How to Survive the Horror Novel I Wrote
Chapter 29
Chapter 29
I was completely bewildered by the sudden shift in his demeanor. It was as if a man-eating grizzly bear had stolen a red T-shirt and was trying to play Winnie the Pooh. Still, he was just as terrifying. Hadn't he just laid hands on someone seconds ago?
Intimidated, I answered in a voice barely above a crawl.
"I got a call yesterday… from Detective Ji Eunpal."
The grizzly's fierce eyes rounded, and he pointed an index finger at me.
"Ha Jian-ssi?"
"Yes."
"I'm Ji Eunpal. Right this way."
Ji Eunpal gestured warmly for me to follow.
I couldn't move, however. The tattooed man, still slumped on the floor and huffing with rage, blocked my path. His fury was venomous as he spewed curses at Ji Eunpal, asking who the hell he thought he was ignoring.
Following my gaze, Ji Eunpal looked down at the tattooed man and let out a short, flat "Ah." His face instantly twisted into a grimace. Digging his pinky into his ear, he barked an order at another detective.
"Whose fucking dog is barking this loud, damn it. Detective Lee, throw this piece of shit in the holding pen."
The designated detective hauled the tattooed man away.
"All cleared up, right? Please, come over here."
Ji Eunpal urged me along with a genial, breezy smile.
His mood swings were dizzying, like watching a face-changing performance—the traditional Chinese bian lian where an actor's mask swaps in the blink of an eye.
I hesitated before inching toward him. Even with that broad smile, he frightened me. Tattoos would have suited Ji Eunpal far better than the man who had just been dragged out.
They say fists are closer than the law. Ji Eunpal just felt like a fist with a badge pinned to it.
"Have a seat here."
Grinning, Ji Eunpal pulled up a folding chair for me.
"Thank you…."
As I sat down gingerly, Ji Eunpal rounded the cluster of crammed desks and took the seat opposite me.
"I truly appreciate you coming all the way down to the station. We hit a complete dead end because there weren't any CCTV cameras where the crash happened, of all places."
"Ah…."
"On top of that, the driver is unconscious."
My ears perked up instantly.
"Unconscious?"
"Yeah. Hasn't opened his eyes since."
The drug dealer was alive. A sudden, sharp prick of relief stung the bridge of my nose. In the end, Ugeum hadn't actually killed anyone.
What a relief. Ugeum wasn't a murderer. At least, not yet.
"So, if you could, please give me a detailed, specific account of the accident you witnessed that night."
Ji Eunpal treated me purely as a bystander to a traffic accident. He seemed completely oblivious to the possibility that I was tied to it.
I spoke deliberately slow, carefully filtering what to say and what to withhold.
Why I had been out there that night, how I had known to go, how the crash had actually unfolded—I buried nearly all of it, recounting only the barest surface details.
I told him I'd heard a screeching noise while passing by, walked out to the main avenue, and saw a car speeding through the rain with a man clad in black clinging to the driver's side door. That it entered the bridge, suddenly smashed through the railing, and plunged over the edge.
"That was everything I saw."
"Mmh."
Ji Eunpal was frantically typing away. Perhaps because his hands were so massive, typos were frequent, and he hammered the backspace key repeatedly.
Seizing the opening, I brought up the question that had been nagging at me.
"Um, but why is Violent Crimes investigating a traffic accident…?"
"Because the driver is a drug offender. It's no ordinary traffic accident, either. You saw it yourself, didn't you, miss? Some crazy bastard shooting an action movie while hanging off a speeding car."
More than saw it. That very madman was currently waiting for me outside.
"You remember him, right? This guy."
Ji Eunpal slid several CCTV stills across the desk. I scanned the prints with a deliberately blank expression.
The footage had been captured from far away, and the resolution was terrible. All you could make out was a figure in a black mask and dark clothing clinging desperately to the car door. Even knowing it was Ugeum, I could barely recognize him.
A wave of relief washed over me. There was no way they could identify Ugeum from these photos.
"Hmm…."
"This is literally all we caught on camera. Did you happen to see him? Before or after the crash."
I shook my head with feigned nonchalance.
"No. I only saw him hanging onto the car."
Thanks to Ugeum, my lies were growing more natural by the day.
"Why do you ask about him, though?"
When I handed the photos back and probed casually, Ji Eunpal let out a dry scoff.
"He evaporated into thin air. Didn't leave a single trace at the scene."
Thank goodness for that.
Just as I was secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Ji Eunpal muttered under his breath.
"Ah, I'm pretty sure this bastard is our culprit…."
Culprit.
My heart dropped straight to my stomach. They weren't treating this as an accident; they were treating it as a criminal case. The moment the realization struck, a chill ran down my spine.
This was dead serious. Distrust and dislike of the police aside, I had never doubted their competence.
This country wasn't lenient enough to let criminals sleep soundly in their beds. Especially not someone who had pulled off an incident straight out of an action film.
My discomfort swelled. I crossed my legs, uncrossed them, pressed my knees together, leaned back against the chair, leaned forward—shifting positions constantly, but the unease refused to fade.
It was only natural. The problem wasn't my posture; it was where I was sitting.
I wanted nothing more than to get off this bed of nails.
"I think I've told you everything I know. May I leave now?"
"Ah, yes. You're free to go. Give us a call if you remember anything else."
"I will."
I straightened my posture and walked out of the Violent Crimes office, forcing a confident stride so Ji Eunpal wouldn't suspect a thing.
Inside, though, I was trembling with anxiety. To think the police were actively hunting for Ugeum.
In the novels I wrote, the police never managed to catch him, but would reality play out the same way? If the police did track him down, what would happen to Ugeum? And what about me?
I was gnawing on my thumb just as I stepped past the police station entrance.
Clack.
A broad hand abruptly caught my shoulder, halting me in my tracks. Startled, I whipped around to find Ji Eunpal.
He offered a shameless smile.
"Oops, sorry to startle you. I realized there was one thing I forgot to ask."
"Wh-what is it?"
"Nothing major."
Ji Eunpal closed the distance, still wearing that easy grin.
"Why were you out there that night?"
My mind instantly went blank. What was I supposed to say? That I went to stop my boyfriend from murdering someone?
Ji Eunpal's smiling face felt like a mask. A sweet, harmless Winnie the Pooh disguise. Behind it, a monstrous grizzly with blood dripping from its jaws seemed to be licking its lips at me.
Instinct told me everything.
This man suspects me.
The longer I delayed my answer, the deeper his suspicion would take root. Not that I wasn't already late.
"Just… personal business…."
"Personal business, huh… Why didn't you report it to the police?"
Words failed me again.
Why didn't I report it? Because I had no way to explain why I was there. I couldn't exactly say I saw a cursed manuscript showing a character I created going out to commit murder, and that I went to prevent a homicide.
"I was afraid of getting unnecessarily tangled up in it… I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. It happens. Most people react that way."
Even as he claimed it was understandable, Ji Eunpal latched on like a relentless leech.
"By the way, why was your phone turned off? It's been off this whole time."
"Ah, that's…."
I started to answer instinctively before freezing. He already had my number. He had run a background check on me. Because he suspected me.
A terrifying chill crept down my back. Just how much did he know?
As I stood frozen, the corners of Ji Eunpal's mouth slowly sank. Reading his expression, I stammered out an excuse.
"I didn't turn it off… It was stolen."
By the drug dealer. And then Ugeum threw it away, after going through the trouble of retrieving it. My phone was probably resting at the bottom of the river right now.
"And you didn't file a report?"
"I didn't think I'd get it back anyway."
Ji Eunpal nodded. Yet his expression didn't convey belief; it was more like, If you say so, let's play along.
Then, pulling a smartphone from his pocket, he held it out toward me.
"Give me your current number. Just in case I have more questions."
"!"
This wasn't my phone. Ugeum had given it to me. The account was probably under Ugeum's name, too.
What if I gave him the number and Ji Eunpal looked it up? He would realize it wasn't registered to me and assume I was using an untraceable burner phone.
His suspicions about me would only solidify, and worse, he might investigate the registered owner. He might even uncover that Ugeum was the very culprit he was chasing.
What do I do?
Ji Eunpal's piercing gaze felt like invisible bars enclosing me from every angle. Even standing out in the open air, I felt suffocated, trapped in a cage. Every passerby seemed to be staring at me with suspicious eyes.
As I hesitated, Ji Eunpal gave his phone an impatient shake. The crushing pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders.
What should I do? Type in a random number? No, what if he called it on the spot? Say I don't have a phone? I couldn't—On-dam had handed me her phone to talk to him yesterday.
Just as I was cornered with nowhere to run, a hand suddenly shot out from beside me and snatched Ji Eunpal's phone away.
Startled, I turned my head. Ugeum was already standing there.
Thump.
My heart plummeted.
Why are you here? Do you have any idea who this man is looking for?
"Contact me instead."
Ugeum spoke with utter composure as he typed a number into the keypad.
I snapped my head around to check Ji Eunpal's reaction. Sure enough, Ji Eunpal was glaring at Ugeum with sharp, suspicious eyes.
"And you are?"
Ugeum offered a faint smile and replied.
"Her boyfriend. Our Ji-an isn't particularly fond of the police."
My flesh crawled.
How do you know that?
"Didn't look that way to me."
"Looks can be deceiving."
Ji Eunpal glanced at me as he retorted, but Ugeum didn't so much as blink, parrying smoothly as he returned the phone.
"If you call me, I'll pass the message along."
"Well, fine. If you say so."
"Take care, then. Let's go, Ji-an-ah."
"Uh, okay."
Ugeum wrapped an arm around my shoulders and turned. Led by him, I moved away from the station. Even so, the anxiety and dread clinging to my heels like a shadow refused to lift.
Yet the warmth embracing my shoulder gradually thawed that anxiety. Held in the arms of a man who could very well kill me, I somehow found peace. The sheer irony of it.
As we walked side by side toward the car, Ugeum lightly brushed off my shoulder, as if dusting away something that had settled there.
"What is it?"
When I looked up in confusion, a gentle answer came back.
"Nothing. It's fine."
Reaching the car, Ugeum held the door open for me like a doorman. I froze at the sight of the book lying face down on the passenger seat. The soft warmth that had enveloped me just moments ago warped into a biting chill, raking down my spine.
Red Night.
Volume 3 of the Night Series.
Feigning composure, I slipped into the passenger seat and picked up the book, holding it out to Ugeum.
"You haven't finished it yet?"
"It's so good that I'm reading it again."
I appreciated the sentiment, but I desperately wanted to tell him to stop reading the damn thing.
No matter how much Ugeum claimed to love me, the moment he realized who he was—that he was nothing more than a fictional character, and that I was his creator—there was no guarantee he would remain the sweet, doting boyfriend.
Tucking the book into the door pocket, Ugeum turned to me and asked out of nowhere.
"Ji-an-ah, let's go on a trip."
Just as I was about to ask why a trip all of a sudden, a flash of insight struck me.
Maybe this was an opportunity. A chance to steer this manuscript, which kept spiraling into a thriller, back into a romance.
Today's pages were undeniably a full-blown thriller already. I didn't even need to look to know. I had been dragged into a police station, a detective was hunting Ugeum, and now I was under suspicion too.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
So suddenly? Well, tomorrow was Saturday, but still.
As I hesitated to answer right away, Ugeum added with loaded intent,
"For two days and one night."
Clang.
A dull gong seemed to ring in my head. The words two days and one night echoed through my mind like a tolling bell, sending a strange shiver straight to my lower belly. It wasn't from fear. And that made it all the more terrifying.
I stared at Ugeum in stunned silence.
"You don't want to?"
Ugeum watched me intently, asking as if sounding me out.
Meeting his gaze, I tried to decipher what lay hidden behind those eyes. Was it quiet anticipation masked behind polite restraint, or a calculated test with hidden claws?
Honestly, it didn't matter which one it was. I couldn't afford to pass up this chance either way.
For the sake of romance.
"No, I'd love to."
Ugeum's eyes curved into crescents as the corners of his lips pulled up into a long, radiant smile. Only then did the car finally begin to move.
Glancing out the window, a reflection in the side mirror caught my eye. Ji Eunpal stood motionless by the police station entrance. His gaze clung stubbornly to our car until we fully pulled out of the parking lot, as if he intended to follow us to the very end.