"Yuyan, it's break time! Let's go," Haeun's seatmate tapped the girl's shoulder and they headed out of the classroom. Haeun had been attending the new school for about 2 weeks and she was adapting quickly to her new situation. She befriended some students, made a good impression on some of her teachers but she hadn't managed to pinpoint a new target. Even after joining some clubs, she was still in a difficult position to narrow down their list of possible future targets.
Haeun sits between her new friends, Yeri (her seatmate) and Eunbin. Yeri was the first one to talk to her, considering they were paired up to sit next to each other and she brought Haeun to meet her other friends. None of them seemed to suspect anything so Haeun could relax a bit when she hung out with them. She wouldn't admit it to the members but it felt nice being around girls for once.
"So, Yuyan – have your eyes set on anyone since coming to Korea?" Eunbin asked and earned a smack from Elkie, another member of their group of friends. Elkie rolled her eyes, "Don't mind her, Yuyan." However, the girl's eyes observed Haeun's face closely, "You have a pretty face. I'm sure you had someone back in China."
The statement nearly made Haeun choke on her drink and she quickly shook her head, "There's no one. I was busy studying, being a top student, and all. No time to date."
"Oh, come on~" Eunbin slung her arm over Haeun's shoulders, "I'm sure you had at least one fling back in China. Maybe two? You'll find someone here, I'm sure of it!"
The girls laughed at Eunbin's enthusiasm and for a moment, Haeun thought about her own high school days. For her, high school had long ended but she seemed to miss some of the memories she had. No, she didn't miss the teachers or agonizing exams. What she missed were the carefree days of her youth where she would hang out with Lucas and Seonghan after school at the ice cream parlor or days where she went on small dates with her ex-boyfriend, Byunwoo. They were memories that didn't seem much back then however, as she grew older, these memories soon had a special place in her heart.
As they headed back into class, Haeun caught sight of a familiar teacher that made her stop right in front of the door to their classroom. Yeri collided into her back and held her forehead, "Ouch~ Why did you stop?" The girl tilts her head to look at where her friend was staring and pursed her lips. She points at the figure, "That's Mrs.Kwon Yuri. An old teacher. People say she's been here since before the school got changed and everything."
"The school was changed?" Haeun pretended to sound surprised as Yeri dragged her to their seats. "What do you mean changed? This wasn't a school before?"
Yeri chuckles, "It used to be a mixed school. You know, boys and girls. Now, it's just girls." She reaches into her bag to pull out the books for the next lesson. "Some people have been trying to figure out what caused the school to change but no luck. Everyone just comes to a dead end."
"Has anyone tried asking Mrs.Kwon?"
"Nope, it's in the past - nothing interesting," Yeri yawns and puts her head on the table, "I'm taking a nap. Wake me up if the teacher comes in." Haeun gives a small nod, taking out her notebook and jotting something down. Mrs.Kwon could be a clue – she had to try at least.
"You want us to bring the teacher in for questioning?" Taeyong asks Haeun. His hand reaches up to massage his temples, "I'm not sure, Haeun. Without proper evidence, we can't just bring someone in and interrogate them."
Haeun slumps into her seat, the towel still wrapped on her head from her previous shower. "We have to find out what happened to the school – it could be a clue of some sort.'
"Are you even sure this has to do anything with our current case? What if it's all just a wild goose chase? We're looking for a murderer, Haeun – not some rumor about a school," Taeyong turns his attention back to the monitors, checking up on the footage they had so far. With a frustrated growl, Haeun stands up and heads to her room just to come out a second later wearing a hoodie.
"I'm going out for some air," she mutters and slams the door behind her before the members could say anything. The tension was rising for the past 2 weeks – the team was getting hungry for more leads and so far, Haeun found nothing from her undercover work. She was feeling useless and impatient; she needed something to work on. Mark and Johnny were out trying to get information out of friends from the victims but the parents weren't cooperative, perhaps in fear their child would be next.
The female detective heads down to one of the convenient stores and makes herself two bowls of ramen. She had stormed the house without a proper meal and regretting her actions at the moment. Haeun sits at one of the tables and is busy slurping down the noodles when another person joins her.
"Haeun?"
Looking up at the mention of her name, Haeun is surprised to see her old teacher stand in front of her. "Mrs.Kwon," she stands up and bows, "It's been a while..."
Mrs.Kwon smiles and sits down, Haeun following suit soon after. There's an awkward silence between them before Mrs.Kwon breaks it. "I've seen you at school before as the new transfer student. Jung Yuyan as I recalled asking," she chuckles at the look of surprise on Haeun's face, "But I remember you mentioned you were a detective in the last letter you sent me. I suppose it's similar to those detective shows on television – an undercover operation. It certainly sounds exciting."
Haeun nods her head, stabbing at her noodles for a while. "We have a case and I think it has something to do with the school's past. Did anything happen after I left? Anything suspicious?" Haeun pleads – this might be her only chance to get some information.
The teacher sighs and there's a longing look in her eyes, "Horrible things, Haeun - horrible. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss this matter with you in public. My lips are sealed." Her drink is left on the table as she sighs, "My life is on the line but perhaps it is karma for my past. A punishment that I must accept." Nothing else is said as she quietly stands up, her hand gives a squeeze on Haeun's shoulder. Mrs.Kwon turns to leave but Haeun asks her one more question.
"What...What do you know?"
The teacher can only give her a sad smile, "Always trust your instincts, Haeun – that's the best part of you." And with that, Mrs.Kwon heads into her car and drives off. She leaves Haeun with more questions than answers but that was how Mrs.Kwon had always been ever since they had met in high school – a mysterious teacher. Haeun slumps in her seat, it seemed her only lead was gone. She reaches out for the can Mrs.Kwon had left as she needed a quick sip but found that the can was empty. She rattles the can for good measure when she hears the echoing sound.
Something was in the can.
"Mrs.Kwon..." she scoffs in disbelief before looking around her surroundings. Haeun picks up the can and casually walks away, leaving her ramen behind and evidence in her hand.
The detective reaches her house and before she can pour out the contents on the can, Johnny welcomes her back. He has her in a bone-crushing hug before releasing her, tilting up her chin as his eyes scan her face. "Are you hurt? You went out all alone at night," he turns to Taeyong, "He told me about your fight - Haeun, you can't just run out without notifying us. We couldn't even track you since you left everything behind."
"I'm sorry, okay? I was just... really tired and frustrated," the can is held securely around her hands, "The fresh air helped to clear my head so everything's alright now." Her eyes fall to Taeyong, "I'm sorry - it's not your fault. I guess we're all just a bit agitated and it got to my head." She smiles at Johnny and pats his head, "I'm heading to bed. You guys have a good night." She tries to act as normal as possible to avoid suspicion but as soon as she reaches her room, she locks her door. Haeun could feel Taeyong burning a hole right through her with his stare and hadn't noticed she was holding in her breath. "He couldn't have suspected anything...right?" she shakes her head at the thought and shifts her attention back to the can in her hands.
Haeun moves to grabs to pair of scissors from her table and cuts open the can to reveal a pen drive secured with a plastic wrap. She doesn't waste any more time in ripping the wrap and inserting the pen drive into her laptop. The pen drive seemed to contain files filled with documents.
Could this be what she was looking for?
"What pretty secrets do you hold?"
For the next few days, Haeun kept her new findings an absolute secret from her fellow members. Why? Recalling her argument with Taeyong, she was frankly afraid that she would be giving them a false lead unless she properly investigated the pen drive first. At the moment, Haeun would be digging these secrets on the side while keeping her focus on finding the next possible target of their kidnapper/murderer. Since they managed to narrow it down to female students who were active in after-school activities as well as physical appearance, Haeun made sure she stayed after school hours just to check in on students who fit in the profile.
"Yuyan, not going home yet?" Jungrim asked Haeun. Haeun was particularly sticking close to Jungrim since she was one of the students who was active in her activities. "I was waiting for you," Haeun slings her arm around Jungrim's shoulders. The two begin to walk out of the school building, "You really shouldn't be at school so late~ Aren't you scared?"
"I'm in the Taekwondo club. I can beat anyone. Also, I have you as my company now."
"Uh-uh, don't be so cocky," Haeun pinches Jungrim's cheek, "But two is better than one. I'll be your bodyguard!" Jungrim takes it as a joke and follows along, "Alright, alright - but I'm only paying you in food."
"Deal!" Haeun stops walking once they reach the bus stop. She watches as Jungrim gets on the bus and waves at her when it begins to move.
"I need to keep them safe..." Haeun thinks as she waves, "Whatever it takes."
Haeun walked into the house and was about to zoom straight to her room when Taeyong blocked her. She tried to keep her composure but in reality, her heart was beating fast. For a moment, she thought Taeyong had managed to find the secret pen drive and now she was going to be lectured for following mindless leads. Instead, she felt a hand reach up under her eyes – Taeyong's hand to be exact. She held in her breath but her eyes continued to stare at him. She could clearly see the concern he was in.
"Have you been sleeping?" he asked while his fingertips lightly brushed near her eyebags. He had been worrying about her sleep patterns ever since her first day of undercover. Going through cases already took up much of her time and now, she had to add in the homework as well.
Haeun nods to his question, afraid that if she spoke only a breath of air would come out. He was standing way too close and Haeun wasn't sure if she should push him away or stay still. The woman chose the second option. Taeyong narrowed his eyes at her, "You should get some sleep. In this state, you won't be able to work properly." He smiles at her before patting her head, walking past her and into the kitchen. Haeun turns to look at his back before she shook her head, what in the world was she thinking? She calmly walks to her room, closes the door and locks it.
A heavy sigh leaves her lips as she lays down on her bed. No one else was at home at the moment except for her and Taeyong. None of them would bother her unless it was for dinner so she decided it was safe to pull out her file. Heading to her drawer of undergarments, she took out the contents and pulled out the pen drives from the very bottom of the drawer. Haeun took out her notebook from her bag and flipped to her previous notes on the case. It contained everything she managed to understand from the file Mrs.Kwon had given.
3 years after Haeun's batch had graduated, 3 kidnapping cases were reported that involved students from the school. There was no clear similarity to the kidnapping cases with theirs but it was still worth looking into. The students were abducted after school hours and reported missing the next day by their parents.
"Apparently they think it's normal for kids to wander around so late," Haeun rolls her eyes when she read about the late report. "One day is more than enough for things to happen."
The first two victims were of the same age but friends said they weren't friends with one another. The third victim was a year younger than them and also was said to share no connection. 2 girls and 1 boy, different from their all-female victim list. The victims had been kidnapped a few days apart from one another. They were found a few weeks later but were traumatized to the point of madness. Police couldn't get anything from the victims and the case was left as a cold case.
Haeun rubbed her temples, "If anyone knew about this, they would say I'm crazy as well." She sighs and imagines how she would be ridiculed if she brought this up to the department. Chief Kim could take her off the team and that was one thing she didn't want to happen. "What should I do?" she mutters to herself just as her phone begins to ring. She checks it and finds that Yeri had added her number to a group chat and Jungrim sent a message about going out next week.
"Teenagers," she says as a smile comes up her lips. Maybe being in high school again wasn't so bad.
"Seonghan!"
The woman turned around and holds up a hand to her colleague, indicating she had to go. "Haeun? What are you doing here?" she asks, having to look down on her friend due to her tall height as well as the fact she was wearing heels. She notices the bag in Haeun's hand.
"Here, happy birthday," Haeun smiles, handing her the bag. "My mom and Lucas wished for you as well. It's a late gift so it's not much." She rubs her nape as she watches her friend take out the mug from the bag. It was neatly wrapped in a clear box and had Seonghan's name written on it followed by a drawing of a doctor's coat.
"I know I give you mugs all the time," Haeun looks away from Seonghan, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "But I can't think of anything else-" She gets cut off when Seonghan grabs her into a tight hug. The difference in height had them in a bit of an awkward position but Haeun wasn't complaining. It had been a while since they managed to meet up and Seonghan was pretty touchy.
"I love it," she whispers, her arms still around Haeun. "You're the best best friend I could ever ask for, Haeun," she pulls back and places a hand on Haeun's head. "I'll keep this in my office so people can know what an amazing friend I have."
"Ah, but it won't fit in with your professional office vibe!" Haeun protested, "Keep it at home with the rest of my ugly mugs." Seonghan pinches Haeun's cheek, "Aigoo~ So cute. Your gifts are the best, they're always so cute like you."
"I am not cute," Haeun stomped her feet similar to a child throwing a tantrum, "I am a grown woman!"
Seonghan chuckles, "Grown woman who still sings along to Disney songs." Her comment earns her a smack from Haeun but she continues to laugh it off. Seonghan's phone buzzes and she picks it up. Few words were exchanged before she excused herself. "Let's eat dinner someday when we're both free. My treat," she gives one last wave at Haeun before rushing to the elevators, the phone still near her ear.
Haeun sighs and heads out of the hospital. She's about to halt a taxi when a crashing sound makes her turn. She sees a bunch of papers flying on the ground and a figure struggling to catch them all, muttering curses along the way. Haeun reacts quickly and gives a helping hand. With the papers in her arms, she takes out a bobby pin from her hair and secures the papers in place.
"Here," she hands them to the man. He turns around, his eyes widening in delight seeing the papers. He fixes his glasses, "Thank you so much! Thank you! Thank you!" He straightens his posture. At that exact moment does Haeun recognize his face. Her jaw drops and she lifts a finger pointing at him. Her eyes couldn't believe what she was seeing, a face she never knew she would encounter ever again.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
"Byun…Byunwoo?"