“I got an anonymous e-mail, asking to borrow my apartment,” Daesung mumbled. They were in the questioning room now, Haruki seated across from him with a stern glare. Chief Park, Donghae, Jiyong, and Jessica (she’d insisted on coming along) were all standing outside, watching through the one-way window. “I hadn’t found anyone willing to rent the place for a while, so I said yes.”

“Can I have the email address?” Haruki asked, pushing a piece of paper towards him. He scribbled it down and handed the paper back to her.

“I just can’t believe it,” Jiyong was sighing.

“He’ll be serving a heavy sentence for assisting with homicide,” Chief informed the hacker. “Don’t worry.”

“Who’s worried about that?” Jiyong snapped. “I couldn’t outhack Daesung. Me! I’m the best in the business! How did he manage to get past me?”

“Maybe he’s just better than you,” Jessica suggested. Jiyong grumbled and crossed his arms with a huff.

“Be quiet, you two,” Donghae snapped, pointing back to the window.

“After a couple emails, he asked me what I did, and I told him I was good with computers. He wrote back, asking if I could forge a couple fake online identities for him. I didn’t see a problem with it. I mean, Jiyong does that for you all the time,” Daesung said.

Chief Park raised an eyebrow at Jiyong as Haruki smacked her forehead. “Did you think to ask what it was for?”

“He was willing to pay me more for this little job than I make in a month here,” snapped Daesung. “I didn’t care what it was for.”

“You didn’t care that he was using them to prey on lonely young women?”

"I didn’t say that.” Daesung stared down at the desk again.

After a moment of letting him feel guilty, Haruki cleared and moved on to the next question. “When did you find out what he was using the identities you created for?”

“Around the same time as you first asked Jiyong to investigate them,” Daesung replied. “I told him I wanted out, but he insisted that I continue. He told me that he’d filled my apartment with things that would make all evidence for the murders point to me if I said anything. I wanted to tell you, and Donghae, and Jiyong, but-”

Haruki held up her hand. “Save it. This isn’t about what you wanted to do. This is about what actually happened. What next?”

"I continued working on the project. I found that café-nightclub place and began working there, since it was a little out of the way. I didn’t think anyone would find me there. Soon, he got me to help him search for victims as well, and I…I was too scared to say no. I was already in too deep.”

“You certainly were,” Haruki murmured. “How many usernames do you think you’d made?”

Daesung hesitated as he thought. “At least forty.”

"What?” Jessica gasped and Donghae’s eyes widened.

“Some of them he only talked to for a little bit before he had me erase all evidence of the conversation and the username,” Daesung explained. “I don’t think he killed all of them. He was…searching for a certain type of person.”

“What was this ‘type’?” Haruki asked.

“Introverted…lonely…focused only on school or work…” He looked up. “Kind of like you.” The detective scowled, but wrote it down in her notebook. As she did so, he suddenly added, “He talked about you, you know. He seemed to know more about you than the rest of us did.”

Haruki straightened and narrowed her eyes at him. “And what do you mean by that?” Her hand tightened around her pencil so much, she nearly snapped it in half.

“Things he’d say…just seemed to imply that he found it funny we didn’t know anything about you.” The hacker’s eyes flickered over to the door and then the one-way window, fear evident on his face. Haruki glanced over as well, though she couldn’t find any cause for alarm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, lowering her voice to match his.

“You’re looking in all the wrong places, Haruki,” he whispered, with another terrified glance at the door.

“What’s he talking about?” Jessica asked.

“I have no idea,” Donghae replied, as Haruki seemed to shrug off her confusion and move on to the next question.

“Why didn’t he ask you to delete the conversations with the girls he actually killed?”

“I don’t know,” Daesung replied. “I can only imagine…” He trailed off, unwilling to finish his sentence.

But she was nodding already. “He wants us to find him. He’s teasing us. Did you ever gather information on the girls he’s murdered?”

Daesung nodded. “It’s all in my laptop, which you confiscated.”

Haruki nodded. “Wait here.” She got up and headed to the door, pulling the Chief aside as she whispered something to him. The other three watched Daesung through the window. The hacker just stared silently at the table, occasionally blinking and grimacing as he was, no doubt, thinking over how his life was now ruined.

“What’s going to happen to him?” Jessica asked almost timidly.

“Prison, for sure,” Jiyong sighed. “The only question is how long the sentence is.”

“Doesn’t he get a trial?” asked the model.

“He’s pretty much busted. A trial won’t save his ,” replied Jiyong. He frowned at her. “You’re not feeling sorry for him, are you?”

“No,” Jessica said simply. “I’m just curious.”

Haruki and the Chief came back. Without a word, Chief Park entered the interrogation room as the detective handed the paper with the email address to Jiyong. “You know what to do.”

“Yeah, yeah,” grumbled the hacker as he slouched off towards his office.

“What about us?” Donghae asked.

“We-” Haruki began, but was interrupted by Eunhyuk as he came over, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

“Hey, um…Haruki? Can I…get your help questioning a victim?” he asked.

“Why do you need me? Can’t you question him yourself?” she retorted.

“The thing is…well, she won’t talk to us…” Eunhyuk explained. “I think she’s scared of us.”

“What makes you think she’ll talk to me?” Haruki asked.

“You’re…well…female,” the other detective replied.

Haruki glanced down at her chest and looked back up, eyes widening in mock surprise. “I am? Look at that.”

“Just go,” Donghae snapped. “What do you need me to do in the meantime?”

“There’s a bag of photographs that need to be looked at,” Haruki replied. “I’ll join you as soon as I’m done. And Jessica…”

The model had been so quiet, Donghae had nearly forgotten she was present.

“You should go home. To your house,” Haruki murmured. “It’s not safe for you to live with me anymore.”

“And it’s not safe for you to live by yourself,” Jessica retorted. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s, like, such a hassle to move my stuff!”

“You do have a lot of stuff,” Haruki agreed. She smiled slightly. Maybe Jessica wasn’t so-

“And besides, how else will I drag you to lunch with my parents on Monday?” With that, the model stomped off, heels clicking loudly on the tile floor as Haruki made an exasperated noise.

“That…ugh!” The detective made a strangling motion with her hands and turned to a worried Eunhyuk. “Alright. Where’s your victim?”

“Follow me,” the blond replied, exchanging a nervous look with Donghae before setting off.

Instead of heading to his (still-trashed office) to look at the photos, however, Donghae headed towards the lab, where he hoped Kyuhyun had made some headway on the note left in his office.

He found the younger man seated at his desk with a giant magnifying glass, frowning deeply as he scrutinized the scrap of paper. “Don’t you dare say anything,” Kyuhyun warned as Donghae approached. The detective held up his hands and took a step back.

Finally, Kyuhyun looked up, rubbing his eyes before turning to Donghae. “You found this taped to the wall of your office?”

Donghae nodded. “I’m pretty sure it was left by whoever trashed it.”

“That’s disturbing,” Kyuhyun muttered. “Because this handwriting is familiar.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s Eunhyuk’s.”

This was said so casually, Donghae wasn’t sure he’d even heard right. “Wait. Eunhyuk? As in, Lee Hyukjae? As in my-”

“Do you know another Eunhyuk?” Kyuhyun retorted. “And yes, I’d recognize his handwriting anywhere. See how he rushes when crossing his t’s? And the way he loops his e’s?”

Donghae just nodded, even though he had no clue what Kyuhyun was looking at. The younger man had a talent for picking up minute details, such as in handwriting. “So you think Eunhyuk trashed my office?”

“No, and that’s the disturbing part,” Kyuhyun replied. “It’s his handwriting, but there are inconsistencies.”

“So…it’s not his handwriting?” Donghae asked.

“No, it is!” the lab analyst insisted.

“But there are inconsistencies.” The detective raised an eyebrow and Kyuhyun rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“Someone forged the note.”

“Oh. How is that disturbing?” Donghae retorted. “Anyone who has no problem with trashing my office probably wouldn’t have a problem with blaming it on someone else, either.”

Kyuhyun rubbed the back of his neck as he peered up at Donghae. “Do you really think someone in our office is capable of something like this, though?”

“I think someone in our office is capable of more than this, Kyuhyun,” Donghae replied. “Let me know if you can figure out who forged the note. And don’t tell Haruki anything, got it?” He turned around and walked out of the lab, leaving Kyuhyun staring after him in bewilderment.

“Haruki!” Jessica whined, stamping her foot and causing her roommate to jump into the air.

“What? Huh? Sorry.” Haruki sighed and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “What did you say?”

The model had dragged her out of the apartment for one “drama-free, murderer-less” day of furniture shopping. Without discussing the arrangement, they had agreed that Jessica’s move into Haruki’s apartment would be longer than either of them originally thought. When Jessica had suddenly announced at breakfast that she wanted her own bed in Haruki’s room, the detective hadn’t even thought to disagree.

Somehow, it felt safer for both of them that way.

“I was asking if you think this one is okay!” Jessica snapped, gesturing at a giant four-poster that was sure to take up most of the walking space in the bedroom.

“No way,” she said flatly. “Twin-sized only.”

Jessica huffed and crossed her arms, before grabbing the nearest salesperson and asking for help. As she explained what she was looking for, Haruki’s mind wandered back to the case and Daesung.

Daesung. The thought of the hacker made her furrow her eyebrows as the headache she’d swallowed several aspirin to quench the night before came crawling back. Even while talking to him, she’d sensed that he was hiding something, a clue that connected back to someone else in the department. Who was it? Who had he been working with? Jiyong and the remaining hackers had stayed up all night, working on their former colleague’s laptop and investigating the usernames he’d created, finding absolutely nothing. How could every lead turn into a dead end?

“Is this one better?” asked Jessica, pointing to a much smaller bed that, while fancier than Haruki’s, wouldn’t completely occupy her room.

“Sure, if you like it,” the detective replied. She was mentally running through the interrogation for the tenth time. Something about the whole exchange had bothered her, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it…

“Are you okay?” Jessica’s voice interrupted her thoughts and the detective blinked.

“Uh, yeah. Fine.”

“You’re not thinking about your case again, are you?” Jessica asked.

“No, of course not.” Haruki was a horrible liar and they both knew it.

“Remember? Drama-free and murderer-less?” Jessica’s eyebrows dropped as she smiled slightly, linking her arm through her roommate’s. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else. They’ve got nothing I want.”

Haruki groaned. “Come on, Jessica, this is the fifth store we’ve been at. You’re running out of options.”

“Maybe we’re just looking in all the wrong places,” the model murmured as she climbed into the car.

Haruki frowned. Daesung had said the exact same thing about her yesterday, and she still had no idea what he meant. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the list of usernames. Although she doubted she’d see anything Jiyong hadn’t, she'd still wanted a copy with her.

Jiyong’s handwriting was hard to make out and parts of a couple usernames were scratched out. From what she could tell, the usernames all had a bit of a threatening element to them, referring to either hunting or prey or battle of some sort. The ones Jiyong had crossed out must have been the ones that didn’t fit the pattern…

She squinted at the note again, slamming into the passenger side door as Jessica made a sharp turn. What if they weren’t crossed out? What if they were underlined? Her eyes flickered across the page, taking in the words with lines drawn through them.

Closeatdawn. GameCloser. NightEnemy. Friendlyfighter.

The saying practically jumped out at her, and this time, it was her turn to glance around at her surroundings in alarm. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” she whispered.

“What did you say?” Jessica asked, glancing over before pulling into an empty parking spot.

“Nothing,” Haruki replied, stuffing the note into her pocket. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” Was this a warning from Daesung, or a clue pointing to the killer? Was the hacker suggesting that the killer was one of Haruki’s friends? Was it from Daesung at all?

“We better find something here,” Jessica muttered as she headed towards the store, heels clicking on the pavement. Haruki shook her head and attempted to smile at her roommate.

“Maybe if you were a little less picky, this wouldn’t be so difficult,” she retorted.

“Hey! At least I have a sense of taste!” Jessica shot back, but she was grinning slightly as well.

As she listened to the model’s familiar rant about her lack of style, Haruki punted the so-called message to the back of her mind. She was clearly imagining things.

Her phone rang in the middle of dinner, which Jessica had insisted on making, saving Haruki from having to come up with a compliment for the half-scorched fried chicken she was attempting to choke down. At least her roommate had tried making dinner this time.

“Morita,” she called, wiping and hopping away from the table. She headed into her bedroom, which still had enough room for her to pace around. When Jessica’s bed arrived on Monday, she would lose that. Somehow, she didn’t mind as much as she thought she would.

“Haruki…” It was Chief Park and he sounded much older than his age. “I…I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Has there been another victim?” Haruki demanded.

“No, not exactly,” Chief Park replied. “There was a…jailbreak. In the prison where Daesung was being held.”

The detective’s breath caught in . She swallowed, not trusting herself to speak.

“The guards managed to round up all the prisoners. They sustained some minor injuries, but no one was severely hurt.”

Haruki sighed in relief. “Thank god.”

“The reason I’m calling to tell you this personally, is that…we think it might be related to the murders,” Chief Park informed her.

Of course it did. That was the only reason anyone ever contacted her. Everything was connected to her case these days. “Go on,” she said simply, blood pounding in her ears as she held her breath, phone clutched tightly in her hand. She didn’t want to know how this was related, but she needed to.

“We think it might have been a distraction…for the killer.” Chief Park spoke hesitantly.

“Who was killed?” Haruki asked. The chief hesitated and Haruki’s mind raced through the worst possibilities- what if it was one of her colleagues? What if it was Donghae or Jiyong or Sungmin or-

“Chief! Who was killed?” she demanded, forcing the montage of faces whirling through her mind to halt.

“Daesung,” Chief Park replied.

Haruki didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified. She slowly sat down on the edge of her bed and nodded. “Okay…are you certain it was the serial killer?”

“No,” the Chief replied. “Well, he wasn’t lobotomized. But…”

“Chief? What is it?” Haruki pressed the phone harder against her ear. In the background, she could make out Donghae’s voice arguing with the Chief’s, debating whether or not she should be told the whole story.

“Do you want me to come down there?” she asked. “I’ll be over in five-”

“No!” Chief snapped. “Uh, I mean…no. Don’t. The situation is under control and your presence is not required.”

“Then what is it?” Haruki demanded. Before Chief Park could answer, her phone buzzed with a text.

Since her boss had gone back to arguing with her partner, Haruki pulled the phone away from her ear and opened up the message. The sight made her scream so loudly, Jessica came sprinting into the room, eyes wide with fear and worry. But the detective couldn’t answer, her eyes fixed on the horror depicted on her phone screen. There was no need to wonder who had sent this to her.

Daesung was hanging from a noose, eyes open and staring blankly at her. His hands were tied behind his back and his feet were tied so that he almost looked like he was kneeling. Blood dripped from his missing right ear, trailing down his shoulder onto his bare chest, coiling into a scrawled word: “Traitor.”

She nearly threw up her inedible dinner- how could this have happened during a jailbreak without anyone noticing? “Holy ,” she whispered, hand shaking as she slowly scrolled down to reveal the message written beneath the photo:

“He said too much.”

He said too much. He said too much. Daesung had known the killer’s identity, or he’d been closer to knowing than any of them had been. And that’s why he’d been forced to die.

"Haruki? Haruki?” She heard Chief Park’s voice calling her through the phone and she raised it back to her ear with a shaking hand. “You saw it?” he asked, sounding resigned. He’d meant to protect her from this sight, didn’t want her blaming herself for anything, but the killer clearly had other plans.

“Yeah,” Haruki replied, her voice coming out as a croak. “I saw it.” 

This had to end. Her colleagues, her roommate, her friends, all of them were in danger because of her. She was the ultimate target and they were just obstacles along the way. Right now, they were paying the price. She had to stop it, somehow. There was only one thing she could think to do. 

She pressed the reply button, her fingers shaking as she wrote back, "What do you want from me?" 

The Lobotomist read her submissive reply and smiled. She was desperate now. That was good. Desperation was a beautiful thing. "You're mine, darling."