Yeji
Yeji felt like she was going completely insane. Maybe she actually was. It wouldn't even be that surprising after everything she went through and the pressure she had on her from work and other issues. It was too much for one person.
She kind of wished she had actually gone mad. It would at least explain why she was so enthusiastic that her theories were proven right and that she had started a game with a potential serial killer. No sane person would react like that, and Yeji felt like she was anything but sane at that moment. Nothing in her life made sense, and it got worse everyday.
Hell, she knew she had to try and snap out of it, but…
Not for now, maybe later. Maybe once she'd catch that woman, prove everyone how good of a detective she is.
For that to happen, though, she couldn't tell Felix. First of all, because she was scared that the mysterious woman would never text her again if she did. If Yeji made sure that she felt safe enough with her, or didn't see the detective as a threat, then she'd probably try to contact her again, and the brunette would have a lot more chances to find her. Part of her also enjoyed the talk, which was the other reason why Yeji couldn't tell Felix.
He'd definitely think she had gone crazy and make sure she got suspended for a little while, which would make sense really. What kind of person, let alone a detective, enjoyed talking to a dangerous criminal? Yeji couldn't have her captain thinking any less of her, or her career would be over for good.
Which was why, as soon as Felix approached her the morning after the incident and asked her if she had any good news with the dating apps, Yeji just shrugged and answered, "Nothing yet, unfortunately."
She strongly hoped that he'd be the same for him. She knew it was bad, but she'd be disappointed if the woman had texted him too, or anyone else really. Yeji felt special knowing that she was the only one she chose to contact. She hadn't been anyone's first choice ever since… well, ever since Lia.
God, it really was pathetic, wasn't it?
Fortunately, Felix only smiled sadly at her and answered "Yeah, same." Before sitting down in front of Yeji and getting ready to work. It would be just another normal day, except the brunette had a motivation this time, an actual criminal to catch, a challenge to win.
She finally felt alive, or closer to it than she had been in a while, and she wasn't going to ruin that. No one could.
"What is making you smile like this?" Felix suddenly asked, chuckling faintly, Yeji could hardly fight it anymore.
"I don't know, just happy to work?"
Happy to work?! Really, Yeji? She couldn't have found any worse excuse.
"Well, damn, I don't know how you do that. The more days we spend on this case, the less happy I am, honestly."
Yeji just shrugged her shoulders at his statement, "Me too, but I have a good feeling about today. I don't know why."
"Well I hope you're right, Hwang," He smiled at her, pausing for a few seconds as he looked through his files before looking up into her eyes again, "The captain should be here in a minute. He wants to hear about our progress, so… Keep that grin on your face,"
"Oh," She breathed out, her smile immediately disappearing, which made her partner laugh.
"Come on, cheer up. He might tell us to just give up on the case or something. We're worked hard already, there's not a lot more we can do."
She shook her head, "I doubt that, Felix."
And he'd never think I worked enough, she almost added, but figured it was better not to. She didn't want to have this conversation again.
Barely a few minutes later, the two detectives were in their boss' office, summing up what they had on the case so far. The captain didn't seem to find Yeji's theory stupid, but given how little progress they had made since then, would he think the same this time? The brunette strongly doubted it.
"So… We strongly think it's a woman, who seduced Young and drugged him before stealing some of his stuff." Yeji stated. That was nothing new.
"Given how neatly it was done, she's probably quite experienced, but we have no witnesses, and a victim that won't talk despite being so scared for his safety, apparently," Felix completed for her.
"And… What else? Did you at least find something new? Do you have another lead?" The captain said, sounding annoyed as ever, to which the brunette bit her lip.
Should she say it?
"Not really-"
The way he started to frown was enough of an answer for her.
"Well… actually, I have a new theory, but-"
She could see Felix raising his eyebrow on the corner of her eye, but paid no mind to it. She couldn't close the case so soon, she at least had to share what she thought. Maybe it was too early, but if not now, then when?
"The case detective Choi is working on… I have a few reasons to think that it's linked to ours."
He tilted his head to the side at the younger's statement, "What do you mean?"
"The way the killer and our burglar acted is oddly similar. Both left no trace at all, stole a few items that were worth a lot of money, all of the victims were drugged, the only difference is that Young wasn't killed. I don't know why, um, I don't know if they were given the same pills with different doses or different ones to be honest, but it's still quite weird and-"
"That's it?" The man interrupted her, and she could only gulp. She could tell just by the way he was looking at her, being completely still, that he wasn't so into that new theory.
"Uh-" She shook her head, "There's also- I mean, there are red roses on all the scenes. I thought that it could be their signature, as-"
"Hwang." He cut her off once more, and she didn't try to argue any more this time. She knew there was no use. "You think- God, I really thought you were a better detective than that. Just because you think that two events look alike doesn't mean that they're linked. You haven't even seen the crime scenes, how can you deduce such a thing?" He chuckled, a dark and bitter one, "Lee, come on, don't tell me you're with her on this?"
Felix shook his head slowly, avoiding looking at the brunette, "I didn't know about it, sir." He said, and Yeji held back her breath at that.
Well, perfect.
"Right." He sighed, "You're disappointing me, Hwang."
"But-" She cleared her throat, "This could explain why Young is so scared and refuses to tell her about that woman? Maybe he knows how dangerous she actually is, and…"
"Enough." His voice was much firmer already, "I've heard more than enough. You guys are dismissed, and please, get some actual work done, or I'll have to assign this case to someone else."
"Of course, Sir." Felix said, and the brunette could only scoff.
She knew she didn't have enough evidence, but this was definitely an interesting lead that should be explored. If only her captain wasn't a misogynist asshole, he'd agree with her. Yeji was glad she didn't show him the text messages at least, he would've definitely called her crazy then.
She seriously started thinking she was.
***
Yeji was completely drained. The day had been too long and filled with disappointment, all of the joy and hope she had previously had then completely vanished, and she felt like she was back at square one. How could she arrest the murderer if her captain was absolutely convinced that her theory was absurd? She couldn't do it on her own, she needed proof that the cases were linked, but she had absolutely nothing, besides the roses that was.
Sighing, she made her way to the office that might probably be her last chance. She wished she had another choice, but…
Yeji knocked on the door softly until a soft voice told her to enter, which she did, her hand shaking a little. She tried to avoid this place as much as possible, it reminded her too much of her. But she didn't have any other option, this time.
"Yeji?"
"Hey, Chaeryeong." She gave her a faint smile, and the older girl only frowned.
"Uh, hi?" Chaeryeong said as she sat back down on her chair behind her desk, prompting Yeji to do the same. "Do you need anything?"
"Yeah, I do."
The older woman tilted her head to the side, waiting for Yeji to continue. Instead of talking, though, the brunette only took out her phone and placed it on the desk between them. Chaeryeong looked even more confused at that.
"I need you to do me a favor, can you trace a number for me? Got some text messages from an unknown number, I need a name, an address… anything you can give me."
Chaeryeong nodded slowly, her frown not disappearing one bit. "Is the captain sending you?"
"Oh, no-" She shook her head sideways, "Actually… I need you to do it secretly. I know it might be a lot, but… Yeah. You really can't tell anyone."
The older one scoffed at that, glaring at Yeji, "Are you serious?"
"I am."
"Listen, Hwang, I don't know who you think you are but- you can't just come here and ask me to do something like that, especially when it involves risking getting myself in trouble." She answered, her voice cold.
Yeji knew she'd react like that.
"I know you hate me, Chaeryeong." Yeji lets out a bitter chuckle at that. "And trust me if I had any other option I'd take it, but this is a life or death situation."
The older gave her a puzzled look for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh. "If that's so, I'm sure you can get yourself an authorization from your superior. You know I can't just do that without it."
"The thing is that- I can't. I'll… I can explain, if you want, then it's up to you to decide. But I really need your help."
"Alright, go ahead," Chaeryeong said, slumping down on her chair as she waited for the younger woman's explanation.
"I think a… criminal we're currently looking for messaged me. I can't tell you too much about it, but I have many reasons to believe that they're gonna strike again, and soon. The detective that's working on the case is completely incompetent, and we can't have any more person killed, I'm sure you understand that."
The woman nodded slowly, her eyebrows furrowed. "Who's working on it?"
"Yeonjun,"
"Choi?!"
Yeji hummed as the older one let out a small laugh.
"Alright, but then why would that person message you if you're not the one working on the case? Just seems like a prank to me, Yeji."
"I'm not stupid," The detective answered through gritted teeth, "You can read the conversation anyway, it seems like they've been watching me for some reasons. I can't explain why, but I really need your help on it."
"God, Hwang-" She sighed, "What if I get caught?"
"Just say I asked you to do it, or lied to you, I don't know. I'm sure you'll be happy with me getting in trouble anyway." Chaeryeong smiled at that, proving Yeji that she was right. "I really need you, please. You know me, I wouldn't ask you that if I didn't think it was really important."
"I guess…" She shook her head, pausing for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to do. Yeji didn't know what she'd do if she refused, she just hoped that the woman would put her hatred toward her aside for a day and understand how important it was. Almost everyone who worked there knew how despicable their captain was, anyway so surely Chaeryeong could understand why Yeji needed it done secretly.
After a while, she finally nodded at her, Yeji almost let out a victory scream at it. "Fine. I'll do it. But you owe me one, Yeji."
"Of course," The brunette could barely hold back her grin as the woman took the phone on her desk.
"Come back tomorrow, but I can't guarantee I'll find anything."
"Yeah, I'm aware. Thank you Chaeryeong, really." She said as she got up before stopping in her tracks. "And, uh… tell Lia I said hi." She breathed out hesitantly, hoping that she'd get some sort of comfort.
"She doesn't want to hear about you anymore."
Right.
Yeji ignored the way her heart clenched in her chest at the words, she only nodded at the woman, trying to stay composed while she was still with her. "Yeah. Have a good evening, I guess."
The older one didn't answer this time, and Yeji took it as her cue to leave. Finally, she felt like suffocating there.
This had been a bit less horrible than she thought it would be.
***
Yeji let out a low sigh as she slumped down on the chair, finally allowing her muscles to relax. Maybe she should get herself a massage or something, her whole body was tense because of the recent events, it might do her some good. She quickly shook the thought off, though. She clearly had no time for that, not with a serial killer on the loose.
She couldn't help but wonder if the woman had tried contacting her again, and how would Chaeryeong react if she did?
At least, she might take her more seriously if she did.
"What are you thinking about?" Sana suddenly asked, bringing her out of her daze. The woman was tapping her fingers on the wheel softly to the rhythm of the music, her gaze focused on the road before them.
"Work, what else?"
Sana chuckled at that, "You really need to get your head out of that Yej, this must be so exhausting."
"What else could I think about?" She sighed, "I only have work, Sana."
The latter hummed, pausing for a few seconds. Yeji turned her head back towards her window, looking at the city to try and focus on something else. "Maybe you should try to meet someone new?"
That took Yeji aback, and the latter suddenly turned around so she was facing her friend again, "What?!"
"You heard me," The raven haired girl was smiling, "I know it's hard, Yej, but it might be good for you. It's time you move on, now."
"I can't just move on, I-" She shook her head, she could sense her voice was much colder. "How could you even…?"
Sana stayed silent for a while before stopping the car in front of Yeji's building.
"I know it's hard, Yeji." She finally spoke up, "I can't even imagine in what state I'd be if Momo left me, but… You need to do something, it hurts to see you like this. You're a beautiful, young woman, and with those cat-like eyes DAMN. You'll find someone else I'm sure, and after some time it'll all get easier." Her voice was much softer already, which only made Yeji's heart ache more. She knew she was right, but she also knew she didn't have the strength to do that just yet. Lia was the love of her life, as much as it hurt, she didn't want to forget about her.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Bu. Thanks for driving me home," The brunette just said as she got out of her seat and rose to her feet.
Maybe Lia was going to come back to her eventually. Maybe she still had a chance.
It was the only thing that kept her going, at this point.
Ryujin
"You know, it has nothing to do with you, really." The blonde woman chuckled, walking around the room slowly, the only sounds that could be heard were the clinking of her heels on the floor and the man's ragged breathing. She got closer to him, crouching down and running her hand through his hair softly. "You're even quite decent, compared to the others I mean. Besides that you're obviously an awful human being, or I wouldn't do that to you, you know it right?" She laughed again, getting up, "But the circumstances force me to do it so… I'm genuinely sorry."
"Mph!"
"Mh? Say that again?"
Ryujin had a devilish smile pattered on her face. She loved this too much, she was pretty sure it could be considered an addiction. She looked at the man tied up on his own bed, struggling to get out of the restraints.
Silly, he'd only hurt himself more by doing that. This wasn't his first go, he should know that.
He didn't seem too pleased with the gag tied around his head either, which the woman understood. Men loved to talk, even when they had nothing interesting to say. It was one of the things she hated about them, so shutting them up was truly a satisfying thing to do.
"Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me," She shot a cold gaze his way, hoping that it would make him stop moving around and muffling incoherent things for a while. It worked, obviously. "I'm not doing this because of you. You're like- a message, you see? You should be flattered."
He frowned at the words which made her chuckle again.
"I've also been quite hurt by your words," She said, a pout on her lips to emphasize what she was saying, "A blind dating app, really? What do I look like after that, some kind of desperate woman who's too ugly to get laid? That hurts." She stepped closer to the bed once more, and the man tried moving away as far as possible from her, his head turned to the other side. He was shaking slightly, which filled Ryujin with pride.
She didn't even have to try hard to turn her victims into pathetic weak beings, it was quite enjoyable.
"You know how hot I am, huh?" The woman asked as she used her finger to turn his head around so he'd face her. The contact of the cold leather of her glove against his skin made him shiver. He nodded frantically at her statement, visibly too scared to do anything else.
"Of course you know that, you didn't hesitate to tell me that the first night we met, right? You did tell me how sexy I looked with my short, short dress, but how much sexier I'd look with it off…" The woman hummed, "What a rude thing to say to a stranger. You were much less confident when I had you begging for me to even just touch you."
The man let out a broken whimper at her words. He seemed completely terrified, unlike last time. How sad.
She almost wanted to laugh at the sight. How ridiculous did he look like that? His shirt completely opened, exposing his bare chest, and pants slightly down too, he was powerless. Ryujin was in control. She always was.
With a sly smirk on her lips, she started trailing her finger up and down his chest, until she reached his throat and wrapped her hand around it, not putting enough pressure to prevent him from breathing, but enough to show him she could end everything in barely a few seconds if she only wanted to.
"Don't worry, no one will miss you anyway. You should even consider yourself lucky. I'm doing this, I'm giving you a little importance in your insignificant life." She said, her smile fading as she finally got up and started walking away again. "You should be happy I'm not doing worse to you, really."
He let out another incoherent noise as an answer, but she paid no mind to it this time. It was probably along the line of 'Please, don't hurt me, I'll pay you,' etc. As much as she loved begging, she felt too tired for that.
"There's nothing you can do to stop what's happening," Ryujin stated as she leaned against the wall opposite to his bed, watching him becoming weaker by the second, barely struggling against the restraints anymore. "Just let go, stop fighting it. You look truly pathetic like this, it pains me."
He had tears streaming down his face, though his breathing finally started to slow down, his body limping against the bed.
In barely a minute it would be completely over, and she would finally be able send her little gift to her new obsession.
The thought made her smile.
Yeji
The brunette took a sip of whisky, her gaze focused on whatever bad movie the TV was playing, when a loud knock on her door startled her.
Her mind felt foggy, probably because of the alcohol, and she glanced at the clock on her wall, noticing that it was nearly midnight already. Who would visit her at this hour?
Reluctantly, she made her way to the door, thinking that it was most probably her neighbor complaining about the noise of the TV, or something along those lines. No one visited her anymore, especially not at this time of the day.
As soon as she opened the door, though, she couldn't hold back the loud gasp that left her mouth.
Chaeryeong was there, looking terrified, and the brunette barely had time to wonder what was happening before she barged in her apartment.
"What the fuck did you put me into, Yeji?!" She was almost screaming, making Yeji more and more confused. What was happening?
Before she could ask anything, the older woman threw her phone her way, as if it was toxic and she couldn't keep it any longer.
"I'm out, Hwang, you hear me?"
"What… What happened?" Yeji asked, her voice barely above a whisper, and the other woman furrowed her eyebrows.
"I couldn't find whoever sent you those texts. The number belonged to a fourteen years old boy, so I guess it was stolen." She explained, trying to regain her seriousness.
"Then what's up?"
"Read the texts." Chaeryeong only stated and Yeji immediately did as she was told.
Did she text her again?
With her fingers shaking, she opened the conversation and immediately saw the two new messages. Fuck.
"Did you really think I was that stupid? I'm offended."
"I guess I have to help you a little then."
"…I" Yeji shook her head. "What does it mean?"
"You tell me," Chaeryeong scoffed, "But whoever that person is, she clearly knew that you tried to guess her identity, and she might as well know that I am the one looking for it. I don't want to have a serial killer mad at me for God's sake, I have to tell others"
"Don't," Yeji immediately cut her off, "Chaeryeong, you can't do that, I'm begging you." Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern, she couldn't have anyone else knowing about it. "She won't harm you, I'm- I'm almost sure of it, and how would she even know you're the one who did it?"
"I don't know, Yeji, but-"
"Please, don't tell others- not yet at least," The detective insisted.
Before she could answer anything else, her phone started ringing loudly, surprising both of the girls.
…Who ?
Yeji could hardly hide her disappointment when she saw Felix's name on the screen. Of course, she wouldn't call her, why was Yeji even hoping for her to? She took a deep breath before answering the call, hoping that it was some kind of good news, enough to reassure Chaeryeong at least.
"Yeji?" Oh, no. He sounded panicked, his breathing shallow.
"Yeah?"
"Oh thank god you answered,"
"What's up…?" She asked as the other woman was looking at her with her eyebrows raised in confusion.
"It's- It's Young," He paused for a few seconds as a feeling of dread started creeping into her mind, making goosebumps erupt all over her skin.
"He's dead."
God… no way. She knew it, knew she was right. But the timing was too odd, it couldn't be a coincidence.
"…What? How…"
Was she responsible for his death?
"That's not it- I… Yeji, god." Felix added, his voice was much smaller, which only increased her fear.
"What, Felix?"
"There's a note with him. It says 'Can you find me?', and there's… There's a red rose with the body. You were right, and I'm so sorry."
The detective's eyes went wind at her colleague's revelation, a note, really ?! Hell, this was definitely what the text meant, she helped her. She killed Young to prove Yeji's theory right.
But… How? How could she know about it? Was she really spying on her?
It terrified the brunette. That criminal was controlling her, basically. But why help her? What kind of person would help the police catch them? It made no sense at all, and Yeji felt even more lost than she had been before.
"Hwang? Are you still here?" Felix said through the phone after a few seconds, bringing Yeji out of her thoughts as she whispered a quiet 'yes', before clearing her throat.
She couldn't let fear get the best of her.
"Whatever, it's not important anyway" She added as she tried to regain her seriousness, "She must know we're after her, somehow. It's obvious she's just provoking us."
"So what should we do then?"
"I'll be there in ten minutes, don't touch anything until I'm there," She said, hoping she was doing a good job at hiding how excited she actually was at the thought, despite the fear and worry.
Finally a good case to work on, and her boss had no choice but to believe her at this point. Things weren't too bad for her, much better than a few days ago at least.
"Alright, be quick," Felix answered her, "I really hope we can find whoever did this, it's so much worse than we thought…"
"Don't worry," The brunette smiled, "We'll find her."
"I hope you're right, Hwang. I'll see you soon." He sighed on the phone, barely hiding how tired he was before hanging up.
If Chaeryeong had looked scared before, she seemed absolutely terrified this time. Her eyes were wide in fear and her breathing was labored, making the detective scoff. She was being over dramatic for someone working in that field, and Yeji was sure she would find a way to blame it on her.
"Don't look at me like that, please," Yeji said, her tone much calmer than it had been before as she started getting ready to leave, hoping the older woman would take the hint.
"Someone died, right? That woman you made me cry, she killed someone?"
The detective stopped in her tracks at that, slowly turning around to face Chaeryeong again. "Yeah."
"Fuck, I-"
"Chaeryeong, please." Yeji sighed deeply, "I know it's scary, but you have no reason to worry. We don't know much about her yet, but we're working on it, and we should be able to catch her soon. She's already made a big mistake. I won't ask you to do anything anymore, just pretend you don't know anything and it'll be fine, yeah?"
The older woman looked mad, obviously regretting that she accepted to help Yeji earlier that day. The brunette did regret it too, it wasn't like she had learned anything useful, anyway. But it was done, and she was closer to catch her than she had ever been. Yeji couldn't let anyone get in the way.
After a few seconds she finally nodded, still glaring at the younger girl. "You owe me one, Hwang. And you're never getting me involved in your stupid shit again, I'm done. You should consider yourself lucky I'm not telling the captain about it."
"Whatever," She shook her head as she grabbed her coat that was hanging behind Chaeryeong, lightly shoving her in the process. "You can leave now, I have a job to do."
Chaeryeong scoffed but didn't answer anything this time, much to Yeji's pleasure as she only wanted to get out of there. She gave the detective one last cold look before spinning around on her heels and leaving her apartment, almost slamming the door shut as she did so which made Yeji roll her eyes.
Chaeryeong had been a friend, once. A good one. Until she messed everything up in her life and made everyone around her leave. Maybe she was actually just an awful person, but she didn't care anymore. Yeji knew she had lost the ability to love the second her ex fiancée told her that they needed to break up. Told her that she couldn't bear seeing her face anymore. She was bound to end up alone at some point.
She needed to solve that case. It was the only part of her life that wasn't a failure.
She'd catch that girl, she was going to win her sick game.