Krystal Jung was going to be late for her date. She couldn’t believe that her boss had been unavailable yet again today. As the secretary for a bigwig she expected the job to be demanding but this past week, things were heading into the ridiculous category. First he went on vacation which he then extended. Now he was telling her that he was taking a leave of absence. Could bosses even do that?

Krystal quickly got into her car and looked in her rearview mirror. She touched up her red lipstick and headed to the coffee shop that she was supposed to meet her blind date at. She had answered an ad on a local singles site. She normally wouldn’t do such a thing but desperate times called for desperate measures. It had been weeks since she had been on a date.  A friend recommended the site to her and presto, she had a blind date tonight.

 It was too hot to drink coffee but she could always order a peach tea. Krystal looked around and waited. She wondered if she was early. She checked the time on her phone and saw that she was still a few minutes early. She wore a short black dress and red pumps. She chose the outfit because it would be passable for work and for her date. Her red hair was up in a messy bun and she was fidgeting with her straw’s paper wrapper.

A cross the room a man was watching her behind his newspaper. “So this was her,” he thought as the Maroon 5 song playing in the coffee shop drowned out the din of the other customers. He just focused on her red hair. He hated red hair. She looked anxious. He smirked as he thought of her waiting for her date that would never come. Slowly, he folded his newspaper and got up. He made his way to the exit, making a point to pass her table. She was checking her phone for any missed messages. He walked out the door and into the dry night air. He looked up and smiled in anticipation as he thought of the next step in his plan.

Meanwhile…

Joojin was freaking out. She could’ve sworn someone had been watching her and now she was holding a crown of white flowers in her hand. She quickly looked around and through her backseat windows. She didn’t see a thing. She hurriedly got into her car, locked her doors, and dialed the number of her least favorite detective, Jeon Jungkook. Of course he
didn’t answer. She wouldn’t have called him if he wasn’t in charge of the Demon King case. Joojin found herself driving to the police station before second thoughts could take over.

Was this a prank? Was this a message from the Demon King? Joojin didn’t know but she sure as hell wanted to find out. When she arrived at the police station, she asked to see Detective Jungkook. She was told he
wasn’t in. Joojin was about to start making demands to see the captain when Detective Jackson Wang showed up.

“Hey there Joojin. What’s going on?” Jackson looked concerned and he noticed the circle of white flowers in Joojin’s right hand. Joojin was relieved to see him. She liked Jackson and they had been friends for years. He was always sweet and helpful. He had a reputation for being a ladies man but Joojin never thought he was a creep in any way.

Before Joojin could respond, another detective came up to Jackson laughing, "Jackson, I saw you with that blonde last night at the bar. Nice work bro."

Joojin could see Jackson's eyes widen, "What the hell are you talking about Suga? I wasn't with anyone yesterday."

Detective Min Yoongi a.k.a Suga gave Jackson a strange look, "I could've sworn it was you. Are you sure you-"

"Suga don't you have reports to file or something?" Jackson asked in a low tone. Suga looked at Joojin and finally understood. He gave a crooked smile and answered, "Right. It wasn't you. You were probably at home, reading or something."

After Jackson's fellow detective awkwardly left, he turned back to Joojin,
"I'm sorry about that Joojin. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby. I wasn't with a blonde last night. I don't even like blondes. I prefer brunettes." Joojin didn't notice that he was clearly complimenting her dark hair.

“Jackson, someone broke into my car! I don’t know who did it but they left this behind,” Joojin held up her crown of white flowers. Jackson quickly stopped thinking of blondes versus brunettes and looked around as he grabbed her arm, asking her to follow him. He took her to his desk and asked her to repeat what happened. Joojin repeated her story and asked, “It’s him isn’t it? It’s the Demon King?”

“Joojin, calm down. It could’ve just been a prank,” he said as he tried to reassure her that she had nothing to be worried about.

“Just a prank? Why would anyone do this as a prank? What kind of sick person?” she let the question hang in the air.

“I know you’re worried but as far as we know, he hasn’t done this with the other victims. Also, look at this,” he held up the crown of flowers. “These are roses Joojin. The Demon King has been using peonies.”

“What? Peonies? Are you sure?” Joojin grabbed the ring of flowers and her shoulders slumped in relief. Maybe it was just a prank.

Jackson asked, “Is your cousin Hyeri still staying with you?” When Joojin nodded, he told her to go home and relax, “If anything else happens, call me on my cell. I’ll come running Joojin.” Joojin smiled as she looked at him.

“Thanks Jackson.” Joojin hugged her friend Jackson. He hugged her for a longer time than what was necessary and Joojin laughed, "Jackson, you can let go now."

Jackson smiled at her, "Just making sure you're okay Joojin."

She gave a weak smile and and walked out of the police station, bumping into Detective Jungkook.

“Are you still trying to get information on the murder outside of town? Joojin, you need to call it a day already,” he tried to get past her when she stopped him.

“I thought he was after me, but it was just a prank.” Joojin held up the crown of flowers.

Detective Jungkook didn’t show a response but after a long moment of silence, he spoke, “I’m sorry to hear that you were scared, but I’m glad it happened. You need to know how dumb it is to glorify this killer by calling him a king.” Joojin nodded in agreement. He took the crown of flowers from her before she left. He then went to go talk to his partner, Jackson Wang. Jackson saw the flowers in Jungkook’s hand and spoke before being asked, “Her flowers were roses but I convinced her it was a prank. I told her he only used peonies. The crowns are different but I think we should still send a few officers over to drive by her home.”

“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” Jungkook asked.

Jackson sighed, “Because I didn’t want to scare her when it’s probably just a prank. Remember last year when she wrote a story about outlawing guns? She ended up finding dead animals on her porch. This guy hasn’t been leaving crowns. He just strikes and besides, the flowers are different.”

Jungkook was about to head back to his desk when Jackson said, “Hey Jungkook, what’s that in the cuff of your pants?” Jungkook was about to ask him what he was talking about, when Jackson bent over and picked it out. A single white rose petal. Jungkook took the petal from Jackson and shrugged. He then walked back to his desk. He looked at the crown of
white roses that he had taken from Joojin and then looked at the crown of white flowers from the murder scene that were now on his desk in an evidence bag.

It’s a good thing Joojin didn’t see them or she would know that Jackson hadn’t told her the truth. He didn’t lie exactly but it wasn’t the truth either. Jungkook really didn’t see how the two crowns were all that different. The flowers in the evidence bag were plain
white roses and the flowers that Joojin had were also plain white roses. Joojin’s flowers were only different because of the baby’s breath that had been woven into the crown, like hers were special. Jungkook smiled and held up the single petal that had been caught in his pants cuff. He let it go and chuckled as it drifted into his trashcan.