In A Small Bar Near The Seoul Police Headquarter

 

It’s been a few hours since D.O keeps on mixing the soju and drink it all in one gulp.

 

“Hey, take it easy, champ.” Baek Hyun said. “Do you want to pass out that soon?”

 

“Please stop drinking. You’re already drunk.” Kai tries to stop D.O from drinking too much.

 

“Shut it! I’m not drunk at all!” D.O. said. “I have a very high tolerance of alcohol, okay?” D.O rolled his eyes at them both.

 

Meanwhile, the TV shows the news about a murder case that happens today.

 

“Mr. Lee Sang Woo who allegedly kill his wife, Mrs. Lee Ji Hye, is still pleading innocent and he will be sent to the Prosecutor’s Office on August 10^th around 7 pm. The police believes that it’s a manslaughter case rather than a planned murder case, as a result of a married couple’s fight. The couple were married for 3 years. This is a broken-hearted incident, since they were very intimate to each other and had a great reputation with their neighbors.”

 

“What a miserable incident. A manslaughter over married couple’s argument. The murder weapon is a kitchen knife and it has Mr. Lee’s fingerprints on it. Circumstantial evidence and motivation are sufficient. Moreover, there’s a witness who filed a report. He was arrested at the scene, covering with all the blood on him. There is no way out for him, no matter how hard he pleads. But he still insists that he’s not guilty.” Baek Hyun stated.

 

Kai didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he keeps on staring at the TV and then he saw something.

 

(“Kai, look at that! Do you see it?”) A voice whispering to Kai’s ears.

 

Kai only nods his head in his response, since there’s Baek Hyun and D.O at the table. There’s no way Kai didn’t see it. A glimpse of white-slender shadow of a woman, staring at the window of the crime scene, during the news on TV. However, it only last for a few seconds, because when the reporter shoots at the apartment’s window again, the shadow had disappeared. Kai was lost in his thoughts for a while, hence he didn’t hear D.O was calling out for his attention.

 

“Hey, Kai. Are you listening to me?” D.O’s voice brought Kai back from his trance.

 

“Err… yeah. What’s up?”

 

“Sigh. You’re not listening to me at all, do you?” D.O glare at Kai.

 

“I’m sorry. I was thinking about something. So, you were saying…?” Kai asked D.O.

 

“I said, we should call it a day and go home now. Besides, we still have to work tomorrow, right?” D.O said to Kai and turned his gaze to Baek Hyun. “What do you say, Baek?”

 

“It’s fine with me.” Baek Hyun replied. “But, how would you go home? You can’t drive your car after drinking, you know? It’s against the rule.”

 

“Then, I’ll drive you home.” Kai said immediately to D.O.

 

“Nah. I’ll just walk. My apartment is not too far from here.” D.O. shrugged. “It’s nice to have a little bit of exercise every once in a while.”

 

Hearing those statements, made Kai looked so dejected and miserable, because he’s kind of hoping that he could drive D.O home again tonight.

 

“Well then. I’m going now. I’ll take care of the bill, so you guys should go home too.” D.O excuse himself, stood up and heads to the door.

 

Kai and Baek Hyun also stood up from their seat and heads to the door to went home. When Baek Hyun called for a subtitute driver, Kai immediately runs towards D.O who had walked out before them. When he finally catches up with D.O., Kai said, “Are you sure you’re okay? I could drive you home, you know? I don’t really mind. After all, I didn’t drink too much tonight.”

 

“I’m fine, Kai. I’m still sober enough to walk myself home. You should go home too.” D.O said to Kai.

 

“Then, I’ll walk with you.” Kai decided.

 

“Look, how many times do I have to repeat myself, huh? I said I’m fine, okay? Just go home already.” D.O glared at Kai and made him shivered a bit.

 

“But… It’s not safe for you to walk home alone at this late of hour.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” D.O rolled his eyes at Kai. “Are you drunk or something? I’m not a weak woman. I could take care of myself very well!”

 

“I know. I know that you could take care of yourself very well. But, just let me walk you home, okay? Just consider it as the advantages of having a partner. How’s that sound?” Kai said in a pleading voice. “Partners should take care of each other, right?”

 

“Nope. I prefer to walk home by myself!” D.O said firmly.

 

“But…”

 

“Enough, Kai. Just go home, okay? I don’t have any energy left to argue with you.” D.O said his final words, before he swirled around and walked again, leaving Kai behind him, looking so dejected.

 

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The next morning, Kai has arrive early in the headquarter. He’s sitting in front of his computer, and browsing through every information about last night’s murder case. Kai was very fixated on his browsing, hence he didn’t even notice that everyone has arrived at the station to start the day, including D.O.

 

“Morning, everyone!” D.O greeted.

 

“Morning.” Kai mumbles absent-mindedly.

 

D.O raised one of his brows at Kai in his curiousity over what made Kai already looked so serious in that early morning. “What are you doing?” D.O asked Kai, and look at his monitor.

 

“I’m just browsing some information about something.” Kai replied spontaneously. Suddenly Kai realizes that it was D.O who was just talking to him.

 

“D.O? You’re already here? When did you come?” Kai asked in surprise.

 

“Just a moment ago. You’ve just responding to my greeting. Don’t you realize it?” D.O asked.

 

“Ah. Am I?” Kai scratch the back of his neck. “Sorry. I didn’t notice you earlier.”

 

“Never mind.” D.O shrugged. “So, do you mind telling me, what information are you looking for? Is it our new case?” D.O asked.

 

“No. It’s not our case. I just want to know more information about this case.” Kai said.

 

“What case was it?” D.O asked.

 

“Do you remember about the murder case from last night? You know, the news about a manslaughter case from TV?”

 

“Hm, yeah. I think so.” D.O tries to recall his memories from last night. “What about it?”

 

“Well, I’m looking for more information about that peculiar case.” Kai explains.

 

“Ah. That case. Then you should talk to Min Kyu. He’s the one who’s in charge of the case.” D.O said while pointing at Min Kyu, who’s sitting on the other corner of the room.

 

“By the way, why did you suddenly having some interest over the case?” D.O asked suspiciously.

 

“Err… nothing. I just think that maybe the husband isn’t the real killer.” Kai stated calmly.

 

“And what makes you think so?” D.O asked again.

 

“I don’t know. Just a hunch maybe?” Kai shrugged. “Anyway, I think I have to go somewhere for a while. Just call me if we have a new case, then I’ll be right back.” Kai said to D.O while he grabs his bike’s key and heads to the parking lot.

 

D.O looked at Kai’s back for a while, until he vanished from his sight, and mumbles to himself. “I wonder what he’s up to now?”

 

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Meanwhile, Kai arrives at an apartment in Bucheon, where the murder takes place. He take out a note from his pocket and confirmed within himself that he had arrived at the right address. Kai showed his badge to the security guard of the apartment, and asking him to open one of the apartment door, where the crime scene of the murder took place.

 

Once Kai entered the apartment, he closed the door behind him quietly and starts to look around the apartment. It’s just an ordinary apartment. There are some pictures of wedding ceremony and some furnitures in it. The only thing that makes it different, is just the white drawing line of a body on a bloody carpet, where the corpse of Mrs. Lee Ji Hye was found stabbed with a kitchen knife.

 

While Kai looked around the apartment, suddenly the room starts to shake, as if there’s an earthquake. Kai remain calm, knowing that he’s no longer alone, and didn’t run away like any normal people would do in such odd incident. Few seconds later, the shakes stops and the room remains quiet as it was before. All of a sudden, Kai feels a gush of wind passing him by. When he looked down, he saw a coin rolled over by itself into the underneath of a drawer in the living room. Kai crouching down and fumbles with his hand to find the coin. Yet, despite of finding the coin, Kai finds something else underneath the drawer and take it out to observe it.

 

It’s a medicine bottle with a bit of blood tainted on it.

 

Kai takes out a plastic zipper bag that he’s always carry around in his pocket, and put the medicine bottle in it, before he stood up and looked around the room for one last time. After nothing happened in several minutes, Kai decides to head back to the headquarter.

 

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Forensic Department

 

Arriving at the headquarter, instead of going back to his station, Kai heads toward The Forensic Department to find Baek Hyun.

 

“Baek, are you here?” Kai asked the moment he enters the forensic lab.

 

“Huh? Oh Kai. What’s up? What brings you here? Did you have a new case?” Baek Hyun greets him.

 

“Err, not really. Actually, it’s not my case. I just happen to find this in a crime scene. Could you please check this out for me?” Kai said while giving the medicine bottle to Baek.

 

“Okay. Just wait for a while. It won’t take long.” Baek Hyun said to Kai before he went to his equipments to examine the bottle.

 

One hour later, Baek Hyun is back with the result of his examination.

 

“Do you have the result?” Kai asked Baek Hyun.

 

“It’s an antihistamine called Ceron-DM. It’s used to treat symptoms caused by the common cold, flu, allergies, hay fever, or other breathing illnesses such as sinusitis and bronchitis. I was only able to retrieve a partial fingerprints since it was damaged, but even so, those fingerprints aren’t too useful.” Baek explained.

 

“What about the blood stain?” Kai asked Baek.

 

“Well, I still need to wait for the DNA results, but the blood type is A.” Baek Hyun stated. “By the way, what case was it?”

 

“One more thing, Baek. What is Mrs. Lee Ji Hye’s blood type?” Kai asked.

 

“Mrs. Lee Ji Hye?” Baek pondered for a while before asking another question at Kai. “You mean, the victim of the manslaughter case?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Hold on. Let me check on it.” Baek rummaging a few files on his desk until he finds a file that’s he’s looking for. “Her blood type is A.”

 

“What about the husband?” Kai asked again.

 

“The husband’s blood type is… B.” Baek looked up at Kai while raising one of his brows. “Are you saying that you’ve just found a new evidence of that case?” Baek Hyun asked in surprise.

 

“Looks like it.” Kai smirked at Baek Hyun, before he walks to the door. But before Kai went out, he turned around and said, “Thanks Baek. I owed you one.”

 

“Hey! Wait a minute! How did you find it!” Baek Hyun asked Kai, however Kai didn’t respond it, because he’s already left the lab in a hurry.

 

“Phew. He’s as weird as his partner, alright.” Baek Hyun nods his head and mumbles to himself.

 

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Few seconds later, Kai is back at the Violent Crimes Department and heads straight to the chief’s office.

 

“I’ve found a new evidence of the manslaughter’s case.” Kai stated to the chief, Jae Young, and placed the medicine bottle at the chief’s desk.

 

“Huh? What? How did you find this?” Jae Young asked.

 

“I’ve found it underneath a drawer in the living room. This is the evidence which indicates that there was someone else at the crime scene.” Kai explains.

 

Jae Young didn’t say anything in response, instead he takes his desk phone, and called for D.O and Min Kyu.

 

“D.O. asked Min Kyu to come over to my office, now. You too!” Jae Young ordered before he hangs up.

 

Seconds later, D.O. and Min Kyu entered the chief’s office with confusion on their face.

 

“Min Kyu,” Jae Young starts. “Kai has found a new evidence for your case.”

 

“What? That’s impossible!” Min Kyu said in surprise.

 

Jae Young ignore his statement and turned to ask Kai. “Do you have any more information about this?”

 

“The blood on the bottle matches with Mrs. Lee Ji Hye’s blood, and Mr. Lee Sang Woo may not be the murderer.”

 

“What are you doing now? Are you saying that Mr. Lee Sang Woo is not the murderer?” Min Kyu retorts.

 

“The medicine inside the bottle is an antihistamine. Mr. Lee Sang Woo has con heart disease, so he can’t take this medicine due to its side effects. The drug test result also indicated that Mrs. Lee Ji Hye wasn’t on this medicine.” Kai stated his findings.

 

“Wait a minute. You can’t just jump into someone else’s case like this. You can’t just overturn my case, just because you’ve found a bottle of medicine? Does it even make sense?” Min Kyu retorted.

 

“Then, who’s the owner of this bottle of medicine?” Jae Young asked.

 

“Chief…” Min Kyu complains.

 

Jae Young raises one of his hand to stop Min Kyu from complaining. “Did you find any fingerprints on it?” Jae Young asked Kai.

 

“No. There are no fingerprints.” Kai said.

 

“Then how could I prioritize this bottle of medicine, without having any information about it, over the kitchen knife which has the fingerprints of Mr. Lee Sang Woo? The evidence and circumstance are very clear here.” Jae Young stated.

 

“Well, the circumstance of this case isn’t that clear.” All of a sudden, D.O gives his opinion.

 

“What are you saying, D.O?” Jae Young asked.

 

“The neighbors called the police because the couple were fighting on August 10^th at 18.45, and the police arrived at the scene at 19.02.” D.O stated. “The police report stated that Mr. Lee Sang Woo was wearing his shoes by the time they arrived at the scene. It took 17 minutes for the police to arrive at the scene. If we assume that they had been fighting before their arrival, we could conclude that they were fighting for 20-30 minutes. However, Mr. Lee Sang Woo’s footprints were only heading towards Mrs. Lee Ji Hye in the limited living room area.”

 

“He may have removed his footprints.” Min Kyu retorted. “I mean, he could have wiped them off and put them back again, right?

 

D.O. ignores Min Kyu’s statement and continues with his explanation. “The circumstances tells us that there could be a third person at the scene. I believe that we need to re-investigate this case, under the assumption that Mr. Lee Sang Woo is not a suspect.

 

“Okay. Let’s do that.” Jae Young decides. “D.O., go interrogate Mr. Lee Sang Woo to finds out more information about this case.” Jae Young ordered.

 

“I’m on it.” D.O replied.

 

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At The Interrogation Room…

 

“Have you ever seen this medicine?” D.O asked Mr. Lee.

 

“No. I’ve never seen it before.” Mr. Lee answered.

 

“Are you sure? This medicine was at the scene when Mrs. Lee was murdered.” D.O said to reconfirm.

 

“I don’t know anything about the medicine. I’ve never seen it before.”

 

“There were no signs of intrusion and no money stolen, however the neighbor could hear the sounds of two people arguing. Afterwards, you was caught in the act of murder by the police who responded to the report.”

 

“I really didn’t do it.”

 

“Mr. Lee! All circumstantial evidence clearly indicates that you’re the killer!” D.O stated firmly.

 

“I didn’t kill her! How could I killed her? That day was our wedding anniversary. I was preparing myself for that night, by working the night shift, just to buy her something delicious and give her the handbag that she wanted. How could I ever kill her? How come no one listens to me?” Mr. Lee said in his frustration.

 

Kai who’s also observe the interrogation moves to the desk and slammed it with his palm.

 

“Mr. Lee! It’s not about whether we believe it or not! Please stop telling us the obvious fact that she was dead and think! Please think about it!” Kai practically yelled at Mr. Lee and grabs the medicine bottle, before he shoved it in front of Mr. Lee.

 

“Kai!” D.O tries to calm Kai down.

 

“Don’t avoid any eye contact and face it. Is there anyone suspicious around Mrs. Lee or anything suspicious that you can think of?”

 

“I really don’t know. I really don’t know what happened.” Mr. Lee said in his defense weakly.

 

Meanwhile, at the other sides of the interrogation room, Jae Young said, “We are running out of time. I want all of you to do your best to get as much information as you can.”

 

“Chief, he will be send to the Prosecutor’s Office in a day or two—” Min Kyu retorts.

 

“Even so, we have to check for any doubts over this case.” Jae Young stated firmly.

 

“Argh!” Min Kyu said in his frustration.

 

“What are you doing? Move! We only have time, exactly 48 hours. Now, move!” Jae Young ordered everyone before he left.

 

“Chief, listen to me—” Min Kyu tries to catch up with the chief to state his objection.

 

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Case Briefing

 

“Mrs. Lee had a very limited social life. She didn’t even use a cellphone, instead she only used her home phone. There were only two people with whom she talked over the phone within a year, except from her husband, Mr. Lee. The first one is Lee Jin Pyo, 39 years old and the second one is Lee Yun Seong, 48 years old. Mrs. Lee was sending money to both of them in every two months.” D.O stated his findings.

 

“This case must be about adultery related to financial conflicts. She gets caught by her husband and they fought over it.” Min Kyu gives his comment.

 

“Men and financial conflicts.” Jae Young pondered for a while before continues, “Did you do a background check on both of them?”

 

“Lee Yun Seong manages a nursing home at Busan, and Lee Jin Pyo has four violence convictions.” Se Jong stated.

 

“Okay. D.O and Kai, you guys take care of Lee Jin Pyo. Min Kyu and Se Jong will be in charge of Lee Yun Seong.” Jae Young ordered. “Now, let’s move it!”

 

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D.O and Kai were stalking over Lee Jin Pyo, when all of a sudden, D.O asked, “Let me ask you a question. How did you find the medicine bottle?”

 

“A ghost told me.” Kai smirked at D.O. “Why?”

 

“Never mind.” D.O rolled his eyes while mumbling to himself, “I should blame myself for asking that question.”

 

Several minutes later, their target comes out from a club, and immediately surrounded by D.O and Kai. Afterwards, Jin Pyo was dragged into his office to be questioned by them.

 

“What are you doing on August 10^th at 6pm?” Kai asked.

 

“I was playing poker all night on that day.”

 

Kai looked at Jin Pyo as if he doesn’t believe him at all.

 

“Look, I’m telling the truth here.”

 

“Why did she send money to you in every 2 months?” D.O asked.

 

“Because she got a loan from me.” Jin Pyo answered. “Here, this is Mrs. Lee’s loan record. You can see it by yourself.” Jin Pyo hand over a file to Kai and D.O.

 

“She got a loan in 2010. How come you have no record of getting your money back until 2013?” D.O asked.

 

“That cute little lady tried to lay low for a while. We may look unorganized, but we are quite systematic. We have a black list for these fugitives and we manage them separately. 6 months ago, we found a fender bender record from the insurance company, and that’s how we found her.” Jin Pyo explains.

 

“So, did you threaten her to pay your money back?” Kai asked.

 

“No. It was a legitimate collection request. Anyway, what about Mrs. Lee? Did she runs away again?”

 

“You know what is this, right?” Kai asked while showing the medicine bottle to Jin Pyo.

 

“Look. I don’t know how you’re trying to make me involved in this case, but I really don’t have anything to do with drugs.”

 

With that statement, D.O and Kai excuse themselves and went back to the car.

 

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Inside the car…

 

“Hey, D.O.” Kai said while he’s starting the car.

 

“Hm?”

 

“What do you say if we’re going back to the crime scene?” Kai suggests. “Maybe we’re missing something and we might find the answers in there.”

 

“Why? Another ghost tells you to go back there?” D.O said in full sarcasm.

 

“Hey! I’m serious here!” Kai pouted.

 

“Fine. Let’s go back to the crime scene. After all, we didn’t find any new lead anyway.” D.O sighed. “Maybe the victim’s ghost would tell you something.” D.O smirked at Kai.

 

“Oh come on, D.O. Stop being an !” Kai rolled his eyes at D.O.

 

“Alright. Alright. Let’s go back to the crime scene.” D.O finally agrees.

 

It took half an hour drive to get to the crime scene, and with the help of the security guard of the apartment, they could entered the apartment.

 

“I doubt that we could find another lead in here, I mean, Baek’s team must have done their job thoroughly and there’s no way they would miss any evidence on the scene.” D.O said while looking around.

 

“That’s what I thought too, but then, I found the medicine bottle, am I?” Kai smirked at D.O.

 

“That’s just a coincidence, and coincidence didn’t happen twice at the same place, you know?” D.O rolled his eyes.

 

Kai didn’t hear D.O’s last statement, because his gaze has been fixated on a white-slender-transparent woman who slowly approach him. Just like D.O said earlier, the victim’s spirits really appeared in front of Kai. Then the spirit touched Kai’s hand and all of a sudden Kai could see flashes of images of her past. However, the images happens so fast, too fast to make any sense at all. When the images disappeared, Kai feels like his energy was drained out and the last thing he could see was D.O worried expression, before he lost his consciousness.

 

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“Kai…”

 

Vaguely, Kai heard someone is calling out his name. But who is it, he wonders.

 

“Kai!”

 

Kai hears the voice calling out for him again, but this time, he could hear it more clearly.

 

“Kai!!! Wake up!!!”

 

Finally Kai opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings groggily.

 

“Idiot!!! What happened to you earlier?” D.O who sees Kai finally wakes up, sigh in relief and scolded him at the same time. “Are you okay? You hit your head quite hard on the floor just now.” D.O observe Kai’s condition.

 

“I’m fine. I was just feeling a bit dizzy, that’s all.” Kai answered while massaging his temple gently.

 

“I don’t think we could find anything in here. We’d better go back to the station to see if Min Kyu and Se Jong find any information on Lee Yun Seong” D.O said to Kai.

 

Kai didn’t say anything in response, he just followed D.O went outside to the parking lot obediently. But when he’s about to go the driver’s side, D.O stops him.

 

“This time, I’ll drive. You’ve just fainted, just get a nap for a while in the car, until we reached the station.” D.O said.

 

“I’m fine now. I’ll drive.” Kai stubbornly said.

 

“Listen up, you stonehead. If I say you rest, you rest. If I say you drive, you drive. I don’t really care about you, okay? I just don’t want to end up in a morgue, other than our station, if you force yourself to drive in your condition right now! Got it?” D.O said in his usual cold tone.

 

In his surprise, Kai only able to nods his head several times, without being able to utter any words to respond.

 

“Good! Now go to the passenger seat, buckle up, shut the up and sleep!” D.O ordered.

 

Kai turned around the car to sit in the passenger seat and do as he told. He didn’t want to upset D.O more than he already did. Part of him knew that everything D.O said was right. Kai might cause an accident for them if he force himself to drive in his condition right now.

 

After Kai buckled up, rest his head and close his eyes to nap, D.O starts the engine and drive them back to the station.

 

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Back At Seoul Police Station…

 

By the tima D.O and Kai arrived at the station, Min Kyu and Se Jong also has arrived at the station. All of them went to the conference room for another case breafing with the chief.

 

“So, what did you guys find?” Jae Young starts the meeting.

 

“Mrs. Choi has a debt from a private loan with Lee Jin Pyo and he was playing poker all night at the day of the incident.” Kai stated.

 

“What about you, Min Kyu?” Jae Young asked. “What did you guys find in the nursing home?”

 

“Mrs. Lee was doing volunteer work at the nursing home and she’s sending money to Lee Yun Seoung as the sponsorhip of the nursing home.” Min Kyu stated. “One more thing, show it to him.” Min Kyu said to Se Jong to give a file to Jae Young.

 

“I felt something was strange, so I investigated Mrs. Lee’s past. I’ve found out that there is no record at all about her, between 2010 and 2013, until she met Mr. Lee.

 

“So, Mrs. Lee has a debt from her private loan. Lee Jin Pyo has a solid alibi and there’s no record at all on Mrs. Lee? Does it make sense at all? She’s not a ghost! This case is getting more and more complicated.” Jae Young huffed a deep sigh.

 

“Hey, Kai. What now? We have spent a full day already on this case, and this case will be done by tomorrow. Say something. Did the cat got your tongue?” Jae Young asked Kai.

 

“Maybe, that medicine was planted by Mr. Lee in the crime scene, so we would be confused. In other words, we’ve been fooled by Mr. Lee’s thorough plan.” Min Kyu comments.

 

Kai didn’t say anything in response, instead he approach Se Jong and asked, “Did something unusual happened in the nursing home?”

 

“Something unusual?” Se Jong tries to recall his memories. “Not really. There’s just one old lady whom Mrs. Lee taking care of, keep mumbling about a certain someone called Ha Yan, if I’m not mistaken.”

 

“Ha Yan?” Kai asked to reconfirm.

 

“Yeah. I think it’s Ha Yan,” Se Jong nods firmly.

 

“Thanks Se Jong.” Kai said to Se Jong before he heads back to his desk and browse on his computer.

 

“What are you doing?” D.O asked and peeks on Kai’s computer.

 

“I’ve got this strange feeling, somehow, our answers is in this Ha Yan person.” Kai stated while his eyes still fixated on his monitor.

 

“Ha Yan… Ha Yan… Ha Yan…” Kai mumbling while he keeps on browsing. “I’ve found it. Lee Ha Yan. She was dead due to suicide in 2008 and she was married to a man named Lee Jae Kyung.” Kai stated his findings.

 

“What’s her home address?” D.O asked.

 

“I’m writing it down. Let’s go. This time I’ll drive.” Kai stated firmly.

 

“Fine. You looked a lot better than earlier anyway.” D.O shrugged and then he turned his head to the chief. “Chief, we’re going out for a bit, okay?”

 

“Hey, where you guys going? What about the case?” Jae Young immediately said.

 

“That’s why we’re going, chief. To find more information about it.” D.O rolled his eyes.

 

“Fine. Make sure you guys bring some useful information on this case, otherwise, don’t bother to come back with empty hands.” Jae Young stated firmly.

 

“Got it, chief.” D.O said nonchalantly while he heads to the door and went to the parking lot, with Kai following him from behind.

 

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After several hours of driving, Kai and D.O finally arrived in Gyeryeong, a city in southeastern of South Chungcheong province. Both of them starts to asked around for informations on Lee Ha Yan. It only took a while for them to know that Lee Ha Yan was once lived in the neighborhood with her abusive husband. According to the people there, Lee Jae Kyung has a bad habit in drinking and over possessive to Lee Ha Yan. Even if she only talk casually with her friends (especially male), she would end up having a severe beatings from her husband, Lee Jae Kyung. One day, Lee Ha Yan couldn’t stand it anymore and decides to kill herself.

 

At this statement, Kai and D.O exchange looks and both of them seems surprised about this new lead.

 

After thanking everyone for their cooperation, Kai and D.O drives back to the station.

 

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There’s a complete silence in the car, since Kai and D.O are lost in their own thoughts.

 

Suddenly D.O’s phone rings. D.O fish out his phone from his pocket and answered the call.

 

“D.O.”

 

“D.O., it’s Se Jong. I just remember something. When I was at the nursing home and talks to the old lady, I saw a male who’s keep observing the old lady. But when I tried to approach him, he runs away. At the station, I tries to search for his information on our database. It turned out that man is—”

 

“—Lee Jae Kyung”. D.O finished Se Jong’s statement.

 

“Yes. Hey! How did you know that?” Se Jong practically screamed over the phone.

 

“Lucky guess.” D.O shrugged. “Ok, thanks Se Jong. Ah, one more thing, could you send me the photo and informations of Lee Jae Kyung?”

 

“I’m sending it to your phone.” Se Jong said.

 

“Got it. Thanks.” D.O said and hangs up the phone.

 

“What’s with Lee Jae Kyung?” Kai asked after the call ends.

 

“Se Jong spotted Lee Jae Kyung lurking around in the nursing home, where Lee Ji Hye volunteered at.” D.O briefs.

 

“What? Why did he do that?” Kai asked.

 

“I still haven’t figured that out. There’s still a few missing piece about this case.” D.O. stated. “This case is more complicated than it seems.”

 

Seconds later, D.O’s phone rings again and showing messages from Se Jong about Lee Jae Kyung’s information.

 

“What the…?” D.O exclaims.

 

“What’s the matter?” Kai asked.

 

“Looks like we’ve found another suspect. Pull over!” D.O ordered and showed his phone to Kai after he pull over the car to the side of the road. “Here, check this out. It turns out that our new suspect has a chronic asthma and his life fully depended on antihistamine.”

 

“If he’s been lurking around in the nursing home, then there must be something in the nursing home.” Kai suggests.

 

“I don’t think it’s the nursing home that related to this case.” D.O oppose the statement. “I think, the old lady is.” As he speaks, D.O takes out his phone again and called Se Jong.

 

“Violent Crimes—”

 

“Se Jong, it’s me, D.O. I need you to find any information on the old lady in the nursing home. The one whom Ji Hye took care of. Let me know if you find anything on her. We’re on our way to the station.” D.O ordered.

 

“Got it.” Se Jong said and hangs up the phone.

 

“Step on it, Kai. We have to be at the station as soon as possible.” D.O ordered. “I’ve got a very bad feeling that another murder is going to happen again.” D.O stated with a serious look on his face.

 

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When D.O and Kai haf just arrived at the entrance of Seoul Police Station, Se Jong already runs towards them with a file in his hand.

 

“D.O., I found the information that you’re looking for. The old lady is Kim Young Ok. She’s the grandmother of Lee Ha Yan, and guess who is Lee Ha Yan’s best friend?” Se Jong asked.

 

“Err… Lee Ji Hye?” Kai answer the question with the first name that popped into his head.

 

“You got it damn right!” Se Jong exclaims. “And that concludes, this case has become more complicated than ever.” Se Jong huffed a deep sigh and shakes his head in disbelief.

 

“What about Lee Jae Kyung’s whereabout?” D.O asked Se Jong.

 

“He was last seen leaving his house in Gyeryeong a week ago. But ever since he left his house until now, his whereabouts is unknown.” Se Jong explained.

 

“Damn it. It’s another dead end.” Kai curse to himself in frustration.

 

“Not quite.” D.O said then he turned to Se Jong. “How long has Kim Young Ok lives in the nursing home?”

 

“She was living in Gyeryeong ever since she was born, but she moves to the nursing home on 2013.” Se Jong said while reading on his file.

 

“Kai, let’s heads back to the nursing home. I feel that we might find our answers at the nursing home.” D.O ordered.

 

“Let’s go then.” Kai heads back to the parking lot with D.O and drives to the nursing home.

 

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At the nursing home, D.O and Kai asked to meet with Lee Yun Seong, the doctor in charge of the nursing home.

 

“I’m sorry if we bothers you again.” D.O apologize.

 

“Not at all, officer. So how may I help you?” Yun Seong asked.

 

“Was there anyone who’s close with Lee Ji Hye during her voluntary work in here?” D.O ask.

 

“Well, Mrs. Lee Ji Hye wasn’t a very social person. Other than taking care of Kim Young Ok, she seems to be quite close with Han Soo Ri.” Yun Seong said.

 

“May I talk to this Han Soo Ri?” D.O asked.

 

“Ah, I think it’s almost the time for her to go home. She’s always left the nursing home around this hour.” Yun Seong looked around the frontyard and points. “There she is. The one with a white shirt over there.”

 

D.O and Kai look at the designated direction and hastily stood up to catch up with her. Unfortunately, the moment they’re inside the car, Han Soo Ri was no longer seen around the area.

 

D.O takes out his phone and called the station.

 

“Violen Crim—”

 

“Se Jong, D.O. Please find the home address of Han Soo Ri. NOW!” D.O ordered.

 

“Her addres is on 59-3 Hong Gildong, Jongno Gu.” Se Jong stated.

 

“Thanks.” D.O said and hangs up.

 

“59-3 Hong Gildong, Jongno Gu.” D.O said to Kai. “Step on it, Kai. Or we might had another victim.” D.O furrowed his brows together.

 

“Don’t worry. We’ll make it on time.” Kai said while he’s changing the gear and drives off.

 

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Meanwhile, at the other part of the town, Han Soo Ri had just arrive at her home, but she notices that someone had breaking into her home. Cautiosly, she grab the kitchen knife for her defense and start to look around her house. When she sees the shadow of a tall man, she screamed in panic, while she’s recognizing who that man is.

 

“You! What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Soo Ri screams. “Get out of here.”

 

“It’s all because of you. It’s all your fault. She wouldn’t have died if it wasn’t because of you. We would have been happy together. But you! You ruined it all! You ruined our happiness! How could you take her away from me?!” The man, Lee Jae Kyung yelled at Soo Ri.

 

“What? You’re the one who killed her? How could you do that?” Soo Ri screams back at him, while she keeps on stepping backwards and maintains her distance with Jae Kyung.

 

“It was an accident! I tries to talk to her and ask her to leave the house with me. But she says no! How could she said no when she’s still my wife? Huh? Then… then… she grabbed the kitchen knife.. then… we’re struggle… then the last thing I knew, she was laying there… on the carpet, with the knife stabbed into her chest. It was just an accident! I never meant to kill her! I loved her! I loved her so much!” Jae Kyung said in full of regrets. Then he looked up and staring straight to Soo Ri, “We were happy together until you came into our lives and take her away from me!” Jae Kyung yelled at Soo Ri while he keeps on approaching her. “Now she’s dead. I’ve lost the woman I loved. And it’s all your fault! You’re the one who should be dead, not her!” Jae Kyung smashing everything in the house within his reach while he keeps on approaching Soo Ri.

 

Soo Ri grabs a rolling pin and throws it at Jae Kyung. While Jae Kyung lost his balance, Soo Ri immediately runs towards her bedroom and locked the door behind her.

 

“You didn’t love her! You’re killing her slowly! How could you said that you loved her when you keeps on beating her up into pulp?! Soo Ri screams from her bedroom.

 

Jae Kyung who has finally able to keeps his balance, rush toward the door of Soo Ri’s bedroom, and tries to open it, but no avail. “I love her so much! But you took her away from me!!!”

 

“That’s not love, you pathetic bastard! If I didn’t take her away from you, you would have killed her years ago!” Soo Ri retorts.

 

“We were really happy together! Who are you to decide that we’re not happy, huh? Because of you, she left me. Because of you, I’ve lost her for good. It’s all your fault! Therefore, you have to pay it with your life!” Jae Kyung threatens and starts to use his force to break into Soo Ri’s bedroom.

 

At the same time, Soo Ri heard the police sirene. D.O and Kai has arrived there, and runs into the house to find Soo Ri. However, they found no one inside the house. D.O sees the broken door of Soo Ri’s bedroom and an opening in the window. He jumps outside from the window and looked around. Then D.O see Lee Jae Kyung about to run away with Soo Ri as his hostage.

 

“Freeze!” D.O exclaims while he points his gun toward Jae Kyung.

 

Jae Kyung turned around to face D.O, but he’s holding a knife on Soo Ri’s neck. “You freeze. If you move, I’ll slit this woman’s throat!” Jae Kyung threatens while pushing the knife closer to Soo Ri’s neck.

 

“Look. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Put that knife down and give up. The back-up is coming, you’ve got nowhere to run.” D.O tries to calm Jae Kyung.

 

“Back up? Hmph. You’re bluffing. There’s no one here but you.” Jae Kyung smirked. “So put down your gun and step back, or else you want to see her smooth neck covered in blood?”

 

“Okay… okay… Look, I’m putting my gun down. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Leave her and take me instead. All you need is a hostage, right? Take me and leave her!” D.O tries to negotiate.

 

“As if I would do such stupid thing!” Jae Kyung said before he push himself forward to stab D.O. It happens so fast that D.O didn’t have enough time to do anything or to avoid it, but at the same exact time, he heard a gunshot and sees Lee Jae Kyung had been shot on his arm.

 

In his bewilderment, D.O turned around and see that it was Kai who had shot Lee Jae Kyung earlier. Within seconds, the back up arrives, and took Jae Kyung away with them.

 

“Are you okay, D.O?” Kai asked after he puts his gun back to its holster.

 

“Yeah, I’m okay.” D.O said in brief. “How did you know I was out here?”

 

“Well, I was looking around the house when I see you suddenly disappear, then I heard people chatting nearby and I’ve decided to check on it.

 

“Thanks.” D.O said in a low voice.

 

“Huh? What did you say?” Kai raised one of his brows because he couldn’t hear what D.O was saying to him.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“For what?” Kai asked in confusion.

 

“For saving me.” D.O turned away to avoid meeting Kai’s gaze.

 

“Nah. Don’t mention it. It’s one of many advantages of having a partner. Especially when you got a cool partner like me.” Kai wriggling his brows at D.O in satisfaction. “I bet now you’re grateful that you have a partner, aren’t you?”

 

“I should blame myself for saying thanks to you.” D.O shakes his head and rolled his eyes over Kai’s arrogance.

 

“Hey! I was indeed save your life, don’t you think so?” Kai pouts.

 

“That’s what a partner have to do in those kind of situations. In other words, whoever my partner is, they would have did the same thing.” D.O shrugged while crouching down to pick up his gun and puts it back into his holster.

 

“Hey! That’s not fair! Just admit it! You’re grateful for having me as your partner! There’s no other man who’s cooler than me to be your partner.” Kai said arrogantly.

 

“If you say so.” D.O shrugged. “Come on, let’s get back to the station.” D.O approach Kai and push him towards the car.

 

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Case Closure :

 

At the station, D.O explains about the case to Kai, who had bothered him to explain it ever since they were on their way to the station.

 

“Actually…” D.O starts. “This case is not too complicated as it seems.”

 

“Lee Ji Hye is actually Lee Ha Yan.” D.O stated.

 

“What? No way! Lee Ha Yan commits suicide in 2010.”

 

“She did try to commit suicide, but she was stopped by Lee Ji Hye from doing it. Then, to escape from her abusive husband, along with Lee Ji Hye, she fake her own death and change her identity to Lee Ji Hye. Hence, there are no records of her, before 2010.”

 

Kai nods his head without saying anything in response.

 

“Then the real Lee Ji Hye also changes her name into Han Soo Ri, to avoid Lee Jae Kyung if he tries to find his wife through her and also to avoid Lee Jin Pyo. Lee Ha Yan who had changed her name into Lee Ji Hye couldn’t abandon her grandmother, therefore she decides to bring her grandmother to a nursing home in Seoul and took care of her.”

 

“Ah, that’s why her grandmother keep saying “Ha Yan”. Kai nods his head again.

 

“Yes. She called her Ha Yan because she still recognize her as Lee Ha Yan, her granddaughter. But since Kim Young Ok moves into a nursing home in Seoul so suddenly after Lee Ha Yan’s dead, Lee Jae Kyung became suspicious and tried to find any information about her grandmother. Eventually he managed to find the nursing home, and met with his wife during her voluntering work days.” D.O continues. “On the night of the incident, Lee Jae Kyung visits her house when she was all alone by herself and tries to ask her to go back with him, but she refuse to do so, hence they fight, and she grabs on her kitchen knife in self defence. Unfortunately, during their struggle, she ends up stabbing herself with the knife and as a result of it, she’s dead.”

 

D.O paused and heaves a deep sigh before he continues. “Afterwards, Lee Jae Kyung left the scene and minutes later, Lee Sang Woo back from his work and found his wife was dead. Therefore, there were only his footprints heading towards his wife, because his wife is already dead when he comes home.”

 

“The rest is as you can see on the news.” D.O shrugged. “The husband was claimed as a murderer, until you find the medicine bottle and so on… we found the real murderer, and case closed!”

 

D.O stood up and stretches his arms over his head, then said, “Well, let’s go home now. My head is about to explode with all the thinking that I’ve done today.” D.O massage his temple gently with his fingers.

 

“Do you want me to drive you home?” Kai offers.

 

“Nah, I’m fine. I’m still able to drive myself. You should go home too. You’ve passed out today, remember? So, you also need some rest.” D.O said to Kai and heads to the door. “Oh, one more thing…” D.O halts his steps and turned around to face Kai. “I’ll write the report for this case, consider it as a payback for saving me earlier.” D.O smiles at Kai before he swirl around and went to the parking lot.

 

Kai still mesmerized with what he just saw. D.O was smiling at him? Is this really happening? Kai slaps himself to make sure that he’s not dreaming. Since it hurts, it means that he’s not dreaming right? D.O actually smiles at him, right? Along with this thought, Kai’s smile begins to spread widely on his face. D.O’s smiling at him. And his smile making him captivated. Kai couldn’t help himself to wonder, will he able to see that smile everyday in his whole lifetime.

 

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