It was a rainy night that day, and there were all sorts of thoughts rushing through my mind; all I could think about was how I could have prevented him from racing with that tanned woman. If she hadn’t cheated, then Hyung wouldn’t have lost to her – that was completely impossible. Taecyeon-hyung was the best racer in the underground world… right? How can anyone come and tell me that he died after racing with the black pearl?

The black pearl was a woman.

No man loses to a woman.

I can’t forget the way Taecyeon-hyung provided for me even though he was struggling to survive alone; he didn’t like racing underground – that was for sure, because all he had was complaints when he reached home and saw me. He doesn’t like racing, but he has to because it brings in enough money to provide for both of us without us having to beg for extra on the streets.

“Hyung, you promised to protect me,” I whimpered softly, grabbing hold of his picture on the shelf. I felt my eyes burn all of a sudden; he protected me since we were young and now was my turn to prove that I was a worthy brother to him. I clenched my fist, “I will avenge you, Hyung. I make that a vow on your grave.”

“And that was how it all started…” Minseok was in tears by the time he was done with his story, remembering the past had been so painful for him all this while. Surprisingly, he felt a lot more relieved after telling the two officers in front of him. Minseok sighed, “all I wanted was to do was protect Hyung… I didn’t want him to die in vain.”

Silence.

Sunny was silent, and so was Hyoyeon; neither of them had expected such a simple explanation from Taecyeon’s younger brother aka the mains suspect of the poisoning case involving Yuri. Knowing Yuri’s mindset and way of doing things, she was not going to pursue this matter but she also deserved to know the truth. After all, the poisoning would not have happened if the young boy knew the truth behind Taecyeon’s death anyway.

Speaking of which…

Jessica used one hand to wipe her away sweat as the other hand held onto the transparent piece – stained with fingerprints that had been painstakingly retrieved from the car Taecyeon used to race with. The fingerprints couldn’t be retrieved earlier because the forensics-in-charge had a lack of experience that prevented them from knowing the protocol of retrieving fingerprints from mangled items. If it wasn’t for the reopening of the case, no one would know how to.

“Noona, someone at the garage handed this handkerchief to me when he realised I was investigating Taecyeon’s death,” Hansol reported, holding out the piece to show his senior, “he kept this handkerchief because it looked suspicious and so, he passed it to me when I was at the garage.”

“Hm… run a check on it and let me know the results in an hour.”

“Yes, Noona.”

Once Jessica had managed to insert the transparent piece into the compartment, she heaved a sigh of relief and smiled – it had been so damn difficult to get the bloody fingerprint. If the machine didn’t accept the print, she was going to throw a fit right here, right now.

To: Soolkyu

I got the blood sample and the fingerprints, ies. Will get you the results in an hour or so.

From: ica

*

Yuri was having withdrawal symptoms; Yoong-withdrawal symptoms to be exact. She wanted to see the doe-eyed woman and hug her so tightly that Yoona would beg for her to let go. Ever since that day Yoona had come to visit her, the latter never came again due to her duties at the hospital. Both Yuri and Yoona knew very well that priorities lay at the hospital because there were lives to be saved, and Yuri… well she was alive but barely breathing – good enough.

“Yah, get your together. You’re already on the verge of getting released so just withstand it for a while more, okay?” Krystal sighed, patting Yuri’s shoulder gently, “I’m sure she misses you a lot more than you know.”

Krystal had been a huge help to the couple this time; she made sure Yuri maintained her sanity in the cell and made her behave well; she also assured Yoona through the letter that she’s take care of Yuri for her. If it wasn’t for the woman, Yuri was pretty sure she’d have combusted by now; there was so much Krystal had done for her and Yoona couldn’t have thanked her enough for it.

“Krys, do you really think I’m innocent?”

“Well, not at first but after the past two weeks with you, I can guarantee that you didn’t commit the crime.”

“But I did…”

“As in knowing your personality, I’m sure you didn’t completely destroy the brakes. You’d start feeling bad half-way and let go of it.”

Her words were spot-on; because Yuri didn’t even bother to tamper with it badly enough to cause a crash. If the brakes were found to be tampered with but it wasn’t enough for the main cause of the crash, then the consequence would not be too heavy. It would definitely be enough to penalise but Yuri would hold out; the lawyers could take it as a form of self-defence since Taecyeon had threatened her loads of times.

All Krystal had to do now was step back and make sure Yuri could understand what she was trying to say.

“Think about Yoona, and think about how much she trusts you to wait for your release,” Krystal kindly reminded, not bothering to look at Yuri as if she’d said the most natural words ever. “I’m sure she wouldn’t wait if she didn’t have the faith in you.”

Yoona.... 

Yoona's trust; Yoona's faith; Yoona's love... 

Yuri had it all, and Yoona was going to be her driving force once more. 

Yoona threw an arm over her face, unable to get rid of her throbbing headache that had been there since this morning. She didn't want to have it either, but she couldn't stop thinking about the number of times she screwed up. She had been fine all this while; even though Yuri was in the detention center, Yuri was fine and not causing any problem in there - Yoona couldn't focus today.

Maybe, it was because the results of the investigation were going to come out today.

“Yoona?”

“Yes, Unnie?”

“May I come in?”

Without even waiting for Yoona’s response, Tiffany pushed the door open and peeked her head in. She sighed and walked over to Yoona’s bed, sitting down beside the younger, “are you unwell, Yoong? You’ve made a couple of mistakes today.” Tiffany wanted to hear it from Yoona herself; making assumptions was not going to make her write a better report, honestly.

Yoona gave no response; all she wanted to do now was take Yuri into her arms and kiss her beloved. She missed Yuri; she wanted to know how much Yuri missed her and wanted her by her side. Yuri meant so much to her and Yoona was fearful for the results - Yuri might not have wanted to do it in the end but if found guilty... then the consequences would be dire indeed.

“Don’t be scared, Yoona… I know it’s heart-wrenching for you to wait and wait, same for Yuri but you cannot worry like this, okay? I know you trust Yuri, and I trust your judgement even more.”

Was trust enough? 

Yoona believed Yuri, because Yuri was always honest and upfront with her; there was no reason for Yoona to doubt the latter at all.

Before Yoona or Tiffany could say anything else, Tiffany’s phone vibrated – a message from Jessica and Sunny.

To: Fanybaby

Fany, I need you to bring Yoona in for questioning; there are some things that needed to be clarified. Tell her to find Sunny when she reached the station.

From: Sicababy

“Yoong, I need to bring you in for questioning.”

“W-What?”

“I think they’re just going to ask you a few questions; it’s a standard procedure, nothing to worry about,” Tiffany said, gently helping Yoona up from the bed – the younger’s legs had gone jelly when she mentioned questioning. She ruffled Yoona’s hair and sighed pitifully, “I’ll be waiting for you outside, okay?”

Sunny and Hyoyeon looked at each other, hoping this wouldn't be too difficult for them. They would have been taken off this case rightfully, but the higher-ups couldn't afford to remove them - the case was theirs and it was too difficult to hand over to the lower-ranked investigators. Hyoyeon's place as an analyst had just been unofficially upgraded and gave Jessica back her part-time job as a forensics officer. 

“I hope Yoona knows something about Yuri; some