The next day, Moonhee woke up early. She couldn’t fall asleep no matter what she tried. She went to the drawer and pulled it open quietly, not wanting to wake Yael up. Reaching for the crumpled paper she received the day before, she read the contents again.

“Secret admirer,” she scoffed and something struck her.

She small-jogged over to the area behind the tv. She reached down for the other crumpled piece of paper she remembered throwing.

Unfolding it, she realised they were the same.

Exactly the same.

She put them together and folded the papers, stuffing them into the drawer beneath the television.

“Hee?”

Yael came down to the living room, rubbing her eyes.

“Morning,” Moonhee waved, discretely closing the drawer. “Are you going for your part-time?”

The former nodded sleepily. “I’ve gotten the 10-9 shift because,” she curled her fingers in a quote. “It’s a Saturday.”

Moonhee chuckled, walking towards her friend. She threw her arm over Yael’s shoulders.

“Let’s head for breakfast before work.” She proposed.

Yael shook her head, “I have to rush off after washing up. It’s 9 now. They want me to help with opening the place.”

Moonhee frowned for a second before ruffling her friend’s hair.

“Alright then, let’s have dinner together instead.” She smiled.

Yael turned to go back to her room to grab her clothes when Moonhee called her.

“Remember, don’t go with anyone you don’t know. Especially if your gut feelings tells you so.”

“I know, I know. I’m not 12 anymore, Hee.” Yael chuckled.

***

“Again?” Jinyoung ruffled his hair in frustration. “Another one?”

“Ya, quit complaining.” Jaebum got to his feet. “Thanks, Johnny, I’ve seen enough.”

The said male nodded and covered the newest female victim’s body with the white cloth. It was the same MO as the previous two, strangulation marks around the neck. There is something different with this victim, though. There is a clean patch on her forehead, void of any DNA.

It was as though someone had cleaned a small portion of her forehead.

Jaebum’s phone vibrated in his pocket, he fished it out and saw that it was a message from Taecyeon. He let out a curse under his breath, making Jinyoung look at him in concern.

“Who’s that? What happened?”

JB huffed. He stopped walking and handed the phone to him. Jinyoung took it and read the contents of the message before letting out a breath.

The former took his phone back, “Looks like we’ll be doing overtime this week.”

“It’s not fair! We are the only team available for homicide cases, why do we have to do everything?”

Jaebum his lips, “That’s what you get for being the only team that answers directly to the upper sectors. Come on, let’s get back.”

***

Yael was in her uniform, music blasting through her earphones as she walked down the street to her cafe. She was thinking about her school assignment when she was startled by a man running up to her, out of breath.

“Miss! Miss!” He stopped to catch his breath. “My daughter’s missing! She’s about this tall,” he mimicked the height with his hand. “Have you seen her?”

Seeing how worried the man was, she glanced around. “I didn’t see any children pass me, but let’s look for her together,” she offered.

The man’s face lit up, the glint in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed. “You would do that?”

Yael wasn’t a fool.

She had spent so much time with men like this, that she was able to tell when a man really needed help and when he needed a girl.

She reached for her phone, Moonhee’s call came on time. She turned to the man, “Sorry, let me take a call.”

"Hello?”

“El, are you at the cafe? Can you help me get an oreo cheesecake before they sell out?”

“Woah, what happened? I’ll head over to the store now.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just--” There was a slight pause from the other end of the call. “Are you in trouble?”

“Yes. I’m hurrying over right now.”

“Where are you? I’ll come over.”

“You don’t have to come over,” Yael glanced at the man next to her.

He smiled but she could tell it was forced.

“Get away from him and head over to the cafe quickly. Don’t look back.”

“You’re on the way already?” She asked. “See you then.”

Yael dropped her hand but didn’t hang up. She tapped the screen twice, a code only the two girls know. A code that meant the call was still going on.

“I’m sorry, my boss wants me to hurry over to work. He’s coming to pick me up. I can’t help you. I’ll help you call the police.”

He shook his head, “It’s my fault for losing her. I’ll look for her first.”

She gave him a quick bow and she scurried away.

After Yael had gone a distance away from the man and was nearer to her workplace when she put her phone to her ear.

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