Sometimes Haruki wondered why she’d chosen this job. She was currently seated at a conference table alongside a bleary Taeyeon and Yuri, waiting for the arrival of the forensics lab members. She’d sent Jessica home to sleep off her hangover, but was currently stuck trying to nurse her own, after hours of useless questioning and putting up yards of police tape.

It was 7am.

“I brought coffee!” Yoona called in an overly chipper voice as she strolled into the room, flanked by her yawning colleagues.

“What’re you so happy about?” Taeyeon mumbled as she stretched out a hand towards the lab analyst lazily.

Haruki took the proffered cup with a nod of thanks as Choi Minho and Cho Kyuhyun, the younger members of the forensics lab, collapsed across from her at the table.

“So!” Yoona plopped down into a seat and laced her fingers together. “Let’s see the photos.”

Yuri nodded and pushed a stack of photographs towards the other woman. After studying them for a few moments, Yoona began placing them in order, reconstructing Hyorin’s hospital room, and then doing the same with Victoria’s office. “These blood spatters,” she murmured as she studied Hyorin’s, tracing one up the wall to the ceiling. “He slashed more than once. See how the trajectory of the-”

Minho made a faint noise of protest as Kyuhyun groaned out loud. “Can we save the gore for after coffee?” he complained.

Haruki sighed, wanting nothing more than to agree with him. “This just doesn’t make any sense. Why would he come back for Hyorin? And why did he attack Victoria?”

“Moreover, why is he changing his method of killing?” Yoona asked. “You said his previous victims were killed by ice picks to the eyes.”

“Through the brain,” Haruki corrected. “Up the eyelid and into the-”

“Please don’t.” Kyuhyun muttered.

Groggy as she was, Taeyeon managed a smirk. “Can’t stand a little blood, Kyuhyun?”

“Where’s your partner, Haruki?” Minho asked before Kyuhyun could retort. “Why isn’t he here suffering, too?”

“He has something to check out in-” Taeyeon began, before clapping a hand over . “Oops.”

“What?” Haruki frowned and slowly lowered her cup to the table.

“You weren’t supposed to tell her,” hissed Yuri.

“Tell me what?”

“Well, it’s too late now,” Taeyeon retorted. “He’s-”

Donghae climbed into his car and slammed the door behind him, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Being woken up at 1am to deal with two dead girls had given him a migraine and now that the initial chaos was over several hours later, he wanted nothing more than to go to bed. Unfortunately, this was probably the best time to sneak away from his partner and check out the address Jiyong had given him. She’d be furious, but he figured he’d live.

He turned to the passenger’s seat to put down his bag and screamed.

Haruki was sitting there, still as a statue, arms crossed over her chest. The only sign of life was the faint twitching of her lips as she tried to hide her smile.

“W-w-what are you doing?” he sputtered.

“Thought you could leave without me?” she retorted. “Not a chance.”

“What? No! You’re not coming with me!” he snapped.

“Yes, I am! Donghae, two more girls just died! I am desperate for anything that will help us finish this case.” Her eyes remained stony, but he noticed the trembling of her jaw.

"Is there something else bothering you, Haruki?” he asked quietly.

“No!” she snapped a bit too quickly, and he just nodded.

“Fine. Whatever.” Donghae sighed and stuck his key into the ignition. “We should get there by noon, if we manage to avoid morning traffic.”

“That’s good,” she replied and turned towards the window, putting an end to all conversation. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he glanced over and noticed the phone tightly clutched in her hand.

“Did you get another message from the killer, Haruki?”

The brief pause before she shook her head and closed her eyes made Donghae clench his teeth in frustration. She was hiding something from him.

Sungmin knocked at Haruki’s office with two steaming cups of coffee in his hands, but it was empty.

“She’s not here,” Taemin informed him as he passed by with a stack of files. “She and Donghae went to Falls Park.”

The detective frowned and the rookie instinctively took a few steps back. “She didn’t tell me she was going to Falls Park,” Sungmin murmured.

Taemin shrugged. “I-I don’t know. J-jiyong told me.” Without waiting for Sungmin’s reply, he scampered off quickly, clutching the papers to his chest.

As Sungmin headed towards his office, he ran into Eunhyuk, who pointed to the cups in his hands. “Are you going to drink both of those?”

"You can have it,” Sungmin replied, handing one to the blond. “Did you know Donghae went to Falls Park?”

“Yeah, he and Haruki are investigating something there,” Eunhyuk replied. “They won’t be coming in today. Probably get back really late, too.” He drained the cup and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “I gotta get to work. Thanks for the coffee.”

“No problem,” Sungmin said absentmindedly. He nearly crushed the still-full cup in his hand as he glowered at the door next to the one Eunhyuk disappeared into, the one cheerfully emblazoned with Lee Donghae’s name.

Haruki felt her body jerk forward and opened her eyes. “Can’t you drive better?” she mumbled, shifting the seatbelt under her arm so that she was more comfortable.

“I’m going to ignore that,” Donghae replied, gripping the steering wheel with one hand and holding out a paper bag with the other. “Doughnut?”

“No, thanks.” Haruki yawned. “Where are we?”

“We’re about an hour away from Falls Point,” her partner replied.

“What?” She sat up straight. “Why didn’t you wake me up? Have you been driving this whole ti- careful!” Donghae swerved back into the middle of the lane as the car that shot past them honked angrily.

“Sorry,” he replied. “I don’t mind. How’s your hangover?”

“Better. Will you stop doing that?” she snapped as Donghae swerved towards the middle again. “Here. Give me the bag.” He tossed it into her lap and took the steering wheel in both hands, frowning slightly as he tried to hold it straight.

“What are we looking for in Falls Point, anyways?” Haruki asked. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you drive straight?”

“It’s not me,” he replied softly. “There’s something wrong with this car.”

As if on cue, the car began shaking up and down as the smell of burning rubber filled the air. “Pull over!” Haruki yelled. “Stop the car, now!”

“Come on, Haruki, I’ll take you some place where we’ll be safe.”

“What are you doing, unni? Unni? What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry, Haruki. Everything will be okay.”

“Unni, stop it! What are you doing? Stop! Stop the car!”

The world exploded in white.

“Haruki?” Taking a deep breath, she realized that the white was just the airbag that had opened in her face. Turning to the side, she saw Donghae peering at her worriedly, even though his face was white as well. “Hey. Are you okay?” He put a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away, unbuckling her seatbelt and squirming out the door.

Donghae had somehow managed to plow into the railing on the side of the highway, leaving the front of the car smashed in. On top of that, the back right tire had blown out- no, it had blown right off, leaving nothing but the rim.

“I had to stop it, somehow,” he said defensively, mistaking her shocked look for anger. “The brakes weren’t working.”

“When was the last time this car was inspected?” Haruki demanded.

Donghae just sighed. “Look, I’ll call a mechanic.” As he pulled out his phone and turned away from her, Haruki leaned against the railing and wrapped her arms around herself. She was almost thankful for the jarring impact that had yanked her out of her own thoughts.

Something draped onto her back and she looked up to see Donghae putting his jacket over her shoulders. “You’re shaking,” he informed her.

“Th-thanks…”

“The mechanic said he’d be here in about thirty minutes. Meanwhile, a patrol car is driving up from the Falls Point PD to take us into the city. They’ll be here in about an hour,” Donghae explained, sounding a bit more like his usual self. Most of the color had returned to his face. “So we’ve got plenty of time to kill. We could play Twenty Questions, or-”

“Donghae, stop,” Haruki sighed, turning away from him and subconsciously pulling the jacket more tightly around her.

He was quiet for a moment, before asking more softly, “What happened back there, Haruki? In the car. One moment, you’re screaming at me to stop the car, and the next-”

“It’s nothing,” she snapped. “I was just nervous. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m not judging you,” he retorted. “Heck, I was scared, too. But we’re both safe, and that’s-”

“I wasn’t scared, Donghae.”

He just nodded and let the argument end. “Why did you become a police officer?” he asked after another moment.

“I thought I told you to stop talking,” she snapped.

“No, I’m sure you didn’t. Besides, I’m just curious,” he replied.

“Because I wanted to,” she shot back and crossed her arms over the chest and firmly ignoring her partner. Sighing, Donghae tilted his head back and stared up at the sky. She was still musing over the memory that had popped into her head. She thought she’d suppressed it right after it happened. She hadn’t even thought about the incident for years…why now? What made it come up now?

Several minutes ticked by before a truck pulled up behind theirs and two women climbed out, nodding politely at the officers. “You called us?” asked one.

“Yes. Hi.” Donghae came forward to shake their hands. “I’m Donghae.”

“Call me CL. This is Minzy,” the woman replied. She took over the wreckage and whistled. “Dang…what happened here?”

“The car kept swerving off to the side, no matter how hard I tried to hold the wheel straight. When I tried to stop it, the brakes-”

“Who’s that?” the girl named Minzy interrupted, pointing over at Haruki.

“Her? She’s my partner,” Donghae replied. “As I was saying-”

CL clicked her tongue sympathetically. “Horrible way to start a date. I’m sorry for you.”

“What?” Donghae sputtered, looking a bit flustered. “N-no! We’re on a business trip to Falls Park and-”

“Uh-huh,” CL nodded, clearly unconvinced. “Anyways. What were you saying about the car?”

After Donghae finally finished explaining how the accident had happened, the women had hitched the car up to the truck and towed it away, promising to call sometime in the afternoon and let him know how soon they’d have it fixed by.

Haruki hadn’t even looked up throughout the entire exchange and it was starting to worry Donghae. Not that she wasn’t quiet around strangers, but he’d expected a fierce denial when the mechanics had assumed they were dating. “Haruki?” he called. She didn’t seem to hear him and he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

She jolted, a shudder running through her entire body as she took in a shaky breath, pulling away from him. “Are you okay?” he asked, even though the answer was obvious. She was not okay.

“Just…thinking,” she replied, avoiding his eyes.

Donghae let it go, but he couldn’t help casting another concerned glance at her. Why was she so set on keeping him in the dark?

“This is the address,” announced Kevin, one of the Falls Park officers who’d dropped by to pick them up. His partner, Kiseop, just nodded.

“Thanks,” Donghae replied. “We’re so sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Kevin grinned. “Nothing ever happens around here. This was probably the most exciting event of the month.”

“Wish we could say the same,” Donghae chuckled. “Come on, Haruki.” She silently followed him out of the car and he shut the door behind her.

“Call us when you need to be picked up,” Kevin called.

“Oh, it’s fine. We can just call a cab,” Donghae replied.

“Nah. Boss’s orders. He wants to meet you at the station,” the Falls Park officer replied. “Well, good luck with your investigation!” Kiseop raised a hand as they drove off.

Donghae stared up at the apartment building. There was nothing extraordinary about it; it was a gray building, probably no more than eight stories high, with dreary-looking vines creeping along the walls. He led the way inside and to the guard at the desk. “Hi, I’m Officer Lee, and this is Officer Morita. We need to see Apartment 7B.”

“What do you want with that one?” the guard asked. “Nobody’s lived there in months.”

“What?” Haruki whispered; it had been her first word since they’d been stranded on the highway.

“So, if no one lives there, we can go in, right?” Donghae asked. “We just want to take a look around.”

“Suit yourself,” the guard shrugged, pulling a key out from under the desk and tossing it to him.

"How can no one live here? Jiyong traced the IP address to a computer in that apartment,” Haruki murmured once the guard was out of earshot.

“Maybe he was wrong?” Donghae suggested as they rode the elevator up.

“Jiyong’s never wrong.”

No more was said as the elevator dinged to let them know they’d reached their destination. Haruki trailed after her partner as he led the way to the appropriate apartment and unlocked the door.

It was completely empty and she couldn’t help sighing in disappointment.

"You’ve got to be kidding me…” Donghae murmured, echoing her thoughts.

“We should still look around and see if we can find some clues,” she said, though she didn’t really believe it herself. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture in the room and the floors had been polished clean.

Wait.

Floors? Clean?

“Donghae…I think we might be in the right place after all,” Haruki murmured. “The guard said that no one has lived here in months…”

“But someone’s clearly been here.”

Back downstairs, the guard glanced over at the elevators to confirm that both detectives were gone. He then reached for the phone on his desk and dialed a number.

“Hi, it’s me,” he murmured, trusting the person on the other end to recognize his voice. “Both of them are here. They’re going upstairs right now.”

“Good,” came the reply. “I trust you know what to do.”

“Nothing in here,” Donghae called from the living room.

“Nothing in the bedroom either,” Haruki replied, shutting the closet. She glanced around the empty room and frowned.

“Maybe this building just has a really efficient cleaning service,” Donghae suggested.

“For an empty apartment?” Haruki began pacing across the floor, lining up her heel with her toe each time.

“Well, it’s probably unappealing to prospective tenants other-” His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s CL. I’m going to go take this.” Haruki nodded absentmindedly, still staring at the floor.

“Hi, CL? Yes, it’s Donghae. Just a minute. I’m heading outside. The reception in here .”

Haruki heard the door close behind him, but she didn’t pay much attention, brows furrowed in thought. The room measured eight by twelve feet, which seemed a bit small for a one bedroom apartment. Either the floor plan had gotten messed up when the building was being constructed, or…

On impulse, Haruki slammed her foot against one of the walls, barely looking surprised as the wall splintered inwards. Closing her fingers around the smashed plywood, she peeled back the boards to reveal a computer sitting on top of a safe. This had to be the computer that Jiyong had found- it the moment she bumped into it. But the safe?

She knelt down and experimentally tugged at it. It was one of those safes with a combination lock instead of a keypad. In movies, people always pressed their ears against the door as they turned the dial, but she doubted that would work.

A thought crossed her mind and she tried out a series of numbers.

The door swung open, the contents of the safe spilling out around her. They were photographs…of her. Some of them had been ripped in half, others had been scribbled over- but each one focused on her as the central figure. There were a few of her at Heartquake Café with the other girls in the department, others were of her and Donghae (she assumed) walking through various neighborhoods…

She picked up one photograph and examined it, fingers trembling as she brought it up to her face. This one was of her…, having just stepped out of the shower.

Many of them were recent (there were several of her and Jessica in their apartment, although the model’s face had been crossed out), but some dated back to at least a year ago. Someone had been stalking her for months.

The apartment door slammed and she raised her head. “Donghae?” she called out, letting the pictures drop through her fingers.

There was no response.

“Donghae?” she tried again, a cold finger of worry snaking up her spine as she slowly rose to her feet, leaving the pictures scattered behind her. Slowly, she poked her head through the bedroom doorway.

No one.

She headed towards the living room, heart pounding so hard, she could almost feel it pulsing down to her toes. On rubbery legs, she approached the doorway and peered inside.

She gasped.

Posted on one of the walls was a blown up picture of…oh, god, why was it her picture? How did he know? The face staring down at her, so similar to her own, had a haunted look in those eyes. There was something just a little wrong with her smile…

And the message, scrawled across that flawless skin: “Everything will be okay.” What was he? How could he read her mind, how did he know about this? She could feel a scream building inside her, threatening to overflow, threatening to burst-

“Haruki?” Donghae’s warm arm wrapped around her shoulders, but the horror in his voice was evident as he stared up at the giant poster. “What’s going on? Who’s that girl?”

“My sister,” Haruki barely whispered. The word sounded so foreign to her, after all this time…

Her phone rang and she jumped away from Donghae, pulling it out. Unknown caller.

Clearing , she flipped it open. “H-hello?”

Music greeted her again, paralyzing her and rooting her to the ground. It was a different song this time, but she just knew that the message was the same. The wild flowing melody, accompanied by a haunting beat that should have been beautiful…

“My hands tremble more. I’ll lose my focus shortly

Why my broken legs standing here

I can’t even remember, I become scared

Where are you, who was laughing until just now.”

Oh God, oh God, oh God. “Haruki? What is it?” Donghae demanded, making a reach for the phone, but she turned away. She wanted to hang up, but she couldn’t- she had to hear the rest.

“Curse me, curse me for letting go

My collapsed heart is screaming

Don’t throw me away, don’t leave me alone

Want you, I want you like crazy

Your lips that left me shouldn’t love

Don’t love me, I threw you away.” 

A/N: Here's to SHINee's "Obsession." Jonghyun, I love you for writing these hauntingly beautiful lyrics. This is my absolute favorite SHINee song, ever. It even beats out "Ring Dong Dong." 

Anyways, after this chapter, stuff gets weird. Not that stuff isn't already weird, but you get my point. You have been warned...