Early the next morning, Yael and Moonhee arrived at a crowded precinct, officers were circling Jaebum’s desk.

“What’s going on?”

The girls pushed through the crowd to reach the front. People made way for them, realising the consultants were here. And the letter was addressed to one of them.

“Yael-ah…” Jinyoung reached out to the girl with a fearful look on his face. “Something’s wrong.”

The two girls shared a look before glancing onto JB’s desk. There was a white envelope smack in the middle with disgustingly familiar handwriting on the front.

My Angel Yael

“W-What?” Moonhee choked. “I thought he was after me. W-When did t-this happen?”

Jaebum immediately stood behind her in case she fell backwards. Yael snatched the paper before anyone had the chance to react. She pressed it to her chest.

“Has anyone seen the contents?”

Heads started shaking. Yael sighed and pulled the envelope tab open, and pulled out the paper. Moonhee caught those photos that tumbled out of her grasp.

They were photos of Yael doing her daily stuff. Even when she was with Moonhee, there was a picture of them together, but she was the focus.

“When…”

“He stalked you.”

Moonhee’s tone was measured. She turned to Jaebum, “Put her on Witness Protection. Or whatever it is that keeps Yael under security surveillance."

“What? Moon! I'll be fine. They don't have to do this.”

“No arguments,” she held her best friend's arm. “Just be safe.”

Yael sighed, knowing she can't fight her. She flipped the note open and the trio peered over her shoulder.

MBUR SEROW XIAK

“El, do you know what this meant?” Jinyoung prompted.

She shook her head, her forehead creasing as she thought deeper. Suddenly her eyes lit up.

“It's a type of cipher.”

Jaebum piped up, “Can you solve it?”

“I can’t do anything. I can only know the type of code unless I have the key.”

The quartet closed their eyes in frustration. JB realised something.

“If Yael is going under WP,” he turned to Moonhee. “You are too.”

“Why?”

“This dude was after you previously, he can't suddenly just change his target to Yael. There must be something going on that triggered this.”

“This just shows she needs it more than I do, right?!”

“But we need the both of you secured, in case this fella decides to pull a stunt!” JB threw his hands in the air. “Try not to be stubborn at this time please?”

“I'm not being stubborn! I'm trying to keep my friend safe.”

“But this isn't the way to do it,” he sighed, giving up.

“Just listen to me. I want no other girl to experience what I had, do you understand that?”

Yael walked up between them, separating the two. She faced Moonhee, nodding her head. The latter let out a breath and sat down at Jinyoung’s chair.

“Detectives!” Some officer came running into their office.

Jaebum approached the panting male, “What’s going on?”

“Someone vandalised the pantry,” he blurted. “I think you need to see it.”

Jinyoung ran up to his partner and the both of them followed after the junior officer. Yael waited till the guys left before hugging Moonhee wordlessly.

-

Jaebum and Jinyoung arrived at the pantry and felt their hearts skip a beat.

Written on the walls in bright red paint were the words:

I WILL GET HER

JB stepped closer and noticed a small piece of paper stuck on the wall just beneath the red wordings. He requested for gloves and ripped it off the wall. Opening it up, he saw a single word.

Angel

“Jinyoung-ah,” he turned and handed his partner the paper. “This is really targeting Yael.”

“You think so?”

JB nodded solemnly. He was about to order people to clean the wordings up when a gasp sounded behind them. They turned, Moonhee was standing at the doorway.

“What did I say?” She murmured.

The trio returned to the main office, Yael was typing away on the laptop. Moonhee tapped the boys, signalling for them to keep the incident in the pantry from Yael. She walked over to her friend, peering over her shoulder, at the computer screen.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, I was thinking about the names in your letters and the bodies of women that turned up after the letters were sent to you. There could be a link.”

Moonhee pulled a chair next to her friend and took the case files, flipping them through.

“The police have gathered the basic demographics of these girls,” she reached for a notepad. “A total of 5 known victims were discovered, all within the age of 23 to 25. They were fed acid before he suffocated them with black plastic bags and strangling them, their mouths were sewn shut post-mortem.”

Yael let out a shaky breath, “They were put in pastel coloured dresses, with their hair cut short and dumped in unpredictable areas.”

“And he’s after me for some reason.”

Moonhee stilled. She her lips before reaching for her bestie’s hands.

“Don’t worry. The guys are here. I am here.” She pulled her friend into a hug. “We’ll do our best to make sure you’re safe. I swear on my life.”

Yael hugged her back, slapping her back lightly at the last sentence.

“Don’t say things like that. I trust you.”

---

Jaebum and Moonhee headed towards Yael’s place to get a go-bag of clothes, she was arranged to stay at Jinyoung’s place for a period of time until matters died down. He stood behind her and she fished for her keys and slotted them into the 3 locks Yael instilled onto the door.

JB glanced around the landed property, noticing how the windows were tightly shut.

“Does she lock her doors like you do?” He asked as they entered the house.

“Yeah, she wanted to escape from her step-father and I… you know my... story.”

She slotted the last key into the lock and cocked her head to the side. Her voice rose after the pause like she had just discovered something.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She stood up. “Having so many locks just helped us gain a little sense of security.”

He couldn’t help but feel his heart constrict whenever he recalled Moonhee’s past. How could anyone live after what happened to them?

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore, I’m here for you,” he murmured under his breath.

“What is that?”

“Nothing,” he then went towards the bedrooms. Moonhee’s eyes widened when she realised where JB was going.

“Wait!”

He skidded to a halt, “What is it?”

She ran up to him and pushed his back towards the living room, he back-stepped until his back hit the sofa. He almost fell over but she had a grip on his a