Late evening.
Kai Rin Wu, along with his family, walked along the sidewalk illuminated by streetlights. Their faces were carefree and cheerful.
But on the opposite side of the sidewalk walked Ming You, his predatory gaze fixed on them. He walked at a calm pace, occasionally glancing at his phone, pretending to simply read messages.
After twenty minutes, Kai Rin Wu and his parents stopped at a small café. They went inside, and Ming You noted this in his mind.
He crossed the pedestrian crossing and put on a medical mask before entering the same café.
As soon as he stepped inside, bells jingled above the door. He scanned the tables and saw Kai Rin Wu, but Ming You chose to sit at the bar counter. The waiter greeted him:
"Welcome! What would you like to order? Are you feeling well?"
Ming You looked up and calmly, with feigned friendliness, replied:
"Just a little cold. I'd like mint tea, please."
"Got it, coming right up," the waiter said with a smile as he wrote down the order in his notebook.
Once the waiter left, Ming You occasionally glanced toward Kai Rin Wu, mentally rehearsing his next moves:
"I hope after the tired insults in the game, you'll be as hot-headed as a child who's had his candy taken away. But that still needs to be tested."
"Your tea," the waiter said, placing a cup of tea on a saucer and putting the check underneath it.
Ming You smiled with his eyes and politely thanked him:
"Thank you very much."
Ming You, still wearing his mask, simply spun the cup of tea, waiting for the moment when Kai Rin Wu would be alone.
Fifteen minutes passed. Kai Rin Wu stood up from the table and headed to the restroom. Ming You noticed this and, a few seconds later, got up from the bar counter. The restroom was public, divided only into men's and women's. He entered the door and saw Kai Rin Wu standing at the urinal.
Ming You stood at the urinal next to Kai Rin Wu, turned his head toward him, and with a mocking tone said:
"If you saw my dick, you'd know who fucked your mother."
Kai Rin Wu stepped away from the urinal and pulled it toward himself. He grabbed him by the shirt and said in a threatening tone:
"What did you just say?"
Ming You smiled even wider, his teeth visible through the mask. This time the smile was genuine:
"I fucked your mother. Did you inherit your bad hearing from her?"
Ming You was waiting for the moment he would be hit, as that would allow him to take him out of the game. But Kai Rin Wu just shoved him, causing Ming You to fall to the floor.
"I don't know who you are or who sent you here, but you're quite the idiot. Better stay away from me and don't mess with other people, you moral freak." Kai Rin Wu adjusted his clothes and slightly slammed the door as he left the restroom.
Ming You felt mentally disappointed that his initial plan hadn't worked:
"Since he didn't beat me up in the restroom, I won't be able to provoke him in the game either. I'll have to eliminate you in a more familiar way, heh-heh."
Soon, he exited the restroom, closed the door behind him, and headed back to the bar counter. Kai Rin Wu was already sitting with his parents, not even looking up at Ming You as he passed by their table.
After sitting down at the bar counter, Ming You pulled out five thousand won from his pocket and placed it under the saucer where the check was. He left the café and stood by the alley, waiting for his prey. Ming You took out his phone, pretending to send a message, but in reality, he was just tapping his fingers on the empty screen.
Thirty minutes later, Kai Rin Wu and his parents exited the café, laughing and happily making their way home.
Ming You noticed this and crossed the street to observe them from the other side of the sidewalk.
He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he noticed them laughing and smiling. After a few minutes, Kai Rin Wu and his family arrived at their home. Ming You noted this in his mind and traced their route again, heading back to his own home.
Ming You climbed the stairs to the third floor and opened the door. It was dark and empty, but for him, it was a more familiar atmosphere.
He sat at a table with a closed laptop and leaned his head back over the chair, mentally planning his next moves:
"So far, I only know one of his routes, and unfortunately, there are no deserted places along it. But I'm not going to give up, so..."
He suddenly recalled the café where he kept an eye Kai Rin Wu:
"In the alley where I waited for him to come out, there was a door to the basement, and surprisingly it looked abandoned, but that was clearly not the case. The door didn't even have a lock; rather, it was broken, and apparently, no one intended to fix or replace it, which looked rather enticing. Besides, there are no other nearby places, so I'll have to take the risk and act. But first, I need to prepare myself."
Ming You lifted his head, stood up from the chair, and headed to his wardrobe. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a box containing screws and nails, but among them was a fist-sized lock with a small key inserted.
He took the lock with the key and placed it on the floor. After that, Ming You opened the wardrobe, changed from blue jeans into khaki pants, and put on a black woolen hat. He also donned white rubber gloves, as this time the location was quite risky.
Once he was dressed, he carefully unscrewed the screws at the bottom of the wardrobe and retrieved his backpack filled with tools and rolls of polyethylene, then placed the board back but didn't screw it in.
Ming You put the lock with the key into his backpack and left it by the exit of the room.
Then he exited the apartment and closed the door behind him, instinctively looking around.
The streets were already empty, but the streetlights still illuminated the way. Ming You walked down this road toward the café with the seemingly abandoned basement.
When he arrived, Ming You quickly entered the alley, avoiding the camera that hung above the café entrance. He saw the rusty door and slowly pulled it toward him. The sound was creaky, and Ming You occasionally took a quick step back, ready to run if necessary.
But when the door opened, the basement was almost empty. There were empty wooden crates, some containing rotten vegetables and fruits, but it was nearly impossible to discern which ones due to the pitch darkness in the basement.
Ming You took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He placed the backpack near the door and first took out the lock.
Ming You stepped outside and removed the broken lock from the latch, accurately tossing it into his open backpack, then attached his lock to it and took out the key, placing it in his pocket.
Once Ming You finished with the lock, he began preparing the place. He took out the rolls of white polyethylene and, by feel, started layering it on the floor, ceiling, and walls.
The basement also had two columns, nearly impossible to notice in the dark, but Ming You covered them as well.
After finishing the preparations, Ming You closed the door behind him and locked it with the key, then checked if the lock held. He pulled on the door, and it creaked slightly but didn't open.
On Ming You's back was the empty backpack, as he had left the tools in the basement, and although he understood this was risky, he was confident in his elusiveness, as there were no traces of blood or fingerprints on the tools.
After confirming everything was in order and going according to plan, Ming You headed to the residential complex where Kai Rin Wu lived. The narrow streets, illuminated by dim streetlights, led him to his target.
Approaching the building, he stopped at the window of Kai Rin Wu's apartment. His gaze slid across the glass, and he noticed the light inside had already gone out:
"The darkness outside suggests he's probably already asleep, unless he's busy with something else."
Ming You paused slightly, feeling the cold wind seeping under his coat.
He decided to wait. Ming You found a nearby bench, sat down, and leaned his head back, gazing up at the night sky. The stars seemed to wink at him, but he paid them no mind. His thoughts were solely focused on Kai Rin Wu. Minutes turned into hours, and gradually fatigue began to take over. Ming You's eyes began to close, but the cold prevented him from fully drifting off to sleep.
He found himself in a strange state — somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, as if balancing on the edge of reality. His consciousness would slip away, then return, as if he were simultaneously here and somewhere far away.
Time passed slowly. Ming You would wake from gusts of wind, then slip back into a half-dream. He felt the cold penetrating his bones but couldn't bring himself to leave. Ming You waited. He waited, despite the cold, despite the fatigue, despite everything.