Chapter 17: Shadows on the Eighteenth Floor

Sooyoung turned off the engine after arriving at the ground-level parking lot and looked out the car window.

The place where Jo In-ho had lived was a corridor-style apartment building—structured so that anyone paying even a little attention could easily tell who entered which unit.

If there was one unfortunate thing, it was that his apartment was on a high floor. It was out of range of car black boxes or CCTV cameras from nearby buildings.

From below, the only visible sign of movement was the sensor light that flickered on when it detected motion.

Sooyoung unfastened her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. She stared up for a long while before finally moving her feet.

She had come to the scene, but entering the apartment where the incident occurred was impossible. Still, she’d come anyway—to look for possibilities.

Whether the structure allowed for intrusion.
Whether there was a viable escape route after committing murder.
And if someone had fled, whether there were any places nearby where witnesses or additional CCTV footage might exist.

“Ha…”

Instead of taking the elevator, she climbed the stairs to the eighteenth floor where Jo In-ho had lived. There was no CCTV in the stairwell. Even if someone had entered and exited his apartment, they would have had a clear escape route.

Sooyoung walked slowly down the long corridor and stopped in front of unit 1802. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced alternately toward each end of the hallway.

There was a CCTV camera installed at the far end—but it was broken. Recording was impossible. There was no way to know who had passed through here.

“Ha…”

If this was truly a case of Lee Young-se ordering the punishment of apostates—prodigal sons who had left the faith—there should have been some kind of mark proving it.

But there was nothing. Not in the crime scene photos. Not in the records.

Leaning her back against the railing, Sooyoung parted her tightly pressed lips.

“This shall reveal His glory…”

She murmured the words like a whisper—a phrase she’d heard as a child. The words they had shouted while striking the so-called holy ground of her sister.

Maybe the answer lay there.

That was when—

The faint mechanical chime signaling the elevator’s arrival at the eighteenth floor reached her ears. Sooyoung turned toward the sound.

Heavy footsteps followed. The sensor lights flickered on, illuminating the once-dark corridor.

A large shadow stretched across the floor. As a tall man stepped into view, Sooyoung recognized him instantly.

“Team Leader Baek?”

It was Baek Si-eon.

The moment their eyes met, his steps came to a halt.

The sensor light, belatedly reacting, switched on above them, bringing both figures into sharp relief.

As shadows deepened across his well-defined features, his change in expression became more pronounced. His brows drew together, the bridge of his nose creased, and his lips pressed firmly shut.

Then, as if he had known all along she would be here, he strode toward her without the slightest hesitation.

Before she realized it, a large shadow loomed over her. The instant he stopped walking, the corridor fell silent.

That silence was broken by his low voice.

“What are you doing here right now?”

That was exactly what she wanted to ask him.

Sooyoung pushed herself off the railing and faced him.

“Why are you here, Team Leader?”

“I asked first. Shouldn’t you answer?”

At the coercive tone, her straight brows twitched slightly.

—

‘Team Leader Baek seems to think the same as Officer Han. He’s viewing the case under the assumption that it could be homicide.’

—

So he shared her suspicions after all. It seemed he’d come to see the scene for himself as well. There was no need to sharpen her tone.

“…Jo In-ho. He was the one who insisted on filing a lawsuit after Lee Young-se, the cult leader of Saecheonmyeong, was declared not guilty. For someone like that to suddenly despair and take his own life overnight… it feels strange.”

That wasn’t the only reason she suspected foul play, but it was enough to show they were on the same page. Then she added, as if to drive the nail in:

“I heard it from Inspector Jo Ju-yeon. That you share a similar opinion to mine.”

This time, she felt it was her turn to ask.

She looked him straight in the eye.

“Do you really think Jo In-ho was murdered too?”

The sensor light went out, plunging them back into darkness.

Even in the pitch-black corridor, their gazes remained locked. The silence stretched, thick and unbroken.

When he stepped closer, the light came on again. Standing in a way that blocked the sensor, Si-eon cast a deep shadow around her.

But his gaze was unmistakable.

Noticing his dark eyes slowly scanning her face, Sooyoung clenched the handle of her bag.

Si-eon tilted his head slightly.

Light poured in at an angle, filling his eyes along with the cool smile that spread across his lips.

“Interesting.”

At the word, Sooyoung’s brows drew closer together.

“Coming all the way to an already-closed crime scene just to dig into a case that ended as a suicide—with not a single sign of homicide.”

“…You’re doing the same thing.”

The question he threw at her was the very one she wanted to ask him.

Why did he believe Jo In-ho hadn’t died by suicide?
Why come back to a scene that had already been wrapped up?

She wanted to ask him.

“True. We’ve never really seen eye to eye like this before.”

They hadn’t worked many cases together, but whenever they did, their opinions usually diverged. Even right before arresting the serial killer Kang Young-hoon, hadn’t it been the same?

He wasn’t a partner whose thoughts naturally aligned with hers.

But this time was different.

This time, he was the only one who suspected homicide in a case everyone else called a suicide.

Sooyoung slowly lifted her gaze from his hands upward. He wasn’t carrying anything—not even a detective’s notebook.

For a moment, she wondered if the real reason he’d come here was to see her.

She bit down on her inner lip, then let go.

“Did you come all this way to see me?”

Si-eon didn’t answer.

He just stared at her.

Recognizing that silence as affirmation, Sooyoung frowned slightly.

“…How did you know I’d be here?”

“Inspector Jo Ju-yeon told me. Said you can be persistent.”

She’d never said it outright. But given Ju-yeon’s profession as a criminal profiler, she must have inferred that Sooyoung would come here today—and passed that along to the man standing in front of her.

“Why are you so fixated on this case?”

That question, too, was one she wanted to ask herself.

Why was she so interested?

Sooyoung swallowed hard and lowered her gaze, debating whether she should reveal her true reasons—

Click.

The sound of a door handle turning echoed nearby.

Both pairs of eyes snapped toward the apartment door.

The handle of the supposedly empty unit slowly returned to its original position. Then the heavy, tightly shut door creaked open.

The moment the gap widened—

“…Ah!”

As someone tried to step out, Si-eon moved instantly, grabbing the person’s arm as if snatching prey. The smaller body was dragged out and slammed against the wall, completely immobilized.

“Ugh!”

At the cry that burst out like a scream, Sooyoung instinctively stepped back, her eyes narrowing.

It was clearly the voice of a young woman.

As his solid arm pressed harder, the woman dropped whatever she had been holding.

Thud.

Sooyoung’s gaze dropped to the floor.

[Status of Victims – Saecheonmyeong Apostates Alliance]

At that moment, the woman cried out through her pain:

“W-who are you people?! Are you—are you from Saecheonmyeong?!”

Hearing that, Sooyoung realized the woman might be a member of the Apostates Alliance. To calm her, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her ID, holding it out where it could be clearly seen.

“We’re police.”

The woman’s eyes trembled as she looked at the badge.

“…Po-police?”

Staring at the ID clearly marked with National Police Agency, she then looked up at Sooyoung.

At that, Si-eon tightened his grip again, slamming her back into the wall.

“Ugh!”

Forced to avert her gaze under the pressure, the woman was met with his icy stare.

“Then who are you—and why are you coming out of Jo In-ho’s apartment?”

At that question, her tightly shut eyelids fluttered.