"Omo! Son! Yerim was right, you finally came home!"

Youngho grinned before hugging his mom.

"I was right, eomma. I really do need to be transferred to be able to summon him home," Yerim snickered as she entered the house.

"Where's appa?" Youngho asked as he went in.

"Cooking dinner. It's Yerim's first day of work and you're also visiting so he's cooking both of your favorite food," the middle-aged woman smiled.

Youngho entered the dining room to see Yerim already in the kitchen having a taste on whatever her father is cooking.

"Oh, son! I made galbitang! You guys love it so much, right?" The man smiled.

Youngho grinned before hugging his step-father. "Wow, I missed home cooked food. Shall I kidnap Yerim to stay with me so she could cook for me then?" He asked jokingly, earning a hit on his back using a spatula by his mother.

"You naughty kid! Go wash your hands and help me set the table!"

"Okay, okay!" Youngho laughed and lifted his arms in surrender.

The dinner was light and fun. Since the medicine murder case started, he'd been staying in his apartment more rather than at home. He definitely misses his family.

"So, Yerim, how was work?"

"It was fun! I finally dealt with dead bodies! I was in the same team as oppa too!" She beamed.

"Really? Take good care of her then, son," Mr. Kim smiled, patting Youngho’s shoulder.

"Oh, I will, appa."

"I met oppa's friends too! They're cool!" Yerim grinned.

"Are there any girls? Your oppa is single for too long," her mother snickered.

"Ah, too bad they are all guys," Yerim laughed.

"Well, that explains why he's always single. Anyways, are they good people son? If yes, can you set up one of them with your sister? She's already 30!"

"EOMMA!" Both siblings groaned.

"With your brother, I'm a bit more lenient since men could still get married even at forty. But for women, thirty is already the bottom line!" Her mother snickered.

"It would be awkward for me if one of them dated her," Youngho groaned."

"Are any of them within Yerim's age range though?" Mr. Kim spoke up.

"Ah, appa!" Yerim whined childishly.

"I was just asking," the man shrugged.

"Well, Jaehyun is two years older, and Doyoung is three years older. But still I'm not setting them up together!" Youngho said.

"The Jaehyun one seemed interesting. Not that many s, huh?" his mother teased.

"Oh, hell no! Ugh, I regretted telling you!"

__

"Morning, Detective Seo, is this your girlfriend?" Youngho shook his head at the fellow police officers greeting him. He forgot he hasn't introduced his sister around.

"No, this is Dr. Kim Yerim, our new forensic team. She's my half-sister," he explained to prevent further confusion on why they're siblings with different surnames.

"Oh! Dr. Park's replacement? Good thing then, I pitied Dr. Do having to work alone. Hope you got along with everyone in this precinct, Dr. Kim!" The officer smiled before going his way.

Yerim bowed at him before following her brother to his desk.

"Where's the other?" Yerim asked as she set the coffees down on her brother's table.

"Jay lived not too far from our house. Doyoung lived near here. They're mostly on time. We're just a little early. Take a seat," Youngho pointed to Jaehyun's vacant chair next to his desk.

Yerim sat down and examined Jaehyun's messy desk. Looking at it, her brother's desk and Doyoung's desk are also messy.

"Are your guys desk usually this messy?" She asked.

"Not really. During difficult cases, yes. But usually, no," Youngho grinned as he read a few documents before putting it away in different colored plastic shelves on his desk.

"Need help?" Yerim asked.

"Love that," Youngho beamed and Yerim rolled her eyes before helping his brother sort out things.

After deeming her brother capable enough to tidy his own desk, she turned to Jaehyun's desk. She doesn't feel like it's appropriate to pry his things so she sorted to gathering his documents into one neat pile, creating a free space in the middle of his desk. She also made sure the plastic shelves on his desk is aligned well.

She then made way to Doyoung's desk, clicking her tongue when she saw the messiest desk between the three. She saw the candy wrappers everywhere so she picked it up before throwing it in a nearby bin. She did the same thing as Jaehyun's desk to Doyoung's. Making sure there's a free space to work at, and then she returned to Jaehyun's chair. As if on cue, Jaehyun came into the office, hiding his grin when he saw Yerim swiveling around on his chair.

"Oh, Jay! We have some coffee!" Youngho hollered.

Yerim straightened her back and stood up embarrassedly.

"Detective Jung! Sorry for taking your seat," she said sheepishly.

Jaehyun brushed her off casually. "Cool with me. Thanks for the coffee," he smiled before taking one. He sat down on his desk casually as Yerim sat back down on his chair.

"Did the cleaning lady came and clean my desk?" He scratched his head when he realized he actually had a space to sit on when his desk was a total mess the day before.

"Ah, I did a little tidying up on your desk and Detective Kim's desk. And my brother's too," Yerim explained casually.

"Oh, gee. Thanks a lot," Jaehyun smiled as he sipped his coffee silently.

A moment later, Doyoung came in with an officer laughing together. Yerim recognized him as Officer Lee Jeno who helped them with the warrant.

"Morning guys! I met Officer Lee Jeno on the parking lot. The warrant's here!" Doyoung gleefully waved a piece of paper.

"Take your caffeine intake to cut down your sugar rush. You're always too chipper early in the morning," Youngho chuckled as he a cup to the other man.

Doyoung grinned and shoved the warrant to his team leader. Youngho accepted it and read the document quickly.

"Oh, great. I love free coffee. So, whose car are we taking on our journey today?" He asked before sipping his iced americano happily.

"Mine's okay. I'll drive, since we're carrying my sister around," Youngho shrugged.

"Wow, I feel like an additional baggage here," Yerim muttered dryly.

"You are, girl. But a good, useful one," Doyoung grinned.

"Sorry gentlemen, but I just cleaned all of your desks, and If you don't want me to turn all godzilla and flip your tables around then treat me right, please," Yerim said jokingly.

"You cleaned my desk? Oh, god. You did! Johnny! Your sister's an angel! I love her! Let's keep her around!"

"Okay, now I feel like a housekeeper," Yerim lifted her arms in defeat.

"Cut the girl some slack, guys. Let's just go, we have places to visit," Jaehyun stood up.

"Now that's what I like. Thank you, Detective Jung," Yerim threw him a smile which he replied with a two- salute.

"Alright, let's go!"

"You the two maknaes, sit in the back, okay?" Doyoung grinned as he took the passenger seat.

"Maknaes?"

"I'm the youngest between them three," Jaehyun explained to Yerim calmly as he opened the back door. "After you," he smiled, letting Yerim enter Youngho's SUV first.

"So, where are we going first?" Yerim asked.

"We're thinking of visiting the accident location first. See if we can get something. Then, we'll visit the supposedly victim of the accident. Lastly, we search up our third victim's apartment," Youngho explained.

Yerim nodded and sat silently as the car went on. Meanwhile Jaehyun took his time observing Yerim from the window, pretending he was looking outside. If he should be honest, he found her very attractive. The blonde-haired girl was nothing like he ever seen before. She's definitely a charmer. But he also knew his boundaries. She's Johnny's little sister and he also knew how much Johnny treasured her. She's going to be off-limits. He calmly shook the thoughts out of his head before facing the front again. He should not be swayed in the middle of a very important case. A

fter fifteen minutes of driving, Youngho stopped his car nearing the end of the road. Everyone collectively agreed that it's a quite secluded place, and having an accident there at eleven at night was probably a bad choice.

"So, this is the place?" Doyoung asked as he stared at the bushy and grassy end of the road and the bent street lamp nearby.

Yerim walked back a little so she could get a clear view of the area, planting the image firmly on her brain.

"The nearest occupied place is half a mile from here. It's kind of weird how he could end up dying here," Jaehyun mused as he took his place next to Yerim, silently observing the vast area.

"What was the supposed cause of accident?" Yerim asked.

"DUI. The 'victim', the alive one, not our case victim, was brought to the nearest hospital to get treated. They took an alcohol breath test. His alcohol level was 0,09%."

"That's incredibly high. But I'm 100% sure our case victim was the driver of the car, not… whoever this guy. His wounds suggested he was the driver. The seatbelt marking too, it shows that he was taking the left seat, meaning he was either driving or sitting at the back. But he had airbag wounds, and blunt trauma on his forehead probably after bumping his head to the steering wheel," Yerim argues.

"Possibly, whoever the culprit was, moved this living victim to the driver seat, making it seems like he was driving under influence, causing a solo accident," Youngho nodded.

Yerim took a few steps and crouched on the ground, looking for drying blood splatters. Blood markings will be found on the ground outside the vehicle if the victim was brought out of the car.

"What was the car he was driving?" Yerim asked again.

"Hyundai Kona," Jaehyun said as he read his note.

"Your car is Hyundai too, right, oppa?" Yerim asked.

"Mine's Santa Fe, which is a bit bigger, but not much difference. Should I situate it resembling the crime scene?" Youngho offered.

Yerim nodded and they dispersed, making way for Youngho to move his car. He drove it until the sensor beeped obnoxiously since it nearly hit the bent lamp post. He was trying his best to mimic the car position without breaking his car.

Yerim approached the back seat and take a few steps, imagining how the blood pattern will look. She crouched down and stared at the ground intently. Jaehyun did the same but he approached the driver seat and the front of the car instead of the back.

"There's faint blood traces here. Someone's trying to remove it. Probably bleach? How’s the result of the benzidine test?" Doyoung who was standing behind the lamp post piped up.

"Positive. I’ve read the reports. Also looking at the dried blood splatters, it's possible that someone was moved to the driver's seat. Possibly from the front passenger seat to the driver's seat," Jaehyun concluded as he looked at his phone for the crime scene pictures.

"The faint blood trace ended here. Probably there's another car or vehicle waiting, and our culprit moved the victim from the driver's seat to his car, and then moved the living victim to the driver's seat," Yerim said.

"The living victim was found around thirty minutes after the accident. A homeless man found him and reported to the neighborhood leader who then called 119," Youngho stated.

"Thirty minutes spared the culprit enough time to bail the scene even after cleaning after his mess with bleach. There's no CCTV here I suppose?" Jaehyun said.

"There's two now. We installed them just a few days after the accident. But well…" Yerim sighed.

They found out some things but truly, they're going nowhere.

"Shall we interview the living victim then? He's already at home recuperating. Let me just back up my car first," Youngho suggested.

They drive for another ten minutes, to a neighborhood actually close by.

"Excuse me, is this Tae Hyunsook's residence?" Youngho said politely to a woman who responded to them knocking on their door.

"Yes, who are you?" "I'm Detective Seo Youngho from Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station, and these are my team. We'd like to have a little talk with Mr. Tae," Youngho answered as he flashed the woman his badge.

"I thought the case was already settled? My husband had already got his license pulled out, and we paid the fine," the woman timidly said.

"Oh, this has nothing to do with your husband punishment from the court, ma'am. There's murder happening, and it involved your husband. We believe this accident might be caused by that and your husband unintendedly became a victim also," Jaehyun stepped up and explained politely.

The woman finally nodded before stepping aside to open the door wider so her guests can come inside. "Alright, come in."

"I'll stay outside and accompany the lady, you guys go in," Yerim smiled softly to the three detectives before sitting down on the living room couch with the woman.

She quietly took in the surroundings. It was neat and clean.

"Hi, ma'am. I'm Dr. Kim Yerim, a forensic specialist," Yerim offered the woman a handshake.

"I'm Kim Jiyul, Mr. Tae's wife. I'm sorry if I came out rude, but you're not a detective?" Yerim smiled and shook her head,

"No, but I'm a forensic doctor working for the team. We're dealing a murder of potential serial killer here, and we think your husband's accident was used as a cover up. We found the body of a man, and his injuries matched up specific wounds that would happen if you got into a car accident as a driver. Was your husband alone during the accident?"

The woman sighed, "My husband never drinks. He has a very low alcohol tolerance. That day, he joined a company dinner he couldn't refuse and he got drunk. He didn't remember anything, but one of his hoobae at work vowed that he ordered a replacement driver for my husband. It's a pity we don't have CCTV here and no black box camera in the car to testify. My husband was so drunk he couldn't remember anything."

"But he was found alone after the accident happened, right? It was possible that there were two people inside the car. We're still looking up and see if anything adds up. We'd like to clear your husband's name too, to prove that he indeed has a replacement driver and he was just yet another victim," Yerim took the woman's hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you so much, doctor. I hope you can find the culprit, and I hope there's going to be no more body."

__

"The man said he really didn't remember anything, but he mentioned that in court his junior at work ordered him a replacement driver," Youngho said as the four of them entered his car.

"His wife said the same thing. I think she's telling the truth," Yerim said.

"Jay?"

"His body language showed that he was genuinely confused about his case. He was definitely a victim too. We need to cross check to this junior and see if he recognized our case victim. Maybe he was a replacement driver?"

"Part-timer?" Yerim raised her brows.

"Ah yes, he was a fresh graduate working in a publishing company. He might be working part time as a replacement driver," Doyoung nodded.

"Where does Mr. Tae works at?"

"In a printing and publication office, not far from here. Shall we go there first?" Youngho offered as he started the ignition.

"Sure thing."

The drive there took short time, and they found the junior easily too since he was actually standing on the front office desk receiving a package.

"Morning, Mr. Pyo. You must be Pyo Jihun, the junior of Mr. Tae Hyunsook, right?"

"Ah, yes, that's me. How can I help all of you?"

"I'm Detective Seo Youngho from Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station and these guys belonged to my team. We're investigating a murder, and it might be related to the accident that happened to your senior," Youngho showed him his badge and the male nodded.

"A murder related to Tae gwanjang-nim? I… don't understand."

"We believed you testified that you called a replacement driver for Mr. Tae." "Yes, I definitely did. I didn't send him to his car myself but I remembered paying the driver in advance. I suspected the driver to run away with the money and gwanjang-nim ended up driving himself that's why the accident happened," the man confessed.

Jaehyun fished out a picture of their murder victim that they found on the system database.

"Son Yiho. Do you recognize this guy as the driver?"

The man furrowed his brows, "I think this is him? But he has like… shorter hair and his hair was brown."

Jaehyun nodded. The picture they got from his ID wasn’t a recent picture of the man. It’s understandable that the guy didn’t recognized him.

Jaehyun nudged Youngho to show the man Son Yiho’s newer picture—the one they took at the morgue after he died. Youngho didn't want to show Mr. Pyo such a menacing picture but he didn't have any choice but to show the man the picture of the barely decaying corpse.

"Oh my god! Yes! That's him! What happened to him?!" The man shrieked, clearly spooked out by the picture.

"We suspected that the driver did drove for your chief but he died in the middle of his driving, that's why the car crashed," Yerim spoke up.

"He looked fine when he came? Well, maybe he looked a little tired but normal."

"We found a deadly amount of sedatives in his system. He was drugged before driving your senior home. The drug must've taken effect when he was driving."

The man gaped, "Oh god. That's awful… but yes, I do remember the driver. That’s Son Yiho!"

"Okay, thank you so much for your testimony, Mr. Pyo. This way we could clear out your chief's name and prove that he's a victim too," Doyoung assured the man.

"Thank you, detective. I hope the case will be solved soon, and my senior could come back to work and has his rights reclaimed," the man bowed.

"Alright. We'll get going then, Mr. Pyo," Youngho and the rest of the team bowed before returning to the car.