Pre-Session 6 [Part 1]

"That was a complete failure," Y/N said as she let out a sigh.

The car moved calmly as the three of them tried to get a breather.

"It was not," Mingi said. "You got an answer"

Y/N closed her eyes.

"I didn't get one that can go on a police report Mingi" She muttered.

"But it is a way to understand him" He argued.

Y/N blinked a few times, accepting his logic.

"Irene?" She asked after looking out the window, recognizing the city. "Can you drop me off by the station?"

"Of course," Irene said with a frown. "Why?"

"I have somewhere to get to"

"What did you find?" Y/N asked as the smell of bleach and febreeze hit her nose.

A bluish hue tinted the entire room. The extremely quick change in temperature made goosebumps rise on her skin. But she couldn't take her eyes off the metal boxes. She had heard of them, but she was never present to pull one out.

"I checked the bodies again" Wooyoung began to explain.

Y/N could only focus on the new hue that decorated his head. It was much darker. It looked almost black.

"Most were full of all the reported injuries," He said. "The artificial strangulation, scratched, superficial wounds. All the torture."

Y/N blinked as Wooyoung pulled on the metal bar. It slid back to show a woman.

"This is Kim Jisoo," He said. "She was one of the three that had a gunshot wound somewhere. "

Y/N could feel her body twist and turn as she stared at the decaying body.

"Most of them have a few weird similarities," He said. "Her legs are more decayed than her torso and face"

She followed his movements. She didn't even want to think about what she was staring at.

"I would say all victims were put in a freezer or high tech cooling system to keep them as fresh as possible. The killer pulled them out and placed them in different areas" He said. "As simple as that"

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Wouldn't it decay anyways?"

"Yeah" He shrugged. "But it would be slowed down significantly"

Y/N looked down again.

"A year old corpse can remain completely intact?" She asked, her gaze going up to him.

"For the most part..." He trailed off as he noticed where she was going.

He straightened up. His shoulders tensed up. Oh... no...

"The body, if untouched, will remain intact," He said.

Why did she see San talking? Why was it so similar?

"What is your timeline then?" She asked, her eyes lost.

"Lily, Jisoo, Emma, one of the Lee twins, Feng, The other twin and so on." He said.

Y/N nodded.

"Did you get a match on the Jane Doe?" She said.

Her stomach began to turn as she finally focused on Jisoo. Her face was white, decorated with patches of red, purple and even black. Her hair frail as the marks of the wires was still present on the soft skin of her neck. She wanted to reach out and touch, but she knew the urge was much different this time. This fascination was becoming too-

"Samantha Lee," He said loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "The second random kill"

Y/N blinked a few times. Another body had been pulled out. A woman with purple hair, similar to Wooyoung's. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yoonhee Park was also nicely sliced apart," He said suddenly. "Found that she is missing an organ or two. The liver and a lung"

Y/N nodded.

"The change that no one understands" She mumbled. "What about the second Jane Doe?"

"No match" He shrugged.

She wanted to ask and tell, but Yeosang's face came to mind.

That's it. Yeosang.

Her eyes went wide as she made her way towards him.

"Bakery boy," She said. "There is a flower shop in front"

Wooyoung frowned.

"Let me see the woman's body, I think I have a match," she said.

He blinked a few times. She could see his eyes roam as he was considering his next move.

A sigh escaped his lips as he pulled on another handle. Orange hair spilled from the side as a small delicate frame outlined the horror that was the face and jaw. Y/N could feel her throat squeeze itself shut.

"I think we have a match" She tried to say.

Wooyoung suddenly held onto her arm.

"Where and how did you find out about Yeosang?" He said. His gaze was sharp and his grip was firm. He was clearly mad and he was not trying to hide it one bit.

"San told me," She said, swallowing. "He gave me the lead, but fooled the police."

"Fooled?"

"Took them across the street," She said, trying to pry her arm out of his grip.

"How did you convince him?" He asked, bringing her closer.

"I asked and he said yes. I didn't bribe him or force him" She said. "You can ask him yourself"

She pulled herself away.

"As you seem to all know each other," She said, beginning her way out.

"Wait," He said, holding onto her wrist. "We are not in good terms"

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows. She turned her body slowly towards him. His eyes were low as his chest heaved. But his shoulders were still high.

"We were such good friends but my work drove us apart" His shoulders slumped slightly. "Couldn't keep up with him"

Y/N sighed, pulling her wrist out of his hold.

"He told me you all were friends. All of you" He didn't look up as she spoke.

She took a step forward.

"I'm here to solve a case" She muttered. "And maybe help your friendship"

Wooyoung straightened up. He shook his head as a bitter smirk made its way to his lips.

"San did this right?" She said before he could get another word out. "Maybe figuring it all out can give you your time back to seeing him as a friend. Not a foe"

"You don't know what happened," He said in a low tone.

His gaze pierced through her. He could see everything about her just by staring for long enough.

"And you won't ever know" He warned.

Is that a threat?

"I'm getting there," She said, standing her ground. "You don't scare me. Not when I have seen so much"

She looked away and back to the bodies.

"The families deserve an answer, just like most of you all," She said. "Someone has to tell the truth at some point, Wooyoung"

"There is no lie if it never happened"

"There always is," She said.

She inhaled before walking away, the smell of the lab staying with her for a while as she walked out to the building.

Thoughts flooded her senses as she neared her home. The case, his words, her assumptions. Was she right? Did she really figure out the outline of this whole thing? Was she getting closer or was she getting farther away?

The murders all pointed to San, no matter how much she tried. But something didn't sit well. It was straight forward? Yes. He killed 13 women over the span of a year, leaving their bodies out from a freezer until found. Changed his methods three times, but followed what happened in his own mother's case. Then, what was it?

The rest.

The 8 people that just seem to have a little too much leverage on the entire ordeal. The denied evidence. The somehow stupid way people missed so much evidence. What made this try different? What had she done that no one else did?

She lifted her eyes only to see her apartment building. A sense of familiarity and warmth began to take over her chest as she came closer. She went up and came to her door.

The keys didn't rattle as she opened the door softly.

"She is way too good Mingi," Irene said sternly. "She has a thick skin. She is not falling for his tricks"

She paused. Her heart stopped and her mouth ran dry. What?

"Don't you think I know that?" Mingi said, followed by a groan. "Why didn't I see Professor James' move?"

"Dr. Song tried his best to keep her out, but she is too good for the administration to pass by" Irene replied.

She took cautious steps closer to her friend's door.

"No one would pass up an opportunity to solve one of the weirdest cases in the history of this town" The bed creaked as Mingi spoke.

Was she hearing right? Or was this yet another act? But... Irene too?

"She got to Yeosang? Are you fully sure?" Irene asked.

Y/N's blood ran cold as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Jongho told me," Mingi said.

"Are we on the green then?" Irene asked.

"No, Irene, no," Mingi said. "I may have my duty but I'm not killing my best friend nor sending her back to that awful home"

"Then what do we do?" She asked.

Y/N could only feel herself crumble into pieces. She had no one now... huh.

"I'll have to talk to San," Mingi said in a somber tone. He didn't want to?

"San is not part of the plan," Irene said.

"Our fucking best friend wasn't either!" Mingi exclaimed. "She didn't choose to be put in this, but she took the opportunity! Anyone fucking would!"

"Mingi!" Irene exclaimed. "Calm down, she will be home soon"

A sob was suddenly heard. Was one of them crying?

"She has done so much for us and here we are. Trying to see how we rip her out this case" He said with a long sigh.

"Y/N could bring an empire down if she really wanted to" Irene muttered. "She's amazing"

"But we have something to keep," He said. "And I'm not sure if I can break my promise"

Irene sighed.

"So you are ruining another friendship over this one?"

"I'm saving her life," He said. "Better we do something before Seonghwa does"

Y/N could feel the hot tears run down her cheeks.

"Or worse, Hongjoong. I have no idea of what he is capable of" Mingi said.

A silence took over the room and Y/N straightened up. She let out a shaky breath before silently walking out the apartment, her heart in complete pieces.