An entire week had passed by. It was the New Year's Day - the first morning of 2017.
Throughout the week, the police and investigaton team have not been able to get their hands on anything strong and firm, even after through study. No breakthrough, no clue, no glimmer of progress. The mist sat heavy over Seoul, pressing down on the heart of the city as well as on the conscience of almost every citizen alike.
The gloom lingered especially thick over the police headquarters. In the end, they were helpless - perhaps even the Almighty Himself would not have able to prevent the inevitable horror that unfolded on that cold Christmas night.
"No DNA matches?" - Sergeant Jongsoo Lee broke the silence as Yeongseok Heo, head of the investigation unit, placed a thin folder of reports on his desk.
"No, Chief," Yeongseok replied, voice weary. "Nothing different from the last three cases. It's as if the culprit knows exactly what to leave behind - and what to erase. I now wonder, was keeping the maid alive even a mistake or a calculated move by the killer?"
Jongsoo leaned back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "Whatever it might be, we can't give up, Yeongseok. That's exactly what the culprit wants - for us to lose faith. They want us confused and defeated. But we won't let them. We'll find something...very soon!" - said Jongsoo in an uplifting tone.
Yeongseok allowed himself a faint smile. "Most definitely, Chief. Thank you... for still having faith."
He turned to leave, but Jongsoo's voice caught him mid-step.
"Well, Yeongseok…" The Chief's tone shifted, lower now - "Can we still rely on Sooah?"
Yeongseok froze for a second.
Jongsoo continued, "It's up to you whether she continues as lead investigator of the case. But maybe we should try bringing in a veteran. The murders have escalated - high-profile targets, people with power. It's a lot for an amateur like her to handle. Think about it."
Yeongseok replied just as professionally "I will defenitely look into that, Chief." He nodded to him and then he left, the sound of his footsteps fading, as he walked down the corridor.
The morning fog thickened over the Olympic Bridge. Amidst the gloom, three black limousines glided across it - sleek, silent, and untraceable. Their windows were tinted to black mirrors; their destination, a mystery.
They stopped in front of what appeared to be an ordinary corporate building, near the city outskirts. Its design was plain, simple, nothing out of the ordinary - the kind of place no one would bother to look at twice. Yet the location was too perfect - isolated but accessible, private yet well connected.
Outside the building, a line of black-suited men awaited them. As the limousine doors opened, the country's most powerful elites stepped out - business tycoons, political figures, faces that smiled on television but seemed to conceal behind veils of something malice this morning.
They were escorted past a minimalist entrance bearing a discreet silver plaque which read -
"ORDER & HARMONY ORGANISATION (ONHO)" established in 1978.
And behind those concrete walls, something the public would never imagine was about to unfold - The Harmony Summit.
Who would have ever imagined that the ones known as archrivals to the public eye would one day sit next to each other, exchanging laughters casually - however, this time surrounding a secretive shady summit. Meanwhile, the employees of ONHO had also gathered to participate in the summit. The air inside was heavy and rich - filled with the breath of the elite, which smelled of gold and money. The summit commenced not long after, and the staffs placed piles of document, enclosed in matte black envelopes on each and everyones desk - possibly bearing the purpose of the "grand summit". Meanwhile, the host greeted the delegates with new year wishes - a constant and somewhat unsettling smile stuck to his face.
After giving a brief introduction about the organisation and its structure, the host announced,
"Ladies and gentlemen, let us now welcome Mr. Sun Tae - the only heir to our respected CEO and founder, Mr. Yun Tae" he continued - "Mr. Tae, the stage is yours."
The host stepped aside, the smile still intact on his face, as Sun Tae walked up to the stage, his expression - calm yet commanding.
"Who's that?" whispered Yong Lee, one of the newest recruits at ONHO.
"Oh, you haven't seen him before, right?" replied Cheon Noh, the COO, leaning slightly toward him. "That's Sun - the founder's only son. Everyone knows he'll be the next CEO once his father steps down… or rather...when he dies."
Yong frowned slightly. "So what is he now, exactly?"
Cheon gave him a brief look and replied "As I said, he's the son of Mr. Yun Tae..."
Yong hesitated, then muttered quietly, "So basically, he's nothing right now… or am I wrong?"
Cheon did not respond his expression unreadable. He turned his attention back to the stage as Sun began his speech - addressing the room full of powerful elites.
"A very very Happy New Year to each and everyone of you ladies and gentlemen. I wish you a prosperous and harmonious new year!" - Sun began with a casual, heartfelt greeting, addressing the attendees, with a naturally soulful smile on his face.
"Now, speaking of 'harmony', well..." - he continued -
"Peace and harmony do not come easy, gentlemen - it is hectic!
And, our people work really hard for it."
The attendees exchanged glances amongst themselves as Sun continued with his speech with a nonchalant tone -
"You see, while others might want to take a nice refreshing hot spring dip,
Ours?
Well...they take silent blood-baths."
A wave of silence ran through the hall, as the elites were left dumbfounded after that line.
"Trust us gentlemen;
Keep your faith in ONHO..."
- said Sun as he separated the mic from the holder and casually strolled across the stage with a greater smirk on his face.
"We do not compain, we deliver. Maintaining a harmonious world is our ulterior motive. We are however not harbingers of justice in the traditional sense, no! absolutely not!
For the context of 'justice' is variable -
Justice for one, may not be justice for another."
A sudden change in Sun's demeanour was noticed as he continued with his speech - from calm and commanding to pride and authoritative.
"As clearly encrypted in our motto -
'Restoring Harmony through Silent Sacrifice'
'Sacrifice' is the necessary evil for the greater good; That's our belief- " He was interrupted mid-speech by one of the attendees, Mr. Yinam Jang, a controversial political figure. Yinam, breaking the silence from the attendees' end said "Enough of your philosophy. I think we already have a brief idea about your principles - it would be better if you talk about the work efficiency of your people". It is hard to tell if it had any effect on Sun but he took a pause to stare straight at Yinam, with an eerily polite smile.
"Efficiency?" continued Sun -
"Well, you can just go through the files of our people, which are placed in front of your desks, to find it out yourself."
"What the hell..." whispered Yinam to himself as he turned the pages of the files and said "Hey you, do you expect us to read these long fat files? What kind of non-sense is this? You should have at least made it concise!"
To that comment, Cheon stood at his place and responded in an agitated yet calm tone - "Mr. Jang, we have intentionally decided not to make it overly concise as that can lead to losing out on essential details and that is against our ethics", he continued - "We did that to be completely transparent to you all. We have tried to include even the tiniest informations about our past projects and active employees - for your complete understanding. You can see that we have also included cut-outs of news articles pertaining to our operations, published in acclaimed bulletins."
There was nothing to say from Yinam's end after that, except for positive affirmations from some of the attendees. The summit progressed with Sun finishing his speech.
"Now it's upto you ladies and gentlemen..." - Sun continued -
"How you perceive us.
Just like me, my father, our people,
If you, as well, believe that we are doing is a noble deed -
You are thereby, wholeheartedly welcome!"
He ended his speech with a nod and a smile of contentment followed by a shower of positive nods and appreciations from the crowd.
Long after the summit had concluded, Yinam came up to Sun and Cheon, all by himself to assign their first operation of the year. At first, they were genuinely surprised to have Yinam Jung as their first customer of the year.
"I need you to eliminate Minsung Kang" said Yinam in a cold and intimidating way.
"Oh well! How reliable are we now, Mr. Jang?" replied Sun playfully.
"My apologies if what I said during the summit offended you, but after going through the files I realised - you guys really are something!" replied Yinam.
Cheon after thinking for a while said - "By Minsung Kang, do you mean the current heir of the infamous Kang family? The family of mafias?"
"Absolutely", Yinam continued - "Lad's been a complete nuisance nowadays. Instead of cooperating he's been causing a lot of trouble for us lately. He's basically ruining the relationship between me and his late father...I think it's the perfect time to part ways with the Kang family."
"And the only way is..." Sun continued - "By eliminating Minsung! Very well Mr. Jang, your assignment will be fulfilled by us at the soonest - efficiently! If anything from your end, kindly fill the advance..." said Sun with an unsettling grin in his face.
Later that afternoon during lunch, Yeongseok had a conversation with Sooah about whether she would be able to tackle the case of the Peculiar Murders any longer.
"Listen Sooah" - said Yeongseok - "Don't take it in the wrong way but...I think you should step down from the case now."
Sooah didn't respond to that and continued to munch her food.
"Sooah, I know how capable you are and trust me, I have complete faith in you and that is why I am saying this to you" he continued "Stepping down from a case doesn't mean you've lost - no one's gonna blame you. During my initial days as a detective, I had to step down from several cases as well...."
Sooah finally broke her silence and replied - "How did you feel back then?"
Yeongseok replied "To be honest, I felt bad - initially. But again, that's how you grow and gain experience. Look Sooah, I'm actually worried for you... since the last couple of cases, famous and influential people have been involved in the murders...
Now tell me honestly, are you confident enough?"
"Yes... Captain Heo"
"Very well then Sooah.... Anyways, I am always there for you, if you have any trouble, please reach out to me okay?"
As he was about to leave, Sooah said
"I have become unreliable right... Captain Heo?" she dropped her spoon and looked straight at Yeongseok.
"I guess the last few successful cases of mine were just...a fluke...?"
"Ah...Sooah you don't have to think like that-" he was interrupted mid sentence-
"I get it Captain Heo. In my profession it's not very desirable to be stubborn. The decision is upto you, if you want you can remove me and appoint someone else as the lead investigator, honestly, I don't have any problem."
Before Yeongseok could say anything, Sooah packed her lunchbox and left the room.
"Oh man! Why do women always get hurt by me..." sighed Yeongseok as he stood there, blankly.
The first day of the year turned out to be eventful - as expected. The same night, Jangmi was called to Sun's office for an urgent affair. Cheon was also present at the office.
"You called me?" - said Jangmi in her usual cold tone.
"Yes!' said Sun as he placed the glass of beer on his desk.
"Well, the summit went well...and we got our first assignments..." he continued - "And, what's better than assigning the first major operation of the year to one of our finest assassins - the great Jangmi Choi!" - exclaimed Sun as he stood up from his chair and spread out both of his hands pointing towards Jangmi, who displayed no emotion on her face.
"Jangmi...we have got two assignments for you" said Sun.
Surprised by what he said, Cheon asked "Two?"
Sun replied, his voice deeper and lower "Yes...two. Number one - Minsung Kang and...the second one-" he continued "Mr. Yinam Jang!" he said as he let out a rather psychotic squeak.
"What? Yinam Jang?" asked Cheon, who was startled by his response.
"Yes, you heard it right Cheon, we are also killing Yinam Jang - that crap of a human being, rather unworthy of being called a human! That bastard was trying to look down on me in front of everyone-" he said while pointing his index finger to his heart - "Me! Sun Tae! That old piece of shit doesn't know who I am! I will discard every filth like him from this planet! Who the hell does he think he is, huh!?".
Unbothered by Sun's commotion, Jangmi replied coldly - "So, I need to eliminate Minsung Kang and Yinam Jang, that's it... right?"
Sun struggled to control his emotions for a while.
"Absolutely" he replied - "But listen close - we will eliminate Minsung first, acquire the complete pay cheque from Yinam and then, Jangmi, you will deliver roses at his villa...
which he, of course, built out of embezzled money"
"Got it" said Jangmi, her voice steady. "21 days at the most - for both".
"Excuse me" interrupted Cheon, "I just remembered, I have to check a report; guess I should leave now..."
"Yeah sure, good night Cheon" - replied Sun, just as casually.
Cheon left Sun's office for his own chamber which was down the hallway.
He remained silent but was apparently disgusted by Sun's ideals - the expression being readable through his demeanour as he sat down on the couch, smoking a Nicaraguan cigar . He looked out of the large window in his cabin and glanced at the clear, minute crystalline snowflakes, descending down the sky - serene and aesthetic.