"It is not because other people are dead that our affection for them grows faint, it is because we ourselves are dying."

- Marcel Proust

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Umm…”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry!” The figure impulsively jumped back a step as soon as she met her piercing gaze. “I-uh, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. I was just resting my eyes.”

Large eyes. Dry lips. Reddish nose.

Her eyes then flitted past the woman and on to antiquated clock across the wall, before landing back on her visitor.

“You have something for me, Soonkyu-ssi?”

Brief and to the point – it wasn’t really a question so much as a statement. But then again, Seo Ju Hyun was never one to mince her words.

“Actually, I prefer to be called Sunny…” The voice trailed off at the steely eyes that silently answered her.

Nor bother with something as trivial as fostering emotional connections. Ju Hyun learned to do away those human trivialities that everyone else seemed so keen to indulge in. She has long tucked them away into little compartments, buried somewhere deep where no person could gain access. It wasn’t needed, or was it welcomed.

Not in this city, and certainly not in this line of work.

“Ah, yes.” The woman, Sunny, snapped out of her momentary daze. The grating sound of hard wood against tiled surface shattered the stale silence as she hurriedly slipped into the empty chair, a folder loosely in hand. “They finally finish processing the prints off that last body.”

With a curt nod, her back snapped straight, the beaten chair giving a tiny squeak at the sudden shift of weight. One hand promptly shot out and reached for the desk lamp – the lone personal item amongst the organized stacks of files and papers smartly adorning her handsome oak desk.

The old lamp flickered uncertainly before casting the cramped office in dim light.

“He was identified as Shim Eun Wan – a 45-year old widower from the slum district.” Sunny slid the file forward, discreetly blinking away the sudden spots in her vision. “The evidence puts him as the driver of the getaway car.”

“Sooyoung tells me that they’ve got the sole surviving suspect confessing to the serial robberies,” the woman went on, absently fiddling with the pen lying on the table until a sharp, split-second glance stopped her short. Sunny hastily dropped the object and cleared . “According to the guy, Shim is a new hire.”

“Which would explain why we didn’t found his prints in all the previous crime scenes,” Ju Hyun muttered, thoroughly leafing through the papers that were handed to her. “No previous charges, no outstanding warrants of arrest. Not even a single traffic citation issued in his name. His record is clean.”

Her visitor nodded in agreement. “The only listed family is a daughter currently admitted at the local hospital, being treated for a long-standing disease. Well, supposedly.”

“Supposedly?”

“The little girl has been missing her treatment for a week now. They had to stop administering it until he could settle at least part of the bill first. I guess this was his only way of settling his bills,” Sunny supplied. The woman slouched back against the knobby wooden chair with heavy sigh and a sympathetic shrug. “Another one of those poor guys who were just victims of unfortunate circumstances, probably.”

The pages abruptly stopped in mid-turn.

“Poor, you say?” she repeated deliberately, cocking a curious eyebrow at her late-night visitor. One swift flick of her dainty fingers and the folder she had been examining closed with a definitive snap.

“This guy willingly participated in committing a crime that led to the deaths of at least 3 innocent people.

“Because of him, 3 families are now missing their fathers, their brothers, and their sons.

“And because of him, the city is set back hundreds of millions of Won worth of destroyed public properties, not to mention the losses incurred by their victims.” The tone was flat and her face remained characteristically impassive, but nevertheless, Sunny cowered at her penetrating words instinctively.

“Unfortunate circumstances or not, he was still a criminal.”

Cold. Analytical. Apathetic.

She then pushed the documents back to its owner. “Just like the rest of them.”

Her words hung heavily in the air. Sunny squirmed under her unwavering gaze.

“I guess, you’re right….” the other woman could only stutter out in response.

Before the atmosphere could get anymore stifling, they were interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door.

A headful of messily cropped hair popped in.

“Ju Hyun, Sunny, chief wants everyone in the conference room. Now,” the newcomer grimly stated without any preamble. Her words immediately earned the undivided attention of both women.

“We have a new case.”

* * *

“Ju Hyunie?”

Wild eyes. Thin lips. Flat nose.

“Ju Hyunnie, are you alright?”

The hand on her shoulder prompted the rocking to stop.

“Yes.” The answer came out in barely a whisper. She firmly kept her eyes glued on the sticky floor, just like what she had been doing ever since she had been ushered inside the unfamiliar office half an hour ago. She tuned out the envious sound of mindless laughter of the children outside playing, as with the joyful sound of birds chirping, as with the awful sound of her parents screaming....

“Do you know why you’re here?” the stranger gently prodded, affectionately running her hand up and down her back, but the little girl continued to look right through her in a daze.

Her head only dipped lightly in response. Ju Hyun didn’t dare look at the older woman who had been feeding and grooming her for the past couple of days.

“Because I have no more family left. Appa and eomma… that man…” she trailed off.

Wild eyes. Thin lips. Flat nose.

Hers eyes flashed for the briefest moment. She felt it crawl through her entire body - from the ends of her hair to the tips of her tiny toes. It hitched her breath and froze her heart. The sensation threatened to blur her vision. Before she could even realize it, her body once again started to rock itself back and forth.

“I have to stay here with the rest of the kids like me.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to stay here for long, Ju Hyunnie,” the woman gently told her in a tone that was almost patronizing. “Your eonni is here to pick you up.”

Somehow, the little piece of revelation managed to make its way through haze. “Eonni…?”

“Your cousin. She’s here for you.” Ju Hyun slowly turned her full attention on what the woman was saying and looked up, belatedly realizing the third presence across the room.

“From now on, you’ll be under her care.”

A pair of deep, brown orbs met her own. The other girl – barely a grown woman – smiled warmly at her.

Wild eyes. Thin lips. Flat nose.

Ju Hyun shook her head.

* * *

“Settle down, everybody. I’ll make this short,” a sturdy-looking, middle-aged man barked from behind her as soon as Ju Hyun stepped inside the station’s stuffy conference room.

She took the empty seat nearest the door, eyes intently trailing the man as he made his way in front of the crowd that had already gathered before.

“This has just been called in. We’ve got seven bodies found behind an abandoned warehouse in the 5th –”

“Dead, right?”

“Choi,” he warningly growled.

“Eh, I was just making sure.” A tall and gangly woman innocently raised both hands in the air and shrugged, earning a few quiet chuckles and a couple of concealed snickers from the rest. The withering glare sent her was largely ignored.

“As I was saying, seven dead bodies were found around abandoned warehouse, up at the 5^th district. Five on the alley behind, and two inside," the bearded guy continued, hastily scribbling the exact address on the white board before turning to face his small audience.

“Uniforms have cordoned off the crime scene as we speak. I want Seo –” Ju Hyun wordlessly nodded in affirmation upon the sound of her name. “– and Choi to head up there with your respective teams. Scour the area for every piece of evidence and don’t get back until you’ve found them all.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“But chief, two teams?” Sooyoung – the short-haired woman who had called Ju Hyun’s attention earlier – raised her hand. “I mean, we get dead bodies every single night. What’s so special about this case that you have to send my team and Ju Hyun’s team there?”

The man-in-question ran a tired hand through his thick beard and released a sigh. “We’ve got two VIPs involved .”

“Who?”

“Park Ho Jin,” he grimly answered.

The revelation sent the whole room into an unconstrained tizzy.

“The billionaire?!”

The kingpin, you mean.”

“So he’s dead?”

“Who’s the other one?”

This time, it took more than a beat for the man to respond. If possible, his shoulder sagged even more at the inevitable question thrown his way.

“Kim Taeyeon.”

Tap.

“Ehhh?!? The heiress?!”

“No way…”

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying we are handling a potential double murder case here?” Sooyoung asked incredulously, eyes going wide as saucers.

“We don’t know that yet,” he answered shortly, once more running a hand through his nape. “All we know is that there are 7 dead bodies lying around the crime scene, all with apparent bullet holes on them. No survivors, no witnesses, except for the old security guard who called it in after stumbling in on the scene.”

“What could the heiress be possibly doing with a known kingpin, anyway?” Sunny mumbled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “As far as we know, she’s clean.”

“These kind of people, you never really know who they’re rubbing elbows with,” a rough voice from the back of the room pointed out. “Might be a deal gone wrong, perhaps?”

“Or could be a vigilante work, who knows?”

Curious murmurs of assent echoed throughout the chamber.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“If that is all, sir, then might I suggest we all take our leave?” Ju Hyun interjected, tucking away the small, beaten notebook she had just been scribbling on a while ago. All eyes curiously turned towards her.

“With all due respect, we have absolutely nothing, so there’s no point in throwing in all these suppositions and conjectures. Either way, a crime was committed,” she voiced out, her delicate face chillingly set with the most perfect mask of inscrutability.

“The only thing we should be doing right now is to go out and do our jobs because, quite frankly, this case is not going to solve itself.”

A thick veil of silence blanketed the room at her statement, punctuated only by the occasional hum of the wobbly, overhead fan.

“Alright, listen up, people.” With a small cough and a curt nod, the chief diverted everyone’s attention back to himself. He made brief use of the grubby-looking snot rag he had fished out of his pocket and swiped it once against his weary eyebrows.

“Once this news comes out in a few hours, the entire department will be put under pressure from the media, the public and the government as to how and why such high profile deaths happened right under our noses.

“So until we figure this out, no evidence is to be overlooked, no dead body is to be left unturned, and no plausible scenario will be left unentertained. Am I making myself clear?”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“As crystal.”

* * *

Her words came out in ragged breaths.

“Eo-eonni… I-I’m scared. Wh-what do we do?” Ju Hyun continued to cower behind the older girl, knuckles turning white from the death grip she had on her cousin’s waist. She was acutely aware of the heavy, almost painful hammering against her chest.

It was happening again.

Right at their doorstep.

She can almost hear the same agonizing screams and smell the nauseating stench of blood….

“Shhh, Ju Hyun-ah. It’s alright.” Her cousin’s soft voice brought her out of stupor, but did little to allay the white-hot fear that was now coursing through every fiber of her small body. “Just stay behind me, alright? You’ll be fine, I’ll promise.”

“Shut up, little girl! Just give me what I want and nobody gets hurt, got that?!”

With a small yelp, Ju Hyun tore her gaze away from the reassuring face of her cousin and back to the horrid smirk of their mugger.

Beady eyes. Fleshy lips. Crooked nose.

“C-come on! I haven’t got all night. Just give me the money, damn it, before I tear you and this place apart!”

“Let’s just… calm down, okay? I’ll give you what you want.” Two deft hands waved deliberately in the air, as if to show they were unarmed. “There’s no need for violence. I’ll give you money.”

The man continued to twitch nervously. Something akin to dread mixed with frustration slowly burned at the pit of Ju Hyun’s stomach once she saw the sharp, glinting object the otherwise insipid criminal was waving in the dark.

She took a tentative step back, instinctively pulling her cousin deeper inside the foyer of their house with her as the purloiner unsteadily closed in on the two them.

One step. Two step. Three –

Everything that occurred next happened in a blink of an eye.

One moment she was trying not to fall over herself as her back unknowingly collided with the table, and the next second, the large, elegant vase adorning the said furniture had shattered into a hundred little pieces on the floor. At once, her cousin had somehow untangled herself from Ju Hyun’s grip, taking advantage of the momentary distraction to engage the scraggy crook in a silent scuffle.

“Eonni!”

Ju Hyun stood in shock as she watched the entire scene unfold before her very eyes.

A dreadful, agonized moan escaped the older girl’s lips after what seemed like eternity.

“Ju Hyun-ah, don’t,” her cousin managed to rasp out in between painful gasps of breath, one hand firmly clamped against her opposite shoulder while she leaned on the nearby balustrade for support. The smell of something metallic permeated the air, coming off from both her cousin and the unmoving body on the floor.

She wanted to gag.

“Don’t look.”

It was too late. The image has burned itself in her mind.

Beady eyes. Fleshy lips. Crooked nose.

Lifeless.

Ju Hyun closed her eyes and shook her head, body unconsciously rocking back and forth. But no matter how many times she blinked, she still found herself staring at the same face she swore she has seen before:

Wild eyes. Thin lips. Flat nose.

That of a criminal’s.

* * *

“Do you think she did it? That she’s really one of them?”

Her hooded eyes found themselves wandering from the lifeless body lying on the cold concrete to one of the agents who suddenly appeared beside her, a challenge wordlessly thrown with a small of an eyebrow. She had an unreadable countenance that looked even more intimidating under the blinding glare of the overhead floodlights illuminating their dusty crime scene.

“I mean – ”

“I know what you mean,” she cut him off with the slightest hint of disdain lacing her voice, unmindful of the curious stares and startled looks they were getting from the other members of the team. “Whether this was the work of a vigilante, a double-cross between partners, or just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, I don’t care.”

Ju Hyun dropped the heavy utility bag she had been carrying unceremoniously on the floor, causing the thin layer of floor dust to scatter in every direction. One by one, Ju Hyun took out the rest of her gear and laid it out in the open, ready for use. A scoff escaped her lips after seeing the man struggle to tamp down the sneeze that threatened to spill.

“Like I said before: means, motive, and opportunity – that’s what matters here. Until we have gathered enough evidence to establish the presence of all three elements, she is innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around.” She briefly paused before shooting him a withering glare, as if for good measure. “That goes for every single body in here, understood?”

Thoroughly chastised, the man could only manage a meek nod.

“Ju Hyun-ah.”

Sooyoung’s voice bounced hollowly within the four walls of the warehouse.

Ju Hyun turned just in time to see the other lead agent deliberately making her way over, a knowing look plastered on her face. Taking the opportunity, the man scampered away from the scene as unobtrusively as his heavy feet would let him.

“We’re almost done processing the prints around the perimeter. Hyoyeon’s doing some final dusting off the two bodies out front as we speak.”

Releasing a wary sigh, Sooyoung stopped in front of her, appearing to carefully contemplate over her next few words. She thoughtfully scratched her head, but Ju Hyun could clearly see the reproach bubbling just beneath the small gesture. “Why don’t you leave this last body to us? Go back to the lab, have the people there process the evidence you’ve gathered so far and then go home.”

“No.” The rejection came lightning-quick. “I’ll take care of her.”

“It’s been a long night and you’re looking a little peaked.” Sooyoung evenly reasoned out. “I’m sure the chief won’t mind.”

“I’ll process this body,” Ju Hyun firmly insisted, drawing herself to her full height in front of the taller woman. “Like you said, it’s been a long night for everyone. So the sooner you let me do my job, the sooner we could all get out of this hellhole.”

Sooyoung could only release a defeated sigh. Whatever rebuttal she had died on her lips.

“Now if you’ll please excuse me, I have a body to attend to.”

Turning her back on the other woman, Ju Hyun snapped on a fresh pair of latex gloves and focused her attention on the body lying prostrate before her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Approaching the lifeless figure, she began her work with surgeon-like precision – methodical, meticulous.

Detached.

The hum of her surroundings faded out into a deafening silence for the next few minutes, and occasionally punctuated by the hypnotizing clicks of the camera and the blinding flashes of light. Every angle painstakingly captured in film, every physical evidence carefully retrieved and documented.

Not bothering to call for assistance, Ju Hyun firmly grasped the body and carefully turned her over.

Soulless eyes. Ashen lips. Dirtied nose.

Cellphone, car keys, and wallet – every personal item was properly bagged and tagged, put away with the rest of the evidence.

Her gaze zoomed in on one last piece of item to be collected.

Retrieving a small paper envelope from her utility bag, Ju Hyun then crouched down beside the body and reached for her hand. With a few nimble twists, the thin, white gold ring was released.

She held it up briefly for inspection, the pad of her forefinger tracing its unbroken frame. It glinted under the intense lights. Pulling herself up, she finally slipped it in its container and tucked it away.

“We’re done.” Her firm voice boomed like a thunder crack, startling the few people left still scouring every inch and every corner of this squalid crime scene.

From the far side of the cavernous room, Sooyoung eyed her quickly and nodded once, muttering a short instruction to her companion then into her phone. Soon after, the young, lanky coroner’s assistant came jogging lightly, with one of Sooyoung’s agent and a stretcher in tow, heading in her direction.

Hands in her pockets and bag securely strapped on her shoulder, Ju Hyun welcomed the new comers her a stone cold greeting before stalking off.

“Load her up. We’re good to go.”

* * *

“How’s work, Ju Hyunnie?”

“Hmn?” Ju Hyun paused in mid-bite, briefly looking up from the stack of files and pictures cluttered around her, to meet the gaze of the older woman sitting across the dinner table.

“Everything alright? You seem to be quite busy nowadays. I hope you’re not forget to take care of your health.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The woman’s tone was conversational enough, but Ju Hyun could easily recognize the look on that face. She didn’t even have to guess what brought such reaction – it most definitely had something to do with how was currently burying herself in the gruesome crime scene files she was currently perusing.

The sight certainly was enough to make anyone queasy.

She shrugged and took another bite of her food, not the least bit fazed as she resumed flipped through the pictures of the bloody remains of their latest murder victim. “Just the usual. Lunatics are still running around the city. What else is there to expect?”

There was a pause.

“I see.” The frustrated sigh that followed did not go unnoticed, but was nevertheless unacknowledged. “Must you really bring your work to the dinner table, though? We hardly get to see each enough as it is.”

“We’re close to cracking this case wide open, eonni. And the sooner we do, the sooner we could send away the bastard to rot in jail where they all belong.”

“Of course…. You’re doing a good thing, Ju Hyun.”

There was a wan smile, and that was the end of that. The rest of the meal was spent in silence, as it had been for them for the last few years. When they were done, Ju Hyun didn’t anymore bother with the pleasantries.

She had long learned to do away with that.

“They’re organizing an event over the weekend.”

A warm, soft hand wrapped itself lightly around her wrist as she was halfway through the front door. She turned to look at the other woman in mild surprise, one eyebrow almost cocked in a silent question.

“An overdue birthday party, is what I’ve been told. I’d rather skip it and spend the day sailing with you, like we used to, but…”

“I’m really sorry for missing your birthday, eonni,” was Ju Hyun’s only reply.

“I know, I know.” The hand that was holding her slowly released its grip.

“But when you’re not busy, Ju Hyunnie, I’d really like for you to meet… someone. Just… a person I know.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Next time then, eonni. Have a good night.”

Dipping her head once, Ju Hyun turned around without another look back.

“Yeah, next time.”

* * *

The door closed with a resounding click.

Ju Hyun stood by the threshold, back flat against the smooth surface of her front door. Nothing but the faint moonlight breaching through the windows illuminated the place. Everything was stock still.

The silence that aded was deafening.

The emptiness, suffocating.

She swallowed hard, blinking a few times to let her eyes adjust to the darkness that seemed to crawl out from every corner of her apartment. Tentative footsteps led her to the farthest side of the apartment where the bedroom was.

A flick of a finger and the room was bathed in warm light.

Her eyes immediately went to the simple frame sitting on top of her bedside table, one hand reaching for the inconspicuous piece of jewelry beside that glinted under the glare of the table lamp. Long, delicate fingers traced its unbroken form.

Not unlike the one she held just a while ago.

She lightly tossed the ring back on the table where it clattered, and reached for the photo. What used to be a happy memory now stood as a bitter reminder of the time when everything was still simple. When she wasn’t yet obsessed with fighting demons that turned out to be her own shadow.

Kind eyes. Smiling lips. Crinkled nose.

So unlike the ones she was staring at a while ago.

“Ju Hyunnie, hurry up! The candle’s going to melt soon!”

“Just a second, eonni. I’m still setting up the timer for this thing. It has to be perfect!”

“It doesn’t matter. Come sit here quickly.”

“Alright, alright. It’s almost midnight. Happy birthday, Taeyeon-eonni. Say cheese!”

Taking the small envelope from her pocket, Ju Hyun ripped the paper packet open and slipped the identical ring it contained on her little finger.

The emotions she had stubbornly kept locked up rolled off her in unforgiving waves, bringing along her tears with it. This was pain and sadness like she had never known before – so pure, almost childlike in its honest nature.

She slid down on the cold hardwood floor, a gasping mess, as she clutched the photo to closer her dying heart.

Ju Hyun will find the truth and she will make them pay. She will make sure of that.

Tears continued to pour.

Harder, this time.

END.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was the first story. Three more to go. :)