Chanwoo sits on a sofa, staring emptily at the space in front of him. He is still in shock of what he has heard. Junhoe is no murderer! There is no way someone nice like him… well, ‘nice’, can murder someone. He is a beastmaster! If anything, he should be good at caring for other creatures, not harming them.

That’s it! Chanwoo decided that he will talk to Junhoe himself. There is only one police station nearby that has the facility for short-time detention, so he should be held there. Sneaking in won’t be easy, but Chanwoo is not a fox for nothing.

Junhoe sits patiently in the interrogation room. Officers come and go; the usual bad-police-good-police drill, but he cannot admit to something that he didn’t do.

He is left by himself for a while with nothing to do. He just lays back and taps his finger on the table. His mind starts drifting, trying to remember something that may help him get out from this situation. But he cannot find anything. In the end, he starts thinking about Chanwoo… He must be worried.

His attention is grabbed by the sound coming from behind the door. An officer comes in; the one that has interrogated him before. However, something feels different. It’s very subtle, but he’s sure there is something... someone, that follows the officer. Ah! Could it be…

The officer starts asking Junhoe another stream of questions, but he can offer him no new information. He really has told him everything he knows.

After a while, the officer sighs in frustration and stands up to leave for the nth time. But this time, Junhoe stops him. “Can I use the washroom?”, Junhoe asked.

The officer turns around. “Yeah, sure.”, he said.

Junhoe calmly stands up and follows the officer. He can feel that the weird feeling, whatever it is, is following him.

Once in the washroom, he enters one of the cubicles and closes the door.

“How did you find me?”, he whispered.

Chanwoo reveals himself and shows Junhoe one of his Mimics. “These guys are excited to meet their lost master.”

There is an awkward pause for a while; none of them know what to say. Then, Chanwoo breaks the silent, “What did you do?”.

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you here?”

“They accused me of murdering…”, Junhoe paused.

“Whom? Murdering whom?”, Chanwoo pressed the question.

“Junhoe…”

Chanwoo’s eyes widen in surprise. Then, everything seems to make sense. The identical Leviathans, the Ogre elder; they’re not Leviathan or Ogre, they’re Junhoe!

“You are a Doppelgänger!?”, Chanwoo raised his voice while still keeping it low.

“Well, you just figured me out.”, Junhoe commented.

“Then how can I know you didn’t kill the real Junhoe? Doppelgänger isn’t a moral creature.”

“Trust me; I didn’t. Most Doppelgänger kills the original; I grant you that, but I didn’t kill the real Junhoe.”, Junhoe insisted.

“Why should I trust you?”

Junhoe sighs. “He was my master, ok? He trained me not to be bad. And he was a good guy; I have no reason to murder him.”, he said, staring at Chanwoo right in the eyes.

Chanwoo response is a simple “Oh…”. He stays silent for a while, then asks another question. “Have I ever met the real Junhoe?”

“You did. You recruited the real one. It was in the library, I suppose? I don’t know; I wasn’t there.”

“So, he was murdered within a week after I recruited him, and you came to me as a replacement?”, Chanwoo tried to confirm.

Junhoe simply nods. “Well, I didn’t know he was murdered. All I know was that he disappeared. He ordered me to resume his form if he vanishes for more than 48 hours.”

“And you didn’t look for him?”

Junhoe shakes his head. “He gave me that order so I can resume his normal activities; searching for him will kill that purpose.”

“I see… Give me your old address.”

Junhoe looks confused. “Eh? Why?”

“Just give me. I want to check something.”

In the end, Junhoe tells Chanwoo his old address. Chanwoo then leaves soon after, not without kissing Junhoe on the forehead.

“It should be here…”, Chanwoo said to himself as he stares at an abandoned house. It does look fitting for a house of someone that has been murdered months ago.

He enters the house; it’s not locked. Once inside, he tours the house a little, brushing his fingers on the grubby wall.

He sighs. He looks outside from a window to check that nobody knows he is there. He then closes all windows, making sure nobody can see him from the outside.

Ok, Chanwoo. I know you can do this.

He takes a few deep breaths and transforms to his original fox form. He never did this before, but he knows that Kitsune like him can communicate with spirits. Especially since he is more powerful than normal Kitsunes.

He closes his eyes and focuses on the memories. He only met the original Junhoe once, but that should be enough.

After a while, the room starts getting chilly. A few small balls of blue flames appear around Chanwoo’s tails, and then, Junhoe’s spirit appears.

“What… Why am I back here?”, Junhoe’s spirit asked, looking confused. “Just when I’m about to have some fun with Jinhwan…”, he added with a sigh.

He then notices Chanwoo, “Oh, did you call me here?”.

Chanwoo nods. He closes his eyes, trying to establish a telepathic link with Junhoe’s spirit. Once formed, Junhoe realizes that Chanwoo is the man that recruited him in the library.

“Wait? You are him?”, Junhoe’s spirit sounds surprised. “Impressive. I didn’t know you are… You know, I never believed in male Kitsune before.”

Chanwoo giggles. Doppelgänger Junhoe said the exact same thing.

Chanwoo then telepathically says, straight to the point, “Your Doppelgänger is accused of murdering you.”.

“Ah, I see… I didn’t expect that to happen, but now I hear it myself, I can see why that happen. But my Doppelgänger didn’t kill me, though; he is a good boy.”, Junhoe said.

“I know. Hence why I called you here.”

“I can clear his name. Just have to summon me in front of the court or whoever is holding him right now.”

“Well… about that…”, Chanwoo hesitated.

“Why? Is there a problem?”, he asked bluntly; then it clicks. “Are you… hiding your identity? You’re a valuable breed, after all.”

Chanwoo nods.

“In that case… I’m not sure how I can help. The problem is… there is no physical evidence that can help.”, Junhoe’s spirit said while shaking his head.

“Eh…!? How come?”

Junhoe’s spirit shrugs. “I was taken away to the spirit world, just like that.”, he said with a finger snap. “Apparently, I made a contract that I cannot even remember.”

“Then, can we show the contract to them?”

“We can, but someone still needs to connect to the spirit world.”, Junhoe’s spirit explained.

Chanwoo sighs. Everything must come at a cost, eh?

“Alright, fine.”, Chanwoo said. “I’ll summon you in front of them.”

“Are you sure? You are risking your life.”

Chanwoo nods. “Yeah, but I’m not risking losing Junhoe either.”, he declared, the determination in his eyes.

“Ok then. Call me when you need me.”, Junhoe said, disappearing soon after.

After the conversation, Chanwoo takes some more deep breaths and transform back to his human form. He then quickly leaves; he gets a job to do.

By the time Chanwoo returns, a public court is being held to judge Junhoe. There is not enough evidence to convict him, but there is not enough reason to acquit him either, given how Doppelgänger usually works.

Chanwoo sighs. Of course it has to be in front of everyone.

There isn’t a lot of spectators, to his relief. The hearing goes pretty smoothly, and Chanwoo waits until the very end, collecting his courage. When everyone has said what they have to say, Chanwoo takes a deep breath and walks forward.

“Hold on! I have something to show.”

Seeing Chanwoo, Junhoe gets up from his seat and rushes to Chanwoo. “What are you planning?”, he hissed.

“Trust me. I know something.”, Chanwoo said, pushing Junhoe back. He then looks around and quickly assumes his fox form.

“Ooh…”, the spectators gasp in awe. Junhoe’s eyes widen as he sees Chanwoo reveals himself in front of everyone.

But that’s not the end of the show. Chanwoo quickly closes his eyes and summons Junhoe’s spirit. Junhoe jolts in surprise, “Master!?”.

“Calm down.”, Junhoe’s spirit said. “It’s time to get you out of here.”