Rule #20: When your emotions get involved, your deductions will become biased and untrustworthy

"Check her windows and doors and find out how his bastard got in. See if there is anything that suspicious left behind and make you check every surface." Mark barked as officers filed in and out of Saera's house.

Every surface was being dusted for prints and there was yellow police tape blocking off the doors as the box Saera found was being moved out by a couple of officers.

"You!" He snapped while pointing at an officer that stared at him, terrified, "I installed CCTV's around the entrance, pull all the footage from the last 12 hours and send to me."

The officer nodded hastily before cracking open Saera's laptop. Everyone was on edge, not just for the murder, but because Mark looked like he could rip someone's head off. He had fire in his eyes and anyone who pissed him off or wasted his time was done for.

This was the first victim who was sent outside of the police station and everyone was tense.

He turned to a forensics analyzer and yanked him over, "I want the autopsy and full analysis of the victim now. Get Hwasa on it right away."

"It'll take some time sir, they won't have the results until sometime next week." The man said nervously.

Mark closed his eyes to suppress his frustration and let out a sigh, "Fine, just tell her to do it as fast as she can. Time is not on our side."

"Yes sir!" He said with a bow before racing away.

Jackson shook his head as he walked over with a notepad, "It doesn't make sense. I saw her with Youngjae before I picked him up."

"Did you see her get into anyone's car?"

Jackson's face fell, "No, I just said goodbye. She said her friends were 5 minutes away."

"." He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. It was already 3 in the morning and he could feel the exhaustion set in. "I can't believe this happened."

"It's strange isn't it?" Jackson said with a frown, "From my understanding, Mireu wasn't a e."

"And she wasn't blonde!" Mark exploded, causing the other officers to turn and look at him.

Jackson winced but stepped closer to his friend, "So why the hell did he chose her?"

"Why do you think?" Mark asked sarcastically before nodding at a picture of Saera and Youngjae on the mantel.

Jackson's eyes grew wide, "You think he broke his pattern because of her?"

"She was getting close. Too close." He muttered angrily.

Jackson's face fell, "Dude, I'm so sorry, I should've asked her to stay at my place or at least drove her home myself."

"It's not your fault dude. If we start blaming ourselves then he wins. He's the one who did this." Mark growled.

Jackson gave him a sad smile, "What about you? Are you blaming yourself?"

Mark looked away with a scowl. It was his fault. He was the one that brought her onto his case and he was the one who continued asking for her help even after she was a threat.

He got carried away with the case.

He wanted to solve it so badly that he didn't see the amount of people that he was willing to sacrifice along the way.

So yeah, he blamed himself.

"H-How is she holding up?" Jackson asked.

Mark's face softened as he looked towards the door, "She's broken. She probably thinks it's her fault that her friend got involved. She knows that Mireu was collateral because of her own involvement in the case."

Jackson looked at his feet in guilt, "She probably feels terrible."

"Mireu only died because Saera was her best friend, but we need to make sure that she doesn't think that." Mark said softly.  

A young female detective cleared , "Um, sir?"

"What is it?" He hissed in annoyance.

She gulped and pointed out the front door, "The woman in the dress keeps slamming her head against the wall and she won't stop."

Mark's eyes widened and turned to Jackson who nodded, "I got it. Go to her."

Mark nodded before running past the officers and out the door to where Saera was. The girl was still in her dress while a woolly blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was curled in a ball on the ground and was repeatedly hitting the side of her head against the wall.

"Saera." He said breathlessly.

The girl didn't react and just continued the thumping noise. He sighed and crouched down next to her and stuck his hand out so that she slammed her head into his palm.

She stopped moving and stayed silent as she gripped the blanket closer to her body. Mark ducked his head and felt his throat close up when he saw her face. Her eyes were wide and vacant, with no visible emotion reflecting in them.

"I know you're scared, but you can't hurt yourself like this." He said quietly.

Saera didn't say a word and her face just paled as she curled closer into the wall. He reached out to brush the small bruise she made on her forehead but she just flinched and cowered away.

"She hasn't said a word since we got here." An officer said while passing by.

Mark nodded and looked back at her, "It's fine, I'll handle it from here."

When Saera first saw the body and when Mark first bursted through her door, she felt angry.

Furious.

She wanted to destroy the person who did this.

She wanted to kill them with her own hands.

This whole thing became dangerously personal.

She wanted to destroy everything in her path.

But then in a second everything drained out of her. Every last emotion disappeared. She just felt like an empty shell with nothing on the inside.

Her best friend was gone.

"Saera?"

She didn't respond and just stared vacantly over his shoulder as if he didn't exist.

He tapped her cheek gently until her eyes darted to  his, "I'm going to need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?"

Saera didn't move but she kept her eyes locked with his so he figured that, that was as good as he was going to get.

"You're going to go inside and pack up everything. Not just clothes and toiletries, but any important documents of you and Youngjae. Birth certificates, licenses, passports, all of it. Anything with personal information, phone numbers, Youngjae's school info needs to be packed up." He said firmly but softly.

Saera gulped and started to shake violently, "Youngjae."

Her voice was raspy and cracked but Mark just tried to push passed the twinge in his chest. He carefully the back of her head.

"Youngjae's safe. He's with BamBam and we sent two more officers over to him. Jackson will go over there right after he's done here." He mumbled softly.

Saera didn't nod or even react, she just leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. Mark dropped both his hands in his lap and stared at her.

"Can you stand up on your own?" He asked gently.

Saera opened her eyes and blinked at him tiredly before pushing herself up. Mark stood up with her as she rubbed her face. Her knees buckled but he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and  helped her up.

She looked up at him and blinked emotionlessly. His nose brushed up against hers but her eyes stayed empty and it actually scared him.

It was like she was numb.

"You're going to come stay with me at my real apartment for a few days, okay? Just until we clear this up. If he knows where you live then it's not safe here anymore. Is that okay with you?" He spoke slowly, his eyes pinned, waiting for her reaction.

"Wait, why isn't Youngjae coming with us?" She asked.

Amidst the chaos, Mark couldn't help but feel impressed at how the only times she ever spoke was involving Youngjae.

He slowly led her back into her apartment. "Don't freak, okay? I just thought that it would be the smartest thing if we don't all stay in the same place. It'll be too easy if something were to happen. Which it won't." He clarified.  "BamBam and Jackson live in the same building, so he'll be there too. Trust me, I wanted him with us just as much as you do, but it's the smartest thing for you to split up. We can always go visit him and you have his number to call whenever. Same with BamBam and Jackson."

The officers inside watched in intrigue as Mark hand was placed on her back as he weaved her through the apartment and into her room where he had already set up her suitcase.

They had seen him get close to the people he was investigating before, but they had never seen him get as emotionally attached as he was with Saera.

He set Saera down on the bed and started pulling her clothes off their hangers and tossing them inside the suitcase.

"I can't give up that bakery. It's everything." She croaked while standing up. She looked around her room before she collected some important documents that had hers and Youngjae's personal information on it.

Her hands were trembling and she could barely hold it together. All she could think about was the fact that her best friend was gone.

She was dead and it was all her fault.

And she barely had time to process that information before she was being carted off somewhere else.

If she had put her under better security, if she had just not gotten involved in this case at all, Mireu would still be alive.   

"Look I know you invested a lot of mo--"

"It's not about the money." She snapped, "That thing is my heart and soul and I won't give it up for some sicko and I swear Youngjae will say the same thing."

Mark pointed at her, "That. That right there. That anger, I want you to keep that anger. I want that anger to fuel you."

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice hardened over.

Mark stared her down viciously, "Don't feel bad for yourself. Don't blame yourself.  You more than anyone should know that this was his fault, not yours. He's a demented ."

"A demented who would've gone for someone else if it wasn't for me. She wasn't even blonde, he broke his pattern because of me." Her fists trembled by her side.

Mark shook his head, "I know you. You're smarter than to think any of this was your fault. You're smarter than to blame yourself."

"I just…I don't know what to think." Her voice shook.

"You don't have time to think. You have to make a decision. Either we send you and your brother under witness protection or you stay with me and take down the bastard who did this to her. It's up to you and either way I will respect your decision." Mark said firmly.

Saera stared at him in shock, "You're asking me if I want to give up my safety and the safety of my brother to help you?"

"I told you that I'd respect your decision." He repeated.

Saera gulped and stared at him unsurely until her eyes landed on a picture of her and Mireu that was placed on her shelf.

Mireu was her everything. She was her rock. Whenever something went wrong in her life, Mireu was always there to help her. She was her voice of reason and the one person who could stop her from going insane.

And it was because of her that she died.

How could she take the cowardly luxury of running away and hiding in protective custody  after being the reason that she died?

How, in good conscious, could she hide while her best friend was dead?

"Do you promise that Youngjae will be protected?" She asked while walking