Chapter 60

It wasn’t certain yet, but his instincts were warning him. This wasn’t just a random doodle.

Beomjin narrowed his eyes and stared at the mark again.

Ever since the regression, he hadn’t stopped running for a single moment. Now, he finally had a chance to catch his breath.

Risa’s surgery ended safely. The Flute of Ten Thousand Waves was recovered.

And yet this tiny symbol was pulling the tension tight again.

‘Come on… just this once, let me breathe a little.’

Beomjin took a picture of the marking and lowered his phone. At that moment, Young-chun shoved his head in from the side.

“What? What’s here? What are you looking at?”

Without his glasses, the old man blinked several times, squinting at the doorbell panel. Then he pointed aggressively at the mark.

“Oh, that? This scribble here?”

“I don’t know what it means yet.”

“Huh?! This thing’s here too?”

Kang-ju suddenly chimed in. Naturally, both Beomjin and Young-chun turned to stare at him.

“I’ve seen something like that at another house I deliver to. I don’t know if it’s exactly the same, but…”

“Hmph. Kids these days love pretending they know everything. Just saying whatever doesn’t make it true.”

Kang-ju pouted and shot back.

“Well then, check first and call me wrong later, old man. Sheesh…”

Beomjin stepped between them and asked Kang-ju directly.

“You’re sure you’ve seen this marking before?”

Young-chun glared like Kang-ju owed him money, but Kang-ju lifted his eyebrows with confidence.

“Yes! I remember the house too. They order so much food I go there all the time. I’m positive.”

“You probably saw some other doodle.”

Neither man cared about Young-chun’s muttering as they continued.

“You know the address for that house?”

“Of course. Want to go now?”

His confident look made Beomjin sigh.

“…Fine. We should check it out. Just in case.”

“Oh! Oh! And then we catch the culprit and arrest him, right?!”

Young-chun’s face flushed red with excitement, his knees bouncing like a kid about to run.

“If that were reality… we wouldn’t have this many cases on our hands.”

“Eh? On TV they find evidence, arrest the bad guy, and boom — case closed.”

He was dead serious. If this continued, it would turn into a debate, not a conversation. Beomjin held back a sigh and just nodded.

“We’ll head out now.”

“Head out? Without me?”

Beomjin froze mid-step as Young-chun blocked the way like a tiny brick wall.

“You’re leaving me here?”

“We’re continuing the investigation…”

“And what about me? You think you’re going without me?”

“…what?”

Beomjin stared blankly.

The old man’s eyes already held the answer.

“Of course I’m coming! I told you, I’m gonna be the one to catch this thief!”

Before he knew it, Beomjin was driving. Young-chun sat in the passenger seat like a field commander, arms crossed with great dignity. Up ahead, Kang-ju led the way on his motorcycle.

“You know… I always knew a day like this would come.”

As soon as the car moved, the old man’s mouth never stopped. He sounded like he believed he was the protagonist of this case.

“Look at that brat’s driving. That’s why the roads are a mess!”

Even Beomjin had to admit Kang-ju rode recklessly. He barely avoided colliding with a cart piled with cardboard.

“Oh dear, that’s my friend’s cart. See that? He almost crashed into it.”

Young-chun smashed his face to the window to stare.

“My friend works so hard. He’s two years younger than me. A retired good cop — still working day and night.”

“…Is that so.”

“Should I call him for help? He was a damn good cop in his prime.”

The nonstop chatter made Beomjin’s brain slowly fog.

“…If we need help, I’ll let you know.”

“You’ll regret not calling him sooner.”

The commentary continued endlessly. Beomjin sped up, praying they would arrive quickly.

They parked at an apartment complex nearby.

Building 103, Unit 701. Sure enough — the same marking was drawn beside the doorbell.

“See? SEE?! It’s here, right?!”

Kang-ju pointed with a triumphant grin.

The circular shape with overlapping lines — a perfect match.

“It’s definitely the same.”

Young-chun shoved him aside like a linebacker and spoke solemnly:

“This isn’t random. The thief marked the houses he hit. We’re dealing with a serial thief. A crafty one.”

Kang-ju folded his arms and scoffed.

“How are you so sure? You don’t even know who drew it.”

“Half of investigation is intuition! I can smell it!”

“That’s probably the medicated patch on your back.”

“What did you just—?!”

“Enough.”

Beomjin separated them again.

“If you keep this up, I’ll send both of you home.”

The monkey and the dog immediately shut their mouths, sulking.

Beomjin pressed the doorbell. Silence — then the door opened slowly.

A woman with messy hair and big glasses poked her head out. Oversized T-shirt, sleepy eyes — clearly just woke up.

“Yes…? Who?”

“Sorry to bother you. I’m Baek Beomjin from the Special Beast Investigation Unit. Have you lost any packages recently?”

“…Packages?”

She blinked several times.

“Oh. I did once? But that was like a week ago. Thought the delivery app messed up so I refunded it.”

A small corgi peeked out behind her legs.

Young-chun immediately shouted.

“SEE?! Another one!!”

“That still doesn’t mean it’s me!!”

Beomjin raised a hand.

“Ma’am. This marking here — have you seen it before?”

He pointed. She squinted.

“This? It was already there when I moved in. I thought it was just cute graffiti.”

“You didn’t draw it yourself?”

“Nope.”

Her tone was uninterested — done with this conversation.

“Oh… thank you. Please reach out if anything else happens.”

She nodded and shut the door.

Click.

Silence again.

Then predictably—

“See?! All the houses with this mark had missing packages!”

“I knew it!!”

“You owe me an apology, brat!!”

He poked Kang-ju’s helmet repeatedly.

Kang-ju snapped back.

“I said I’m not the thief!!!”

Their argument was about to flare up again—

“…Stop.”

Beomjin spoke quietly.

Both froze.

He stared at the marking again.

Round like a cute doodle. But he remembered.

Before the regression. His last mission.

A symbol.

A ‘mark’ used by those who hunted Beast-Blooded. Who kidnapped them for trafficking and experimentation.

A criminal organization.

His breath tightened.

‘No way… here?’

Peace was only an illusion.

He lowered his voice.

“You two. Behind me.”

“…Why?”

“What did you find?”

Beomjin’s gaze sharpened.

“This isn’t a delivery theft case.”

Their backs stiffened.

“This could be Beast-Blooded targeted crime.”

Young-chun’s face paled. Kang-ju’s grip tightened on his helmet.

“And the culprit…”

Beomjin turned toward the stairwell.

“…is already nearby.”

The woman let out a long yawn and suddenly snapped her eyes open.

“Oh! That! I put a package outside because I was going to return it, but it disappeared. I couldn’t even get a refund… Are you investigating that?”

“When did this happen?”

“…Not even a week ago, I think… Why? Are you the police?”

Beomjin hesitated for a moment, then answered shortly:

“…You could say that. Thank you for your time.”

“Mm… Alright. Take care.”

She stared at him for a second, lazily waved, and closed the door.

“How about that? You heard her, right? A thief got in here too!”

The door shut and Young-chun clapped triumphantly.

“It must be a Rat Beast-Blood. Only rats can slip through those tiny windows and narrow gaps!”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Kang-ju shook his head so hard his helmet strap wiggled.

“How would a person go through a window? The culprit must be someone big. They hide the package inside their clothes and pretend like nothing happened.”

“That’s what you call deduction? You’re saying that because you never use your head.”

“Oh, and your theory about window-climbing is so realistic? This is the seventh floor!”

Beomjin pressed his fingers to his forehead and lowered his head.

At his feet lay a tiny torn piece of cardboard — just the size of a fingertip.

He picked it up without thinking… and wondered what exactly he was doing here at dawn, listening to these two argue about rats or fat thieves.

Behind him, the bickering continued uninterrupted.

Beomjin raised both hands to stop them.

“…Let’s end here for today.”

“So sudden? I just got a feeling! If we check for Rat Beast-Blood around—”

“No. It’s late. It’ll be 6AM soon. I’m supposed to be off duty.”

He remembered — he was still technically on vacation. No reason to stay longer.

“I’ll get going now.”

“So we’re continuing the investigation tomorrow, right?”

Kang-ju asked hopefully. For once, both had the same expression — not ready to stop.

“We’ll talk tomorrow. Let’s meet at noon.”

He decided to stop all the pointless guessing. Tomorrow morning, he’d hand this to the regular police.

“Good. Tomorrow, 1PM. This apartment parking lot!”

Young-chun declared like a commander.

“Alright. Good night, both of you.”

Beomjin managed a polite farewell and stepped into the elevator. Just before the doors closed, a hand slammed the button from outside.

“Wait! Wait!”

“…What now?”

He turned with a tired face. Young-chun smiled as if this were all perfectly reasonable.

“Well, you gotta drive me home.”

Nearly midnight. Beomjin collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep instantly. The exhaustion of a long, absurd day washed over him.

Then — his phone buzzed. The vibration spread through the mattress and nudged him awake.

“…Hello.”

His voice was rough. A voice answered from the other end.

“Hello? Is this Baek Beomjin of the Special Beast Investigation Unit?”

He cleared his throat.

“Yes. Who’s speaking?”

“This is the local precinct. Kim Young-chun and Lee Kang-ju have been brought in for trespassing.”

“…What?”

Beomjin sat up straight.

“We need you to come. They’re saying they’re working with the Special Beast Investigation Unit.”

He didn’t even have the strength to laugh.

He put down the phone and sighed hard.

Where did it go wrong?

He definitely dropped them off at home… How did they end up arrested together at this hour…?

He wanted to ignore it. To pretend it wasn’t happening.

But he couldn’t.

“…Understood. I’ll go now. Thank you for calling.”

He ended the call and lay back down.

Staring up at the ceiling, he let out a short breath and muttered softly:

“How far is this nonsense planning to go…”

Under the pale fluorescent lights of the local precinct, Young-chun and Kang-ju sat side by side, shoulders drooped and lips sealed tight.

They both looked noticeably deflated.

When Beomjin pushed the door open and stepped inside, the two quietly brightened.
Young-chun flashed an awkward smile as Beomjin approached.

“Ah… well, we kinda ended up here. It’s not like we meant to be.”

“Young-chun-ssi, I said we’d meet around lunchtime.”

The moment they saw Beomjin, the bickering resumed — and his head started throbbing.

He closed his eyes for a moment, exhaled, and massaged his temples. Then he bowed to the officers.

“Hello, Baek Beomjin from the Special Beast Investigation Unit. I came after your call.”

“You got here early. Please, have a seat.”

Beomjin glared at the two troublemakers as he sat down.

When the automatic doors slid open, Beomjin stepped out and released a long breath. Tonight, the air felt sticky and uncomfortably warm. He squinted up at the sky as Young-chun and Kang-ju followed behind like scolded students.

“So, let me confirm. You two trespassed into someone’s building without permission… and then started a fight?”

Beomjin spoke without turning around.

“Well, ‘trespass’ sounds harsh. We were doing a stakeout. We picked a strategic spot and waited. This kid even disguised himself—”

“When did I disguise myself?!”

“Shut it. We got caught because of you!”

“You’re the loud one! And who talks that much during a stakeout?!”

“Enough already!”

This time, the interruption carried real force — a tiger’s growl simmering beneath human words.

Both men went immediately silent, though their eyes continued to throw sharp jabs at each other.

“Don’t do this again. I’m only helping you once. What you did is a crime.”

“Crime? We were trying to catch the criminal—”

Kang-ju elbowed Young-chun in the ribs.

Beomjin stopped walking and turned to face them fully.

Under the moonlight, his eyes were calm — and dangerously sharp.

“You seriously don’t understand what you did wrong?”

“……”

“I know you want to catch the culprit. But you are not police. You are not agents.”

Their gazes slipped away, guilt finally landing.

Beomjin let out a slow, frustrated breath and looked to the opposite side of the street.

Under a streetlamp, a hand-cart sat parked. Cardboard boxes stacked carelessly on top of it.

Suddenly — a connection sparked.

The cardboard scraps in front of the victims’ doors.

His eyes narrowed.

…Could it be?

Maybe the answer had been right in front of him the entire time.