A week passed. Seven days of dead ends, false leads, and mounting frustration. Jin-young had combed through every security camera feed within fifty kilometers of Bukhansan, looking for a tall man with a bear tattoo. Nothing. Min-jun and Shi-eok had interviewed every witness, every family member, every friend of the seven victims. No connections. Hae-rin had built and rebuilt profiles, chasing psychological angles that led nowhere. Soo-ah had organized and reorganized evidence until she could see it in her sleep. Seo-ah had followed every lead, learned every detail, absorbed every piece of information until her mind buzzed with it.
Nothing.
The man with the bear tattoo had vanished like smoke.
Dae-hyun spent the week in his office or at the whiteboard, sleeping in fits and starts, eating only when someone put food in front of him. His team watched him wear down but said nothing. They all felt it—the weight of seven faces staring at them from the board, seven families waiting for justice, seven women who would never come home.
And then, on the eighth day, the call came.
---
Soo-ah's voice cut through the bullpen's heavy silence. "Captain! New missing persons report. Just came in."
Dae-hyun was at her desk in three strides. "Who?"
"Soo-jin. Kim Soo-jin. Twenty-five years old. Lives alone in Mapo—same neighborhood as Park Soo-jin. Graphic designer, works from home, quiet, introverted." Soo-ah looked up, her face pale. "Her mother called when she missed their weekly phone call. Police checked her apartment—no signs of struggle, but she's gone. Phone is off. Bank cards untouched. She vanished three days ago."
The bullpen went cold.
Hae-rin stood slowly. "Same profile. Same neighborhood. Same everything."
Jin-young was already typing. "I'm pulling traffic cameras from that area for the last three days. If he's there, I'll find him."
Dae-hyun's voice was sharp. "Min-jun, get to the apartment. Interview the building manager, the neighbors, anyone who might have seen something. Shi-eok, go with him. Soo-ah, coordinate with Jin-young on the camera feeds. Hae-rin, update the profile—same victim type, so same hunter. Seo-ah, you're with me. We're going to talk to the mother."
They moved.
---
Two days of intense investigation followed. Two days of no sleep, no breaks, no mercy.
Jin-young found fragments—a tall figure in the background of a convenience store camera, too blurry to identify. A large man seen near Kim Soo-jin's building by a neighbor who couldn't remember details. A dark vehicle captured at the edge of a parking lot, plates obscured.
Min-jun and Shi-eok interviewed twenty-three people and came back with nothing solid. Hae-rin refined and refined, but the profile was the same as before—a patient predator, careful and cunning, leaving nothing behind.
Soo-ah organized evidence until her eyes burned. Seo-ah sat with Kim Soo-jin's mother for hours, listening, learning, cataloguing every detail of the missing woman's life.
And then, on the second evening, the call came.
Dae-hyun's phone rang. He answered on the first ring.
"Captain Kang."
"This is Officer Park from the Mapo precinct. Sir, we found a body. In the woods near Bukhansan. Same MO as the others."
Dae-hyun closed his eyes for just a moment. "I'm on my way."
---
The scene was grimly familiar.
Floodlights illuminated a shallow grave in a remote clearing. Forensic technicians worked under the harsh light, documenting everything. And in the center, curled on her side as if sleeping, lay Kim Soo-jin.
Same position. Same clothes still recognizable. Same bruising on her neck—the telltale marks of thumbs and fingers.
Dae-hyun stood at the edge of the light, watching. Min-jun came to stand beside him, silent.
After a long moment, Min-jun reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to Dae-hyun.
"You don't smoke."
"Tonight I do."
They lit up together, the tiny flames briefly illuminating their faces. Smoke curled into the night air.
Min-jun exhaled slowly. "He's taunting us."
Dae-hyun said nothing.
"Eight women now. Eight. We were right on his trail, and he still found another one. He killed her while we were searching. While we had the mountain locked down." Min-jun's voice was rough. "He's laughing at us."
Dae-hyun took a long drag, then crushed the cigarette under his heel. He stared at the scene before him—the technicians, the body, the mountain that had become a graveyard.
Then something shifted in his eyes.
"Min."
Min-jun looked at him. "Yeah?"
"It started in Busan." Dae-hyun's voice was quiet, thoughtful. "His first kills. The ones we know about, anyway. He was operating there for years before he came here."
Min-jun frowned. "So?"
"So that's where we go. You, me, and Seo-ah. To Busan."
Min-jun stared at him. "Why?"
"Because his first kills are his least experienced." Dae-hyun turned to face him fully. "He might have been careful in Busan, but he wasn't as careful as he is now. He made mistakes there. Small ones. Things that didn't matter at the time but might matter now." His jaw tightened. "We need to talk to the detectives who worked that case. They have files, evidence, memories. Things that never made it into official reports."
Min-jun considered this. "You want to take over their cold case?"
"I want to borrow their eyes. Their memories. Their frustration." Dae-hyun looked back at the grave. "This didn't start here. It started there. And somewhere in Busan, there's a thread we haven't pulled."
Min-jun nodded slowly. "When do we leave?"
"Tonight. First flight out." Dae-hyun turned away from the scene. "Let's go."
---
Back at the precinct, the bullpen was quiet despite the late hour. Everyone had gathered, waiting.
Dae-hyun walked in, Min-jun and Seo-ah behind him. He moved to the front of the room and faced his team.
"We're going to Busan. Min-jun, Seo-ah, and me. First flight in the morning."
Jin-young's eyes widened. "Busan? Why?"
"Because that's where he started. His first kills. His first mistakes." Dae-hyun's voice was steady. "The detectives who worked that case have been living with this for years. They know things that aren't in the files. We need their help."
Soo-ah stood up. "Captain, I want to come too. I can—"
"No. You stay here. All of you." Dae-hyun looked at each of them in turn. "Jin-young, keep running the data. Look for connections we missed. Hae-rin, keep building the profile—every new detail helps. Shi-eok, coordinate with the patrols around the mountain. Soo-ah, keep the board updated." He paused. "And all of you, watch each other's backs. He's still out there. He knows we're looking."
Soo-ah nodded, though her disappointment was clear. "Yes, Captain."
Hae-rin spoke quietly. "The Busan detectives. Will they cooperate? Taking over their case could feel like an insult."
"I'll handle it." Dae-hyun picked up a bag he'd already packed. "We'll be in touch. If anything breaks here, call immediately."
Min-jun grabbed his own bag. Seo-ah stood, ready.
They walked out together, leaving the bullpen in a strange silence.
Jin-young spoke first. "Busan. Think they'll find something?"
Hae-rin's voice was thoughtful. "If there's anything to find, the captain will find it."
Soo-ah looked at the board, at the eight faces staring back. "He has to."
---
The flight to Busan was short—less than an hour in the air. Dae-hyun sat by the window, staring at the clouds. Min-jun dozed in the middle seat, old habit taking over. Seo-ah sat by the aisle, watching the captain's reflection in the window.
She spoke quietly. "Captain."
He didn't turn. "Yes."
"Why did you bring me?"
"Because you notice things. Because you ask questions. Because you sat with Kim Soo-jin's mother for three hours and got more information than anyone else." He paused. "And because this case needs fresh eyes. You're the newest. The least buried in assumptions."
Seo-ah considered this. "I thought you didn't want me on the squad."
"I didn't." He turned from the window, meeting her eyes. "But you're here. And you're good at this. Better than I expected."
It was the closest thing to a compliment he'd ever given her. Seo-ah felt something warm in her chest.
"Thank you, Captain."
He turned back to the window. "Don't thank me yet. We haven't found him."
The plane hummed on through the night, carrying them toward the city where it all began.
---
Busan sparkled below them as they descended, a crescent of lights along the dark sea. The plane touched down with a jolt, and they gathered their things and moved through the terminal in silence.
A car waited for them outside—arranged by the Busan Metropolitan Police, at Dae-hyun's request. Min-jun took the wheel, and they drove through unfamiliar streets toward the station where five years ago, four women had vanished and been found in the mountains.
Dae-hyun's phone buzzed. A message from Jin-young.
Busan PD is expecting you. Detective Park Sang-won worked the original case. He's... intense. Fair warning.
Dae-hyun pocketed the phone without responding.
They pulled up to the station—a building much like their own, but different in a thousand small ways. The three of them walked inside, past night shift officers who glanced up with curiosity, to a desk where a man waited.
Detective Park Sang-won was in his fifties, with gray hair and eyes that had seen too much. He looked up as they approached, and something flickered in his expression—recognition, maybe, or wariness.
"Captain Kang." His voice was rough, tired. "I heard you were coming."
Dae-hyun extended his hand. "Detective Park. Thank you for meeting us."
Park shook it, then looked at Min-jun and Seo-ah. "Your team?"
"Detective Kim Min-jun. Inspector Yoon Seo-ah."
Park's eyes lingered on Seo-ah for just a moment—the face he'd seen on screens—but he said nothing. He simply nodded and gestured toward a hallway.
"Come on. I'll show you the files."
They followed him through the station, past empty desks and quiet offices, to a small room filled with cardboard boxes.
Park stopped at the door. "Four victims. Four families. Four years of my life." He looked at Dae-hyun. "And we never caught him. Not even close."
Dae-hyun stepped into the room. "We will."
Park's smile was bitter. "That's what I used to think."
Min-jun moved past them, opening boxes. Seo-ah followed, her eyes scanning labels.
Dae-hyun faced Park. "I know this feels like an insult. Outsiders coming in, taking over your case."
Park shrugged. "Feels like a lot of things. But if you catch him, I don't care what it feels like." He met Dae-hyun's eyes. "I just want him stopped."
"Then help us. Tell us everything. The things that didn't make it into reports. The things you noticed but couldn't prove. The things that kept you up at night."
Park was quiet for a long moment. Then he moved to a box and pulled out a worn notebook.
"Sit down, Captain. This is going to take a while."
They sat.
And in that small room, surrounded by boxes of dead women's lives, the real hunt began.