Chapter 23 — Beginning of the Hunt
Sunlight shone through Light's bedroom window.
A grumpy voice groaned from beneath the blanket.
Beep!
A few seconds passed.
Beep!
Light slowly rolled across his bed, reaching toward the alarm clock.
His hand blindly searched for the button.
And then-
THUD!
His palm slammed against the alarm.
Silence.
"Agh…"
Light remained still for a few seconds.
"My body is so sore…"
He slowly opened his eyes.
"My head and back hurt…"
With another groan, he pushed himself upright.
His hair was a complete mess.
His body felt like it had been run over by a truck.
Light rubbed the back of his head and stared blankly at the wall.
"I hate Mondays…"
Then-
Yesterday came rushing back.
The police station.
The church.
The man wearing his father's face.
The fight.
Eun-se-beom.
Light's expression slowly changed.
Eun-se-beom…
I should talk to her…
He reached for his phone on the bedside table.
The screen lit up.
Light opened his messenger app.
Then he stopped.
There were more than fifteen unread messages.
The account at the top of the list read:
Eun-se-beom.
Light stared at it for several seconds.
Then he opened the chat.
Lightyy!
Are you awake?
I found this really good tteokbokki place!
You better come with me next time!
Light scrolled down.
Stop ignoring me!
Will you come to this tteokbokki shop near my place??
If you won't I'll go by myself!
His eyes slowly moved toward the timestamps.
March 18 — 7:38 PM.
The night before the call from the police.
Light stared at the screen.
He didn't move.
He didn't blink.
Perhaps it was regret.
Perhaps it was guilt.
Maybe it was both.
But that morning-
Light couldn't stop sobbing.
His body shook violently as he buried his face into his blanket.
The phone slipped from his hand and landed beside him.
He didn't pick it up.
That morning…
Light couldn't even look at himself in the mirror.
He didn't recognize the person staring back at him.
His eyes were swollen.
His face was exhausted.
And somewhere beneath all of it was one thought that refused to disappear.
I… should've… gone with her.
His fingers tightened around the blanket.
It's my fault she ended up in danger…
He stayed there for a long time.
Until eventually-
He forced himself out of bed.
Light climbed down the stairs into the living room.
The atmosphere felt familiar.
Too familiar.
The same feeling from eight years ago.
Everyone was acting normally.
Breakfast was prepared.
People moved around.
Someone spoke about an ordinary thing.
Someone else responded.
But nobody talked about what had happened.
Nobody wanted to.
It was all an act.
A pretense.
His family was pretending that everything was fine.
Just like they had eight years ago.
Light sat down.
He ate.
He barely tasted anything.
Every movement felt exhausting.
Eventually, he stood up and left.
The walk to university felt longer than usual.
Light kept his head lowered.
His hands remained inside his pockets.
His thoughts repeatedly returned to the same unread messages.
I should've gone with her.
He couldn't get the thought out of his head.
Not even when the university building came into view.
Not even when students passed him.
Not even when he reached the main entrance.
He took one more step.
And then-
An arm suddenly wrapped around his neck.
"Jamie…"
Light didn't even bother looking.
"This is not the right time…"
"Hm?"
Jamie looked at him.
"You still down?"
Light didn't answer.
Jamie kept his arm around Light's shoulders as they continued walking.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Jamie sighed.
"Fine."
Light glanced at him.
"I'll help."
Light stopped walking.
"With what?"
"Catching that bastard."
Light's expression changed.
"How did you know?"
His eyes were still red from crying that morning.
Jamie looked at him for a moment.
"Light…"
"I know you inside and out."
He gave Light a small smile.
"But if I'm going to help you…"
"I need to know who this person is we're trying to catch."
Light went silent.
His eyes returned to the ground.
Should I tell him…?
Will he even believe me?
He took a slow breath.
"Okay…"
"You know Daniel?"
Jamie immediately looked confused.
"Hmm?"
"Daniel?"
"Daniel Park from Lookism?"
He tilted his head.
"What about him?"
Light stared at him.
"I'll kill you…"
Jamie giggled.
"Geez!"
"I just wanted to cheer you up a bit."
Light sighed.
Jamie continued.
"So what about Daniel?"
"You're talking about that guy who carried a building on his back, right?"
"Yeah…"
Light took another deep breath.
"Believe me or not…"
"I'm his adoptive son."
Jamie blinked.
Once.
Twice.
He stared at Light.
Then at the university entrance.
Then back at Light.
"Looks like you've cheered up enough to start joking."
"I'm not joking!"
Light pulled out his identification card.
"He adopted me when I was eight!"
He held the card toward Jamie.
"See?"
"It says Daniel."
Jamie stared at the card.
Then at Light.
Then back at the card.
"I thought your dad was a fat rich man."
Light's eyebrow twitched.
"That's what you thought?"
"Yeah."
Jamie crossed his arms.
"But…"
His expression softened.
"I'm kinda sad you've never told me about your father."
"Meanie."
Light looked away.
"It's not like I had a choice…"
Jamie suddenly grinned.
"So what?"
Light looked back at him.
"Your daddy came back and hit you back there in the church?"
Light froze.
His eyes widened.
Then-
He let out a sigh of relief.
Thank God!
I don't have to explain everything!
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Jamie raised an eyebrow.
"You really know me inside out, Jamie."
Meanwhile, Jamie's jaw slowly dropped.
"Wait…"
Light's expression became serious again.
"But I don't think it's my father at all."
Jamie stopped smiling.
Light looked toward the university building.
His hand slowly tightened around his identification card.
"He might be impersonating him…"
The two friends stood there in silence.
Students continued walking past them.
Cars moved along the road.
The morning continued as if nothing had happened.
But for Light-
everything had changed.
The man wearing Daniel's face was still out there.
And now, for the first time…
Light wasn't going to wait for him to appear again.
The hunt had begun.