Morning had arrived. Ming You sat on a bench with his head tilted back. The sunlight began to shine on him, causing him to abruptly open his eyes.
He lifted his head, looked around, and took his phone out of his pocket. Ming You checked the time — it was six in the morning.
He decided to take off his gloves and hat, and instead, he pulled up his hood and put the hat and gloves in his backpack. Ming You stared at the window where Kai Rin Wu was supposed to live, while sorting through his thoughts:
"Today is a day off, and you will definitely go outside. The only question is when, with whom, and where you will go."
Ming You occasionally looked away from the window to scan the street. He waited for an hour… two… three. He often leaned his head back against the bench. It seemed as if his patience was limitless.
After another three hours, when the streets were already filled with people, Kai Rin Wu finally left the house. But he wasn't alone, and Ming You noticed this:
"Today, just like yesterday, you're with your family. So why couldn't I provoke you when you care so much about them?"
When Kai Rin Wu and his family moved a dozen meters away from the house, Ming You stood up from the bench and began to follow them.
But Ming You immediately became alert when he saw that Kai Rin Wu and his family were heading toward the parking lot:
"This is not good. If I lose sight of them, I'll have to prepare a new plan."
Surprisingly, Ming You was completely calm, but when he saw the family's car — a blue sedan — he decided to note the car's license plate number in his phone.
The car had already started and was leaving the parking lot, heading onto a side road. Ming You first sketched out a rough route in his mind, and then, when the car disappeared from view, he calmly headed toward his house, analyzing the situation in his mind:
"I have two leads in my head: either a new plan or take advantage of his stupidity."
Ming You took out his phone and logged into social media, then he went to Kai Rin Wu's page, secretly hoping for his mistake:
"People who care about others' approval are quite foolish. They are bound not only by morality but also by public opinion, and that is your weakness, Kai Rin Wu."
He scrolled through the posts and occasionally refreshed the page, but there were no changes. However, Ming You wasn't going to settle for this:
"I'm sure you'll want to show where you are. But even if you don't, I won't back down and will kill you anyway."
Ming You was already on the stairs near his apartment. He entered the door, threw his backpack down, took off his shoes, removed his mask, pulled down his hood, and headed to his room.
He sat on a chair, tilted his head back, and raised his hand with the phone, periodically refreshing Kai Rin Wu's social media page.
An hour passed like this until Ming You saw a new post: a photo of Kai Rin Wu wearing an orange T-shirt with white hieroglyphs that represented the brand of the clothing. He was also holding a basketball in one hand.
But what caught his attention wasn't just the clothing, but the background of the photo:
"Thanks for making my job easier. Stores with this brand of clothing are practically everywhere, but the search circle has already narrowed. As for the background — such posters on the walls are in almost every supermarket, but not every supermarket has a notice written above it with the store's name underneath."
Ming You zoomed in on the photo, and although the supermarket's name was slightly blurred and the text wasn't clearly visible, it wasn't a problem for him. He simply typed the beginning of the text into his phone, and the search engine automatically suggested the name of the supermarket.
"Bingo. Even though there's more than one such supermarket in the city, considering the information about the clothing brand, the search circle narrows instantly."
Ming You opened the maps and entered the name of the supermarket, but he also added the name of the clothing brand to the search filters, which immediately narrowed down the search area on the map. But most importantly — Ming You had already seen the approximate route of the car, and as he ran his finger along the road on the map, he saw the marker for the supermarket, after which Ming You grinned ominously:
"There you are, Kai Rin Wu."
Ming You stood up from the chair and headed to the hallway. He put on his shoes, grabbed his backpack, put on his mask, and pulled up his hood, then left the apartment and locked the door.
The supermarket was four miles from his house, but the bus stop was closer. Ming You walked to the stop and began waiting for the bus.
After three minutes, it arrived. Ming You sat by the window and waited for the right stop.
Nine minutes later, the bus arrived at the desired stop. Ming You got off the bus and headed toward the supermarket, which was about thirty meters from the stop.
Ming You first paid attention to the parking lot, aiming to confirm that Kai Rin Wu was indeed here. But he didn't enter the parking lot itself; instead, he looked through the fence at the cars until he spotted the one he needed — the blue sedan. Ming You checked the license plate and confirmed it — it matched.
After confirming his location, he decided to enter the supermarket and see him in person.
Ming You opened the door and saw the storefronts. First, he began inspecting the first floor, but he didn't find him among the crowd.
Then he took the escalator to the second floor. Ming You looked around the storefronts and walked around the floor. Kai Rin Wu wasn't there either.
Ming You stepped onto the escalator and went up to the third floor. He took four steps and noticed the food court — Kai Rin Wu was sitting at a table with his parents, engaged in a lively discussion with smiles on their faces.
"There you are," Ming You mentally noted, as he began walking around the third floor, planning his next steps: "If they stay here until evening, or even until closing, the main road will be clear, which means I can cut the brakes on their car."
Ming You decided to take the escalator down to the first floor. When he reached the bottom, he exited the supermarket and headed toward the parking lot.
But he didn't enter the parking lot itself; instead, he began inspecting it.
"Damn cameras," Ming You cursed under his breath, looking at the camera that was pointed at the cars.
He didn't get caught on camera, but he began planning his next steps:
"In one of the service rooms, there should be security. All I need to do is get in there and turn off the cameras."
Ming You re-entered the supermarket and turned his attention to a pillar. On the pillar was an evacuation plan, but it also had markings for service rooms. He traced the route to the desired room with his eyes and headed straight for the service door.
After passing all the storefronts, he stopped at a corner where there were several service entrances. At the very end was an exit for emergencies, but according to the evacuation plan, security was located opposite that door.
Ming You looked at the door, pulled the handle, but it was locked:
"Shit." He quickly stepped away from the service doors and blended into the crowd.
The door opened. A middle-aged man of short stature, wearing a security uniform, stepped out. He walked away and looked around:
"Who the motherfucker thought this was a shop and not a fucking service room!"
The security guard slammed the door loudly. Meanwhile, Ming You walked around the first floor, adapting to the situation:
"All the service doors are inaccessible, and the security is annoyingly attentive. I'll have to act differently… hmm?"
Ming You saw a counter where fireworks were being sold.
"I could lure the security out with firecrackers, but…" He glanced at the camera, then continued to formulate further plans in his head. "A fire… a good idea, but not here. The target is Kai Rin Wu, or rather his car. He must die by my hand, because this is my victory."
Ming You walked past the fireworks counter and began devising new plans:
"I need to get rid of Kai Rin Wu's car, but after that, I'll have to take other actions. Once the car is neutralized, I'll need to neutralize him as well."
He decided to sit on a bench that was a bit away from the counter, after which he continued to calculate his next steps:
"When the car is gone, the smartest thing would be to take a taxi. In that case, I just need to identify the car and take the driver hostage. The second option: catch you on the street, but that's unlikely. The backup plan is to catch you on the way to the bus stop."
Ming You stood up from the bench and headed to the fireworks counter. He stood in front of the cash register and, with feigned politeness, addressed the seller:
"Hi. Can I get a pack of firecrackers, please?"
The seller first gave him a sideways glance, then clarified:
"Which ones? Big, medium, small, and what kind of pack?"
Ming You looked at the counter and pointed to a pack of firecrackers behind the glass:
"This one, a medium pack of big firecrackers, please."
"That'll be 7,400 won," the seller said lazily, after which Ming You took out the exact amount from his pocket and took the pack of firecrackers, which he put in his backpack.
Then he left the supermarket again and headed to the nearest gas station. It was about a quarter of a mile away, and Ming You walked there with confident steps. Along the way, he took out his rubber gloves from his backpack and confidently put them on, thinking:
"Even though my appearance might look suspicious, to people, I probably just look like a sick nonconformist. At worst, they might think I'm a drug addict, but the important thing is that no one cares, just like me, which pleases me."
After about five minutes, he reached the gas station and went inside. He looked around the shelves and took a one-liter canister. Approaching the cash register, he also grabbed a bottle of water and two chocolate bars.
The cashier rang up all the items and said to him:
"That'll be 11,144 won, please." Ming You placed three 5,000-won bills on the counter and, while waiting for his change, he put the water and chocolate bars in his backpack.
"Your change…" Before the cashier could finish counting the bills and coins, Ming You interrupted him:
"I also need half a liter of regular gasoline at the third pump."
"Okay, that's 850 won. So your change is 3,006 won. Sorry, but we don't have six won in the register." The cashier took out three 1,000-won bills and handed them over.
Ming You took the money and, with a feigned smile that could be seen through his mask and in his eyes, he politely said:
"No problem, thank you."
"Thank you for your purchase!" the cashier said as Ming You left the gas station.
He headed to the third pump, where there were no cars, and placed the canister next to the pump. Ming You took the hose from the pump and began filling the canister.
In less than a minute, the canister was half full, after which Ming You put the hose back, took the canister, and walked away from the cameras to the curb.
He sat on the curb and took the water bottle out of his backpack. Ming You opened the cap, pulled down his mask, and took a sip of water, then poured the rest out.
He placed the bottle on the asphalt and held it with one hand, while with the other hand he held the canister and poured gasoline into the bottle. When he filled the bottle to the brim, there was still some gasoline left at the bottom of the canister. He decided to throw the canister into the bushes, and he put the bottle in his backpack.
When he finished with the gasoline, he headed back toward the supermarket, this time walking faster.
After three minutes, he inspected the parking lot again, making sure not to get caught on camera. Confirming that Kai Rin Wu's car was still there, he proceeded to the next part of his plan.