“And then what happened?” Jessica asked, as Haruki’s hand reached out around the shower curtain and d for the brush sitting on the edge of the sink. Jessica passed it to her and the hand retracted again.

“I was trying to explain that I hadn’t been paying attention, so Jiyong asked what I was thinking about,” Haruki replied over the sound of running water. “I told him that Sungmin kissed me, just as basically the rest of my department came in.”

Jessica shoved her knuckles in in a very unladylike manner to muffle her giggles. Still, her friend must have sensed it somehow, because a moment later, her face peeked out and glared, despite the water running down her cheeks. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“You have to admit, it’s kind of funny for you to go from getting kissed by one guy to accidentally going on a date with another,” Jessica chuckled.

Haruki just huffed and took the shower gel that Jessica passed to her. A moment later, she held it back out. “What’s this for?”

“Shower gel.” Haruki gave her a blank stare. “It’s like soap,” Jessica snapped. “You know, for cleaning your body?”

“Then why didn’t they just write ‘soap’?” Haruki grumbled. She sighed and tilted her head back, letting the hot water run down her face as she lathered her arms with the flowery-scented goo. There was no question that she was being forced on this date against her will, when all she wanted to do was curl up in her room. There was too much to think about.

The lawyer looked up as Haruki entered and took a seat across from her. Tiffany cast a glance at the tinted window across from her and raised an eyebrow.

“Are we alone?” she asked.

“No,” Haruki replied. There was no point in lying to Tiffany; the lawyer was as sensitive to lies as a dog was to strangers.

“Then can you call off the others?” Tiffany asked.

“You asked to speak with me,” Haruki said firmly. “I work with a team. Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of them.”

Tiffany shrugged and leaned back in her seat, kicking her feet up onto the table. “Then I have nothing to say.”

Haruki scrutinized her for a moment before turning in her chair and gesturing for Siwon and the others to go. When she turned back around, Tiffany was smiling. Haruki did not smile back as she pulled out a small black recorder and set it on the table. Tiffany glanced at it briefly and shrugged as Haruki turned the device on. “Talk,” she ordered.

“How have you been?” asked the lawyer.

“That’s not what I meant,” Haruki snapped.

“Haven’t been sleeping well, huh?”

“What do you want?”

“Heard about you and Sungmin. Cute, really.”

“Damn it, Tiffany!” The recorder jumped as Haruki slammed a hand down on the table, but Tiffany barely looked rattled. “What game are you playing against me?”

At this, the lawyer looked genuinely surprised. “Against you? I’m not against you, Haruki. I told you, I’ve always been on your side.”

“Then why try to kill Lu Han? Why burn Taemin’s diary? If you’re helping me, why are you blocking every step of my investigation?” Haruki demanded.

Tiffany looked at her a long time, before shaking her head slightly. “You’re a smart woman, Haruki. But you don’t know a thing about people. Especially not yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Do you really want to find Taemin’s killer, Haruki?”

“Of course I do.” What kind of question was that?

Tiffany suddenly swung her legs off the table and leaned forward so that her face was only inches from Haruki’s. “Do you really want to find his killer?” she repeated slowly.

It was a trick Haruki had seen her use on witnesses many times, but even so, she instinctively flinched backwards, unable to answer.

“Do you remember what you said to me when Taemin’s verdict came out?” Tiffany finally asked after a long silence. “You said, ‘it’s not fair.’ I agreed.”

Haruki shook her head. “I said that in the heat of the moment. It was the verdict the court decided on and-”

Tiffany just smiled. “I read the look in your eyes. You were devastated. And you’re not the only one to feel that way.”

“Here,” called Jessica, jerking Haruki out of her thoughts. Jessica had tossed a white object, made of some spongy material, into the shower. “What’s this?” she asked, picking it up.

“A loofah,” Jessica replied. “It exfoliates your skin.”

Haruki stared blankly at it before hesitantly scrubbing her shoulder with it. That’s right. She had a date to prepare for. Preparing for a date was a lot more work than she was used to. When she had formal events to go to for work, all she had to do was wear her bulky police uniform and try to keep her hair neatly tucked back. Why the heck anyone would willingly go through all this, just to uncomfortably make small talk with someone for an entire evening, was beyond her. The knot in her stomach tightened.

To be fair, it wasn’t Jiyong’s fault. He’d been perfectly willing to forget about it, given his habit of playfully asking her out whenever he did her a favor. It was the others that had caused his joke to snowball. She was sure T.O.P. had been the one to actually set up the reservations at an expensive restaurant with a name she couldn’t pronounce. She’d heard rumors that the others had even pooled together money when Jiyong protested that he couldn’t afford the place. At this rate, she wouldn’t be surprised if they all showed up at the restaurant just to watch her make a fool of herself. She wouldn’t put it past them.

Haruki had stormed out of the interrogation room, roughly shoving past all of them as they came forward to ask her what she’d learned. She’d seemed more upset than usual. The more they asked her about the conversation, the more she clammed up. Finally, the only thing she’d said, after they’d all but given up on her, was, “She didn’t kill him.”

Donghae assumed that “she” was referring to the lawyer, but wasn’t sure which of their three victims was the “him.”

Eunhyuk sighed and crossed his legs, resting his right foot on his left knee. “It’s Friday night, Donghae. Do we really have to do this now?”

“Yes,” Donghae snapped.

“Don’t you have a date tonight?” Eunhyuk asked.

“No.”

Eunhyuk sighed and reluctantly opened his notebook, where they had drawn out a web diagram with details about the three cases and were now trying to link them to Tiffany. He leaned back against his chair and began reading out loud.

“Tiffany runs Lu Han over with a car rented in Haruki’s name and steals a diary he decoded, which contains information about who Taemin’s killer might be. The diary later turns up destroyed in Tiffany’s chimney. All Lu Han remembers is that it said there’s more than one killer.”

“Which means Tiffany is working with someone,” Donghae replied.

“Probably the same person who used Haruki’s name to rent a motel room. The girl in the beanie.” Eunhyuk pulled a picture of her out of a nearby folder and pushed it across the table to Donghae. “Do you know if Haruki showed this to Tiffany?”

Donghae didn’t respond.

“Dude?” Eunhyuk waved a hand in front of his face and Donghae jolted.

“Sorry. I was just…what did you say?”

“Did Haruki show the picture of this girl to Tiffany?”

“I don’t know,” Donghae replied. “Probably.”

“The girls in the therapy session Haruki went to recognized her,” Eunhyuk murmured. “And Narsha, the doctor leading the group, has disappeared without a trace. Ryeowook talked to some of the girls, and none of them knew where she’d gone. A different doctor is leading the group now. Think that’s significant?”

Donghae was silent, staring out a window as Eunhyuk looked up from his notes and sighed in exasperation. “Come on, man, are you going to help me out here? You’re the one who suggested we go through all the facts and try to figure out who Tiffany might be working with.”

“I’m sorry,” Donghae said again. “Just a little tired.”

Eunhyuk closed the notebook and frowned at his partner. “What’s going on?”

“Sungmin was off doing research somewhere without saying a word to anyone about what he was up to for several days,” Donghae murmured. “He hasn’t told Ryeowook or Siwon what he learned, if he found out anything. I think he’s hiding something.”

His friend smiled. “You sure you’re not just jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous?” Donghae snapped.

“He made out with Haruki.”

“They didn’t make out,” retorted Donghae. “It was one kiss! She didn’t even seem to like it.” Eunhyuk raised an eyebrow. “I’m not jealous!”

“Right. Then we can forget about Sungmin and go back to the case,” Eunhyuk replied. “Tiffany was the lead prosecutor for Taemin’s case, as well as G.O.’s. She wasn’t involved with Chunji’s case, though, so that doesn’t fit the pattern.”

“Haruki’s the connection,” Donghae replied. “She was Taemin’s victim, she was friends with G.O.’s victim, and she arrested Chunji for killing his girlfriend. Her name keeps popping up in relation to this case. The killer is trying to bait her.”

“Bait her for what, though?” asked Eunhyuk. “Not that I don’t enjoy your conspiracy theories, but Tiffany’s the one with a solid connection to the killings, even if she didn’t commit them herself. Who would she be trying to protect? We all know that Tiffany never trusted anyone, not even Hyoyeon, and they worked together for years.”

“What do the victims have in common?” Donghae asked finally. “They all committed violent crimes against women. With G.O. and Chunji, their names popped up in more than one case.”

“I’m not Onew, but I’m starting to scrap together a profile of the killer,” Eunhyuk said. “Someone with a strong sense of justice, possibly a victim herself or one who knows a victim well, if the extent of brutality against Chunji is any indication. Intelligent enough to know the details of how crimes are investigated and to cover her traces. Physically strong, has good aim, and has been following police activities for years.”

Donghae nodded as he listened to Eunhyuk’s portrait of the murderer and folded his hands together, taking a deep breath. “You said ‘her’.”

“Oh. I didn’t notice. It could easily be a man.”

“I don’t think so,” Donghae replied quietly. “And that description sounded a lot like someone we know.”

Haruki finished rinsing the conditioner out of her hair and shut off the water. Squeezing the water out of her hair, she grabbed the large purple towel resting beside the sink and wrapped it securely around herself before climbing out of the shower.

She was struggling so much with the blow dryer, she didn’t hear Jessica knocking on the bathroom door until she finally shut it off out of frustration fifteen minutes later.

“How do you use this?” she asked, holding up the device. Her hair was still hanging in strings down her back, dripping water onto the bathroom floor.

Jessica ignored her, holding up a short black dress with a plunging neckline and a tight waist. The skirt had two layers, a tiny, tight-fitting one, and another that draped over it, made of a sheer material. “Here.”

“What is that?” Haruki stammered, clutching at her towel more tightly.

“Your dress,” Jessica replied. “I borrowed it from work.”

The detective vehemently shook her head, backing away until she hit the wall. “There is no way I’m wearing that.”

With a shrug, Jessica sighed. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Ten minutes later, Haruki was uncomfortably pulling the skirt down as far as it would go and Jessica was opening the front door, beaming and talking a mile a minute to Jaejoong, her makeup artist, who she’d asked for a favor at short notice, promising him “the makeover project of a lifetime.” Haruki returned his nod of greeting as she awkwardly came into the kitchen, her polite smile fading as she noticed the assortment of tools in his hands.

“What’s all that for?” she asked, feeling more nervous than she’d been when she’d waited for the results of her detective’s exam.

Jaejoong ignored her as he meticulously emptied the contents of his bag all over her dining table, while Jessica shoved her into a chair and draped another towel around her neck. Jaejoong cupped a hand around her chin and tilted her face to the light.

“I said that you could use a touch-up the first time we met,” he murmured, more to himself than to her. Nodding slightly, Haruki tried to pull away, but the skilled hand held her tight. “Don’t move.”

Haruki’s eyes darted over to Jessica, who offered a smile and a thumbs up. “Good luck,” she mouthed. The detective barely had time to register what that might mean when she was assaulted with a flurry of powder, creams, and all manners of hair products. Jaejoong pulled and twisted her hair, plucked at her eyebrows, and attacked her face with brushes and pencils, all the while humming cheerfully under his breath as if thoroughly enjoying himself.

Haruki closed her eyes, only for Jaejoong to command her to open them again. She gripped the armrests of her chair, held her breath to keep from breathing in too much hairspray, and braced herself.

Ryeowook finished off another bottle of soju and leaned back with a sigh. He suddenly belched, jolting his entire body, and clapped a hand over his mouth, looking mortified as Onew roared with laughter. “Excuse me,” he mumbled.

Siwon gave him an indulgent smile and sipped at the drink in his hand. It was nice to relax with some of the others on Friday nights, although he didn’t quite enjoy drinking as much as they did. He could hold his alcohol well, but he preferred to drink responsibly so that he wouldn’t wind up with a headache and a major sense of regret the next morning.

Unlike the other two.

Ryeowook was clearly still stressed out, as he was waving over the bartender for his third bottle of soju. Onew wasn’t faring much better, having polished off three cocktails already, and looked to be debating whether or not to order a fourth.

“I think you’ve both had enough,” Siwon said seriously, taking the glasses from their hands and pushing them far across the counter where their shorter arms couldn’t reach. “What’s wrong? Neither of you usually drink this much.”

“It’s this stupid case,” Ryeowook whined, resting his chin on the counter as he stared at it forlornly. Siwon had to smile. Even drunk, Ryeowook never swore. “It’s just one dead end after another after another…” He sounded almost on the brink of tears.

“I’ve been trying to profile Tiffany,” Onew replied, straightening his glasses and sounding much more lucid than the younger detective. Siwon swore those glasses were more potent than coffee, able to instantly make Onew sober again. “And it’s frustrating because I don’t have anything to work with. If she’s involved in covering a murder, it means that her entire outward persona has been a fake all along.”

“Have you interviewed her?” Siwon asked. Onew just raised his eyebrows in response. “Right, sorry. Stupid question.”

“At first, she was in complete denial,” Onew murmured. “But after she slipped up when Jonghyun questioned her…she changed completely. Like a switch inside her flipped or something. I don’t understand it.”

Ryeowook hiccupped. “Maybe it’s multiple personality disorder,” he suggested.

“That’s possible,” Siwon nodded.

Onew shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t think that exists. There isn’t enough evidence in the literature and-”

Ryeowook interrupted him by yawning loudly. “Hey, if Chief Park had a mental disorder, what would it be?”

Siwon raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Hm…” Onew tugged off his glasses and fiddled with them. “He might be a little obsessive-compulsive. Always needing everything reported to him in the tiniest of details-”

“That’s because he’s the boss,” Siwon retorted.

Both ignored him. “What about Donghae?” Ryeowook asked eagerly, warming up to the game.

“Oh, definitely narcissistic personality disorder,” Onew replied. “That’s not even a question.”

“Um…Heechul?”

“Schizotypal.”

“Siwon!”

Onew studied the older detective with narrowed eyes, before finally shaking his head. “No, that’s too difficult. Next person.”

“How about Haruki?”

The psychologist bit his lip. “Well, she’s probably-”

“Hey. What are we talking about?” All three heads popped up and turned around and the sound of the newcomer’s voice.

“Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?” Jiyong slid into the seat beside Siwon’s and nodded to them before waving to the bartender and ordering a beer. When he turned back, they were still staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“Um, aren’t you forgetting something?” ventured Ryeowook.

At six-thirty on the dot, Jaejoong finally straightened and studied her, smiling. He stepped aside and handed her a mirror. “Well?”

From the barrage of beauty products that he’d flung at her, Haruki almost expected to see a complete stranger glaring back at her. Instead…she saw herself. Jaejoong had done his best to bring out her natural features and the result was…surprising. Her hair was pulled back, although it had been curled and clipped up in an elegant bun instead of her usual saggy ponytail. Her eyes seemed brighter, her lips looked redder, and her bangs framed her face nicely rather than dangling in her eyes. It was her, but it wasn’t. Wordlessly, she handed the mirror back to Jaejoong.

“I think that means ‘thank you’,” Jessica whispered to him as the doorbell rang. Haruki jumped up from her chair and hastened to slip her feet into a pair of Jessica’s wedge heels, ignoring her friend’s squeal of excitement. She grabbed her jacket and her purse (both of which had also been borrowed from Jessica) and opened the door.

“Sorry for making you wait,” she intended to say, but the words died on her lips as she stared at the man standing in her doorway. After a pause, she awkwardly reached for the flowers hanging limp in his hand.

“Y-you look beautiful,” Sungmin stammered. 

A/N: Updates will not start appearing more frequently, as I am forcing myself to finish this.