Boy Monster Chapter 18

Shi Taehyun, who seemed to have lost his words for a moment, even holding his breath, didn’t open his mouth even as time passed. He just stared at Eunho with an unreadable expression. Eunho felt suffocated by the weight of his piercing gaze. Was he trying to convey some kind of message, like in the mugshot from yesterday? He couldn’t grasp the intentions of this silent guy.

In person, Shi Taehyun exuded a much more imposing wildness than in the mugshot. He was someone who held the extreme point of the sun in his eyes. An endlessly burning flame. Although Jae Eunho was someone who didn’t cower in front of dangerous and violent males, it wasn’t easy now. It required considerable effort. Eunho, with difficulty, maintained a calm demeanor as he faced him.

Shi Taehyun was still silent. He moved his eyes up and down, examining Eunho, and his breathing gradually grew rough. Seeing the corners of his lips slowly curl up, he seemed excited for some reason.

Jae Eunho coldly turned away. He was a drug addict, practically a murderer. It was best not to engage in pointless conversation now. He would investigate later using his sensing ability. As a lecturer on a tour of the detention center, there was no need to pay him any more attention.

“Actually, I expected the police to thank me first, I’m disappointed.”

Eunho let out a hollow laugh at the voice that pierced the back of his head. He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t help but ask.

“Thank you? Why?”

“I handed over the Philippine drug and human trafficking organization’s chart and even their phones, perfectly intact.”

Shi Taehyun pressed his cheek against the window, looked up intently at Eunho, and slurred his words.

“I thought you’d have a headache because of that organization.”

“It has nothing to do with you. Even if you hadn’t turned that smuggling ship into a bloodbath, I believe the Korean military and the NIS would have achieved the same result.”

He added a slight lie. But it wasn’t a complete lie, so he was confident. If Eunho had used Monk Chogwang’s influence to perform a wide-range sensing, he might have been able to locate the smuggling ship.

“Don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t justify the crime you committed. It’s attempted murder, plain and simple.”

Shi Taehyun, who had been gripping the bars and persistently staring at Eunho, let out a hearty laugh, “Heh.”

“If you kill a villain, isn’t that good?”

“Even if you kill a villain, it’s still evil.”

At the end of a faint smile, Shi Taehyun muttered as if to himself,

“Then are you a villain, sir?”

“……!”

Eunho glared at him coldly. Even though he knew Eunho was questioning the meaning of his words, Shi Taehyun didn’t answer. He leaned back and laughed loudly, then threw out a nonsensical remark.

“You’re much more attractive up close. Come in. If you do me once, I’ll tell you how I killed and revived those guys.”

He said “killed and revived” precisely, not “almost killed.” Did Shi Taehyun really know something? Jae Eunho turned and stood in front of the window. Looking directly into Jae Eunho’s slightly darkened black pupils, Shi Taehyun whispered.

“You’re curious, aren’t you, how I killed and revived those guys.”

Jae Eunho continued to maintain his composure. Shi Taehyun’s half-crazed smile didn’t change. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and giggled for a while before speaking.

“And, how many centimeters I am.”

“……!”

Eunho finally lost his breath. Confirming Eunho’s frozen gaze behind his glasses, Shi Taehyun slowly bit the tip of his tongue. He made a fist with his large hand and then thrust his thick thumb out between his index and middle fingers. With his other hand, he bent his index finger and thumb to make a small hole. The fist with the protruding thumb pounded the hole. It was a sexual insult.

“Your face is even more amazing in person than in the photos. You pass with flying colors. Come on in, I said.”

The guards kicked the door in annoyance. Shi Taehyun, laughing loudly, unclasped his hands. His messy hair fell down, half covering his eyes.

“You bastard, stop it!”

“I can do it right now. I’m serious. Want to see?”

Shi Taehyun grabbed the bars and climbed up the window to show his crotch. The guards finally opened the door and went in, swinging their batons. Even as he retreated, pretending to be hurt, Shi Taehyun winked at Jae Eunho.

Jae Eunho stumbled back a few steps, then steadied himself. That bastard, what is his identity…?

:･⚜️⊹.️

During the afternoon lecture, he talked, adding common sense to the material in the handout. He was lost in thought for the entire two hours. Fatigue washed over him as he tossed his bag, dorm key, phone, and keyring on the desk and slumped down.

After showering, Jae Eunho shared the operational status with Deputy Director Oh Jigeun and Monk Chogwang over the phone. He relayed everything except the conversation about “SuperDevillishGiantBig.” Monk Chogwang was more excited than ever at the mention that they might find important clues about the SaHwelju by examining Shi Taehyun’s consciousness. Since it was still too early to inform the government, they had to carefully time the secret release of Eunho’s sensing ability control.

He wanted to call Monk Jikuk and tell him every detail of the short conversation with Shi Taehyun, but he held back. He had to be more level-headed in situations like this. He dried his wet hair with a towel and let out a deep breath, phew.

Wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt and comfortable pants, he sat down, holding a cigarette and a pen simultaneously. He opened his notebook and checked his radio. Hyeon Jaewoong answered in a hushed voice.

—Shi Taehyun? He’s quiet. So quiet that I have to be careful even with my own voice. So I’m doing clap push-ups while talking. Huff! Haff!

The thug who had been rampaging like a hunting dog in front of Jae Eunho was now without a trace. He must have been tired after stabbing several gangsters. In any case, there was nothing to gain from Hyeon Jaewoong. It was the same with Choi Jungkyung. Choi Jungkyung, who had been babbling about how much he liked the prison guard uniform, paused for a moment and then asked,

—Didn’t you hear something?

—What… sound? Huh! Haff!

—The sound of a door opening in the wind and banging against the wall. Did an iron door open somewhere?

—Ah, the door sound! I heard it. It was the sound of Captain Eunho coming out of his dorm to see me. Hehe.

When Choi Jungkyung complained, “How long do I have to listen to his flirting? Just accept him already,” Eunho firmly ended the conversation.

“If you’re going to chatter, cut off the radio. Everyone, stay in position.”

—Wait a minute! Jungkyung hyung, what are the guards on duty doing right now?

—Why? I don’t know, I’m in the C.R.P.T office.

—It’s patrol time, but the guard hasn’t come. Is security this lax here? Phew! Dongbu Detention Center is hopeless.

—Wait and see. Maybe he’s having a cigarette.

Eunho instructed them not to fall asleep without his explicit permission and ended the radio communication.

He thought he heard the sound of an iron door, clang… clang, clang… Jae Eunho opened the window and looked around the detention center grounds. The air, wet with drizzle, was humid. The sound of crickets and insects spread through the misty rain falling like dust. The inmate housing unit and the exercise yard were quiet. Security personnel were patrolling at their designated positions along the walls and guard towers, and the surveillance cameras installed throughout were functioning normally.

Because it was on a mountain ridge, it was dark even with the bright lights on. It was the deep darkness of the mountains, as if something was about to happen.

Jae Eunho, blowing cigarette smoke towards the inmate housing unit where the solitary confinement cells were located, closed the window.

—When the rain falls and music plays, I think of you

Kim Hyunsik’s “Like Rain, Like Music” played through the wireless earphone in one ear. Jae Eunho’s music playlist ranged from 80s and 90s pop music to 60s Korean songs, and then settled on hits from the Japanese colonial era like “Praise of Death,” “Youth Class,” and swing jazz. Eunho was trapped in that era. While Eunho’s body was in the present, his mind and memories always lingered in the past.

—I spend another day today, just like this, in the rain

He began brainstorming and jotting down the operation outline in his notebook. He drew a line from the “Incident” to the “Suspect” section, then drew a large question mark under the name “Shi Taehyun.” SuperDevillishGiantBig had clearly targeted Jae Eunho. Who was he, how much did he know, and what was his purpose?

He listed the questions he needed to confirm with Shi Taehyun one by one below.

• If he wasn’t with the Philippine drug cartel, how did he board the smuggling ship with them? Did his disguise work?
• Did he intentionally commit the massacre to get caught? If so, why did he deliberately advertise his existence to the NIS, raising suspicions of a connection to the SaHwelju? : He wanted me to make a move.
• Were the half-dead bodies that came back to life really affected by the SaHwelju’s power?
• Why did he approach me first through chat messages, and how did he know my ID? Did he investigate me? Me, a confidential NIS agent? If so, he wouldn’t have acted alone. I need to find out who’s behind him. CIA? Public Security? Or is the drug cartel connected to the Philippine intelligence agency?
• I also need to find out if the earthquake and sinkhole are related.

One thing was certain: Shi Taehyun was targeting Jae Eunho. The moment he recalled the face that strangely resembled the boy, he felt a tingling sensation above his solar plexus.

—The beautiful, music-like stories of our love

Eunho took off his earphones and placed them on the desk. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow afternoon. He had to investigate Shi Taehyun immediately. In the quiet of the night, when the inmates were asleep, he would uncover all the secrets.

Jae Eunho, putting down his pen and standing up, relayed the operation to Choi Jungkyung.

“Choi Jungkyung, I’m starting the investigation now. I’ll put all the security personnel to sleep and enter Shi Taehyun’s solitary cell with you, so brace yourself.”

Jae Eunho’s red lips were slightly tense with excitement.