It was late in the afternoon when an unidentified courier delivered a package to Gangdong Police Station. The first person to find it was a new policewoman from the city traffic department, who was cleaning when she found the box in a corner.
"Eh? Who is this for?"
Then an officer returning to work spoke to the policewoman.
"Isn't it Detective Oh?"
"Ah, good job Sunbae-nim! Detective Oh?"
"Yes. He receives orders here because he can't get them at home."
It was one of the good things about not being married. Speaking of which-
Detective Oh was walking down the hallway when the new policewoman waved her hand.
"Detective Oh! Did you order something?"
Detective Oh stopped with a confused expression.
"What do you mean? My wife found my savings so I couldn't even if I wanted to. Aigoo. That fishing rod…"
"Ahaha…"
The courier package wasn't for Detective Oh. The policewoman looked at the courier box with suspicious eyes.
"Hrmm…"
"Something is fishy…"
Looking at the details, the recipient seemed to be Team 2 of the Kangdong Police Station. The sender address was written, but it wasn't an actual address when they searched it up. The name written on the package was also fake.
The police officers groaned. Perhaps they had discovered something immense.
"What is going on?"
The policewoman's eyes widened as a man's voice was heard. A recently popular detective, Cho Kang-suk was glancing at them curiously.
"Ah, Detective Cho Kang-suk!"
He was the biggest celebrity at Kangdong Police Station. He threw his body at Yoo Cheol-ho, the escaped prisoner, who had the whole country in an uproar. Not long ago, he played a crucial role in arresting the hippo. Furthermore, he had recently been paying attention to his appearance, and was now like a wild detective from a movie.
The policewoman couldn't understand why he was still single. If he wasn't meeting anyone…
Her face turned red at the thought.
"Can I take a look at it for a moment?"
"Yes, yes! Take a look!"
The police officers raised their voices, as if they had met a famous celebrity.
Kang-suk coughed and eyed the courier box suspiciously.
The size seemed to be the smallest one available among the post office boxes, and the edges were slightly crushed from the delivery. He sniffed it but there weren't any smells coming from the package. That was all that could be seen from the outward appearance.
Kang-suk looked serious when he was told that this was left behind by a courier. It meant that moving it wasn't dangerous.
"Something heavy?"
He carefully lifted the box and noted that it had a considerable weight.
"Something is shaking. Is there liquid inside?"
Kang-suk thought back to the devices that he learned of back at the police academy. He might be making a fool of himself, but it wasn't bad to be careful. Kang-suk put the box on the table carefully and called Kim Do-shik.
"Inspector, it is Kang-suk. It seems like a bomb might have been delivered to the police station. Can you call EOD?"
Kang-suk asked Kim Do-shik to officially dispatch the explosives squad.
–What? I understand. Don't touch it!
A lazy afternoon.
There was an uproar among the police officers working in Kangdong Police Station.
IED.
A bomb was delivered.
@
"Be careful! Be careful…! If there is any wrong shock or jostle, then the entire police station could go flying away!"
Kim Do-shik gave instructions to the crew who specialized in handling explosives. There were various tools ranging from liquid nitrogen to shock absorbers on the table.
There were various forms among the homemade bombs, such as exploding when a certain impact was given or exploding when the box was opened. The most famous was the time bomb that was connected to a clock and exploded at the appointed time.
"It is opened."
"Well done!"
The lid of the courier box was carefully opened so that no vibrations would be transmitted inside. Kim Do-shik's eyes widened in an instant.
"T-This…!"
It was a plastic bowl filled with red liquid, with wires intricately connected to it like blood vessels connected to a heart.
Kim Do-shik's eyes flashed at the sight. He knew what this was all too well.
"…Liquid bomb!"
The explosives agent started to carefully explore what the liquid was.
"Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be methyl nitrate. It seems to be nitromethane."
Kim Do-shik's expression changed slightly.
Methyl nitrate exploded by mixing with other liquids, even if there wasn't a detonator. However, nitromethane didn't burst unless there was a very strong impact.
The agent said carefully,
"This amount is enough for an entire street to fly away. However, there doesn't seem to be a detonator."
"Hrmm? Detective Cho, did you find this? Is there another?"
Then Cho Kang-suk scratched his head and said.
"No. The two who found it were from the traffic department. I just found it suspicious."
"Haha. You aren't an expert, yet you realized that this is a homemade bomb."
"It was also taught at the police academy… It was because I had a feeling."
"As expected from Cho Kang-suk's senses. At any rate, process that with the utmost care. Detective Cho will be responsible for finding the source and route of the courier.
Cho Kang-suk scratched his head as he heard Kim Do-shik's words.
"Yes. I understand."
Kang-suk wondered about the intentions of the perpetrator who sent this bomb to the police station, but he wasn't Hyun-ho who majored in psychology. He just needed to catch the culprit. It seemed like he would have to work overnight again for a while.
At that moment, one woman came up in Kang-suk's mind. He had his first date with her a while ago, and soon, they would meet again. Although it would be difficult for a while. He would confess at that time…
"Uh, can I see the courier box for a moment?"
Kang-suk noticed something strange.
"Sound recorder…?"
There was an old voice storage device placed in a corner of the box. Kang-suk asked the explosives disposal personnel.
"Is it okay to touch?"
"Yes. The detonator is removed. Even if there is a device that responds to vibration, it won't break."
"Hrmm…!"
Kang-suk carefully grabbed the tape recorder. He tried to check for the culprit's fingerprints, but it had been wiped clean.
"What on earth is this?"
The homemade bomb looked mysterious to Kang-suk. It seemed like the culprit was an IED expert, which was rare in Korea. However, if they provided a tape recorder then they were clearly planning something. Kang-suk discovered the cassette tape in the recorder.
"Inspector. Let me check the content."
Kim Do-shik nodded.
He clicked the button and heard a noise.
-Hello, police officers who are trying to implement justice today.
The voice sounded ridiculous, like the person had inhaled helium gas.
–You have seen my work. If you have the right experts then you will understand how powerful the bomb is.
At the moment, all eyes were focused on the explosive ordnance disposal personnel. The agent said carefully.
"If the bomb explodes in the city then I think there will be at least a few dozen deaths."
"Haha…"
Kang-suk pressed the recorder that had been stopped.
–I have prepared a fun game for you. From now on, I will hide nine identical bombs all over the city center. If you can find them all, then it is your win. Of course, you know what will happen if you miss even one.
"C-Crazy bastard…"
Kang-suk punched the wall. This wasn't a game to him. The culprit was literally declaring that they would bomb the city center. They also sent a bomb to the police like it was a challenge.
–I hope that the courier didn't arrive too late. The first bomb is scheduled at 10 a.m. on December 2nd. The place…
Kim Do-shik shouted.
"Fuck! That was four hours ago! Call and ask what the situation is like at Atlantis right now!"
But there was no need to do so. A person who had been speaking on the radio approached Kim Do-shik with a pale face.
"I-Inspector. There was a support request from Gangseo-gu right now"
"What? Wait a minute, that is where Atlantis is!"
"T-That… A huge explosion occurred at the marine theme park and hundreds of guests were using it…"
Kim Do-shik couldn't resist hitting the table with his fists. As the tape said, one bomb exploded. But the serious thing was that there were still eight remaining.
–Then I'll give you a hint about where the second bomb is hidden. If you want to give up the game then deposit 15 billion won into the designated account. Then I will tell you the location of all the bombs. Then I wish you luck.
At that moment, the Kangdong Police Station was turned upside down.
@
As soon as Tae-hyuk and Ha-yang got out of Atlantis, they headed for a family restaurant in a remote location. Once there, they had a simple meal and discussed future plans.
"Do you know how upset I was? I was really prepared to die."
"Yes, and you almost died. If someone hadn't saved you…"
Tae-hyuk laughed as he looked at Ha-yang. Yoo Ha-yang's face and ears turned red.
"Uh, anyway. In return for my help, you should tell me everything this time."
It seemed like she didn't like the fact that he didn't tell her about the fake blueprint.
"I have to fool my allies to fool my enemies."
"B-But!"
Ha-yang was too embarrassed to speak and wriggled her fingers.
"…I am different. It isn't the same."
"Aigoo…"
Tae-hyuk answered with a small sigh. It seemed the clumsy thief had misunderstood something.
"I understand. I will tell you as much as possible."
"Yes!"
Tae-hyuk took out a notebook and wrote down Kim Tae-sung's name.
"This is the culprit that caused the bombing. A crazy bastard."
"Umm. By the way, I was wondering something. How do you know this?"
The question emerged.
He had to tell Ha-yang something to explain all the strangeness. Tae-hyuk made a sincere expression so she didn't think his words were a joke.
He raised his hand and said.
"That is because I am a tremendous genius."
"G-Genius?"
"I have an IQ of more than 200 that surpasses Einstein and with my tremendous sense of reasoning, I can penetrate into the present and the future.
"…The present and the future? Reasoning?"
"Yes. Can I open the door of truth? It is simple to analyze human psychology and study the pattern of criminals.
"Wah. Amazing. If you have that ability then it is natural to hide it. I'm sure that there would be many people who want to use Tae-hyuk.
Tae-hyuk shrugged. It was a plausible lie, even to him.
"Yes. So Ha-yang noona should also keep it a secret."
Ha-yang blinked and nodded.
"I-I see… Then that is how you know my name?"
Tae-hyuk pulled out his phone and showed his address book.
"I asked you to give me your number and you wrote it down. There was no need for any reasoning."
"…Ah."
"Anyway, Yoo Ha-yang. I think it is a name that really suits Noona."
"Hehehe… Really?"
Ha-yang shook her head and started to twirl her fingers with embarrassment. Only Yoo Ha-yang would be deceived by such an obvious lie.
'It is a perfect name for Noona, who is a fool.'
"Either way, I'll go over Kim Tae-sung future movements with you. This isn't the end of his bombs. There are eight more."
"E-Eight?"
"And Kim Tae-sung asked for 15 billion won to prevent it. Of course, there isn't an easy amount of money to give. In the end, the police will put a large number of people to find the bomb."
"Yes."
Tae-hyuk stopped and thought.
From now on, the words Ha-yang would hear would be shocking. Maybe she would betray him and become associates with Kim Tae-sung.
But according to his previous memories, there was no contact between Yoo Ha-yang and Kim Tae-sung. It would be Tae-hyuk's fault if they were brought together. However, Yoo Ha-yang deserved to hear the truth.
"But his purpose is completely different. He doesn't want money nor to kill discriminately." He…"
Tae-hyuk spoke quietly as he began to describe Kim Tae-sung's purpose. Then Yoo Ha-yang suddenly burst into tears.
"Uhhh, sob… T-Too much… Why did you tell me such things… Aaahhh!"
Tae-hyuk stroked Ha-yang's back as she started to cry like a child and spoke in a soft voice that seemed to calm Ha-yang down.
"I'll ask Noona once again. Do you still want to be my ally?"
"…Sob… My cowardice, this situation…"
"It's okay. Noona and Kim Tae-sung is different. Noona will never be Kim Tae-sung. If you do then I will stop it."
Did those words move Ha-yang's heart? Ha-yang slowly nodded at Tae-hyuk's words.
Tae-hyuk sighed with relief. If he hadn't saved Ha-yang's life then she might have betrayed him now.
Kim Tae-sung's purpose that he told her. It was to kill the chaebol who drove his family to their deaths.