Chapter 42: The Loving Son and His Parents

After the game, there was a panicked atmosphere on the Shoguro team's bench. Han Zhou, after drinking some water and throwing the bottle away, took out his phone and started dialing Suk Chhon's number:

"Suk Chhon... Where the hell are you?!"

"We've tried calling him hundreds of times. I don't want to make things worse, but I think something happened to him," Pak Jun Su said slowly, lowering his head.

Lee Hyun Jung, after sending another message to Suk Chhon, turned his head to his teammates and said anxiously:

"No calls, no messages. Did something really happen to him?"

"I'll try calling his parents," their coach intervened, trying to calm everyone down. "In the meantime, go ahead. As soon as I find out anything, I'll make an announcement."

The Shoguro team sighed heavily, trying to convince themselves that Suk Chhon was okay. Then they gathered their things and gradually started leaving the stadium.

On the Yoshido team's bench, the atmosphere was the opposite. Everyone was celebrating the victory and looking forward to the next match against another team.

"Not a bad game, friends," Ming You began with a friendly tone.

Lu Shen spat out water:

"It's not just a good game, it's the best game! Especially your strategies or whatever they are..."

"You're still far from strategic play, Lu," Haru Lin smirked, slapping him on the shoulder.

"I'd even say he's far from regular play, let alone strategic play," Hong Ren chimed in, causing the team to laugh.

A vein popped on Lu Shen's forehead:

"I was ready to hear that from anyone but you!"

"Easy, easy, I just couldn't help myself," Hong Ren smiled, raising his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Alright, enough, guys. Let's go. We haven't taken first place in the tournament yet, so no time to relax," Jung Ho intervened, putting on his backpack.

Haru Lin nodded and with an even bigger smirk said:

"Agreed, otherwise Lu Shen will start whining even more."

"I'm not going to start anything!" Lu Shen stood up from the bench and grabbed his backpack.

"By the way, where's Ming You?" Hong Ren asked, standing up.

The team blinked and looked around, but Jung Ho was the first to spot him, pointing with his eyes:

"He's with San Liu. Looks like they're discussing the game without us."

A few minutes earlier.

Ming You, while the team was discussing the game, decided to approach San Liu to find out about the next team.

"San Liu, what do you think of our game?" he asked slyly.

"You're not here to discuss the game with me, are you?"

"That's right. I'd like to know who we'll be playing against in the next match."

San Liu scratched the back of his head but answered seriously:

"I don't know yet. I'll have the information at school, and I'll definitely let everyone know."

"Good, I'll wait," Ming You put on his backpack with both straps and was about to head to the exit, but Jung Ho stopped him.

"Ming, how about the game? Don't you want to hang out with us? We decided to get together with our class. They watched our game too."

"Sorry, but I have my own things to do. Let's do it without me," he replied emotionlessly.

Jung Ho raised his palms and said shyly:

"No need to apologize. You already do a lot for us. I just thought you might want to relax too. If you change your mind, we'll probably be in the park. Just call me if anything."

Ming You forced a smile and waved at him, pretending to say goodbye in a friendly manner as he headed to the stadium exit.

"So, is he with us?" Lu Shen asked, blinking at Jung Ho.

"He has his own things to do," Jung Ho replied, shrugging.

...

The next morning, at school, Ming You threw his backpack near his desk and, amidst the chatter of his classmates, left the classroom and headed to the basketball club manager's office.

Jung Ho and Haru Lin were on their way to meet him.

"Ming You! Where are you rushing off to?" Jung Ho called out to him.

Ming You forced a friendly smile and said:

"I decided to ask San Liu who we'll be playing against in the next match. It's better if we find out their weaknesses in advance."

Haru Lin asked in surprise:

"Find out about the next team, without us?"

"Who, if not me, finds the opponents' weaknesses the fastest?"

"Ming You is right. We should rely on his strategies," Jung Ho patted Haru Lin on the back and, before leaving, turned to Ming You, "We'll see you at practice, Ming."

"See you," he waved at them.

Jung Ho and Haru Lin entered the classroom, while Ming You opened the door to San Liu's office.

"Hi, San Liu. Did you find out who we're playing against?"

San Liu looked up from his laptop and raised his head, smirking:

"Yes, I did. It's the Yuromusho team. They're known for their perfect defense, if you remember. And their ace player..."

Before he could continue, Ming You rudely interrupted:

"Thanks, I'll take it from here. Give me the game recordings with this team."

"You're so shameless!" San Liu thought to himself, handing him the flash drive with the game recordings.

"Thanks again," Ming You said, putting the flash drive in his pocket and waving before closing the door behind him.

"Don't forget to return the flash drive!" San Liu exclaimed, but Ming You had already left the office.

Ming You, in turn, sat at his desk, preparing for class while simultaneously planning strategies against his opponents in his head.

...

Police station. Vice department.

At one table, filled with forensic reports and new missing persons cases, sat Lao Han, staring blankly at the reports. At the table to his left sat Xin Shi, who had far fewer papers but, unlike her partner, seemed to be racking her brains over the missing persons case.

"Lao Han, it feels like every student, teacher, and basically the entire Yoshido school is suspicious. Don't you think so?" Xin Shi asked, looking up.

Lao Han also looked up, but his expression was rather lifeless:

"It's not the school that's suspicious, but one of the students who cleverly adapted to the emotions of those around him and confused us by making sure no one wants to talk to us."

"You mean that basketball nerd? By the way, he has the same lifeless look as you, did you notice? Or do all nerds have faces like that?"

Lao Han feigned surprise, but his surprise was too exaggerated:

"That was a bit hurtful, you know. But since you agreed that this student manipulated emotions and confused us, doesn't that make him a suspect?"

Xin Shi sighed loudly:

"Again, you think the students needed to kidnap someone for some reason. I was also angry at that nerd who memorized his rights and thinks he's the smartest now, but we can't just make him guilty because of his arrogance, can we?"

"First of all, these people are almost certainly dead..."

"What?!" Xin Shi turned red in horror, not letting him finish.

"If you want a detective badge, you'll have to get used to the fact that one person can kill another."

"It's not about that. It's just that you think it's one of the students, and it's somehow strange that a student would actually kill..."

Lao Han smirked:

"If it's not about that, then take a look at this," he pulled out a folder labeled "Case No. 41: The Buddha-Reincarnator Killer."

"Is this the case you solved only after four years?"

"Yes, that's the one. You can open it."

Xin Shi smiled lightly at first, but when she flipped through a couple of pages, she came across a photograph of a skinless woman hanging from a rope with her arms and legs cut vertically, nailed to a brick wall, as if depicting a spider. Also, many parts of her body were missing flesh and some organs, and at the bottom of this, already under the photographs of the report, it was written that the killer ate the entrails of his victims…

Xin Shi didn't have time to properly examine the photo report before she vomited into the trash can.

Lao Han seemed to mock her:

"See, you're not ready for such cases yet."

...

Meanwhile, Ming You was already at home. The hallway was silent, filled only with the faint echo of his footsteps. Closing the door behind him, Ming You carelessly threw his backpack on the floor and sat down at his laptop, plugging in the flash drive and starting to watch the game recordings, mentally analyzing:

"Yuromusho... a team known for their impenetrable defense. They think their defense is an iron wall that can't be broken. But even the strongest wall crumbles if you remove its key element. And that element is Kai Rin Wu."

Ming You opened the game statistics and immediately realized that this guy wasn't just a good player.

"His shooting percentage is abnormally high. He doesn't shoot — he aims, and almost always hits. His game has a cold calculation, but something more — confidence. As if he already knows the ball will go through the hoop."

"If he stays in the game, he'll be a serious threat to my goal..." Ming You muttered, running his finger over the screen, going over his thoughts again:

"Seems like the only way out is to eliminate him. But before acting, I need more information. How does he move? How does he react to pressure? What can throw him off balance?"

Ming You started rewatching the game recordings. One after another, until his eyes started to tire. And then he stumbled upon something interesting.

...

Middle school. The game was nearing its end. The score was tied.

Kai Rin Wu stood on the three-point line, holding his knee after a hard contact. He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were burning. He was ready for the final push.

"You still think you can win, you bastard?" someone's voice rang out.

Kai Rin Wu slowly turned around.

In front of him stood a tall player from the opposing team. His lips twisted into a smug smirk.

"Heard your parents are pathetic losers? That's probably why you're so desperate to be the best, huh?"

The air in the gym grew heavy. It seemed even the spectators froze, sensing that something was about to happen.

Kai's eyes widened.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. Your father's a freak and a nobody. Your mother's a whore. They can't even..."

He didn't get to finish.

Kai Rin Wu's fist slammed into his jaw with such force that he flew backward. Gasps echoed through the gym. The referee immediately blew the whistle, breaking up the players.

"Kai!" the coach called out, but it was too late.

Unsportsmanlike conduct. Ejected from the game.

Kai Rin Wu stood, clenching his fists, breathing heavily. His eyes darted from side to side. He knew he'd made a mistake. But in that moment, he couldn't hold back.

...

Ming You squinted, rewatching the recording over and over:

"Insulting his parents. That set him off in middle school. But now? It's been years. Is he still that emotional? Can he still be provoked like a child?"

Ming You leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers.

"If he hasn't changed..." he muttered. "Then I don't need to kill him. Just get him out of the game."

Ming You pondered:

"If I can provoke him... But... what if he's changed? If he's become more cold-blooded, then my words will just bounce off his self-control, causing no harm. In that case, I'll still have to eliminate him."

Ming You glanced at the time on his phone. It was already evening, but the decision hadn't been made yet.

"I need to see him in person," Ming You whispered, standing up. "Nothing beats observing the prey in real time. But first, I need his address."

Ming You turned on his phone, opened social media, and started searching, mentally reasoning:

"There's not much available data, but I have enough of a starting point: the school he attends and his name. First, social media. Most people post too much information without realizing it."

Ming You typed in his name, adding the school name in the filters.

Result: several profiles with similar names.

Ming You scrolled through the photos. Most were basketball, team photos, and occasional selfies. He carefully studied the backgrounds in the shots, as it wasn't the people that mattered, but what surrounded them.

And then — a lead.

A photo of him standing on a basketball court. The shot was taken in the evening, with streetlights glowing, casting a yellowish light. In the background — a residential complex.

He took a screenshot, opened a city map, and started searching. Basketball courts in residential areas — there weren't many.

Ming You opened the maps on his phone and compared them with the photo:

"Found it. The location matches perfectly. A complex of five high-rises, the court next to one of them. So, he lives somewhere around here."

But he decided to keep scrolling through his profile. One of the older posts — a photo from his balcony at sunset.

Ming You was already mentally gloating:

"He probably didn't think the building in the background could give away his location, heh-heh."

Ming You looked at the map and saw a match in the angle of the shot.

He smiled widely, as he now knew where Kai Rin Wu lived.

Ming You put away his phone, put on a black hoodie, and changed his school pants to blue jeans before leaving the house. In his pocket — a medical mask, just in case.

He started making his way to the desired area.

Ming You wasn't in a hurry. He just walked by like a random passerby. But after a few seconds, he noticed the entrance door and started looking at the windows:

"Now all that's left is to wait."

Half an hour later, a tall guy with short dark-blond hair came out.

His athletic body was dressed in simple clothes — sweatpants and a hoodie. His hair was disheveled, as if he'd just gotten off the couch. He had a phone in his hand, but he wasn't glued to the screen, just lazily spinning it in his fingers.

But that wasn't what mattered. What mattered more was that he wasn't alone. His parents were with him.

They walked together, talking and laughing. His mother adjusted his hood, his father said something, and Kai Rin Wu smirked.

Ming You stood in the shadow of the trees, observing and analyzing:

"He used to explode at insults related to his family. But what if his attachment to them hasn't gone away?"

He squinted.

"So, you're still the same as in childhood, huh?.." Ming You whispered, smiling slightly.