“I hate this part of the job,” Heejin exhaled loudly, looking through binoculars.

 

Jiwoo shrugged, resting her elbows on the step of stairs on the side of an apartment. “At least it’s an excuse for us to eat unhealthy snacks.” She shoved another handful of chips into before nudging Heejin.

 

The other girl reached out blindly as her hand made it into the offering bag, but before she could get the snack into , she caught sight of something. “There.” She pointed the hand with chips still in it and then brought it to , munching on them slowly.

 

Jiwoo dropped the bag of chips and lifted her camera up, placing it to her face and zoomed it into an apartment window from across the street. “Don’t tell me that they’re going to do the nasty,” she said with disgust seeing a woman leading a man onto the bed. “I did not sign up for this,” she mumbled, but kept clicking the camera anyways.

 

“This is so typical.” Heejin clicked her teeth. “Seduce a person and then drain them dry. Don’t vampires have any other methods?” She then took out her own camera. “Shouldn’t you go over there now before that guy dies or something?”

 

Jiwoo didn’t answer right away as she took a few more photos. “Yeah, it’s just that,” her voice trailed as she frowned. “Do vampires shoot out some transparent spirity looking things from their hands?” She questioned in alarm.

 

“What?” Heejin asked in confusion before dropping the binoculars and bringing her own camera up, zooming into the apartment. “Um, I don’t think that’s a vampire?”

 

“I gotta get over there.” Jiwoo quickly packed up her camera, making sure to throw in the half eaten bag of chips into her backpack as well.

 

Heejin grabbed onto her friend’s arm. “What? No. We don’t even know what we’re up against.”

 

“Like you said, that man could die if I just stay up here.” Jiwoo pulled away and shoved her backpack at Heejin. “Keep taking pictures. I’ll have my phone on like always.” She placed earphones in and dialed Heejin’s number to connect to each other.

 

The other girl declined the call. “Nope, no, that’s enough pictures. I’m coming with you,” Heejin argued back, following Jiwoo down the many steps. “We brought stakes to a stake out, thinking we’re going up against vampires. We’re not prepared for this.”

 

“That’s part of the job, Heejin.” Jiwoo jumped down the last few steps and took her friend’s hand, looking both ways before running across the street to the other apartment.

 

Reaching the front door, Jiwoo tried to yank it open only to find it locked. Exhaling out of frustration, she used her strength, almost ripping the door off of its hinges.

 

“Well, that’s one way to open doors,” Heejin commented, but didn’t get a response as the both of them ran in. “Elevators or stairs?” She asked, stepping foot into the lobby.

 

Jiwoo didn’t answer as she ran up the stairs.

 

“Stairs it is,” Heejin muttered and followed after, but found that her cardio wasn’t up to par with Jiwoo’s as she slowed down after only a flight of stairs. “Come on, Heejin, you got this. Only three more floors,” she said to herself as she huffed out air.

 

Heejin finally reached the top to find Jiwoo kicking down the man’s door before she could protest about coming up with a plan.

 

“Really, Unnie?” Heejin threw up her hands at her reckless friend, but ran after her anyways.

 

Entering the room, she came to a stop behind Jiwoo.

 

“What the hell?!” The man screamed, pulling his blanket over himself and the woman to cover themselves.

 

“That lady is trying to kill you!” Jiwoo yelled back, taking careful steps in.

 

“What are you talking about?” The woman questioned, reaching her hands to the floor to pick up her shirt and put it on. She then turned back to the man. “I think I should get going.” Getting off the bed, she picked up her pants and put them on as well.

 

“Wait, no,” the man protested, throwing the blanket to the side and also got off the bed.

 

“Oh my god,” Jiwoo muttered in disgust as she turned around and covered Heejin’s eyes. “ man, please put on some clothes. I almost had to bleach my eyes.” She peeked through her fingers to make sure the woman wasn’t trying anything. Throwing up her hands as the woman walked over, the tall brunette pushed past the two to get through the door to leave.

 

The man ran his hand through his hair in annoyance. “Who the hell are you guys and what are you doing in my apartment?” He yelled and then picked up his phone from the nightstand. “I’m calling the cops, you creeps!”

 

“Hey, no, there’s no need for that. We thought we saw that woman try to do something to you through the window and was just concerned.” Heejin came from behind Jiwoo to reason with the man. “We are so so sorry, but also, maybe stay away from her?”

 

“Get out of my apartment!” He yelled, walking towards them with the blanket covering him.

 

“Ok, ok, we’re leaving.” Heejin grabbed Jiwoo’s hand and bolted out, closing the door behind for it to only come back open since Jiwoo had broken it.

 

They took the elevator down this time due to Heejin’s request.

 

“There’s no way that something shady wasn’t going on in there,” Jiwoo muttered, crossing her arms at how things went.

 

Stepping out of the elevator, Heejin zipped up her hoodie as they exited the apartment complex. “Yeah, I know, but let’s just go back to your place and review the pictures we took to see if we can figure out what the hell is it that we actually saw.”

 

Before Jiwoo could answer, she felt a vibration as she quickly reached into her pocket realizing who it must be. “, I forgot to call Jungeun.” Picking it up, she placed the device to her ear. “Hi, Jungeun,” she answered in her usual happy tone, but then changed it right away. “Look, I know, ok, yeah, I’m sorry ok? I’m really sorry. I was gonna call, but then,” she stopped talking for a moment before continuing. “You’re right. That’s no excuse. I’m gonna be home in a bit, so just go sleep. Yeah, I’m ok. Heejin’s ok too. Alright, bye.” She hung up the phone and exhaled loudly.

 

“You really at this calling every hour thing, you know,” Heejin commented before throwing up her hands in defense when she got a glare in response. “I mean, it’s your fault for suggesting it.”

 

Sighing, Jiwoo stuck her hands into her jacket. “I had to make that deal with her because she kept trying to talk me out of this job. And she’s right, I shouldn’t forget to call like that. She just worries.”

 

“When isn’t she being a worry wart?”

 

“Can you blame her?”

 

Heejin stopped at a bike rack, reaching into the backpack to pull out her keys to unlock her bicycle. “Ok, that’s valid considering how late we stay out. I’d probably give Chaewon and her ghostbusters crap too if they operated this late.”

 

“They do operate this late, but they’re just inside of houses and not running around everywhere like us.” Jiwoo put on her helmet and got on the back of the bike, holding onto Heejin’s waist as she started to pedal. “Do you wanna just sleep over? It is getting pretty late to go back to your place by yourself.”

 

“I really should just move in and claim the couch as mine since I sleep on it so much. I’m not even sure if my roommate knows how I look like anymore,” Heejin joked.

 

“Pretty sure Ryujin remembers you perfectly. Didn’t you just go out with her and Hyunjin the other day?” Jiwoo questioned before placing her forehead on the back of her friend’s shoulder, coming to realize just how tired she was.

 

Heejin grunted in response. “They want me to go to some Halloween party, but with cases finally popping up during this season, I would rather be working.”

 

Jiwoo sighed, knowing just how much of a workaholic Heejin was, but she was the same, so she couldn’t say anything. “You really should just go. All you do is work and somehow find time for school too. I don’t know how you do it, but you’re young, you should live a little outside of all of this.”

 

“You’re one to speak,” Heejin muttered. “And you’re only a year older than me. I don’t see you going out and living up your youth like everyone else. Do you even have any friends outside of Jungeun unnie?”

 

“What are you talking about? You’re my friend. There’s also Chaewon and her triplet goons, the Unnies who act like maknaes, and Yeojin who keeps me from starving,” Jiwoo rambled, trying to think of everyone in her life.

 

“Sooyoung unnie has been complaining that you haven’t been hanging with her lately. She gets really whiny, you know. She tried hanging out with the ghostbusters, but all she does is bicker with Hyejoo, so Chaewon had to kick both of them out of a house they were investigating.”

 

“She knows I’m busy,” came Jiwoo’s short answer.

 

“But you’re always busy,” Heejin dragged out the last word and then slowed down her pedaling. “You’ve been avoiding everyone else more than usual,” she commented, but when she didn’t get an answer, she continued. “Is it because your birthday is coming up?” She held her breath, not sure of how Jiwoo would respond to the question.

 

Jiwoo stayed silent for a moment before tightening her grip around Heejin. “You know how I get.” Her voice was quiet.

 

Heejin stopped the bike as they reached Jiwoo’s and Jungeun’s shared apartment. She waited for the redhead in the back to hop off before she did the same. She unclipped Jiwoo’s helmet for her and fixed the slightly older woman’s bangs, and then gave her a quick hug. “You want hot cocoa while we look through the pictures we took tonight?” She asked, knowing Jiwoo wasn’t in the mood to talk about her problems.

 

Jiwoo gave her a small smile, thankful that her friend knew when not to pry. “Yeah, sure. Jungeun might get mad if we use two cups though.”

 

Heejin rolled her eyes as they walked through the complex to get to their destination. “I don’t get how you can live through all of that nagging.” She pulled out her key that the two have given her since she’s over so often and opened the door.

 

Jiwoo shrugged. “She has to deal with my loud , so I guess it’s a good trade. Besides, she keeps me grounded.”

 

Stepping into the apartment, they look off their shoes, feeling the soreness of their bodies kick in from being out all night. They made their way to the kitchen where they usually hung out, not wanting to wake Jungeun up who usually had early morning classes.

 

“What’s up with you two anyways?” Heejin questioned, filling up the kettle with water and pulled out two cups.

 

Jiwoo was seated at the counter with her head resting in her hands and answered without looking up. “What do you mean?”

 

Heejin glanced at the redhead and then shook her head. She took a seat next to Jiwoo who had started to take out her camera from her bag. “You guys dance around each other being so obvious yet nothing comes out of it. It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known you two.”

 

Jiwoo stopped what she was doing and looked Heejin in the eyes. “There’s nothing going on.”

 

Heejin exhaled, pulling out her own camera and a laptop, hooking up the device to upload the pictures. “Alright, sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” For a moment, she thought maybe Jiwoo and Jungeun really were just best friends and nothing more, but it would be a lie if she and everyone else hadn’t suspected anything. Thinking it was none of her business, she decided to drop the topic. “Didn’t the client say that his friends have been appearing pale and weak with two incision marks on their neck? Is this supernatural being just targeting one group? We haven’t heard about any other incidents around the area.”

 

“Maybe it was careless of us to assume it was a vampire just by the description.” Jiwoo went through her camera before stopping at one picture and showed it to Heejin. “Vampires don’t have glowly transparent things coming out of their hands.”

 

“I can’t think of anything that even does that.”

 

The sound of the kettle clicked off as Heejin got back up to make the hot cocoa. Opening two instant packets, she poured the contents into the cups and filled them up with hot water. Walking back, she placed a cup in front of Jiwoo.

 

“Please blow on it before drinking,” Heejin instructed. “Your habit of burning yourself is such a talent.”

 

Jiwoo nodded, knowing she always got distracted when drinking hot drinks. “Google doesn’t seem to have anything on this, but then again, it says garlic keeps vampires away and we all know what happened the last time we threw garlic at one.”

 

“Yeah, maybe that was ridiculous of us to bring garlic the first time we encountered a vampire, but can you blame us? We were still a bit new to this whole supernatural thing.” Heejin took a sip of her drink and then placed it down to go through her camera. “I know our client said that his friends, the victims, seem to not remember anything, but you think we should try talking to them to see if anything useful comes out of it?”

 

“I think we should go back to the guy we were just staking out to see if this is even the same case. Check if he has the same symptoms as the rest of the victims.” Jiwoo took a sip of her own drink. “What time do you have class tomorrow?”

 

“Not until noon. I can swing by and see if the guy is home since I’ll be close by anyways and then I’ll meet you back here?”

 

“Noon. It’s getting really late. We should go to bed then, but yeah, maybe just check out his place, snap a few pictures.” Jiwoo downed the rest of her drink although it burned a little and then got up to wash the cup. “Do you have clothes or do you want to borrow some of mine?”

 

Heejin waved her off. “I have my own stuff.” She always brought extra just in case since she never knew how her day would go. “Go to bed. I’ll go to sleep soon too.”

 

“Alright, but soon means within the hour ok? We can research more tomorrow.” Jiwoo knew how Heejin was, so she had to make sure the younger girl got her rest instead of trying to pull an all-nighter.

 

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Heejin threw up a peace sign, watching as the redhead left the kitchen.

 

The rest of the night was a blur. She thought she had heard Jungeun out in the living room where she slept on a pull out couch, feeling herself get warmer as another blanket was thrown over her. She must have been half awake when the older woman left for her morning class.

 

Hearing her alarm go off, Heejin instinctively rolled over to the right, thinking she was in her own room when she let out a small yelp as she found herself landing onto the ground between the couch and coffee table. Sitting up quickly, she reached for her phone to turn off the alarm before it could wake up Jiwoo.

 

Groaning, she got up to get ready for class and headed out. 

 

School was another blur as she tried to pay attention in school, but her mind wandered to the current case they were working on. Instead of taking notes for class, she ended up doing research on her laptop. Not finding any new information, she let out a sigh and packed up her backpack when the professor let the class out.

 

Heading towards her bike, she stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being called. Recognizing the voice, she turned around to be greeted by her roommate.

 

“Yo, Heej, where have you been?” The woman with shoulder length dark hair asked. “Hyunjin says you haven’t hung out lately.”

 

“Yeah, you know how it is. I’ve been busy with work and stuff,” she answered, walking the rest of the way to her bike and unlocked it.

 

“Heard you’ve been tracking down some,” Ryujin stopped talking and then lowered her voice before whispering out, “vampire.”

 

Heejin looked around in alarm and then pulled her friend closer. “What’d I say about saying those terms out in the open?” She hissed.

 

“Chill. It’s October. This whole city is like Halloween town.” Ryujin gestured to the school, which was covered in decorations.

 

Heejin rolled her eyes, still thinking it was careless to say things like that out loud. “Who told you? Hyunjin? Stop asking her about that stuff. You know she can’t keep quiet.”

 

“I just want to know what my roommate, one of my closest friends, is up to. You might not think I worry, but I do, ok?” Ryujin followed Heejin as she walked her bike off campus.

 

Heejin let out a sigh and looked at her friend. “I know you worry, but the less you know about what I do, the safer you’ll be. Information is,” Heejin didn’t get to finish her sentence when Ryujin finished it for her.

 

“Dangerous. I know.” Ryujin answered, already knowing how much Heejin liked to repeat herself. “You’re done with classes right? Want to go out for lunch?”

 

“I can’t. I’m busy,” Heejin replied, putting on her helmet and getting onto her bike. “Maybe next time ok? I’ll probably be home tonight.”

 

“It’s always next time with you, Heejin,” Ryujin said in disappointment. “I’m just a call away if you need me. Don’t work too hard ok?”

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make some time, but this month’s just been packed.”

 

“It’s fine. Just don’t forget that we have a soccer game this Saturday. Hyunjin’s doesn’t tell you, but she does get bummed out when you don’t show. She doesn’t have to say anything for everyone to know how she’s feeling.”

 

Heejin winced at the mention of a game, remembering that she forgot to apologize to Hyunjin for missing the last one. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there,” she reassured.

 

“Tell that to Hyunjin. She’s been a lot more distracted at practice lately. It might be more than just missing her best friend though, but she won’t talk to me about it.” 

 

“I’ll talk to her. Thanks for letting me know.” Heejin bit her lip, taking note to make some time to talk to her friend.

 

“Yeah. Well, I’m heading off. Stay safe.” Ryujin didn’t wait for a response as she walked away.

 

Heejin sighed again before pedaling away from the campus towards the apartment she was staking out the night before. She reached her destination shortly and texted Jiwoo her location. She got a response back that Jiwoo was almost done with her lunch with Jungeun and was going to head back to her place.

 

Climbing up the same steps across the apartment, she took out her camera and zoomed into the man’s room. Finding the curtains closed this time, she silently cursed to herself. She quickly went back down the steps and walked across the street to see if she could get inside of the apartment again, but before she could reach the door, someone bumped into her.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Heejin apologized, bowing slightly and then looked up at the person. “It’s you,” she muttered, recognizing the face.

 

“Me?” The man asked confused before his eyes widened. “Oh, it’s you. Are you stalking me or something?” He then reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. “You’re lucky I didn’t call the cops last night, but I’m definitely calling now,” he threatened.

 

“What? I’m not stalking you. This is my route home after school,” she lied, but then frowned when the man rubbed his neck, looking exhausted. “Hey, are you ok?”

 

The man glared in response. “I’m fine.” He then proceeded to dial a number.

 

Heejin put her hands up to show that she was no threat. “Look, I’m not here for trouble. I’m really going now so there’s no need for that.”

 

“Liar.”

 

Heejin heard a woman’s voice from behind as she immediately turned around, pulling a spray bottle out of her pocket. “Stay back!” She recognized the woman as the same one from last night.

 

The woman only smirked, eyeing the man behind Heejin. “Grab her,” she commanded.

 

Heejin’s eyes widen as she sprayed the device in her hand directly at the woman.

 

The tall brunette threw her hands up to block the spray and wiped at her face when the stream stopped. “Did you just spray water at me?” The woman questioned with a confused face.

 

Heejin frowned and looked down at her hand to realize she had pulled out a spray bottle of holy water instead of pepper spray. “Crap,” she muttered. 

 

Feeling a hand grab at the back of her shirt, she pulled away and ran, bumping her shoulder into the woman as the two chased her.

 

Fumbling around in her other pocket, Heejin pulled out her phone. “Hey Siri, send a message to Jiwoo telling her that I’m in trouble!”

 

Her phone beeped, indicating that the AI assistant heard her. “Which Jiwoo would you like to send a message too?” Came the response.

 

“Siri, you dumb, argh,” she quietly cursed to herself and then turned around to see the two still on her tail. “Stay away from me! Help!” She yelled out, but everyone didn’t seem concerned as they minded their own business. “Hel—,” she tried to yell again but felt a hand clamped over . Her voice was muffled as she kept screaming and kicking, but it was no use.

 

She felt herself hit the ground as the man that had a hold of her tossed her into an alley. Getting up to her elbows, she crawled backwards to get away from the two approaching people. She noticed that the man’s eyes glowed bright blue like the color of what shot out of the woman’s hands the other night. 

 

With her phone still in hand, she quickly sent her pinned location, accidentally sending it to her friend’s group chat that was titled “LOSERS” instead of just to Jiwoo. “Stay back! Everyone knows where I am!” She held up her phone to show it to the two.

 

The woman scoffed as the man approached. He kicked the phone out of her hand and stepped on her wrist as she cried out in pain. She tried to get away, but it was no use as tears sprung to her eyes.

 

The brunette bent down, one hand on Heejin’s neck and the other on her forehead. Heejin tried to use her other hand to stop the woman, but found herself getting weak. She couldn’t tell how much time has passed as her eyes began to close, but soon her vision that was just filled with the woman’s face was replaced by the blue sky above. The weight on her was gone as she felt like she was floating while still lying on the ground. Noise could be heard all around her, but everything was muffled.

 

Heejin felt herself being yanked up and carried somewhere as her senses started coming back to her. “Wha—,” she tried to talk, but words failed to escape .

 

“You’re ok. You’re gonna be ok.”

 

The voice sounded so far away, but she could recognize it from anywhere. “Hyun?” She questioned, trying to look up, but all she saw was the ground.

 

She was gently placed down somewhere as she heard more voices.

 

“What did you get yourself into? You’re lucky we were eating at a cafe near here after school,” she heard Hyunjin say.

 

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t have ran off like that.” Heejin could make out the other distinctive monotone voice belonging to her other friend, Hyejoo, who sat up front.

 

“My cat form is way faster than Yerim’s soccer mom van. I don’t have to stop at every traffic light.”

 

“Hey, I happen to like my soccer mom van,” another voice murmured.

 

“Argh, I have a headache. Would you guys shut up?” Heejin found herself able to speak again as she threw an arm up onto her forehead. She tried sitting up, but someone kept her down.

 

“Would you just stay still? We don’t know how hurt you are,” Hyunjin said with a little annoyance in her tone. “Why do you have to be so stupid all the time? Going out on your own like that.”

 

“Sorry,” Heejin replied, not having the energy to explain herself. “Did anyone call Jiwoo unnie yet?”

 

“Of course. We told her to stay put, but I’m not sure if she listened.” Hyunjin Heejin’s hair out of habit. “We’re supposed to pick up Chae after her class,” she mentioned.

 

“My bike.” Heejin sat up at the realization that her ride was left behind.

 

“What did I say about staying still?” Hyunjin scolded and pushed her friend to lie back down on her lap. “I’ll text Chae to ride your bike back to ChuuLip unnie’s place,” she used the nickname their group of friends have for Jiwoo and Jungeun.

 

Heejin laid her head back down, feeling a bit of dizziness wash over her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Chaewon has only ridden a bike like twice in her life.”

 

“Are you worried about your bike or Chae?” Hyunjin teased, knowing how much Heejin loved her Naruto sticker covered bicycle.

 

“Both.”

 

“She’ll be fine. Might just take forever to reach us though.”

 

Yerim pulled up into the complex and parked the car. “Ok, we’re here, but can you close the door softly this time?”

 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. “I swear, your car is older than you are,” she commented, but did what she was told after helping Heejin out. “Can you walk?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Heejin placed both feet on the ground, feeling a bit wobbly, but steadied herself. “Are you guys supposed to have band practice or something?” She asked, finally taking notice of some equipment in the back.

 

Hyunjin placed a hand on Heejin’s waist and threw the other girl’s hand over her shoulder to help her walk anyways. “Yeah, but I don’t mind bothering Jungeun and Jiwoo unnie for a bit.”

 

They made it to the apartment with Heejin digging around for her keys, but before she could even twist the doorknob, the door flew open revealing two worried faces.

 

“Jiwoo, you almost just ripped the door off its hinges!” Jungeun shouted.

 

“My baby!” Jiwoo exclaimed with a worried expression and then pulled Heejin into a hug.

 

“Careful! Your strength!” Jungeun warned, but went to hug the younger girl as well.

 

“Can we go in now or what?” Hyejoo spoke up with her arms crossed, still outside of the door.

 

They moved out of the way for the rest of the group to come in as they took a seat on and around the couch in the living room.

 

Jiwoo squished her face against Heejin. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go out on your own.”

 

“I’m fine, Unnie,” Heejin tried to reassure. “It’s not like we haven’t gone out on our own. This has just been some bad luck.” She then frowned. “Or not. That woman we saw just happened to be with the man again when I bumped into them. She didn’t seem surprised to see me.”

 

“What did she do to you? You look sick,” Jiwoo said in concern, placing the back of her hand on Heejin’s forehead. “Are you coming down with the same symptoms as the other victims?” She then brushed hair away from Heejin’s neck, letting out a loud gasp as she saw what she feared. “You’re definitely infected.” She ran her finger across the two incisors on the younger woman’s neck.

 

“Infected?” Heejin’s eyes widen in alarm. “Let’s not use that word. I can’t become a zombie.” She then ran her sweaty palms on her pants. “The man from last night had glowing blue eyes at one point. I think it was after the woman commanded him to go after me.”

 

“You think she’s controlling him or something?” Jiwoo questioned, pulling out her phone to take notes.

 

“I’m not sure, but it seemed like it?” Heejin scratched the back of her neck. “His facial expressions looked different from when his eyes weren’t glowing. It looked like the thing that woman was shooting out of her hands.”

 

“Y’all see some weird stuff,” Yerim commented from her seat on the ground as she leaned back against Hyejoo.

 

Jiwoo rolled her eyes. “Says the ghostbusters.”

 

“Ok, but we don’t actually see stuff, only Chaewon does. Besides, it’s not like the things we deal with take on human form,” Yerim countered. 

 

“I still think the things we can’t see are scarier.” Jiwoo reached out to hold Heejin’s hand. “You sure you’re ok?”

 

Heejin nodded, not feeling as weak as before.

 

“I think both are scary. Why are all of you guys into this line of work? It makes no sense.” Jungeun had a scowl on her face as she frustratedly fidgeted with her fingers. “Can’t everyone just get normal jobs and be safe and, and, stop causing me to age so fast?” She looked around the silent room.

 

“No,” everyone answered in unison, staring at Jungeun who let out a sigh of defeat.

 

“Why don’t you just work with HeeChuu to keep an eye on them instead,” Hyejoo piped up.

 

“No,” Jiwoo shouted immediately, throwing a glare at the maknae of the group. “Suggest that again and I’ll tell your sister about the times you snuck around with us on our cases.”

 

Hyejoo sat up straight from hearing the threat. “Oh, come on. Sooyoung unnie only let me in on the ghostbusters this year. Don’t let her take that away from me,” she complained, but decided not to say any more.

 

“Then stop giving Jungeun ideas that she keeps bothering me with.”

 

Jungeun raised her hand. “I’m still here, you know.”

 

“Anyways,” Heejin dragged out the word. “Are we going to solve this case or what?”

 

Jiwoo leaned back on the couch. “The client got back to me this morning. We were supposed to meet up with him to talk to his friends who have all fallen victim to the same whatever this is, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to go anymore after what happened.”

 

Heejin was about to argue back, but a knock on the door turned their attention to it.

 

“I got it.” Hyunjin stood up to open the door. She swung it open to reveal a small blonde who was breathing hard.

 

“I can’t believe you guys got me to ride Heejin’s bike all the way over here,” Chaewon complained out of breath, stepping into the apartment. “I almost died so many times.”

 

Hyunjin smiled at the girl and pulled her in for a one armed hug. “Cute,” she whispered, fixing the blonde’s hair that had gotten flat from the helmet.

 

“Call me cute again and see what happens,” Chaewon threatened with a glare and plopped down onto the floor with Hyunjin sitting right behind her.

 

“Heejin…”

 

Everyone turned their attention to the said girl’s name after Yerim had called her in a frightened tone.

 

“Your eyes are glowing blue,” Yerim pointed out and stood up from the ground as everyone else did the same.

 

Jiwoo took hold of her friend’s shoulder. “Snap out of it,” she commanded uselessly when Heejin’s eyes glowed even brighter. “Heejin!”

 

The girl didn’t answer as she sat still, staring at nothing.

 

“Heejin!” Jiwoo shouted again, shaking the younger one’s shoulder. She was about to say her name once more when Heejin threw out her arms, almost punching Jiwoo, but her 3rd degree black belt skills kicked in as she moved away on instinct. “What the hell?”

 

Heejin abruptly stood up and tried to take another swing, but this time, it was aimed behind at Jungeun. Before she could do any damage though, Jiwoo jumped on her, arms wrapping around Heejin to stop her from hurting her best friend.

 

Jungeun stood up from the couch and backed up with Hyejoo pulling her towards the rest of the group. “Can’t you do anything about this?” She asked to Chaewon who was clinging onto Hyunjin.

 

“Me?” Chaewon pointed to herself with both her eyebrows raised. “I don’t know what this is. This isn’t part of my field. I just got here. I don’t even know what’s going on. No one has told me anything!” She rambled in panic. “I’m supposed to be bringing home food for Jinsol unnie, but now I’m here with Heejin trying to kill us!”

 

“Heejin, just stop!” Jiwoo used her strength to hold Heejin, but was scared to apply anymore pressure in case she hurt her. She then turned to her friends. “You guys need to leave!”

 

“Like hell we’re going to leave!” Jungeun shouted back.

 

Just then, Heejin squirmed enough out of Jiwoo’s grip when she got distracted and elbowed her in the face.

 

Jiwoo’s hand automatically flew up to lip as Heejin shoved her away. Making her way to the door, everyone else moved out of the way.

 

“Are we supposed to stop her?! What do we do?!” Yerim asked with a high pitched voice, pulling Hyejoo back behind her.

 

“Nothing. Everyone stay here. I’m following her.” Jiwoo was already off the couch, still holding her slightly bleeding lip.

 

“I’m coming with and no arguments,” Jungeun said firmly, grabbing her keys that were on the hooks by the door.

 

They both ran out of the apartment to chase after Heejin as the rest of their friend group stood there, not sure of what to do.

 

“So, is band practice canceled?”

 

The group turned to Chaewon, giving her a look.

 

“What?” The small blonde questioned with a shrug.

 

~

 

Jiwoo and Jungeun ran as fast as they could, but it didn’t seem like Heejin was tiring out as she led them through the city.

 

“Where do you think she’s going?” Jungeun asked between breaths, but being the gym rat she was allowed her to be at the speed her best friend was running at.

 

Jiwoo shook her head. “No idea. Maybe she’s leading us to the queen.” It was the only explanation she could come up with. She has seen this in other supernatural beings as pawns just followed orders, but she wasn’t so sure what this was.

 

They slowed down after some time, seeing Heejin make her way to a warehouse. The two kept some distance, hiding behind dumpsters and parked cars.

 

“Stay close behind me,” Jiwoo instructed, taking Jungeun’s hand into hers. “If things get crazy, you run, ok?”

 

Jungeun yanked at the redhead’s arm out of annoyance. “I’m not going to leave you,” she hissed. “You have super strength, not super healing.”

 

“You tell me that every time.”

 

“Because you never listen.”

 

“Right now is not the time to be arguing.” Jiwoo pulled Jungeun ahead to not lose sight of Heejin. “Just—,” she stopped in her sentence with a sigh before turning to the brunette. “Just don’t try to get in between if something happens like last time, alright? You may be studying to be a police officer, but this supernatural stuff isn’t the same.”

 

Jungeun clenched her jaw, hating that Jiwoo always tried to protect her even though she was the older of the two. “Ok.” She only agreed, knowing that she’d probably just get in the way and distract her friend if they ran into trouble.

 

From a young age, the redhead had made it her job to keep Jungeun out of harm’s way after finding themselves facing a bridge troll when they decided to take a shortcut home back when they were in middle school. It was the first time Jiwoo showed her strength, having had hid it from everyone in fear that she’d be rejected by her peers. 

 

Jungeun wasn’t like the others though. While others kept their distance after finding out, Jungeun vowed to protect Jiwoo too, although she didn’t have any supernatural abilities of her own.

 

“Come on.” Jiwoo tugged at her friend’s hand as they made their way to the back entrance of the warehouse.

 

They peaked in through a broken window to see around ten or so people just standing around with stoic faces, staring off at nothing in particular. As if that didn’t look concerning, there was a blue swirl of light in front of each person, seemingly coming out of their chests.

 

“That doesn’t look good,” Jungeun muttered, using her free hand to grip the back of Jiwoo’s shirt as if she’s scared that the other woman was just going to barge in.

 

“I’m going to barge in,” Jiwoo declared, taking a step towards the door.

 

The brunette yanked her back. “Are you crazy?” she hissed. “Is this what the both of you do on all of your cases?” She slapped Jiwoo’s arm. “You just run in with no plan?” Slapping her again, she was angry that her friend was so careless.

 

“No, we plan things.” Lie number one. “We’re always careful.” Lie number two. It was just last night that her and Heejin ran into some man’s apartment that led them to where they were now. “Wait.” Jiwoo pulled Jungeun down so that they were hunched over.

 

They watched as the woman from the apartment appeared, but instead of her usual image, she looked like she was dressed up for halloween; hair long and dark with all black clothes like Morticia from the Addams Family. The woman made her way over to the group, staring at each person as she walked by. Stopping at Heejin, she placed a hand under the girl’s chin to lift up her head.

 

“Such a shame that you got in the way,” the woman spoke at a normal volume, but with the warehouse being empty, it made it so she sounded louder than she actually was. She then clicked her teeth and looked at the others. “Men on the other hand, disposing of them is easy on my heart.”

 

“Do villains always talk this much to themselves?” Jungeun asked, trying to get a better look of what was happening.

 

“Only the ones that are gonna get their asses handed to them,” Jiwoo snarled and pulled Jungeun along again before using her strength to kick down the door in a dramatic entrance when she could have just opened the unlocked door. “Get your filthy hands off of my baby!” She yelled out, letting go of Jungeun’s hand to run for the woman who had a surprised look on her face.

 

The look quickly turned to anger as she opened to twice the size of a normal human. She faced Heejin, tugging the girl by the shoulder, letting the blue swirl in front of her enter her system. Heejin gasped out loud, feeling energy drain from her before she dropped to her knees.

 

Jiwoo grew angrier as she approached the woman, but stopped only a few feet away before she was thrown back by a blast that shot out of the enemy’s hands. The redhead’s body flew into the air to crash down on wooden crates. Before Jungeun could check up on her, Jiwoo was already up again with a groan.

 

Not making the same mistake, Jiwoo charged at her, but ducked out of the way this time as another attack was sent her way. The blast hit the wall besides Jungeun, causing the woman to yelp and move to another side while trying to make her way to Heejin.

 

“Get her!” The woman yelled out as two of the men raised their heads and turned around to face Jiwoo.

 

The redhead stepped to the side when a punch came her way and grabbed his arm, using the man’s own momentum to throw him to the ground. She easily avoided the second man’s attempt to attack her as well, being used to the fighting environment after growing up training in different arts of combat sports.

 

When Jiwoo turned her attention to the woman again, she looked almost completely different with claws as nails and face that didn’t look human. The woman approached her this time, throwing punches and kicks as Jiwoo tried to dodge them. One swipe came too close and Jiwoo didn’t have time to move, so she did the next best thing and threw up her arms to block the attack from hitting her face. The claws cut into both of her arms so fast that Jiwoo didn’t even feel the pain right away. There was no blood at first, but then it started dripping down as the warm liquid stained her clothes.

 

“Jiwoo!” Jungeun yelled and stood up from her crouching position next to Heejin. She picked up a piece of broken wood from one of the crates and without thinking, ran at the enemy who was trying to attack her friend again. She swung the weapon at the back of the woman’s head but was stopped when her wrist was grabbed and twisted. “Ah!” She cried out in pain as her knees felt like they were going to buckle.

 

Smirking, the woman yanked Jungeun close before throwing her crashing against the other standing men. The men were knocked forward, but kept their stance with blank faces as Jungeun groaned on the ground next to them, clutching her wrist.

 

Forgetting the pain that radiated down her arms, Jiwoo was blinded by rage as she threw herself onto the woman, causing her to topple over. “You,” she started, raining down punches on the enemy who was trying to block them, but some attacks connected with her face. “You ugly demon!” Before she could get another hit in, she was almost bucked off, but stayed in position as both hands landed on the ground to steady herself from being thrown off the woman.

 

Jiwoo screamed out when tears involuntarily sprung to her eyes, feeling her hair being yanked. “You’re a hair puller in fights?!” She growled out in disbelief.

 

“There are no rules in fights,” the woman scoffed and finally was able to throw Jiwoo off of her.

 

Jiwoo quickly scrambled up to her feet. “,” she insulted.

 

The woman got up as well and started to gather the blue swirl of energy into her hands. She was ready to throw it out when she fell to knees with a grunt and collapsed to the ground.

 

“Did I kill her?” Jungeun asked frantically behind the fallen enemy with the same wooden makeshift weapon held up in hand.

 

Jiwoo relaxed her shoulders for a second. “No.” She jogged to her friend and held her good wrist that was still up in the air to calm her down. “You did great.” Looking over Jungeun, who was breathing heavily, she inspected her for injuries. “Are you ok?”

 

Jungeun nodded, body still filled with adrenaline. “But you’re not.” She motioned to the open gashes on Jiwoo’s arms with a frown.

 

The redhead brushed her off. “I’m fine. Let’s make sure Heejin is too.”

 

The men in the vicinity seemed to snap out of the trance and started looking around in confusion and talked amongst themselves. 

 

Kneeling down besides Heejin, Jiwoo lightly shook her shoulder. At first, the unconscious woman didn’t move, but then suddenly shot up in a sitting position.

 

“Stanley!” Heejin yelled with eyes wide open.

 

Jiwoo let out a huff of air and just blinked. “You almost got eaten alive by an energy demon and the first thing you’re worried about is your Naruto bicycle?”

 

“Unnies?” Heejin asked in confusion seeing her two friends, finally being aware of her surroundings. She then groaned, feeling a headache coming on and leaned back so that she was against Jungeun. “Demon?” She then questioned with an arm raised over her forehead.

 

Jiwoo nodded behind her for Heejin to see the unmoving creature.

 

The younger woman shuddered at how close she was to being the demon’s dinner as she was helped up to her feet. Grabbing the fallen weapon Jungeun had used, Heejin tossed it up in the air so that the sharp end was facing towards the ground. She walked over and without hesitation, brought the wooden stake down, piercing the demon’s heart.

 

They watched dark blue blood spill from the creature before it went up in flames and seemingly sank down to the pits of hell.

 

The three turned around to face the group of men who were silently watching them in shock.

 

“Surprise!” Jiwoo shouted with her arms up. “You were all part of a Halloween special! Expect to see yourself on Netflix some time in the future!” She exclaimed with excitement before grabbing both of her friends hands. “Ok, bye now.”

 

They scurried out of the warehouse as fast as they could, not waiting for the people in there to start asking them questions.

 

When they reached outside, Jiwoo let out a groan she was trying to suppress.

 

Jungeun stopped in concern. “I called Yerim already. They’re coming to pick us up. Haseul unnie is free, but she’s not going to be excited to see us.”

 

“You’re bleeding a lot, Unnie.” Heejin motioned at the blood that was still dripping from Jiwoo’s arms.

 

The redhead lifted her arms up to examine. “They’re just superficial wounds. They’re not that deep,” she tried to assure them, having had worse injuries.

 

Jungeun sighed, but didn’t comment on it. “I don’t think Haseul unnie appreciates us being her guinea pigs for her practice to becoming a doctor.”

 

~

 

They were picked up shortly and patched up by a pissed off Haseul who lectured them the whole time she was tending to their wounds.

 

“Ouch,” Jiwoo hissed at alcohol being used to clean up her cuts.

 

“That’s what you get for trying to play superhero when you’re just a kid,” Haseul scolded as she quickly finished up wrapping Jiwoo’s arms. “And don’t think that I’m done yelling at you, Yeojin,” she said, turning her attention to her younger sister who was on the couch next to them.

 

“Why am I being pulled into this mess? I’m not even in their little detective investigation club!” The small girl tried to defend herself.

 

“Your ghostbusters club with Chaewon and the triplets is just as bad!” Haseul countered. “You guys are going to give me a heart attack before I’m even 30,” she grumbled. “My little babies being hurt,” she then mumbled to herself.

 

“Why aren’t we in a club?” Another woman who was off to the side butted in.

 

Haseul shot her a glare. “Really, Sooyoung? This is a serious conversation.”

 

The said woman with dark long hair threw up her hands in defense. “I was just saying,” she muttered. “Hyejoo won’t let me tag along in their ghost hunting trips.” Mentioning her sister, she looked over to see yet another glare, but this time, coming from the younger girl.

 

“That’s because all you do is ask stupid questions and annoy the hell out of me,” Hyejoo said with no emotion behind her voice.

 

“I’m really hurt, Hyejoo. Really.” Sooyoung placed a hand over her heart in a dramatic fashion. “But in all seriousness, this whole HeeChuu Investigations thing,” she pointed at the two, “needs to slow down. How many times have you guys been injured in the past few cases?”

 

“There’s just been a surplus of jobs during this season,” Jiwoo mumbled as Haseul put her final touches on her wounds.

 

“Yeah, and you two have been working yourselves to death,” Sooyoung lectured the women who had their heads down. She then let out a sigh. “We’re just worried.”

 

“We’ll be more careful, take lower profile cases,” Heejin tried to reassure.

 

“Lower profile cases,” Sooyoung mocked back.

 

“Lower profile cases,” Jungeun repeated in the same manner. “I’m going home.” She let out a sigh of defeat and stood up to leave, being careful not to touch her bandaged wrist.

 

Jiwoo immediately shot you from her seat. “What are you going to do? Just walk?” She questioned at how Jungeun was acting, considering how their place was a bit far from Haseul’s.

 

Jungeun turned around to face Jiwoo. “Yes. I’m going to walk,” she said with attitude and opened the front door before slamming it behind her.

 

Slumping her shoulders, Jiwoo let out a sigh of her own and glanced back at her friends. “Thanks for patching us up again, Unnie.”

 

Haseul waved her off. “Go get her,” she nodded her head towards the door.

 

Jiwoo nodded along, thanking everyone else for always being by her side and then left the apartment.

 

Running down the stairs, she tried catching up to her friend as she carelessly shoved the gated entrance open, almost breaking it in the process. Looking around, she was afraid that Jungeun was taking a different route, trying to avoid her when she couldn’t immediately spot the woman.

 

“Come on,” Jiwoo said to herself and started to lightly jog until the person she was looking for came into view. She slowed down, not knowing how to approach her friend, but decided that there was no right way. “Jungeun,” she called out lightly.

 

The said woman didn’t turn around, keeping her fast walking pace.

 

Jiwoo exhaled and started to walk faster again. “Jungeun, please,” she called again when she got close enough and reached out to place a hand on the brunette’s shoulder only for Jungeun to pull away with a hiss of pain. Jiwoo immediately retracted her hand, not being aware that Jungeun had also hurt in another place. “I’m sor— sorry,” she stuttered.

 

Jungeun shook her head and kept walking while using her uninjured hand to massage her shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry you got hurt because of me,” Jiwoo apologized as they walked side by side now.

 

The brunette stopped in her tracks. “You think that’s why I’m angry at you?” She stared Jiwoo in the eyes who had on an apologetic look. “What if I wasn’t there? What would you have done, huh?” Clenching her fist, she didn’t know how to contain her emotions. “You could have died. Do you not understand that?” She raised her voice.

 

Jiwoo bowed her head. “I know.”

 

“Do you?” Jungeun felt tears start to blind her vision as she sniffed and used the back of her sleeves to quickly wipe at her face. “We have this conversation every single time,” her voice cracked at the end. “I love you. Do you not know how much I in love you and I don’t know what I’d do if,” she couldn’t finish her sentence, letting out a frustrated sigh and continued walking.

 

The redhead looked up and followed after. “I love you too,” she said back quietly. “And I’m really really sorry.” Taking the chance, she slowly slipped her hand into Jungeun’s uninjured left one.

 

Jungeun gave her hand a squeeze and ran her thumb over the back of Jiwoo’s hand even though she was still angry. “But that’s not going to change anything is it?” She lightly shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I just want to go home.”

 

“I can sleep on the couch,” Jiwoo coughed out nervously, not knowing if Jungeun wanted to even be in the same place as her.

 

Jungeun glared. “Suggest that again and I’m gonna kick you off of our crappy twin sized bed.”

 

“You’re gonna get wrinkles if you keep making faces like that,” Jiwoo said under her breath, earning her another glare that shut her up.

 

They went home for the air to feel thick. There wasn’t much talking as they got ready for bed with Jungeun lying down first, facing away from Jiwoo, who crawled under the covers with a light sigh. She laid there, staring at the back of her best friend’s head, not sure of how she was going to make it up to her. Turning to lie on her back, Jiwoo closed her eyes to only see images of times Jungeun has been angry with her. It wasn’t uncommon, but this one felt different. Jungeun had never sounded so defeated and Jiwoo couldn’t be sorrier. 

 

Jiwoo loved her job, but she also loved Jungeun, and she wasn’t sure if they’d ever come to a compromise on the situation because it was unpredictable, just like everything else in life.

 

Glancing over at the woman next to her again, she slowly got out of the bed once her best friend fell asleep, not being able to sleep herself. She went to the living room, plopping her tired body down on the couch and turned the tv on low as she eventually dozed off, leaving Jungeun alone.