I N V E S T I G A T I O N   8

“The manager said he let you in,” the man said.

Taeyeon bowed before urgently replied, “Yes he did. I’m sorry for being impolite, Mr. Horvejkul, I suppose?”

The man nodded and smiled vaguely, “You’re right, let’s have a little chat.”

With that, Taeyeon nodded, placing the diary back to its place.

“I’m Detective Kim Taeyeon, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Horvejkul.”

“Nichkhun, please. It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Kim Taeyeon-ssi. So, I bet you’ve read her diary.”

“Yes I have, Nichkhun-ssi. Is that true? About you taking another Daisy from the orphanage?”

Nichkhun shook his head, “It was only a misunderstanding between Victoria and I. It’s true that I’ve been seeing another girl for a few days before her death, but there’s nothing going on between me and her.” He heard no answer from Taeyeon and decided to go on. “I adored Victoria so much. She’s a precious jewel, a high-class lady. Maybe she did have a reputation as a flirt, but she never meant anything, Detective.”

Taeyeon looked at Nichkhun concerned, “I feel your misery, Nichkhun-ssi,” she said, handing him a pack of tissue.

“Now that she’s gone, and I don’t have her anymore, or anyone else. I’ve been suspended from the society too. I really hope you’ll find whoever did this, and most importantly prove that it wasn’t me.”

Taeyeon gave a reassuring pat on Nichkhun’s shoulder before standing up and processed to the door. “Oh, Nichkhun-ssi. One more thing, do you happen to know the guy?”

“You mean, the one in Victoria’s diary?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“Sadly, no.”

∞

“So, you’re saying that this is Dr. Park Chanyeol’s cigar and this is Victoria’s patron’s tears,” Sunkyu said, taking a few glass bottles that contained some chemical fluids.

“Undoubtedly,” Taeyeon said and folded her arms on her chest.

“Okay,” Sunkyu replied, “Let’s just see the result, shall we?”

The honey-haired researcher ran the test with the detective watching this time, anxious of the result. What Sunkyu said was true, she really could take a blood type from tears and also saliva, seeing the result shown on the computer screen.

“The saliva from Dr. Park Chanyeol tells us that his blood type is O+,” Sunkyu said, tapping her fingers on the table.

“Not a match for the blood found on Cho Joohyun’s pants,” Taeyeon mumbled.

“M-hm,” Sunkyu nodded, placing her chin between her index and thumb. “Nichkhun’s Horvejkul’s blood type is O-, also not a match.”

“Dang it.”

∞

The next morning, Taeyeon decided to show up at Dr. Park Chanyeol’s apartment. She knocked on the door, and Jinri greeted her, with a concerned look on her face.

“Good morning, Jinri-ssi. Are you alone?” Asked the detective.

“Yes,” she mumbled, “You’d better come in.”

Soon as Taeyeon went inside the apartment, Jinri spoke, “I’m sorry Detective Kim, I shouldn’t have talked to you last time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not…” She shrugged, “It’s not acceptable.”

“To talk to the police? Or anyone else outside your ‘little society’?”

“Either does. P-please leave.”

Taeyeon sighed an annoyed one, “Listen, Jinri. I know what’s going on right now. I can get you out from here. Come on, I’ll take you there, and it’s safe.”

Jinri looked puzzled, “What are you talking about? Getting me out from what?”

“Look, I know you were forced into ion with that jerk Chanyeol.”

“Hey, he’s my boyfriend—”

“You don’t have to accept that! I can get you out. Believe me.”

Soon a smile crept onto Jinri’s lips, and it turned into a giggle, then a laugh. Taeyeon was left agape.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m sorry Detective,” Jinri managed to say between her laughs, “Oh God. What an idea! Let me tell you, Detective, we’re not es. And I’ve no desire to leave, or as in your thing, to get out.”

Taeyeon was silenced.

“I’m very happy with my life. All my friends live in this complex, and we chat every single day,” the tall girl explained. “I have a boyfriend who adores me and gives me literally anything I ask for, I like that! What could be better?”

Taeyeon didn’t answer.

“Do you think I want to be like girls at my age? Going to school and getting in debt? Then you can graduate so you can work like a slave at a desk job, exactly like what you’re doing right now, Detective?”

Taeyeon thought that it was rude.

“Those women are not taken care of. You are not taken care of!”

“But—”

“Don’t save me, Detective. You’re the one who needs help.”

“What about Victoria Song?” Taeyeon asked, voice barely a whisper. “Was she taken care of, too?”

Jinri hesitated, “That has nothing to do with me.”

“No? What about ‘unfaithful’? Is that the society’s retribution for girls who disobey?”

“Of course, not! Our society isn’t like that at all. If a girl was really unreasonable, she might be sent back to the school, to teach or,” she paused before continuing, “Maybe even told to work the streets, but not murdered! Maybe her patron was a psycho or something!”

“Jinri,” Taeyeon held her shoulders, “It wasn’t only Victoria. Women are dying.”

“It’s nothing to do with me!” Jinri shook Taeyeon’s hands off her shoulders, “You’ll get me in trouble, please leave now.”

The door to Dr. Park Chanyeol and Jinri was shut right in front of Taeyeon’s face. And it was locked. Taeyeon turned around and stomped on the cemented floor beneath her, mumbling some cuss words under her breath. Her phone rang and she quickly picked it up.

“Yes, Officer Youngwoon?”

“Another murder, Detective.”

“The heck!? I’ll be right there.”

∞

Taeyeon saw Luhan, Sunkyu, Joonmyun and Youngwoon were gathering the corpse as soon as she arrived. “Hey, sorry I’m late.”

Sunkyu and Luhan turned around, and greeted back, “You’re not going to like this, Taeyeon-ssi,” Luhan said. “We saw him at the auction.”

Taeyeon felt her heart was dropped. “Really? Who is—” She stopped when she saw the corpse. “He was planning to bid on Suji, wasn’t he?”

Luhan nodded.

“I also found this,” Sunkyu handed Taeyeon a box of cufflinks that had a symbol of daisy on them. “Ok Taecyeon was definitely a member of The Golden Petals Society.”

“You should see his chest,” Youngwoon butted in.

Without wasting any second, Taeyeon squatted down and took a peek on the victim’s chest. She spotted the same carving on his chest, Chinese words as well.

Joonmyun squatted beside Taeyeon and whispered, “The same killer.”

Taeyeon could only nod.

“It reads ‘cheat’,” Luhan said, “Like someone who cheats on a test.”

Taeyeon stood up and the other two men followed, “Thanks,” she said.

Sunkyu stepped forward and said, “He died where he fell and he hasn’t been moved, judging from his position. That also means, the killer was here. He was killed by poisoning, with the same poison, I guess.”

“You’re right, Sun. Is there any cuts or wound on his body?”

“Nope, at all,” Sunkyu shook her head. “But my ultraviolet light spotted this,” she continued, handing Taeyeon a wrapped cotton bud coated with a few drops of blood. “Droplets of blood on Ok Taecyeon’s desk, it’s from a nosebleed.”

“So it may belong to the killer,” Joonmyun added.

“Joonmyun-ssi is right. It may belong to the killer.”

“Where did you spot the blood again, Sunkyu-ah?” Taeyeon asked, giving her coworker back the blood sample.

“On that desk,” Sunkyu pointed the desk beside a bookshelf.

Taeyeon rushed to the desk which had a computer that was still logged in. She saw that it had a window opened, and realized that Ok Taecyeon was going to write an email. The recipient box was empty, and the message hasn’t finished yet.

‘I know you have intimidated others, but not me. I have as much right as you to have Suji. You sh’

“It looks like the victim was going to send this but got interrupted,” Sunkyu said. “I’ve read it too.”

“It has no ‘to’ address,” Joonmyun continued. “I wonder who?”

“He’s talking about Suji,” Taeyeon said. “Could a rivalry over Suji have something to do with these murders?”

“Probably.”

∞

“The results shown say that the blood on Ok Taecyeon’s desk is AB+ typed, the same rare type with the blood found on Cho Joohyun’s pants,” Sunkyu reported. “Blood taken from Ok Taecyeon is O, therefore, the blood on the desk wasn’t the victim’s.”

“It was the killer’s, right?” Taeyeon asked.

“Chance is 80%.”

“Oh well, we’ll know when we find him.”

Sunkyu replied with a nod.

“By the way, it’s time to go see Kris Wu again. Maybe he’ll have a nosebleed when I’m there.”

Sunkyu laughed at Taeyeon’s remark, “I’ll be staying here. Call me when you get something.”

“Cao!”

∞

The elevator dinged, and Kris Wu’s secretary went out, with Taeyeon following. “Mr. Wu, Miss Kim Taeyeon is here and wishes to see you.”

Taeyeon titled her head to her side and spotted Kris who was talking to a guest. Soon as the guest heard the name Kim Taeyeon, he turned around and called, “Oh, Taeyeon-ah!”

Taeyeon was surprised to see her boyfriend sitting on the couch just across Kris. Kris stood up and dismissed his secretary. He slightly bowed his head and greeted, “Nice meeting you again, Detective.”

“You too, Kris,” Taeyeon said and walked straight to Baekhyun, “Hey, Baek. What’re you doing?”

Baekhyun hugged the tiny form of Taeyeon’s before replying, “I’m just paying a little visit at my friend’s office. What about you? What brings you here?”

“Um, I was going to have an interview with your friend here,” Taeyeon said, looking at Kris, and she earned the iconic smile of Kris.

“Well, I’ll be waiting outside then. Have your time.”

“Thanks, Baek.”

∞

“You’re still here?” Taeyeon asked as soon as she went out from Kris’s office.

“Yeah, I think I’ll just wait for you so we can hang around,” Baekhyun smiled.

“Oh, you should’ve told me earlier, Baek.”

“Nah, I’m alright. Did your interview go on smoothly?”

Taeyeon sighed, “A murder happened this morning, or maybe last night. But we found the dead body this morning.”

“Really?” Baekhyun asked, eyes widened at Taeyeon’s remark.

“M-hm,” Taeyeon answered. “I was talking about it with Kris.”

“What did he say?”

“It does appear that the murders are connected to our society. But our society isn’t a plot of murderers, you should know that.

Whatever you think of me, I am a man of honor, and I take my duties seriously. I can tell you nothing of our membership, or any of our girls.”

“He didn’t know much about it.”

“It’s alright babe,” Baekhyun embraced the smaller. “You know what?”

“What,” Taeyeon replied, looking up to Baekhyun’s eyes.

“If I were Kris, I would definitely take care of the killer.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Baekhyun smiled. “For you.”

∞

Jessica nearly fell from her swivel chair at her work when her phone suddenly rang and a loud tune of a rock song blasted.

“H-hello!?” Jessica answered urgently, after harshly picking her phone up.

“Jess? What’s with your tone?” Taeyeon asked, across the line.

“Sorry I was nearly asleep,” the blonde reporter answered. “What’s up?”

“It’s about Suji, Jess. The Daisy we saw at the auction last time.”

“Yeah, I remember that pretty girl. What happened to her?”

“You said you’ve met her at the orphanage, right? Can you talk to her and see if she’ll tell you who’s been… You know, ‘courting’ her?”

“Courting?” Jessica asked, voice a tone lower, “Yeah right. Seriously, what’s going on with her?”

“Remember the guy that talked to her at the auction? The guy named Ok Taecyeon?”

“That buffy-handed guy, yeah.”

“He’s dead.”

“SERI—” Jessica clasped her hands, “I mean, seriously?”

“He’s planning to bid on Suji. Maybe a rivalry over Suji is the reason behind this all. So I need you to find out who else is going to take her.”

“I’ll be right at The Little Daisies in 10 minutes, or maybe 5. See ya.”

∞

Soon as Jessica parked her white car across the old building, she went out and walked through the huge gate. She opened the door to the main hall and found nobody by the huge hall. When she was about to step forward, her shoes accidentally stepped on a white envelope on the wooden floor. She took it, and was startled that it was for Suji. From Choi Jinri.

Gosh, I know it’s illegal to open someone else’s letter, but… Oh screw illegalities, I’m ripping this envelope.

And so Jessica did. She carefully tore the envelope, and read it in silence.

My dearest Baby Suji,

I know you’re very busy getting ready for your big day. I can’t believe my little Suji is graduating. I feel so old. The gossip at the apartments says you are ‘the one’ this year. My, my, you are such a beauty.

Have you heard the terrible thing that happened to Victoria? Also that news woman Cho Joohyun. A detective came to see me the other day. Is it possible that it wasn’t Victoria’s patron who killed her? If it wasn’t him, then who else? And why?

I need you to be extra careful, Suji. I don’t want you to get hurt. I also don’t want to ruin your big day, you should enjoy it. But please, if you need to say some words, make sure to tell me. I love you, Suji.

Your ‘sister’,

Jinri

“Miss Jung,” a voice echoed in front of her. “You’re not welcomed here.”

Jessica shifted her gaze towards that ‘Kwon Witch’ far in front of her urgently and folded the letter. “Headmistress Kwon, we meet again.”

“If you’re here to ask me, I won’t answer any question regarding to our connection to Kris Wu, that unfortunate business at the Pier, our girls, or any other subject.”

Jessica scoffed, “I’m here to see Suji.”

“Who are you? Her biological mother?”

Jessica crumpled the envelope—luckily the letter was safe inside her pants pocket.

“You most definitely may not speak to Suji,” The headmistress said. “Have a nice day.”

Fine.

∞

It was a cold night, but Taeyeon was standing in front of Dr. Park Chanyeol’s apartment in her thick coat, with a letter in her hand. She threw the letter inside from the small gap beneath the door and knocked the door thrice before leaving.

Jinri heard the knocks and went to open it. She saw a piece of letter on the mat just before the door, and picked it up. Jinri opened the door to see the sender but saw no one. She paced back inside the empty apartment and read it.

Jinri, there was a murder last night.

It was a man who planned to bid on Suji. Please get her to call me. I need to know who else is interested in her.

Please, don’t let her end up like Victoria.

I know you care about her.

Detective Kim.

A tear dropped from Jinri’s eyes.

∞

“I’m going to write an expose on that in’ orphanage that’s going to melt that Kwon Witch’s eyeballs, I swear,” Jessica said, placing an empty glass of orange juice on the table.

“Jess,” Taeyeon chuckled and patted the blonde’s shoulder.

“Soon as you give me the permission, Detective.”

Sunkyu laughed, “Our typical Jessica Jung.”

“Suji is underage, if her guardian won’t give you her permission to see her, you can’t do anything about it,” Taeyeon told.

“But I wonder what’s the connection between these three girls, Suji, Victoria and Joohyun. They’re years apart, right?” Jessica asked.

“Didn’t I read in your case notes that Victoria’s patron, what’s his name again?” Sunkyu said.

“Nichkhun,” Taeyeon answered.

“Thank you. Nichkhun, was going to take another Daisy, is that true? That was recent, wasn’t it?”

Jessica looked at Taeyeon in disbelief, “My God, Tae.”

“Right! I need to go back there right now,” Taeyeon stood up.

“Careful,” Sunkyu told, “If you’re going to her apartment, you’re within your rights as long as the manager lets you in.”

“Oh he will,” Taeyeon smirked, “Again, this time.”

∞

As Taeyeon had guessed, Nichkhun wasn’t in the apartment, and the manager had let her in again. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t talk to Nichkhun directly. Taeyeon decided to just look around for any clue she could get. She then spotted Nichkhun’s bag on the sofa, which had a big brown envelope inside it. She took it and hoped that it’ll contain something important.

Inside, she took a cheque of 50 million Won written on it. Taeyeon’s eyes were widened as soon as she saw it.

Fifty million Won!? Nichkhun is surely a rich guy. He can afford anything with this, Taeyeon thought while placing the cheque on the table.

Her hand then roamed inside the envelope again and took another piece of paper. A paper for the Daisy bidding. A paper that had ‘Bae Suji’ written on it.

With that, Taeyeon gaped.

Nichkhun was planning to bid on Suji.

oh dang it, the news saddened me:( but here you go, 8th chapter. hope you guys will like it! dont forget to comment, subscribe and upvote! ^^ all best, love ya<3