Free Web Novel“Did you hear that too?”
“Yes.”
The officers descended the hill and reached the reed field.
“Sob... sniff...”
They heard sobbing from inside the drainage tunnel.
Officer Heo raised his flashlight and shone it inside.
A young girl in a blue dress stood a distance away. Startled by the light, she covered her eyes and winced.
‘Oh my God.’
Her clothes were caked in mud. Her face too, with mud dripping from her hair.
Her hands and feet trembled, her eyes filled with fear.
Barefoot, shards of glass were embedded in her soles. Just looking at it made them involuntarily groan.
Officer Heo gently asked, “Hey there, are you okay?”
Her eyes still full of terror.
“I’ll go in,” his junior said, stepping into the drain. His wet shoes made a splash.
“Ugh... ah...!”
Startled by the forward approach, the girl fled deeper. Officer Heo grabbed his junior’s arm.
“I’ll go.”
He handed over the flashlight.
“Can you keep the beam on me? Diagonally so my face is lit, not backlit.”
“Yes.”
Officer Heo approached slowly, crouched to match her eye level, then spoke softly, “Hello.”
The girl, scared of someone taller than herself and in no state for rational thought, trembled. He made himself as small as possible.
“Can you hear me?”
“...”
“If you can, nod your head.”
She nodded.
“Thank you.”
In the darkness, the dripping water sounded eerie, as if something watched them. His neck stiffened, but he steadied himself and smiled calmly.
“You’re Se-yoon, right?”
She flinched.
“Your mother asked us to find you, so we came. See my badge? I’m a police officer.”
It wasn’t a tone suited to a nine-year-old, but for someone regressing, a kindergarten-teacher’s voice was best.
“It’s really scary in here, right? You’re scared too?”
She nodded.
“But are you also scared when I get closer?”
She nodded again.
“Let’s do this. I’ll take one step back, and you take one step forward. One, two—one, two. Then we’ll all meet in the middle. Ta-da. How’s that? Can you do that?”
She nodded vigorously.
His junior stepped back on cue. Officer Heo matched his stride to the girl’s pace.
‘Poor thing...’
With glass shards in her feet, she crawled more than walked.
Normally she’d cry from the pain, but the shock left her unable to even weep.
“You can do °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° it.”
Finally, they emerged from the drain.
They paused in the cool air and maintained distance so she could come out.
The hesitant girl shifted her weight, looked at the reed field and night sky, then burst into tears and ran into Officer Heo’s arms.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.”
He cradled the mud-smeared child, smiling reassuringly.
“Ugh... uh...!”
After crying for a while, she pointed.
Though she couldn’t speak yet, she clearly meant “Let’s get out of here.” They agreed.
“Let’s radio headquarters.”
“Yes.”
As Officer Heo pressed the radio button, brushing mud from the girl’s hair, something fell with a plop from the drain water. A small animal’s bone, like a dog’s or cat’s.
“Ah... oh! Ah!”
The child screamed. Officer Heo decided to remove the bone.
“Ugh.”
It was a femur, with bloody flesh still attached.
He tossed it back into the depths of the drain. Still, the child kept screaming. Finally he said to his junior, “Let me radio in, and get her up here quickly.”
Without a word, the girl clung to him, even seeking to climb up first, glancing back at him.
Officer Heo calmly radioed in. Headquarters praised them and ordered them to wait at their position.
Upon hearing the “Situation closed” message, sighs of relief echoed around. Judging by the mood, he thought they’d receive considerable praise when they returned, and he smiled softly.
It was over.
“Ugh... uh!”
Except for the girl stamping her feet on the road.
“Don’t worry. We’ll go up.”
As Officer Heo waved and smiled, something flew from inside the drain and landed with a thud. The same bone.
“...?”
Had the current been stronger? freёwebnovel.com
But the trickle of water shouldn’t have had that power. Officer Heo picked up the bone and threw it back in.
Just as he turned his back—
As if returned, the bone flew out again and landed at his feet.
His whole body froze.
“...”
Something was in there.
Shining his flashlight deep inside, Officer Heo felt his body stiffen. Far back, someone—or something—wriggled in the shadows as if watching him.
As if smiling... or preparing to pounce.
In that moment, everything clicked in Officer Heo’s mind.
The reason the girl was here.
She was bait for a larger prey.
“...”
Stiff with fear, he stumbled back. His junior called, “What is it, sir?”
“Haesung, get her out of here now.”
“Yes? But headquarters said—”
“Shut it and run!”
“Yes, yes!”
As his junior dashed away, Officer Heo—startled by the shout—also ran up the hill toward the road.
A shriek echoed from the tunnel.
They fled in desperate panic, but tragically, the thing was faster.
“Ugh...!”
Something grabbed his ankle and yanked him hard.
As he fell into the reeds, Officer Heo saw a person who was no person.
That was his last memory.
One hour later.
Patrol cars lined the road adjacent to the reed field.
Blue and red lights flickered ominously in the darkness.
Protagonist Park Cheoljin got out too.
He crossed the police line strung through the reeds and approached detectives who wore grim expressions.
“This sucks.”
“Why... of all places...”
Cheoljin asked a senior detective, “I heard the victim was one of our officers.”
“Yes, Yoonsoo.”
“...?”
“Yoon Soo. You know the kid who always greets us brightly in the office.”
Who was that? The only one that fit was Sejun, the polite one they’d met earlier.
Unlike the detectives moaning, Cheoljin remained stoic.
Even though someone he saw daily was dead, his blank face drew scorn from others.
One detective spat and muttered, “Heaven’s heartless...”
Cheoljin approached the covered body with no expression.
The senior detective grabbed his arm, “Just look at the face. It’s the only part still intact.”
“...”
Cheoljin whipped away the cloth.
But unlike the swift motion, the victim’s face revealed itself in slow motion.
A calm, expressionless face, streaked faintly with blood on the hair and cheeks.
“...”
A crack formed in Cheoljin’s previously blank expression. His mind went still, his eyes wavered.
For a few seconds, the corpse remained unresponsive, the man sought an answer.
In a two-shot, time froze as the credits rolled.
A gentle BGM.
Episode 1 of Slip ended.
Unlike before, this time the letters rose from the right: P, then L, I, S—spelling S L I P.
“Sob! Sniff...”
“Bring Officer Heo back to life, you cruel bastards...!”
“Why’d you go where you were told not to? You should’ve run as soon as the ominous OST played.”
“Hyunhyuk hyung, how would the characters hear the OST?”
“I-I don’t know! I—”
“Are you crying, hyung?”
“I’m not.”
But Ri Hyun’s eyes were already red-rimmed.
Kim Biju dabbed his eyes with a tissue, and Kim Joonghyeon—who’d normally joke “Oh, drama so fun”—looked like he needed a beer.
Sun Woojoo sighed, “That’s too much. Couldn’t they have kept him alive?”
“Right, hyung. I keep tearing up.”
“You already did.”
“Did I? Sob...”
To the brothers’ “Did it have to be right there?” the maknae cheerfully replied, “Oh, that? Actually it’s because of me.”
“...?”
“The director and writer originally planned for me to appear more—as part of the investigation team.”
“But?”
“I insisted I needed to prepare for our album and focus on group activities, so they changed it to an exit in episode 1. Pretty smart, right?”
“....”
The brothers stared at each other blankly, then lunged at the maknae, shaking him by the collar.
“Gah!”
“Bring Officer Heo back to life, you demons!”
“Bring him back!”
“Hyungs, why are you all like this? I’m the one who played Officer Heo!”
Meanwhile.
GTV’s Slip Episode 1 was receiving explosive reactions.
The director, praised for career-high cinematography.
The rookie writer who spent ten years honing this script.
Actors so solid even extras had no weak performances.
Slip’s Episode 1 scored an average 5.7% viewership.
It was a smash.
The previous record for cable drama premiere was 3.3%, and no GTV drama had ever exceeded 5% in Episode 1 until Slip.
GTV Drama Department and Firefly Productions felt like they were at a feast.
“Waaa...!”
Production staff and actors, gathered in a pub to watch Episode 1, hugged and cheered at the good omen.
“Officer Heo! Call Officer Heo and the minor crooks too!”
“Wait!”
When Lee Kangjin’s phone video-call showed Wang Jiho and the crooks, the pub patrons exclaimed, “Waa!”
“We should be the ones thanking you!”
The excited crowd shouted.
“A toast! Let’s have a toast!”
They clinked beer mugs and laughed, and the crooks on screen laughed along.
Lee Kangjin, his face flushed, said, “Jiho, you should definitely become an actor.”
“Watching Episode 1 again, you were amazing. The crooks were crooks, the officer was an officer.”
“NewBlack did great!”
A mid-career actor’s praise lit up the NewBlack members’ faces.
The production team looked warmly at them.
NewBlack had more than fulfilled their role.
They lightened an otherwise heavy mood with scene-stealing cameo, and Jiho’s excellent acting immersed both lead actors and viewers.
Everyone—production and audience alike—felt the same. frёeωebɳovel.com
Internet communities mirrored the reaction.
Meanwhile, videos of NewBlack and Jiho trended, especially shared by Soufflés.
They were happier than anyone.
“Calm down James” excitement soon gave way to praise for Jiho’s acting.
Every Soufflé corner was a festival.
Yesterday’s drama reaction was incredible.
As soon as we got to the company, Manager Hong said, “You guys really...!” praising us as “promotion masters!”
Even journalists who’d barely responded to our press releases changed tone.
Hearing there were many inquiries about Jiho since morning, we all congratulated our maknae.
“All together now.”
Jiho yah Jiho yah
How can you act so well
“...Stop it!”
Our Jiho yagna yagna
Do whatever you want
But promise one thing
Don’t leave vegetables
“Aaah, I’m sorry, so please stop!”
Experiment successful.
We discovered that with the right stimulus, Jiho’s face could redden as much as Hyunhyuk’s.
“Master actor! Please sign!”
“Ha ha ha!”
“King actor, since when have you dreamed of acting?”
“Actor, please take my letter!”
“Hey, Wang Jiho—usually... wait. Who wrote this letter joke? I won’t let you get away with it!”
Teasing our maknae all day drained our fatigue completely.
It felt like a pleasant, refreshing high.
Because we teased him nonstop, our maknae snapped, “Go over there!” and ran off first.
“What? He left. Joonghyeon, I’m bored—let’s tease someone else.”
“How old are you two anyway? Grow up.”
“How about Hyunhyuk?”
“...Let’s tease Biju hyung.”
“Good idea.”
But teasing James wasn’t easy. He met our gaze with a gentle smile.
“You can tease me. But I won’t put fried egg on your kimchi fried rice.”
“...!”
“And I won’t slit the Vienna sausages for you.”
“...Fine.”
We gave up on attacking James and went looking for the maknae, but he was nowhere—hidden somewhere in the office.
Anyway, it felt good that he’d gotten attention for his cameo.
Grandma’s comment “Always making a fuss” and friends’ messages saying how fun it was cheered us further.
We even got offers from other production companies wanting to cast our maknae.
With comeback approaching, so many good things happened we were thrilled.
Perhaps the accumulated fatigue and stress had eased a bit.
“But where did Jiho go?”
After lunch we looked for our maknae but couldn’t find him.
Joonghyeon said, “Assistant Director Jo from the actor team called him a moment ago. He said it might take a while, so said we should eat without him.”
“Is that so?”
What on earth were they discussing so long that Jiho even skipped the meal?
We decided to ask him when he returned.
First, we needed to manage our brothers’ mental state.
“All right, shall we go?”
“Heh heh heh.”
I pulled out chocolate from my pocket; everyone smiled happily.
“Let’s go. Where to?”
“Out back.”
“I don’t want to do this... fine. Let’s go.”
“Yum.”
Ahead of our comeback, I was in charge of my brothers’ mental care.
When stress piled up, we’d sneak to the emergency exit after lunch and each melt a piece of chocolate.
At first I ate them all, but my weight changed too quickly, so I reduced the amount.
Following my brothers, I messaged our manager.
Me: “Hyung. Taking the kids for chocolate now.”
Manager Wonseok: “Got it.”
Manager Wonseok: “But do you have to sneak? This is fine.”
Me: “It only tastes right when it’s sneaky.”
When we were kids, Dad would sometimes skip kindergarten and take me to an amusement park.
“Don’t tell Mom. You’re my son.”
“Okay!”
I really thought Mom didn’t know, but later Grandma told me everyone knew.
Mom had said it’s more fun if she pretends not to know.
Manager Wonseok: “Let me know if you need anything.”
Manager Wonseok: “I can make a cough or something at the exit to create urgency.”
Me: “I’ll ask soon, hyung.”
My brothers, excitedly stepping toward the exit chanting “Chocolate,” made me laugh.
As we all slipped into the emergency exit—
“...Hm?”
Joonghyeon narrowed his eyes and grabbed us.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can hear Jiho’s voice in there.”
