“Another one has-…”

“God damn it…”

“I’m sorry, I really tried to-“

“It’s okay.”

Irene threw her phone on the floor, abruptly ending the call. She approached the window by her table, peeking out into the darkness. She stared for a moment longer, seeing patches of red and blue in the distance, the blare of sirens stinging her ears like bees. A sigh punctured the silence in her dark room, a sigh was all she could muster.

“The police aren’t going to do …”

Irene picked her phone from the floor. She had to contact Wendy.

“8 am tomorrow, your café. We need to talk.”

Oh.

Irene smiled.

“See you soon, babe.”

*

Wendy pulled up at the crime scene. An alleyway, again. As dark and grimy as all the previous ones. She stepped out of a patrol car, putting on a pair of gloves before entering the crime scene, which was covered in red and blue lights.

She approached the officer on guard and flashed her badge before entering the crime scene, going underneath the tape that had been plaguing her the past three months.

“... Here we go again.”

The crime scene was relatively empty, save for a few medics and the officer on guard. Wendy took a quick glance around. A dumpster, ladder leading to the roof and nothing on the ground, save for a few pieces of litter. A relatively clean alleyway in New York, a good place to commit a crime.

Wendy approached the most important part of the crime first, the body. She picked up the wallet by the victim’s side. All cash and credit cards were intact, no signs of anything leaving or entering the wallet.

“Going to have to dust this for fingerprints later…”

She checked for any sources of identification next. A driver’s license would suffice.

“Choi Sooyoung…” Wendy froze for a second, the name Sooyoung striking her like a brick. She quickly waved it off. Her Sooyoung could handle herself.

“Doesn’t look like she has any real connections to previous victims. Probably another random victim, but similar physical characteristics. Slim, young females…”

Wendy put the wallet down. She moved on to the body victim, lifelessly lying on the ground, arms and legs splayed out. “You didn’t deserve this, I’m sure.”

No visible signs of blood yet again, but there were stab wounds in the neck, chest, neck, and liver, just like the others. This one might have been easier since she was quite tall. No visible signs of a struggle, other than the victim’s clothes being a little scruffy.

“Damn, body’s useless.”

A wave of sirens came crashing down, and Wendy heard a few tires screeching to a halt in the background.

“Oh man…”

Wendy shrugged, turning to pat a rather disgruntled Sooyoung on the shoulder.

“We have nothing on this one so far. What took you so long by the way?”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“I had to deal with a very drunk Kang Seulgi earlier.”

Wendy raised an eyebrow. The thought of a drunk Seulgi irritated her, but she earned herself a drink at the very least, considering the situation.

“I could do with a drink myself. We’ll have one next time, but for now, follow me.”

“Where to?”

Wendy pointed towards the dumpster, which made Sooyoung cringe a little.

“Seriously?”

“There could be clues in there, rook.”

With reluctant steps, Sooyoung followed Wendy to the disposal container and opened it. As expected, there was a fantastic smell that escaped from within. Even the medics standing nearby covered their noses.

“Hold your breath for a minute rook.”

Wendy returned to her car to retrieve a flashlight, while Sooyoung searched around the dumpster for anything. And in fact, she stumbled across something.

“What’s this…”

A piece of rubber, that looked remarkably similar to the material on the gloves Sooyoung herself was wearing, was at the bottom of the dumpster’s wheel. She picked it up and put it against her glove. At first glance at least, they looked congruent.

“Wendy!”

“Superior.” Wendy said, her voice low and sharp. Sooyoung forgot, they were at work now, the line had been redrawn.

“Right, sorry. Look what I found.” Sooyoung beamed. She stuck her hand out and passed Wendy the ‘evidence’ she had found.

Wendy took the piece of rubber Sooyoung had and immediately knew what was up. She took out a ziplock bag, her hands relaxed as she put the flimsy piece into it.

“Hmm...” Wendy exhaled. She turned to an officer, who had arrived with Sooyoung earlier, and passed him the bag. “To forensics.” She said, and the officer complied. He headed off to a patrol car and drove off.

Sooyoung broke into a smile. She looked to Wendy, expecting her superior to be rather joyful, much like her. Instead, she was climbing up the ladder, no doubt heading up to investigate the rooftop.

“Head up with me. No noticeable footsteps on the ladder but the suspect could have had clean shoes… or changed them. Actually, check the dumpster.”

Sooyoung pouted. She had just gotten evidence, the first of the case, and now she was already being ordered around like a dog. By Wendy, the person whom she had opened herself up to just hours ago.

“What the heck?! Not even a thank you for finding that?! I just did something that you hadn’t been able to do the last 3 months and now here you are ordering me around like a !”

Wendy stopped climbing. She looked back down on Sooyoung, her shadow towering over the younger one below her. She exhaled, climbing back down, a little so she would not have to yell.

“Sooyoung. It’s because it’s the first piece of ‘evidence’ which is why I’m worried. It could just as easily be a dud, you know. But something with the same material as police issued gloves? That’s compelling, but nothing concrete. Don’t be impatient, Joy.”

Without waiting for a reply, Wendy continued to climb up to the rooftop. Sooyoung stood, silent. She watched Wendy reach the top of the roof.

“… The heck was I thinking." Sooyoung took a breath. Looks like she was much more frustrated about this case than she thought.

She rolled up her sleeves and walked to the dumpster.

*

Wendy reached the top of the building. It was empty, strangely clean, as if someone had come up and cleared it of debris. She thought of it as strange, since the place usually wasn’t this well maintained. Wendy looked a little closer, turning on her flashlight and looking for something.

And she found it. A folded piece of paper. She opened it, and there was the familiar handwriting that she had seen only once before.

“Don’t worry about it, there’s nothing else. So far, there’s only one. We’ll discuss this later. See you <3

-Irene”

Wendy rolled her eyes. She put the note in her pocket and headed down the ladder.

“Hey Sooyou- Oh.”

“Dumpster had nothing, ma’am.”

There was a smell, unlike anything Wendy had ever experienced. Sooyoung seemed repulsed with herself too, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“To my house, quick.”

*

“I’ll leave a change of clothes outside!”

Wendy slammed the bathroom door shut, finally letting go of the breath she had been holding the last ten minutes. She shook her head, internally regretting Sooyoung to dig through that thing. But hey, investigations were dirty work.

It was nearly 3 am. Looks like she wouldn’t be getting much rest today. But she hoped that Yerim was getting enough rest. She opened the door to her sister’s room, and her soft snores were heard through the tiny opening that Wendy had created. Thank goodness she was a heavy sleeper.

“Looks like I won’t be getting any sleep today…”

Her phone began to ring. She quickly picked It up to prevent the noise from waking her sister, though it most likely wouldn’t.

“This is Forensics. We have confirmed that the piece of rubber is of the same material used on the police issued gloves. This is a big breakthrough ma’am. Please come down soon for further details.”

“…On my way.”

“So am I. By the way, you still haven’t lowered your phone volume.”

A much fresher and more pleasant smelling Sooyoung emerged behind her, dressed in clothes that Wendy herself were quite well acquainted with. Seeing Sooyoung in her very own clothes made her feel… touched. Like Sooyoung was truly part of her family now.

“Thank me by treating me to breakfast please.”

Wendy broke into a smile. She grabbed Sooyoung’s hand, pulling her subordinate into an embrace, a sigh of relief coming from . A genuine sigh, Sooyoung had lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

“I’ll give you a buffet.”

Sooyoung chuckled.

“That’s the spirit. Don’t forget Yerim of course.”

*

Forensics was usually, a chore. To go there and be informed that there were no further leads to carry on with. A place of disappointment. But today, things were a little different, signified by the appearance of a person that almost never showed up there.

“Lieutenant Kang? What brings you here?”

Seulgi wrapped up her conversation with the doctor she was speaking to, turning to face Wendy and Sooyoung.

“You two… wow. First one huh… Well done.” Seulgi patted Sooyoung and Wendy on the shoulder, giving them both a very proud smile. One that had not been seen on Seulgi’s face for a long time.

“To reward such a breakthrough… I’d like to say…”

“Officer Son Wendy, your services are no longer required. From today onwards, you are no longer on this case.”

Author Notes:

Seulgi... what?