(Episode 5) Chapter 23

Fate
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

-- 1 Hour Before Sunset --

Jaesuk, Kwangsoo, Sehun, and Sunmi walked back towards the Mountains where they found Nurse Kim from the Doctor’s Clinic.

“They are here.”

“Come here, quickly.”

“Did you find out anything?” They heard as they made their way towards the others.

“We were locked in a room, and it took us a while to get out.” Jaesuk informed the other team.

“You got locked in?” Jongmin asked.

“We noticed that there are masks with teeth in every house. We looked around the clinic, but the mask there had no teeth.” Jaesuk shared.

“ Why didn't that one have any teeth? Strange.” Jongmin stated.

“Well, one important clue we have is that no one in this village can use salt.” Jaewook shared and the other 4 were shocked. Sunmi then remembered something.

“Oppa, I noticed something white in Nurse Kim’s wounds and clothing earlier. And the white stuff in the syringes in the clinic.” She shared with Jaesuk and his eyes widened as he approached the body.

“Hang on. Let's look at the body for a minute.” He opened the white cloth and saw that there really was white powder on her wound and clothes.

“Hey! White powder!” Kwangsoo stated.

“What's that white powder?” Jongmin asked.

“I think it’s the salt that only the Shaman and Doctor use.” Sunmi shared.

“Wait. Can I taste that?” Kwangsoo asked.

“What?” Sejeong and Sunmi asked at the same time.

“Just try tasting it. It could be salt.” Jongmin encouraged.

“Isn't it salt?”

“It's salt!” Jongmin and Jaesuk confirmed.

“So Sunmi’s right. The stuff in the syringe must have been salt as well.” Sehun recalled.

“There's another important thing.” Kwangsoo started saying.

“Jaesuk-hyung got pricked by that syringe.” He revealed to the others and Jaesuk laughed.

“What?” The others asked.

“So he's…” Sehun picked up where Kwangsoo ended.

“It's not like that…” Jaesuk tried to explain.

“We are being cautious.” Kwangsoo told everyone.

“We are watching him.” Sunmi decided to poke fun too.

“But this… It's really salt.” Jaesuk decided to change the topic.

“The stuff there was salt too.” Kwangsoo said.

“Right.” Jaesuk agreed.

“Then isn't it the doctor's doing?” Kwangsoo deduced.

“I think so too.” Minyoung agreed.

“The circumstantial evidence… The syringe that we saw and the salt in it. There was salt on the victim’s clothes.” Jaesuk started laying out all the clues and evidence.

“And they lived in the same area.” Minyoung added.

“Right. So it's obvious that the culprit is the doctor.” Jaesuk said.

“But something that doesn't match up is that the letter said that the people here seem to be kind and respectful toward him, but they were stopping him from leaving.” Kwangsoo told the other team.

“So, we found out the passcode to get out of that room, and it was SOS.” Jaesuk shared.

“The doctor wrote that?” Sejeong asked.

“We can't tell if the doctor is the culprit or a victim.” Jaesuk admitted

“But why would he write SOS?” Kwangsoo asked again.

“What's going on here?” Jongmin wanted to know the answers as well.

“From what we found out, things aren't really matching up.” Jaesuk pointed out.

“We have to solve this quickly though. We heard that a monster will reach the mainland on the night of the full moon.” Sejeong shared and the other team was shocked this time.

“If it reaches the mainland, it could get dangerous.” Sejeong concluded.

“Today.” Jaewook emphasized.

“It's today?”

“Today is the day of the full moon.” Jaewook explained. Sunmi’s brain started piecing the clues together. She felt the doctor was the killer. All the evidence pointed to him. But she felt conflicted when he said he was trapped on the island.

“We don't have much time. Let's go together.” Jaesuk suggested and they all made their way back to the Doctor’s Clinic to interrogate him.

Sehun saw that Sunmi was deep in thought so they stayed at the back of the group so they could talk.

“What’s bothering you?” He asked her.

“I know the doctor killed Nurse Kim. I mean, I have a strong feeling he did. But why was he asking for help in a secret room? Almost like he expected us to go snooping around and find it…” Sunmi told him and then her eyes widened in realization.

“Oppa, I don’t trust Doctor Park. I think he’s the one who set this whole thing up.” She whispered to him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” He reassured her in a low tone. 

“I know you will. I trust you.” She looked up at him with a sweet smile that he couldn’t help but return. Soon, they reached the area where the Doctor’s Clinic and his house were.

“Everything's so strange.” Sejeong stated. Jaesuk then looked towards the doctor’s house and saw him exit wearing civilian clothing and bringing his briefcase.

“He's over there.” Jaesuk pointed.

“Hey, he's going somewhere.” He walked faster to stop the doctor in his tracks.

“His briefcase.” Kwangsoo was focused on it. He really wanted to know what was inside.

“Wait a minute, doctor. We came at the right time.” Jaesuk told him.

“Can I help you?” Haejin asked them.

“We found salt on the clothes of the woman who died. And there seemed to be salt in a syringe we found at the clinic.” Jaesuk informed him.

“Well, salt is used by the shaman as well.” Haejin told them.

“We heard that salt is used for ancestral rites there.” Sejeong explained to him and he didn’t say anything. Kwangsoo couldn’t take his curiosity anymore.

“What's in that briefcase?” He asked.

“Could we have a look at it? You seemed to be very determined not to let anyone touch that briefcase.” Jaesuk pointed out.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
myungsoodaehyun36 #1
Chapter 48: Would there be a book 2? I'm really interested to read it! 😊
ParkAiris5 #2
Chapter 29: Update please
brownie2020 #3
Chapter 24: Please update this book! I really love it and I want to know what’s next! 🥺