Warning: There'll be parts that may cause discomfort. 

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“Did you take a picture just now?” Moonbyul asked warily, keeping an eye on his camera.

Ahn Hun Sang followed her line of sight to his camera and nodded. “I did, why did you ask?”

How dare he question me, Moonbyul thought.

“I should be the one to ask that question. Why did you take a picture?” She asked, evidently hostile towards the man, not sure if it was out of suspicion or because of his obvious interest in Solar.

Ahn Hun Sang frowned a little at Moonbyul’s sudden hostility and Solar caught that.

She turned towards the man in front of her and smiled, a little bit more sweetly this time. “I’m sorry about that, she’s just used to doing that, out of habit.”

Moonbyul pursed her lips. She did not do that out of habit.

Hearing Solar’s explanation, Ahn Hun Sang nodded but still frowning, not quite understanding the reason behind Moonbyul’s reaction.

“You still haven’t answer my question,” Moonbyul pointed out, tapping her feet impatiently.

Solar sighed softly and smiled apologetically at the handsome man in front of her. More often that not, Moonbyul was a little bit too protective.

Ahn Hun Sang glanced at Moonbyul who had a hand on her hip, and another held down by Solar. He fiddled with his camera and showed the display screen to the two women.

“I’m a photographer, I have my own gallery.”

Moonbyul looked on as he showed the pictures he had taken thus far. Nothing special that caught her eye, just pictures of buildings, people she did not know, scenery, and lastly, Solar.

“You must have pretty good memory then, remembering someone you’ve just seen for a few hours.” Moonbyul stepped back and survey Ahn Hun Sang from head to toe.

He had the figure of a model, tall and lean, with a good fashion sense, white shiny dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and skinny jeans.

The satisfaction in his smile said it all as he looked at Solar. “I just have an eye for beautiful things, so I remember very clearly when I see them.”

It took Solar a few seconds to realise that Ahn Hun Sang was actually talking about her and she looked away, feeling embarrassed.

Moonbyul could only glare at him, completely speechless. Did he just… Again, she scanned him from top to bottom. Did he really think of himself as a lady killer? How shameless.

She coughed deliberately, interrupting the slightly flirtatious atmosphere. “I don’t mean to interrupt. We’re heading off to somewhere.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ahn Hun Sang apologised. “Where are you heading to? Maybe I can show you the way?”

Moonbyul was so close to slapping her forehead but she held back the urge to do so. How could someone be so dense? “I mean, can yo-“

“She meant, maybe we can talk some other time,” Solar interrupted before Moonbyul could finish her sentence. “We…” She took a quick glance at the person beside her. “Have some catching up to do.”

Ahn Hun Sang looked at how close the two of them were standing and nodded slowly. “I guess we can do that. See you back in Korea? Or maybe if fate allows, see you around here?”

“I never want to see you again,” Moonbyul muttered, looking away, but Solar heard it. She smiled and waved as Ahn Hun Sang walked away, snapping away on his camera.

“What was that all about?” Solar asked as they strolled aimlessly.

Moonbyul knew what Solar was referring to. She was not quite sure why she was like that either. They were no longer together and she was the first to initiate the break up so she had no right to act like how she did just now, but she could not help it. After all, she… still loved her.

“He could be arrested for harassment,” Moonbyul said softly, like she was just talking to herself.

Solar did not buy it, of course.

“You said we’re better off being friends, but why were you acting like that?” When they broke up, Moonbyul said they should just be friends. “We don’t even see each other often, what’s the point?” was what she said. She agreed, and that ended their two years of relationship. Strangely, not seeing her after the break up was much more difficult to deal with as compared to not seeing her while they were still together. She could not understand. She still cared, right?

“Sorry, it must be the stress.” Moonbyul smiled, trying to hide her feelings.

Moonbyul had always been a private person, she preferred to keep everything to herself. Even when they were together, Solar never knew exactly how she was feeling or what she was thinking about. Jealousy was the only thing she could express well.

After a year, both of them thought maybe they could move on but they were wrong. The moment their eyes met on the plane, they knew nothing changed because the feeling was so familiar when they were looking into each other’s eyes.

Silence fell upon them once again as different thoughts ran through their minds. A while later, Solar suggested they should head back and Moonbyul did not object.

“I’ll see you… tomorrow?” Solar asked as they stepped out of the lift.

“Hopefully.” Moonbyul said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Byul?” Solar called out, and pointed to the back of her pocket. “You may want to answer your phone.”

For some reasons, she completely ignored the vibration coming from her back pocket until Solar pointed it out.

“You should rest,” Moonbyul said, her voice a lot more softer. “You must be tired from the trip.”

“You too,” Solar smiled. “Don’t stress yourself out.” Like how you usually do.

Moonbyul nodded and answered her phone, turning away. As expected, it was from the station. If they had to call, it meant they found something. “Found something?”

“Yes!” Wheein shouted over the phone. “The body was examined a little while ago and guess what they found? Fabric!”

“Fabric?” Moonbyul closed the door behind her and took off her shoes. “What about it?”

Moonbyul her laptop and looked through the email she received earlier on. She opened the pictures while she listened to Wheein’s report.

“So Hwasa thinks the victim scratched it off the murderer?” Moonbyul asked as she enlarged the picture of the victim. The head was just aligned a few inches above the body, bruises and cuts could be seen on her face. The cut running down her cheek was the most obvious of all.

“Yes, Royal Oxford to be very precise,” Wheein added. “Expensive fabric.”

“You’re saying, you think the person we’re after is rich and a man?” Moonbyul was still looking at the picture. The victim had her eyes wide opened, fear written all over her face. The longer she stared, the more she could feel what the victim was feeling. Her life slowly draining away as her assaulter hovered.

“From what we’ve gathered from the previous three cases, we can safely presume that the murders were done by the same person. Death caused by asphyxiation, bruises seen around the neck. The cuts were clean, no jagged edges, ruling out the possibility of a saw. We’ve narrowed down the murder weapon to a machete, or a cleaver and to achieve one clean cut, it is more likely for our suspect to be a man. As for the suspect being rich, it’s just an assumption.” The phone was passed over to Hwasa who related what they had gotten so far. The first body for this serial murder was discovered two months ago.

Hwasa’s voice was just like distant murmurings to Moonbyul as her eyes stayed longer on the face of the victim. A face flashed across her mind and for a moment, she was paralysed in her seat. Another image flashed across and this time, brought cold sweat to her forehead.

“Byul? Are you there?” Hwasa asked. It was not like Moonbyul to go silent suddenly, unless she found something.

“Hwasa. Send me the pictures of the other victims. I want it now.” Moonbyul tried to steady herself as she looked through the pictures over and over again.

A few seconds later, a new mail came in and she opened the pictures that were attached.

“Byul, what did you find?” Wheein asked after hearing Hwasa calling out.

“No… This can’t be it,” she whispered to herself in an empty room as she looked at the four pictures arranged side by side.

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A/N: The last part got a little bit difficult to write... or maybe it was just my feelings screwing me up late at night.