C  H  A  P  T  E  R     O  N  E

"This is the new case that had popped up this morning, late at 2 a.m." Ji An gently grabbed a sheet of paper from her transparent pink folder and put it on top of Hyeon's office's desk. Her eyes were moving between the paper and Hyeon, who was furrowing an eyebrow and raising another eyebrow while glancing at the paper Ji An had so sensitively protected. He exhaled a loud, long breath through his nose before rubbing his temple with the spine of his expensive black pen. "The man who's name is Kim Min Suk had been murdered half an hour before his wife went back to home and call the office. They haven't buried his body yet so it's a chance to examine his corpse. I can't do this alone, and we need your genius brain to help us solve this mystery,"

"That's the reason you came?" Hyeon glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, moving his head to his side a bit before positioning himself back at his chair. Before she had the chance to reply, Hyeon already continued by saying, "I'm busy."

Ji An took a step back and put her hands on her hips while gesturing towards the flawless white paper on his desk. "What are you even doing? Are you solving another case?" Hyeon didn't answer her. She cleared and put her hands back to her sides after realizing she looked like the owner of the house. "What can I do to change your mind?"

"Nothing," Hyeon barely looked at her. "I don't need anything." 

It took a second for Ji An to pack her stuff and put the white paper back to its transparent pink folder. Though it looked as if she was about to leave, Hyeon was the only one who was smart enough to solve this case even if he done it by himself. Ji An quietly glanced at his stack of papers and realized it was just a few pictures of a creepy drawing that he was examining. It was useless, it was a waste of time. She took a sheet of paper from its stack and was about to take a closer look, but Hyeon instantly took the drawing back out from her hands with a crease formed in his thick eyebrows. "Careful, this is not something you can play with."

Ji An sighed. "It's just a drawing, not that important." she shrugged nonchalantly. Hyeon smirked coyly.

"Even if you copy it, the clues remain inside the real drawing." so it was what Hyeon was doing the whole night; searching for clues of some sort until his face darkened and his eyelids kept on shaking because he haven't slept. For the first time Ji An thought he was mad, and not a diligent hard-working genius that she thought he was. Even his usual neat brown hair was ruffled up and some even stood straight pointing towards the ceiling. Ji An rolled her eyes just looking at his appearance, and Hyeon was watching her quietly from the beginning. 

"Is this a drawing from your girlfriend back then?" she asked and put a hand on his armchair like a boss. After realizing what she was doing was awkward, she quickly move her hand away and cleared loudly to make it 'less-awkward'. 

"No," Hyeon replied casually and stopped examining for a moment. "It's my own drawing."

"Creepy," Ji An muttered, and Hyeon turned his head at her like a hungry hawk. "I mean, it's cool. It's rare for someone around your age. Um, 5 years old, 6 years old-"

"10 years old," Hyeon said in a flat tone, and turned his head away. Ji An continuously bite her bottom lip while he wasn't looking. Her attempt to drag him into solving the case with her so they'll solve faster looks like a disaster. Not to mention it was already 12.32, and the clock keeps on ticking.

"Then what is the clues you're talking about? You said you were searching for the clues that was hidden in this piece of trash, I mean, crash, whatever, and yet you said you were the one who draw this. Aren't you suppose to know what the clues is?" she said enthusiastically, wanting to rush their conversation so they could leave faster - bringing Hyeon with her, that is. Hyeon sighed heavily and gave her a sudden sharp glance, impatiently.

"I lost my memory a few days after my dad died." Hyeon didn't like remembering anyone about his past, especially himself. "Some people just didn't care what they think and kept on pushing people to tell what they want to hear, then they will tell you how sorry they are, when it's their own stupid mistake."

It wasn't the first time Ji An was surprised at his spiteful words. Hyeon was a man with that kind of attitude. "I didn't mean to, I didn't even know you had a tragic past-story." Ji An glanced at the closed curtains. Hyeon didn't even smile at her for a second; even that coy smile that he did a few minutes ago didn't last for a second.

"Forget about my story." Hyeon straightened his position on his seat, fixing his collar and closed his notebook. "I will help you solve the mystery but only on one condition."

"What's that?" Ji An asked in a rush.

"I wanted to meet someone." Hyeon continued. "He escaped the prison a long time ago, and I couldn't find him from then on. If you send someone to track him down - someone with an amazing ability to watch over a pyscho killer - maybe I could help you with your cases."

"Ah, jinja?" Ji An was excited and then she started smiling like an idiot herself, but it quickly faded when Hyeon raised his eyebrows casually. "Ara, I know someone with the greatest ability to track someone down but she's a female. Isn't it too much for a fe-"

"I can easily end our bargain here." Hyeon said. Ji An exhaled a breath in exhaustion and dialed a number using her own phone. Watching her waiting for whoever at the end of the line was,Hyeon was waiting for her to ask him an obvious question.

"I forgot to ask you his name," Ji An said, moving her phone an inch away from her right ear. Hyeon sighed.

"Lee Joon Yeong." {}