01. Socheon Bridge
“Hey! Are you kidding me right now?!”
In an instant, the room turned into complete pandemonium.
As if a spark had been thrown into a pile of dry firewood, the people grew heated in a flash. Led by the oldest man among them, they all surged to their feet at once, prompting Detective Kim to first tightly grab hold of the doorknob.
“Please, just listen to what our Inspector has to say for a moment! It’s only because there’s something we need to verify. Yes? Come on, come on. Calm down. Geez, why is everyone so angry?”
“Ah, we told you we’re innocent!”
“We aren’t trying to investigate because you gentlemen did something wrong……!”
Sweating profusely while struggling to manage them, Detective Kim recalled a case that had once shocked South Korea to its core.
The so-called ‘Socheon Bridge Incident’.
Socheon Bridge was a heretical religion created by a fraudster named ‘Ji Cheon-myeong’. Around the time military rule was drawing to a close, it grew into a massive cult community that drew in thousands of followers by falsely claiming its leader was the reincarnated Messiah.
For over forty years, they had lived a closed-off, self-sufficient life in a remote mountain village, stubbornly clinging to their own laws and lifestyle. Then, five years ago, they were virtually wiped out in a single moment due to an explosion of unknown origin.
At the time, there were barely around fifteen survivors. Excluding those who ultimately passed away after failing to overcome their severe injuries, only ten remained now. Therefore, even if they were fortunate enough to survive, it must be a horrific memory that the survivors wouldn’t even want to recall. Bringing these people together in one place again was already akin to poking at their trauma.
“Do you think we’re doing this for no reason? Just like last time, talking about a reinvestigation or whatever……!”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. It will really be over soon. Come on, come on.”
Unable to bear watching his struggling junior any longer, Inspector Park finally spoke up.
“Skeletal remains have been found!”
At that single, heavily dropped sentence, the atmosphere turned chillingly cold. As if cold water had been poured over a vigorously burning flame, it cooled down in an instant.
Carefully observing the faces of the now-quieted people, Inspector Park brought up a map of the scene on the screen.
“It’s here. As you can see, it’s quite far from the point where the explosion occurred. According to the analysis, the bones have been identified as belonging to a male minor.”
Yet, it was strange. None of the survivors showed a look of surprise.
The majority of them were people who had failed to find the bodies of their family members caught in the explosion, yet they didn’t even display a glimmer of hope or anticipation.
“We simply want to know why skeletal remains were found in this location. Does anyone have any guesses?”
The people, noticeably stiffened, shut their mouths tightly and refused to meet Inspector Park’s eyes.
The detectives immediately realized that they were trying to hide something. However, the problem was that they couldn’t guess what it was at all.
Following the explosion incident, a flood of related documentaries, in-depth columns, and even research papers had been released, but no one had been able to clearly uncover the answers to their burning questions—such as how so many people could live self-sufficiently in a remote mountain village for such a long time, how there had been not a single defector, or just how incredible Ji Cheon-myeong’s leadership truly was.
This was because even after the cult leader died and Socheon Bridge dismantled, the survivors’ mouths would not easily open.
“Then, are you saying that everyone gathered here knows absolutely nothing about why bones would be found in that place?”
“…….”
“Not a single person?”
“Well. That place was just an empty lot……. Who knows. Maybe someone secretly buried their dead child there.”
Someone muttered as if talking to themselves, but Inspector Park didn’t fall for it. Instead, he countered while pressing his aching temples.
“According to Socheon Bridge doctrine, I understand that funerals are conducted exclusively through cremation. Is that not the case?”
“…….”
Silence fell once more at Inspector Park’s precise pointer.
Just as they were holding out without a single person opening their mouth, a faint, fleeting knock was heard.
“Ah! It seems they’ve arrived.”
Recalling that there was one person who hadn’t arrived yet, Detective Kim sprang up and opened the door.
With that, a soft voice seeped in along with the chilly outside air.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
It was right when Inspector Park craned his neck to get a proper look at the owner of the voice.
Screeech—
The loud noise of chairs dragging echoed out all at once.
The survivors had risen to their feet simultaneously.
With their hands politely clasped together and their gazes lowered, their flawlessly organized movement made them look almost like trained soldiers.
Unlike the detectives, who were shocked by this completely unexpected sight, the woman walked inside with a calm expression.
“May I sit here?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes, yes. Please, sit over here.”
Before sitting on the chair Detective Kim pulled out for her, she bowed her head slightly toward the people standing straight. However, because they kept their eyes fixed on the floor the entire time, they didn’t even perceive it.
When they remained standing even after she took her seat, she let out a faint sigh and spoke softly.
“Please sit.”
Unlike when they stood up, not a single sound was made as they sat down. Not even the sound of breathing.
This is no joke. What in the world is this……
Detective Kim rubbed his goosebump-covered arms, thoroughly spooked by the atmosphere that had shifted the moment the woman appeared.
As if they had never caused a ruckus in the first place, the survivors had turned into docile lambs, focusing their entire attention on her. Those fervent gazes and that utmost reverence were something that couldn’t be laughed off even as a joke.
Inspector Park cleared his throat, ignoring the feeling of a chill seeping deep into his bones for some reason.
“Ahem. To get straight back to the point, skeletal remains were found in the area that was once the Socheon Bridge residence. According to the National Forensic Service analysis, they belong to a male minor…….”
As he repeated the explanation he had given a moment ago, he observed the woman sitting in front of him.
Lee-yeon.
She was incredibly famous. Not just because she was another survivor.
Lee-yeon was currently the most successful advertising model in South Korea. A super celebrity who practically monopolized the main billboards in the heart of Seoul.
The catalyst that made her famous was a single photograph.
A photograph of the incident scene, which had even been subtitled ‘The Angel with Burnt Wings’.
With that single photo—which vividly captured the unrealistic beauty and sorrowful aura of a woman standing atop pitch-black ashes, down to the single tear rolling down her cheek—she completely captivated the public.
Since then, the model Lee-yeon, who was practically ‘forced’ to debut by the public’s fervent support and interest, had been riding a wave of continuous success and love to this day.
A victim of a religious cult and a survivor who miraculously lived through an explosion. And now, a household-name advertising model. Could there really be anyone else in this country living a life as dramatic as Lee-yeon’s?
He had wondered what she would feel like in person, but she surpassed his imagination. In more ways than one.
Even though she clearly knew everyone’s eyes were fixed on her, she didn’t seem to care at all. She merely listened quietly, not moving a single fingertip unnecessarily except for blinking her eyes.
She was a woman so quiet and still that it made one wonder if she was even breathing.
“Lee-yeon. Do you know why skeletal remains would be found in a place like this? If it’s not related to Socheon Bridge, we will have to direct our investigation elsewhere, which is why we are inevitably asking the survivors.”
Both Inspector Park and Detective Kim were intensely curious as to what kind of answer she would give.
Judging by the reactions of the others, it was clear there was something to hide, but for some reason, it felt like Lee-yeon wouldn’t make up clumsy excuses like they did.
And that deduction turned out to be entirely correct.
“There was a child who went missing.”
The answer came without a shred of hesitation, leaving the detectives at a loss for words instead.
“On a day when it rained heavily, he suddenly disappeared, so we thought he had been swept away by the rapids…… It is likely that child.”
Watching her answer clearly without a single change in her expression, Inspector Park felt, for the first time in a very long while, as if he was being overpowered by his opponent. Such resilience was rare even among heinous criminals, to the point where he wondered if it made sense to feel this kind of intimidation from a fragile woman.
“That…… But I believe this place was just an empty lot, so what would be the reason he couldn’t be found back then?”
“In Socheon, there were places where only the cult leader could enter. They were areas you were not allowed to step into without permission.”
Fumbling around his collar as it grew inexplicably suffocating, his eyes widened in surprise.
“What? Then are you saying that even though a child vanished, you didn’t search there?”
“Everyone believed the boy had been swept away by the water. I recall we only searched the lower areas of the mountain.”
It didn’t sound like a fabricated lie. Because although she answered calmly, a sense of regret and sorrow could be felt from her face.
Then, the moment Inspector Park locked eyes with her, he experienced a sudden shudder that made the fine hairs all over his body stand on end.
“It happened a very long time ago…… Will it be a problem?”
The moment he met those clear eyes, which looked as though a single candle was burning inside them, he felt as if nothing could be hidden from her. It felt like his innermost thoughts were being completely laid bare.
The details he had merely read as text in various investigative reports and personally gathered data finally began to make sense only after facing her in person.
Socheon Bridge is both a religious group and a self-sufficient living community consisting of Ji Cheon-myeong (the cult leader), the High Priest, elders, clan chiefs, and members.
Presumed to have established a hierarchy and system by dividing classes based on the surnames and level of wealth of the initial followers.
The hierarchy among the Jizoku (Earth Clan), Shizoku (Clan), and Tenzoku (Heaven Clan) is extremely powerful, with restrictions on marriage, residence, and education for each stratum.
A candidate is selected from among the minors of the Tenzoku and, after undergoing strict education and training, a single person is appointed as the ‘High Priest’. The High Priest holds the most noble status among the members, excluding the cult leader, and due to their symbolic nature, they do not marry or bear children. There have been only three in history. The first High Priest died of illness, the second died from a fall.
The High Priest, whom the cult leader carefully selected and designated to prove his own spirituality and strengthen his power.
The existence who was the third in history and the youngest is precisely……
Facing the woman who not only surpassed his imagination but also inspired an inexplicable sense of dread, he had no choice but to hesitate for a moment.
Just like the other survivors, he felt as though he needed to treat her with a bit more reverence for some reason.
“Inspector?”
In the end, Inspector Park bit the inside of his cheek and averted his gaze from Lee-yeon.
“Ah, no. My questions…… have been resolved.”
