Minjoo dragged Seoyoon from the front door to her bedroom, exhausted herself. Seoyoon would not stop crying about Detective Doomin when entering the apartment—his eyes, his smile, his sweet laugh… all rose-colored perspectives of detective who Minjoo remembered as dull and self-absorbed.

“Seoyoon, let me ask you a detective question,” Minjoo said, laying her partner down on her bed. “Since the Beast members are the suspects for the idol terror crimes, shouldn’t we be avoiding them? How did Dongwoon know where you were?”

“Don’t worry so much. If anything, we are here to catch them red-handed,” Seoyoon said, slurring her words together. She chugged a glass of water that Minjoo had handed her.

“Catch them red-handed… That will get me a permanent position as a detective,” Minjoo said. As soon as Seoyoon’s head hit the pillow, she began snoring loudly.

“How did you survive this far in the world?” Minjoo placed two Advil pills on Seoyoon’s nightstand. As she turned to leave the room, she noticed an open notebook on Seoyoon’s desk—it was a journal with notes on the idol terror case.

“To her credit, I could be taking notes as well,” Minjoo whispered, acknowledging Seoyoon’s ability.

The latest entry was about the restaurant incident, where they celebrated their first music show win with Beast. The entry before that was about the Running Man filming blackout.

“Perhaps it’s time for some surveillance?” Minjoo thought to herself, taking the notebook with her out of the room.

Minjoo quickly changed into an all-black outfit and ran out the door. Luckily, she spotted Dongwoon still outside, crossing the street on his walk to his apartment. Minjoo rushed down the stairs and followed him at a distance.

Dongwoon’s walking pattern was erratic. He seemingly walked in circles, across empty lots, and through narrow alleyways. Twice, he looked behind in Minjoo’s direction, but both times she ducked behind a barrier before he noticed anything.

But once they were in a dark neighborhood, Minjoo faced a dead-end. Once she realized this, she took a step back—when a figure crashed into her from above and pinned her to the ground.

“Stop following me!” Dongwoon yelled, holding tightly onto Minjoo’s wrists. She squirmed, trying to get away before Dongwoon could take a look at her. At the same time, Dongwoon’s phone began to ring. Distracted for a second, he shifted his weight—and Minjoo managed to sprint off towards the direction they had come from. Unfortunately, not before she realized that she dropped Seoyoon’s notebook.

“Hey—come back here!” But instead of running, he picked up the notebook on the floor and answered his phone—it was Doojoon. “Hyung,” he answered, “Hyung, someone was following me just now and—”

Dongwoon realized the notebook connected him and all s with the recent idol terror incidents. “Hyung, I think someone is onto us.” He solemnly hung up the phone and looked around for any trace of the mysterious figure.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

“They call them killer idols, and they are absolutely taking over the news!” the TV host exclaimed. “We have the two top killers with us today—Beast and Honeymoon!”

The six Beast members, followed by Seoyoon and Minjoo, smiled and waved in front of the countless cameras set up for the variety talk show. They all took seats on benches set up to look like a sauna room.

“Everyone is talking about your hot chemistry—especially between our Seohwa and Doojoon! Tell me more about your relationship—is it true you only met when Seohwa confessed to Doojoon in an interview?”

“I wouldn’t call it confessed,” Seohwa began.

“More like a flirtatious love call?” Doojoon joked, laughing loudly.

The hosts continued to ogle over the TV couple, asking them to react to past statements about each other’s ideal types. Seohwa excitedly chatted about anything she was asked. Minjoo, on the other hand, quietly reacted to the stories, with nothing to offer herself.

Instead, she remained observing each of the Beast members, watching for any signs of suspicion. After losing Seoyoon’s notebook a week ago, Minjoo was sure that Dongwoon had shown it to the rest of the members, and that they were being extra-cautious about doing anything nefarious. But at the same time, Seoyoon had not noticed her missing notebook at all.

During the filming, Doojoon and Kikwang actively participated with the hosts, bouncing off jokes one another naturally. Junhyung and Dongwoon reacted loudly and jumped in with a line every so often. Hyunseung remained mainly silent, but it was not unlike his normal personality.

Yoseob, on the other hand, seemed suspiciously silent to Minjoo. He fidgeted with his hands and often looked over in one direction, specifically—directly at the waiting room. Interestingly, the Beast members had come in by themselves this morning, without any managers. They arrived just before filming began, giving Minjoo no time to chat with them beforehand.

“Minjoo—Minjoo!” the hosts called.

“Ah—yes, I am sorry,” Minjoo reflexively responded, giving a slight bow.

“Aigoo, she is so cute and shy—much more like a rookie normally is!” the hosts said. “Minjoo, we are asking you—what is that bruise on your knee from? Too much dancing practice?”

Minjoo reflexively covered her knee. It was a bruise from falling on the floor after Dongwoon had caught her. “It’s just like you said—I’m a little clumsy, so I often fall when practicing our choreography.”

“It looks like a deep wound for just falling down while dancing,” Dongwoon said, looking closely now at the injury.

“What, are you a doctor now?” Seoyoon joked, changing the subject.

But as Minjoo glanced back at Dongwoon, they locked eyes. He recognized her from that night.