episode_0028

After finishing the broadcast, he took a pile of used condoms, opened them, and transferred the semen inside into glass bottles.

He used more than he thought he would, but a few semen-filled condoms remained. He could give those to the other kids.

Or send them to Haru.

“Speaking of Haru… I completely forgot about her.”

Her face and body were quite to his taste, but her vagina was too loose. He didn’t need a vagina that gave in easily and didn’t tighten well.

He might as well use a silicone dildo; why use a living dildo he couldn’t recklessly use for fear of killing it?

Anyway, judging by the viewers’ comments, it seems quite messed up, so he should give them some semen. He’ll tell Se-a when she wakes up.

“Too bad. If only her vagina had been tighter, I could have trained it.”

He got a glass of water from the kitchen and stretched for a moment.

He turned on his phone; a flood of missed calls appeared.

[Ajumma (79)]

“What…? At this time.”

He frowned slightly and called ‘Ajumma’.

After a few seconds, the call connected, and an excited voice was heard.

[Why didn’t you answer your phone?!]

“Haah, what is it?”

[Th, that… a report came in…]

“Report? For what?”

[U, um… that… thing…]

Ajumma hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued.

[A kidnapping… report.]

“…What? Ah… it’s them.”

[You know…? ]

“To some extent. More than that, all they did was report it to the police?”

He thought something was up when he was suddenly reported. But when he learned that the report was a kidnapping report, that worry disappeared instantly.

He knew the perpetrator and those who helped. He just let them be, curious to see how they would move. All they thought of was a kidnapping report. He felt his expectations completely crushed.

“Tch. It’s funny. And they’re parents?”

[…Well… there are limits to what a person can do.]

“But their child was kidnapped by a complete stranger, being sold on the internet? They even know the kidnapper’s home address. At the very least, I thought they’d come directly.”

[Is that so…?]

“If they were parents, I thought they would. Was I being too idealistic?”

He felt his ideals about parents crumbling.

It’s only natural. If you just browse the internet a little, you can easily find parents who will do anything for their child. Parents who say their child is their treasure and would give their liver or gall bladder for them.

He thought it would be the same this time.

“They even came to the front of the house once. Se-a even followed them when A-young went for a walk with Da-eun, and they came to the broadcast and plastered posters. But they couldn’t come into the house.”

[…So, what are you going to do?]

“Keep them in check. Let me at least see their faces.”

[Okay… Go to OO Police Station. I’ll send you the exact location via text.]

With a click, the call ended.

He felt a little dizzy.

Having his ideals about parents shattered was a little, no, a lot painful.

It wasn’t completely shattered. There will always be exceptions.

Parents.

What are parents?

“I’ll know once I see them.”

He sat down on the kitchen floor and buried his head in his hands.

For some reason, the house felt unusually quiet today.

It was always bustling, even with A-young, Da-eun, and Se-a all at home.

“…I miss Jennifer. Or Mei-lin… Sasha…”

Parents.

Child.

Offspring.

Was he really being idealistic?

“…Come to think of it, wasn’t one of Jennifer’s wives pregnant?”

Should he call her?

As soon as that thought occurred, his fingers moved on their own.

Ring ring –

A connection was made.

[Hello? What’s wrong… Honey?]

“…Jennifer.”

[…Is something really wrong?]

“No. More than that, wasn’t one of your wives pregnant? Congratulations.”

[Haha! Yes! Thank you. My first wife is pregnant.]

Jennifer’s voice sounded incredibly happy.

He wondered if she’d ever been this happy before.

“Your voice sounds excited. Are you really that happy?”

[Of course! Immensely happy. It feels like a piece of my heart is filled.]

“My heart is filled, huh, haha… Jennifer.”

[Yes? Why?]

His heart beat a little faster.

The difficulty in speaking left him feeling rather awful.

It was similar to the feeling he had when he first assaulted someone. That feeling of wondering what to do next.

At that time, Jennifer had helped him. Will she do so this time?

“Jennifer, what can you do for your child?”

[For my child?]

“…Yes.”

[…]

Silence fell.

Jennifer seemed to be thinking about what to say.

[Anything.]

“Anything?”

[Yes. I can really do anything.]

Jennifer’s answer was firm.

Her voice conveyed an unwavering truth.

For some reason, he felt relieved by that firm answer.

“That’s what’s normal, right?”

[Of course. It’s for my child.]

“Puh-huh… Haah… Thank you.”

[Yes? What for?]

“It’s nothing. I just cleared my head a bit.”

His mind felt clear.

His ideals about parents had been upheld.

As Jennifer said, parents can do anything for their child.

Then, what about those people who reported me?

“Thank you always, Jennifer. I’ll hang up.”

[No, I’m thankful too.]

“Yes, go ahead.”

He hung up with Jennifer and got up from his seat.

It’s late today, so he should go to bed.

“We should all sleep together tonight.”

He picked up Se-a, who was sprawled on the sofa, and took her to the bedroom.

A-young and Da-eun, who were rolling around on the bed, snuggled up to him.

* * *

Seoul OO Police Station.

Kim Se-a, who had recently transferred here, looked at the detention cell located in a corner of the police station with curious eyes.

Inside the detention cell were a man and a woman who appeared to be in their 30s or 40s. Both had disheveled hair and a strong smell of alcohol.

“What’s going on…?”

“Oh, senior.”

Kim Se-a looked at the man who patted her shoulder.

He was a senior officer who had been helping her since she arrived.

“Those people in the detention cell. Aren’t they the reporters from yesterday?”

“Ah~ That’s right. That reporting couple.”

“Then why are they in the detention cell?”

“Uh… that’s a bit complicated. To cut a long story short, they were counter-reported.”

Kim Se-a’s eyes widened at her senior’s words.

“What? Counter-reported?”

“Yes. What was it? Ah. ‘False statement defamation’, ‘stalking’, and… well, there were a few more.”

“…Wasn’t it a kidnapping report? What about that investigation?”

If a kidnapping report came in, there should be at least some investigative movement. But the police station was too quiet for that.

They didn’t even try to get other statements, and they put them in the detention cell, saying they were counter-reported.

It was a situation Kim Se-a couldn’t understand with her knowledge.

As if knowing this, her senior spoke softly.

“Well, the investigation itself was carried out. The problem is…the information on the kidnapped child, ‘Park A-young’, was missing.”

“Missing?”

“Yes. Resident registration number, fingerprints, elementary, middle, and high school personal information… she didn’t even have a birth certificate. It’s like she doesn’t exist. So… it was quickly closed.”

“What is that…”

Her senior’s face was unusually calm.

There’s no trace. They said she didn’t even have a birth certificate or resident registration.

Then what about that couple? What about those parents who keep shouting their child’s name? What’s going on?

“Kim Se-a. Don’t think too deeply about it.”

“…Senior.”

“We received a report and conducted an investigation. But there’s nothing, is there? What child? In the first place, there was no child between that couple. How can we find someone who doesn’t exist?”

“But… something’s wrong. And you also saw that video.”

At my words, the senior frowned slightly.

“That porn? Haah… Yes, the name was the same.”

“Right!”

“But? What’s that proof? Do you know how many people in South Korea use the name ‘Park A-young’?”

“That’s… but…”

My confidence in my voice waned at my senior’s words.

His words were not wrong. There was no child between that couple, and the video they presented was highly likely to be just someone with the same name.

“What about the album? The photos in the album and the person in the video were the same!”

“Haah… Album…?”

“Yes. Album photos. You also saw it, senior. Together with me.”

“Album… Yes, album. But why? There’s no child between that couple. I told you, the birth certificate isn’t registered either.”

“That’s… but…”

The senior sighed several times, looked at me, and said,

“Come with me for a moment.”

“Senior?”

“Just come with me.”

The senior spoke coldly.

I felt a little scared by that.

The senior grabbed my arm and went into a storage room in a secluded place.

An old storage room that’s no longer in use. A place covered in dust.

“Haah… what should I do…”

“Senior… why are we here…?”

“Why are you so curious?”

“What…?”

The senior glared at me.

“It’s a case that doesn’t concern us. Don’t be interested. We’ve gone beyond our jurisdiction.”

“What does that mean?”

“Aahh… really. Can’t you just quietly say, ‘Yes, I understand,’ and let it go?”

I shook my head quietly at my senior’s words.

I couldn’t. Not only my personal curiosity, but my intuition told me I shouldn’t. It might be called a sense of clumsy justice, but I felt I would regret it for the rest of my life if I let it go so easily.

“Hoo… You, no. No, should I tell you from the beginning?”

“…Senior?”

“First… the ‘Park A-young’ in that porn, and the ‘Park A-young’ that couple is talking about, are the same person. Biologically speaking.”

“…? What are you saying?”

The senior tapped the floor with his feet, then continued.

“Do you know about the ‘Pet Registration Act’?”

“What kind of law is that?”

“Just as it says. A law that registers pets. Simply put, it’s a law where people treat other people as their own pets.”

“…What?”

It felt like my brain had stopped for a moment.

People as pets? What… kind of law is that? Is there such a law? Why?

Questions lead to more questions endlessly. Why does such a law exist?

“It’s a law that I also learned about recently. 50 years? 70 years? It was made that long ago, but it’s still in effect. I wouldn’t have known even with my connections unless I was in a higher position.”

“Why is there such a law? No. What’s the connection between this law and this case?”

“The Pet Registration Act is a law to turn those who have registered as pets. It deprives the registered person of all their rights and turns them into beasts. Naturally, all information about such a person disappears.”

“Th, then…”

A somewhat dangerous thought came to me.

And the senior nodded as if my thought was correct.

“Park A-young agreed to become… that is, a pet under this law, and became a dog. And the ‘human Park A-young’ disappeared.”

“What… is that? What on earth…?”

“I told you. I said it’s beyond our jurisdiction. It’s nothing to do with us.”

My stomach churned.

“How do you catch this? Everything is done according to the law.”

“Kid, napping… isn’t…”

“It’s a legal, personal choice.”

I wondered what my expression looked like at that moment.

“I’m going ahead. Calm down a bit first, then come.”

My senior patted my shoulder and left the storage room.

I felt like vomiting.

“It’s all… crazy…”

I wish I hadn’t known.