Even when the thug kicked my head, telling me to shut up, I kept shouting.

“Lee Chun-hee! Open your eyes! I’m here—so open your eyes!”

“Oh, how touching. Truly.”

The boss.

He walked in slowly.

The thug who had been kicking me like a ball stepped back, and the boss took his place.

He crouched down to meet my gaze as I lay on the floor.

“Kalpan. You were going to turn yourself in—without my permission?”

“I don’t need your permission.”

His rough hand struck my face.

The ringing in my head was worse than when I’d been kicked with boots.

Blood filled my mouth, and I had to spit it onto the floor.

“If you turn yourself in, you think they’ll make you a detective again?”

“F*ck you.”

Blood kept rising in my mouth, forcing out a cough.

“You think I raised you to be this naive? The chief’s throat’s been cut for a while now. You get what that means, right?”

Is the chief dead?

They said he was the one who made me a suspect in the Mia Market murder case and issued the arrest warrant.

I never got the chance to ask why.

I never got to demand an answer.

And now he’s dead?

He took me — just a waiter from a Chinese restaurant — and made me a detective.

He was also the one who pushed me into that den of gangsters.

He was the only person who knew who I really was.

And now he’s gone.

“The only place you’ve got left to go is under me.”

“Cut the b*llshit. You think I’d fall for that kind of lie?”

“Why do you think it’s a lie? You think the chief’s just gonna come back from the dead?”

His eyes were steady.

He wasn’t lying.

“Why.”

“Kalpan.”

“Why did you kill him?!”

Just as I started to shout, a thick hand clamped down on the back of my neck.

As though I were a dog, he squeezed and kneaded me with a rough, overpowering grip.

I thrashed my head wildly in an attempt to shake it off, and for this, I was beaten even more.

It was only when his boot crushed my face into the ground that I finally gasped for breath and lifted my head to glare at him.

“Look at you. What a sorry sight. The chief labelled you a murderer and put out a warrant — you knew that, didn’t you? And now you’re acting like your own parent has died just because that traitor’s gone. If it were me, I’d say good riddance. I’d feel relieved.”

“What did you threaten him with?”

“Well, if the chief’s gone, that means you’ve got no leash anymore. You’re f*cked now, aren’t you?”

“You grabbed his family, didn’t you? Forced him to bring me in?”

The boss laughed.

A wet, phlegm-filled laugh that made my skin crawl.

“Who do you think you are? Don’t get it twisted. Someone like you? You’re just a tool. Use you, then throw you away. Take a good look at yourself right now.”

“….”

I wanted to spit in his face.

But beyond him, I saw Lee Chun-hee, who was still unconscious.

So I clenched my teeth.

This was all I could do right now.

The thugs gathered around the laughing boss didn’t matter.

Get it together!

If I wanted to live and save her, I had to think.

I had to force my blank mind to work.

I had to find a way.

But the moment he spoke again, all the progress I had made collapsed like a sandcastle swallowed by waves.

“We’ve talked enough about the dead. Now let’s discuss how you’re going to live. First, we gotta clean up that warrant on your head, don’t we? That girl’s the witness, right?”

The boss turned his head toward Lee Chun-hee.

My body trembled.

“No. No…”

“Then we just kill her. Simple as that. Then even if you turn yourself in, who’s gonna believe you? A murderer like you.”

My body jerked against the chair.

If only my hands were free I would’ve grabbed his pant leg and begged.

If he told me to lick his feet, I would’ve done it.

Just—not Lee Chun-hee.

Never Lee Chun-hee.

“Kim Yong-beom. I like you.”

The hand that struck his cheek—tap, tap—no longer carried the same force as before.

“You’ll keep working under me—that’s all I ask. Don’t waste your energy trying to put me away. Just do what you’re told, properly… and it’ll be good for both of us.”

“What’s the point of keeping someone like me around?”

“Benefit? You make it. I’ll just prove you’re my detective instead of that bastard chief. And from now on, you’re my dog—a hound that sniffs out those detective bastards.”

Not a detective infiltrating a den of gangsters but a gangster planted inside a nest of detectives.

That was why they hadn’t killed me. The only use they’d ever found in someone like me.

“But you know this too—I don’t trust women.”

“She didn’t see anything. There’s nothing for her to say.”

If it meant letting Lee Chun-hee go unharmed, I would do anything.

“If I let her run, she should’ve run like her feet were on fire. But I heard she was hanging around in front of the police station. Stupid b*tch. Why’d you keep her around? What—love?”

He scoffed, as if someone like me had no right to speak of love. And honestly… I couldn’t even argue.

I was the real fool, the pathetic idiot who dragged you into this no matter what.

“Get rid of the girl. Then I’ll trust you again.”

The knife I had left behind was now in the boss’s hands.

“If you take care of that girl, I won’t cut off your arm. But if I do, then I’ll cut yours off.”

“You said you trusted me. Then give me a chance.”

“You’ve got to earn my trust before I can believe you.”

“…”

“Do you want me to do it instead?”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

At the boss’s signal, one of the thugs snickered as he untied me from the chair.

I clenched and unclenched my fists, feeling the blood rush back through my body.

Surrounded by a dozen filthy bastards, I walked towards Lee Chun-hee.

I had to think.

I had to find a way to get you out of here.

But the moment I pulled you back into my arms, my mind went completely blank.

Should we just die together?

You and I, holding each other like this until the end?

But the steady, faint beat of your heart brought me back to my senses.

More than anyone else, you had always clung to life.

This was no time for weakness.

“That’s enough.”

As my hand trembled around the knife, the boss’s voice cut through.

“No matter how rotten I am, I wouldn’t make a man kill his own woman. If it has to be done… I’ll do it myself.”

A thin blade flashed before my eyes. I raised my arm on instinct—but it was already too late.

The blade had already sliced across Lee Chun-hee’s throat.

Blood burst from where her voice should have been. I caught her head as it slumped, pressing my hands over her neck, trying to hold it together—desperately, uselessly.

“You should’ve kept your mouth shut.”

I saw red. Nothing else mattered.

I lunged forward and ripped open the boss’s throat.

“Ghk—!”

Blood sprayed from his neck. His eyes, bloodshot, locked onto mine as his lips moved—trying to say something. But with his throat cut open, all that came out was a harsh, broken rattle.

“Boss!”

The gangsters reacted a moment too late. Blood poured from his thick body, spilling across the floor.

If left like that, he’d be dead within minutes.

In the chaos caused by his injury, I forced my way through them—lifting Chun-hee onto my back.

“F*ck! Catch him! Catch that bastard!”

With the boss’s blood dripping down my face, I resembled something from hell. I slashed and stabbed anyone who got in my way.

Filthy blood sprayed everywhere.

The mere thought of a drop of it touching Lee Chun-hee made my skin crawl.

“Aaagh!”

A man’s fingers were brutally severed.

Screams thick with malice pierced my ears.

The stench of blood was suffocating.

Torn flesh was scattered around me as I ran, as though I were escaping hell itself.

“Don’t let him get away!”

My vision was red.

Something warm kept soaking my shoulder—blood, pouring endlessly from Lee Chun-hee.

Can I get out of here?

Can I save you?

“I won’t die for nothing. I’ll become something—anything—before I die.”
“I’ll write my poems first. I can’t die yet.”
“So if you try to kill me, I won’t just sit still, you bastard.”

You—who fought so hard just to stay alive—then I will save you.

No matter what.

Lee Chun-hee’s hand moved weakly against my back—as if to say it was alright, as if to say they trusted only me.

Beyond the window, the deep blue sea churned violently.

“Chun-hee… let’s live. Let’s live—together.”

Holding them tight against me, as if binding them to my body—I threw myself out the window.

Just like before—praying the sea would be on my side once again.

In an instant, freezing water rushed into my nose and mouth.