"You can totally ignore me, you know," Hwasa teased as she sat down in front of Moonbyul's desk. "I know you guys just got back together and all, so you can continue, you don't have to stop for me."

Moonbyul rolled her eyes and reached out to knock Hwasa's head. "No on stopped for you!"

Hwasa saw the faint blush on the inspector's cheeks and laughed heartily. She was genuinely glad for her friend because she knew how much the other woman meant to her, but sadly, some things needed their attention. She haded Moonbyul an envelope addressed to her. "This was dropped off at the station just now."

It was a regular-sized envelope but it was thick. Moonbyul ran her fingers along the rim and tore it open. It was a stack of photos. She looked at Hwasa weirdly and asked, "Who dropped this off?"

Hwasa shrugged, "A new guy in the station passed it to me when I came."

The photos were grainy, low key lighting, out of focus - generally not well-taken. It was meant to be candid, she figured out after looking through several of them. Hwasa watched Moonbyul closely and realised the other person was frowning. Moonbyul turned a photo towards her and pointed to the man capture in the shot. "Isn't this Ahn Hun Sang?" She asked.

Upon hearing the name, Hwasa's eyes widened and sat up straight. She leaned forward to take a closer look and grabbed the stack of photos from the table. She scanned through the photographs and she nodded slowly in response to Moonbyul's question. "Yes, the woman beside him looks kind of familiar too," Hwasa commented.

There was no answer from Moonbyul and Hwasa found it strange. She looked up from the photos and saw Moonbyul flipping through the case file. She stopped at the page where the profile of the victims were documented and she held up the file for her to see. Her finger directed her attention to the third victim. "Yes," Moonbyul said, "because she's one of the victims."

-

"Welcome back, Mr Ahn," Moonbyul greeted the man as she entered the room. "I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me."

Ahn Hun Sang groaned and knocked his head against the table. "Oh, quit it. What is it now?"

Moonbyul put the photo of the third victim in front of him and asked, "Do you know her?" 

He glanced at the photo and looked back up at Moonbyul again. He thought he hid it well, but the inspector caught the slight change in expression. "No, I don't," he insisted. 

Moonbyul nodded and pushed another photo in front of him. "Explain this then."

Curious, he looked at the photo, and immediately frowned when he saw what was on it. The pain he was trying to forget for the past few weeks came rushing back and he did not bother to hide it anymore. "Who took this?" 

Moonbyul looked at the man who was evidently upset right now and she shook her head slightly. "You answer me first. Do you know her?"

He picked up the photo and looked at it closely. His expression softened as he ran his thumb across the surface. They were so happy, everything was great, but why did that have to happen? He pinched the photo harder until creases started to form. A hand touched his and he loosened his grip.

"I'm sorry," he apologised as he met the gaze of the inspector. He placed the photo back onto the table but he kept his hand on it. "She was my girlfriend." 

Moonbyul was slightly taken aback. She thought it was nothing more than a fling. "Why did you lie?"

Why did he lie? He blinked at the inspector as he tried to figure out a reason. "I just wanted to forget that this happened. Her death. Her existence. 'If I deny it, if I deny everything, maybe the pain will go away.' That's what I told myself."

"Our relationship was a secret. She didn't want anyone to know. Well, you see, she was a successful businesswoman, and I'm... a photographer. That aside, we were actually happy. I loved her, and her death..." he took a deep breath. "It broke me. It was so sudden, and so... terrible. I travelled and did everything I can to forget that pain but you know what? I can't. I thought I can because I did it before, but her death... it was the second time that happened to me.  So when you showed me her picture, I denied knowing her, thinking I could tell myself that none of this happened."

For a moment, Moonbyul pitied him, but still, that was not a satisfactory explanation. "Do you know lying to me can cause you even more trouble, Mr Ahn?"

He nodded, looking down at his hands on his lap, and said softly, "I'm sorry, I should have told you. I've nothing to hide. I'm not the killer, Inspector. I knew them personally, they were nice people, I like them. I have no reason to hurt them, especially her." He was looking at the picture of him and his girlfriend, and the pain was still raw. 

"Will you hurt the person you love? Hm? Will you want to see her hurting?" He looked into her eyes and asked. Moonbyul tensed up at the thought of Solar being hurt, and somehow she understood where he was coming from. 

"You said that was the second time that happened to you. What happened the first time round?" Moonbyul asked, not answering his questions. 

Ahn Hun Sang smiled, but she could see the sadness he was trying to hide. "You know, the first woman I loved actually looks like your girlfriend." 

"Wh- sorry?" Moonbyul choked on her coffee when she heard him mentioned 'your girlfriend'. 

While laughing, he said, "You don't have to be so surprised. It's pretty obvious, Inspector. I know very well when it comes to jealous and overprotective partners."

"Right," Moonbyul said and rolled her eyes. "What happened to your first love?"

He shrugged, to her surprise. "We were seeing each other. Everything was fine, but then suddenly, I never heard from her again. It was as if she disappeared over night." 

"Disappeared?" Moonbyul frowned. That was very strange. "Did you ask around?"

"I did," he said. "Apparently, she went overseas and she didn't leave any contact number." 

Moonbyul did not like where this was going. "Who's she?"

"Kang Taeyoung."

-

A/N: Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting, here's the next chapter! A short one, but I think it's pretty important? It might be confusing but things will clear up soon. The story will end I'm about six chapters or so, so prepare your hearts. It'll only get more intense from here ;) before that, enjoy! The next update will be up pretty soon.