"BREACH. I REPEAT, THERE'S BEEN A BREACH."

Jennie cursed under her breath. Since when did the police put motion sensors in their vents? For years, the police had left their vents unchecked, upgrading every other section in Evidence except for vents, which made for a dirty but easy way into the building. However, it looked as though Jennie's go-to had just been found out.

"Well, ." Jennie pulled her hood over her face, now cautious of any cameras that could be installed. She had to find a way out. There were few exit points in the vents, with her usual one, the one directly over the evidence storage, definitely on high alert now. She tutted. 

"Looks like it's the janitor's closet."

Jennie stopped moving, listening for the yells of the frantic policemen below her. She moved slowly, taking her time to make sure that she didn't make any extra noise that would alert the police of her position because it sounded like the police were just running around like headless chickens. 

"Sensor must have just been a trip wire. Amateurs."

She now knew she could go a bit quicker. The police would definitely start waiting underneath the exits sooner or later.

"Two more lefts, and a final right... this place is dusty as hell!" Jennie could feel a sneeze coming up. She shook her head, ridding the sneeze from her system for just a bit longer. 

Some light peeked in front of her eyes, bingo. She crawled over as fast as she could, making quick work of the old and rusty vent cover that was meant to be the barrier between her and the room. She dropped in, quickly locking the door and looking around for what she was looking for. 

"Just my size too, perfect." 

Jennie quickly changed into the janitor's uniform, thankful than the usual fellow always had a spare in here. She knew him, good old Jake never failed her before. He was her inside guy for the Evidence building. Jennie had connections.

"Thank you Jake."

Jennie adjusted the new cap on her head, a dirty grey color and covered with stains. A convincing disguise. She quickly tied her hair in a bun and put on her actress persona. She hid her old clothes in a duffel bag, again kindly left by Jake, and began screaming, running out the janitor's closet. 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Jennie was shouting in fake panic, the policemen running by her, real panic evident. 

"There's been a breach! Get out of here!"

Jennie nodded, ducking her head to make sure the policemen did not get a good look at her face, and making a run for the exit, but making a right instead of left, where the main entrance was.

Ducking behind a loose crate, Jennie watched the police run by, scrambling towards the janitor's closet now after finally realizing there was a vent exit there. By the time they figure things out, Jennie would have been long gone.

"Now's my time."

Jennie made a dash towards the evidence lockup, peeking inside the door and seeing that no one was inside. She yanked out the all-access card she had gotten from her partner in crime, Wendy, and dived into the room, making sure to lock it behind her. 

"Wendy said it should be in the very first row-"

Jennie saw a woman, dressed in all black loose clothes, grabbing a glove from an evidence box in the first row, before pulling out a lighter and burning it, right in front of Jennie's eyes. 

"WHAT THE !?"

The woman whipped her head towards Jennie, her entire face covered except for her eyes. 

Jennie made sure to remember those eyes. Cold, steely and unforgiving.

"YOU -"

The woman gave a wave to Jennie before taking off, using her momentum to run several feet up the wall and dived into the vent cover that was Jennie's go-to before. 

Jennie gave chase, following the woman, following her trail out of the building. 

"The breach must have been for her, not me!" Jennie cursed again under her breath, crawling through the vent shaft in her rather uncomfortable janitor attire. By the time she had got to the exit vent that leads outside, all Jennie saw was the smoke left by the tires of a car, hearing an engine rumble in the distance.

"Well, ."

Jennie pulled out her phone, dialing Wendy's number as she dived into the bushes below, making a run from the police station.

"Wendy, I got some bad news."

***

"Holy ."

Wendy collapsed into her chair, peaking Irene's interest as she looked up from her laptop which she was busy typing away on. 

"Okay, okay... thanks for your help anyway Jennie, you'll still get your pay... No I insist, I'll wire it to you soon. Bye."

Wendy threw her phone on the floor, burying her face in her hands and letting out a muffled scream of frustration. 

"I just saw what happened. Damn." Irene looked on her laptop, seeing alerts on a breach in the evidence room and a report of a piece of burned evidence that linked back to the murder case. 

"Can you check security footage?" 

Irene clacked away on her laptop.

"All cameras were off during the breach. This person, whoever they were, knew what they were doing."

Wendy banged her head against the table, letting out a low groan. 

"I feel like I'm at prom again..." Wendy gave a sad chuckle, her head not moving from its position. 

Irene wrapped her arms around Wendy's waist, hearing a few sniffs coming from the smaller girl. 

"It's okay Wendy... I don't think there will be another murder."

Wendy took one final sniff, looking up at Irene with teary eyes that shined under the dim lights of the Datahouse. Irene bit her lip.

"How do you know?"

"I just have a feeling. I hope it's true."

Irene pulled Wendy into a tight embrace, Wendy sobbing softly into Irene's cotton shirt. 

"Even so, justice must still be served. The killer must be caught..."

Irene smiled, patting Wendy's head, running her hand through neglected hair. 

"Yes, yes they do."

Wendy sighed, pulling Irene a little closer to her. 

"I-Irene... do you want to celebrate Christmas with us?"

"Us?"

Wendy looked up, her head still not moving from Irene's chest. 

"Yerim, Sooyoung and me. Bring Taeyeon too, I don't mind, but I want you there."

Irene smirked.

"Why?"

Wendy could feel a lump raising in . 

"Because I-I..."

Irene pressed a finger against Wendy's stuttering lips, noting the dark circles and cracked skin starting to form underneath Wendy's eyes.

"Go home and rest Wendy."

Wendy wanted to reject Irene's suggestion, she wanted to stay in Irene's warm embrace longer. However, she knew Yerim was still at home, and she needed to take care of her no matter what. She hadn't been home these last few days, and she was starting to miss her little sister already.

"...Okay." Wendy looked at her watch, it was 11.50pm. Yerim wasn't usually asleep at this time, especially on a weekend. 

Wendy stood up from her chair, walking towards the elevator doors, which just happened to open when Wendy reached them.

Taeyeon came out the door, holding a bag of pills in her hand. A lot of pills actually, but Wendy couldn't see what they were for, her detective instinct naturally telling her to look in the bag. No labels.

"Are you sick?"

Taeyeon chuckled, nodding.

"Bad flu."

Wendy gave a nod, telling Taeyeon to get well soon before walking into the elevator, waving back at Irene, who blew her a kiss.

"Bye beautiful!"

Wendy felt her heart flutter, seeing the doors close as Taeyeon began to pop open the pill bottles. Gosh, she must have been really ill. 

Her phone vibrated, seeing a text pop up on her screen. 

"Unnie, I want a midnight snack. Fried rice with eggs?"

Another one came right after that. 

"Wendy, umm, I'm hungry and need food rn. Fried rice pls? XOXO"

Wendy chuckled at her sisters, one of her own blood, and one she unofficially dubbed her own. 

"Looks like I'll be cooking tonight."