“That’s my mother.” Donghae said. “I think she was the first victim of the Classic killer.”

“But I thought she died in a car accident.”

“No, only my father did. My mom was murdered… but I never thought it was by a serial killer.”

An angry customer, he remembered his brother telling him, but it was now clear that it was much more than that. And Donghwa knew about it. Donghae had trouble conceiving that his brother lied to him all those years. Tonight he would have to confront him about it, and that was a conversation Donghae was really not looking forward to…

“How old were you when she died?” Eunhyuk asked.

“Eighteen.”

“Me too… When Sora died I was on my first year in the military.”

Donghae was surprised the detective would confide in him like this, but at least it seemed that Donghae’s argument had convinced Eunhyuk.

 “Alright, I believe you… So what do you suggest we do?”

“First, we have to get you out of this jail. And then you have to tell Kangin that you’re giving up completely on the Checkmate killer’s case.”

“So if the killer is one of us he thinks we are not onto him.”

“Exactly! And in secret we keep investigating.” Donghae said.

The detective nodded. Their plan was set and they were ready to engage the hunt of that dangerous killer.

“But how am I getting out?” Eunhyuk asked.

That was the easy part. Because now the cells were all automatized, there was no need for a key but instead you had to put a code in an electronic pad.

“Let me handle it.” Donghae said, starting typing the code.

“How do you know the code?”

“Once I saw all the codes on a paper on Kangin’s desk.”

“Your memory is really something incredible.” Eunhyuk commented.

That compliment touched Donghae more than he could’ve imagined. He never actually thought that his ability was something good… Being able to remember every single thing that happened, that people said, that he saw, was more of a curse than anything else… But sometimes indeed, it could be of a great help, as for now. The cell door unlocked and the blond detective got out. Without wasting time, the two of them went straight to Kangin’s office, praying not to cross path with anyone, especially not Heechul. Before they got into Kangin’s office, Eunhyuk turned to Donghae.

“Should we tell him?” he whispered.

“Until we know for sure that he has nothing to do with it, let’s not.”

Eunhyuk nodded then pushed the door. As soon as Kangin saw them, he jumped out of his chair.

“What the heck!”

“Before you start yelling like a possessed man, could you listen to me.” Eunhyuk said.

"How the hell did you get out of the cell?!"

"Nevermind that! I wanted to talk to you... and apologize about what happen..."

Kangin, who indeed was going to yell his lungs out, stopped on the spot. He frowned, but then ended up sighing and falling back on his chair.

“It’s alright… I realize I’ve maybe been hard on you, locking you up and all… But you seriously drive ones crazy Lee Hyukjae!”

“I know, and I’m really sorry! I promise I won’t cause you any more trouble.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.” the head of the police said, sarcastically.

“This time it’s the truth!”

Eunhyuk sat in front of his boss, while Donghae stayed a bit on retreat, behind him.

“And I also understand why you want me to keep away from this case…” the thin man looked down, and his voice got lower. “I’m scared of what I might do… I’m not objective at all and that’s putting everyone at risk. And so I thought a lot about it and I’ll stay away from the serial killer’s case.”

“You will?” asked Kangin surprised.

Eunhyuk nodded.

“But please don’t suspend me. If I don’t have this job I’ll go insane. You could assign me to minor cases.”

Kangin thought about it for a moment, while Donghae was trying hard not to smile. Eunhyuk was a good actor; if he didn’t know better, the brunet could’ve almost believed that he really was giving up because he was scared of the consequences. Finally, Kangin nodded, as if he got to a decision.

“You’re a good cop and we need all the help we can get. If you promise to let Heechul and Hangeng do their jobs, then I’ll let you be reinstated.”

“I promised.” Eunhyuk hastened to say.

“But there’s a small problem. Since Sungmin can’t come back to work yet, you don’t have a partner anymore, and I can’t let you work without someone to supervise you.”

Eunhyuk got on his feet and grabbed Donghae to push him in front of the desk.

“He’ll be my partner.”

“What?!” exclaimed both Kangin and Donghae.

Donghae just stared agape, at Eunhyuk. They hadn’t thought the plan until there, and he never thought the man would want to partner up with him… even if they were already in a certain secret partnership. Being on the field was something different. Donghae thought that Eunhyuk didn’t trust him, so why would he suggest something like this? Or maybe it was part of his machination?

“But why Hae?” Kangin asked. “I thought you didn’t like him…”

The brunet was expecting a witty answer of Eunhyuk, like: I don’t but he can be useful; or something like that… But instead, the man said very seriously.

“I changed my mind.”

At this simple sentence, Donghae’s heart stopped for a millisecond. Was he being sincere, or was it also for the plan? Did maybe Eunhyuk start to ap