Detective Taemin lay his back on the mirrored wall, waiting for the elevator to finally arrived to where they are set to go. Sulli is right beside him, checking her reflection on the reflective surface. She seemed to think that her attire is not presentable enough. Although in Taemin’s opinion, it already was.

                “Cut it out Sulli. You look good enough.” he scolded, tired of her usual standards. “And besides, we’re just going to a small birthday party. It’s not like we’re in a debut party or something.”

                Sulli flicked her hair, glaring at Taemin. “I have to look presentable. After all, it’s Song Janghee’s birthday. She’s not just anybody you know.”

                Song Janghee is one of the members of a popular idol duo called SILENCE which debuted 10 years ago. Her partner and at the same time lover Hwang Jiro is also a drama actor and a model. The two’s career skyrocketed during their second year in the business, so far topping music charts not only in Korea but also in various international countries.  However, the two is not married.

                “It’s a surprise that she still invited you in her birthday even though you haven’t fulfilled her request.” said Onew, who is with them. He’s a chicken maniac and surely he just went along so that he could eat some. “You must be embarrassed.”

                Taemin nodded. Last week, the idol had called his assistance for a serious personal matter. However, despite his efforts, he hadn’t helped much.  It’s wondrous really. “I’m not embarrassed. Rather, I’m honored. SILENCE is the hippest duo in Korea right now. Only few gets a chance to meet them.”

                The bell in the elevator rang, telling them that after some agonizing moments, they are finally on the top floor . “Here we are.” said Taemin, sighing. “I hate elevators. They make me claustrophobic.”

                Miss Song’s room is in the corner of the corridor, the farthest room from the elevator. Her room is one of the luxurious penthouses circulating in the country right now. It had automatic lock functions, exquisite veranda and three foot thick walls, clearly worth the lifetime wage of an ordinary citizen.

                Taemin rang the doorbell. “Hey. Miss Song. This is Lee Taemin.”He said through the microphone implanted on the viewing camera. “ I’ve come as your guest tonight. .”

                No answer for several seconds. He leaned on the door, resting his ears on the door, checking for vibrations. “There is sound inside. Electric appliance?”

                “Nothing irregular?” asked Onew, fearing that something else might have happened.

                And the door opened before Taemin could respond. He turned his back to face their host and…

                “Miss Song!” he exclaimed, rushing towards her. “You’re covered in blood. What happened?”

                Onew quickly checked for vitals, panning her limbs as he looked for wounds. “No wound Taemin. That means..”

                And that’s when they noticed the knife in her hand.

                “A man suddenly came inside from my balcony!” she explained, rather timidly. “And I-“ She clutched her chest and fainted, crashing to Onew’s arms. 

                Taemin quickly ran inside, with Sulli following close behind. He went straight to the veranda, where he presumed the intruder was. He paused when he saw the body.  There was blood around, further confirming that something terrible had happened. A gun lay beside him, alongside with a few shards of glass. Taemin knelt beside the body, checking the face.

                He stared at it in shock. “A zombie?”

               

***

A week earlier:

Taemin observed the photograph. “Kim Jungmin?”

                Janghee nodded weakly. “He’s an ex of mine from when I first came to Seoul fifteen years ago. We broke up because of his account on being a hateful bully but-“

                “You mentioned that when SILENCE becomes renowned in the music industry-“

`               “He called nonstop asking for money.” She supplied helpfully. “When I refused, he began harassing me.”

                “Harassing?”

                “He rifled through my mailbox. And I started to feel that someone is following me. The day before, I found scratch marks on my keyhole on the front door.” She rubbed the pendant tied to her neck, producing some weird noise.

                “Cute pendant.” commented Sulli “But what’s with the weird noise it creates?”

                Janghee smiled. “This is my pill case.”

                “Pill case?”

                “Yeah.” She answered. “I have a weak heart since childhood so I keep my medicine and carry it all the time.”

                “How unforgivable.” piped Onew. “To harass such a vulnerable lady like you.”

               

***

“I see.” muttered Inspector Choi Siwon, once Taemin had already explained the situation. “So this is another stalker problem, isn’t it?”

                “It might be.” He admitted. “But we can’t be sure yet.”

                Siwon nodded.  “So she tasked you to track this Jungmin?”

                “Yes. But despite my investigations, I hadn’t uncovered his address so I advised her to change her lock into an anti picking design for her safety of course. But, perhaps Jungmin noticed and broke in by force the balcony instead.”

                “Hmmm.” droned Siwon.

                Sulli held Janghee’s arm. “There are bruises in your arm.”

                “That man grabbed me.” She explained as Sulli applied remedy to the injury.

                A man opened the door. It was SILENCE’s manager, Park Dongjun, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Janghee-ssi!” he called, rushing quickly to the woman. “I am so worried. What happened?”

                “A man suddenly came in, wielding a pistol. I am so frightened.”

                Siwon looked at the forensic officer. “Take off his zombie mask.”

                The man complies, putting his sweaty fingertip on the mask’s edge. He took it off smoothly, revealing his face and…

                “No!”

                “It can’t be.” Janghee cradled her head in heist and burst out in tears.

                There before them was the dead body of Hwang Jiro, Janghee’s bandmate.

               

***

“It’s a model gun.” said the forensics when he examined the gun recovered from the crime scene.

                Choi Siwon’s eyes narrowed. “Can you explain to me in detail what happened when Hwang Jiro entered the premises?”

                “Today is my birthday.” She explained her voice still shaky from the tears. “I invited Lee Taemin, along with his friends for dinner. It happened when I was cutting strawberries for my salad. I heard glass breaking. I rushed to the veranda to check it out. I thought it was a cat. But when I came there.”  She burst out in tears. “A man in a zombie mask came, wielding his gun and saying ‘I’ll Kill You.’. of course, I’m still holding the kitchen knife. I stabbed him with it, in fear that he might kill me.”

                Sulli applied cold pressure to her bruised arm. “It’s purely self defense I guess.”

                Onew nodded. “Maybe.”

                The forensics handed the victim’s cellphone to the Inspector. “The call history here says that Mr Hwang called a locksmith around 6:30. Moments before he died. He has called someone else after.”

                “Go find the locksmith and this someone quickly.”

                The man ran out of the room, eager to please the young Inspector.

                Taemin raised an eyebrow to Janghee. “Janghee-ssi, didn’t you invite Jiro-ssi in your party?”

                Janghee looked at him with teary eyes. “He said he has a meeting with someone today.”

                Onew turned to the Inspector. “The question is why did he break in. What is Jiro planning?”

                Siwon nodded. He looked at Janghee. “Do you have any idea?”

                “None.”

                “Mr. Park?”

                “That..” he muttered.  “Actually, Jiro is planning to quit the duo. In his high school days, he was a shy boy who is timid and shaky whenever onstage but Miss Song insisted that he has talent so both auditioned for Jang Entertainment. After five years of training, they finally debuted. But as time passes, Janghee’s heart becomes worse so she misses a lot of practice and onstage appearance. She also forgets the dance routine and lyrics.”

                Jiro kicked the trash bin outrageously. “No good! No good! You missed three times! What is happening to you?”

                “I’m sorry.” She said. “My chest is in pain.”

                He started to walk away. “Whatever, I’m quitting.”

 

                “He really told you that?” asked Siwon in shock. Janghee nodded.  “That is rude.”

                “Speaking of which..” Onew said. “I read a few things in magazines. Things saying that Jiro is apparently going off with other women despite the fact that he’s in a relationship with Janghee-ssi.”

                “Looks like he was a womanizer.” Commented Taemin.

                “Jiro had changes since he became famous.” The manager said. “I can’t stand seeing it so I reprimanded him last night.”

                “Janghee is in here standing for you all this time! How dare could you say that you’re quitting?”

                “Nobody cares!” he said trough the mouth of his zombie mask.

                “What will you do after disbanding then?”

                Jiro flicked his hair. “With my looks, I will still be famous even solo. I’d rather be alone that to be with that woman!”

                “You…” the manager muttered through gritted teeth.

                “Regardless, I have no more intention being with Janghee. She had jumped on the sharks. You should persuade her to quit too.”

                “It was Janghee who brought success to Jiro.” He added. “I can’t stand that ungratefulness.”

                Onew’s eyes narrowed. “Jiro knows her condition right?”

                The manager nodded.  “So?”

                “The thing is, Jiro might have devised a plan to worsen her condition or worse kill her.” He said. “The thing adds up. Jiro wears a zombie mask and crept inside to scare her thus will encourage heart attack. He’s carrying a model gun since he can’t provide a real gun.  He calls a locksmith as well, so that he can ask help for opening the locked door. “

                The forensic officer came, his breath gasping. “Inspector, I have located the locksmith. It was confirmed that Jiro called at 6:36 but according to them  just when they answered, the call dropped off. They thought it was a wrong number.”

                Onew smiled. “That’s it. He probably had seen the balcony and realized that it’s easier to just break in there so he hung up. He breaks in anyway and scares Janghee-ssi but unfortunately for him, Janghee stabs him, not knowing he’s Jiro and thinking he was the stalker.”

                No. Taemin thought. That makes sense. But…

                “Any other information?” he asked.

                “A neighbor also saw Jiro climbing the stairs of the fire escape at around 6:35. He was watching news at that time so he knew the precise time. Apparently, the neighbor wondered why Jiro is in there. He says they are always meeting each other at the park nearby.”

                “Is he wearing the mask when he was scaling the steps?” asked Taemin.

                “No. According to the neighbor, Jiro seemed not to be carrying anything suspicious.”

                “He probably wore it upon reaching the balcony.” suggested Onew, raising the mask. Shards of glass fell from it.

                Taemin squinted. Glass shards?

                He diverted his gaze on the crime scene. There were glass shards around the victim but he wondered how did those glass shards snuck inside the mask especially since the victim was supposed to be wearing that when he broke in.

                Then he noticed cocklebur leaves on the folds of the victim’s pants.  He turned to Janghee. “Janghee-ssi, did you go anywhere else today?”

                “No I was home all day.”

                Taemin’s eyes narrowed. A pair of pink sneakers caught his eyes. “Is that yours?”

                “Yes. I bought it last night on the mall. Why?”

                Taemin said nothing, too absorbed by what he had observed on the sneakers.  Just as I thought.

***

Taemin went out of the apartment, once again boarding the elevator.  He endured his claustrophobia by twitching his slender fingers. He has to solve this case and uncover the truth.

                He ran towards the park, where the neighbor said was the usual meeting place of the two idols. He wondered briefly if no one recognizes them. After all, a park is a common place and both of them were famous.

                He made a call on the locksmith at 6:30 and a neighbor saw him climbing the emergency stairs at 6:35.

                Taemin stopped at the park’s entrance. He flicked on his flashlight.

                Judging from the time, he probably made the call here.

                He looked around and..

                Found it!

                It was the cockleburs that got tucked on Jiro’s pants, confirming that he indeed had been here earlier this day. He shone the light on the grass by the plant.

                The grass has been disturbed. Sis he part the grass to find something?

                And then it hit him like a blast of water cannon. I see! So it was like that!

 

***

“Janghee-ssi. My condolences to your unfortunate loss but-“ Siwon said. “We have to bring you to the police station for some questioning. “

                “Yes.”

                “But-“ Siwon added. “I think you wont get any charges pertaining to this. It was after all a self-defense case.”

                So they took Onew’s deduction?

                Taemin came back and rushed straight to the kitchen’s counter where the unmade salad lay. He took a sliver of fruit from it and tasted it.

                I’m right. Just as I thought.

                “Wait Inspector.” called Taemin. “I know the truth behind this case. Could you spare a minute to hear me out?”

                 The Inspector nodded. He was prepared for this. After all, Taemin has already solved various cases. “What else you’ve got?”

                “What Onew have described was just the stage scenario.” He said. “The scenario where Janghee-ssi feigned self-defense and proceeds to kill Jirou-ssi.”

                “What are you saying?!” protested Janghee.

                “Janghee-ssi.” He began melodramatically. “The one named Kim Jungmin… never existed in this world right?”

                “What? Hadn’t I showed you his photo? That’s nonsense!”

                “You only need to present a random old photo and fabricate a story.” He countered. “As such, you constructed a Jungmin fictional character. And acted as if you are afraid. You led us to think that Jiro-ssi with a mask is Jungmin.  And likewise had Onew deduce that it was justifiable act of self defense when you retaliated and stabbed him.  ”

                “Please stop this nonsense!” she ordered. “If Jiro hadn’t snuck here and wore a mask, noting could have happened.”

                “That was all a product of your design.” He said, ignoring her. “Jangee-ssi, at around 6:00 p.m., you actually meet up with Jiro didn’t you?”

                “No. I was making the salad right here.”

                Taemin gave him a mirthless grin. “You said you were making fruit salad?” He turned to Sulli, who was an expert when it comes too food. “Sulli, please take a bite.”

                Sulli flinched.

                “You’re good at cooking right? Tell me what you think of it.”

                Sulli walked towards the counter, her knees trembling.  She took a bite like what Taemin had done earlier. “It’s a bit too sweet and too cold. I think she refrigerated it for a while after she added the syrup.”

                “Right.” Said Taemin. “If she was really making that before the incident,  that could not have been sweet and cold. In other words, Janghee put the half-prepared salad in the fridge and went to the park to meet Jiro-ssi. ”

                “How can you be so sure?!” Janghee demanded angrily.

                “The cockleburs.” He answered. “They’re on Jiro-ssi’s pants. Although we can hardly see cocklebur plants in Seoul nowadays, it just happens that they are in that very park.  Not to mention, I also saw cockleburs on Janghee-ssi’s sneakers. “ He proceeded on narrating the whole incident, based on his deduction. “In the park, you lied to Jiro-san about having lost your key to your penthouse.  The cockleburs might have been stocked on you two while you’re looking for the key. The reason why Jiro-san called the locksmith is for them to open the door for you. “

                “But this two being lovers.” The manager piped in, wiping his sweat. “Jiro could have a spare key as well.”

                “I advised her to change the locks right? It’s likely she didn’t give the new spare key to Jiro-ssi.” He continued to narrate the possible scenario. “And afterwards, you proceeded with your final plan. “

                Janghee knelt on the grass, clutching her chest. Jiro hung up and rushed towards her. “What’s wrong? Heart attack? Where are your pills?”

                “I forgot them in my room.”  She said weakly.

                “It’ll be too late to wait for the locksmith.” He said.

                “Jiro listen..” she said. “The glass door on the balcony is unlocked. Please take the emergency stairs.”

                Jiro groaned. “Aish. Always causing me trouble.” And he ran towards the building.

                Taemin snickered. “As Jiro-ssi took the emergency stairs, you got there first by taking the elevator. Then you unlocked the door with your key. “

                Jiro climbed on the balcony, taking two steps at a time. He opened the unlocked glass door and..

                “Janghee?”

                There before him was Janghee with a kinife on her hands.

                “After you murdered Jiro-ssi, you took out the half ready salad from the refrigerator. “

`               Siwon groaned thoughtfully. “Even if that’s true, we lack evidence.”

                “The bruise on Janghee-ssi’s left arm.” Taemin retorted. “If he were to grab her arm, then his thumbprint will be on the reversed side.  The bruise doesn’t match.”

                Janghee hid her bruised arm.

                “That stemmed that she grabbed it with her left arm.”  Said the forensics.

                “Correct. And the zombie mask. Look carefully. You can actually see glass shards in the inside. If Jiro-ssi had worn the mask and snuck inside, the shards would never be inside. In other words, you broke the glass and put on the mask. Some of the pieces however flew on his head.”

                Janghee gasped.

                “The one who could have done that is Janghee-ssi.”

                She smiled madly. “Jiro. I couldn’t forgive him.” She finally said. “I also happen to overhear what he said. After Mr. Park left, he said..

                “I can finally put an end on being her boyfriend.”

                … We worked so hard as a couple and that’s what he has done! I can’t forgive that!”

               

***

A delivery boy came just as the police came to get Janghee. It’s a good thing there’s no media around or else, they will be crowded with questions.

                “A delivery.” Choi Siwon said. “It was delivered just now. For you.”

                Janghee looked up. She never expected that. “From whom?”

                “From Jiro.”

                She opened the package. A ring and a letter is inscribed into it. She read it silently.

                Are you having fun at your birthday party? Congratulations, you’re getting a ring as my present.

               The next sentence made her pause.

               I’ll cease being your partner and boyfriend.

                She gritted her teeth. She knew it.

                Instead..

                She could feel tears in the corner of her eyes. “Instead let’s get married.” She read aloud.

                I feel bad on telling you to quit but take care of yourself and start a brand new life with me. SILENCE will always be inside our hearts. Everlasting.

                She opened the ring box and realized it was a wedding ring. “No way… Jiro!” And she sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry. Jiro!”

                “Jiro! I’m sorry.”

                Taemin gasped. What a sad story!

                People’s feelings sometimes go astray and causes irreversible consequences. Taemin concluded. This too.. was one such tragic case.

         

 

 

 

      Author's Note: The other characters are purely fictional. On the next chapter maybe, I would add some REAL kpop idols. Please Comment everyone. I would be inspired to update again.

 

Who do you want?