Kill Your X Chapter 71

My father walked around the table and came to the spot opposite me. He didn’t sit in the chair, but rather placed both hands on the desk as if interrogating me and spoke. Under the dim lighting, his shadowed face looked like that of a stranger.

“Don’t tell me, have you gone and lost your mind over that gangster bastard and are now betraying your own father?”

“Think whatever you want. Nothing will change anyway.”

“Ha! So that’s what it was. I really raised my child wrong. A man gets turned on by a guy with the same thing between his legs and causes this mess. Fuck, you filthy bastards.”

It was strange. I was being subjected to all sorts of insults right in front of my eyes, and the person spewing them was even my biological father, yet I didn’t feel bad at all. I only realized anew that I no longer held even a shred of affection for him.

“Seo Seunghan at least tried to save me. You, Father, did the opposite. Even if we share the same blood, should I side with the person who is trying to kill me?”

“…Whatever it is, you’re thinking about this the wrong way. The world doesn’t just work out prettily according to your wishes. You’re saying all this now because you don’t know anything.”

“We’ll find that out in due time. The results from the National Forensic Service will speak for themselves.”

The gaze looking down at me was as cold as it could be. After realizing that further conversation was meaningless for both of us, my father spared his words.

Just then, a knock came from outside.

An officer who carefully opened the door and entered bowed politely to my father and said.

“Commissioner. You have to go back for questioning.”

We were both being questioned as witnesses, but my father was receiving treatment that was considerably different from mine. The fact that he could just come to see me as he pleased was proof that he was enjoying every privilege he could get.

“Is there any word from Minister Yoon yet?”

“I was told he will arrive within two hours.”

“Tsk, what a sluggish bastard. I don’t like a single one of them, this one or that one.”

He then reached out and grabbed the jacket that had been covering the CCTV camera. Before leaving the interrogation room, my father gave me a final notice.

“Whether it’s hiring a lawyer or whatever, you handle it yourself. From now on, I’ll consider myself to have no son like you.”

“Yes. You must make sure to remove me from the family register. As quickly as possible. Isn’t the world too harsh to live as the son of a serial killer?”

Kwaang! The door slammed shut with enough force to break.

I underwent additional witness questioning and then left the interrogation room. Unlike Seo Seunghan, the police had no immediate grounds to detain me, so they said I could go home today.

Before leaving the police station, I grabbed a random officer I saw and asked a question. He was surprised once by my identity, and a second time by the injuries on my face.

“Excuse me. Where is Seo Seunghan right now?”

“Pardon?”

“You know, the man who was brought in as a key member of the Kumto gang. Where is he right now? He didn’t hire a lawyer before, right? Has the public defender not arrived yet either?”

As I shot the questions out rapidly, the officer looked troubled. Although I had caused a major incident, he seemed unsure how to treat me since I was the son of the next police commissioner. After I pestered him relentlessly, the officer squeezed his eyes shut and gave me an answer.

“I understand he hasn’t said a word since entering the detention center. He hasn’t hired a lawyer, either.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

After getting a general grasp of the situation, I was about to walk out the main entrance of the police station but hesitated. It was because of the reporters swarming outside like a hive of bees.

“Ah, this is a problem.”

Even at a glance, it was an incident the media would covet. A star police officer who had remained unshaken even after being embroiled in an internal whistleblowing scandal, and then suddenly his son jumps in and exposes his father as the true culprit of a past police disappearance case. Furthermore, he even broadcasted the discovery of the bodies in real time. On that spot, not two bodies as originally expected, but a staggering seven bodies were found.

It still didn’t feel real, but I wasn’t too worried. It was a well-founded confidence.

Since the National Forensic Service had begun their analysis, they would at least be able to identify whose bodies they were. The cause of death for the two missing detectives would match my testimony, so the credibility of my claims would naturally be secured.

Also, during the witness questioning earlier, I mentioned the existence of drugs hidden in a nearby cabin. If they investigate that area thoroughly, they should be able to find at least one fingerprint of someone involved.

No matter how powerful my father’s current position was, I was certain that with this much, it would be difficult for him to get away clean on his own.

The remaining problems were Seo Seunghan, and how I was going to get out of here right now…

“Song Gyujin! Mr. Gyujin!”

As I was hesitating behind the door, someone called me urgently.

“Detective Nam!”

He was just coming out from inside. It seemed he had also been questioned all night, just like me.

“My goodness, what happened to your face. Did you get hit during questioning? Do you remember the name of the person who hit you?”

“It’s my father’s handiwork. My face is one thing, but with the situation outside, how are we going to get out?”

“There’s a way.”

Detective Nam led me to a passageway in the basement cafeteria. After passing through a maze-like shortcut, we reached the underground parking garage, and we left together in a car he had prepared in advance. As soon as we got to ground level, reporters somehow found out and swarmed the car, but Detective Nam skillfully shook them off.

“You seem to have done this more than once or twice.”

Detective Nam responded nonchalantly.

“Humans are animals capable of learning, aren’t they. This is your first time experiencing something like this, isn’t it, Mr. Gyujin? I’ve been living like this ever since my first exposé. Now, I can tell which newspaper someone is from just by looking at the reporter’s face.”

When I told him I had nowhere to stay for the time being, Detective Nam took me to his home. It was a place he lived in alone, away from his family.

“Excuse me for intruding.”

Seeing each other under the bright light, we both looked a mess. I asked for his permission, borrowed some clothes from him, and took a shower. When I came out, Detective Nam was sitting on the living room floor, chugging a can of beer.

“Want one? Or should we treat your wounds first?”

“It’s just a few bruises. But I’d be grateful for a beer.”

“Grab whatever you want from the fridge. There’s soju on the bottom shelf, too.”

Without hesitating, I grabbed a can of beer and sat down next to him. We were both drained to the limit with exhaustion, but it was a difficult situation for either of us to just stretch out our legs and sleep.

After quenching my thirst with the beer, I asked him a question.

“Detective, what did you say during your questioning? Seeing as you came out around the same time as me, it looks like you had a rough time, too.”

“I didn’t say much. They just asked basic questions like how I got to know you, Mr. Song Gyujin, and what prompted me to start the broadcast, but they pretty much left me alone. It seems you’re the one who went through a tough time in there, Mr. Gyujin.”

His worried gaze fell on my face. The bruise on the spot that had hit the floor earlier was becoming more and more vivid.

“I found out the police station is a much scarier place than I thought.”

“Did your father not make any last-ditch attempts at persuasion? Like he’d forgive you if you begged for forgiveness now.”

“He told me to find my own lawyer.”

Detective Nam kept his head down in silence for a moment, then grabbed another can of beer from the fridge, plunked it down in front of me, and muttered.

“If I’d known we’d have a guest, I would have bought some snacks, but there’s nothing.”

“It’s alright. Thank you for comforting me. I was feeling quite empty inside.”

At that, Detective Nam gave a bitter smile. I knew without asking that it was the expression someone makes when they can’t bring themselves to cry.

“My relationship with my father is now beyond repair, but in a way, I feel relieved. Since we’ve made such a big scene, it will be difficult to cover up the whole truth, even if some parts are fabricated. I heard the police at the station talking; it seems a variety of evidence, from clothing to weapons, was found on site.”

“Just as you said, Mr. Gyujin, extracting DNA from the evidence won’t be that difficult. If even half of this goes the way we intended, everything Song Jeonggun does will be nothing more than a stalling tactic.”

Although he wasn’t making a fuss, Detective Nam also showed signs of inner relief.

We drank in silence for a while. He gave the impression that he could down a whole crate and still be fine, but Detective Nam’s eyes gradually grew hazy, as if he was weaker to alcohol than he looked. As I sipped my beer, gauging the amount left in the can, he suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Mr. Gyujin. Thank you, really.”

His slightly slow speech was brimming with sincerity. The corners of his eyes, wrinkled by the hardships of time, were also strangely red.

“What for?”

“No. I’m truly grateful. It’s not enough no matter how many times I say it. Thank you so much. Mr. Gyujin, you are no different from my lifesaver. I will definitely repay this debt.”

“……”

“It’s okay if things go wrong and I end up in prison. But I couldn’t bear for it to end without finding a single trace of my colleagues. I was about to give up on everything, but you appeared and saved me, Mr. Gyujin. Not just me, but all the people who were unjustly buried in that cold mountain.”

His words of gratitude continued at length, but sadly, at some point, I couldn’t hear anything Detective Nam was saying. I could only think of Seo Seunghan.

Seo Seunghan, who had revived me in that place in the past. Seo Seunghan, who had given up his own life and still foolishly let me win. Seo Seunghan, who they said hadn’t uttered a single word since being brought to the police station as a fake suspect.

What is he thinking right now? Does he know that I did all this?

“In that case, Detective. May I ask you for a favor?”