The frantic knocking on Haruki’s door late that night made her approach cautiously. Who could possibly be visiting her at eleven o’clock? She peered through the tiny glass in the door and wrenched the door open as a shivering mess of wavy dark hair darted in as soon as the gap was large enough.

“Gyuri?”

Park Gyuri lived three doors down from Haruki. Despite their relative proximity, the girls had exchanged about three conversations. Haruki found Gyuri a bit snobby, but talking to her at least made doing laundry less tedious. Besides, that was still more than either of them had said to any of their other neighbors.

Gyuri wrapped her bathrobe more tightly around her, hair dripping water onto Haruki’s floor. Was that shampoo behind her ear?

“What happened?”

“The water pipes in my apartment burst while I was taking a shower. It’s completely flooded! Can I stay here tonight?”

“Of course,” Haruki replied, just as Jessica came around the corner, staring at the newcomer.

“Who’s that?” asked Gyuri.

“This is my roommate, Jessica,” Haruki replied. “Jessica, this is Gyuri. She lives down the hall from me and she’s staying with us until her apartment gets cleaned up. Okay?”

The model shrugged and nodded. “Are you going to make her sleep on the couch?”

Haruki scowled. “No, she can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.” She offered her neighbor a faint smile. “Want to finish your shower here, too?” Gyuri nodded gratefully and returned to her apartment to collect a few things.

“Management said I’ll be able to move back in tomorrow,” she announced upon return. “I’m so sorry for imposing on you like this.”

“Not at all,” Haruki replied as Jessica scoffed in the background. As the other girl went to take her shower, Haruki crossed her arms and turned to her roommate. “What?”

“How come you weren’t that nice to me when I first moved here?” Jessica asked.

“You didn’t give me a reason to be,” Haruki replied.

“And now?”

Haruki was quiet as she pulled a clean set of sheets out from her closet and began stripping the old ones off the bed. “It’s not so bad now,” was all she said.

After warding off Gyuri’s thanks for the fifteenth time and bidding good night to both girls, Haruki curled up on the couch with a fleece blanket. Her eyes drifted towards her phone, but then she got up and turned the damn thing off. She was not going to think about that tonight.

With that in mind, she returned to the couch, turned off the lights, and drifted off to sleep.

She woke to the sound of Jessica screaming.

Haruki had seen plenty of apartments swarming with cops and blazing with yellow crime scene tape; she’d just never expected it to happen to her own.

Jessica was huddled on the couch, still white-faced and shaking. Her screams at discovering a dead girl in the same room had brought Haruki running in from the living room. One glance at Park Gyuri confirmed it- the killer had struck again.

“What was she doing here?” asked Yuri as Taeyeon padded carefully around the bedroom with shoe covers on, taking pictures of the scene. The body had already been taken to the morgue for Shindong to examine.

“Her apartment was flooded and she asked to stay here for the night,” Haruki replied. She groaned and covered her face. “I just can’t believe it.”

“That may have saved your life, though,” Yuri said softly.

“What do you mean?”

“That could have been you lying there.”

“Done!” Taeyeon called and Yuri went off to join her partner as they scoured the room for trace evidence. But Haruki doubted they’d find anything. The killer was pretty good at cleaning up after himself.

She glanced over at the couch, where Eunhyuk was busy questioning Jessica. She knew that Yesung was down the hall, talking to her neighbors. It was part of the routine; they wouldn’t be getting any actual answers.

Because she knew the real reason the killer had struck.

She pulled her phone out of her purse and turned it on. Opening up her messages, she read the latest conversation as a chill ran up her spine.

Haruki: What do you want from me?

Unknown: Everything.

Unknown: 129 Sapphire Street. 8:30. Be there.

She grimaced and snapped her phone shut. It was her reply that had set off the attack on Gyuri. His demand to meet her had been non-negotiable. She had refused him.

And that had cost another girl her life.

“You alright?” Haruki jumped about a mile at the sound of Donghae’s voice and whirled around, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she did so.

“Donghae. Hi.”

“How is Jessica holding up?”

"Pretty well, considering the circumstances,” Haruki replied. “God, she’s so stubborn. I keep telling her to move out, but she won’t listen and-”

“How are you holding up?” Donghae interrupted.

Haruki shook her head. “I can’t take this anymore!” she burst out, causing Eunhyuk and Jessica to pause in their conversation and stare at her.

“Shh,” Donghae murmured. “Haruki, it’ll be okay.” He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, but she shoved him away, storming out of the room. She needed to be alone. She needed to think.

Which was probably why she didn’t notice him slipping her phone out of her pocket.

“The injuries the girl sustained could explain why your roommate didn’t hear the assault, even though she was in the same room,” Shindong explained. He gestured to Gyuri’s face and Haruki reluctantly took a step forward to look more closely. “See the shallow gash above her eyelid? Most likely accidental, as he was preparing for his signature move, since it’s a superficial wound.”

“But then she woke up after that,” Haruki said.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine she’d be able to stay asleep after getting ice picked in the face,” Donghae added.

Shindong nodded. “That’s my assumption as well. She woke up, saw the attacker, and presumably started screaming. So he silenced her. First, with his hand.” He pointed at the chafed and raw skin around Gyuri’s mouth. “And then with duct tape.”

Haruki’s hand tightened into a fist and she shook her head. “Go on.”

“The bruises on her arms indicate that he was kneeling on them as he did the lobotomy. Since she’s slightly built, we can imagine that it wasn’t too difficult for him to keep her from struggling. So neither you nor your roommate heard anything,” Shindong explained. “And a brain scan showed that it was a lot…messier than what we’ve seen from him before.”

Both detectives nodded, understanding the implications of that. “He was angry,” Donghae murmured.

“Which is why he finished her off by strangling her with his bare hands,” Shindong replied. He pointed at the girl’s neck. Donghae grimaced and took a step back, but Haruki inched closer.

The purple bruises, two sets of fingerprints, surrounded Gyuri’s pale white throat and she shook her head. I’m sorry. Gyuri, I’m so sorry.

“What do you think would have made him angry?” Donghae was asking.

“You’d have to ask Onew,” Shindong replied. “He’s the expert. But if I had to guess…” His eyes darted towards Haruki, but she was already finishing his sentence for her.

“He got the wrong victim,” she said. “He was angry that he’d been tricked.” She took a deep breath and smiled grimly, keeping her gaze on the bruises. “So the real question should be: why didn’t he finish me off last night?”

“You’re a ing idiot.”

Haruki looked up in surprise as Jiyong slammed both hands down on her desk, causing her coffee to slosh out of the cup and onto her sleeve. “What is this?” she demanded, reaching for a tissue to dab at the stain on her sleeve.

“I just can’t believe you! Of all the stupid- I just- what is wrong with you?” Jiyong hollered.

Donghae put a hand on the other man’s shoulder, restraining him, though he didn’t say anything. Haruki recognized the way her partner's lips were pressed into a thin line, the way his hand kept clenching and opening. He was too furious to even speak.

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” she asked.

“You’re the one who needs to explain things!” yelled the hacker, slapping her cell phone on the table.

Oh.

So that’s where it went.

“You took my phone?” Haruki accused, staring up at her partner in disbelief. This wasn’t like Donghae; he’d ask her about whatever was going on and respect her refusal to tell him. At least, that’s what he’d been doing so far.

“And it’s a good thing he did,” Jiyong growled.

Her hand tightened around her phone as she closed her eyes slowly, resigned. “You read them.”

“Every single one,” Donghae confirmed quietly as Jiyong continued to seethe. “I think we deserve to know why you didn’t tell us about this.”

“I think we should lock her up in a nuthouse! Clearly, she can’t think straight!” Jiyong retorted.

“That’s enough,” Donghae snapped and the hacker crossed his arms with a huff.

Haruki kept her eyes trained on the phone. She didn’t want to see the betrayal in her partner’s eyes and she definitely didn’t want to think about what he could do with the information. “Chief, Morita Haruki cannot be trusted in times of need…”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“I don’t care. I want to know why you’ve been texting our killer,” he snapped.

"I thought this could be a way to end things.”

“If by ‘things’, you mean your life, you’re right!” Jiyong called from the corner he was still sulking in.

Donghae merely sighed. “How would this help anything? Playing his game like this, giving in to his demands…this isn’t like you. You’re thinking with your heart and not your head.”

“He was killing people to get to me-”

“And you fell right into his trap!” Donghae snapped. “He wanted you to get attached so he could you in deeper and deeper, and he did!” He grabbed the phone and opened it to a new text that Haruki hadn’t read yet.

Unknown: That was unfortunate, wasn’t it? I hope it won’t happen again…but I will take a rain check this once.

“I know you want to say yes,” Donghae said quietly. “I can see it in your eyes right now, and I know that the only thing stopping you is the fact that I’m sitting here.” He narrowed his eyes at her as he leaned forward slightly. “Is this because of what I said yesterday, Haruki? When I said I didn’t think you could handle it? Is this your way of making a point?”

“No!”

“Then why the hell would you agree to meet your stalker? Unless you want to meet your maker, too?”

“If I agree to meet with him, this could all be over,” Haruki insisted.

“Yeah, for you!” her partner growled. “You’ll just be adding to the body count, Haruki, don’t you see that? What if he doesn’t stop with you? It’ll all be for nothing! You won’t be saving anyone!”

“He was planning on lobotomizing me last night,” she said quietly. “While I was lying sound asleep. It was only by chance that…Gyuri took my place. And he was angry that I’d tricked him. That’s why he killed her, but I don’t think he really wants me dead.” It would have been so much easier to kill her last night, since he was already in the apartment.

“Then why is he doing this?” Donghae demanded.

Haruki shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”

The office fell eerily silent as Jiyong paced back towards them. “So what do we do now?” he asked. “He controls all the pieces. He’s running the game. What do we do?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Donghae replied. He nodded at Haruki. “Text him back.”

Haruki reached for her phone and paused, staring at him. “And say what?”

“Say that you’ll meet with him,” Donghae replied.

“Have you lost your mind?” Jiyong hollered. “You just chewed her out for contacting him! The only smart thing she did was refuse to meet with him!”

Donghae ignored the hacker screaming in his face, fixing his eyes on his partner. “Tell him you’ll meet with him at a place near the Disco Drive this Friday, at six-thirty.”

“What are you planning?” Haruki asked quietly.

"Friday is Chief Park’s birthday party, remember?” Donghae replied. “Everyone will be there…”

“Except for our man,” Jiyong finished, finally understanding. “He’ll be waiting for you to show up instead.”

“Are you planning on arresting him while he’s waiting for me?” Haruki asked. “That’s crazy. It’ll never work!”

“Why not?”

“He knows you, Donghae. He’s in this department, he knows everyone. The moment he sees anyone besides me, he’ll know it’s a trap and run,” Haruki snapped.

“Do you have a better plan?” Donghae retorted.

Haruki bit her lip. “Well, I have a plan, but I’m not sure how much better it is…”

When Haruki came home, Jessica was already there, sitting on top of a suitcase as she tried to jam it shut.

Haruki almost smiled, but schooled her expression into a neutral look when she saw her roommate’s frustrated face. “Need help with that?” she asked. She added her weight to the suitcase, and with the two of them combined, they just barely managed to lock it shut.

Jessica looked around the room, which was strewn with belongings she hadn’t packed yet. She flopped down on the sofa and groaned dramatically. “This is going to take forever!”

But Haruki knew that the model was complaining about packing to avoid talking about the real issue: she didn’t want to move out. And Haruki didn’t really want her to leave either.

More importantly, though, she didn’t want to find the model lying dead on the floor. This was for Jessica’s own good.

“You’re still coming to Krystal’s funeral on Saturday, right?” Jessica asked.

“Huh? Uh…” Haruki bit her lip.

“I mean, it’s not like you have any plans for Friday night,” scoffed the model. When the detective shifted her glance away, Jessica demanded, “You do? What? What’s going on?”

“It’s Chief Park's birthday party,” Haruki replied.

“And?”

“Why does there have to be an ‘and’?”

“Because it’s you,” Jessica snorted. “And you didn’t deny it just now. What else is going on?”

Haruki sighed. Sometimes, she thought her roommate might make a good detective- she was relentless when she wanted to know something. “Jessica…this past week, I’ve been in contact with…him. The killer.” The model said nothing. “I still don’t know who it is, but Donghae and Jiyong and I…we have a plan to catch him.”

Jessica nodded, understanding far better than Haruki had hoped she would. “You’re going to be stupid and play the hero.” She shoved off from the couch and stormed towards the nearest pile of clothes, stuffing them haphazardly into a suitcase.

“Why are you angry with me?” Haruki asked, stunned.

“Do you need to ask?” Jessica shrilled.

“I want to catch Krystal’s murderer!” Haruki snapped. “I want to catch him more than anything!”

“Then do it some other way!” Jessica hollered. “I don’t want to be dragged down to that morgue to confirm the identity of your body parts!”

“There isn’t any other way!” Haruki yelled. Damn it, why was everyone being so difficult about this? Playing along with the killer would be the only way to finally capture him. It had taken forever to convince Donghae and Jiyong of that.

“Then I’m coming with you!”

“You’re insane!”

“No, you are. You can't go alone!”

Haruki groaned, rubbing her temples, where a migraine was beginning to form. Whenever they fought, Jessica always won, but this was not a battle she could afford to lose. “Absolutely not. If he sees you, he’ll go ballistic. You already saw what he did to Gyuri when I disobeyed his orders the first time.”

Jessica grew quiet at that, the blouse in her hands hanging limp. Just then, Haruki’s phone went off. She dug it out of her pocket and flipped it open, face growing pale when she read the message.

Unknown: Aww, I hate to think you’ll be missing your chief’s party because of me. How about this, instead?

As she read the instructions that followed, Haruki smiled even though the words sent a chill up her spine. He was behaving as expected.

He’d picked the location, of course. An abandoned clothing shop several blocks away. She’d made sure to mention that they would be safe because everyone else would be at a party…a party they’d both be expected to attend. He knew that, of course, and his instructions were simple. Show up, make small talk, leave and make sure no one noticed.

Now, she’d just have to hope that they could figure out who had left early before the allotted meeting time came.

“There are so many flaws with this plan, Haruki,” Donghae had snapped. “What if someone’s sick that day, or just shows up late? Or what if he doesn’t leave until you’re supposed to meet with him. What then?”

Haruki had taken a deep breath. “Then I’ll just have to take my chances.”

“You’re smiling.”

“Everything is going according to plan, so far,” Haruki replied.

Jessica snatched the phone from her hand and read the message, eyebrows rising to her hairline. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Friday night, by seven o’clock, it’ll all be over,” Haruki countered.

“Great. I’ll be your plus one to the party.” Jessica turned away and flipped open the suitcase they’d just closed, digging through it. “What do you wear to a boring party with police people?”

Haruki opened to protest, then snapped it shut. What the hell? Come Friday, six-thirty, she’d need all the moral support she could get.

He chuckled upon seeing the forced smile on her face. She was putting up a front for her roommate, but he could see right through her. She was scared, uncertain.

You should be.

So naively optimistic of her to believe that her foolish plan even had a chance. Like he’d allow himself to be caught.

You should know better.

Morita Haruki would be in for a sorely unpleasant surprise, he’d make sure of that. It would be punishment for rejecting him again and for tricking him last night.

He flexed his fingers- he really hadn’t meant to kill that girl. Sometimes, when his anger went out of control, he did things he hadn’t planned to do. He needed to be more careful.

Unplanned actions led to unplanned consequences.

He turned back to the scene, watching Haruki and that annoying friend of hers sort through the clothes in the other girl’s trunk. She was agitated, but there was a hopeful glint in her eyes that he liked.

She thought she actually had a chance.

Adorable.