Chapter 21
by Gideon“Our homeroom teacher said no extra classes today.”
The slight, persistent curve of his lips as he spoke suggested he was thoroughly enjoying treating me like a high schooler. Juhyeon kept his mouth shut and started packing up. Kang-i was nowhere to be seen, but Taemo told him he could just leave. Every time Juhyeon slowed down to glance anxiously at the unlocked karaoke room door, Taemo would urge him to hurry. With no other choice, Juhyeon ran up the stairs.
The ride home was easy. All he had to do was sit quietly in the passenger seat. After staring blankly out the window for a while, Juhyeon’s curiosity got the better of him, and he finally spoke.
“What were you and Kang-i talking about for so long earlier?”
“What else would we be talking about besides work?” Taemo replied indifferently as he turned the steering wheel.
He’s actually answering me, Juhyeon thought. I thought he’d just ignore me.
She turned away from the window to face him. “How did you and Kang-i start working together? Did you know him before?”
“Let’s just say we shared the same goal. I brought him in. Just like I did with you.”
He wouldn’t have just taken anyone, Juhyeon mused. This was dangerous work from the start, and she had been brought in specifically because of her quick hands.
“How did you meet him?”
She expected another easy answer this time, but Taemo’s sharp gaze met hers first.
“You two seem to have gotten close. You’re awfully curious about Kang-i, aren’t you?”
It was hard to deny. Every single question I’d asked so far had been about Kang-i.
“No, I was just… suddenly curious…”
“He was famous back in the day,” Taemo said. “He even made the news in middle school for hacking the National Police Agency’s website. That fucking lunatic.”
“What? Really? That actually happened? I never saw it in the news.”
“Boast about that,” Taemo retorted, a smirk playing on his lips.
My gaze drifted to his profile.
At first, he had been nothing but a terrifying presence. When I’d witnessed this mysterious man—who had appeared in our neighborhood overnight—commit a murder, my entire body had frozen at his slightest touch. Even if the victim deserved to die, seeing him kill someone without a single change in his expression was chilling.
But perhaps it was because they had grown closer, spending so much time together. Though he was still terrifying, Juhyeon was gradually getting used to him. Learning the smallest details about him had become unexpectedly fascinating. Was it because he had so many surprising sides? Like the fact that his hands were quite warm, or his habit of smiling often, even if it was mostly a sneer. Or that despite his harsh words, his lips were pretty.
When Juhyeon returned home that day, he went to his room earlier than usual. He reached out to pull the table in front of the door to barricade it, a habit he’d formed, but his hand stopped mid-air.
“…Maybe I don’t need to go this far.”
Lee Taemo kills people for money anyway. He has no reason to go through the trouble of harming me. If he’d wanted to, he would have had plenty of opportunities already.
“…”
But still, a murderer was a murderer. He wasn’t someone Juhyeon should be sharing a space with, completely defenseless.
After a moment’s hesitation, Juhyeon shoved the table back against the door with all his might. He wedged it firmly under the locked doorknob, checking it several times before finally climbing into bed.
He did this every night, yet he couldn’t shake a lingering sense of guilt. Even with his eyes closed, he could see Taemo’s familiar smirk. He shook his head, forcing the thought away.
Not yet. Not yet.
That night, he tossed and turned more than usual.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
“Do you know what this is?”
Taemo stood before an unfamiliar front door, then turned around. Juhyeon, who had been glancing around nervously in case anyone appeared, looked up. In Taemo’s hand was a thick sticker—more accurately, a molded fingerprint.
“What do you mean? It’s a fingerprint. Hurry up and get inside. Even if there aren’t any CCTVs, what if someone walks by?”
“Are you being humble, or just plain unlucky? You stole that fingerprint with your own two hands.”
He’d said that at least five times on the way here. Juhyeon couldn’t even figure out what kind of answer the man wanted. Was he trying to emphasize that Juhyeon was talented at this line of work, or was he telling him he’d be useful for a long time? It wasn’t a joke he could laugh off, not with the expression on the man’s face.
Juhyeon’s hand, gripping the handle of the cooler, trembled violently. He desperately wanted to swing it at the man, but he knew he couldn’t follow through. He’d be the one who’d lose in the end anyway.
“I get it, okay? It’s creepy, so let’s just get inside already, alright?”
“You’re such a little coward.”
“…”
Juhyeon had met all sorts of weirdos, but no one knew how to get under his skin quite like Lee Taemo. That’s probably why he got targeted by the local punks and had his wallet stolen, Juhyeon thought. Of course, Taemo had known all along and just let it happen.
Tsk.
Taemo clicked his tongue and pressed a sticker onto his index finger. He then placed it against the glowing blue sensor at the bottom of the door lock. Juhyeon stared at Taemo’s finger without blinking.
It was a sticker made from a fingerprint Juhyeon had lifted from a lighter he’d stolen not long ago. He hadn’t expected Taemo to actually turn it into a sticker. Will it even work?
Juhyeon’s gaze remained fixed on Taemo’s fingertip, his tension palpable.
Beep.
Contrary to their worries, the door lock opened on the first try. Taemo flung the door open with lightning speed, and Juhyeon, her mask pulled up, gripped the handle of the cooler tight. Following Taemo’s lead, she didn’t even need to take off her shoes—the soles had been meticulously replaced.
Taemo stepped into the living room, sneakers still on. A stranger’s shout immediately followed.
“Wh-What the—?”
Despite the man’s panicked voice, Taemo kept walking, his strides unwavering. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. In his large, ungloved hand, a cold, steel blade flashed.
“Uh, uh-oh!”
The terrified customer hurled objects at him, letting out a guttural roar like a cornered beast. A lamp and a remote control struck Taemo’s thigh before clattering to the floor, but he didn’t even flinch. As if completely numb to pain, he stared intently at the man’s face, his posture suggesting that no amount of resistance would be of any use.
“What the fuck is this?!” the man spat. His voice was quieter now, but it trembled violently with fear. It was a far cry from the voice Juhyeon had often heard him use at the cafe.
Taemo twirled the Tiger knife in his hand. The blue-steel blade flashed in the light. Juhyeon stood frozen by the shoe rack, his body tense. He didn’t forget to listen for any signs of people passing by the firmly shut front door.
“Living like that, you must’ve thought about getting stabbed at least once, right?”
“What? S-Stabbed? Who the fuck sent you?”
Taemo could hear the customer’s voice, but he couldn’t see his face. Still, he could easily imagine the expression.
As Taemo closed the distance, he pulled down his mask. The slight, cold curve of his lips sent a chill through the air.
“What good would it do to know who sent me? You’re a dead man anyway.”
“……Fuck.”
The customer spat out a low curse, his movements sharp and violent. Juhyeon, who had been standing by the entrance until the sensor light flickered off, finally took a step forward. He had to be ready to help Taemo if things took a sudden turn.
“Ha, you fucking bastard. How much are you getting paid for this? Huh?”
The man crouched awkwardly, as if about to flip the table. His arms were spread wide, hands gripping the low table so hard the tendons on the backs of his hands stood out.
Right then, Taemo dropped low and aimed his blade at the man’s wrist. Strangely, he targeted the inside of the wrist, even though he could have driven the blade in much deeper.
“Ugh, aaargh!“
The man shrieked, his arm shaking violently. The cut was shallow, so blood didn’t spray everywhere. His face drained of color as he trembled, dragging the table back and forth. The screech of the table legs against the floor scraped painfully against the ears. It was unclear whether he was trying to set the table upright or push it toward Taemo.
Taemo merely tilted his head, then took another step forward.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? Even after you hear how much your life is worth? It’s going to be pretty embarrassing.”
Without waiting for an answer, he swung the blade again. Sshhk. This time, the sickening sound of flesh being sliced was audible even to Juhyeon.
“Ah!”
The man finally collapsed to his knees. The table leg, which had been halfway lifted, scraped against the floor as it fell back down. Blood from the inside of the man’s wrist was already soaking the table.
“…”
The sight of the blood made Juhyeon’s face contort instinctively. He was tensing his body so hard that the hand holding the cooler trembled violently.
The man turned pale as he stared at his own blood-soaked hand. He brought his shaking hand up to his face and spat out a string of curses.
“Ugh, ah! Fucking crazy bastard!”
Taemo grabbed the man’s hair, who was twitching as if ready to pounce at any moment. Then, he dragged him along without much effort. The man crawled on his hands and knees, leaving a long trail of blood in his wake.
“…”
They disappeared toward the bathroom. The empty living room was a disaster. A table that should have been neatly in place was knocked sideways, covered in blood. The floor was a mess, too. Splatters of blood stained the light brown leather sofa. It looked like a murder scene to anyone who saw it. The metallic scent of blood hit Juhyeon’s nose, making his stomach churn again. He quickly readjusted his mask and breathed only through his mouth.
A series of thuds and crashes echoed from inside the bathtub. Through the half-open door, the sound of running water joined the commotion. The faint, steady trickle was more unsettling than a torrent would have been.
“Hey, Capri.”
“…Yes, yes!”
She had been so mesmerized by the carnage in the living room that she only realized he was calling her name after a moment. Snapping back to her senses, she hurried toward him. Peeking through the gap in the door, she saw Taemo perched on the edge of the bathtub.
“Do I have to say your name twice before you listen?”
“N-no…”
“Start cleaning up here. Now.”
The guest was kneeling in the bathtub, the water slowly rising around him. He had been cursing and raging moments ago, but now he was desperately pleading, his hands clasped in a prayer for mercy. Each time he rubbed his palms together, dark red blood trickled down his wrists.
“You’re just going to throw a fit when I tell you to clean this place up at the end, aren’t you?”
That meant he was going to kill the man right here. If Juhyeon had to clean up after another body, he’d probably lose sleep for days, just like last time.
“P-please, spare me! I don’t know who ordered this, but I’ll take full responsibility. I’m sorry, I was just trying to make a living. Please, spare me!”
The bathroom wasn’t very large. With Taemo perched on the edge of the tub, his legs stretched out almost touching Juhyeon’s shoes.
“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to start cleaning? Or should I just slit your wrists right now?”
The guest reacted faster than Juhyeon to Taemo’s words.
“M-my wrists? Please, spare me! Oh, god, please!”
“…”
Juhyeon nodded quickly in agreement before pulling a pair of goggles from her pocket and slipping them on. Her vision dimmed slightly, making the bloodstains scattered across the floor stand out more sharply. The man had dragged himself along, bracing his hands against the floor, leaving a considerable trail of blood in his wake. She had to erase every trace of it.
Still wearing her gloves, she sprayed toilet cleaner over the floor. Then, starting from one end, she scrubbed vigorously with a brush. She wiped away the foam with paper towels, then sprayed and scrubbed again, repeating the process. Since she’d been told not to touch the bathtub, she kept her eyes fixed on the floor, her arms moving rapidly.
“Look at that kid, working so hard. Doesn’t that make you feel anything?”
“Y-you’re incredible. Yes, I’ll live like that from now on. Please? Just spare my life…! My son is only two years old, two years old!”
“…”
Taemo offered no reply, merely turning the curved blade over and over in his hand, inspecting it.
“I’ll give you all my money—it’s not much, but I’ll give it all to you right now, just please…!”
It was impossible to ignore their conversation, even if Juhyeon wanted to. The bathroom was too cramped, and Taemo kept nudging Juhyeon’s thigh with the tip of his foot, drawing his attention. Whether he was urging the kneeling Juhyeon to hurry or simply trying to get his attention, the tapping continued.
“Hey. Why are you only telling me this now?”
The guest’s eyes sparkled when Taemo reacted to the mention of his entire fortune.
“I’ll really give it to you! If you spare my life, I won’t regret giving away a single cent, I swear!”
“No, what I mean is…”
Taemo trailed off, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand in frustration. He seemed to avoid the blood-stained spots, but a faint, dark smear still trailed across his skin. Perhaps because he was wearing goggles, the mark was all the more visible.
“Why are you only telling me you’ll give me your fortune now? After you completely cut off your own flesh and blood.”
Taemo muttered irritably, wiping the blood-stained blade on his own thigh.
“Yes, yes?”
“Sowing so many seeds you’re confused now?”
The bloodstains in the small bathroom were almost gone. Inside the open trash bag, the kitchen towels used to wipe up the blood were neatly stacked. Juhyeon adjusted her goggles and carefully scanned the bathroom floor. It seemed they could move on to the living room now.
“Why’d you wait until now to open your wallet after ruining the lives of so many young girls? If it was this easy to open, you should have done it sooner.”
“…”
“Then neither of us would have had to spend any money. Don’t you agree?”
This client was someone who had taken the job before Juhyeon joined. While she had helped with the fingerprinting, the method of the contract killing had already been decided. Because of that, she didn’t know the exact reason why this man had to die. But listening to their exchange, she could vaguely guess. Juhyeon, who had been about to leave the bathroom with her gear, took off her goggles and glared at the man sitting in the bathtub with a sharp gaze.
“You’re gonna stare a hole right through me. Stop gawking and get out already.”
Taemo spoke with a trace of amusement in his voice as he pulled his mask back up, covering his face from chin up. Then, he rose to his feet, his long frame uncoiling. That was the signal—he was about to start.
Juhyeon swallowed hard, finally tearing her gaze away from the man and leaving the bathroom. She made sure to shut the door tightly behind her, just in case.
She dropped to her knees and began scrubbing the living room floor, just as she had done before. She focused all her attention on cleaning the blood-spattered table and sofa. No matter what sounds came from inside the bathroom, she refused to look. The trash bag was already filling up with blood-soaked paper towels.
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
Maybe it was the smell of blood, but Juhyeon’s head was throbbing. The air conditioner was on, and the windows were shut tight, yet he didn’t stop moving. He knew he had to finish cleaning up quickly if he wanted to get out of here.
He returned the table to its original spot and tossed the fallen cushions back onto the sofa. Wearing goggles, he carefully scanned the now-tidy living room. Just as he was wiping away the last few bloodstains, a voice broke the silence.
“Done?”
“Almost.”
Juhyeon, who had been hunched over wiping blood from the table leg, snapped his head up. Through the goggles, the blood splattered across Taemo’s body seemed all the more vivid. A cold sweat trickled down Juhyeon’s spine. As he tightened his grip on the paper towel, Taemo reached out, closing the distance between them.
“…”
Juhyeon flinched, his shoulders bunching up at the sudden reach. He knew Taemo had no reason to hurt him, yet his body reacted instinctively. Of course, no blow followed. Instead, the goggles he’d been wearing were lifted from his face, and a scoffing laugh scattered in the air beside him.
“How are you still this jumpy? We’re on the same team.”
“…”
Taemo crouched, bringing his eyes level with Juhyeon’s. He held the goggles Juhyeon had been wearing, carelessly raising them to his own eyes to scan the area—a final check to see if the cleaning had been thorough. He’s done this a dozen times, Juhyeon thought. Why am I still so surprised?
“This should be enough.”
He muttered a nonchalant remark and pulled off his goggles, resting them on Juhyeon’s head as she stared up at him blankly. Fearing they might fall off as they moved, he quickly pulled them down, letting them hang around her neck like a necklace.
Taemo rose lightly to his feet and tied the top of the plastic bag filled with kitchen towels. Even after squeezing out all the air, the bag was too large to fit properly into the cooler. The deep blue plastic obscured the bloodstains, but Juhyeon knew all too well how gruesome the contents inside must be.
She stood up awkwardly, following Taemo’s lead. After a careful final check of their few belongings, he snapped the cooler shut. Juhyeon’s gaze swept the apartment one last time, settling on the bathroom. The slightly ajar door revealed a still interior. Aside from the steady drip of water, there was no sign of life.
“…”
The man must be dead. They’d probably staged it as a suicide this time. He must have suffered, watching his own wrist get sliced open. The image of the cold blade repeatedly targeting the inside of his left wrist flashed through Taemo’s mind. A chill ran down his spine, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
“Let’s go,” Taemo said, but instead of heading for the front door, he walked in the opposite direction.
He moved toward the space between the heavy curtains and the TV. With a casual flick, he knocked over a diffuser on the shelf. The reeds spilled out, and a cloying floral scent instantly filled the air, almost suffocatingly strong. The liquid cascaded down the shelf, soaking the floor. Right next to it, a phone plugged into a charger was quickly drenched. It was enough to drown out the metallic stench of blood that still hung in the living room.
The two left the house in silence. As soon as they were out, they loaded their gear into a black sedan and immediately drove away from the complex.
Throughout the entire drive, Juhyeon kept the window rolled all the way down. The cool breeze seemed to wash away the lingering scent of blood from her skin.
Another murder, another cleanup.
From today, Juhyeon’s nights would grow long again.
As soon as she arrived home, she shoved the payment Taemo had given her under her bed and showered for nearly an hour. Her hands and feet were still pruned when she stepped out and grabbed a beer from the fridge, a familiar routine.
Heading to the living room with plans to watch movies all night, Juhyeon’s gaze fell on the table.
“…Why does he keep leaving me stuff?”
Once again, a bag of potato chips sat on the table. He must have left them there while Juhyeon was in the shower. Where did he even get those? Juhyeon wondered. Did he buy them himself? Or did Kang-i bring them from the convenience store?
The questions lingered, but Taemo’s door remained firmly shut.
Juhyeon kept the movie’s volume low, just as he had done before. Normally, he would have been too stingy with the electricity bill to do this. But his desperate need for a human presence outweighed any concern about the cost.
Taemo had told him he could turn the volume up, but it didn’t matter. The plot wasn’t the point. Even as Juhyeon stared at the back of the protagonist walking down a snow-covered road, the murder scene he had witnessed earlier kept flashing before his eyes.
The blood-soaked floor, the splatters everywhere, the stains dried into the tiniest cracks that refused to be scrubbed away—the vivid crimson filled his mind.
“Ugh…”
A shudder ran down his spine as he gulped down a can of beer. The alcohol should have dulled the images, but his imagination only ran wilder. The image of the man in the bathtub, desperately pleading with his hands clasped, kept flashing before his eyes. What had happened in that bathroom? He kept picturing the man’s limp body in the tub, submerged in blood-red water.
Crush. He crumpled the empty can. He cracked open another and downed it in one long swig. Still, his mind remained sharp, refusing to haze over.
“Fuck. I’m definitely not getting any sleep tonight.”
The afterimages were especially vivid today. Was it because I’d broken into a client’s home and watched the entire process of them dying? The thought that a living person had taken their last breath in an instant while I simply wiped away the blood beside them was chilling. I had agonized over this choice countless times and had even steeled myself for it.
On the TV, a cozy and serene winter scene flickered by, but I couldn’t even bring myself to glance at it.
I’m definitely going to be up all night. It would be better if I had a friend I could call, but I had no one to contact right now.
“…”
Juhyeon’s gaze slowly drifted toward Taemo’s closed bedroom door. But it wasn’t as if he could go sleep with Taemo. After all, the very situation that had plunged Juhyeon into terror had all started at his hands.
Still, Juhyeon needed to see with his own eyes that someone else was in the house. He craved the reassurance of not being alone.
Just a quick check…
Scrambling to his feet, Juhyeon crept to Taemo’s door. I’ll just make sure he’s asleep. If he asks why I’m here, I’ll just blame it on the alcohol. He repeated the plan to himself, hesitating again and again, before finally gripping the doorknob.
The door swung open soundlessly. The faint glow from the TV in the hallway immediately spilled into the bedroom. Bed, table, curtains—that was all the room contained. But the moment Juhyeon registered the silhouette on the bed, he froze.
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