Hana hung up the call and smiled despite the news that Myungsoo had just given her ten minutes earlier. There was something about just listening to Yixing’s voice that made her happier, and for once, she felt like she could indulge in that even though she wasn’t supposed to. She was finally letting herself believe that everything would work out, and that they would arrest Baekhyun now that they had new evidence. Yixing had mentioned that Baekhyun was a psychopath, so maybe they could start tracking his patterns. Hana knew that Yixing was rarely wrong when it came to this stuff, and that meant she could trust him. She realized that Yixing gave her hope, and her heart fluttered at the thought of having hope for a good ending to this tragic story.

She kicked the blankets off of her body and rolled out of bed to stretch and head to the bathroom to get ready. Normally, her showering time was designated to thinking about things she had done, and usually, it wasn’t embarrassing, but as she replayed the conversation from this morning, she realized that the conversation could’ve been taken very much out of context.

“Can you wait like twenty minutes for me?”

“Yes, I can wait for you.”

Groaning at her awful wording choice that she was going to absolutely blame on the fact that it’s very early in the morning, she covered her face with her soap-covered hands before hissing at the sensation of the soap burning her eyes.

And here she thought she was having a decent morning.

~~~

Exactly nineteen minutes after the call with Yixing, the man in question showed up at her door.

“Hey,” he said with a wave once she opened the door with a smile on her face. His dimple was showing, and even though she had seen it countless times, she still felt the urge to poke him there, just to see how deep it really was. Hana was beginning to let herself feel these foreign emotions towards Yixing, but she knew that when time came, they would have to be buried deep within her.

But for now, it was okay.

“Hello,” she replied, closing the door to her apartment behind her. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Always,” he grinned. Hana smiled back at him, and the two walked downstairs and exited the building. The drive to the precinct was filled with the two making small talk thanks to Yixing.

“Hey, Hana?” he asked at some point, turning to look at her quickly before looking back at the road.

“Hmm?”

“You want to play 21 questions?”

“Suddenly?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“Sure,” he shrugged as he the indicator before making a right turn. “We know each other, but we don’t know each other.” Hana contemplated for a moment before agreeing with a short hum.

“I’ll go first,” Yixing spoke, “favorite color?”

“Black.”

“Dark,” he joked.

“Like my heart,” Hana snorted. “You?”

“Purple and black,” Yixing replied sheepishly. Hana raised an eyebrow.

“And you called me dark. Pets?”

“Nope. Wanted a dog, though.”

“Ah, I have a small aquarium in my room.” Hana slowed her speaking when she noticed him shuddering. “Are you okay…?”

“I hate fish.”

“Do I want to know?”

“No.”

“Favorite celebrity?”

“JJ Lin,” he replied in a heartbeat, causing Hana to look at him surprised.

“That was fast,” she commented. Yixing grinned.

“He’s my role model, and honestly? If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing what I do. You don’t seem the type to like celebrities,” Yixing spoke. Hana laughed.

“Please, I had only the biggest crush on Rain. I dragged Hansol to so many music shows and concerts.” Not many people knew about Hana’s crush on Rain, but she felt comfortable letting Yixing know that. The two continued asking each other questions until they had reached the precinct, and then only was their happy mood shattered.

They had just walked into the precinct, smiling about something the other said, when Krystal almost ran past them holding a file in her hand. She slowed to a stop when she saw the two and ushered them into the chief’s room. Hana looked at Yixing curiously and quickly jogged after the female.

“What’s wrong?” Hana asked, seeing the grim faces of the other detectives and Krystal. “We have new evidence?”

“The evidence was a bust. The fiber I found on the dress was from a standard gardening glove, and since it was from the outside, there was no print or DNA that I could pull off of it. Kyungsoo is still finishing the autopsy, but he said that he found sunflower pollen on it again. I don’t know if there’s anything he will pull off from the body. However, there was a small rolled up note on the corsage,” Krystal replied, handing the note over to the chief. He unrolled it and began to read from it.

“Another failed attempt and finding myself a bride. Maybe I’ll just come back for you, Detective.”

“What is he trying to do? Find wives?” Myungsoo groaned, frustrated.

“You know, there was this book that came out awhile back in America. It was called The Bride Collector,” Jessica spoke up nervously. “It was about this serial killer who killed girls and left a wedding veil at each situation. What if Baekhyun is copying that? I didn’t think of this until my cousin texted me that she had finally read the book a few weeks ago.”

“It’s possible,” Yixing replied. “He’s a psychopath, correct? I think we’ve established that by now. He wants attention towards himself. He wants to be the center of not only his universe, but everyone else’s. If he had quite traditional mentality that females are to worship their husbands, then it would make sense for him want multiple wives, even though it’s not legal—not that killing is legal anyways. Not to mention the fact that I think he’s losing grip on reality. He’s starting to make mistakes, and he’s beginning to show more diversions from his set pattern. He didn’t leave notes everywhere before — he’s doing that taunt us because he thinks he’ll be able to get away with it. He’s slippi