ONE: They meet again.

𓆩ཐིཋྀ𓆪

As the room started to fill with police officers and other significant individuals that Hanee was too overwhelmed to even notice, she forced back her emotions. She was not prepared for this, and it seemed as though her entire life had fallen apart. Now that both of her parents had passed away, Hanee was left alone. She had the same sense of loss when she lost her mother; everything she relied on was gone. Even her brother, who was the only person remaining, couldn't make up for the void in her already empty heart.

But now wasn't the time for silent grief. Hanee forced the agonizing thoughts from her mind, focusing instead on the crime scene. As the first to discover it, she knew exactly what it looked like — an image that would likely haunt her forever. Her father had already been taken for autopsy although she had pleaded with the forensics team not to take him so soon, clinging to the desperate hope that he might open his eyes once more. But her efforts were in vain; they had whisked him away upon arrival, declaring him dead.

Her father's unexpected passing was connected to an unresolved murder case that is still pending in the nation. A piece of paper with writing on it was found next to her father, who had been discovered lying in a pool of blood. On the same piece of paper, the numbers '14' were inscribed in his blood. The image in front of her was like every picture that was posted of the killer's crime scenes, but was too much for her to handle when the victim was her dad.

A known fact was that there were two characteristics that were consistent in the past few cases for this unidentified killer; a printed piece of paper with a bunch of writing on it, and then '14' written in the victim's blood on the back of that same paper. Due to the repeated layout of the crime scenes, all evidence is not present besides the paper. Every assassination was unexpected and fast, so they've never been caught.

They called this person 'Killer 14' in the news, but more accurately 'The Politician Killer' in the police department. It was an ongoing case, and has been going on for a few years now. It's extremely dangerous that an unidentified killer is on the loose — especially after their main targets seem to be powerful figures in the country, and more accurately politicians. This person managing to murder the president is already disturbing, let alone other politicians facing a tragic death in the same way.

Hanee had tried to study this killer herself in the past, which actually led to her wanting to be a detective. When she did study them, it was too difficult and impossible to even get a clue on the motives besides the fact they were politicians. Worst yet, she recognised most of the names of the victims - close friends of her father, and even some being people from the Yoon Family. But now, the victim was her own father, and she had to learn about the person once again.

Hanee turned to one of her most trusted friends and also the chief of the police force in the city, Chief Han - or most known as Han Soyun. She was a little older than Hanee and was one out of her two friends. "Soyun, I'm also included as a detective in this case too, right?" she asked, trying to hide the determination in her voice.

The older nodded. "Of course, I'm sure they were going to ask you anyway... since you are his.. daughter.." her speech slowed down and her expression changed once she glanced behind Hanee, she seemed a little startled. "But one of the detectives in this case looks pretty fami–"

"Hey, Gunwook." she heard a voice call not too far away from the two. The name alarmed her and Hanee darted her head towards the person's voice. Then, they locked eyes. His attire and serious expression indicated something that Hanee didn't want.

Hanee completely forgot about him. She hated him so, so much after everything she had to go through with him during law school. Sure, it's been about a year since they last saw each other, but that was too short of a time for her until meeting him again.

For an average guy (according to Hanee), he was too confident for his own good. Gunwook was cocky and yet bright, he also enjoys teasing others on purpose. He was the type of guy Hanee could not stand, ever. She couldn't even last one minute being with him.

Even though they have the same dreams, they were extremely different — Hanee's cold personality and intense aura compared to and Gunwook's outgoing attitude and silliness was not a perfect match at all. So now seeing him in the same room as her, in her house, as a detective, made Hanee furious.

"Why is he here?" she asked in a demanding tone, her eyes stabbing into his back as he walked across the room. "He isn't good enough to be apart of this case. It's about my dad and I don't want him here." she sent him a glare, although he wasn't even looking her way anymore.

"Are you talking about that guy?" the older asked with a frown as she recognised the boy. "Oh it's Gunwook– don't you hate each other?" Soyun asked, but didn't get a response as she noticed Gunwook had somehow already started to make his way towards them.

He stood in front of the two with a cocky smile and crossed arms. "Surprised to see you here, Yoon. Oh, and I'm really sorry about your d—"

"I live here. And I don't want your stupid fake apology about it." she replied coldly before turning her back and stomping away in exasperation. The two watched her figure become smaller as she went to the opposite side of the room towards the detectives from her agency.

Soyun scoffed and turned to Gunwook. "Her dad was murdered and that's the first thing you say?" Gunwook only responded with a shrug and she sighed. "You can't just push her buttons like that, she's participating too, you know."

"Hanee is participating?" He asked, averting his eyes to her again with a squint. "She is going to be working with me? How? We're from different agencies. And I do NOT want to work with her." then Gunwook came to a realisation. "Wait, I got told that you were the one who insisted me participating in this case."

The woman rubbed her temples with a loud sigh. "Because it's her dad? And obviously there's multiple agencies here, have you not noticed?" Soyun pointed at bloody scene that was taped off with crime scene investigators inside. "And yes, I did insist on you being here. You're a smart guy, and you can spectate others whilst they do their job."

Gunwook scoffed. "I know I'm smart, but putting me in this–" he stopped and finally realised what she was talking about. "Oh, that assassinator that was mentioned in the news." he stared at the men in suits picking up some evidence and turned back to Soyun. "Do they really think that killer did it?" the topic diverted quickly as he felt the air feel uncomfortable.

She shrugged. "Seems like it to me, it's no silly coincidence." she watched as the CSIs were still crowding around the scene. "Anyway, Taewoo's been sent for autopsy and Hanee got really upset about that, you can tell by her mood." her voice was sympathetic compared to Gunwook's confused and amused expression. "Why do you look so confused?"

"Since when did Hanee ever have emotions besides being pissed off?" he scoffed, looking back at Hanee's expressionless face staring down at some pieces of paper.

Soyun shook her head. "Gunwook, seriously. Don't get on her nerves, her father's just been murdered. Can't you tone your hatred down a little?"

Gunwook ignored her words as his eyes were still focused on Hanee. "Mmmm, well she doesn't look like she's very upset." he raised a brow, noticing how her famous resting bitch face was still present even in a situation like this. "Does she even produce tears?"

"Don't take this as a chance to talk about her like that, I'll seriously consider asking to kick you out if you carry on." Soyun rolled her eyes and she patted Gunwook's back when she realised he was still looking towards Hanee's direction. "Hey, are you done staring at her?"

"Uhm, I wasn't staring. I was judging." he corrected her and crossed his arms before turning back to Soyun. "Anyway, care to tell me the updates of how this case is going? My boss is busy over there and told me to ask around for now." he pointed at a group of men from his agency taking notes.

The girl hummed. "So the door was locked when the staff and Hanee discovered it, but there's nothing showing a break in or anything." She pointed at the door. "But, there is evidence of a struggle or fight between the killer and Taewoo." she pointed at the desk, and Gunwook followed to where she was pointing and furrowed his brows.

"What the hell?" he finally payed attention to the back corner of the man's bedroom where a desk was, where a shit ton of files and papers were messed up and ripped across the floor. "Perhaps the killer was searching for something and Mr. Yoon caught them?"

"Maybe, it looks like more of they fought at the desk too." Soyun hummed before looking down at her watch. "There's more but I'll tell you all of that soon, because there's a lot of things that have to be done here. And you do know, the last Politician Killer case was six months ago, it was the murder of Taewoo's brother."

He nodded. "Okay, that is seriously weird. There's been a few victims from the Yoon family already, so maybe they were the original targets?" Gunwook turned back to Soyun but then noticed that her attention was fixated on her watch. "Uh, why exactly are you staring at your watch like that?"

Soyun looked up from the watch and didn't even answer his question as she quickly walked away from Gunwook. In surprise, he turned his head and saw a scary looking guy walking through the door. And suddenly, the room went silent. Who the hell is that? Gunwook thought to himself.

Soyun cleared her throat. "Hanee and Gunwook, come with me." she called as she walked out of the door with the same scary guy. Gunwook was confused on why his name was called and was quick to catch up to Soyun as Hanee slowly followed from behind.

"Wait why me?" he whispered to the girl in panic. "Why am I being called outside? Did I do something?"

She chuckled. "I'm just going to talk to Hanee and that dude first, can you wait here for a bit?"

"Uhm yeah, but why?" he asked, and it seemed like the intimidating atmosphere in the room had followed him outside as that guy was still closeby.

"The CSIs, forensic photographers and most of the detectives besides the trainees have to be the only ones in the room for now. They need further inspection on the crime scene and they asked for you two to leave first." she gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back to the scary dude. All Gunwook could do was just stand and watch in silence.

The guy hugged Soyun with a sad smile and then started walking over to Hanee, who was walking unbelievably slow towards them. What Gunwook noticed earlier was that during this guy's arrival, the other men in the room looked very defensive and watched his every move. He sure was scary - tattoos, hellishly tall and sharp features. Even very attractive too if you dared to look at him long enough.

Gunwook was confused from seeing some criminal looking guy just appear in the crime scene like that, and became even more confused once the guy embraced Hanee and looked down at her comfortingly. "Shit, I'm so sorry Hanee." H
he said as he rubbed her back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She grumbled back, immediately pulling him away. "I just don't know why, or how the fuck this would happen." she glanced at the door to the room and back at the guy. "Look for yourself. I know you avoided looking earlier."

He gulped and listened to her, peeking through the door to see inside the room – the crime scene, in pure terror. "Dad..." he whispered with a shaky voice. "Fuck." he looked away and back at Hanee. Despite their appearances, their reactions were very opposite. Hanee didn't look the slightest bit sad in contrast to the guy's distraught face.

"Dad?" Gunwook repeated to himself quietly. "Oh shit, is that her brother?" he looked at the scary guy again and his eyes widened. After seeing their faces closer together, they definitely looked like siblings, since they both had the same threatening looks. "Since when did this bitch have a brother? I've never heard of him."

"They told me I can't stay in this house anymore because it's dangerous." Hanee said with crossed arms. Gunwook didn't know if they could see him very clearly staring so he just pulled out his phone and pretended to use it as he still listened to their conversation. "Hanjae can I stay with you?" Hanee asked, leaving Gunwook to make a mental note of her brother's name. But somehow his name sounded really familiar.

Hanjae shook his head with a serious expression. "No. You know it's too dangerous to stay with me. You are not going to live somewhere more dangerous than this house already is for you. You could be the target you know."

"I trust them with my life more than people I don't know. And I'm fine if I get injured, you know that already." her voice was still so monotone, although she was quite literally trying to beg him. "So can I please stay with you?"

"No." Hanjae snapped. "I've already talked to someone about that situation before coming here, you're staying at my bestfriend's house." he tried to smile a little to brighten her mood. "That's the safest place you can go for now."

It was obvious Hanee didn't want that but she didn't dispute in response. "Okay. Who is he exactly? I know him right?"

"Hanbin. Do you remember him?" Hanjae asked. "Like, the nice guy who's still somehow friends with someone like me? You remember him right?"

"Oh, Hanbin's lovely." Soyun chimed in. "He'll keep you very safe from anything happening to you, way better than Hanjae can right now." she nodded, trying to persuade Hanee.

Gunwook's ears perked up almost immediately as soon as he heard that name, and his hand stopped swiping across his phone. "Sung Hanbin?" he unintentionally asked aloud.

"Woah, yeah." Gunwook looked up and saw that Hanjae was nodding at him. "Do you know him or something?" he then walked towards Gunwook, making him a little more intimidated. "Wait, who is this guy again?"

"Park Gunwook, the other trainee detective guy." Soyun chuckled, grabbing Hanee's hand as she brought her to Hanjae's side. "He's the one rivalling Hanee, isn't that right, Hanee?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she was just glaring at him as she usually does whenever she saw his face. Gunwook didn't even pay any attention to her and Hanjae awkwardly laughed before looking back at Gunwook. "So, do you know Hanbin or?"

He nodded as if he was obliged to. Hanjae's eyes were just as scary as Hanee's and his deep voice definitely wasn't helping Gunwook calm down. "Uhm, he's my neighbour. He took me here actually.."

Hanjae then gasped. "Oh, you're the guy he always talks about!" he smiled, reaching his hand out. "I'm sure he's never talked about me for obvious reasons but I'm really close with him!"

Gunwook awkwardly took his hand and gave it a polite shake before nodding in realisation. "Wait, you're Hanjae?? Like Hanbin's like bestest friend ever Hanjae? He talks about you a lot."

Hanjae nodded with a chuckle. "Damn, so you're his neighbour, huh." he then turned to his sister and back at Gunwook. "Damn, living next door to your rival for a while. Seems like a story doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Gunwook looked at the other in confusion. He then glanced at Hanjae's hand and how it reached out for Soyun's.

"Really off topic but he's actually my boyfriend." Soyun chuckled a little before squeezing Hanjae's hand. "We lived in the same apartment complex and were neighbours. I was just trying to study to be a police officer but he somehow always had to have music on blast at night during my study hours."

"No one wants your romance story right now." Hanee butted in, rolling her eyes. "I'm leaving now. I need to think more on what happened to dad." she then looked up at Hanjae. "Will you drop me at Hanbin's later then?"

Hanjae shook his head. "Unfortunately I have business to do, sorry." he glanced at Gunwook and made a simple solution. "But Gunluck was brought here by Hanbin, I'm sure Hanbin wouldn't mind bringing you both home later after the investigation."

"No." they both said straight away, then being followed by their recognisable glare-off. It happened almost every single day back then during school and it came back just like that. He scoffed at her and looked back at Hanjae. "And my name's Gunwook." he added in offence, sounding like a sulking child.

Hanjae shrugged. "Anyway, you guys actually have to observe the work soon. Hanee you should probably start packing things up now, Gunwook will do the investigating for now."

She immediately refused. "No, Hanjae. It's our dad, I don't want to just leave that guy to do the work for me. He'll probably miss things out, as he always does."

"Offended." Gunwook clicked his tongue.

"Didn't ask." she snapped back. She was about to complain to Hanjae again but he had already taken her by the arm away and started to drag her up the stairs.

Hanjae was basically forcing her upstairs as if he had something important to say to her. "Calm down man, I'll help you pack." the boy turned around to Soyun and Gunwook. "Get investigating when they're done, will you?" As the siblings left, he heard Hanee's muffled complaints and laughed to himself.

"He's probably going to comfort her." Soyun said, causing Gunwook to look at her in a little bit surprise. "You're acting like Hanee can't be upset about her father's death."

He shook his head immediately. "No, it's not that. It's just... he's your boyfriend?" he asked in disbelief. "He totally looks like he'd be in a gang."

Soyun nodded. "He doesn't seem like the nice type, does he? But despite his scary appearance he's so cute" she chuckled. "I thought that until we started dating."

"Woah... a scary tattoo guy dating a chief police officer? What kind of couple is that?" he pointed at her in bewilderment. "He literally looks like a criminal."

Soyun laughed. "Don't ask." and straight after that, the door to Taewoo's room opened again. "Anyway, let's go back in and investigate. I still need to tell you more things we discovered."

And from now on, Gunwook was going to play an important part in one of the most difficult case of his life, along with having to deal with the girl he despises.

𓆩ཐིཋྀ𓆪