Prologue 1

Dyed in red color is someone's motionless body. That person's adulated chest rises up and down in a frantic manner. Gasps and pants for breath echoing in the surrounding. A puddle of blood pooling around Ryan's body, gushing out from the scarring wound on his neck.

He despised this color so much that he hated anything in red, including the food. Even his counselor couldn't help him in sorting out this matter. Once he saw the red color, he felt the urged to vomit, and his body started sweating profusely. However, he could not remember the reason why he despised this color.

You see, there's this one day, his soon-to-be girlfriend, Anna or something, wore a red, bright, and sexy knees length dress for their first date. Baffling, he involuntarily rejected her on the spot. She asked the reason, of course, while in tears, since they barely spoke one or two words and had only met for a brief five minutes. He told her the truth, and she cursed him back with very colorful language. She went back and gave him a hard slap on his left cheek. His coworkers only laugh when they saw his bruised cheek the very next day. Ha, talk about bad luck. She is the type of girl he is interested in, the ideal woman he liked to pursue. Why would she wear that red dress for their first date of all days?

Ryan couldn't move his limbs nor any of his fingers. He lost too much blood, and his sight is kind of blurry.

"Are you still alive, Chief Inspector Ryan?" A gruff voice spoke beside his unmoving body. "You hate the red color with deep passion, but, I think, red color suited you the most, sir. You looked like a fine piece of art to me. A masterpiece."

Yeah, right. Art for a psychotic killer, which is not a compliment at all. Ryan's eyes still had a fire in them. He could not accept this kind of defeat. He is so close to catching this serial killer, but who can guess that this man is more cunning than he looks. Rather than walked away from the trap he set, this psychotic man gladly jumped into the pit he dug.

So frustrating! Despicable!

"What? Are you angry? Who told you to trust your subordinate so much, sir Ryan? Not everyone believed that justice would prevail, only a dumb person as you do." The other man lightly chuckled. He touched Ryan's pale cheeks and caressed them gently. "These few years are indeed thrilling and entertaining, with you followed me around so closely. Because of that, I will give you the last gift. A farewell gift."

"Fuck...you, crazy bastard...!" Ryan said with difficulty.

"What a tenacious young man, sir Ryan is. Pity that this will be the last time we meet. If there is such thing as a next life, you are welcome to try again. But, for now, good night, my beloved sir Ryan."

Ryan felt callous hands lingering around his slender neck. Those cold hands then warped around his neck and began to squeeze it. Ryan tried his best to struggle his way out but to no avail. He futilely put out a feeble resistance. His fingers tried to pry the hands that are squeezing out air from his throat.

Unfortunately, the man tightens his grip. With a loud crack sound, Ryan's neck snapped into two. The limpid emerald eyes slightly quivered, slowly losing their brilliant light. His once clear and brightest eyes had lost their luster, leaving behind a hollow abyss. The body went limp.

The serial killer unhesitatingly closed his eyelids. His cold demeanor turned soft when he gazed at the latter body.

"For your last gift, only for you, I will not chop your body to pieces, unlike my other victims. And, you will be my last masterpiece. Tonight, Doctor Jackal will vanish forever, alongside your death. Rest in peace, my beloved Han Ryan."

***

The following day, inside an expensive black car, someone discovers the body of Chief Inspector Han Ryan. The car deliberately parked on the underground parking lot of his workplace. Apart from dried blood on his clothes and a stab wound on his left chest, Ryan's condition looked normal. He looked like he is sleeping rather than dead. Besides Ryan's lifeless body, laid the last letter from Doctor Jackal.

"Unless someone like Chief Inspector Han appears, I don't think Doctor Jackal will resurface." Detective Su shook his head. "We lost a capable coworker and lost track of his killer. How can we face his family and other victim's family?"

Da Kyung, a forensic doctor, and Ryan's best friend, furiously wiped her tears in a grievance.

"This is unfair! How could that scumbag kill him? Ryan waited for ten years to apprehend that man, but, in the end, he is..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"The higher up will dislike this outcome. Especially for our Senior Superintendent Han. He lost his most treasured nephew after all."

Both looked at the stretcher that bypassed them in a gloomy expression. Da Kyung's stifled sobs still echoing in the background.

***

Jae Woon ran to the morgue hastily. He then found out that Da Kyung is waiting for him in front of the morgue.

"Kyung ah, what happened?" He asked in a worried tone.

Da Kyung bit her lips. Tears stained her beautiful face.

"Woon..."

"Kyung, they said Ryan is dead. Is it true? They are lying, right?"

"Woon, calm down, please?" Da Kyung approached the man and hugged him. "Ryan is dead. and the news is true."

Jae Woon felt his world is crumbling bits by bits.

"You're joking, right, Kyung-ah? How can Ryan is dead? He promised me, no, that guy promised the two of us that he would stay alive and catches that psychotic bastard! How could he broke his promise easily as that?"

"Woon ah," Da Kyung has tightened her embraces around Jae Woon's body and said in a sad voice. "You should learn how to let go. Let Ryan left in peace, okay? We, the living ones, will catch that man in return. For his sake."

Jae Woon stared at the covered body on the stretcher inside the morgue. Without him realized, a drop of tear is rolling down his cheek.

"He broke his promise again."

"I know, right?" Da Kyung revealed a hurtful expression. "This was his 23rd promise that he broke."

"I hate him." Jae Woon added.

"I also hate his stupid gut sometimes. But, you see, no matter what, Ryan is still Ryan. That's why we decided to stay by his side since that day. Isn't it?"

Jae Woon sighed.

"You're right."

The both of them are still hugging tightly, basking in each other comfort.

Jae Woon swallowed down his sorrow, and his hands unconsciously gripped the end fabric of his friend's outfit. He shut his eyelids. His redden nose is twitching as anguish emanating from his body.