Title: SM-5 The Perfect Mystery 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Angst, Action 

Ratings: All ages 

Case #02: M e m o r i e s

Part 4

  ~~~

 “Kyuhyun!”

  Yoona exclaimed as she rushed into the office, not surprised to see that he was the only one in the office once more. She knew where Victoria, Changmin and Minho were, especially since the case was still on full-fire. For a moment she paused, mentally thanking Kyuhyun for being in the office and always handling the data-

  “…If you’re grateful that I’m in the office, I’ll take it as a compliment.” He teased as he stood up.

  She frowned. “Geez you’re becoming more and more like Victoria and Minho each day.” She flopped on her chair as she turned to look at him. “Stop reading my mind, gosh…Anyway, what’s going on with this gangster guy thingy?”

  “Okay Yoona…” He looked around making sure no one was listening. He stepped forward and quickly bolted the office door so he was completely sure that their conversation would stay between them, and only them. “…We’ve got a case to run.”

  “How about Victoria, Minho and Changmin…?”

  “They’ll bring the suspects here for questioning, however I’ve got a few things I’m suspicious about, and seeing the direction the three of them are going, Victoria wants there to be a switch of teams.” Kyuhyun said seriously.

  Yoona’s eyes widened, very much confused. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say…”

  “This murderer isn’t any ordinary murderer, Yoona.” Kyuhyun flipped through the data slips. “This murderer is precise, and a very, very, very methodical person. This person will not leave any small scraps behind, and even the small scraps that are left behind are going to mislead us to another person. You must understand that it won’t be simple.”

  “And so your suggestion is…?”

  He took a deep breath. “You can’t be paired too much with Minho or Changmin, it would be too obvious.”

  “So we’re teamed up for now.”

  “Every now and then, I guess so.”

  She flinched. “You know, I seriously doubt us working together is a good idea because I’m not really good enough-“

  “You are. You’re more than good enough.” Kyuhyun said confidently. “You’ve only got one thing you’ve got to take care of, and those are your feelings. You can’t let your guard down. Sometimes, it’ll be you and me working together, Yoona. And you must know that I have expectations and we both have to fulfill those expectations.” Kyuhyun was sure of himself as he looked at her. “So Yoona, you’re in?”

  A smile curved upon her lips. “…It’ll take me a while to get used to the serious Kyu.”

  “Alright!” Kyuhyun smiled as he gave her a high five. “…We’ve got five minutes until Kris Wu, Victoria, Minho, Changmin and the rest of the possible suspects arrive, so let’s put down what we’ve found out now, and find a proper direction for us to go.”

  “Right, well…” Yoona got into her serious mode as well. “…Starting from the first, we’ve got Park Jiyeon murdered in her room by hanging, in other words, suffocation. But there was a certain amount of potassium cyanide found inside of other, not a lethal amount, just to make sure she was dizzy.” She looked through her notes. “But then the potassium cyanide, it probably wasn’t given to her in a lethal amount because the murderer wants to make it look like a suicide.”

  Kyuhyun shook his head with a sigh. “Things are now harder for us because it’s already been released to the press that potassium cyanide was found, so everyone knows there’s a murderer, and the feigned suicide was a failure. The murderer will now be more careful…” He sighed once more. “Anyway, we need to find out how that potassium cyanide got into her body.”

  “Most like it was from the café that I work at.” Yoona remembered. “Jiyeon was on her way somewhere that night and she bumped into Minho. He had been following me and looking for me at my workplace, and it’s highly possible she went there because Krystal works there as well, and she was killed in a similar way.”

  “How about the café workers, your colleagues? Anyone new there, or anyone who seems particularly suspicious?”

  Yoona nodded slowly. “Well there’s this new guy called Park Chanyeol, and besides that there’s also a long-time friend of mine and Krystal’s, Lee Taemin. But I’ve known Taemin for awhile, I know he won’t do such a thing, and Chanyeol only started work yesterday, so it’s impossible that he killed Jiyeon, since it was only a few days before.”

  “Yoona – feelings. We still have to suspect Taemin since there’s always a one percent chance until the definite answer has been revealed.”  Kyuhyun reminded her. “But then again, there’s also a high probability that it was one of the customers, and not one of the colleagues. After all it is possible that the cyanide was slipped in, and no one noticed.”

  “You’re right…” Yoona nodded once more. “But Kyu, there’s one more thing that concerns me.”

  “What?”

  “How did the murderer enter both places? I mean, I know the door was open for Krystal’s place, and there was a possibility that the murderer entered from the front door, but the neighbors said there was no scuffle heard. And it was the same with Park Jiyeon as well, no scuffle was heard.” Yoona pointed out. “Door locked for Park Jiyeon’s place, windows locked for both places, no back doors, no alternate way of getting in and out…They had their keys with them too, plus with no scuffle, it’s simple. It had to be someone they knew.”

  Kyuhyun thought over it carefully. “You have a point.” He considered it in his mind. “The murderer is methodical, and thus, the murderer would want both murders to be committed in a similar manner. The only differences are the timing, and that the door was ajar for Krystal’s place.”

  “You’re saying that the differences between the murderers might actually be linked to each other?” Yoona guessed.

  “There’s a possibility, a high possibility, considering the murderer that we’re dealing with.” He flipped through the case file, then looked back up at her again. “But then again, there are the similarities that irk me – they were both in debt, and they were both in the same high school, and also, they had the same circle of friends. There’s got to be some link between the similarities as well.”

  “Oh!” Yoona clapped her hands as she remembered. “Taemin and Chanyeol said that they were from the same high school as Krystal and Jiyeon as well…and then…Taemin once dated Krystal for awhile, and they broke up in high school, but they were still on amicable terms.”

  “That’s another big step.” Kyuhyun thought about it once more. “And there’s also one more thing – Park Jiyeon’s mysterious stalker who sent us the pictures of Jiyeon and Minho talking. I got it sent to forensics, but there were no fingerprints. We’ve got to check if the same stalker was following Krystal Jung…Did she ever mention anything about a stalker to you?”

  Yoona shook her head. “No, not really. But she was constantly on the lookout, though, she’s told me that she was afraid that…the gangsters would probably come along.”

  “Right, you’ve reminded me that the head gangster guy, the owner of the car might be coming along soon.” Kyuhyun placed the folder down. “Alright, we’ve just got to narrow down on the testimonies, look through the forensic results, some of which are still pending since the forensics haven’t went through every single detail yet, and there’s-“

  “The crime scene.” Yoona noted. “…We’ve got to take a look once again for discrepancies.”

  “Kyuhyun!”

  They heard a female shout his name, and they looked back at each other, quickly moving away all their evidence.

  “You ready, Yoona?” He gazed over at her.

  “You bet.”

~~~

  He had stepped into the corridor of the building, highly suspicious of what was going to happen. He had been sitting in his own office, his private office, when he received that phone call. Doubtlessly, he knew that he was innocent; truthfully, he knew he had not done anything wrong. However, he did have this strange, ominous feeling hanging over him as he stepped into the building, as if something was going to go wrong any moment.

  A pattering of footsteps disrupted his train of thought, and as he turned his head, he saw three people coming towards him. The first leading the way was a young woman with long bronze hair, her bangs grazing over her eyebrows, with a intense look on her face. The first man was tall, with a pair of thin lips and a sharp nose, and the second man was muscular, slightly taller than the first, with a pair of big eyes and olive-toned skin.

  “And who are you?” The female questioned.

  He bowed his head slowly. “Kris Wu. I was called by one of your colleagues to come for a questioning.”

  “I see…” She nodded in response. “Kyuhyun!” 

  He heard soft, tottering noises as the door of the main office flung open, revealing a man with curly dark hair, looking rather fazed by the whole thing, smiling sheepishly whilst holding a folder behind his back. The man, apparently named Kyuhyun, approached him slowly, and then gave a proper bow, before turning to the lady.

  “Victoria, Changmin, Minho, you’re all back.” Kyuhyun said.

  He turned his head as he saw the lady smile. “Good that you’re in.”

  “Yoona’s in too, actually. She’s getting some things ready.” He replied.

  Yoona?

  The name registered in his mind. He felt his heart stop for a moment, out of shock as he heard that name being mentioned. He knew that name well, and he could feel the tension rise inside of him as he began to recall some things. But he shook it away immediately, washing away the thought completely. No, it can’t possibly be her. He reassured himself.

  “You’re all back!” He heard a voice squeal. “I-“

  A girl with bronze-brown hair and big bright eyes had rushed outside, smiling at first, but stopped the moment her eyes fell upon his face. He stood there, rooted at the spot, in disbelief as he saw her. The shock that overcame him, it was indescribable. Then, all the little memories began to flow back into his mind…

  “Geon-ah!”

  That girl.

  “Geon, wait up, you’re going too fast!”

  Those steps.

  “Geon-ah!”

  He heard his name being called once more.

  It was like he was transported back into the past, running through that street, the darkened ash that fell over them, the exhaustion that he felt, the speed, the heat, the footsteps…It was all coming back. And then, he was transported to a different scene, a flowery meadow, a beautiful place with stunning flowers surrounding them…Then it was that cold, dark and black room, pain shooting through his knee as he knelt on the ground…

  A gunshot.

  A promise.

  A smile.

  Im Yoona

  He knew it was her; he was so certain it was her. He didn’t even have to see her picture to know that it was her. He never watched her, he never kept a photograph of her, but the moment he looked into her eyes, it was enough to confirm his doubts. It wasn’t about the name; it was about that gleam in her eyes, her wide smile, her half-dazed, completely innocent look. He knew that, he was familiar with it, he remembered it very well.

  But he couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t.

  Please don’t remember, Yoona.

~~~

  “Yoona, what’s wrong?”

  Yoona was jolted back into reality as Victoria’s voice rung in her ears. She stared in shock at the man who stood in front of her. She had a fuzzy memory coming back to her the moment she saw his face. He was handsome, doubtlessly handsome, in her eyes, with his lithe figure, tall, with milk-white skin and a pair of deep, dark eyes. His hair was wavy, perfectly tousled, and he wore a sharp business suit, accentuating his slim figure. But she wasn’t daunted by him, not at all, but rather, seeing him brought back many memories, memories which she could barely distinguish.

  The way he looked at her, the way his gaze seemed to pierce right through her skin. That cold, yet at the same time warm feeling he gave out... She recognized that feeling, ever so familiar, yet she didn’t know, she couldn’t remember, she didn’t even… It was something she had no control ov