The last fishing boat, the one carrying the sniper Seo Tae-joon had failed to eliminate, was suddenly rammed by another vessel, old and rattling. The impact threw the sniper into the sea, where he thrashed wildly in the dark water.
A bank of floodlights flared to life on the new boat, the sudden glare blinding Seo Tae-joon. He threw a hand up, shielding his eyes as he tried to identify the newcomer. When his vision cleared, he blinked at the utterly unexpected face at the helm.
“Ji-woo?”
His wife—the gentlest woman he knew—was gripping the wheel of the boat that had just caused the collision. She put the engine in reverse, pulling away from the craft she’d struck, then expertly turned the wheel and navigated toward the ship where Seo Tae-joon stood. As she drew alongside, she reached her arms up to him, struggling to keep her balance on the rocking deck. Seo Tae-joon leaned down and swiftly lifted her aboard. He didn’t let her go, pulling her into a tight embrace and breathing in her warmth. The ice that had frozen his veins began to thaw, and he could feel his own blood pumping again.
“Why did you come here?” Seo Tae-joon asked, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “I told you it was dangerous.”
Ji-woo’s heart hammered so loudly she could barely hear him. He was covered in blood again, but that didn’t matter. All she could see was the hollow, half-dead look in his eyes and the battered state of his body.
“Ji-woo, I don’t feel right,” Seo Tae-joon croaked. “I want to go home.”
“That’s why I came,” Ji-woo whispered back. “To get you. To take you home. Let’s go home now.”
His expression shifted in an instant. The killer’s mask dissolved. His eyes, which had been drifting toward some lightless abyss, now held a flicker of life. Ji-woo watched the transformation, a chill tracing its way down her spine. The way he could hold two such different people inside one body disturbed her to her very core.
“Did you call the police?”
“No,” Ji-woo said, her voice laced with sorrow. They were approaching the dock now, with her at the wheel of the drug boat. Her hands had begun to tremble. Ahead, the shore was alive with the flashing lights of police cruisers, and a coast guard vessel was cutting through the water toward them. “They’re here to arrest me,” she said.
“Did I hear that wrong?” Seo Tae-joon asked. If anyone was getting arrested, it should be him.
“No, you heard right. I stole a boat.”
For the first time, Seo Tae-joon was speechless. He found it hard to look away from her, and an inexplicable wave of pride washed over him.
He needed that feeling. It had been a horrible, messy day—a day he had unleashed the monster within. He was terrified of that part of himself, the demon that slaughtered people like a machine. There was no guilt, no hesitation as body after body fell before him. His mind had become a cold calculator, finding only the most effective and efficient ways to kill. As the memory surfaced, his eyes darkened once more.
“Ji-woo, what does my face look like? Am I still me?” The words were a ragged grunt, forced out by fear. Ji-woo just frowned, having no idea what he meant.
“Do I still look human?” Seo Tae-joon pressed. “Am I still human?”
“Seo Tae-joon, what are you…” Ji-woo began, but she stopped as she truly met his gaze, seeing the crushing guilt he felt. She picked up a towel and began to gently wipe the blood from his face. He was a wreck, but she wouldn't tell him that. In the strobing red and blue lights of the police cars, she offered him a small smile.
“You are still human,” she told him.
“But what if you’re not?” he asked, his voice breaking.
“I think you forgot,” she said, her smile widening as he trembled in her arms. “You were in a vegetative state. You couldn’t move. And I was the doctor who fixed you.”
Police swarmed them the moment their feet touched the dock. The first person they moved to arrest was Ji-woo. A local officer had called it in, reporting that a woman who refused to identify herself had stolen a boat and was a suspected smuggler.
But they couldn’t get near her. The man with her held her in a protective embrace, refusing to let go.
“Do you want to get arrested for obstruction of justice? Let her go!” a policeman demanded.
“Fine, take me too,” Seo Tae-joon shouted back. “You going to use those handcuffs? Put one cuff on this woman and the other on me.”
The officers froze, unsure how to deal with this madman. Before they could decide on a course of action, their attention was violently redirected.
“Lieutenant!” someone yelled.
All eyes turned to the boat they had arrived in. It was a vision from a nightmare, its decks slick with blood and its hull riddled with bullet holes. The police began leading survivors—frightened old men and children—from the boathouse where they had been cowering. In an instant, the focus shifted entirely from Ji-woo to the floating crime scene.
Jang Beom-hee, disguised as one of the officers, groaned as he stared at the carnage on the Seo family’s boat.
“Young master,” he whispered into the night. “What have you done?”