JUST JOKING
MANAIC
ON THE ROAD
Busy roads are the settings for dramatic encounters for those who are spoiling for a fight.
A busy road during the rush hour. A man was being chastised by his toxic deputy manager. Resting his phone on his shoulders and head, he talked uneasily to the aggressive man on the other side of the phone. Tension was in the air. Feeling powerless, he tried to bottle up his feelings. It was learnt much later in the story that the sheepish man on the road was Jang Gi Tae.
     
The lights turned green but the man was still talking on his mobile phone. One could not shake off the feeling that the evil hour was approaching. The belligerent tone of the office bully on the other end of the line must have addled Jang Gi Tae’s mind; the harsh rebuke had taken a toll on the helpless man.
   
In a car behind Jang Gi Tae’s, a well-groomed woman was on the way to her son’s school. She was gossiping on the phone. She fretted over her problematic son who had got himself into trouble again.
Aren’t mobile phones outlawed for those who are driving? Isn’t it a reckless and risky act to use a cell phone while driving?
  
Jang Gi Tae's Deputy Manager had suddenly cut off the line. Stumped, he seemed oblivious of the moving traffic. It would be unusual if he was not seething with resentment.
  
The frustrated woman was honking as his car didn’t seem to be moving. The woman eyed him as she overtook him. Her eye contact with him borne out her obvious irritation.
   
Annoyed, he sped up and requested her to stop. When he was abreast of her car, he tried to talk to her in a non-aggressive tone.
But, why did he even bother to explain that he had stopped his car because he had an urgent matter to attend to? He said he had given her signs to overtake him. Did he think that everybody on the road had a strong compulsion to know his personal affairs? Did he want an apology or did he just want to explain to her his situation? One cannot imagine the stress that people experience every day.
     
Ego knew no bounds. Imperiousness crept into her tone With her eyes shooting sparks, she haughtily berated him, ‘You should drive properly. Who are you to tell me to stop?’
The man’s brain automatically swung into ultra-macho mode. Indignation and fury was building up. It irked him that a woman could talk to a man like that. Who was the woman to tell him off? His ego must have been dented.
What turns anger into action? Lack of self-control. A revenge fantasy formed in his mind. His car ground to a halt.
Grabbing his gun from the boot, he placed it beside him and he quickly raced to stalk her.          
Oblivious of the danger that lurked behind her, the woman, with a blithe disregard for traffic rules, was still talking on her phone. If she had been focused on her driving instead of her non-stop gossip, she would have been aware of the intentions of the aggressive driver.
 
Jang Gi Tae was going to give her a thrashing she deserved. He was driving like a maniac.
When his car was alongside with hers, she gave him a disgusted look. He lifted his gun, aimed at her and shot her at close range. He had taken her by surprise; he did not even wait for her to tremble.
    
The woman’s car swerved violently as she battled for the control of her car. She drove head-on into some construction materials in the middle of the road. Jang Gi Tae was shocked. The car somersaulted and crashed. Fortunately, she did not die; she was badly injured and landed up in the hospital.
      
The whole incident must have badly shaken Jang Gi Tae. When he arrived home, he needed to calm down his nerves. He wanted to talk to or to confide in someone. There were no willing or sympathetic listeners.
He urged his daughter, Ji Young, not to go out but she ignored him. She treated him as if he was invisible.
   
When he phoned his wife, she did not pick up his calls.
On arriving home, she also ignored him and went straight into her own private room. There was no love lost between the two. It was clear that they did not share a marital bed.
 
Their marriage was in shambles. There wasn’t room for compassion and understanding. She confided in someone on the phone that she was living with her pathetic husband out of pity. She had gossiped and disparaged him. Wasn’t that a loss of face for him? Was his sanity taking a hit?
He was disillusioned with his family life. His world had cracked.   
Without companionship, he settled for the solace of his private den which was full of guns and bullets, his only faithful and trusted friends.
Taking out a gun, he put the muzzle into his mouth. One would have thought that he was going to commit suicide but no, he was just having some fun! He was playing a game with his guns.
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JUST JOKING
Kim Hyun Joon was in his private shooting stall at the indoor shooting range for his shooting practice. Any person who deals with the law would have to equip themselves with such skills which would come in handy when confronting criminals.
Wearing his bulletproof NCI vest and yellow wrap-around shooting glasses and earmuffs, Kim Hyun Joon looked fit, athletic and stylish. He was a crackshot. He was quite the expert as his aim was accurate and his shots land on lane 9, close to bullseye. His perfect or near perfect shooting skills made him even more attractive.
  
Lee Han, the junior profiler was also there. He was a rookie when it came to shooting. His shots landed far from the target, on lane 2. It freaked him out. His lack of shooting skills gave Kim Hyun Joon ammunition to joke with him.
           
Kim Hyun Joon looked at him in sympathy. He smiled an encouraging smile.
He walked over the next shooting stall where Lee Han was and gave him advice. His hands were on his hips. Like a serious instructor, he advised his apprentice on the cardinal rules of shooting, ‘Set your sight on your target. Hold your breath and pull the trigger.’     
‘I know all that,’ Lee Han gave him a rueful smile. Kim Hyun Joon patted him on his shoulder. Lee Han’s lips were pouty. He seemed so childlike, sighing in his exasperation with his lack of skill.
  
Kim Hyun Joon signalled him to remove his earmuffs.
‘Do you know what your problem is? You don’t keep your eyes on the target.’
The older profiler gestured with his hands. ‘Keep your eyes on the target even after you have taken a shot.’
            
He positioned Lee Han’s arm and instructed him, ‘Make an isosceles triangle by bending your arms. This way, you can minimise recoil.'
'Keep calm. Keep your breath steady and try again.’
Kim Hyun Joon patted his shoulders affectionately. Then he positioned Lee Han’s protective earmuffs properly. He smiled encouragingly at the young profiler. Did Lee Han improve on his score? The young profiler was disappointed.
              
Laughing heartily, Kim Hyun Joon congratulated his junior. It was hard to imagine the older profiler telling lies. He was making a joke of Lee Han's stricken look.
‘You shot perfectly on lane 5. ‘I must be a great instructor. Give me a high five.’ He was joking and teasing the other fellow. Did Lee Han get the joke?
The viewers study the shot placement of Lee Han on the paper target. His shot had not improved. It was still on lane 2 and no nearer to bullseye.
Don’t the viewers love Kim Hyun Joon’s sense of humour?
       
‘I was targeting on lane four!’ Was Lee Han joking as well?
If it was a joke, it had fallen flat. The joke was lost on Kim Hyun Joon who rubbed his nose in puzzlement.
Was the younger profiler out of his mind? It must have left Kim Hyun Joon scratching his head.       
Ha Sun Woo was also in the shooting range. She was also trying to improve her shooting skills.
  |
THE
THRILL OF THE KILL
It was night time. And Jang Gi Tae was out on the prowl for victims. His family had no inkling of his mental instability.
A murder pattern had been set. He seemed bent on killing women drivers after his encounter with the arrogant female driver. He got cheap thrills out of frightening and provoking lone female drivers with his crazy driving.
 
THE SECOND VICTIM
Jang Gi Tae had already targeted his victim, a lady driver who was driving on a lonely stretch of road. Driving dangerously close to her, he zigzagged on the road to make her lose her cool.
She sounded her horn. It was enough provocation for him to attack her.  
Driving alongside her car, he gave her the evil eye.
She castigated him, ‘What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?’
He took out his gun purposefully. Taking careful aim, he shot her. A look of horror had crept up the woman’s face before she slumped in her seat.
Jang Gi Tae was thrilled with his handiwork. The thrill of the kill made him hungry for more. A complacent smile lit up his face. He was no more the fearful, awkward man.
    
The NCI members had gathered to study and analyse the photos of the second road rage victim.
Yoo Min Young briefed them on the Yangchon-dong incident. ‘This shooting incident happened one week after the first one. She was killed on the spot.’
She also discussed the first victim who had fortunately survived, but had not yet gained consciousness.
    
‘We’re not in the US or Mexico, right?’ Nana Wang exclaimed. The NCI team were surprised by the spate of shooting cases in Korea. The US and Mexico governments had lax control over guns but it was different in Korea.
‘Actually, shooting incidents in Korea have been increasing every year. Last October, a police officer was shot by an individual at Mount Opae Tunnel. They found 17 handmade guns and explosives at his house,’ declared Lee Han.
      
Kim Hyun Joon asked, ‘How about the video footage or witnesses?’
‘There were no CCTVs that were actually working. The second incident happened at a national highway with only a few cars,’ Yoo Min Young clarified.
  
Nana Wang added, in their video-conferencing session, ‘And, it happened at dawn, making it hard to track the perpetrator. The black sedan that belongs to the unsub looks blurry on every footage.’
   
Ha Sun Woo revealed that there was no relationship between the victims. They were women in their 40s. It seemed the unsub was punishing older women.
Kim Hyun Joon wanted to compare the victims’ pictures. ‘They look similar but in fact, they looked different.’
Were there two perpetrators? Kim Hyun Joon was puzzled because the second victim’s wounds looked larger.
Team Leader Kang stressed that there was only one perpetrator. The unsub had cut the muzzle of his gun.’
     
It seemed that the unsub had learned what it was like to murder. He probably liked the smell of murder. Team Leader Kang was convinced that the NCI had to be involved in the case.
After analysing the cases, Kim Hyun Joon confided worriedly to Ha Sun Woo, ‘It won’t be easy to catch him.’
‘Are you saying that the unsub made the shotgun himself?' asked Ha Sun Woo.
‘There’re no regulations on illegal private guns. This makes it hard to track him down.’
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LEE JOON GI KING OF SHOOTING 
On 5 October 2012, Kim Jin-pyo, from the Department of Defence, had submitted a report to the National Assembly Defence Committee.
According to the report, Lee Joon Gi was the best shooter out of all the celebrity soldiers. Lee Joon Gi had shot with deadly accuracy, getting 19 successful shots out of 20 on his tests. That has elevated Lee Joon Gi to the status of 'King of Shooting'.  |