to the trouble of taking the driving test to pass?

Anyway, my child’s mother finally passed.

Class 1 ordinary.

Rice cakes to celebrate.”

 

Mu-yun was a bit confused, but since everyone was smiling, he figured it was fine and took the rice cakes in his arms.

They stacked the rice cake boxes on the hospitality table inside the police box and chattered while opening them.

 

“Smells good, don’t they?”

Lieutenant Jo, who had moved his commuter car to the back of the building and returned after parking it, came inside.

 

“Yes!”

Senior Patrol Officer Kim Hye-shin smiled and nodded vigorously.

 

“Don’t smile.

You’ll get attached.

Shift change?”

“We’re about to do it.

Team 3 just clocked in.”

Sergeant Park answered quickly, and the police box chief raised his eyebrows and looked at his watch.

 

“They came a bit early.”

After checking the time, Lieutenant Jo divided the boxes.

 

“This one is for us to eat.

And this one.”

He selected a box of rice cakes that was neatly tied with a ribbon like a gift bundle and pushed it toward Mu-yun.

 

“The youngest.”

“Yes!”

Mu-yun answered promptly.

The police box chief smiled brightly.

 

“Take this and deliver it across the way when you go home.”

 

Mu-yun blinked in confusion at the sentence that lacked a clear destination.

But since he said “across the way,” his gaze naturally turned toward the door of the police box.

 

“Where do you mean?”

“The fire station.

No, not there.

Can’t you see the 119 Safety Center on the lower left?”

 

Mu-yun narrowed his eyes.

His gaze swept outside again.

A building he hadn’t even noticed until now suddenly came into sharp focus.

It was an odd feeling.

As if that building hadn’t been there before—unfamiliar, just like when he was inside that abandoned motel earlier.

He hadn’t even perceived its existence until he was told about it, and then it felt as if it had suddenly sprouted from the ground.

 

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