1. The case of the Cruxifix, an 8 years old case.

There are 2 types of people in this world: the ones who pities others, and the ones who get pitied on. And pity is the last thing Yoona wanted from anyone. Since she woke up from her coma without the ability to walk, she had constantly received pity from people around her: her stepmother, stepsister, her father's co-workers, etc. Only her brother and her very good friend: Doonwon, the CEO of an IT company. Her brother Im Joowan is very protective of her sister and although he is busy working along his stepmother at their late husband/father's company, he made sure everything is well with his sister before worried about anything else. 

Since he was the only person (blood related) left in this world, the two of them cherished each other a lot before. She was told by Joowan that their mother didn't survived the accident as she did, and that for 2 years, their father was mourning over her death before he knew a mother figure would help in the household, so he married their current stepmother, Cho Hwanghye who already had a daughter: Kim Jaekyeon. They all get along very well and even if Joowan never once called her mom nor sister, they do not hate each other. 

Yoona lives alone despite her brother's disagreements. He preferred her staying with him since he could keep an eye on her but she was able to pull it off since her best friend Doonwon was able to find a vacant apartment besides his. Now and then, her housekeeper would come to make sure everything was fine but the rest of the time, she would be alone or with Doowon. She enjoyed playing the cello in her free time, and other times, she read, went to her check-ups apointments or was doing her online courses. Her family background as explained was not lacking, they have established a great reputation around the business world. 

If you were to ask her if it bothered her to be unable to walk, she will certainly tell you: Yes. There were days where she felt completely fine but most of the time wondering why. And she constantly had to be careful because other than her legs being one problem, had caused other problems to arise. Inability to attend college, to participate in sports...

That day, Yoona was reading a book after her brother had called her and assured her that he will be here for dinner. She went to open the door to see Dongwoon holding up two bags of groceries. "I dropped by the grocery store today and I thought of how empty your fridge was." He said and headed to the kitchen's counter, where he emptied the content of the bags, exactly knowing where everything belonged to. 

"Oppa." She called, closing the door. "You don't have to always come to my appointments nor worry about me. You are such a busy person. I do watch the news and I know how stress you could be." She said and Dongwoon smiled. 

"Like you said, I'm Oppa, so everything comes after you." He said. "Since Hyung cannot make it to the appointment, it is my duty to take over." He continued and held up fresh mangos from the bag. "Eat this in 2 days, it will be even sweeter." He said and Yoona mentally smiled. She was grateful of Dongwoon whom she barely recognized after she woke up from her coma, but she felt comfortable around him despite that. "And don't worry. I had always been there for you, still am, and will. Your family had done a lot for me, and we are childhood friends, you don't need to be too formal with me." He said although knowing she had no memories of what happened at all when they were young, and he was fine with that. Not all memories were pleasant after all.

He looked at the time and noticed that it was time to depart. "Alright, let's go." He said and after helping her to the lobby of the apartment building, he carried her onto his arm to his car. When he first did that, at the beginning, other than her brother, Yoona really didn't know how to react, she wondered if they were more than friends before her coma, but she never asked about it and never dared to go through albums for one reason: the past scares her.

———

"Is there... any changes in her conditions?" Dongwoon asked and Dr. Kim simply let out a sigh, shaking his head. He reached for Yoona's file from his white desk, where files stakced up one after another. Dongwoon sat in front of the specialist which has been following Yoona's case for 5 years now. 

"Mr. Son, I think we do need to consider the possibilities that her conditions will never get better. But seeing how her body is, there is still hope. I have been talking with her psychiatrist and we both know one way to restore Mrs. Im completely is to trigger her mental nerves to respond. And it is time that we change this once and for all. It is our last resource." He explained and Dongwoon nodded. "It has been hard on you." He finished and the two shook hands.

"Thank you Dr." Dongwoon stood up and went back to Yoona who was in the waiting room where few kids surrounded her already. 

"Noona! What would be one of your most wanted wish?" Asked a little boy and the young lady smiled at the question. She thought for a while and replied: running. With a heavy heart, Dongwoon  came up to her and smiled as brightly as he could. But she still noticed the faint pain behind that smile.

"What did the doctor say?" She asked and waved at the kids, promising to be back in a month. As Dongwoon pushed her wheelchair, preparing to head to the parking lot now, after they spent a while doing scans, blood tests, etc. 

"Nothing much. We are very optimist about your conditions. We will all work hard won't we?" He asked and Yoona let out a sigh.

"Oppa." She called him and Dongwoon for once wished she couldn't catch on that quick. She had always been quick witted, she was very careful with details and expressions. "You are getting better and better at lying everytime we come here." She said and he stopped pushing her, instead, came up to her and crouched down to her level. 

"I'm sorry." He said and smiled again. Yoona was silent for a while, she smiled back but he knew she was upset about the fact he lied,trying to conceal the truth and reality from her, but most of all, she was upset that her conditions remained the same. 

"Why are you apologixing Oppa? It's not your fault." She replied and she continued her way on her own to the elevator, which Dongwoon shortly followed. 

The doors of the elevator closed and Yoona simply stared in front of her silently. Even if her face showed nothing, inside, she couldn't help but think about the days she spent at the Neurosurgery Department, where psychologists and surgeons took rounds to see her and talk to her. She hated those days because those days were the ones where she was treated as a lab rat. People wanting to know more about her conditions and analyze her. With Dongwoon and her brother's help, she was able to live peacefully now. She hated the fact people always eyed her and think she was not capable of doing anything at all on her own. The more she think about it, the more she became restless, and so she took in a deep breath before she was calm again. 

"Yoona-ah." Dongwoon called her and she looked up to him. "I can guarantee you, I will make sure you will be able to walk again. You have my words." He said and she nodded before she unlocked the breaks and continued her way. She appreciated him a lot. She knew that if she weren't in this condition, she would have had fallen for Dongwoon already. Who wouldn't?

But she had her own problems to worry about. And she hated being a burden to anyone. She headed towards the lobby, passing through the lobby when a loud voice attracted the attention of everyone, which Yoona eyed for few seconds before continuing her way.

"YAH!" The man shouted and took a deep breath to calm himself and to refrain himself from cursing. "HOW MANY TIMES.... HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU TO BE FREAKING CAREFUL AT THE CRIME SCENE?! HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED ANYTHING FROM THE ACADEMY?! OR DO YOU THINK IT IS NO BIG DEAL? ARE YOU DUMB OR DEAF?!" He asked and stared in front of him. "THAT IS WHY I HATE ACCEPTING DISCIPLES. ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO GO IN WITH THEIR BACKGROUND." He stopped for a bit and calmed down. "You're out. From today, no more pulling strings. I have returned the favour to your father. Get the out of my floor at this moment now. If I ever see you again, I am sending you back to the patrol division. Get lost. Don't force me to use violence." And he hunged up. He lifted up his eyes to see the girl on a wheelchir passing by, without even glancing up at him. She didn't recognize him or his voice. But he did. How could he not. He remained silent and someone came up to him.

"Ex...Excuse me Mr. Detective. Can you lower your voice a little bit?" A security guard came to tell him and Gikwang cleared his throat and nodded. 

"I will be taking my leave." He said and watched the girl leaving. He was hesitating for a while before he decided to chase her down. Right. No matter how pitiful he looked, he needed explanations. He needed to know why she did it. But when he was outside the hospital, she was no where to be found already. He needed to know why she never answered his calls, ignored his emails, tests messages. Eventually, she changed address and phone number without any race. Now that he is back, he needed to know why. He ran back into the building.

———

Gikwang was back from the hospital and was glaring at the teammate who screwed up everything. "I thought I made myself clear." He commented. He expected to see this new transferee when he would be back to the police station an so he already prepared a box for him to collect all his personal items. 

Since the beginning, Gikwang never wanted to accept any students/discples. But this Oh Kwangho's father, which he owed a favour to, wanted to use it against him. But Kwangho was nothing but a headache. He didn't know the basics of being a detective at all. He was simply not suited to be in the Severe Crime Unit. And Gikwang never give 2nd chances to idiots. "Do you think I was joking?" He asked and put down the box besides Kwangho's desk before he pushed everything on the desk into the box. "Go home and tell your father I do not owe him anything anymore and please remind him that I did it to save him some face. Next time he wants to use his power, tell him to find someone else. I do not owe him anything anymore." He said. "And I certainely do not need people like you in my team. Since day 1 I never planned on having you. Now you had a taste of it, and failed to prove me wrong. You can get lost." With that being said, Gikwang continued his way to the end of the hall where his office was. 

"Team Leader!" Kwangho pleaded from behind but Gikwang was a cold-hearted man who doesn't feel bad. And especially not when he was in a bad mood since he saw her in the hospital today. He didn't know what happened to her but he knew something bad might have since she was in a wheelchair. Yet, she never told him anything. He let out a frustrated sigh before he pinched in a passcode and had his fingerprint analyzed to open the door to his office. 

Lee Gikwang (27) was the youngest detective to have gotten onto the leading position in the Severe Crime unit. On top of his good looks, and family background, he was also very capable as a detective, despite being short-tempered and very cold. He is very meticulous in his work and he never accepted the same mistake more than once because he believed everyone should learn from their mistake. 

"Im Yoona." He whispered under his breath and before he started to locate her with the police station's system which contained all informations he wanted, he stopped. "It's not like we dated anyways." He said and shut his computer off before he pulled out a white board from the side of his room. It was time for him to re-investigate. Alone. And although he had been assigned to this case for less than a year, he wanted it to be closed soon. He came back from the States several months ago and had been working on this case ever since. The Cruxifix. An 8 years old case. He swore he would see the end if it. Either he ends the case or the case ends him.