Her head is killing her. 

It feels like she’s in a carnival ride that’s just spinning nonstop and perhaps, out of control. 

She lets out a soft groan, bringing a hand to her temple as she is now completely roused from her sleep. Yet she still feels a bit sluggish and confused. What was she doing before falling asleep? 

“What the heck?” She mutters under her breath, feeling how dry her mouth is. Her face twists sourly upon smelling her breath. “What…?” She brings a hand before her mouth and blows into it, then grimaces as the stench of alcohol fills her nostrils, making them twitch. “When did I drink?”

Seungwan is not one to drink. Social drinking would be an exception, but she is always conscious of how much she drinks. Thus, this is a huge surprise for her to know that she reeks of alcohol and maybe has passed out because of it. 

In the dark place she is in, she profusely blinks her eyes to adjust to it. She orients herself that she’s lying on a bed based on the soft cloth under her and the pillows beneath her head. Oh, she must be in her room then. 

But there is something weird or uncertain about this kind of tension she can’t quite put her finger on. Though, her head is still aching, so she’ll think about it later-

Seungwan instantly backs away from the pillows. Her eyes widened in the darkness because just as she got a whiff of the smell of the pillows, she did not recognize the scent. It’s not the scent of the fabric conditioner she loves to use, in fact, the smell is not fruity like hers. 

“Oh, God. Oh no,” She repeats raspily, continuing to back away from the pillows. Her mind has gone haywire now as a lot of questions are popping up in her mind. Why am I in a different place? Did someone kidnap me? Was I drugged the night before? Is there someone who wants to hurt me?!

She continues to back away until there is nothing left of the bed. “Ah!” She screams as she suddenly falls to the floor. She groans out of pain, rubbing her rear which is now aching due to the impact. Cursing under her breath, she slowly gets on her feet and navigates her way through the darkness, feeling a bit of the nearby things and furniture around her. Her bare feet slowly glide through the floor, making sure that she does not step on something unsuspecting.

With her hands outstretched before her, one touches something round and made of metal. Seungwan clasps it and knows that it’s a doorknob. She does not hesitate any further as she twists it and pulls the door open. A soft orange glow of light, assumingly from an incandescent light, somewhat gives a bit of light for Seungwan to navigate further around this new area. Now she could see that she’s still wearing her clothes from the day before. Where is she, really?

She must be in the pad of someone judging by the small couch pushed against the wall opposite of her. A coffee table stands before it and a bean bag sits beside it. She warily turns her head to the left and notices a shelf filled more with books than photo frames. The titles of the books vary from criminology to random non-fiction topics, but what piques the woman’s interest are the pictures that are placed randomly on the shelf. The pictures vary from the vast landscapes of the rural areas of the country, the urban jungle of the city, and a few random shots of people’s side profiles. 

“You’re awake.”

Seungwan gasps as she turns swiftly toward the direction from where the voice came from. Min Yoongi stands to her side, a pair of assumably reading glasses perched on top of his nose. Instinctively, she wraps her arms around her and averts her gaze from him. 

“Not only did you finish the bottle of wine,” Yoongi continues, “You also drank more than half of the rum the guys left for us as well.”

She’s starting to recall bit by bit now. The guys at the precinct prepared a dinner for the both of them and she was feeling fed up with his presence. She frowns as she takes a step back. “And you decided to take me back to your place, Yooni?”

“Wen, you passed out,” Yoongi argues. “What was I supposed to do? Go through your bag for the key to your place and carry you there like I own the place and -” He stops himself, clenching his jaw with hopes of stopping himself from getting too worked up. “Look, it’s nearing four in the morning. How about we head to the kitchen and continue talking there,” he suggests after a moment of silence. “I’ll get you a glass of water because it clearly looks like you need it.”

He turns and walks to another part of the room, and Seungwan follows quietly. On the other side is the kitchen where there is a small dining table standing in the middle. A laptop and different pieces of paper are placed all over the table. “Take a seat here,” Yoongi mutters, pulling back one chair before proceeding to clear that area of the table. “Sorry for the mess,” he continues as Seungwan slowly sits on the chair, her eyes skimming through the documents. They are all related to the past cases of the victims who died by the ‘radio’ serial killer.

"Don't be," Seungwan mutters softly as her gaze is still engrossed in the different documents. She suddenly gets distracted by the sound of a glass of water being placed in front of her. Her eyes fly up to see that Yoongi is looking at her. "T-Thank you," she whispers, taking the glass in her hands to take a sip of water.

He grunts softly as a reply, adjusting his eyeglasses, and takes the seat across from her. In the shared silence of the two, the man goes back to scrolling and reading through whatever is being displayed on his laptop. “Do you want to change into something more comfortable?” 

His words cause her to then feel more conscious of the way her blouse is suddenly tight around her and how her slacks seem to hug around her legs. Seungwan groans softly under her breath. "Yeah," she grunts, "I could do a bit of freshening up if you won't mind."

Without any hesitation, Yoongi reaches down, under the table, and brings up a paper bag to place it before her. "Here." 

Seungwan reluctantly takes the bag and peeks inside to find a fresh set of clothes, assumingly Yoongi's.  “Were you preparing for this?”

“I was actually preparing for the event that you might puke all of a sudden,” he replies. Pushing his glasses back to the bridge of his nose as it slides slowly, he points at a door near the kitchen. "Bathroom's there. Take your time if you want to."

Seungwan mutters a small thank you, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, and follows where he pointed at. As she enters the bathroom, Yoongi goes back to his work at hand. 

He expects her to take a long time there, even an hour. But it surprised him to hear the door open after around 15 minutes and all the more it left him off-guard when his gaze landed on the woman who was wearing his clothes that looked baggy on her. Her hair is combed back, the sleeves of his sweatshirt envelop her hands, and his sweatpants are folded by the end since they are too long for her legs. 

He could not believe how he could not stop staring at her. Is this what the guys meant about how different a feeling is to see a woman wear their clothes? It brings this soft feeling of possessiveness to Yoongi. It's like he does not want her to wear any man's clothes except his. And he finds every bit of it odd. 

He faces away, clearing his throat. He's thankful that it's a bit dim. Seungwan won't be able to see how red he's getting.

"I'll make sure to wash these after and immediately return them to you," Seungwan says, taking her seat again.

"D-Don't worry about that. I won't mind if it will take you a long time to return them." 

Seungwan shows him a half-smile out of gratitude and again her eyes fall on the documents before her. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"Yeah," Yoongi breathes out, blinking his eyes profusely after rubbing them. "I-uh, I must have lost track of time.”

“Is it because I was using your room-”

“No, no,” he interrupts her, shaking his head. “I’ve always had a hard time falling asleep. It’s always been difficult for me to sleep, so I’ve grown used to it already.”

Seungwan sets her lips into a tight line. Yooni is an insomniac at times and perhaps she knows the reason as to why. “Has it…” she hesitates for a moment before gaining the courage to continue, “Has it started ever since your sister…” she could not find it in her to continue, but looking at Yooni, he seemed to have understood the point she’s coming across with. 

“Ever since she passed away?” he finishes for her. “Yes.” He then breathes out a short chuckle, “I can’t really hide anything from you, can I?”

“Well, you are talking with a criminal psychologist here,” Seungwan points out softly before taking another sip of water. 

“I’m aware of that, Wen.” He breaks off into a smile. “You know what? My noona would kill me if she were still alive and saw how I was treating you.”

“She seems like someone who would have been a great friend of mine.”

He purses his lips and throws her a look that Seungwan does not seem to describe. He takes off his glasses and sets them on the table before resting his arms on the table to lean forward on them. “We’re dealing with a serial killer here,” he starts slowly, “We have to take a lot of precautions. One of them is...the fact that I won’t keep secrets from you anymore.” He keeps his eyes on hers. “If you need to know more about my noona for further information, then I will give all that I can offer. Wen, our lives are intertwined together from now on.” He hesitates for a bit, “What’s personal to me is now personal to you, and I…”

“You don’t need to continue,” Seungwan chimes in and then gently smiles at him.  “I understand what you’re trying to say. I’m sorry, too.”

Yoongi lets out a small sigh of relief. The corners of his mouth twitch up to form a grin out of gratitude. It’s easy to talk with someone like her. His pride takes control most of the time that it’s weird to be with someone that could stay at par with him. 

In a sense...it’s a relieving feeling. 

“It’s nice to have that out,” Yoongi whispers, breaking off into a chuckle. “It’s been bothering me ever since you finished that bottle of wine and proceeded to finish the rum."

"I guess I can't handle my alcohol."

Yoongi grunts, "Clearly." Seungwan starts to laugh at that and he joins in, finding it amusing as well. 

The woman then clears her throat. "What are you studying?" She finally asks, her curiosity getting the best of her. She points at the laptop in front of them.

"I made a list of all the radio stations in the area," Yoongi answers to which Seungwan widens her eyes in disbelief. 

"Did you do it based on my idea?" She sputters in bewilderment. She never thought that he would push through with her idea despite his initial reactions.

He turns his laptop around to show the screen. "How about you see it for yourself?" He gives her a moment to scroll through his collated notes from his conducted research for the night. "Are you sure about the radio stations?" He questions her. 

"I want to see their playlists and the days they have been playing them." She looks up at him. "Do you trust me now, Yooni?"

"Wen…" he utters out of exasperation, "I've always trusted you." 

"Then why have you been so adamant about this?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Are you afraid that it will fail?"

"No," Yoongi answers almost immediately before his eyes fall dejectedly. He then whispers, "I’m afraid that it won’t." 

------------

Seungwan stayed until the sun rose and Yoongi was able to take her back to her condominium a few hours before they were called for work at the police precinct. 

They spent that day actually working well together which made the other guys very suspicious yet thankful for the sudden change. Not were they feeling that Seungwan and Yoongi were pretending to be civil with each other, rather they felt that the way they were now treating each other was genuine. 

Their attitude carried on for the next few days until it came to the day wherein Yoongi and Seungwan were able to gather a lot of information regarding the radio stations that they planned to visit them again for a second round of checking the archives. 

When Seungwan entered the police precinct that early morning, it came as a shock to her to see the guys all quiet and a bit despondent. They were not their usual loud and jolly selves. “Good morning,” she greeted all of them then tilts her head. “Is...something wrong?”

They turn their heads to her and it was only Detective Kim who had the heard to greet her back. “Hey, Seungwan-shi…”

“What’s wrong?” Seungwan asks in a louder voice. This time, she notices that Yoongi is not with them. “Why is Mister Min not here with us? Why the long faces from all of you?”

Taehyung sighs deeply and sets his lips in a tight line. It takes a moment of silence for him to utter, “A new body has been found.”

Seungwan gasps quietly, her eyes widening. 

“And this time, Ryon In-Su left a letter beside the body with Yoongi’s name on it,” Taehyung continues. “That man is taunting Yoongi. And he won’t stop killing women while he’s at it,” he finishes in a soft yet painful voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Vote?
Comment?
Kamsahamnida!!