Chapter 14: Too Late to Hold On

“It was only for a moment, really…!”

Her voice, mangled by sobs, hiccupped.

After taking her statement for the investigation and sending Bap-al’s owner away, everyone’s faces were grim.

“We will investigate to the best of our ability.”

Sergeant Lee offered words of consolation calmly.

That was really the only thing he could say.

Mu-yun let out a heavy breath.

Sergeant Park approached from behind him.

“How many bodies have turned up now?”

At the low whisper, Mu-yun exhaled shortly again and opened his notebook.

He saw the numbers circled over and over.

“Seventeen skulls alone.

Six presumed to be dogs, the rest are all cats.”

He said that, then rechecked how many animals had been reported missing in total and whether any of them had distinctive features.

Then he soon stopped, unable to do anything, and squeezed his eyes shut.

His fingertips, which had tussled with the owner trying to somehow recover Bap-al’s body at the scene, trembled slightly.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Park returned from washing his face, water still dripping from it.

His gaze turned toward the round table in one corner of the police box.

There sat a cup of coffee, long grown cold, that Bap-al’s owner had left untouched.

“Did you get the GPS location data?”

Sergeant Park called out to Mu-yun, who had a blank look on his face.

“Huh?

Ah, yes.

I got it.”

Mu-yun linked the map with the recorded locations and sent it via work email.

Bap-al’s movement data was recorded at regular intervals, so following it might lead them to the culprit.

Sergeant Lee, who had gone out to see the owner off, came back inside, letting out a heavy breath.

“What do we do now?”

“We have to find them.”

Sergeant Lee answered Senior Patrol Officer Kim’s question and turned his head.

His lips, which always wore a gentle smile, were set in a firm line.

“The report?”

Sergeant Park wiped his face with a towel and looked up.

“I’ve finished writing it.

I’m about to go now.”

At that, Mu-yun tidied his spot and stood up.

Somehow, all the strength had drained from his body, making even standing a little difficult.

“You saw this kind of thing during your training at the district station, right?”

“Yes.

A couple of times.”

The forensics team had already been there, and detectives from the investigation department would come out to investigate as well, but to handle it a bit faster, it was better to visit directly, show the evidence, and hand it over.

They could also check if there were any other similar cases near Seoheung 3-dong.

“Go and come back safely.”

Sergeant Lee gripped Mu-yun’s shoulder firmly, then let go.

***

[I’m thinking of ordering dinner.

Is there anything you want to eat?]

It was the kind of day where he didn’t want to lift a single finger.

Mu-yun sent a text to Tae-i as soon as he got off work.

[Just come straight home.]

The reply came quickly, perhaps because Tae-i was off work.

[Straight home?]

[Yeah.]

[Okay.]

He walked briskly to his house, which was only three minutes from the police box.

After checking the mailbox and sorting out the flyers, he climbed the stairs.

As soon as he opened his front door, he heard the click of Unit 303’s door opening behind him.

“I’ll come over.”

Tae-i showed his face and spoke immediately.

Mu-yun nodded.

He didn’t even have a table to eat on, but he didn’t particularly want to go over there either.

“So what do you want to eat?”

There was delivery and takeout, but going back out seemed too hard.

At his question, Tae-i, who had been about to close the door and go back inside, stuck only his head out.

“I was in the middle of cutting kimchi to make kimchi fried rice.

I’ll stir-fry it and bring it over.”

Only then did Mu-yun’s nose twitch, as if recognizing the source of the sour kimchi smell that filled the hallway.

“Woof!”

Whether he had come to find his owner who hadn’t come back inside after opening the door, Kkammi made a sound from right behind the door.

Tae-i looked down and laughed.

“Okay.

I’ll close it in a second.

Stop nagging.”

“Woof!”

Tae-i looked up again.

“I’ll text you when it’s ready.”

“Yeah.

Bye, Kkammi!”

Mu-yun nodded his chin in acknowledgment, greeted Kkammi very kindly, and then went inside Unit 305.

He turned on the living room light, opened the window, and first ventilated the indoor air that had been shut in all day.

Perhaps because it was evening, the smell of cooking from various places wafted in on the breeze and then quickly passed.

Throwing his bag onto the sofa, he washed his hands in the visible kitchen sink.

Then he opened the refrigerator.

He thought about taking out some side dishes since Tae-i was bringing fried rice, but the empty refrigerator only blinked its light back at him.

Even if there was anything, it would just be leftover kimchi from various deliveries.

“What a mess.”

Still, it was better than having it so full that a bizarre ecosystem had formed inside.

Since he was inherently bad at organizing, periodically setting a day for a major cleanup was his way of living like a human being.

Searching for something edible, he found some roasted seaweed on the shelf and put it on the table, then took out the cubed radish kimchi his mother had stocked for him on moving day and put a modest amount into an empty bowl.

That was it.

He thought about making some egg drop soup, but soon realized that was something only someone with skill should attempt, so he gave up.

He cleaned the spoons well and put out trivet pads.

That was the best he could do.

After a short wait, he heard a thump-thump knocking on the door with the tips of feet.

“I’m opening it now.”

Warning Tae-i to step back from the door, Mu-yun carefully swung it open.

Tae-i came in carrying a tray filled with various things in both hands.

Seeing what was placed on the four-person table, Tae-i’s eyebrows twitched in disapproval.

“What’s all this?”

“My house’s staple side dishes.”

Mu-yun clasped his hands together and quickly scanned what Tae-i had brought.

Tae-i set the tray down on the table and spread out the table mats he had rolled up and tucked under his arm.

He laid the mats, set out the utensils again, and set the table.

On a pasta plate, looking neat and round with a slight mound, was the kimchi fried rice.

It was nothing like Mu-yun’s expectation of fried rice roughly stir-fried in a pan.

On top of a fried egg with a glossy, wobbly yolk, sesame seeds were sprinkled, and on one side, seaweed powder was piled as if drawn.

“That looks really delicious.”

Mu-yun admired honestly.

On the table that had only held cubed radish kimchi and bagged seaweed, Tae-i neatly added dried shrimp stir-fry and pickled garlic scapes, taken from containers he had brought in his pocket.

Tae-i shrugged.

“It’s nothing much, but please eat plenty.”

“If this is nothing, then what am I supposed to do?”

Mu-yun giggled and settled into his seat.

Tae-i snorted, pulled out a chair, and sat across from him.

“What about Kkammi?”

“He ate and is resting.”

It was fortunate he hadn’t brought him.

Mu-yun let out a sigh of relief at Tae-i’s answer.

“Why?”

As if his exhalation had carried a cry of relief, Tae-i asked back.

Mu-yun deliberately swallowed hard and then exhaled forcefully.

“I found more bones…”

Tae-i’s eyes narrowed.

He seemed to finally understand what Mu-yun meant by ‘fortunate.’

“In the mountain behind the Administrative Welfare Center.

The one you told me about, where a report had come in.”

Even though he knew he should rest well at night since he had to work in the morning, Mu-yun couldn’t help but ask Tae-i.

“A five-month-old Maltese…

If it was only raised at home, its wariness of people would have been low.”

Mu-yun nodded.

According to the owner, Bap-al was friendly, not shy of strangers, and would gently wag its tail and approach people, acting familiar.

She said she had deliberately raised it that way, exposing it to many people, because she heard social skills developed by meeting people and dogs from an early age.

“That’s true, but…”

As if he didn’t want to use the expression ‘bad luck,’ Tae-i let out a heavy sigh.

“There didn’t seem to be any large dogs.”

He had watched as skulls were pulled out one by one from between the old ash, but from what he saw, they appeared to be small breeds.

Even if skull size doesn’t always indicate body size, it didn’t seem common to have a breed with a small head but a large body.

“It’s not that there are no large dogs among abused animals, but on average, the targets tend to be small dogs rather than large ones, and cats.

The risk factor when being attacked is different, after all.”

“That makes sense, right?”

Even as he spoke, his chest felt tight.

Mu-yun let out several measured breaths.

Even apart from deaths caused by abuse, the fact that someone could casually incinerate corpses like trash was still shocking to him.

Nowhere at that scene could he find any respect for life.

“Could this be related to the fire behind the apartment complex?”

“Let’s eat first before I answer.

It’ll get cold.”

Tae-i’s expression darkened, and he sighed as he picked up his spoon.

Mu-yun gave a bitter smile and likewise lifted his spoon.

“I should have waited to talk after eating.

I just made it feel like we’re going to get indigestion.”

“It’s fine, so eat quickly.”

Tae-i pushed side dishes toward him as if telling him to eat them together.

Mu-yun took a big spoonful and ate the rice.

Eating the fried rice, which was stir-fried well, neither too hot nor too spicy, somehow lifted his dampened spirits a little.

It was a very complex and subtle feeling.

Even amidst this, he was eating to live, and it scared him to think that when it was about people instead of animals, he might someday be eating just as mindlessly.

Still, after cleaning his plate without leaving a single grain of rice, Mu-yun took out a can of cola, one of the few edibles in his house, and handed it to Tae-i.

After downing the carbonated liquid in one go, Tae-i tilted his head.

“About what we were talking about earlier.

It seems a bit strange.”

“What does?”

“The method…?”

Looking at Tae-i, who had said that, Mu-yun quietly listened.

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