A bloody woman run through the dark alleyways desperately attempts to escape a mysterious black hooded man who slowly follows after her. She scanned the area, praying to find a place to hide and ended up hiding behind the rubbish dumps. Trembling, she trying to dial a number with her phone that she managed to retrieve from her kidnapper, desperately hoping for the call to be answered immediately, but unfortunately it took a long time to get answer. She let out a relief sigh once he heard a familiar soft voice from the phone. Crying, she begs him to save her, but then freezes when she glimpses the mysterious hooded man nearby. She covered with her own hands. She was trying to leave her hiding spot, slowly making her way to an abandoned house when she accidentally stepping on a rubber duck and its sound alerts the mysterious man to where she is hiding.

Idiot. I’m going to die.

She tilted her head only to see the mysterious man smirked in satisfaction. She couldn’t do anything but run with her remaining energy, earned a smile from the mysterious man.

“I told you, you'll never get any chance to escape from me.”

The mysterious man merrily ran after her. He glanced to his victim's phone which is already fallen on the ground. He burst on laugh as he saw the name on the screen. He then stepped on the phone and destroyed it.

She felt her chest burning with unbearable pain as red liquid kept flowing from her chest, but she kept running. She has to. But unfortunately she was too weak to run. The chaser was getting closer with every second. She stumbled several time, but stil managed to get up before he reach her. She kept running until he saw a middle-aged man smoking at the end of the alley. She was just about to scream for help when the black hooded man tackled her and roughly dragged her back to the alley.

She was lying helplessly on the ground now, crying as she begs her attacker to not kill her. But the black hooded man just smiled. His grin eerily gleams from the shadows of his hood.

“You shouldn’t have upset me.”

He pulled out a knife from his bag and stabbed her on chest. Once, twice, thrice, he kept counting every stab as he laugh eerily, enjoying the sensation of seeing his victim scream in pain. Satisfied with his treatment, he pulled out a saw from his bag and slashed . But his treatment wasn’t finished yet. He needed to take a souvenir. He then cut out two of her left fingers and put it on a glass box labeled ‘Hong Yiseul’. And for the finishing touch, he put a red joker card next to the corpse of his victim.

“The treatment is done.” He smirked, humming a random melody as he left the crime scene.

***

** 2 Years Later **

“… Another victim has been discovered today at Dosan Park by passing homeless man. Time of death estimated at around 11 PM last night. He was found murdered five days after reported disappearance.  His throat cut so severely that he was almost decapitated, and there are multiple stab wounds on his chest.... ”

Hakyeon gulped. His hands trembled. He glanced at the TV once again to make sure that it was the same case. Cold sweat started to fill his entire body as he saw screen. Victim’s throat cut so severely, numerous stab wounds on victim’s chest, fingers cut out, and one thing that only the polices and the killer know, a tiny object that left next to the corpse of the victim, a joker card, the black one.

. So he's still ‘hanging around’ and keeps killing people.

“What’s wrong, Detective Cha?” An old woman startled him, causing him to drop his spoon.

“Eh-uh-nothing. I was just shocked by the news on TV.” He answered, sending a warm smile to the old women so that she will not be worry.

“It’s the same case with last month, isn’t it?” This time, it’s a man on his 30s who asked him from behind the counter.

“Yeah, it is. The killer is so cruel.” He answered, glance at the TV once again and frowned.

“You must arrest and imprison the killer soon, before he kills more people.”

“I really want it, but sadly my team is not in charge of homicide case.” Hakyeon sighed.

“Eyy Halmeoni, he is in charge of cyber crime case. Halmeoni wouldn’t understand even if I explain it.” The man behind the counter scoffed at his grandmother, earned a giggle from Hakyeon.

“Is that so?” The old woman who is the restaurant owner asked innocently, scratching her un-itchy head, “So how was my new recipe? Is it delicious?”

“It’s perfect, Halmeoni.” Hakyeon raised his thumbs up and winked to the old woman, “Well, I need to get back to work. Thanks for the lunch.” He sent a warm smile once again to the old woman who was already left to serve another costumer across his table, earning a nod from the old woman. He then got up from his seat, making his way to the counter to pay for his meal.

“Next time get your team members to eat here. You have to help my business.” Hyukjae – the man behind the counter – said playfully.

“Then give me a discount when I do it.”

“Eyy, you are such a little brat.” Hyukjae scoffed, earned a giggle from Hakyeon.

“Hyung, I have to go. See you.” Hakyeon said, waving to him until he reached the entrance. His facial expression changed instantly after he left the restaurant. The news he had watched kept haunting in his mind. The killer is so cruel. He could have simply murdered each victim with simple method. Instead, he wounded all the victims far beyond what was necessary to cause death.

***

“Hyung, I heard that you will be transferred to another team, is that true?” His fellow team member, Heeseok, greet him with a strange question once he sit on his seat.

“What are you talking about? Who said it?” Hakyeon raised her eyebrows, studying Heeseok’s facial expression. Heeseok was just about to answer his question when someone patted his shoulder. He tilted his head toward the person who tapped his shoulder only to find his other fellow team member, Sehyung. Hakyeon stared at Sehyung face, observing his gloomy expression, clueless.

“Hyung, Chief Hwang wishes to see you.” Sehyung said, patting Hakyeon’s shoulder once again before he went to his seat next to Hakyeon’s. Hakyeon nodded, can’t help but do as told, making his way to the meeting room to meet Chief Hwang for whatever their reason.

And here he is now, in front of the meeting room, hesitated whether he need to knock the door soon or waiting for another minute passed to prepare his brain for whatever he would hear when he enter the meeting room. He took a deep breath in order to calming himself. He fixed his hair, observing his reflection on his phone’s screen, and then knocked the door as he shoved his phone into his pocket with his left hand. He hesitantly opened the door a moment later and peeked in.

“Oh, Detective Cha, please come in.” Chief Hwang invited him to come in, sent him a warm smile. He sat in silent for a few moments, then cleaned his throat and started to speak, “have you seen the news about The Joker?”

“Yes, I have.” It’s all he could say for this time. He scanned the whole room only to find some unfamiliar face. He doesn’t have any clue about what was going on. He then stared at Chief Hwang blankly, waiting for any explanation.

“Well, you’re all here now. I will not wasting time for any chit chat and will go straight to the point,” Chief Hwang paused, “I want to make a special investigation team for that case, and I want you to be the team leader. I know that you want to arrest that serial killer so bad for whatever your reason.”

So this is what they meant.

“And they will be your team member. Let me introduce them to you. The man who sits in front of you is Lieutenant Jung Taekwoon and next to him is Sergeant Major Kim Wonshik. The man who sits next to you is Staff Sergeant Lee Hongbin. And the last person for your team is Corporal Han Sanghyuk.” Chief Hwang turn to face the other four, “and to all of you, this is Captain Cha Hakyeon. I told you about him, right? He will be your team leader from now on.” Hakyeon turn his head to face his new-team-member one by one, started from the expressionless guy named Jung Taekwoon, then the sleepy-looking guy named Kim Wonshik, next the handsome guy with dimples named Lee Hongbin, and ended up in a tall and cute guy named Han Sanghyuk.

All of them tilt their head towards the door as they heard a sound of the door cracked open after several knocking sounds. A blonde-haired man peering through the door a moment later, sent an awkward smile to Chief Hwang, “The one who just arrived is Doctor Lee Jaehwan, the forensic doctor who autopsied the third, fourth, and fifth victims. He will explain the results of his autopsy to all of you.”

“Well, I’m late for a meeting, so I have to go. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.” Chief Hwang continued, inviting the forensic doctor to come in as he left.

Hakyeon took a deep breath, preparing his brain to accept this situation. It’s good news though. This is what he always wants. He realized that handling the homicide case was not an easy thing. But that does not matter as long as he can catch the Joker, the mysterious serial killer who had overkilled five people in the last three years.

“I heard that you have already heard about me. Then I will not waste my time with introductions. We will be working together from now on, so ... let’s just talk comfortably.” Hakyeon said, smiled warmly to his team member and the forensic doctor.

Thanks God, I got this case, finally.... after waiting for 2 years. I will arrest the killer no matter what. His what-so-called ‘game’ should be ended no matter what.

***