I N V E S T I G A T I O N   1 

It was in the midst of November, wind started to breeze chillily, and trees started to shed their leaves. Taeyeon and Baekhyun were strolling at the park, though it was cold, they enjoyed their little talks, and the feeling of their fingers intertwining. Taeyeon looked at the taller in the eye, and the latter smiled at her.

“Are you cold?” asked the taller.

“No,” Taeyeon replied. “I’m wearing 3 layers of shirts.”

Baekhyun chuckled at the girl’s remark. It’s not like they’re a couple of teenage lovebirds who are madly in puppy love. In fact, they both are grown-ups. Taeyeon was in her 23^rd year of her life, while Baekhyun was 2 years older.

“You wanna help me choose a pair of shoes?” Asked the younger.

“Shoes? For what?”

“I’m a girl.”

Again, he chuckled, “Alright, alright. Promise me it won’t take too long.”

“You’re so mean,” Taeyeon hit him in a friendly gesture, “I think it’ll take 2 to 3 hours, Baek.”

They just celebrated their 2^nd month anniversary last week. It had been a couple months since they first met, at The King’s, a small burger shop at the downtown. Taeyeon is a young detective that works for the Seoul National Police Department, who often pays a visit at that shop. While Baekhyun, he’s just Baekhyun, the guy next door who seems to be a simple guy. At first, he was only in a rush that he decided to grab a meal at The King’s. That’s when he first met Taeyeon, and attracted to her. The second time he came to the restaurant, he saw Taeyeon again, and also the third, the fourth, and the fifth. He encouraged himself to greet her a simple hi by asking her whether that seat was taken—and she answered no—and he eventually had a dinner with her. Baekhyun turns out to be a billionaire businessman, and he used to work as a social worker at certain orphanages.

Taeyeon’s cell rang. She looked at the caller ID and picked it up quickly.

“Yes, Officer Kim?”

“Taeyeon-ssi, this is bad. You have to come quick, it’s a murder,” the voice across the phone said in an urgent tone.

“I’ll be right there in 10 minutes, Sir,” she replied and pocketed her phone.

“Another case?” Baekhyun asked.

The girl nodded, “Yeah. I’m really sorry I need to rush, Baek.”

“S’okay. Need a ride?”

“No, thanks. See ya later.”

“No goodbye kiss?”

Taeyeon smiled. She tiptoed and placed a quick peck on the elder’s cheek. “Bye-bye.”

∞

“Someone reported that he saw a corpse under the Yanghwa Bridge this morning,” Youngwoon, the Head Chief, said, chewing on his cigarette.

Taeyeon followed his steps. “A man, woman?”

“Woman.”

Taeyeon gasped. “Give me the location, then.”

“Here you go,” Youngwoon said, giving the younger a piece of paper. “A bunch of crews have arrived there.”

“Got it. Leave it up to me, Sir.”

Taeyeon then walked out from the office in her heels, taking a pair of latex gloves before she left. On her way, a car stopped by. Soon the driver opened the window, and Taeyeon could see her friend cocking his head from the window.

“Taeyeon-ssi,” he said. “Goin’ somewhere?”

Taeyeon smiled upon seeing him, “Joonmyun-ssi. Yeah, to a crime scene.”

“Well, get in here. I’ll give you a ride.”

Taeyeon hesitated at first. She glanced to her wristwatch for a second and decided to take his offer. “Sure, thanks a lot.”

She got inside the car and fastened her seatbelt. Soon after Joonmyun had stepped on the gas, he started a conversation.

“So, tell me,” he said, slightly looking to his side. “What’s the case this time?”

“Homicide,” the shorter sighed.

“Wow,” Joonmyun raised his eyebrows. “Huge.”

“I can tell. Homicide is rare in Seoul. It’s my second homicide case since I ever worked here.”

“I should learn a lot from you, senior.”

Taeyeon gave him a ‘duh, cut it off’ glare, and both chuckled afterwards. “Aren’t you busy? How’s your case?”

“Nearing the end,” Joonmyun sighed, “I’ve got the identities of the thieves. I can’t wait to end this case since I only get 3 hours of sleep per day. See these dark circles?”

“Ugh, don’t be a baby. I didn’t get any sleep for 2 days on my last case. I cling on caffeine for life,” Taeyeon scoffed.

“Yes, ma’am.”

A few minutes later, they’ve arrived to the crime scene that was surrounded by a few cops. There was also a police line bordering the scene.

“Good afternoon, Detective Kim,” one of the cop said. Both Kims greeted back. “Good afternoon, Officer Lee.”

“How long has the corpse been here?” Taeyeon asked, wearing her latex gloves.

“Approximately 7 hours, Miss. She hasn’t been dead long.”

Taeyeon had her face scrunched when she came nearer to the dead body. She examined her face, and saw that her lips were shaded a dark blue. Her eyeliner faded into her tears and black were visible on her cheeks. There were bruises on her neck, arms, and thighs.

“How old is she?” asked Joonmyun, who was standing beside the squatting Taeyeon.

“Judging from her flawless skin, 20 to 23 years old,” Taeyeon answered.

“What a pity. She seems beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Taeyeon replied, more like a whisper. Who dares to murder such a beautiful young lady like her?

Taeyeon noticed a red scratch on her chest. She grew curious and removed the disposable plastic wrappings around her a bit. She was so shocked as she witnessed Chinese words markings on her chest. She knew that it was carved on the corpse’s skin.

“Holy cow,” Joonymun exclaimed as he saw those scars.

“Do you know Chinese, Joonmyun-ssi?”

“Nope.”

“Then let’s go back to the office. We need to see Luhan.”

∞

“Luhan-ssi,” Taeyeon called, half-running to the man.

The cop in a blue uniform turned around after sipping his coffee, “Oh, Taeyeon-ssi. What’s up?”

“I need you to read this,” Taeyeon said, showing him her phone.

Luhan crossed his eyebrows when he took a look at Taeyeon’s phone. A second later, Luhan finally came up with an answer.

“It says ‘unfaithful’,” and sipped his coffee. “As in disloyal, or insincere.”

Taeyeon widen her eyes, “Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m Chinese,” and laughed. “Told you I’m useful, Taeyeon-ssi. Come on, I’ve been waiting for so long to be involved in a homicide case! Count me in, detective,” said the unmanly cop.

“You’re in, kid. Thanks for this by the way, gotta go,” she said quickly before leaving him behind and called her partner.

Luhan hissed a loud “Yes!” while his palm and closed his eyes in victory. “Wait, didn’t she just say I’m a kid?”

∞

“Sunkyu, here. ‘Sup, Tae?” The other line chirped in her usual cheerful tone.

“Sunkyu-ah, I need your help. There’s a homicide under the Yanghwa Bridge this morning. I kinda need a cause of death, also some weapon used in this case. And I need fingerprints,” Taeyeon said, placing her phone between her ear and her shoulder, while her hands were trying to find some files and paper. “She’s a real beauty, Sun. My heart is breaking.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on it. I’ll call you back soon when I’ve something,” Sunkyu’s tone turned into serious, and she cut the line afterwards.

Sunkyu took her coat and drove to the bridge, a bag full of utensils was also brought along. After she got there, there were still a few cops surrounding, waiting for their cue to take the corpse. Sunkyu greeted them and asked for a permission to examine the corpse, and they let her. She took a mask to cover and started to do her job carefully.

The discoloration in the lips makes me suspect an overdose or poison, she thought.

Soon she noticed the horrifying marks on her chest and crossed her eyebrows when she ran her fingers onto them.

Looks like it’s carved by a small blade, what kind of monster does something so cruel like this?

“No stab or bullet wounds,” she listed as she wrote on her notebook, “A few signs of blunt force, and a little deterioration. She hasn’t been dead more than 8 to 10 hours.”

After she was done, she closed her notebook and prepared to take the fingerprints. When she was dusting her hand, she saw a tattoo of a daisy blossom between her thumb and her index finger. She thought that it might be useful so she took a picture of it.

Maybe it has some meanings or something, she thought and put her phone back, started to take her fingerprints.

The body was still in a good shape and so were the prints. She quickly packed her stuffs and drove back to the office.

“Officer Youngwoon, I’m done with the corpse,” Sunkyu said on the phone.

“Finished? Always the pro, Sunkyu-ssi. I’ll have my boys move the corpse to the lab.”

∞

With the sample of saliva Sunkyu had taken from the corpse, she examined it to know what substance that might have poisoned her. With her chemicals, she finally found out the cause of death, which was poisoning.

“Taeyeon-ah, I found the cause of death.”

“Fantastic. And?” Taeyeon replied at the other end of the phone.

“It’s Botulinum toxin. The victim was poisoned with botox,” Sunkyu said, taking off her glasses and sat on her swivel chair. “Obviously overdosed.”

“That’s awful.”

“I’ll send you my autopsy report and the victim’s fingerprints, yeah?”

“Better be nice. Thanks a lot, hon!”

“No problem. By the way, the victim had a small tattoo of a daisy blossom on her hand,” Sunkyu said as she recalled it. “I don’t have any idea what’s that supposed to mean.”

“Great info, Sun. Thanks.”

∞

After Taeyeon received the record, also the fingerprints, she quickly did a research for missing person on her computer. She inputted the data she had at the moment, but that didn’t help her much, because Taeyeon didn’t find any of her identity. Also with her fingerprints, still no record about her.

“Gosh,” she ruined her hair. “It’s hard to believe that no one would be looking for such a beautiful young woman like her,” she said to herself, biting her own fingernails. “Then again, she hasn’t been dead long.”

She looked at the clock on the wall in front of her. It was already 9 P.M., and she realized that she hasn’t had her dinner. Taeyeon grunted when she felt her stomach growled. “The King’s is still opened right?” She asked herself a rhetorical question, as always.

finally! first chappie for Crimson Daisies. i'm reaaally sorry for the super late update. i've been so busy with school, and AFF went wrong on my laptop. please forgive me? i'll give you cookies :D anyways, this fic still has so little views but, meh. please subscribe and leave your thoughts on the first chapter on the comment box below! also, don't forget to upvote too. takes a second but means a lot :) love ya! thank you for being patience<3