Moonbyul went through the report for each victim and her suspicion was right. They had GHB in their bloodstream, and so did Solar.

She felt helpless; the thought that the killer might be lurking around made her question herself. Was she really protecting Solar by pushing her away? She did not want to end up like her father. She did not want Solar to end up like her mother.

“If you notice anything weird happening around you, tell me,” Moonbyul said, after sending Solar home from the station. Solar nodded, understanding the situation a bit better after Moonbyul’s explanation. It was nothing much. She just told her that she might be drugged, but she suspected that there might be more to it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Solar said with a smile. She could tell that Moonbyul had something to say but she was holding it back. “Byul? If you have something to say, just say it.”

Moonbyul let out a sigh, as if she was holding her breath. She raised her head and looked into her eyes. For a moment, the eyes staring at her reminded her of Moonbyul’s father. There was grief in them.

“Just know that I’ll never let you get hurt,” Moonbyul brushed her finger tips against her cheek.

She remembered Moonbyul saying the exact same words to her. It was her way of saying I love you. She smiled, with a little bitterness, and said softly, “I know.”

Wheein walked in the office and dropped a bag of takeaway in front of the inspector. “Dinner’s here!”

Moonbyul looked at the bag of kimchi fried rice and then at the clock on the wall. It was way past dinner time. Wheein took the report from her hand and handed her a spoon. “Eat,” she said. There was no room for negotiation.

Wheein sat down and took the mug from the table. It was empty but she could smell the remnant of coffee. She looked at her friend and shook her head in disapproval. The corner of her eyes were already drooping. Clearly, the coffee did not work. She left the office and came back with a mug of warm milk.

“You should cut down on the caffeine,” Wheein said as she passed Moonbyul the mug.

Solar said the same thing to her before. She did cut down, but she did not know when she started drinking more than necessary again.

“Still thinking about Solar?” Moonbyul was good with hiding her emotions, but if there was one thing she could not hide, that would be her concern for Solar. And this was why she, and Hwasa, did not understand their separation.

Moonbyul looked up at her for a moment before looking back down at her food again. “Did you find Ahn Hun Sang?” She asked with full.

Wheein knew she was attempting to change the conversation so she let her. Nodding, she said, “We did. He was in his gallery today.”

“What was he wearing?” Moonbyul’s eyes lit up. She could almost predict what Wheein was going to say.

“A dress shirt.” Bingo. Wheein looked at Moonbyul’s excited expression amusingly, to think she was still rather lifeless a few seconds ago. “Showed him the victims’ pictures and he recognised three of them, the models and the barista. He claimed to not know the businesswoman.”

Moonbyul nodded as Wheein relayed what she had gotten. “Anything else?”

“Yes, one more thing. He was in the club on the day before the bodies were discovered,” Wheein said as she looked at her notepad.

“Oh?” Moonbyul raised her eyebrows at this discovery. Things were turning out better than she had expected. “How frequent does he visit the club?”

“Around two to three days a week.” Wheein put down her notepad.

Moonbyul smiled a little at the information. That person was quite the fun seeker, eh? “I think it’s time for him to pay us a visit.”

It felt like they got their suspect, but something did not feel right. Wheein looked at the board behind Moonbyul. The pictures on it just reminded her of someone. Someone who she could not quite put a name to.

It was going to be midnight soon and Ahn Hun Sang did not know why he was sitting in this tiny room. He was going to bed when an officer came knocking on his door and brought him here.

The door opened and he snapped his head towards it to see a familiar face. He was sure he saw her somewhere before.

Moonbyul closed the door behind her; her eyes scanning the confused man in front of her. He looked so harmless, but who knew? She raised an eyebrow as she looked at what the man was wearing. Sweater and sweatpants. She pulled the chair away from the table and sat down, casually passing a remark, “You’re not wearing a dress shirt?”

Ahn Hun Sang frowned, not understanding what his dressing had to do with his visit to the station. “I was going to sleep, of course I won’t be wearing a dress shirt!”

Moonbyul let out a laugh, and spread out the content of the file on the table. Ahn Hun Sang looked at her closely and then at the pictures. All of a sudden, he knew what he was here for. “Wait. Are you interrogating me right now?”

“Relax, I’m just going to have a chat with you,” Moonbyul leaned back against her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “I’m sure you remember me, Mr Ahn?”

She did look familiar. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to recall.

“Ah, I guess you don’t really have an eye for beautiful things,” Moonbyul watched him closely as his eyes widened in realisation. “Nice to meet you again, Mr Ahn.”

He never thought the person he met at Madrid with Solar would be an officer. Was that why she was so suspicious?

“So tell me, where were you last night?” Moonbyul asked, picking up the light and refreshing smell in the air. She was sure that she would be getting the answer she wanted.

“At the club,” he answered. He wanted to take a break from the club and turn in early for the night, but who knew he would be stuck here?

“Did you stay past midnight?” Moonbyul asked.

Ahn Hun Sang nodded. He never knew going to the club would be a concern to the cops. He absolutely did not want to be here right now. He just wanted to sleep. It had been a long day for him. He listened as Moonbyul asked about the four women in the pictures.

“Yes, I know three of them. They are models who I’ve worked with,” he said, pointing to the picture of the first and fourth victim, and then at the second victim. “She worked at the club, so I see her quite often.”

“And her?” Moonbyul picked up the picture of the third victim.

“I don’t know her.” Ahn Hun Sang shook his head.

“Are you sure?” Moonbyul asked, prompting him to think again.

A hint of annoyance flashed across his face. What kind of question was that? “How could you expect me to remember every person I’ve met?” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“I thought you have an eye for beautiful things?” Moonbyul asked, not letting go of that line that almost got her throwing up.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what you want to know but I have nothing to do with this. I’m equally upset when I read about the deaths in the news, alright?”

“You don’t look upset to me,” Moonbyul tapped her fingers against the table.

“Try being in my position right now and tell me about looking upset, officer,” Ahn Hun Sang retorted.

“Inspector,” Moonbyul corrected, with a smile as the man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “So, have you seen her before?”

He sighed in defeat and shook his head. “No, really.”

“Last question,” Moonbyul said. “Who were you with last night?”

“My usual group of friends, and uh…” he said, but all of a sudden, he kept quiet. There was a strange silence between them. Ahn Hung Sang looked at the inspector cautiously as the name rolled around in his mind for a few seconds. “Solar.”

Moonbyul exited the room and saw Wheein and Hwasa talking to each other. They should be off duty by now. “Why are you kids still here?”

They pushed themselves off the wall that they were leaning against as soon as they heard Moonbyul’s voice. They knew Ahn Hun Sang was taken to the station so they just stayed to see the situation.

“Byul, I don’t think he’s the one,” Wheein said, with Hwasa nodding her head in agreement. He might seem like a probable suspect because he just happened to appear at this critical timing.

Moonbyul listened, but did not reply. Her mind was still registering the information she got before leaving the room. Ahn Hun Sang was at the club last night, with Solar. She was alone when he approached her, which meant Jung Won Il was not around. The man sitting in the room was a major flirt, he had a few flings, but he never admitted to possessing drugs. “We do it willingly,” he said.

There was this clueless air around him which made it convincing that he should not be the man they were after, and there was no concrete evidence to show that he was indeed the one. However, there was also no proof of his absolute innocence because he was still somehow linked to the victims of the case.

“I’ll ask the others to let him go when the hours are up, just let him stay in there for a little while more,” Moonbyul said to the duo. She did not want to admit, but there was a little part of her which wanted to get back at Ahn Hun Sang for hitting on Solar.

After sending Wheein and Hwasa home, Moonbyul headed back home finally. She washed up at the fastest speed possible and lied down on her bed. She looked at the picture frame by her bed and unknowingly, there was a small smile on her lips. Solar had the same picture in the same place. That smile was her favourite thing, and she was not ready to lose it forever.

“Are you asleep?” She sent a text to Solar. It was late, of course she would be asleep. She just did not know how to start the conversation.

Just as she was about to put away her phone, a notification came in. “No,” Solar replied. Why was she still not asleep?

Instead of texting back, she called the other person. She did not know why she did that, but it was too late to end the call because it was already connected.

“Hello?” Solar’s voice was so soft, and it felt like she was just right there beside her.

“Uh, hey, sorry for disturbing you,” Moonbyul lied down on her back, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. She could not even act normal during a phone call. Way to go, Moonbyul.

“It’s fine, I’m not sleeping yet,” Solar replied.

“Why? It’s so late already though.” Moonbyul turned to her side and somehow, she could almost see Solar lying beside her like how they used to.

Solar could sense that Moonbyul was worried even though she tried to sound casual. “Byul, don’t worry. I stayed home the entire day.”

She could hear a sigh of relief from the other end, and they stayed in silence for the next few minutes. They thought it would be awkward since they did not speak for a year, but somehow, it was comfortable.

“Byul?” Solar wanted to ask about the test result earlier on, but there was no reply on the other end. It was unlikely for Moonbyul to ignore her so she concluded that the other person should probably be asleep. She did not hang up immediately, instead she listened to the steady breaths and found herself at ease. She could only imagine how tired Moonbyul was. When she saw her, there were obvious dark circles under her eyes. She wished she could learn to put herself first before others.

“Sleep tight,” she whispered into the phone, and before ending the call, she mumbled, “I love you.”

There was a dead silence on the other end of the phone and Moonbyul shifted slightly in her bed. “I love you too.”

And for the first time in months, she had no trouble falling asleep, but her slumber did not last long. She woke up to the vibration from her phone on the bedside table. There was a sinking feeling when she saw the call was from the station.

It was 6.30 a.m., and another body was discovered near the beach. She made her way to the scene to find the body lying in the car park, with blood all around. Wheein and Hwasa were already there and they were looking at her cautiously.

“Byul, I’m not sure if you want to see this,” Hwasa said, holding her back.

Her eyes were on the body. The head was severed, but the pool of blood was uncalled for, if they were going strictly by the trend that they established. There was also another point of difference from the previous murders. She brushed past Hwasa and knelt down in beside the body. She was used to the metallic smell in the air. There was something covering the face of the victim and Moonbyul removed it with a handkerchief. Her heart sank immediately when she saw who the victim was.

It was the bartender at the club, the bartender that she spoke to.

She felt nauseous and she pressed three fingers to the ground to prevent herself from falling over. The person bore no resemblance to Solar. This did not make sense. All of this did not make sense.

She looked down at the picture between her fingers and the moment she saw it, she dropped it.

A picture of Solar with her signature bright smile rested on the damp asphalt ground. She looked so innocent, and clueless. Moonbyul diverted her attention to the date at the bottom left of the picture. It was just taken recently, in Madrid, with herself vaguely visible in the background.