Warning: some graphic content ahead (mild gore)

[The Vendetta]

“Hey there Inspector Yoo, where are you heading off to?”

Inspector Ji Suk Jin was not a bad looking man, but he was not a very attractive one either. He had hurriedly finished his meal and was in the midst of grabbing a coffee from the vending machine when he caught sight of the recently hired inspector Jae Suk. 

“Ah… The superintendent called so I’m going in to see him,” Jae Suk replied.

“Ah, the superintendent…? Alright, go ahead then.”

Jae Suk gave a simple nod per greeting and went on his way.

The way Suk Jin looked at his retreating figure seemed somehow disquieting. He had guarded his position of inspector for fifteen years now on wits alone, so the unease sweeping over him was hard to shake off.

A man who had graduated at the top of his class at the law school of Seoul University, a man who possessed a handsome face, a fierce enthusiasm, and a just and righteous conscious that never changed. A man who was undoubtedly cold-hearted when it came to work, but a man of good character, well mannered to his core when it was anywhere else. It seemed impossible that a man like him existed.

Such a man was his junior.

Suk Jin had struggled, compromising with the vicious world around him to simply try and protect his position. Yet in comparison, Jae Suk was better at everything than he was, and held a higher position than him despite his younger years— it was burdensome. And he disliked Jae Suk’s modesty that made him oblivious to such facts even more.

He crumpled the empty paper cup in his hand.

Suk Jin had just barely grasped this big case involving Smile Face through begging, through the powers of his meager connections. It was a case that he had earned through some even underhanded methods, all for the sake of his family. Should he succeed in solving this case, finding any some kind of lead, a promotion was as good as done. However, should he fail most likely he would be displaced to the bottom of the ranks.

His mind instinctively anticipated that rock bottom.

But there was nothing he could do.

Compared to Jae Suk, he was just a middle-aged public official with neither skill nor power.

Police Investigation Bureau, Homicide Division Office

Hyuk had spent three sleepless nights searching through past case files.

His eyes were bloodshot red from looking through the cases that had even the slightest connection to the big case.

“Officer Lee, did you manage to find anything?” Jang Hyuk called to his junior officer as he rubbed his tired eyes.

When no reply came, his eyes shot open once more and stared in front of him. He found Gwang Soo who had scrunched his tall frame behind a tiny folder, not knowing his long limbs were sticking out a rather funny way, chin dropped a thousand miles below where it should have been.

Jang Hyuk’s rage reached frightening high in the span of a brief moment.

“Lee Gwang Soo!! How can you even sleep right now, you son of a !!”

“Wha—?! Y-Yes!! Just say the word, sir!!”

In an effort to hurriedly get up after being surprised out of his wits, Gwang Soo fell down. Hyuk’s anger subsided at his sloppy movements, tension leaving his shoulders as he sighed.

“Right…. You’ve been up for three days as well, not like I can blame you….”

Hyuk massaged the bridge of his nose, and glanced at Gwang Soo who quickly wiped his drool away.

“N-Not at all, sir!! I can still go on!”

Gwang Soo blabbered on something incomprehensible, but he still had the obvious fire in his voice. In the end, Hyuk shoved Gwang Soo in the night duty room, and returned to his seat. He brought all the files on Gwang Soo’s side of the room in front of him.

The most important files were actually in his own house.

He had left the valuable leads that hadn’t even been reported to the higher ups in his home, and simply came back to the police station to investigate anything he had missed among the more accessible, public files once in a while.

From the outside it looked like a plain, if a little old, villa.

Perhaps he was tired, for he pushed the door open in a dull, sluggish movement before taking off his shoes and slowly making his way to the inner room.

The first thing that caught the eye were the countless strings of vibrant red, and the countless photos, news articles, and case files that were connected to each. The numerous photos pasted onto one wall contained scribbles written in permanent marker. The lines from the words and the pictures met in the middle, creating a giant knot. At the knot’s end there hung a picture of an affable looking man. This picture also had words scribbled on with permanent marker.

“ ‘Jo Jin Woong’...”

Jang Hyuk wasn’t here to investigate.

He was here for a revenge of blood.

A photo of a man and a woman, with a young girl between the two flapped ever so slightly.

Jang Hyuk stared at the question mark tah a shadow over the sweet girl’s face for a long time.

6 Years Ago

“Officer Han! It’s a murder case!”

A younger looking Jang Hyuk ran speedily towards a middle aged Suk Gyu. Perhaps it was because he was still a passionate rookie, but he was one who put his all into everything then. Suk Gyu who had been leisurely sipping away at this vending machine coffee burned his tongue at the obvious rush of the young man who had suddenly entered.

“Alright, you punk! Calm down, you’re going to burn my tongue off!”

“I-I’m sorry, sir. But it seemed this case was done by a real madman….”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The face of the body we found…. Anyhow, you’ll see what I mean when you get there, sir!”

At Hyuk’s rather strange response, Suk Gyu hurriedly put on his coat and set off from the police station.

Once they arrived at the crime scene, the coroner greeted them.