A drunken man, a little over 170 cm tall, was being dragged out by police officers, his arms held tightly. In their hands was the black raincoat we had seen in the security camera footage. At that moment, Park Dong-Joon got out of his car and grabbed the drunken man by the collar, shaking him violently. "Bong Jin-Tae! You bastard! Where did you take the kid!?" "Mr. Park! Please calm down!" "Calm down?! Don't tell me to calm down! Hey! I asked you where you took the kid!" The officers around them tried to intervene, but Park Dong-Joon wouldn't stop. His trauma from delaying the investigation and losing Lee Soo-Yeon's mother along with many others twenty years ago was now turning him violent. Then, the drunken man slowly raised his head and muttered in a slurred tone, "Kid? I... don't know... I..." "You don't know? We have evidence, and you say you don't know!?" At that moment, the rusted iron door opened and Choi Sung-Hyun came out from the house. "Mr. Park! We searched the house, but the child isn't inside. Also, we found the missing boy's clothes." Choi Sung-Hyun held out a clear plastic bag containing the clothes Lee Jun-Sung wore the night before. At that moment, Park Dong-Joon let out a feral scream and clenched his fist. "Aaaaargh! You bastard! Where did you hide the kid!!" The officers tried to restrain Park Dong-Joon. "Hey! Hold him back!" "This won't do. Someone cuff the Chief!" As Park Dong-Joon began to lose control, four officers rushed in to separate him from the suspect. Choi Sung-Hyun let out a deep sigh and handed the evidence bag to a nearby officer. "Hold onto this. It's the evidence recovered from the scene." The suspect was being arrested, but something about it didn't sit right. 'How could they find the evidence and the boy's clothes this easily?' It felt like watching a scene straight out of a scripted drama. Just then, Lee Soo-Chan, sitting in the passenger seat, spoke. "Hyung-nim. Looks like they caught the culprit." The arrested suspect matched the security camera—short height, black raincoat retrieved by police, and even Lee Jun-Sung's clothes were found. However, I just couldn't believe it. So I checked Everyday. [Date: December 24, 2025] -7:00 p.m.: Director Ahn Jung-Hae. Missing 2 – The Story of That Day reaches 12 million at the box office. 'That man isn't the culprit!' If he were, the schedule entry should have disappeared. However, it was still there. This wasn't a one-off case, but it was part of a serial crime. That meant the man wasn't the real culprit. What I couldn't understand, though, was how evidence turned up at the scene. Overwhelmed by confusion, I stared blankly through the windshield at the police. Park Dong-Joon was still raging, and the officers were holding him back as he yelled at Bong Jin-Tae. Then, something out of place caught my eye. It was Choi Sung-Hyun's expression as he tried to calm Park Dong-Joon. While the other officers were visibly angry and ready to tear the suspect apart despite trying to stop Park Dong-Joon, Choi Sung-Hyun had a blank, indifferent look as if he were just issuing a parking ticket. 'Why does he look so calm?' That question sent chills down my spine. His expression looked like someone who couldn't feel another's pain. Now I finally understood what Miso meant yesterday when she said she was scared because Choi Sung-Hyun's eyes lacked emotion. At the same time, the words from Everyday'sFortune of the Day from yesterday and today came to mind. The first was a warning not to have preconceived notions, while the second said the answer wasn't far away. And on top of that, Miso hid behind me in fear. All of these were clues. 'No way... Could this guy be the real culprit?' Suddenly, I started to wonder if Choi Sung-Hyun wasn't just a con artist eyeing Lee Soo-Yeon's money but one of those psychopathic criminals people talked about. Being a police officer, it wouldn't be hard for him to plant evidence at a suspect's house. Just then, Lee Soo-Chan's phone rang. Lee Soo-Chan answered it and his expression grew grim. "Yeah. Yeah. What?? Okay. I'll call you back soon, let me talk to hyung-nim first." Lee Soo-Chan hung up and looked at me. He looked troubled, like he didn't know how to say something. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. "Ah... how should I say this..." "It's okay, just tell me." Lee Soo-Chan spoke hesitantly. "Actually... the informant from the private agency I assigned to trail Lieutenant Choi Sung-Hyun is now unreachable." "What are you talking about?" "They went to swap shifts just now, but only the car was there. He's missing." "About 200 meters from here. That's where the car was parked." "Did they check the black box?" "Yeah. They did, but the SD card was missing. And the area was cleaned so thoroughly that it seems like a pro did it." "If it was a pro... you mean a cop?" "That's the most likely scenario." Now even Lee Soo-Chan was giving Choi Sung-Hyun a suspicious look. Still, calling a police officer the culprit wasn't something we could say lightly. "Hyung-nim, what do we do?" Meanwhile, the suspect was being transported in another police car. Park Dong-Joon was gasping as he watched the car disappear, while Choi Sung-Hyun was urging everyone to get moving for the interrogation. If this continued, the man earlier would be pinned as the culprit. I immediately unbuckled my seatbelt. "Soo-Chan. I'm going to speak with Mr. Park for a moment." "You're going to talk to him directly?" "Yeah. Whatever happens, I have to try." Missing 2 – The Story of That Day was heavily dramatized. Even back then, the real culprit was never caught and there were hardly any clues left after the children disappeared. This meant that most of the data was unreliable other than the victims' names. So the only way to get to the truth was to confront it directly. "Soo-Chan. Also, while I'm sticking close to Lieutenant Choi, have the guys investigate everything about him." "They're already on it. They're trying to locate the missing guy." "Good. I'll be back. If anything comes up, text me on Kk Talk." I got out of the car. Wearing a raincoat, I pushed through the heavy rain and walked toward Park Dong-Joon and Choi Sung-Hyun. After huffing for a while, Park Dong-Joon shouted, "Fine! I'll calm down, just let me go!" Only then did the officers finally let go of him. Choi Sung-Hyun sighed and said, "We caught the culprit. So calm yourself down, Mr. Park." Park Dong-Joon yelled back. "You idiot! We haven't found the kid yet! Don't you know that in abduction cases, most children are killed within 24 hours?" "I know. That's why we have to hurry and interrogate him to save the kid." "You think a drug addict and alcoholic like him will confess that easily? What if the kid is locked up somewhere and suffocates in the meantime? And what if he has an accomplice?" "I already requested reinforcements from the precinct and ordered them to search all potential hiding spots in the area." The police, along with Choi Sung-Hyun, had searched the shabby one-story house but found no trace of the child. So now, the officers had scattered around the area to continue the search. "Okay then. Did you send anyone to the meat processing plant where that guy used to work?" "Of course. Team 2 is already there, searching the factory." "What about the basement?" "I told them to check that too. And before you even arrived, I'd already sent officers to all suspicious places. So Mr. Park, all you need to do now is interrogate that guy." Park Dong-Joon was visibly agitated, worried the missing child might not make it. As he said, a large percentage ended in murder within 24 hours in child abduction cases. That was the reason the initial response was critical. The abductors let the children go on rare occasions, but I knew from the future that wouldn't happen in this case. But the bigger problem now was that Choi Sung-Hyun might be the real perpetrator. He was said to be brilliant in criminal psychology, after all. This meant everything he said could be misleading the investigation. So I was going to carefully bring this up to Park Dong-Joon. Park Dong-Joon turned his head to look at me. Only then did he finally calm down. "Sigh... Mr. Jung. We've secured the main suspect, so we'll find the child soon. I know it's frustrating, but please hang in there a bit longer." Unlike how he spoke to Choi Sung-Hyun earlier, he was trying to reassure me, a civilian. Choi Sung-Hyun chimed in as well. "I heard the missing child is someone you personally sponsor, Mr. Jung. We'll find him. Please trust us and wait a little longer." Choi Sung-Hyun gave a cheerful smile, trying to reassure me. Seeing his flawless expression only deepened my suspicion that he was the real culprit. Still, I forced myself to hide my feelings and replied. "But... are you sure that man who was arrested is really the culprit?" "Yes. There's evidence and he's a well-known junkie in the area. He probably kidnapped the kid to demand ransom." I questioned him again, sensing something off. "Don't you think something's strange? If he was planning to ask for ransom, Jun-Sung was dressed way too poorly." In the first film Missing – The Lost Ones, the culprit was caught, so everything in it was based on real facts. In that movie, rookie officer Park Dong-Joon learned how to investigate missing and abduction cases. Thanks to watching it, I also learned a bit about how such investigations work. If a child abduction case was suspected, investigators usually took one of two approaches. The first was when the abductor demanded money from the child's parents. Yet, that didn't apply to Lee Jun-Sung. Kidnappings for ransom usually targeted kids from wealthy families, but Lee Jun-Sung was an orphan wearing worn-out clothes and barely under the care of the orphanage director. The second type was abduction for sexual crimes. It was a disgusting possibility, but again, this wasn't the case. Even though Bong Jin-Tae was a junkie, he wasn't a sex offender. So the two typical scenarios didn't fit this case. Which meant it was something else entirely, but Choi Sung-Hyun had so quickly concluded the man was the culprit. It seemed almost like he didn't want the investigation to continue any further. "Well, you're not wrong, but... do you think a junkie would make a rational decision? He probably just kidnapped him impulsively. And you saw the evidence earlier." It was hard to argue with Choi Hyun-Sung since the evidence had already been found. While I hesitated on how to continue, Park Dong-Joon thankfully began to look suspicious too. "Now that I think about it... Chief Jung has a point. Even though they found the clothes, Bong Jin-Tae used to just steal from stores when he needed money and never kidnapped anyone. He's a timid guy. How did I miss that?" At that moment, Choi Sung-Hyun raised his voice sharply. "Mr. Park. The evidence is already there, so what are you planning to do? The area is already being searched thoroughly. Are you trying to change the course of the investigation now?" "I'm not changing the course, I'm saying we should start properly. We might need to go over everything again. Lieutenant Choi, where exactly did you find the child's clothes earlier?" Park Dong-Joon hadn't arrived in time for the initial investigation, so he hadn't seen the scene firsthand. "Mr. Park, you need to go back and interrogate him as soon as possible. That's the only way we can find the child and save him." Choi Sung-Hyun was unexpectedly insistent. He clearly didn't want anyone to look further. Nevertheless, Park Dong-Joon wasn't swayed by his words. "Hey, Choi Sung-Hyun! Don't you know that if the initial investigation fails, the whole case gets messed up? Didn't you graduate from the police academy? Tell me right now—where exactly in the house did you find those clothes?" Choi Sung-Hyun answered reluctantly. "The master bedroom... in the closet." "The closet? Does that make any sense? What would he do with a kid's clothes? He's not a sex offender, and I've never heard of him collecting clothes. Have you?" "Well... how would I know?" "Didn't they teach you that in criminal psychology? Damn. Forget it. I'll go see for myself. Hey! Come with me. We're redoing the investigation from scratch." Park Dong-Joon yanked open the rusty iron door and stormed back inside. At that moment, Choi Sung-Hyun let out a sigh and looked at me with a resentful glare. "Mr. Jung. This... this is obstruction of justice. You do realize that, right?" "Isn't it better than missing something important because of preconceptions?" "Every second counts in a kidnapping case. If something happens to the child, it'll be on your head!" With that cold warning, Choi Sung-Hyun went inside the house. 'You fucking son of a bitch... That's rich coming from you.' Coming from someone I suspected to be the real culprit, those words made my fists clench tightly. I wanted to storm in and confront him right then and there, but there were officers guarding the entrance. Instead, I took a deep breath and tried to calm my emotions. If I wanted to deal with Choi Sung-Hyun, who was not only a cop but also highly trained in criminal psychology, I couldn't afford to lose my cool. The downpour grew heavier, hammering my raincoat like crazy. The relentless rain felt like the tears of Lee Jun-Sung, crying somewhere in fear. The fire in my chest only kept growing stronger. Thankfully, the cold rain helped me keep my head straight. I stood there, praying Lee Jun-Sung was safe while waiting for Park Dong-Joon to come out. A moment later, Park Dong-Joon came storming out of the suspect's house, breathing heavily. However, his face had turned grim. "Sergeant Jung! Call the investigation team back. That junkie's not the culprit!" Choi Sung-Hyun followed him out and protested. "But Mr. Park! That's an overreach!" "You idiot! What do you know about missing persons cases? Didn't you see the side dishes and liquor bottles inside? They were bought two days ago. It's clear he's been holed up drinking for two straight days!" As he spoke, Park Dong-Joon met my eyes. He tried to calm himself before addressing me. "Mr. Jung. I'm sorry, but... I don't think that guy's the culprit. I don't know why the kid's clothes turned up here, but I'll make sure to find the child." Thankfully, Park Dong-Joon had noticed the inconsistencies too. That's when Choi Sung-Hyun interjected. "Mr. Park! You can't say that! He's not even the guardian!" "Hey! Chief Jung is the kid's sponsor. This much, he has the right to know!" "And if it's not right, we need to say it's not. You know what happened twenty years ago when we tried to cover up a mistake! Call the forensics team back right now!" Park Dong-Joon scolded Choi Sung-Hyun harshly, and Choi Sung-Hyun still kept getting in his way. At that moment, my phone vibrated. I thought it might be another warning from Everyday, but it was a Kk Talk message from Lee Soo-Chan. [Lee Soo-Chan: Hyung-nim. The agency guys got three security camera clips. In the second one, there's someone who looks like Choi Sung-Hyun. Check it out.] 'A video with Choi Sung-Hyun's face on it?' I immediately turned to Park Dong-Joon. "Mr. Park. Could we talk in private for a moment?" "Sorry, but can we do that later?" "We might be able to find the child." Park Dong-Joon paused. "Really?" Then Park Dong-Joon waved over at Choi Sung-Hyun. "Sung-Hyun, call the forensics team back and gather the teams investigating the area. If we waste resources, we won't find the kid in time." "Ugh... Mr. Park! What's gotten into you today?" "What's gotten into me? I'm desperate to save the kid! Can't you tell?" Choi Sung-Hyun glared at me, then walked back to the car. Now alone, Park Dong-Joon turned to me. "What's going on?" I held out my phone to show him the video I received. But right then, Choi Sung-Hyun did something completely unexpected. "Huh? T-That bastard..."