Park Ji Woo, a charming crime investigator at the peak of his career, his life taking an unexpected turn when the intelligent doctor trainee, Min Seohyun, winds up at his house with no explanation. With their paths continuously crossing, both are pu...
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"I guess this is it," Eunho uttered, sliding his shades down to the tip of his nose. He squinted through the tinted window of the police car in the musty darkness of the evening as Seojin slowed down to a stop on the other side of the road.
"The 27th store down today." Seojin pulled the car to a full stop, jerking the keys out of the ignition. Jiwoo sat in the back, blankly staring out the window at the mundane firearms store. The grim and gloomy building fit in with the rest of the ghostly street. He was still caught in a trance, with the whirlpool of events earlier in the morning waving through his head.
Focus, you idiot; you're working on a case. Jiwoo rotated his head in circles, cracking his neck. They exited the car, crossing the street towards the store. The area should have thronged with people, but it stood as empty as any desert.
"It's locked," Jiwoo said, churning the door handle with a frown on his face. Looking up, a lopsided sign that read 'Open' plastered the clear glass.
"Should we just come tomorrow? No use idling around here," Seojin began, flicking his wrist to check his watch. Eunho argued back, standing ground that it was useless to come around with no luck. As the two bickered back in forth in a restless debate, a scuffling sound grazed the concrete.
Jiwoo snapped his head to the side, but only the stillness of the buildings around greeted his sight. It was an eerie, empty street with a lone lampost flickering a dim light on the road now and then. A stray plastic bag danced in the air, emerging from the dark lane beside the store. Curious, Jiwoo strayed away from Eunho and Seojin to enter the alleyway. He didn't know what to expect apart from a large dumpster bin in the distance. "Wait a second."
Jiwoo slipped further in the depths of the alley; eyes narrowed at the weary door by the firearms store. The silence pressed in, and all he could hear was the scuffing noise his own feet made down the dank alleyway. Nearing the back entrance, he nudged it open. The door creaked open, winding open a centimeter at a time. It could move faster, but the wood of the door had grown moldy and weary with neglect, and if you pushed it harder, you'd probably push right through the door.
In the room, there was barely any light. A sinister aura enveloped Jiwoo, like wisps of smoke circling him like prey. It was like being watched; at any given moment someone would sneak up from behind him and pounce like a predator. He slightly looked over his shoulder, eyes searching to see if he had any company. Satisfied, Jiwoo slowly entered the pit of darkness that swallowed him into a cave of empty nightmares.
Heaps of boxes were stacked on top of each other, providing only a tight passageway to maneuver. It reeked of strange chemicals that had a burnt character and acrid stench mildly coating the air. I guess this is where they keep the smokeless powder for the guns. Jiwoo pulled up his phone to cast a flash of light in his path.
The floorboards squeaked with every step Jiwoo took, and he couldn't shake off the icy feeling hugging his shoulders. He could only imagine what the place would look like if it were daylight.
