Chapter 19
That night, Kim Gi-jin drank alcohol and went to Song Seul-gi’s place. He took the methamphetamine she offered him, went into the bathroom, and soon lost consciousness.
When he came to, he was lying inside a locked bathroom, his clothes and hands smeared with blood from Song Seul-gi.
That was all Kim Gi-jin could be made to say.
He consistently maintained the same statement, and even the prosecution could not uncover anything new.
There was only one option left.
I requested Kang Du-sik as a witness.
“Bring the witness.”
The judge said irritably.
From the beginning of the trial, the judge had been looking at me with clear displeasure.
It wasn’t hard to guess why.
Considering his age and judicial training class, if the presiding judge failed to secure a promotion in the next personnel reshuffle, he would likely be forced to resign.
And Tae-Young Law Firm paid former high-ranking judges hundreds of millions in annual salary to recruit them. To him, Tae-Young Law Firm must have looked like a golden lifeline.
—Hey, Hyun-jae. Did you just see that? The judge and that guy in the audience just exchanged looks.
The red eyes pointed at a middle-aged man sitting in the gallery.
The man, smiling comfortably as if he were simply watching a show, looked relaxed.
‘He’s a Tae-Young Law Firm lawyer.’
—What? Tae-Young Law Firm? How do you know that?
‘His lawyer badge, the high-end suit, and the fact that he’s attending this trial without direct involvement—there’s no other reason.’
The red eyes let out a whistle.
—Sharp observation. So you’re saying the judge, the prosecutor, and Tae-Young Law Firm are all in on this and pushing Kim Gi-jin into a corner? This is going to be a tough trial.
‘Look behind that instead.’
I glanced toward a woman seated near the back door.
—What the hell?! Isn’t that Song Seul-gi?!
The red eyes screamed in shock.
The dead Song Seul-gi had come to watch Kim Gi-jin’s trial.
Her long black hair hung down, her face unnaturally pale, and blackened eyes were leaking streams of blood-like tears.
Her white dress was soaked so heavily in blood it looked red.
She stared at this direction without expression, and even from a distance, a chilling aura crawled up my spine.
I stood up and walked toward Kang Du-sik. He avoided my gaze—he remembered my face from when he was arrested at the gambling den.
“Mr. Kang Du-sik, what was your relationship with Song Seul-gi?”
“We dated briefly.”
“‘Briefly’—does that include seven years since high school?”
“……”
“I object. The defense is pressuring the witness.”
The prosecutor immediately shouted.
“Objection sustained. Defense, be careful.”
The judge warned me with an annoyed expression.
“I will, Your Honor. Here is a photo Song Seul-gi uploaded on her social media on the 6th. It shows the relationship between the two. I submit it as evidence.”
The screenshot that Lee Hae-mi had secured was strong evidence against Kang Du-sik.
I continued my cross-examination.
“What did you do from 9 p.m. on the day of the incident until 3 a.m. the next morning?”
“I was recently fired from my restaurant job. I played games at a PC café, went home, searched job sites, and went to bed early.”
He answered clearly, as if rehearsed.
—What the hell? Why is he so calm? Is this the same junkie from the gambling den?
‘He must have been eating and sleeping properly for the past few days.’
‘That’s why he looks so different.’
‘But that’s not all. Something must have stabilized his mental state recently.’
—Did Tae-Young Law Firm give him drugs or something? This looks like a rigged game.
The red eyes crossed their arms and shook their head.
“Is this cap yours, witness?”
I zoomed in on a baseball cap from the crime scene photo presented by the prosecution. It had a cartoon character on it.
Kang Du-sik’s eyes widened briefly, then returned to normal.
“No, it’s not mine.”
“Then where is the cap shown in this second photo?”
I showed another photo extracted from his social media, where he was wearing the same limited-edition cap.
It was a rare design—only 500 units made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the amusement park ‘Maggi Land.’
Song Seul-gi had bought it while working there before meeting Kim Gi-jin.
“I lost it.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Wasn’t it on the day of the incident?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then let’s view this video.”
I played CCTV footage I had found near Song Seul-gi’s officetel.
The prosecution had not submitted CCTV footage, claiming the entrance camera was broken—because they had already decided Kim Gi-jin was the culprit.
“I found a CCTV camera in front of a convenience store on the first floor of Song Seul-gi’s building. Please watch.”
The video showed Kang Du-sik walking toward Song Seul-gi’s home wearing the cap.
“This was recorded at 12:20 a.m. The image is blurry, but the man matches Kang Du-sik’s build. The clothing matches the shirt he wore when arrested.”
Kang Du-sik’s face turned pale.
I immediately played the next clip.
“The second video is from 1:10 a.m. You can see a man running out of the victim’s home. It’s the same man—but the cap is gone.”
Kang Du-sik clutched his head with both hands.
“Is it true that you called the victim ‘Princess’ and she called you ‘Genie’?”
Kang Du-sik glanced toward Tae-Young’s lawyer in the gallery.
The lawyer gave a subtle shake of his head.
“No, that never happened.”
“Then what is this?”
I showed another set of photos.
One showed Kang Du-sik holding a cake that read “To Genie from Princess.”
Another showed Song Seul-gi eating a slice labeled “To Princess.”
Kang Du-sik stared blankly, as if he had forgotten the photos himself.
He looked like he had given up completely.
Just a little more pressure… and it would tip.
“Isn’t that right? Answer me, witness.”
“I object! The defense is excessively pressuring the witness!”
The prosecutor shouted again.
“Sustained. Defense, stop pressuring the witness.”
The judge roared.
—These bastards… they’re clearly all on the same side.
The red eyes muttered bitterly.
Then, at the far end of the gallery, Song Seul-gi’s ghost rose and slid forward.
She stood in front of Kang Du-sik, but he couldn’t see her.
She grabbed his hand with her ghostly pale fingers. Her mouth opened as if speaking—but black blood poured out of it.
Kang Du-sik trembled violently as if electrocuted.
His expression turned zombie-like.
“Yes,” he said.
Murmurs spread through the courtroom.
Even the judge, prosecutor, and Tae-Young lawyer were stunned.
I didn’t miss the chance.
“You mean you called her ‘Princess’ and she called you ‘Genie,’ correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then about this cap found at the scene—this writing says ‘From Genie to Princess.’ Is this your cap?”
“Yes.”
Kang Du-sik looked completely broken.
Song Seul-gi still stood in front of him, holding his hand.
“Then what did you do in the victim’s home for forty minutes on the day of the incident?”
“……”
“Witness, answer.”
“I… I never meant to kill her.”
The judge groaned in irritation.
The courtroom buzzed.
“I just… I wanted to ask if she was really leaving me… if she was really going abroad with that guy.”
Kang Du-sik buried his head in his hands and cried.
Going abroad with someone else?
This was the first I was hearing of it.
“Who told you that?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked toward a corner of the gallery.
The Tae-Young lawyer stared back at him coldly—expressionless, like a machine.
“Who told you that? Answer, witness.”
“I don’t know… I just… I killed her. I killed her…”
He curled up like a snail.
Something bigger—fear or pressure—was crushing him.
Was he afraid of that Tae-Young lawyer?
The judge turned to the prosecutor.
“I don’t think we can maintain the indictment against the defendant anymore. If we continue, we’ll have to issue a not-guilty verdict. How about withdrawing the charges?”
The prosecutor had no choice.
“Understood. We withdraw the charges against Kim Gi-jin. We will instead indict Kang Du-sik for the murder of Song Seul-gi.”
He frowned bitterly, clearly humiliated.
Thus, Kim Gi-jin was cleared of all charges.
“Hyun-jae! I knew you’d save me!”
Kim Gi-jin shouted excitedly.
I patted his shoulder.
He looked at Mrs. Lee Hwa-young in the gallery and swallowed hard, eyes tearing up.
“Lawyer Yoo… thank you.”
Mrs. Lee Hwa-young grabbed my hands tightly, looking ten years older from stress.
Lee Hae-mi smiled brightly behind her and bowed slightly.
“In a few hours, Gi-jin will be released.”
“You did well, Lawyer Yoo.”
“When he’s out, we’d like to invite you to our home.”
Supported by Lee Hae-mi, Mrs. Lee Hwa-young left the courtroom.
As I organized the documents, the red eyes asked:
—But how did you know?
‘Know what?’
—The cap. That was the key evidence, but even the prosecution missed it.
‘Someone told me.’
—Who?
At that moment, Song Seul-gi’s ghost, who had followed Kang Du-sik outside, passed through the wall and re-entered the courtroom.
She stared directly at us and walked closer.
The red eyes screamed in panic.
