“This is so gruesome.”

“I know.”

Ryeowook looked away and winced, looking as pale as a ghost. “Oh damn, I’m going to faint.”

Hyukjae was concerned about the new officer, but he was more interested in the gory scene before him. A young man had just been shot in his car – the bullet was lodged in his left chest, obviously aimed directly at his heart, but his throat had been slashed to ribbons, splattering blood everywhere. His eyes had still been wide open with a haunted look of terror. Disturbed, Donghae had asked a police officer to close the eyelids so he wouldn’t feel so spooked.

“I’m speculating that he was shot in the chest first, but managed to turn a bit so the bullet didn’t go right through his heart,” Donghae started. “The killer then had to personally rip his throat out to kill him like that. He must have desperately wanted him dead. Look at all the signs of struggling.”

“Judging from the direction of the bullet, whoever it was shot it from the front. They should have been facing each other, which means the poor fellow here knew exactly who killed him. Unfortunately, this is a pretty isolated parking lot so nobody would have noticed until too late,” Hyukjae offered. “There aren’t any security cameras here either. Donghae, what do you think?”

Donghae folded his arms and circled the car. “This is a pretty expensive convertible. The top was off, so it could have been shot from any direction. Remember, he could have swerved that the gun missed him. The car engine wasn’t running, so he could have just arrived and turned off the engine, or was just about to leave but never did.”

Hyukjae nodded and hummed softly. “I’m betting he has dot patterns around his belly button too. Maybe a higher ranking, seeing that he was so desperately needed dead. Maybe he’d just closed a deal and the other party wasn’t happy with him so they wanted him out.”

“I’m betting this convertible was stolen too,” the chief inspector added, then shrugged. The paramedics came to cover the graphic body with black plastic while a tow truck was ready to tow the car away. Donghae watched them as they worked, his eyebrows scrunched up to reveal deep wrinkles on his forehead while he thought. Hyukjae turned around to check on Ryeowook, and to his dismay he saw that the poor officer had passed out on the ground.

Sighing, he trekked over and tried waking the younger officer, loosening the belt around his waist and lightly massaging him to get the blood circulating. He took Ryeowook’s pulse and felt relieved that it was still pulsing regularly. Really, Ryeowook should have told them that he was squeamish with blood so he wouldn’t have had to witness such a gory scene.

“Is he alright?” Donghae asked, when he realized Hyukjae disappeared and was checking up on the fainted officer instead. “I think he just got his first scare,” the chief sighed and shook his head. “Hyuk, can you bring him back to the station first? I still want to discuss a few things with Officer Han.”

“He’ll wake up in a while,” Hyukjae chuckled. “I’ll bring him back. Call me or Kyu or Min if you need help. We’ve all got your back.”

Donghae nodded and smiled. “Of course. See you later.”

* * *

“Heechul’s missing,” Henry stated, when Hyukjae brought Ryeowook back to the station. Ryeowook had woken up by himself somewhere in the middle of the drive back, but Hyukjae took him back anyhow just in case.

“What do you mean, missing? Did he get kidnapped or is he just out taking an extra-long lunch break?” Hyukjae sneered. “Maybe he got stuck at the long line at McDonald’s. They just launched the new kimchi burger today.”

Henry’s eyes brightened at once when he heard about the new burger. “They have kimchi burgers? Like, finally? I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long!”

Hyukjae snorted. “Sure. Go get it before it’s all gone.”

“Can I?” Henry looked like a little toddler asking fo