Doctor Demon

There was a silence following Hobin's story. Jina was still processing the new revelations, trying to wrap her head around the existence of more Seers. She knew that her relatives must be somewhere out there who may also possess the same ability as hers but to think that Taehee had suffered a tragic end'¦

"I'm sorry," Hobin whispered, trying to keep his guilt under control. For the first time in years, he was talking about his last meeting with Taehee. For a long time, he had been questioning himself and even blaming himself for her death. If he had believed her and found the demon, she may have lived. She did not deserve to die like that and it was his fault.

"I should have believed her," he said bitterly, angry at himself. "If I had, she may have lived-"

"She couldn't have," Jina stated in a grim tone. "Even if you had believed her, the police and court would have executed her. They wanted evidence and a demon was not evidence. Courts only look for physical and quantitative evidence. Celestial things are not evidence at all. If people can't see it, it doesn't exist for them."

She spoke calmly, analysing everything. Even though Hobin was at fault for not believing Taehee, she was doomed from the very start. With the evidence piling against her, there was no way the girl could have been spared.

"If you're really sorry for what you did, you should control yourself and find that demon," Jina said clearly. "Being sorry is not going to help. Taehee wanted you to find and punish that demon. Moping around isn't gonna help, Hobin."

She gripped his shoulder in an attempt to console him but Hobin shook his head.

"I'm not moping," he muttered. "Even if I catch the demon, I won't be able to forgive myself for her death. I should have believed her. She died knowing that I didn't believe her words. I was her only hope and I betrayed her that time. I can't forgive myself."

Jina opened her mouth to argue but he stopped her.

"But you're right," he said. "I can't continue to fixate on my guilt. Taehee wanted me to find the real killer and I'm gonna do that."

He picked up the note from the table and stared at it. The demon left him two messages'¦

Hobin suddenly frowned. "Something isn't right," he said.

"What do you mean?" Jina asked. Hobin stood up and strode towards the board where a picture of the message from the crime scene was hung. He compared the handwriting of the two messages.

"The handwritings don't match," he concluded.

"This might be due to the fact that the demon possessed two different people when writing the messages," Jina suggested but Hobin shook his head.

"No," he said firmly. "If demons were humans once, then their behaviour and characteristics emulate their personality even in their demon form. Even if they possess others, the demons can still retain their own habits. Their handwriting won't change at all. I'm sure of it."

"Furthermore, the timeline doesn't make sense," he went on. "If this message was sent months ago then why did the Cleaver wait for such a long time to attack? Why didn't he start killing that time?"

Jina was now alarmed. "Hobin, does this mean that the messages are written by two different people?" she asked. "But why?"

"This first one must have been written to lure me back to the country," Hobin realized. "The writer must be a fraud and was pretending to be the Cleaver. The second message is from the real Cleaver."

"Taehee said that the Cleaver was locked up in a bottle," Jina pointed out. "Does this mean that whoever stole the bottle has released him? Then the person who wrote the message must have been that shaman who stole the bottle!"

"We'll have to talk to your grandfather. Where is he?"

"He's out of town for some work," Jina groaned. Why was the old man going out of town so often?

"We'll have to wait for him to return," Hobin replied. "This'¦this is going to be a dangerous game. The Cleaver isn't someone we can win against easily. He's not someone to mess with. I'm sure he'll attack again."

"But why is he killing these people?" Jina wondered. "Is it an obsession like Sungki had with Jiwoon?"

"Sungki's obsession had a pattern. This one has only a connection. But there must be something more. The demon is not randomly attacking; if that was the case, he'd have killed all those with a deceased relative. Nah. He's targeting them for some other reason."

"I'll check if these people have come across any supernatural stuff in the past," Jina nodded. She held up her fist.

"Let's do this, partner!" She exclaimed. Hobin smirked and bumped her fist with his. He was now more confident that the Cleaver would be caught. Last time, he was alone and unprepared but this time, he had Jina.Â

We'll catch him, he vowed.

'¦

Runway number 65 was isolated from the rest of the airport which was bustling with people. On the ground were a few people who looked anxious. Their hearts were dreading and a few of them were sweating.

They were all dressed in high end suits, looking prim and proper. A man in his fifties stood at the front. He was sweating in fear and he wiped his forehead. The man was Lee Jongin and he was cursing his luck.

"Er'¦sir?"

One of the new interns named Yoseb joined him that day.Â

"Why do you look so nervous?" Yoseb asked curiously. "The CEO is coming back! Isn't that good news?"

Jongin scowled at the intern. "Good news? That guy ruined my life!" he cursed.

"How?"

Jongin did not want to recount it. The poor guy was enjoying his day off with his wife. His wife was a Forensic Pathologist and had a strange attachment with her job because she referred to the corpses as her 'blood and soul'. Jongin had long since grown accustomed to his eccentric wife because they truly loved each other.

After many months, the husband-wife pair had gotten a day off and were planning to go on a romantic date. Everything was perfect. Jongin had planned an elaborate dinner and he set up the table.

He was humming to himself when his phone rang and a familiar voice, the cursed voice which had been ruining his love life for the past few decades, came from the other end.

"Jongin! I'm on my way back. Come to the airport!"

That voice'¦Jongin groaned. He wanted to tell that guy to toss his order up his butt.Â

Instead Jonging replied, "Understood sir."

Hence, he was at the airport in the middle of the night. Instead of being with his lovely wife, he was stuck escorting his boss all over town.

"I should've quit this job years ago!" He groaned, knowing fully well that he would never do that. Jongin's fate was cursed. He was sure that the voice would follow him in every job he would move on to.Â

The air around them was starting to swirl and a plane was descending from the sky. It was coming closer and closer, landing a few meters away from the group until it stopped. The door flew open and a series of foreigners came out, holding the luggage of their boss.Â

It was a private plane which was manned by the finest crew and pilots. The plane was one of the fastest and supposedly the most expensive private planes in the world. Only one of the richest, no, the richest man in the world could own it.

Only thing was, the richest man in the world was a notorious miser and had haggled the price of the plane so much that he was able to buy it for a quarter of the price.Â

And the miser in question was walking down the stairs of the plane.

A tall man in his early sixties was descending the steps. He had a boisterous dignity about him, a charismatic aura which oozed out of him. Even in that age, he was fit and proud with a distinctively handsome face. His brown hair was a little greyish now but the man could easily pass off as someone in his forties. He wore a long trench coat with a turtleneck vest and a pair of sunglasses.

Beside him was a short woman in her fifties. She had large doe-like eyes with long, straight hair. If the man beside her had an arrogant demeanour, she was gentler and sweeter with a bright smile. She had a few lines on her face but her beauty was unparalleled.

Jongin stepped forward to greet them.

"Welcome sir," he said with a bow but the brown haired man did not have time.

"Take us to the condo," he ordered in a menacing tone. "Now."

Beside him, the woman sighed and shook her head warily but it was futile to stop him.

"Y-Yes sir!" Jongin squeaked.