Blurred Remnants

The sky beyond the car window was a shade of ash so deep it was hard to believe it was morning. Her reflection in the dark glass was a disaster. Her makeup was smeared, and her clothes were stained with traces of blood. To anyone looking, she appeared to be the victim of a terrible crime.

“……Look, miss. Should we not be heading to a police station or a hospital?”

This was why the taxi driver, who kept glancing at the back seat through the rearview mirror, finally spoke up. Hae Su brushed off his concern by saying she was fine. As she rolled down the heavily tinted window, the humid air blew in fiercely, smelling as if rain were about to pour at any second. Fortunately, she had regained her senses.

GHB, the drug they likely spiked her drink with, was a central nervous system depressant that the body eventually detoxifies on its own. While under its influence, one cannot control their body and suffers memory loss, but after a certain amount of time passes, the effects vanish as if they were never there. If she hadn’t escaped, they might have fed her the new synthetic drugs in her bag. Then, on top of being assaulted, she would have become addicted, and her life would have been ruined beyond repair. Hae Su squeezed her eyes shut at the horrific thought.

Just then. Vrrr. A vibration against her wound made Hae Su’s eyebrows twitch. Her gaze dropped from the window to her lap. A message from Jae Woong appeared on the brightly lit screen.

[I just arrived. Should I come up to your place?]

Jae Woong, having come from the station, had arrived first. Hae Su realized her mistake and quickly sent a reply.

[I am almost there, Senior. Please wait just a bit.] [What? You were not home?]

Seeing his message, Hae Su frowned slightly. If he saw her in this state, he would surely lose his mind. Already hearing his nagging in her head, she squinted one eye and replied again.

[I will be there in five minutes.]

Hae Su shoved her phone into her bag, letting the light fade, and urged the driver to go a little faster.

As she arrived at the apartment entrance, raindrops began to fall one by one. Stepping out of the taxi, Hae Su glanced up at the now-blackened sky and hurried her pace. She saw Jae Woong’s car with its hazard lights flashing. Leaning against the vehicle, Jae Woong turned his head as he sensed her approach.

“Hey! You……!”

The moment their eyes met, Jae Woong straightened his heavy frame in shock. He pointed a finger at her, his eyes scanning her up and down in disbelief.

“You… you crazy… b*stard!”

Hae Su withdrew her gaze from Jae Woong as he strode toward her, shouting curses. She stared at the asphalt floor, which was becoming dappled with rain. Closing the distance, Jae Woong reached out and grabbed Hae Su’s chin.

“Did you… go to the Ssangyong Gang’s club?”

Instead of answering, Hae Su swallowed hard. There was no way a lie or an excuse would work while she looked like this.

“Your appearance is……”

His eyes, which had been scanning her face thoroughly, dropped downward. Noticing the bandage on her hand, he snatched her wrist and pulled it toward him.

“Are you hurt?”

“It is nothing much.”

“Dammit, nothing much! You are really going to be the death of me. What kind of place do you think that is to go alone!”

Hae Su gently pulled her arm away from the shouting Jae Woong and hid her bandaged hand behind her back.

“……I am sorry.”

Jae Woong ruffled his short hair aggressively and let out a heavy sigh. His face, twisted with anger, had turned bright red. After huffing and puffing for a moment, he let out a long breath and stared at Hae Su.

“……Kid, are you… are you really okay?”

Hae Su nodded.

“Yes, I am fine.”

Watching Jae Woong let out another sigh, she dropped her gaze. She reached into her bag and pulled out the pills she had fought so hard to secure. She held out her clenched hand toward him.

“What is this?”

The moment she opened her fist, his indifferent voice changed instantly.

“……What is this?”

The words were the same, but the reaction was entirely different. He sounded as if he recognized exactly what it was.

“It is a new synthetic drug I found at the Ssangyong club.”

Jae Woong’s eyes widened.

“This… you found this at the club?”

A high-pitched voice broke out along with his shocked expression. Hae Su’s eyes narrowed at his reaction, which confirmed he knew the substance.

“Senior, do you know what this drug is?”

“Huh? Yeah. But… the distribution for this should have been blocked.”

Tilting his head, Jae Woong fixed his gaze on her palm. He leaned in to examine the pill closely.

“Wow… it is. Blackout.”

Jae Woong straightened his posture, staring intensely. Hae Su’s eyes widened slightly.

“Blackout?”

“Yeah. A new drug that circulated briefly five years ago and then vanished. Have you ever heard of Myeong Ji Yong?”

At Jae Woong’s question, Hae Su thought for a moment before nodding.

“Ah… yes. Is he not the one famous as a major drug supplier? I heard he was arrested five years ago.”

“Right. He partnered with the Japanese Yakuza to distribute this exclusively through Korea to Hong Kong and China. But when he was caught, the supply chain was cut.”

“Then it is possible the Ssangyong Gang opened a new route.”

“Ha, but with the capacity of those Ssangyong b*stards, that would be difficult.”

The Ssangyong Gang was a criminal organization based in Yeocheon, but they were classified as a small-scale gang in terms of both size and business. For such a group to partner with the Yakuza and sell an exclusive drug that had been out of circulation was, as Jae Woong said, unlikely. However, it was now clearly proven that the new drug known as Blackout had begun circulating again.

“First, please deliver this to the Narcotics Unit. If a new drug is going around, they might know something.”

Jae Woong nodded and took the pills.

“But did you really get into this state just to get these?”

Hae Su pulled one corner of her mouth up while pressing her lips together. Since she looked too pitiful to answer confidently, she chose to exercise her right to remain silent. Jae Woong spoke in a low voice with a sigh.

“You tough b*stard.”

Hae Su swallowed hard and carefully opened her lips.

“……Please do not tell the Team Leader or the Director.”

Nothing good would come from reporting this to the higher-ups. If they found out she had done something so dangerous without authorization, they might make her write a formal apology, or worse, remove her from the Cheongun operation.

“You did something big this time, so I will let it slide, but never move independently again. If a problem happens then, we cannot step in to help.”

It was a promise to turn a blind eye. Hae Su lifted her gaze to look at Jae Woong. With his brows furrowed sharply, he took a deep breath that made his chest heave. The scattered raindrops had suddenly turned into a heavy downpour. Jae Woong walked to his car and opened the back door. He pulled out a folding umbrella he had tossed inside, opened it, and held it out to Hae Su.

“I am fine.”

“If you get hit by rain in this state, you will catch a cold. And do not even think about just locking yourself in your house. Go to a hospital and get treated first. If you show up to work like this tomorrow, everyone will lose it, got it?”

Jae Woong forced the handle of the umbrella into Hae Su’s hand.

“I am leaving.”

Jae Woong ran through the heavy rain to his car and started the engine. The flashing hazard lights went off, and the car drove away smoothly. Standing in that spot, Hae Su watched the car disappear, pressed her eyes shut, and then turned around.

The moment she entered the shower stall, she turned on the faucet. A stream of cold water poured from the ceiling, making even her smallest muscles tense up.

“Ha……”

Hae Su brushed her wet hair back with both hands and covered her drenched face. Then, noticing the wound, she checked her palm.

‘Are you going to stab me with that? Do you think you can?’

The memory of holding and swinging the broken bottle to survive resurfaced. Even while drugged, she had struggled to escape with the single-minded goal of getting out of there. Though she was eventually caught.

‘I told you I would give you the good stuff, so why run away, you b*tch.’

After those words, her memories grew increasingly blurred. She had left the room, collapsed on the floor, and the moment she was grabbed by her hair by the man who followed her out.

‘F*ck, what are you looking at?’

Ah. Someone was there. Hae Su lifted her gaze from her hands. She squeezed her eyes shut against the pouring water. As she searched through her fading memories.

‘What are you doing? You said to save you.’

A memory that didn’t fit the timing suddenly intruded. Hae Su reached out and pressed the faucet down. With a single gesture, the sound of the water that had been echoing coolly stopped. As the voice of someone who had saved her came to mind, her heart began to race like a pounding drum.