1:00 PM.

It was after Jeong-woo and Sun-woong finished their brunch and lunch that they were charging their phones.

They felt a presence from beyond the front door.

The building’s poor soundproofing made it easy to hear footsteps, allowing them to roughly estimate the number of people on the other side, about ten or so.

Those who ascended the stairs finally reached their floor and after a brief discussion among themselves, they started knocking on the neighboring door, 301.

knock knock.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?”

A man’s deep voice echoed through the narrow hallway.

As expected, the couple from 301 hadn’t returned yet.

Receiving no response from inside, the people outside knocked even harder.

Thud, thud!

“Hello?”

Then, someone stumbled down the stairs from above.

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

It was the old man who lived alone on the fifth floor.

Upon hearing his voice, the man with the deep voice identified himself.

“Hello, sir. I’m The Chief of the Visa Enforcement Division Kim Jin-seong. Are there no people in 3-1 at all? The real estate agent said there were two tenants living here.”

“Oh, I see.”

The landlord replied nonchalantly.

“They probably haven’t returned yet since both of them tend to leave early in the morning.”

After expressing his opinion about 301, the Chief asked his next question.

“What about here, then?”

Jeong-woo’s forehead tightened upon hearing the word ‘here.’

This ‘here’ was undoubtedly referring to this place, 302.

“…”

Even Min-gu, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, had a perplexed expression.

Jeong-woo couldn’t tell whether Min-gu was afraid of being caught by them or if he didn’t want his son to find out he was a murderer.

Jeong-woo couldn’t figure it out.

But in the end, it didn’t matter which one it was.

In any case, his father wouldn’t be lured away by them.

Slowly, Jeong-woo’s forehead itched as he recalled the scene of his father’s head being slammed against the toilet.

“Oh, you mean there are always people here on Mondays?”

The Chief’s voice was filled with anticipation after getting a rough explanation from the landlord.

“That’s right. the son usually comes in a bit later, so right now, he’s alone… But can I ask what this is about?”

The old man had a belated doubt.

“That’s… Well…”

The Chief hesitated for a moment after being asked the question, then whispered.

“There was a little trouble at Cheongnyong Market down there. I’ll let you know the details after we finish searching the building, but…”

“I see.”

From the landlord’s tone, Jeong-woo sensed that there was some other form of communication happening—probably through gestures or something of that sort.

Finally, the landlord began ascending the stairs, and the residents of 302, including Jeong-woo, felt several presences gathering outside the front door.

Thump, thump.

“Is anyone in there?”

It was the Chief again, calling for them.

When Jeong-woo turned his head toward his father, Min-gu also looked at his son.

Although they didn’t exchange any words, Jeong-woo felt like he knew what his father was thinking.

The phrase ‘Predator’ stuck on his father’s head was different from the one stuck on Sun-woong.

“Sure, just a moment. I’ll go out.”

Min-gu got up from his seat and called out towards the entrance.

But instead of heading to the front door, he moved toward the kitchen.

Thump, thump.

“….?”

Jeong-woo and Sun-woong looked at him in confusion.

It was late July, and the sound of cicadas filled the small window in the kitchen.

And soon, an even louder noise engulfed the kitchen.

Clatter!

Min-gu had pushed all the canned goods stacked on the shelf to the floor.

More accurately, he had scattered them all over the floor, from the shelf to waist height.

Jeong-woo felt that something was off in this scene, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason.

“What’s that noise?”

Even though the Chief and his members outside were making a commotion, Min-gu seemed unbothered as he called out again.

“Ah, sorry. I’m coming out now.”

This time, Min-gu was really heading towards the entrance.

There was nothing in his hands.

However, Jeong-woo, who had seen the various weapons stashed between the shoe cabinet and umbrella holder and inside the drawers, sensed something amiss.

Creak.

Finally, the door to 302 opened, and the lead officer, Chief Kim Jin-seong, was about to greet them when his expression froze.

He had seen the word ‘Predator’ above Min-gu’s head.

Nevertheless, Min-gu’s case was relatively mild compared to others.

After all, the other men were displaying various combat poses, causing quite a scene.

Among them, two men in police uniforms even drew their holstered guns.

“Hey, snap out of it! What are you guys doing?”

Kim Jin-seong scolded them.

In truth, he didn’t really know what this ‘Predator’ thing was about.

He had seen one of the killers from Jungang-dong had the same phrase above his head, but that didn’t mean they could treat the local residents like criminals without any evidence.

“I’m sorry. Everyone’s on edge… Excuse me, may we look around the house for a moment? It’s just a standard procedure.”

His forehead moist with either sweat or the heat, Kim Jin-seong tried to calm himself down.

Min-gu slowly retreated, watching as the two police officers began to put their guns away.

“Please come in. The house may be a bit messy since I haven’t cleaned in a while.”

Swoosh.

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