Hyeri was greeted home by the smell of bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes. She smiled as she saw Joojin trying to flip a pancake into the air with a spatula. “Hey cuz, whatchya up to?”

Joojin turned and laughed, “I’m making us some breakfast. How do you want your pancakes? Burnt or crispy?”

Hyeri grimaced, “Uhm, I think I’ll pass thanks. Congrats on the article by the way.”

“Thanks. My editor was pleased with it.”

“Is it true that he skins them alive?” Hyeri sat at the kitchen table while Joojin put a plate of food in front of her. Joojin wasn’t the best cook but she was about seven years older than her and she always tried to take care of her. Hyeri was grateful to her. Joojin was like an older sister, a friend, a cousin, and a mother all rolled up into one.

Joojin cocked her head to one side before answering, “Well from what I understand, he skinned the first two girls’ faces after they were dead. Can we talk about something else during breakfast?”

Hyeri shrugged so Joojin asked, “How’s Jr. doing?”

Hyeri rolled her eyes, “He’s gay Joojin!”

Joojin looked as though she didn’t believe her. Hyeri laughed, “Joojin! Stop trying to hook me and Jr. up. I’m not lying to you. He really likes guys.”

“If you say so,” Joojin said before shoving a giant piece of burnt blueberry pancake in . Hyeri laughed. Joojin didn’t believe that Jr. was gay. She couldn’t understand how a guy as hot as Jr. and unfeminine as Jr. could possibly be gay.

“So what about you? Meet any hot guys lately?” Hyeri wanted to steer the conversation away from her lack of a love life. “What about that Detective Jungkook or Jackson?”

Joojin almost choked on her pancake.  “Hyeri, Detective Jungkook is old!”

Hyeri smirked, “Not that old, and I didn’t hear you say anything about Jackson.”

Joojin rolled her eyes, “Jackson is my friend. Besides he isn’t into monogamy.”

Hyeri speared some eggs with her fork, “He’s pretty cute. If you don’t want him, I’ll date him.” Hyeri gasped when she felt the egg that landed on her chest.

“Joojin!” Hyeri laughed, “Did you just throw egg on me? I see how it is. You do like Jackson.”

Joojin shook her head, “Nooo. If Jackson weren’t so promiscuous I would tell you to go ahead but he isn’t the type of guy you date to have a long term relationship with. He’s the type of guy you date when chocolate isn’t doing it for you if you catch my drift.”

Hyeri threw a piece of pancake at Joojin. “You’re the one that told me boys and girls can’t just be friends. Just admit you like him Joojin.” Hyeri didn’t like Jackson but she was feeling lonely so she figured Joojin must be feeling the same way since she had been without a boyfriend longer than Hyeri. Hyeri was so ready to be in a relationship that she even considered going on one of those dating sites. Her thoughts were interrupted by Joojin’s words, “Go upstairs and get dressed. I called in today. We can go shopping!”

Hyeri was surprised but eager to comply. After she ran upstairs, Joojin thought about Jackson. Jackson was cute but he wasn’t boyfriend material. Was he?

 In his office

Jin was having a hard time concentrating. He didn’t know why he had come into work but here he was trying to look over mergers and his mind wasn’t working. He hadn’t felt like this in years. Vague memories of him being at home and playing with other children invaded his thoughts.

“Dammit!” Jin tossed his file onto his desk. He couldn’t be here right now. He got up and began walking out of his office. He spotted Krystal, his secretary. She was sitting at her desk and there was a huge bouquet of roses on her desk that weren’t there this morning.

“Are those new?” he asked.

The smile on Krystal’s face was breathtaking. He hadn’t seen Krystal this happy in a while.

“Yes. They were just delivered to me.” Jin actually felt some genuine happiness for her. He didn’t think it was possible but he did. Krystal had been his secretary for almost five years. All he knew about her was that she was a great secretary and that she took care of her little brother who was in middle school. Her parents had passed away years ago. He remembered catching her while she was looking online for a birthday present for her brother. He wanted a bike but they were too expensive. Jin ended up buying a bike and telling Krystal to give it to her brother.

Krystal had been so afraid that she was going to get into trouble that she had explained her situation to Jin. After that, he made sure to always give her generous bonuses during holidays.

As far as he knew, Krystal hadn’t been dating anyone so this was a good thing. Jin was still grieving the loss of his could’ve been love life but that didn’t stop him from feeling joy for his secretary’s good news. Jin smiled. Maybe things would be okay after all. He was about to about the flowers when he noticed the newspaper on her desk. “Is that today’s paper?”

“Yes sir. Would you like to read it?”

Jin grabbed the paper and quickly opened it.

“Demon King Seeks Queen: Who will be the unfortunate bride?”

Jin felt disgusted, “What the hell?” He looked at the author and remembered the woman from the police station, “Son of a .”

“What was that sir?” Krystal seemed surprised.

“Krystal get me the contact information for this journalist, Kim Joojin.” Jin quickly walked out of the office and raised his voice as he exited, “I expect her information in fifteen minutes Krystal.”

“Yes sir!” Krystal shouted as he left. She took one last look at her roses. They were so beautiful she had to touch them. “Ouch!” Krystal accidentally pricked her finger on one of the stem’s thorns. As blood trickled down her finger, Krystal couldn’t help but think that the roses were her so much like her boss. Beautiful on the outside but still quite dangerous.

 At the station

Detective Jackson Wang was having fun watching his partner Jeon Jungkook get angry at the pretty new FBI agent that was put in charge of the Demon King’s case. Jackson really didn’t have a problem with a beautiful woman telling him what to do but Jungkook was another story. He was pissed when he found out FBI was taking over and he was beyond livid when he found out it was a woman calling the shots. Jackson thought Jungkook must have some sort of mommy issues to be so bent out of shape over the of the lead investigator.

“What the hell? You’re not going to let me sit in on the meeting?” Jackson could hear Jungkook shouting. He must’ve been told no because he came stomping towards his desk.

“You okay Jungkook?” Jackson could tell that he wasn’t okay but he figured he’d be a good partner and ask anyway.

“Shut the hell up Wang.”

Jackson laughed and held up his newspaper. Just for that, he was going to rile Jungkook up even more, “Did you see the paper this morning? Demon King Seeks Queen: Who will be the unfortunate bride?” Jackson whistled,
“My girl Joojin sure knows how to write about the Demon King. Makes me glad I’m not a woman.”

Jungkook cursed under his breath, “Since when did Joojin become your girl? If she is, I would warn her to stop poking the lion.”

Jackson laughed, “Now who exactly is the lion Jungkook? The Demon King, or you?”

Jungkook stared at him and asked, “Does it matter?”

Meanwhile

“Demon King Seeks Queen: Who will be the unfortunate bride?”

The title made him want to laugh each time he read it. He wasn’t scared of the police or the FBI. They’d never catch him or properly profile him. As far as he was concerned, he had no profile. They thought he was searching for his queen. That was just some crap he wrote on the wall. Once again he had that journalist to thank for that. She called him the Demon King and he would live up to the name. He looked at the paper and with his thumb, carefully caressed the name of the journalist, Kim Joojin.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll be seeing you soon.”