Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 159

< Investigating >

“What’s wrong?”

Rembrary flinched, and CEO Lim, who was right behind him, followed his gaze.

“Is there something there?”

CEO Lim couldn’t see anything. It was just a normal-looking hospital exterior.

“Hey, if there’s nothing, let’s go.”

However, just because he couldn’t see anything didn’t mean he couldn’t feel anything. CEO Lim felt goosebumps on his arm for no reason and pulled Rembrary closer.

“Do you want to go in first?”

Rembrary asked quietly, and CEO Lim shook his head quickly.

“No way. What are you planning? Hurry up.”

Rembrary didn’t know why he was being asked to go in first, but he said it because he thought he shouldn’t let this guy wander around alone.

Since it was a matter related to the entertainment industry, news outlets were splashing it as gossip. However, because the perpetrator was still a trainee, and the victim was also an employee, there wasn’t a media frenzy with cameras barging into the funeral hall. Still, it wasn’t okay to let Rembrary wander around alone.

“Stick close, you.”

Tae-in shook his head, pulling on Rembrary’s sleeve. “You can’t cause trouble in a place like this.”

‘I’m not trying to cause trouble.’

Rembrary argued inwardly but eventually followed CEO Lim obediently into the funeral hall.

***

Even after returning from the funeral hall, the dark and heavy feeling of having seen off the deceased didn’t dissipate.

Tae-in and Hye-gyeol locked themselves in their respective rooms and didn’t show their faces. Rembrary lay sprawled on the sofa, mindlessly pressing the remote control buttons.

The screen changed each time he pressed the button. Rembrary tried to focus on one of them, but it wasn’t easy.

Tae-in sulked and said, ‘Why are you so upset when you don’t even have any memories of him anyway?’ but Rembrary’s distress was genuine. Of course, it was different from Tae-in or Hye-gyeol’s.

‘Why were the demons gathered only there?’

Rembrary recalled the whispers he had heard as he walked, [That way?] [That human?] [Is it that way?] [Not human?]

Then, one of the channels caught Rembrary’s attention. Rembrary raised his upper body from the sofa and leaned forward slightly.

‘That?’

Rembrary’s eyes widened. Someone was being led away, their arms held, their face covered. Around them were colorful demons. Not just at the funeral hall, but elsewhere too.

The reporters, not knowing where the demons were, were busy jostling for position, peppering the person with questions. But Rembrary could clearly see several demons.

The demons on the TV screen didn’t see the person beyond the TV. They were focused on something. And the person who was the center of their attention, the person being dragged away with their arms held, was the trainee murderer who had been all over the news.

‘Is this not a typical case?’

Demons like things like this, but it wasn’t an event that would gather them in such droves just for the sake of watching. There must be another reason besides the fact that it was a murder case for them to gather like this.

Rembrary thought for a moment and then sent a text message to Lim Yu-han.

[Sunbae (senior colleague/mentor). Do you still have the tiger?]

After a while, Lim Yu-han replied.

[Yeah, watching TV now]

[The tiger watches TV too?]

[I didn’t turn it on, but it’s on, so I guess it’s watching?]

[Can you tell the tiger I’m calling it?]

[idk (I don’t know)]

While Rembrary was trying to decipher what Lim Yu-han meant, about five minutes passed and a reply came again.

[It says it will go to you.]

[Thank you!]

To help the tiger spirit find him easily, Rembrary went out to the veranda to wait.

How long had he been waiting? The tiger spirit ran through the air like the wind and quickly climbed onto the veranda railing where Rembrary was standing.

[Did you seek this body?]

The tiger-headed spirit asked, watching Rembrary’s expression. Was it because it had been caught secretly following other idols and smacking its lips the last time they met? It was more cautious of Rembrary than before.

“Yes. You said you were watching the news, right?”

Rembrary asked, and the tiger-headed spirit nonchalantly groomed its claws before answering yes.

“Didn’t you see the news where demons were swarming?”

[I did.]

“Did you also see the person being dragged away, the one who was said to be the perpetrator?”

[I couldn’t see because his face was covered.]

“Can you go and check on that person?”

Rembrary thought the tiger spirit would naturally say yes.

But unexpectedly, the tiger spirit turned away and kept its faith.

[I like Ms. Lim.]

Rembrary didn’t know what kind of faith this was.

“I’m not telling you to live there. I’m just saying to go and see what his condition is like.”

Rembrary explained gently, and the tiger head turned back and asked.

[How?]

***

‘Woo Yeon-woo, that crazy bastard, what is he doing?’

Oh Jeong-shin, who came out to the veranda to get some air, frowned and shuddered.

To think that the person he saw when he came out was that guy. A signal came that his peace of mind would be shattered if he didn’t go back inside right now.

But seeing Woo Yeon-woo talking to himself in the air, curiosity grabbed his ankle. Don’t go!

Oh Jeong-shin took the hand of curiosity and crouched behind the air conditioner outdoor unit.

He shouldn’t get involved with that crazy guy. It’s because that crazy guy is acting even crazier than usual. He just wanted to listen to what he was saying and leave.

“First, approach him.”

‘Approach him?’

“Stick your face right in front of his.”

Oh Jeong-shin’s eyes widened. Is he practicing kissing? Is he dating?

Oh Jeong-shin clicked his tongue for a moment but soon cheered. A rising star is going to fall off on his own by dating. When he thought about it, it wasn’t a bad thing.

Besides, if that bastard dates, the fans won’t be able to tearfully pair him and Woo Yeon-woo together.

‘Yeah. Practice kissing to your heart’s content, get into a dating scandal, and get out of my sight, you.’

In the meantime, Woo Yeon-woo continued to mutter to himself.

“Stick your face right in front of his, then open your mouth wide~”

Somewhat strangely. Oh Jeong-shin frowned.

‘But what does he think kissing is? Is he going to eat him? Why is he opening his mouth so wide?’

The moment he thought that.

“Eheuheung!”

“!”

Oh Jeong-shin, who heard Woo Yeon-woo’s roar, choked and coughed.

‘Is that crazy bastard?’

Oh Jeong-shin pounded his chest and leaned out.

Did he hear the sound? Woo Yeon-woo, who had stopped describing a kiss in the air, was turning his head.

Oh Jeong-shin waved his hand with a smile, but soon erased the smile and pointed his finger.

“Hey, you’re an idiot, ugh! Is that what you call a kiss?”

Woo Yeon-woo frowned as if his pride was hurt.

“Sunbae (senior), what are you doing there?”

To avoid the embarrassment of eavesdropping, Oh Jeong-shin approached the edge of the railing and began to explain to his ignorant junior that that’s not how you kiss.

“Hey, I just happened to be passing by, and, uh, I heard you practicing kissing alone. But that’s really not it. You’ll get slapped if you do that in front of someone’s face, you bastard. Who’s the target?”

“I wasn’t practicing kissing.”

“Okay, let’s say you weren’t, who were you practicing on?”

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t that kind of practice.”

As Oh Jeong-shin was saying strange things on his own and went into his dorm, the tiger head, who was standing blankly, hurriedly covered its mouth.

[I refuse.]

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

[I don’t kiss just anyone.]

Rembrary gently pulled the tiger head’s whiskers and then showed him the roaring demonstration again.

“Who said anything about kissing? Like this. Do this in front of that criminal. Face him and go, ‘Eheuheung!’ Scarily.”

The tiger-headed monster tilted its head.

[Do I have to do that?]

“Yes.”

[Why do I have to do such a thing?]

“To see if that criminal is scared or not.”

Is he sending me for such a trivial reason? The tiger head mumbled with a sulky expression.

But Rembrary quickly pushed the tiger head and sent it to check on that criminal.

The reason Rembrary made it do this troublesome task was because he became suspicious that this case might be different from a typical criminal case when he saw the demons following the perpetrator and the victim.

As soon as he had that suspicion, he thought of the brush that Dae-ju had lost.

Besides, the phrase ‘the perpetrator doesn’t feel any guilt at all’ from the news also bothered him.

That’s why he was sending the tiger head to see if the perpetrator couldn’t feel any emotions other than guilt.

If that criminal really seemed to have no emotions…

‘I should tell Dae-ju because it might be related to the brush.’

***

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

Even though it was one in the morning, Rembrary was yawning and loitering in the living room, so Keshi asked as he went into his room.

Perhaps because he was close to that trainee, Keshi had cried his eyes out after returning to the dorm, and now his eyes were swollen.

“You should go to sleep quickly. Your eyes look like chestnuts that are only half open.”

“Ah! Hyung (older brother/male friend)!”

“Sleep well.”

As Keshi slammed the door and went inside, Rembrary looked at his phone again, waiting for the tiger head.

It was almost three in the morning when the tiger head reappeared.

Rembrary jumped up from the sofa and went out to the veranda, then closed the veranda door and asked the tiger head.

“How was it? Was the criminal scared?”

The tiger head shook its head.

[He was a truly brazen fellow. He didn’t even bat an eye after killing a member of his own kind. I heard the human police initially clicking their tongues, wondering if there was some story behind it, but later saying they wanted to smack him in the back of the head.]

“Your face? Did you show it?”

[It was hard to find an opportunity because there was never a moment when he was alone.]

“You couldn’t show it?”

[I had no choice but to show it when the detective was with him.]

Rembrary clicked his tongue in dismay, but he thought the detective would be okay and asked again.

“Anyway?”

[The detective shouted that it was a monster and ran out, but the human criminal was calm. He didn’t have any curiosity either, he just seemed to have no emotions at all.]

The tiger monster tilted its head and added.

[Besides, there were more demons gathered than when I saw it on TV.]

Rembrary gave it a flower that he had prepared in advance, and the tiger head happily took it and ran to Lim Yu-han’s house.

Instead of returning to his room, Rembrary sat on the veranda bench and sent a text message to Dae-ju.

[The brush may be related to the trainee murder case. Investigate it.]

After a while, Dae-ju replied.

[I will go myself.]

***

“I just got a call.”

At the same time as the call ended, the team leader opened his mouth.

The sound of typing that had been going on stopped.

As everyone paid attention to him, the team leader pressed the power button on his phone and said.

“You know about the case that’s been all over the news all day, right?”

“The trainee suddenly fought with an employee… wasn’t it yesterday?”

“Whether it was yesterday or today, anyway. You know about it, right?”

The team leader yawned and pressed a few buttons on his phone again, and the TV turned on, showing the scene of the criminal being dragged into the police station.

“People with eyes can probably tell who’s in that screen. Right?”

“Are we going to kill all the demons who came out for a stroll there? Do we have the manpower?”

Eondu-shin, who had been stabbed by the bull-headed demon and had just been discharged from the hospital, grumbled.

“No.”

The team leader said firmly.

“Those demons came to watch. They’ll probably lose interest and go back by tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow, today. But why is that?”

“I saw one of our spirits go in in the recent news photos, let’s go catch him.”

< Investigating > End