“So out of curiosity, how are people in your community born if you’re all women?” Whirl.

“Yoohyeon, please be quiet.” Click.

“It’s a legit question.” Snap.

“We’re necromancers. We have our ways.” Flash.

“Please don’t tell me you raise a dead man to get-”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

Jiu stands up from her position to stretch her limbs. She sees Yoohyeon taking one last picture of the pillar before shutting off the camera. They took a ferry to a remote island off the coast of Busan to get to the place marked on Dami’s map. Sure enough, the pillar sticks out like a sore thumb among the rocky outcrop. The rocks surrounding it were disturbed by the protrusion of the pillar, indicating that it hasn’t been long since it surfaced.

“Come on. I don’t think we’ll find anything else here.” Yoohyeon holds out her free hand for Jiu to take.

As they walk back to the boat, Jiu bites her lip in worry. Yoohyeon notices the action and stops in place. The younger girl leans down to capture Jiu’s lips with her own, effectively stopping the other girl from tearing her lip with her teeth.

Leaning back to get a good look at the blush coloring Jiu’s face, Yoohyeon smiles. “Your eyes are really pretty.” Jiu’s blush intensifies and Yoohyeon can’t help but think that Jiu is even prettier with her deep purple eyes. She never thought much of demon dark magic or their color so she can only see purple as something aesthetically pleasing.

“T-thank you.” Jiu buries her face against Yoohyeon’s neck, hugging the girl closer to her. “Yooh?”

“Hm?”

“Could we...could we take this slowly?” Yoohyeon understood what Jiu was referring to. It wasn’t hard to agree to that at all. At this point, Yoohyeon thinks that she would do just about everything that Jiu asks her to.

“Of course. Let’s head back. Siyeon sent me a message saying that the harbor has a pretty good seaside market going on right now.”

Jiu snorts from her position, too comfortable to move. “It’s always about food with you.”

“Hey! You were the one always bringing sweets back into the dorm...Not my fault you always picked delicious things...”

“...Those were for me.”

“W-well!”

“Dork.”

--

The murder was as grizzly as the rest of them. Dami has investigated several homicide cases since her induction into the academy but right now, she can’t stomach much more. Realizing that the detective isn’t feeling well, she interrupts the officer in charge of the scene.

“Our apologies but I think we have enough information for now. We will contact you if anything further is needed.” Normally, Handong is a stickler for good manners but her companion isn’t looking too good so she quickly ushers them out of the scene. She leads them to a quiet area in the park across the street and forces Dami to sit down on a bench.

“I will get some water. Do not leave.” Handong runs into the nearest convenience store to buy a bottle of water. She returns and hands the opened bottle to the detective. The chinese girl runs her hand over Dami’s back in a soothing motion. The younger girl looks a little less nauseous with some fresh air and some water in her system.

“Are you feeling better?” Handong says quietly. She hears a small confirmation but the younger girl’s eyes are closing.

“Ugh something in there really made my stomach turn.” Dami says at last. It was definitely disrespectful to the victim that died but at least that meant that Dami still had her grade A personality intact. That was probably a good sign.

Feeling sorry for her, Handong gently shifts her so that her head is resting on her lap.

“Wh-what the hell a-are you d-doing?!” Dami stutters. Handong looks down at her to give her a reassuring smile.

“You have been working really hard these past few days and your body is not used to the physical assertion. Rest for a short while.” The rank 4 student placed her fingers on the side of Dami’s temples and massaged gently. The detective was frozen in place, just staring at Handong’s smile. Though she doesn’t want to admit it, the blonde’s gentle ministrations are making her feel more relaxed.

“Did you smell something strange in there too?” Dami's reaction when she doesn’t know what to do with herself is to talk about work.

“Yes...but I cannot identify what it was. Though I do not believe it came from the deceased.”

“Hmm...” Dami couldn't put her finger on it. It was something she smelled before and it definitely repulsed her. Her body’s reaction was more than enough for her to tell. It was kind of like when a case she is investigating happens to bring her to Lee Gahyeon’s or Kim Yoohyeon’s line of sight. Those two always gave her a headache from their stupidity but Kim Yoohyeon in particular was a troublemaker. That rank 4 was powerful but she was too much like a big dog annoying the hell out of her-

Dami’s eyes open at a sudden realization. “It smelled like a wet dog in there. Or wet fur, to be more general.” Handong comtemplates the statement. She nods her head in agreement.

“Well this city is around the coast so the smell of water everywhere is plausible. But do Koreans have a lot of pets?”

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