IH Ch 118

Chapter 118

*

The beast captured in the underground parking lot was still inside the building.

The iron bars had worked well enough that it stayed quiet, and both Jae-i and Dohwa had been too busy these past few days to pay it any attention. Sometimes the thought “Is that thing still behaving?” would cross his mind, but he never imagined it would cause trouble like this.

Their residential building had many floors, and some were intentionally left unused. The beast had been shoved into a cage in one of those empty levels. The enclosure was sturdy—or so he’d thought. Yet the steel bars were snapped clean through or bent out of shape. One look told him the creature had been waiting, feigning docility until the perfect moment to cause trouble.

Jae-i narrowed his eyes at the circular hole carved beneath the steel door of the room that housed the cage. This time, he would get rid of it for good. In hindsight, he should have done so the moment it touched Dohwa’s hair. Why had he let it live until now?

Pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek, he strode forward. Stepping out of the room revealed a wide, unfinished space with nothing but bare concrete and pillars. There was nowhere to hide—unless one were small enough to flatten itself against shadows. The beast was smaller than his hand and capable of compressing its body. It could easily be stuck to some dark corner of the room.

Where are you?

He clenched his hand, prepared to incinerate it the moment he spotted it.

“……”

Like a predator stalking prey, Jae-i scanned the area with sharp, gleaming eyes—then stopped. Behind one of the pillars sat a dark lump.

The moment he spotted it sitting there alone in the shadows, the corner of his mouth lifted. It must think it’s hiding well, pathetic thing. Decision made, he raised his hand. Flames shot forward; the instant they touched, the lump erupted in fire and disintegrated to ash in the blink of an eye.

“……!”

A real beast would never burn that easily. Just as he thought that, a gust of air brushed the back of his neck.

Whipping his head around, Jae-i froze at the cold, sticky sensation smacking into his face. His scalp prickled. The moment he reached up to tear it off, the creature rolled toward his hair—and suddenly his entire scalp was yanked backward.

What—?

Eyes wide, Jae-i grabbed at the thing latched onto his hair with both hands.

“Ugh?! Don’t pull my hair!”

The round little monster continued to chew determinedly, as if trying to rip every strand out. Somehow the hair neither tore nor broke. What? What is this? Its round eyes wobbled in panic as Jae-i stretched it like taffy, until it lost its grip and fell off.

“You—”

He flung it to the floor. It bounced like a rubber ball and sprang high into the air, then darted off in another direction.

“That little—!”

Pressing a hand to his yanked hair, Jae-i’s expression turned vicious. Whatever softness Dohwa had brought out of him evaporated instantly; in moments he was a furious demon king, charging after the creature.

It bounced across the ground, rolling and leaping, but the distance between them shrank quickly. Worse, the flames Jae-i hurled were far too hot—instinct alone warned that one touch meant death. Panting, the beast rolled faster, then thought:

Not like this. Not with this body.

If it wanted to escape the human chasing it, it needed long legs. Long arms. Strength. It thought of the one human who had touched it without malice—the white face, big round eyes, the soft nose and lips. The hands that had patted it were small but warm.

The beast looked up. In its frantic running, it hadn’t realized it had reached a dead end. He cornered me deliberately—! Its round eyes narrowed. It whirled around and saw the human standing still, fire gathered in his hand.

Flattening itself low, its back fur spiked. It inhaled deeply and sprang.

Ignoring the fire hurtling toward it, it focused all its strength on transforming—growing, lengthening, reshaping into a form able to fight this human. Its body stretched, expanding midair, changing faster than expected.

Perhaps too fast—because Jae-i froze, face twisting as though seeing something he never should have seen.

Seizing the opening, the transformed beast swung an arm.

A sharp—crack—

Jae-i’s head jerked violently to the side.

While he staggered, the beast used his shoulder as a springboard, vaulting over him. Landing on short but strong legs, it sprinted.

This time, it was working. The beast it had consumed earlier had been foul-tasting, foul-smelling, and massive—too big to hide. But this body was small. Agile. Perfectly suited for slipping into tight spaces.

It sped forward—then froze.

Another human stood ahead.

“……”

Not the scary one chasing it. The other one. What was his name again?

The monster mouthed sounds—“Uh, uh”—trying to speak. The human narrowed his eyes, then smiled and spoke first.

“My name is Dohwa.”

Dohwa.

Yes. That was the name the scary human had called when it ate his hair. The beast nodded vigorously, lifted a tiny arm, and pointed at Dohwa.

“Do… hwa.”

Correct, apparently—Dohwa smiled. His gentle face made the beast blink—

—And that instant of lowered guard was all it took for the large cage to drop over it again.

*

[Did something happen?]

“……”

Even at Ahn Yuna’s question, Jae-i remained silent. Lips pressed tight, expression unreadable. She immediately dropped the topic. If it were truly serious, he would speak first; the fact that he didn’t meant it was probably fine.

[The thing you asked me to look into—I sent it. Did you check it?]

He only nodded.

Her expression stiffened.

They were in a video call. A simple voice call wouldn’t have been enough for this topic. Judging by his face, something had happened in the meantime.

She hesitated, then began.

[I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but… let’s just say the people who died were the kind of people who were going to die.]

“……”

[There were far too many people involved in things they never should have touched.]

A few days ago, Jae-i had sent her a long list of names and asked for background checks. She complied without questioning it too much. Every person on the list was officially deceased. Publicly, they had respectable titles, positions, and spotless reputations—yet privately, they held hidden darkness.

They abused their status, exploited people, pocketed massive illegal profits. Some had committed crimes, including sexual crimes and drug-related offenses; others had sold domestic intel overseas. Many were connected to Lee Myeonghwan.

Ahn Yuna examined the report of their deaths.

Initially, the public announcements had been brief—found dead under X circumstances. But the details were strange. They had disappeared during personal errands, only to be found dead in alleys, behind buildings, even on outdoor metal staircases during parties.

All had tiny punctures in their brains or hearts—small enough to miss. If someone had hired an assassin, normally the culprit would get caught eventually—but no one was.

Given how deeply tied these people were to crime, their own circles probably found them troublesome. Their deaths may have been seen as convenient—removing obstacles before they caused trouble.

If she dug deeper, she might uncover more connections. But Ahn Yuna doubted that was what Jae-i wanted from her in the first place.