The black car sped along the dark, gloomy forest path. The back seat was filled with boxes of groceries purchased at a 24-hour food market on the way. Thud—the car shook violently, causing one of the boxes to spill onto the floor. Soo-hyun looked back and reduced his speed, cursing under his breath.

[You have deviated from your destination. Please make a U-turn and proceed straight ahead. You have deviated from your destination. Please make a U-turn…]

Soo-hyun turned off the navigation system that had been nagging for a while. Even though it was dawn, it would still be quite some time before sunrise. Following the road, a reservoir eventually appeared. The water looked pitch-black in the night, creating an atmosphere where ghosts might jump out at any moment.

But Soo-hyun knew better. People were scarier than ghosts. At least ghosts don’t slice open healthy people’s bellies and steal their kidneys.

After passing the reservoir and turning right, he saw a rusty, old sign tilting precariously, abandoned. Soo-hyun drove past it and continued inward. About 100 meters further, a building came into view. The four-story structure showed no signs of habitation at first glance.

Soo-hyun parked the car in the spacious front yard and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. It’s still here.”

First, he grabbed what he needed from the car, then took a lantern and walked toward the building. Next to the firmly closed entrance door, a sign reading “Sunflower Nursing Home” lay fallen on the ground. He had discovered this place while running from loan sharks before—not ideal for a long stay, but decent enough for a few days.

When he pushed the door open with his body, a large grandfather clock and a big mirror stood guard at the entrance. The building had been abandoned after bankruptcy, but compared to his previous visit, there were now more graffiti and junk inside.

Ignoring this, he tried to move forward but tripped over something on the floor. Soo-hyun shone his light downward. A brass bowl, rice, and half-burned incense sticks lay scattered. Shining the light around more carefully, he spotted colorful cloth, soju bottles, an upside-down kitchen knife, and unidentifiable rotting objects in the corner.

“Did someone perform a ritual here?”

He felt uneasy but couldn’t turn back now. Using the middle staircase to climb to the second floor, his footsteps echoed—tap, tap. Reaching the second floor, he walked along the corridor toward the inner section. This time, an empty wheelchair appeared from the darkness. Damn. Maybe he should have waited until sunrise to enter.

Soo-hyun paused briefly before moving past it. He carefully opened a nearby patient room door to find two beds inside, and the room was relatively clean. Thank goodness. This place seems decent enough. He put down his bag and box, took out candles, lit them, and illuminated various spots around the room.

After tossing his sleeping bag onto the bed by the window, he looked outside where something fluttered through the trees. Just before dawn, the world was transforming into a bluish hue. Soo-hyun gazed at the scenery and put a cigarette in his mouth.

Looking around the room, it was more usable than he’d worried. There was some dust accumulated, but it would be fine after cleaning in the morning. It felt like returning to his rightful place. Perhaps Baek Soo-hyun was always meant for places like this—not fancy bedrooms with cozy bedding.

Watching the smoke dissipate hazily in the air, he put out his cigarette and spread the sleeping bag on the bed. Driving all night had left him exhausted. After getting into the sleeping bag and zipping it up, he found it warmer than expected.

But once he lay down, sleep wouldn’t come easily. As he repeatedly forced his eyes closed then opened them, a black object suddenly slid past the translucent glass window above the room’s entrance door. Did he see wrong? Trying to ignore it, he then heard a creaking sound—squeeak, squeeak—wheels rolling.

Soo-hyun recalled the old wheelchair in the corridor. With eyes wide open, staring at the door, a black shadow once again fell across the window. The shadow stood motionless in front of the door. His hair stood on end. Overwhelmed with fear, Soo-hyun couldn’t bear it anymore and jumped out of his sleeping bag to grab a soju bottle.

Then he carefully walked to the door. The shadow remained standing still.

Raising the soju bottle and grabbing the doorknob, suddenly the door was yanked open from the opposite side, and a face popped through the gap. The man had disheveled hair and rolled-back eyes, making for a grotesque appearance.

“Aaack!”

Soo-hyun was so startled that he let out a short scream and fainted on the spot.

Chirp chirp. Bird sounds reached his ears. His ears were working, but his eyelids felt impossibly heavy. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he saw a pure white ceiling. Coming to his senses and turning his head, he caught the delicious smell of ramyeon coming from somewhere.

As he tried to sit up, a groan escaped involuntarily. The first thing that caught Soo-hyun’s eye was a man sitting in a chair eating cup noodles. The man slurped up the noodles, chewing with a concerned expression as he asked:

“You’re awake. Are you okay?”

Long hair and a bushy beard. Soo-hyun frowned. He looked very similar to the person he’d seen right before fainting last night. So not a ghost after all.

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, the man was busy eating his noodles. Soo-hyun got off the bed, strode over, and snatched the noodles away. The man slurped up the noodle hanging out of his mouth and stared blankly.

“What?”

“Damn it. Who the hell are you eating my food without permission?”

The man made a dull expression and pointed at the disposable container Soo-hyun was holding.

“I may be a bum, but I’m not a thief.”

Before he finished speaking, Soo-hyun checked the cup noodles. Looking closely, it wasn’t ramyeon but udon. He hadn’t bought udon at the mart yesterday—he didn’t even like it. Embarrassed, he returned it, and the man took it back with a smile.

“Sorry about dawn. So many people come for haunted house experiences in summer, I thought you were one of them.”

Belatedly, Soo-hyun understood why there were half-burned incense sticks and kitchen knives at the entrance. The man finished drinking all the broth, burped, collected the used wooden chopsticks into his pocket, and threw the cup into a plastic bag.

Soo-hyun quietly observed his actions. A homeless person? But his appearance was relatively neat. After cleaning up the trash, the man gestured toward the next room.

“I’m in 202, next door. As you can see, I have nowhere to go, so I’m staying here. Oh, can I speak informally? You look much younger than me.”

You already are speaking informally. He really must be homeless. This is annoying. I came here planning to stay quietly alone. Should I look for another place? While regretting his situation, the man rummaged through his pocket for something. It was a cigarette butt someone had smoked and discarded.

“Want one to celebrate becoming neighbors?”

Soo-hyun waved his hand dismissively, telling him to leave, and the man smiled before obediently disappearing. Left alone, Soo-hyun went to the door and listened. He heard a door open and close, and only then did he relax his guard and return to his spot.

Just in case, he tucked a folding knife into his back pocket before opening his backpack to check on the Buddha statue, diamonds, passport, and phone.

His energy drained completely, making his trembling from last night seem ridiculous. Sitting on the bed, he checked the time—8 AM. Everything was quiet except for the birdsong. Dust particles glittered hazily in the sunlight streaming through the window. The sleeping bag Soo-hyun had been using lay messily on the bed.

Though only his location had changed, he felt strange, like everything that had happened was from the distant past. Time to get moving. Soo-hyun sent a message to Kim Young-taek saying he’d arrived safely, then got up and stretched luxuriously. His stomach growled on cue. Filling his stomach seemed like the first priority.

***

“Lee Jae-sun. 30 years old. Prison mate with Baek Soo-hyun, and after release, he’s been working at his father’s shop in Jongno, repairing electronic devices.”

Ho-beom glared at the photo on the tablet with a cigarette in his mouth. It had been three days since Baek Soo-hyun escaped. And in a few days, the year would change. At first, he’d been confident. Thinking, “No matter how you run, you’re still in the palm of my hand. Go ahead and try to escape.”

But Baek Soo-hyun had been methodical in his escape, making Ho-beom wonder if his previous foolish behavior had all been an act. Despite pulling phone records, call histories, and pressuring everyone around him, there were no clear results.

They knew he’d used an untraceable phone, but even that had vanished without a trace. He felt betrayed by the thought that Soo-hyun might have been preparing for much longer than he’d anticipated.

Turning to the next page, a sturdy, well-built man appeared. Park Tae-jun continued his explanation.

“Kim Young-taek. 32 years old. Currently involved in smuggling operations, and was in the same cell as Lee Jae-sun and Baek Soo-hyun. Apparently, Baek Soo-hyun received a lot of help from him at the time.”

“Help?”

“According to their peers, they had that kind of relationship, but nothing’s been confirmed.”

Park Tae-jun emphasized the phrase “nothing’s been confirmed.” It was an attitude meant to avoid irritating Ho-beom, but that in itself was annoying. It was unlike him. No, forget it. Park Tae-jun wasn’t the only one acting out of character.

Ho-beom bit the end of his cigarette with his front teeth, recalling Baek Soo-hyun’s last appearance. They’d found him leaving the hotel on CCTV, but he was wearing a wig and covering his face, making the search difficult from the start.

They tracked the taxi he’d taken, and based on the driver’s statement about dropping him off near a hiking trail, they found a car leaving around the same time.

It was one of the most common car models in Korea, and it alternated between highways and remote national roads before eventually disappearing, possibly after changing license plates. Of course, they could find it if they tried hard enough, but that would take too much time.

They had people combing through lodgings, bathhouses, saunas, and internet cafes in the area where he was last seen, but no significant clues had emerged.

A groan and sigh escaped simultaneously through his teeth. He’d wanted to kill him when caught, but now he was becoming increasingly anxious.

What if he’d already fled abroad through some unknown route? What if I never see him again?

Where anger had dissipated, anxiety and impatience began to take hold.

“So about Kim Young-taek.”

“He seems to have gone to China for work the day before yesterday. I spoke with him, and according to Kim Young-taek himself, he wasn’t close to Baek Soo-hyun and certainly hasn’t met him recently. We’re separately checking his whereabouts that day, and as soon as he enters the country—”

Before he could finish, Ho-beom gestured for him to stop and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. He rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, then leaned back on the sofa, tilted his head back, and squeezed his eyes shut.

If it were a work issue, he’d think of a solution no matter what, but this—he didn’t know what to do.

He felt like issuing a wanted notice.

Why did I have to fall for someone like him…

[Mr. Yang.]

He recalled that shameless smiling face that had turned his world upside down. He’s probably hiding somewhere now, enjoying his freedom. Or maybe he’s already hooked up with someone else. That’s Baek Soo-hyun’s nature. He can’t live without a man, and when he needs something, he’ll spread his legs for anyone. Just like he did with me…

Ho-beom opened his eyes and gritted his teeth at the uncontrollable anger rising within him.

Damn it, really. Just wait until I catch you.

I’ll break your legs.