Taeyeon ran downhill to the body; falling off or having bruises being the least of her worries. Her eyes were fixed on the corpse of a middle-aged man, both hands cut off from the wrists but arms still bound together by a rope and a cloth over the mouth.

The moon was the only light that gave the profiler a clearer view of the body. Stab wounds, ropes, cloth, and a severed body part—most of them done after the victim had taken his last breath. The previous victim had his tongue cut off but the authorities were still looking for it—that’s right, the police!

Taeyeon fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket in this drunken state, almost forgetting that she worked in law enforcement.

She waited by the corpse. The sight, nauseating to many, yet she had no problem thoroughly scanning it to reveal more details about the killer. However, she’d drank what she assumed are two bottles of soju just minutes before and forgetting the built-in flashlight in her smartphone; she was in no shape to unearth more clues while this was the only time she, alone, could closely look at the decedent while the police were on their way. Other than the same MO, the missing hands were different from the previous victim with the tongue cut off. Almost like the killer was telling a story.

She was too deep in her thoughts to notice that the police had arrived and Boeun wrapped her padded jacket around Taeyeon which brings her back to reality—sobering and cruel.

“My poor dongsaeng,” Boeun muttered under her breath as her eyes glimmered with worry to the younger woman.

If anything, Taeyeon was more in disbelief that she was drunk, she couldn’t do her job right this way.

“I’m fine, unnie,” she managed to chuckle a little. “But we’re dealing with the same one from a week ago.”

A police officer walked up to the two women. “Ma’am, are you the first responder?” he asked to Taeyeon. She nodded. “We’ll have you for questioning with the inspector later.”

“I believe she’s still in shock for that,”—a lie—"ask her tomorrow,” Boeun swatted her hand and hugged Taeyeon while the officer returned to helping secure the crime scene.

“I want to help,” Taeyeon spoke as she was being squeezed by her unnie.

“We can manage,” she replied.

“The shadow or whatever may still be around here. The body was still warm when I got to it.”

Boeun released her tight embrace. “That’s why we come in groups. Don’t worry about us. I’ll have one of the officers drive you home.”

“I’ll come back first thing in the morning,” she grumbled and Boeun laughed.

“Sure, sure. We’re keeping our eyes peeled, okay? Go home, Taeyeon-ah,” she patted her back, lightly pushing her away from the scene.

Taeyeon frowned but she got into the passenger’s seat of the police car in no time and waiting for her designated driver.

As she got home, the building was peaceful as opposed to the sounds of Minjun intentionally annoying Sanghee and she would argue back in minimal yet frustrated retorts. Nothing was on the front steps, other than the dead leaves that was brought here by the wind. All the lights were off and not a peep was heard from outside. Taeyeon pushed open the gate with a light groan from the rusty metal scraping under the asphalt. With her small body, she squeezed through the small gap to prevent anyone from waking up and she slowly closed the gate after entering.

Taeyeon got to her room and she instantly dozed off as soon as her face hit the pillow.

--

Forgetting to set her alarm last night, Taeyeon was thankful when Tiffany woke her up with 14 missed calls and just the right time before work.

“You promised to call me last night and you didn’t!”

“Good morning?” she sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes as Tiffany scold her through the phone.

“What happened? I heard on the news that another body was found,” Tiffany’s accusatory tone turned into apprehension.

“Yeah, I found it. But I was tipsy and got sent home.”

“You idiot! What if the killer was around the area?”

“Look, I don’t have the ability to make wise decisions when Seohyun’s father offered me soju,” Taeyeon explained, enunciating the last words.

“Okay, fair point. I just wish you’d be careful,” she sighed. “By the way, how did Garam react?”

“, I forgot I’m not single!” Taeyeon gasped.

“You moron,” Tiffany murmured.

“I was supposed to FaceTime him last night, too,” she groaned and covered her face with her free hand in shame.

“Time’s ticking, call him now before we come over and lovingly beat the out of you.”

“Whatever, talk to you soon,” she muttered, laughing, and they ended the call.

Taeyeon took a sharp breath before speed dialing her boyfriend. It rang thrice and he picked up.

“Morning,” Taeyeon could hear the grin in his voice. It was like honey. She missed him so much and it had only been a day since they last spoke.

“I’m sorry for not calling last night,” she pouted as if Garam could see it and change his mind from scolding her.

“Don’t be. How was the move? I’m sorry the business trip ran long.” It was Garam’s turn to apologize. He promised he’d be back from Hong Kong two days before but due to unforeseen circumstances, he stayed for damage control. With being a newly promoted executive manager, it was something he couldn’t ignore.

“You can make up to me by treating me coffee around the village?” she hinted with a smirk.

“But I’m on the way to you right now,” he said, wriggling his fingers on the wheel like she could see them. “I’ll just bring you breakfast in bed.”

“Fine. I just woke up anyway.”

Garam laughed and Taeyeon’s lips curled up into a smile upon hearing her favorite sound.

“Love you. See you soon.”

Still smiling, she ends the call and gets out of bed.

She takes the time to have a quick shower and get dolled up. She couldn’t start blow drying her hair when she heard halmeoni greeting someone by the front gate and Taeyeon went downstairs with her hair still wet and in a white silk blouse and deep blue slacks, greeting her boyfriend on the porch who just came home last night from a business trip. He was carrying not only coffee and waffles for the two of them, but he also bought enough pastries for the landlords and the residents.

They disappeared to her room, leaving the door slightly open as they ate breakfast together on the bed since the floor was still too dusty, and Taeyeon spent the entire time talking about the events that led up to forgetting to FaceTime—in other words, making excuses which Garam didn’t seem to mind. He listened intently, nodding occasionally and giving a smile whenever there was a small piece of waffle or syrup on the corner of her lips and he would wipe them off coolly.

He talked about the trip while helping Taeyeon blow dry her hair. She was ready for work and Garam offered to drive her to the crime scene.

As the car drove off, she went down to the grassy soil under the bridge that had the citizens on Nambu bustling behind the yellow tape. The green blades had been trampled down from all the footsteps getting to the crime scene, and so does the grass that was flattened by the lifeless body of a two-hundred-pound man. Everything was muddy, including the scene that was in the same state from the beginning.

She seamlessly cut through the group of onlookers and showed her badge to the officer guarding the scene. He saluted and let her in.

Inspector Lim and the coroner were having a conversation where the corpse had lied last evening, and the former turned his attention to the criminal profiler that was behind them.

“Can we ask about your findings as the first responder on the scene?” Inspector Lim asked her.

She nodded and the coroner took out a digital voice recorder. He pressed record.

Taeyeon gave her identifying data and how she discovered the body. Every detail and even why she was intoxicated when she found the decedent; she explained everything in great detail for the documentation and to obtain new data if there was any. All she could deduce from her memory was that the victim just died and the killer did a rash job of amputating. Blood was still dripping when she took a closer look last night. She noted once more that she had two bottles of soju prior to seeing the body, so her memory may not have been totally accurate.

The two men thanked her and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Taeyeon purposefully left out the fact that she feels like she got to the scene as soon as the killer fled. It was only a hunch, and nothing good comes from acting by just a feeling. The law works on hard evidence.

She examined the scene for a little while before deciding that they had already taken all of the evidence they needed.

Without the body, there were a few things to note about the killer: they couldn’t carry the victim, they know climbing knots, and their shoe size is on the smaller side. The footprints were deliberately erased by the suspect but they were dragged hastily, giving Taeyeon an estimate length of the foot by the shorter side. As well as the large trailing mark coming from the river to the wet soil, the killer wasn’t strong enough to carry the body.

She recalled that only the lower half of the corpse was soaked but the ropes had no signs of wetness when she got to it. He was simply dragged then bound.

Taeyeon crouched down under the yellow tape and dusted off her jacket as she exited. She saw the woman again from the library. She also wore a dark suit and a pair of sneakers like she knew how murky the scene is and she was speaking to Inspector Lim.

The profiler stood behind the crime scene and forgetting the fact that she was here to investigate. The woman approached her—unsmiling, devoid of emotions, but she still looked beautiful and elegant.

“Hi,” Taeyeon spoke, startling herself as the word abruptly escaped .

“You’re here as well?” She finally heard her voice. Soft and sweet like a flower and the woman happened to smell like it, too.

“Yeah, I’m kinda part of this case,” she laughed a little. The woman was still emotionless.

“I’m Jessica Jung. I’m a prosecutor,” Jessica offered her hand.

“Kim Taeyeon, criminal profiler,” Taeyeon held the prosecutor’s hand firmly and shook them in opposing forces.

The shaking and locking eyes unintentionally went longer until Boeun thankfully interjected the stare-down. She wrapped her arm around the smaller woman’s shoulders and dragged her away. Jessica proceeded to the crime scene and acted like nothing happened a couple of seconds ago.

While examining the scene, she had her hands on her hips, she occasionally crouched to examine the ground, and she crossed her arms when she was deep in thought. Taeyeon couldn’t deny that Jessica looked so ing attractive that way.

“Hey, are you listening?” Boeun snapped her fingers.

“Sorry, unnie, I need to check the body,” she excused and found herself spacing out in the taxi.

“We’re here,” said the driver.

‘Here’ as in the morgue.

When she got inside, the decaying smell protruding from the body entered her nostrils as she went in. The victim laid on the cold hard metal table. The cloth and ropes were taken to evidence and the body laid flat, cold, and skin turning bluish purple. She pulled down the cloth more to reveal the stab injuries and the arms.

The rope marks on the wrist and ankles happened to be the only signs of struggle. Pieces began to fit together.

If the killer wasn’t able to carry the weight, they had the victim already restrained before attacking him. But the stabs were consistent, that was weird about it. It’s unlike the very first kill from Sawol Mart where the directions of the knife were different each time, like the killer was stab-happy during the crime. Everything could’ve been done postmortem. Just how did his heart stop?

Taeyeon left the mortuary with more questions. She has a PhD in Psychology, not an MD in surgery.

Perhaps she underestimated the killer. It wasn’t just a random guy who derived his MO from past murder cases, but a sociopath fits the criteria more.

The Shadow had a character, they liked telling stories. The first kill may have awoken their homicidal tendencies. It was a direct stab to the heart that took three times to get it right. When the victim fell down, had no chance to defend himself, adrenaline overtook the killer and wanted more of the satisfaction even when the man was dead.

“Taeyeon?”

She stopped staring at her shoes and looked up to see Jessica. She was in no mood to fawn over how pretty she looks. She gave a small smile anyway; she was relieved to see a familiar face.

“Why are you sulking outside the morgue?” Jessica giggled.

“It’s nothing,” she dismissed.

“You think he didn’t die from knife wounds, is that it?”

That made Taeyeon look up from the ground. “Yeah…”

Jessica walked forward and sat by the steps with her outside the building.

“Have you found out how the victims are connected yet?” Jessica asked.

“Not that I know of,” Taeyeon sighed. She was sent to Suwon for a different case and being the first respondent in a scene was her only connection at the moment. “I just know the killings are rooted from trauma with assault. The Shadow enjoyed positioning the decedents in a defensive posture.”

“I noticed that, too,” Jessica muttered. “You’re not so bad, miss Kim.” She bumped her shoulder to Taeyeon’s slumped ones, turning her frown into a smile.

“This is my job, miss Jung,” she enunciated and gave a playful grin.

Jessica took out her wallet and gave Taeyeon a calling card. “I couldn’t give this to you at the library.”

She took the card and read her details.

Jessica Jung
Attorney At Law

“Why the library?” Taeyeon turned her gaze to Jessica’s eyes.

“Can’t I be interested in someone?” she mumbled and her head lowered in embarrassment.

“Sorry? Me?” Taeyeon pointed to herself, very much in disbelief.

“I’ll see you around,” Jessica stood up and went down the stairs. She reached the pavement and paused, turning around to wave goodbye at Taeyeon as she disappeared from view.

She read the card again. She was admiring Jessica’s face and godlike body in secret—she didn’t expect it to ricochet back in an implicit confession. Taeyeon had a boyfriend. How does she react to this?

--

The profiler visited the police station. In the most inopportune way, she finally had a connection to the Shadows of Suwon case. This gave her a leeway to browse the archive room and learn more about the killer through documented files. If given permission, that is.

The state of Nambu police station was like everybody was preparing for a surprise party. Everyone knew everyone. A few hooligans being interrogated, but they were mostly delinquents looking for some lawless fun outside of school.

“Oh, Taeyeonie’s here!” Boeun announced as she digs through the papers on her desk, motioning her favorite criminal psychologist to come over.

“We’re about to have lunch. What do you have in mind?” she asked, looking over her shoulder and adjusting her glasses.

“Why me?”

“The guys wanted jjajjangmyeon again but I was craving kongguksu,” Boeun said, returning her attention to the papers. “I need you to back me up on this.”

“Uh… how about daechang?” Taeyeon’s voiced raised at the end, unsure of the answer herself. Her palate was tired of having instant ramyun all week that she interpreted her cravings for normal food with grilled beef tripe and intestines.

Boeun freezed. “That sounds good,” she gave her a thumbs up. “Hey! Order daechang and add an extra serving for Taeyeon!” she called over to the detective behind the computer.

“Wait, am I having lunch here?” her eyebrows raised in surprise. She could go for some free food but there were important matters at hand.

“You’ll age faster when you keep thinking about work,” Boeun said as if she read her mind. “It’s just lunch.”

“So, can I go into the evidence room later?”

“Ask the Lieutenant,” she answered and Taeyeon frowned. She plopped down on Boeun’s desk chair, too lazy to find the lieutenant after suddenly being invited to join a feast in the police station.

A moment later and their food arrived.

The extra smaller tables were grouped in a tight circle for the food and each person brought their own chair. Taeyeon was given hers and they all sat around like a family. She was still confused as to how she got to this point when she only came by to gather more clues.

She ate a few pieces before using her phone and began to text Jessica.

hey, it’s taeyeon

Her heart raced as she hit the send button and sipped her soda as her legs were shaking under the table. She felt the phone vibrate in her hand.

and she finally saved my number ;)

A laughed escaped from and she quickly closed it. She replied:

it was tempting

Jessica answered back.

i’m otw to a café. wanna come with?

Taeyeon darted her eyes at the lively table practically hindering her from leaving her seat. Her thighs sandwiched between Boeun and another detective. Weird chosen family she has.

"i wish. got dragged into a daechang party in the station”

“how did u get everyone to love u already?”

“it’s called smiling, my dear watson”

She chuckled at her own joke—or, giving an excuse just to see Jessica smile. She had always looked emotionless every time Taeyeon saw her and this was a good segue to understand why her beautiful face looked impassive every time. Being an unbiased prosecutor could be a reason but Taeyeon selfishly wanted to witness how gratifying it is to see Jessica grinning from ear to ear.

“i do smile”

“i’m a visual learner. i need to see it to believe u”

“i will smile for hours for you”

“that’s cute but i’d still have the whole town giving me kimchi”

“now ur just bragging”

Sergeant Ahn momentarily stopped eating when he noticed that Taeyeon barely touched her share. “You’re a little busy,” he remarked.

Taeyeon heard the tone in his voice and realized that she was the only person that wasn’t part of their conversation, whatever it was. She locked her phone and slowly lowered it. She held the device in her hands between her legs.

“How’s your father these days?” asked Sergeant Ahn.

“He’s doing great,” she said. “My dad’s restaurant is doing well.”

“Great, I’m going to introduce you to some of my hoobaes. I need your father’s permission to set you up first,” he chuckled.

“Oh, it’s not necessary, sir. I already have a boyfriend,” Taeyeon said, shaking her head and waving both hands.

Her response made everyone at the table silent. She was treated as the youngest child at the station and apparently, knowing that someone else had swept her off her feet left them in pure disbelief.

“You’re lying,” Boeun said.

She shook her head and the silence prolonged, eventually continuing their conversations but quietly.

A call came in for assault. Living in Nambu will have you thinking that assault in town is either high school students causing trouble outside of campus or middle-aged women at the salon arguing which of their pets are the most obedient until it would escalate into a fist fight.

Most of the table dispersed to help out and Taeyeon spoke to the Lieutenant as he was getting ready to leave. “Sir, can I use the evidence room for a while?”

“Is it for your case?” he asked.

“Yes,” she lied.

“Go ahead. Make sure to put them back where you find them.”

Taeyeon got the passcode to the room and stepped inside. The light wasn’t strong, giving the feel of the room the ambiance such that of a basement. The blue walls highlighted the eerie feeling paired with the dimmed light bulb. She made her way to the box named ‘The Sawol Mart Manslaughter’ in February 1997.

Inside had the murder weapon and the victim’s belongings on his person. Dried blood on the kitchen knife. The same one can be found at your nearest grocery store. A leather wallet stained with blood. She opened the Ziplock to see the contents of the wallet. There was still money. The killer didn’t make it into a theft turned homicide, possibly because it was a crime of passion, in a fit of rage—they were willing to murder a person in public as soon as they can.

The victim was the head of the family. The picture in the wallet showed how much he cared for his wife and children, even keeping a ticket from his son’s play in the card slots.

So Dongshik, he was 48, and his letter of resignation was in the middle of processing when he died. He was a Korean literature teacher in high school.

The second murder was premeditated. Another teacher that left the school: he was laid off and turned to driving buses. His belongings were in the evidence box for August 1997. The infamous figure eight knot first appeared for Ha Taehyun. The Shadow was discovering their MO through this kill. Taeyeon took a picture of the developed crime scene photos using her phone. The knot was sloppy, but it was still inescapable.

When she was getting to the third victim’s evidence box, Garam messaged her.

i’ve arrived…

but ur not home?

Taeyeon replied:

didn’t know u were visiting

He answered:

i was meaning to surprise u with coffee

Taeyeon returned the belongings and evidence in its corresponding box and she exited the room. Sergeant Ahn seemed to be the only senior officer in the station as most of the detectives and patrol officers were on duty.

“I’m leaving now, sir. Thank you for letting me use the evidence room,” she said and closed the door behind her.

“Anytime, Taeyeon-ah. Take care,” he waved the small cloth for cleaning his glasses.

She took the cab home, texting Garam that she was on her way, and was stunned when he sent a selfie of him wearing halmeoni’s extra apron and pink rubber gloves. The background being none other than her room but cleaner. Spotless, even. It’s like a different apartment now.

Meanwhile, as the detectives got back to the station, they received a radio from an officer. He reported in a shaky voice that he saw firsthand the Shadow tying someone before they fled the scene. The suspect wore a black and white Adidas tracksuit and estimated to be five-foot-something.

The setup was far different from the previous ones. The corpses were laid out in the open after the murder, but this particular one had no body parts severed and the Shadow was caught by the working CCTV in an alleyway.

Taeyeon had suddenly left over an hour ago after checking evidence from the first Shadow cases. When she had soju at the barbeque place by the substation, she wore the same tracksuit and found the third victim’s body.

Sergeant Ahn knew her. Most of his colleagues were merely stating the uncanny similarities with the suspect and the young criminal profiler.

Taeyeon was subsequently called in for questioning.