The evidence room’s light bulb was burning out, flickering every so often. But the interrogation room was blinding, like you’ve stepped into paradise. It just didn’t feel like heaven when the people you had lunch with wanted to question you for suspicions of murder—in a room with a one-way mirror and being interrogated by your most trusted detective trying to be the bad cop.

Taeyeon loved the cold weather but the room was chilling, goosebump-inducing, even. The AC was in its normal range of temperature; though, she was anxious, albeit innocent, and her nerves were contradicting her clear conscience.

“All evidence points to you,” Boeun started as she hung her head low while staring at her loosely clasped hands on the table. Her thumb uneasily rubbing her skin, and she was chewing the inside of her lip. She looked up and held her gaze to Taeyeon’s brown orbs. “Did you tie up the deceased Mr Cho Seokhwan in the alley of Pyeongtaek Night Market at 13:04 this afternoon?”

Taeyeon was silent for a few seconds, digesting Boeun’s words while simultaneously baffled by the current situation.

She finally answered, “I didn’t.”

“Did you kill Mr Cho?” she pressed on.

Taeyeon responded blankly, “I did not.”

“How do you explain the time—,” Boeun audibly breathed out of , “the timeframe from when you left the station to bounding the late Mr Cho in that alley with the rope?”

“It takes me approximately twenty minutes to arrive at the precinct by vehicle to and from my apartment. I hadn’t left until I was escorted here.”

“Do you have anyone that can account for that?”

“I had my boyfriend, Min Garam, visit my apartment. He sent me a picture before I went home,” Taeyeon took out her phone and showed the conversation thread.

“And you didn’t take one together?” Boeun gave back her phone. Taeyeon defeatedly shook her head.

“What about the tracksuit that you wore when we had barbeque?”

“I believe the Lieutenant was the last one to take the cab. If we have his receipt, we could compare the time he left to the time I called emergency services,” she explained. “The time window was too narrow.”

But of course, they knew the receipt was chucked away without even pocketing the paper.

“Taeyeon, you don’t have a solid alibi,” Boeun stated as though Taeyeon didn't know it. “And we don’t have a warrant to keep you here, as much as I hate the idea...”

“I’m sorry, unnie,” she said faintly.

“Me too.”

She left the interrogation room with a massive weight on her shoulders, crushing her down until she turns into a paper-thin piece of flesh that had ‘suspect’ written all over in red marker.

“I’m sorry about this,” Sergeant Ahn told her as she closed the door to the room. She had no energy to talk but she managed a weak smile in response.

As she stepped foot outside the precinct, she felt like those high school students that got mixed in with the wrong crowd. Or those group of mothers and their mothers fighting over a card game and got roped into the chaos after one of them was caught hiding a card. This was a new feeling.

She had no trouble fitting in as everybody just knows how great she is. And she was. Whether the killer intended this to happen or it was completely coincidental, it won’t erase the stain this leaves her. It was better to let it dry rather than rubbing it off while it was still wet. Taeyeon worked hard for her career, and she should’ve known better. Getting disappointed looks from her peers was the new feeling and she hated it.

On the other hand, a goddess called to meet her at the crime scene. Relief swept over Taeyeon’s face and she felt like she could breathe easily now.

By five p.m., she arrived.

Jessica was wearing a lighter outfit. She had silk camisoles over a vanilla-colored jacket and matching pants, and she went with black loafers.

Recalling their text messages, the taller woman gave a grin while the latter stepped towards her. She smiled back, half-heartedly.

“Miss ‘I have a PhD in Forensic Psychology,’ tell me you think this smells fishy too,” said Jessica who had her hands on her hips and eyes glimmered with eagerness.

“I dunno,” Taeyeon shrugged. She couldn’t match Jessica’s energy. “I became a suspect, so I can neither confirm nor deny.” Her eyes darted down to the brick ground with a tape outline of where the body was.

“Poor you,” Jessica pouted teasingly.

“You think it’s not a copycat?” she asked, and a CCTV video of the “Shadow” that Boeun showed her in the interrogation room came to mind. While the late Mr Cho was laid lifeless to his side, the suspect, that was now established to have feminine build, was half-crouching as they tied the decedent’s wrist. Whoever they were, it doesn’t feel like the same person. Or at least, they’re trying to look different from what everyone was used to.

“You know me already.” The corner of Jessica’s mouth curled up into a smirk.

“What’s your theory?”

“I got here as soon as I could,” she pulled out her phone and a picture of the roped wrists flashed on the screen, with focus on the knot. “Weird right?”

The figure eight knot resembled the first one, Taeyeon thought. While the first was definitely a beginner attempt, the last seemed hasty.

The criminal psychologist cocked her head to the side as she was constructing her interpretation of the image.

“It was like someone tried to follow a step-by-step on YouTube,” she commented, deliberately poking fun at the killer.

The only way to treat someone with no humanity was by ridiculing their actions. No way in hell will you see the profiler worshipping a self-proclaimed “God” when all they’ve done was mercilessly take the lives of people undeserving of the pain inflicted to them and their family.

“Will you believe me if I say it’s the same person?” Jessica said.

Taeyeon narrowed her eyes. “How so?”

Jessica broke eye contact to look at the picture on her phone again and Taeyeon followed.

“They got the initial part of the knot correct, but the end was messed up like they were chasing time,” Jessica pointed her finger to the part she was referring to.

Taeyeon pulled up her own picture from her phone and showed the photo that she took from the evidence room of the first victim. She held it beside Jessica’s phone for a comparison.

“Holy ,” Taeyeon cursed under her breath.

“Right?” Taeyeon might just be imagining it, but Jessica's eyes glimmered so much it could reflect light and blind her with them. “What do you think this is?”

“Imposter syndrome,” she said, snapping back from her thoughts. The prosecutor furrowed her brows.

“How did you come up with that conclusion?”

Taeyeon pocketed her phone. “After the Sawol Mart case, you remember how meticulous the crime scene looked, right?” she began, and Jessica slightly nodded. “They were just starting off, discovering their MO. The fourth somehow magically died, no thanks to the injuries—”

Jessica interjected. “It’s not?”

“Medical reports stated that he lost blood lesser than average as a result to his heart stopping. When he bled out, there was coagulation and discoloration in his blood. I’m assuming some kind of poisoning,” Taeyeon explained.

“I wonder what prompted them to have the idea,” Jessica thought out loud.

“They’re an overachiever is my guess,” she answered. “Perhaps what happened today was the Shadow became agitated for some reason. It felt like they wanted to start over by trying to be a copycat killer.”

“You're right,” Jessica said flatly out of the blue. Taeyeon arched an eyebrow. “Have coffee with me.”

“What?”

“Meet me inside the café by the traditional village Sunday at noon. I enjoy talking to you about these, but I’m more curious about Kim Taeyeon rather than criminal profiler Taeyeon,” Jessica said. Not a trace of flirting nor teasing in her voice.

The idea of coffee reminds her of Garam. But it was just coffee, it doesn’t imply starting (another) relationship. Right?

“I’ll be there,” she replied without another thought.

Both their phones buzzed for a text. The mayor’s secretary reminded them of a formal meeting in the police chief’s office in Nambu police station.

The Shadows of Suwon cases ironically took the spotlight. Taeyeon was transferred to Nambu for a different one: dismembered body parts of four people scattered the bottom of the river. Authorities were still looking for the rest of the limbs but to no avail. This case was kept under wraps from the press since the Shadow murders was constantly supplying news content like a factory, and the mayor wanted Suwon to return to its former glory as a safe and welcoming city.

Jessica, followed by Taeyeon, stepped inside the chief’s office. The mayor was there with the chief and other high-ranking officers in their well-pressed uniforms. Being intimidated was an understatement.

The two young women sat on the leather couch around the low table as the chief sat by the center, overlooking the members.

The doors flew open and two patrol officers carrying cups of coffee on a tray went inside and placed each cup with saucer on the table. They used the chief’s special chinaware for important meetings like this. And today means that there must be a development in the investigation.

“Good evening, everyone,” started the chief. “I believe you’re all aware that my men have found a human tongue in the same river.”

The fourth victim’s tongue. The prosecutor and criminal profiler have been busy with their personal investigation on a different case, their eyes popped at the news. They turned to each other, both having “Did you hear about this?” expressions.

“It was kept in a little plastic pouch alike the limbs that were wrapped tightly in a trash bag,” the chief added, his hands miming the size of the pouch. “Has there been any progress in the Shadows of Suwon investigation?”

“There was a copycat this afternoon, but we still have nothing other than speculations,” a female lieutenant told him.

The chief continued to talk about how the investigation should go moving forward, giving notes to Jessica and Taeyeon for their part, as the key members of the team.

The meeting was adjourned less than an hour later. The two women separated and Taeyeon went home to investigate by herself.

There was a wide glass window in her room with four panels. Taeyeon printed pictures from a nearby Internet cafe, and used her old white erasable marker given by Tiffany back in Seoul. She writes down the names of the victims, the location of where their bodies were disposed, and side notes on what kind of a person the Shadow was in the present.

The investigation was still far from finding a suspect. Perhaps in the near future, the profiler will get the chance to delve into the Shadow’s character and analyze their psyche, deluded by their own God complex.

It went on until dark. Taeyeon hadn’t had the chance to notice how starved she was when she caught a sniff of pork grilling downstairs in the kitchen. Her stomach growled. Three knocks were heard on her door.

She opened it and Minjun was leaning by the doorjamb, smiling.

“We’re having pork belly. Sanghee ajumma’s treat. Have you eaten yet?” he asked.

Rather than food, a memory of the worker from the barbeque place flashed in her mind. She recalled how her face was stiff upon being greeted by the drunk customer. The employee wore black hoodie and black joggers with the same brand on both of them, which her clouded memory could not remember.

“Thanks, Minjun,” she squeezed his arm and quickly left the apartment, leaving the boy in confusion.

“Welcome!” a server yelled as Taeyeon entered the shop.

She looked around and didn’t see the woman. She approached the owner and asked about the server who was slightly taller than her and looked to be in her late 30s.

“Are you talking about Bae Dasun unnie?” the owner said. “She started working here ever since my husband and I opened the shop two years ago. Why are you looking for her?”

Revealing her connection to the police would only bring disaster.

“She was my sunbae at school. I just thought I’d recognize her,” she lied.

“Oh,” the owner’s face fell. “She doesn’t work on weekends. Do you want me to call her?”

“No, no. It's alright. Thank you,” Taeyeon quickly declined and bowed. She went back to her apartment.

Taeyeon drew a big question mark in the center of the glass panel, writing Bae Dasun under it. She scanned her makeshift whiteboard one last time before she prepared her bath.

--

Taeyeon hadn’t thought about Garam when she woke up that Sunday morning. She tried contacting him the day before but their usual hour-long conversations always end with him apologizing and saying he was tired from work. Their exchanges were reduced to text messages, and Taeyeon was too occupied with the case to give their relationship another thought; it would bring her more stress as it was.

Jessica wore a plaid sundress in pastel purple and yellow wedged heels. She was seated by the window of the cafe and occasionally looking out for Taeyeon.

They made eye contact before Taeyeon went inside and the prosecutor eagerly gestured the woman to come over.

“Hi, beautiful,” Jessica said.

“Such a flirt, miss prosecutor,” Taeyeon remarked with a smirk as she took her seat.

“Are you ready to order?”

Jessica got an iced cappuccino and Taeyeon with iced americano. They shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

“You looked really pretty when I saw first saw you in the library,” started Jessica and she took a sip of her cappuccino. Taeyeon felt her face flush. “I hope I haven’t been making you uncomfortable.”

By that, she meant her flirting. She had been nothing but sweet. Even an idiot can tell that Jessica likes Taeyeon. But the latter felt like she was leading her on. This thing has to end today or Jessica would be hoping for nothing. 

“It’s been a pleasure, really,” she said, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Outside of work, I’ve been really interested in you,” Jessica said, swirling her drink. “I hope you can give me a chance.”

Taeyeon had always thought her crush on a pretty woman in the new town was merely one-sided and fleeting. When the pretty woman returned said feelings, she should be happy. But how long has it been since she was last happy? She was taken.

She thought that flirting back was a friendly thing, and not a ‘my-true-feelings-for-you-are-insinuated-through-quips-from-the-heart’ kind of thing.

“I’m sorry,” she said faintly, nursing her drink.

“I can wait until you’re ready.” Jessica gave her sweetest, ever-loving smile and Taeyeon felt her heart crumble down like a cookie.

“No, I—” Taeyeon anxiously chewed her lip hard and tasted metallic fluid gushing from . “I didn't mean to lead you on.”

There was silence on the other side of the table and Jessica’s sweet face went blank in a heartbeat.

“I had no intentions of sending mixed signals,” she audibly sighed, disappointed in herself. “I’m already in a relationship.” Her voice cracked as soon as she said the last word.

“I hope you enjoyed playing with my feelings,” she deadpanned.

“Jessica, I like you—”

“Don’t you dare say the next word,” Jessica spat. She was getting ready to leave.

“I really am sorry it got to this,” Taeyeon said.

Jessica felt her face flush with anger but she spoke calmly, “Stop saying sorry. It’s already been done.”

She left her alone in the café.

Taeyeon visited the precinct to come back to the evidence room and clear her head. Jessica’s words burned in the back of her mind, as well as how she made the decision to lead someone on while in a relationship, which isn’t okay in retrospect.

She took a seat in front of the computer and powered it on.

Taeyeon started to look at Bae Dasun’s digitalized files. She’s 39 today. Clean record. She went to the same high school as Minjun, the one near the library. Adopted by two families and all of them returned her.

The profiler researched each family member and their relatives. She ended up with a familiar name: Shim Dakho, the victim with a severed tongue.

Days before Taeyeon moved into halmeoni’s place, Mr Shim’s body was found. The suspect she had in mind had a strong connection to one of the victims, but still not quite enough to request a warrant.

Her stomach growled. She could still taste the coffee and cheesecake.

She shook off her thoughts and called Garam for lunch.

“Hey, have you eaten yet?” Taeyeon said.

“No, want me to come over and cook?”

Her face lit up. “That’d be great, babe. I’ll be home in a few.”

--

After the couple had cleaned up the empty disposable plates and styrofoams, Garam offered to drive his girlfriend to work after lunch as he still had some work left, but Taeyeon had one thing she needs to do before leaving.

“Minjun, hi,” she greeted the boy meekly, hands behind her back. “You mentioned that you went to Suwon High School, right?”

Minjun swiftly looked up from his phone. “Yeah, are you investigating there too?”

“Mmh,” she replied.

“A lot of bat crazy things happened before my time—excuse my French. You can ask Sanghee ajumma about those.”

“She used to teach at your school?”

“I think she mentioned being a class adviser in ’95,” he shrugged.

“Thank you again,” Taeyeon groaned in relief. She hopped in Garam’s car and they stopped at Suwon High School.

The school had marbled flooring and eggshell painted walls. The hallways were lit brightly and it was uncharacteristically quiet at this time of day. Classes must be in session.

Taeyeon made it to the teacher’s faculty. Its door was open and not a soul was found other than one instructor rifling through the cabinet at the far end of the room. She knocked twice on the door.

“One second!” the teacher yelled.

She invited herself in and walked towards the file cabinets. The teacher took out a yellow folder, proudly gazing at it.

“Can I help you?” she straightened herself as if she hadn’t tried to strangle the cabinet at one point.

“I’m Kim Taeyeon, I’m a criminal profiler,” Taeyeon showed her badge. “Do you happen to know a Bae Dasun?”

“Oh, you’re looking for her, too?” she waved the folder in her hand. “I got her file right here.”

The instructor placed the folder on one of the desks. She was about to open it when someone walked inside. Heels clacked on the marble, footfall achingly familiar. Taeyeon turned her head to the sounds of the footsteps and locked eyes with Jessica.

“Prosecutor-nim, great timing. I found Bae Dasun’s file,” she proceeded to open the folder and a yellowed paper from the 1970s was revealed.

The teacher looked at the two women, waiting for one of them to take the paper and examine it closely. But none of them cared for each other’s presence as they both quietly stared at the file. She eventually left them alone as she was called for a meeting. The profiler and the prosecutor read the paper in silence.

Taeyeon spun on her heel and crossed her arms, deep in thought. She rubbed her temples and announced despondently, to the only people in the room—herself and Jessica, “I may have an idea who the next target is.”