Yeji
This case shouldn't be so hard to figure out, and it made Yeji's head hurt. She was convinced when she first heard of it that she'd have it solved within a day or two, but it had been nearly a week already, and she had nothing.
There was something more to it, that she was sure. There had to be a reason why Young refused to tell them the real nature of that date. If he was as scared as he had told their captain, then he'd do everything he could to help the detectives figure it out, including revealing the identity of that woman.
If he knew it, that was.
That was one of Yeji's theories about her. She could possibly be an escort, which would explain why Young was so secretive about it. The detective knew that men like him had the power and money to get anything they wanted, legal or not, and get away with it. This would explain a lot. But the thief had to know which items they were stealing, they took the most expensive ones (that were easy to carry), they had to have done some kind of research, which meant they knew Young before, or had planned the burglary at least.
Yeji had thought about a secret male lover, too. This could be why Young didn't say anything. But no one ever saw him close to any man, and that witness at the bar saw him leaving with a woman, so that theory was very unlikely.
God, how she wished she at least had a clue, anything to figure out the woman's identity.
This whole case was slowly making her insane.
The loud ring of her phone suddenly startled her as she was looking at the picture of the scene for the nth time, and she quickly made her way to it, a smile appearing on her tired face as she saw Sana's name flashing on her screen.
"Hey, dubu," She greeted, happy to have something to change her mind for a bit. She had been working on the case for a few hours already, despite that day being one of her few days off, and thought she really needed a break.
"Yej! Are you busy?" The detective could hear indiscernible chatter in the background, as well as some loud music.
She glanced at the files discarded on the floor next to her, and shook her head slowly, "Uh, not really no. What's up?"
"We're at the bar with everyone else, Felix will join us soon too, wanna tag along?"
"Yeah, sure," She chuckled. She wasn't too happy with seeing her other colleagues, but she really needed a drink, and it had been a while since she hung out with Sana, the only friend she had left after…
Everything.
"Where are you guys?" She asked, trying not to let her mind go back there again. "I'll leave in a minute."
"I'll send you the address! Be quick, there's way too many men here." Sana said before hanging up, not leaving Yeji a chance to answer.
She hoped going out would make her feel better. Or less miserable, at least.
JOANNE
Joanne let out a low laugh as she looked at the car leaving the building on her computer screen. God, they gave up too easily. It was boring, really.
"Morons," She grumbled, before taking a sip of tea, hissing as the hot beverage burned her tongue.
Fuck, she hated that day already.
Joanne thought it would be fun to observe them, that it would give her the rush of adrenaline she was so despairingly craving for. She was playing a dangerous game that she was very aware of, but she loved the risk of it all, any wrong step and it was all over. The thrill almost made her high, it was definitely better than any drugs she had taken before. She couldn't get enough of it.
But hell, everyone else has been nothing but a disappointment so far. How could the people responsible for protecting citizens be so bad at their own job? How could such useless, stupid men work in that field? It stunned her.
She knew she should be thankful for it, but where was the fun in that? She was so, so bored, it almost took away all the fun of her nocturnal escapades. She wouldn't forgive them for that. They ruined everything. What could she do to make them even just a little more interested? Did she need to send them clues herself?
Fucking hopeless idiots. She should take care of them too, maybe then they'd do their job.
The blonde woman was growing more and more frustrated, this whole situation made her blood boil in her veins. God, she needed to do something, anything.
She had no one to let out her pent up anger on, and it made her slowly grow insane.
She felt like she was losing control of herself, and everything else around her. She hated every bit of it.
"Fuck." She breathed out, grabbing the mug that was still on her desk beside her before throwing it against a wall, hot tea spilling all over the floor.
She couldn't care less.
She got up quickly, making her way to her bathroom to splash her face with cold water, hoping it would help her regain a bit of control over herself, but it could only do so much.
She leaned on the sink, panting. God, she wanted to scream, break everything around her, but she knew it wouldn't help her. She needed more.
Joanne slowly looked up, staring at her reflection on the mirror hanging on the wall. Her eyes were cold, making a low chuckle escape her lips. She knew she shouldn't go out, but she was too enraged to be reasonable.
She hoped she would find someone to distract her, help her calm down.
Yeji
Yeji laughed at the sight of a very flustered Sana, as her wife had a wide grin plastered on her face.
"Oh and there's also been this time where Sana came to visit me at the dance studio during a class and got jealous because I was paying more attention to the kids than her," The black haired girl laughed as Sana's cheeks turned into a bright red, "She acts all tough but she's just a baby, I swear."
"Momo." Sana groaned, making Yeji chuckle.
"It's fine babe, it was really cute."
"I hate you."
"Love you too." Momo smiled, and Yeji could tell Sana wanted to as well, despite her current attitude.
The detective loved seeing her friend happy, Sana and Momo were truly a match made in heaven. While Sana was a really serious and professional person, she seemed to melt every time she was in the younger's company, which never failed to make Yeji laugh. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy at their happiness.
She had been like this with Lia too. She was supposed to be married to her already. Go out with her, laugh with their friends, tease her in public too.
But she was apparently not worthy of such pleasure.
Yeji downed the remaining of her drink in one go, trying to drown all of her feelings again. Her friends seemed to be completely oblivious to her change of mood, which was probably better. She didn't want to ruin the evening.
After a minute, they were joined by their other colleagues who had a few shots in hand, some of them already seemed drunk and were laughing loudly at something one of them said.
Yeji recognized Felix and Yeonjun among them, the latter seemed a little more down than the others. Probably just tired, she thought. He was working on a complicated case too.
"Hwang! You came," One of the men said, and Yeji forced a smile on her face.
"Yeah, of course."
"I'm glad you're here, these idiots can't stop teasing me about our case," said Felix as he sat down beside her, and she shook her head.
"Oh, I'm definitely not here to talk about work, guys."
"Yeah, I get it. Heard you got scolded by the captain," one of the detectives, Soobin, if she remembered correctly, laughed.
Jerk.
"Yeah, he's unhappy with our progress, but I swear this case is a real pain. We don't know what to do." Felix answered for her.
"Aw want me to take it for you? I bet it's actually not that hard, you guys just suck." The detective said that in a teasing tone, but the brunette could tell he was only half joking. She clenched her jaw, trying to resist the growing envy she had to punch him.
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, Soobin. Bet you'd give up in like an hour."
"Is that a challenge?" He leaned closer on the table.
"Wanna make it one?"
"Guys, come on." Sana cleared her throat, trying to ease the tension that had increased incredibly in barely a minute. "Yeji's right, let's just stop talking about work. We're all tired."
"Alright, whatever." Soobin scoffed, downing a shot.
Felix gave the brunette a sympathetic smile, which she only half returned before taking another drink too. Maybe going out hadn't been such a good idea, she felt even more frustrated than before.
Everyone quickly moved to another topic, which Yeji just ignored. She couldn't stop thinking about her case. Was she actually that stupid?
Maybe Soobin was right, maybe it wasn't that hard, and she had just become a terrible detective. Hell, she couldn't remember doing a thing right ever since the break up. It was like Lia took everything good in her as she left.
It was ironic, really. She left her because Yeji was too dedicated to her job, but now that she was alone, she couldn't even focus on that anymore. All she could think about was her ex-fiancée, and what she should've done to prevent her from leaving.
"I'm gonna grab a drink," Yeji mumbled as she got up, not really caring if anyone heard her or not.
She didn't feel like listening to her colleague's happy chatter about their latest vacations or how cute their kids were. She just really needed to get drunk if she didn't want to go completely insane.
"Wait up!" She heard a voice say behind her, which she recognized as Yeonjun's.
Just her luck.
The detective quickly caught up to her, and they both silently made their way to the counter. Yeonjun had a small smile on his face, but she could tell it was not sincere at all.
"Hey, uh," He cleared his throat to grab her attention as they both waited for the barman to notice them, and she half-heartedly turned around to listen to whatever he had to say. "Don't listen to Soobin, I know how complicated your case is." He said, and Yeji nodded slowly.
Yeah, that sure helped.
"It's fine, Yeonjun."
"You know, I'm kinda stuck too."
Ugh. She really wasn't up for small talks. Couldn't a woman get drunk in peace?
"Yeah, so I've heard."
"It's like a ghost killed them, I swear."
Yeji perked up at that. A ghost, uh?
"What do you mean?"
Yeonjun smiled at the brunette's sudden interest. "I mean like, there is absolutely no trace of the murderer, which is why I thought the first one was a suicide. But two can't be a coincidence, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose not." She breathed out.
"Besides, we recently noticed that they stole some stuff to those poor men too, after murdering them. But like, how the fuck did they leave no evidence of their visit? Doesn't fucking make sense."
"Wait-" Yeji frowned at the detective's words. Her mind was working much slower than usual, probably because of the alcohol, but this intrigued her. "They stole some stuff? Like what?"
"Uh... I mean we can't really ask the victims. Because, well, they're dead." He chuckled awkwardly, "But like, we have some photos of before the last one was killed, and there was some kind of sculpture in his apartment, or i don't know what the fuck it is exactly, but it's not there anymore. We also think they stole his watch, I bet it was expensive as fuck. Those men were fucking rich."
Yeji felt her confusion growing more at every word he said. This... this couldn't be a coincidence. Right? Two people after rich men, none of them leaving any trace of their visit.
And the marks on Young's wrists... Could it be?
"And how did you find them? They were tied up, right?" She asked, she needed to be sure.
"Uh, yeah." Yeonjun nodded, "One hand tied up to a chair once, on a table the next time. It's kind of a weird setting, like... They were up for some kinky stuff, you know," He laughed, and Yeji could barely hide her disgust. "I told you, this whole thing is... so weird."
"Yeah." She nodded.
There had to be a link. Except for the fact that Young was still alive, the three cases had so much in common. Maybe that was it, maybe Yeji had a way to figure it all out, maybe this was the piece she was missing?
Someone was after rich men, and that someone seemed to be much more dangerous than the detective thought at first.
A serial killer.
That... was quite exciting.
"What is making you smile?" Yeonjun suddenly asked, and she shook her head. Hell, she was still too drunk to make any assumption, she needed to sober up first, then she'd investigate.
"Nothing," She said, "But uh, if you want to we can work together tomorrow, I bet we could both use some help." Yeonjun broke into a wide smile as the words left her mouth, and he enthusiastically nodded.
"Yeah, definitely!"
She gave him a small smile. This was a new lead she absolutely had to explore, and she couldn't help but imagine everyone's reactions if she solved her own case and Yeonjun's. Catching a serial killer at that. This was exactly what she needed to get back on track, like the universe was handing her those cases on a silver platter.
"Okay, cool," Yeji said, trying not to let it all get to her head before turning back towards the bar. She still needed a drink, or two. Maybe even more so than before.
"Hey, uh, maybe we could also like- go out, grab something to eat after work, you know. Just the two of us. My treat, obviously." Yeonjun said after a minute, as they were both waiting for their drinks to be ready, and Yeji looked at him with a frown.
Oh…
Of course.
"Yeonjun-" She sighed.
Obviously he wasn't just a nice guy. He wanted something else. She should've seen it coming, really.
"What?"
"I'm gay."
There was a small silence, during which Yeji didn't dare say anything else. She knew not everyone reacted well to hearing those words.
"Oh" He finally breathed out, looking dumbfounded.
Yeji would laugh at the face he was making if she wasn't feeling so down. She focused her attention back on the bar as someone handed her her drink, waiting for him to say anything else.
"I'm so sorry, I-"
"It's fine, dude." She chuckled, before finishing her drink quickly. She didn't want to stay there a second more. She was exhausted. "I'll see you tomorrow at work, yeah?"
"Y-Yeah,"
"Bye."
She didn't wait for him to answer before turning around and making her way towards the exit. She needed to let her mind rest to be at her best the day after, her conversation with Yeonjun had brought her a bit of hope, which she really needed after everything else.
She really shouldn't make assumptions so fast, maybe both of their cases had absolutely nothing to do with the other, it was likely, really. She shouldn't be too delusional about that, her captain would probably laugh at her if she told him.
But the thought excited her. Maybe she was actually becoming crazy.
Who cared?
This was her last hope.
Yeji sighed as she stepped outside, the cold air instantly easing her. She decided against walking home, knowing that as a woman it wasn't a good idea, and took out her phone to call a taxi.
Before she could do so, though, her gaze landed on an empty street, she swore she saw something move.
Her detective's instinct took over, there was something odd, definitely.
Yeji stepped closer to it, a shiver running up her spine. The closer she got, the quieter everything around her was.
It was quite dark, and she knew she should probably turn around and leave, call a taxi, and get home.
But then, something moved again. Her vision was blurry, but Yeji could swear she caught a glimpse of blonde hair, and if she listened attentively she could hear some rushed steps. There was something going on, something bad, most likely.
Fuck.
What was she supposed to do?
Taking a deep breath, Yeji stepped into the shadow, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that crept inside her body, making goosebumps erupt all over her skin. She knew she should listen to the voice that was telling her to leave, run away far from there while she still could.
She did none of that, though, and kept on walking in the small alley, looking at everything around her as the lights started to fade. The street was only lit up by the light of the moon at this point, and she knew it could only take her a second of distraction for someone to come closer to her unnoticed and potentially harm her.
God, Yeji hoped her hard-earned self defense skills worked even when drunk.
She didn't want to end her life murdered in a dark alley.
Some shuffling sounds suddenly startled her, and her head shot to her right where she thought the noises came from.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was all too real. And probably too late to leave. If Yeji had learned one thing from her job, it was to always face the danger, always confront it, and never run away from it. She was the hunter, not the prey.
Her life might be a complete mess, but she wouldn't give in to fear, she wouldn't show vulnerability. Whatever was happening, she wouldn't run away from it. Maybe it was stupid, but she didn't care.
Carefully, she took a step forward, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness. She noticed that a door was slightly opened, and if she paid enough attention, she was sure she heard someone inside. They were close. All Yeji had to do was to get inside the building. It was only then that she realized she had no idea what that place was, it seemed abandoned from how damaged the building was, but what the hell would someone do there at this hour?
She gulped loudly, feeling her heart beating faster and faster in her chest, her fists clenched tightly, ready to defend herself if necessary.
She was almost there, and could clearly hear noises inside at this point. It really sounded like someone's breathing, labored and shallow. There was something going on, and Yeji was about to find out what.
Her hand shaking, she reached for the handle of the door, letting out a sharp breath when it started squeaking loudly. Oh, no.
Suddenly, a low chuckle resonated and she froze, a shiver running up her spine. She'd been caught.
Fuck, no, no, no-
"Yeji?"
It took everything in her not to scream as she turned around, a second away from attacking whoever the intruder was to protect herself.
She stopped herself as soon as she saw the person's eyes, though.
"Sana." She breathed out, finally letting her muscles relax as she realized she wasn't in danger. Not yet, at least.
"What are you doing here?" The raven haired girl's voice was cold, her eyebrows were scrunched down in concern, if Yeji didn't know her so well she probably would've been scared.
"I…"
"Oh god, you're wasted, aren't you?"
Yeji shook her head at that, regretting it instantly as a sharp ache burst in her head, making her hiss in pain.
"Fuck, Yej- let's get you home," Sana sighed, and the brunette's eyes widened, suddenly remembering why she was there in the first place.
"No, wait," She whispered, "There's something here," Yeji looked at Sana with pleading eyes, though she wasn't sure that the older girl could clearly see her.
Sana shook her head slowly, grabbing Yeji's upper arm, "Whatever, that's none of your business, Yeji I… God you could've gotten yourself in danger if I wasn't here. Let's go home now. Momo will drive you to your place," She said, her eyes stuck on Yeji's.
The younger had never heard Sana be so cold to her, and it made her heart sink.
"No, you don't understand-"
"Please," Yeji's breath hitched when she heard her friend's plea. God, had she really upset her that much? "We're leaving now" Sana insisted- almost forcing Yeji to follow her as she started to leave.
Yeji could only listen, feeling too weak to resist her friend. She didn't want to disappoint her even more, anyway.
Hell, was this all she could do? Disappoint the only people who hadn't left her yet? If this kept on going like this, she'd end up alone by the end of the month. She had to get herself together.
Glancing one last time at the door, Yeji tried to guess what could be happening, why she had such a bad feeling about it. She had been so attracted by it, like someone was controlling her mind, drawing her towards that place. She didn't have any control over the situation, and she realized Sana was probably right. She had to snap out of it.
She'd get a good night of rest, and go to work the following day. She had a new lead and a lot of work awaiting her there.
She'd be okay.
(Yeji wished she actually believed that).