"Dr. Byun. My name is Agent Jung, and this is my partner, Agent Lee. We understand that you’ve previously met our suspect?”

“Yes, of course. I was the one to originally suggest him be committed.”

“Good. Maybe you can shed some light on this case, then. We have just forty-eight hours before his trail goes completely cold – we’ve got a rising body count, and he seems to have kidnapped his stepbrother, Tao. He may even be dead or dying as we speak.”

“… I wouldn’t worry about Tao.”

“… What do you mean?”

Officer Kim Minseok slowed to a stop, turning off his police lights and stepping out of the car slowly. He made his way to the lone corvette parked partway down the long stretch of empty country road. With a indescribable feeling of unease, he leaned in the driver's side, only to discover an exhausted looking young Huang Zitao, bloodied and bruised, slumped over the seat barely conscious.

The minute his mind processed what he had seen, Officer Minseok immediately reached out.

“, young man, are you alright?”

He whirled around him, looking for anything and anyone else that could have done this, but saw nothing but wheat fields as far as the eye could see.

When he turned back, Tao was staring back at him steadily.

“Officer Minseok.”

“What you need to understand about Kris is that he’s a sociopath – but not just by choice. … Do you two anything about the MAO-A gene?”

“The MAO-A gene?”

“It’s called the serial killer gene for a reason. ’A disposition toward violence and aggressive behavior coupled with an emotional detachment’. It’s genetic – passed down through the parents to the child.”

“So you’re saying…?”

“Kim Joonmyun had it. So did his son.”

“Are you alright?! What happened? Do you need medical assistance? Let me go back to the cruiser, I’ll call in an ambulance.”

A delicate hand laid itself on Officer Minseok’s arm, stopping him from walking back to his vehicle.

“… I—muggers – I’m afraid they’ll come back. Please, just stay with me. I’m scared.”

Officer Minseok looked hesitantly back toward the police car. 

“The radio is only a few feet away in my car; I’d be back in seconds.”

“…but it hurts.” Tao said, in pain and shifting away. 

Officer Minseok leaned closer. “Where – where are you hurt?”

Tao gestured down at his foot and the police officer grimaced. It looked in a bad way.

Officer Minseok pulled open the door to the corvette, leaning down. Lifting Tao’s knee, he pressed worried hands against Tao’s ankle. A sudden sound of laughter and the policeman looked up, startled.

Tao was smiling down at him, his eyes suddenly sparkling. “I wouldn’t do that, officer.”

The policeman felt unsettled. “… Do what?”

Tao placed a warm hand on top of Officer Minseok’s. “I don’t think brother likes it very much when you touch me.”

Officer Minseok whipped around. Kris was coming out from the fields further down the road, a belt wrapped tightly in his hand. Officer Minseok’s hands flew down to his holster for his gun, only to find it missing. He turned to face Tao, still seated in the car.

He saw only a glint of metal before a pair of pruning shears was stabbed into his throat, slicing through to the other side. 

“But I don’t get it—based on what you’re saying, shouldn’t we be more worried about his stepbrother’s health?”

“Of course Tao isn’t dead – Kris would never hurt him. You see, they’re kindred spirits.”

A shuffling of papers, before the thud of something hitting a desk.

Huang Zitao’s patient file.

“Don’t you understand? Tao has the same gene - passed down from his mother.”

Tao pulled the shears out cleanly, watching as blood spurted from Officer Minseok’s throat like a fountain. The police officer gurgled in shock, holding his hands over the wound and stumbling away. Tao stood gracefully from the car, carefully and delicately placing his injured foot on the ground before beginning to follow Officer Minseok.

When the police officer disappeared through the wheat fields, Tao followed, a smile on his face.

There was the squeaking of chairs as the FBI agents leaned back, processing the new information with shock.

“That would explain the second M.O. with the fourth body – strangled and stabbed… …”

Clutching bloodied pruning shears in his right hand, Huang Zitao was stumbling through a golden field of wheat, swollen ankle dragging behind him in an unnatural angle. 

He breathed in sharp gasping intakes and panting exhales, continuing to lurch forward, following the telltale trail of blood that led him through the fields.

He was getting close now, could hear Officer Minseok collapsing on the ground somewhere in front of him. The blood loss must have finally gotten to him.

Distantly though, he heard Kris call his name. He turned around to face the noise, but turned seconds too slow, only able to see the barrel of a rifle pointed straight at him by Officer Minseok’s partner.

“TAO!”

“… So, what? What should we do here?”

“Professionally, there’s nothing much else I can offer you on that.”

But then the doctor was leaning forward.

“… But my personal opinion? I’d stay the hell away from either of them.”

Tao recoiled as a shot hit the ground near him, throwing himself to the ground to take cover. He heard the signs of a struggle and lifted his head just enough to see his brother tackling Officer Minseok’s partner to the ground, wrapping the leather belt around his neck and taking care of their second problem.

A rasping breath nearby drew Tao’s attention, and he looked behind him to see a rapidly paling Officer Minseok, twitching on the ground nearby.

The man was shaking, quivering, trying to pull away from Tao, but no longer having the strength to as Tao crawled closer. Tao caressed the man’s head, shushing him quietly. 

“Shh, now, officer Officer Minseok. It’ll all be over soon.”

Tao raised the shears one last time.

“As long as they’re focused on each other, we might not see anyone else die. But mark my words, if you come between them...”

“Are you saying we should just let two killers walk the streets?! There’s no way!”

 “… Have you seen a child rip out a grown man’s eyeball from its socket before? I have. You will never know fear until you’ve seen that look in a child’s eyes.”

Dr. Byun sighed, papers rustling.

“It’s a sad case – of abuse, neglect, and mental instability. You wonder if things might have gone differently, if we had only been able to see the signs.”

Dr. Byun set down his files, looking out the window one final time.

“…at least they have each other, this time.”

They were flying down the road in Kris’ corvette. The wind blew through Tao’s hair, causing the red tie he wore to flap over his shoulder. He smiled, with eyes closed, and reached out blindly to the driver’s side.

A warm, callused hand took his a second later, twining their fingers tightly together as a thumb the back of his hand.

“Where to now, brother?”

“I hear Paris is wonderful this time of year.”

Tao was happier than he had been in years.