Dark clouds loomed ahead, giving a feeling of dread to the already colorless winter landscape. It wasn’t supposed to rain today, was it? Pulling up to the scene Saetbyeol could see the crowd of people hovering beyond the yellow crime scene tape in attempts to get a glimpse of the discovery. The mouth of the cave wide and hungry; ready to consume everyone in its proximity.

   “Nosy people,” Saetbyeol chides.

   She never understood why people were so drawn to chaos. Also, how did they even hear about this before she did? It’s literally her job.

   Groaning, she opens the car door before stepping out into the cold winter air. A brisk gust of wind whipped around her; hair molding to her face. Tucking the wild strands back behind her ear, she tugged her jacket closer to her frame as she made her way to the scene of the incident. Briefly stopping to flash her work badge at the nearby officer, he steps in front of her to prevent her from not going any further. The officer reads over the small plastic card around her neck before nodding and raising the tape, giving her permission to move about freely.

   Amazing how something so small gave her so much power.

   Carefully, she walked around - observing every corner of the cave as she ventured further inside. Welcoming the surprising warmth radiating from the cave, she ventured further into the darkness. Despite the inviting heat, the cave, itself, was not welcoming at all. Maybe it was the darkness that enveloped her that caused her to feel uneasy, but something about the environment was off.

   But what could it be?

   After what seemed like an eternity, Saetbyeol found herself before a small pathway. Halting abruptly, her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. Oddly, the pathway was lit by scattered lanterns hanging from metal chains; a sudden realization racking her mind.

   The sight was too man-made.

   Not only that, but another oddity was the fact that in all of her time living in Seoul, she never ran across this cave. Saetbyeol considered herself to be fairly active. Every chance she had, she would walk the hills that surrounded the area.  

   Quite honestly, she knew this area like the back of her hand, so how did she not know about this cave?

   As she got closer, she could hear the overlapping voices of officers and detectives in the nearby distance as they discussed their findings. Their main question was who or what could have possibly done such a thing, but that wasn’t what bothered her the most.

   The sudden intense scent of copper mixed with soil filled her nostrils. Quickly wrinkling her nose, she pulled her scarf up over her nose in hopes of preventing breathing in that God awful scent into her lungs once more, but to no avail. Her stomach churned as she finally laid eyes on what was causing all the commotion; immediately wrenching at the sight and smell.

   Figures of all shapes and sizes laid in a pile upon the cave floor. Managing to step closer, she discovered that the figures were carcusses of various animals. What was most baffling, however, was how neatly they were stacked. Too much thought had been put into how perfectly they laid atop one another; almost like a puzzle that had been perfectly assembled.

   Animals still intact, or so she thought, laid there is such a clean manner that it was nearly too odd to be reality. This was, by far, the strangest story Saetbyeol had covered. With all of her years of experience, she was unsure if it were possible for things to get weirder.

   That was her first mistake.

   “What happened here?” She asked softly to the officer standing closest to her; pulling out her camera and notebook in the process as she prepared to document everything.

   “We’re honestly not even sure. It’s clearly not done by any animal and it can’t possibly be a hunter. They’re stacked at least 20 bodies high and the hides are all still here,” he paused for a moment contemplating his next words, “also, there is one other thing that’s strange.” The officer shifted in his spot, his gloved hand reaching up to anxiously rub the back of his neck.

   “What’s that?” Saetbyeol asked, peering up from far her notebook.

   The officer shifted in his spot - briefly peering around - as he leaned in; his voice a whisper, “Only the livers are missing.”

   Saetbyeol furrowed a confused brow, “Isn’t that normal for a hunter?”

   “Not exactly,” he shook his head, “if it were a hunter, they would’ve taken more than just their livers. The hides and meat of the animal are what hunters are after. Not to mention, the stacking off the carcusses is too odd - hunters don’t have that much appreciation for their killings.”

   Heaving a sigh, he shook his head as the muscles in his jaw tensed slightly, “I don’t know what to make or think of this. I’ve never seen anything like it in the twenty years I’ve been in the force.”

   The officer turned his head back to the pile of dead carcusses, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. Saetbyeol was silent for a moment as her mind raced for a plausible answer, but to no avail. Sighing, she stuffed her notebook back into her bag while simultaneously pulling out a black case.

   “Thank you for all of the information,” Saetbyeol gave the officer a slight bow before making her way to the pile, readying her camera to get some quick snaps of the bizarre scene before her.

  After a few minutes of snapping some defined, but not overly gruesome shots, Saetbyeol took a step back to examine the camera roll. Satisfied with her pictures and the information she acquired, she made her way back down the dimly lit pathway.

   She was almost to the opening of the cave when she suddenly stumbled into a hole, her ankle bone scraping across a nearby rock as she crumpled to the ground. Yelping slightly, she groaned - mentally scolding herself in the process. Go figure this would happen the one time she decided to not pay attention while walking. Picking herself back up, she dusted the dirt off her jeans before continuing her trek back outside - this time fully alert.

   Reaching the opening, she squinted her eyes against the sun somehow remaining to shine brightly through the thick gray clouds above. Dipping under the caution tape, she quickly made her way back to the car just in time as raindrops began to fall. Ducking into the driver’s seat, she tossed her belongings onto the passenger seat before leaning down to grab at the hem of her pant leg.

   Wincing, she rolled up the material to get a glimpse of her ankle. Small red gashes were scattered in thin lines across the ankle bone, up to her calf. Sighing, she made a quick mental note; reminding herself to clean the wound once she returned to the office. Gently rolling the fabric back down, she started the car - flipping on the windshield wipers as the rain started to come down harder. Backing away from the mysterious cave, she glanced once more at the ominous site before making her way back to the office.

-

   Parking the car, Saetbyeol grabbed the items off the passenger seat and rushed inside. The rain had slowed down, but it was still coming down hard enough to leave her hair slightly damp, strands randomly sticking to her forehead. Opening the door to the building, she’s welcomed by a wave of heat and the familiar scent of coffee and paper. The sounds of fingers typing on computer keys and the soft lofi music that traveled through the building speakers overhead comforted her. As much as she couldn’t stand being around people, being here in all its familiarity gave her a sense of peace.

   This was like her home away from home.

   Once back at her desk, she placed her bag down off to the left of her computer. Leaning over, she tapped the spacebar on her keyboard bringing her computer to life once more. Typing in her password, she sighed at the sight of the spinning wheel buffering upon the screen,

   “Might as well go clean up my ankle while I wait for everything to start up. The last thing I need is it getting infected and Mirae giving me hell,” she sighed.

   Rising to her feet, she was immediately reminded of her little “accident” at the cave when pain shot up her leg as she shifted from her right foot to her left.

   Saetbyeol decided to walk in the direction of San’s desk since it was the fastest route to the bathroom; being careful not to make her injury known to anyone at the office, not that anyone would care anyway. As she made her way towards her destination, the sight of San’s dark hair filled her line of vision.

   She didn’t know him personally, but she knew of him. He was the most popular employee in the company and it was no surprise since everyone absolutely adored him. Whether working on a group project or sitting with co-workers during break, San had always been wearing a bright and cheerful smile.

   Saetbyeol really hated him.

   It annoyed her that he was always so happy. So dapper and cheerful - she never understood it. Then again, maybe San didn’t either. Many times, Saetbyeol had noticed that his smile never reached his eyes. It was genuine, but also not. She didn’t understand it, but then again, she never put too much thought into it or him.

   At the end of the day, she couldn’t care less.

   As she passed by his desk, she briefly noticed San reorganizing his workspace for, probably, the fifteenth time that day. This time around, he was bent down - ruler in hand as he measured the distance between his knick-knacks. Furrowing her eyebrows, she watched in disgust.

   “How annoying,” she grumbled as she passed by him; his eyes briefly peeking up at her before returning his focus to his current task at hand.

   As she made her way into the bathroom, Saetbyeol grabbed a handful of paper towels - some to clean her wound and some to dry her damp hair. Reaching the sink, she pulled up the handle allowing the cold water to flow freely. Placing her left leg up on the countertop, she rolled up her pant leg carefully as to not brush the fabric across the open wound.

  Grabbing some of the paper towels, she placed them under the stream of water, saturating the entire towel. Wringing out the excess water, she brought the towel down onto the wound, biting down on her lower lip as she wiped the wet cloth against the cuts to remove the blood and dirt.

   New blood formed in its place, Saetbyeol, once again, wiping the damp towel against the cuts. Tossing the soiled towel into the waste bin next to her, she reached for a clean towel - repeating the process for a good fifteen minutes before the blood finally slowed enough to dry the wound; finishing the task by sticking a couple of large bandages across the cuts.

   Making her way out of the bathroom after cleaning up the mess she had made, she made her way back to her workspace. Glancing over at San’s desk, she noticed he was no longer there. The knick-knacks were all perfectly spaced apart from one another; each turned at the same angle.

   Where did he get all the time to do that and finish his articles on time?

   He truly was a strange human being, but Saetbyeol shrugged this thought off with a sigh as she sat back down at her desk. Plugging her camera into to her computer, she opened the notebook as she scanned over her findings. It wasn’t long before she began compiling everything into a single document on her desktop.

   Time ticked by and the office became less lively as the day turned into night. It was common for Saetbyeol to stay late to ensure her article was complete and to her liking. Briefly bowing farewell to her Ms. Kim, she went back to revising the now finished article one last time before emailing it to her boss for its final review before publishing.

   Satisfied, she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. She glanced over once more to San’s desk where she noticed the same work layout remained. Clenching her teeth slightly, she huffed. She didn’t even notice him leave, granted she never did anyway, but today, he had managed to acquire residence in her mind.

   Why was she suddenly so interested in him?

   Shaking her head, she ran a hand over her face. Maybe it was just all of the anomalies and the stench of blood and dirt that the day held that put her in this abnormal state. At this point, she couldn’t wait to get home.

   Leaning forward, she shut down her computer and collected her belongings before heading home for the night. It was common for every employee to have a key to the building for such moments like these. Everyone had gained their bosses trust, so she granted each one of them keys in case they wanted to come in early or stay late, like Saetbyeol usually did, to complete various tasks.

   “Burning the midnight oil as usual, are ya, Saet?” A familiar, and welcoming, voice chimed behind her.

   Turning around to face the direction the voice came from, Saetbyeol shrugged her shoulders and gave the voice a gentle smile, a smile she only gave to one person. “Oh you know it. Wait until I tell you all about the day I had today.”

   Her best friend since childhood, Mirae, stood before her; her hands tucked in the pockets of her parka jacket and the knit scarf that Saetbyeol gave her last year for Christmas wound around her neck. She was the only person who Saetbyeol was ever close to and trusted. Quite honestly, the two were inseparable.

   Mirae loved and accepted Saetbyeol for who she was; knowing every flaw and her entire past. She stood by Saetbyeol through it all; there for every high and low. Saetbyeol owed Mirae so much and loved her dearly. She truly was her best friend, her guardian angel.

   The two girls lived together. Mirae always came and picked up Saetbyeol from work so the two of them could walk home together for both safety precautions and the chance to discuss the day’s events. A perk of Mirae being the manager of a nearby coffee shop was the fact she could usually bring coffee or various pastries and sandwiches to Saetbyeol for lunch or a quick pick me up whenever necessary. A perk of Saetbyeol’s timeliness was the fact that Mirae never had to wait long for Saetbyeol to finish up. Despite working later, she would always send Mirae a text letting her know when she was done for the day signalling for Mirae to finish closing the shop to meet up with her best friend.

   “Oh I can’t wait to hear all about it then!” Mirae squealed as she slipped her arm through Saetbyeol’s causing the two of them to laugh as they turned to head home.

   From the side of the office building, San stepped out into the light of the street lamp near the backdoor. He watched the two girls walk further down the street, their voices faintly echoing through the quiet night air. He watched Saetbyeol and her friend disappear around the corner, his eyes fixated on Saetbyeol.

   “Who exactly is that girl?”