Pre-Session 4 [Part 1]

It felt like drowning without water. Suffocating with her airways open. The sounds of children screaming in pain seemed to reply in her head increasing in volume with every passing second. Her hands were clammy and sticky as she felt warmer and warmer. The tears seemed to burn her skin as she fought to block out her step father's-

Phone ringing. A phone was ringing.

Y/N shot her eyes open as she looked around. She reached for the pocket of her jeans, only to pause as she noticed the attire she had gone into the session with. A pair of jeans and a black shirt. Great.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and cleared her throat, keeping herself as composed as possible.

She pressed the phone against her ear, the coldness of the screen bringing her some type of weird comfort.

"Hello?" She said softly.

"Y/N?" Her mom's voice came through the line as her heart shot up in relief.

"Mom!" She exclaimed as she pushed herself off the floor. "Hi! How are you? How's Aaron?"

"We are doing great honey, don't worry," She said.

Y/N paused. Too flat.

A sigh went past her lips. "Is Aaron out of the hospital yet?"

"Yes" Her mom answered a few seconds of silence.

"Mom, please don't lie to me" She begged as her chest squeezed her heart. It felt like her lungs were pressing against her ribs, causing dents on the flesh.

"I'm not sweetie. I promise" She said is a much lighter tone, which seemed to release the air from her lungs.

"Well, when can I drive up to see my little brother?" She asked as she neared the sink. "I really want to see him"

The line suddenly filled with ruffling and movement before it went silent.

"Mom?" She said, her eyes wide in wonder.

"There are two things we left clear once you left the house Y/N" Her step father's rough voice came through the line, filling her veins with liquefied anger. "You are not coming down here anytime soon"

She took a deep breath.

"Why not Allan? He is my little brother, I deserve to know about his well being and health. Plus I won't be going anywhere near your home" She said calmly.

"I don't want you coming down here with your overblown accusations on my family," He said.

Y/N scoffed. "So I'm not part of the family? You are taking it to far Allan, you need to let me see my brother at least once a year. I haven't seen my mother for as long as you have forbidden it!"

Her frustration mixed with desperation at his attempts to take her away from her family. She had studied cases like this one before, she knew how bad the situation can get.

"You still speak to her on the phone" He interjected.

"Allan, I've had enough," She said. "Fuck off. I don't care if you are married to my mother, you have no right to separating a family that is already in shambles. My mom asked for me to call as a measure of keeping her updated on my life over here. I do dangerous work to feed my actual family your overgrown ass"

Her words came out of her like fire. She knew it was a gamble as to what he would do and to whom, so she just hoped it would not end up in a physical fight. Maybe better if he passed out from alcohol intake.

"You come down here and your mom is suffering the consequences." He said. "You changed Aaron's perspective on anything and he is getting a piece of it too. So you are the one that needs to fuck off"

The line went dead as Y/N let out a scream. She hated her short interactions with her actual family. She wanted to hold her mom and brother and give them a better choice than the man sitting with them on the same dinner table.

Her heart shattered as images of what could happen to her mom roamed through her eyes.

She let out a few breaths before closing her eyes.

"I have to leave it be for now" She mumbled to herself. "You will get them out"

She let out a sigh, before opening the door and going down the long hallway towards the little room where the four individuals discussed the entire session.

She walked in, only to notice Detective Park and the rookie sitting down on a few chairs as her friends, boss, and teacher discussed something she really didn't want to know about. For now.

The officers stood up as a sign of respect as she bowed her head. She neared one of the tables, with the detective close by.

"I will jump straight to the point if you don't mind," He said calmly.

Y/N's eyes went wide as she nodded, not getting used to the man's bluntness yet.

"Since we have new leads, we will be taking all the information with us." He said. "However, we will work alongside you and your team"

Y/N nodded. Something about his stance made her feel small. Yes, he was tall and all, but Mingi was a skyscraper and he didn't make her feel like that at all.

"This is my partner, Choi Jongho." The rookie bowed his head.

Y/N did the same with a small smile as her fight or flight response was ready to pounce.

"He will be working with us out in the field." He said pulling out a pen and a notepad.

He scribbled quickly before ripping the piece of paper out and handing it to her.

"We will be interviewing whoever San mentions and it's a good idea to start with the florist," He said.

Y/N grabbed the piece of paper, not sure of where this was going.

"We will like for you to come with us," He said.

Her eyes went wide for a seconds before going back to their normal size.

"Sure, detective," she said.

"Will you be coming by again tomorrow?" He asked. His tone changed. His words changed. He was talking informally.

"I think I will have to," She said looking over at the group that seemed in another world at the moment. "If it's not too bothersome"

"Not at all," He said with a charming smile.

He took a glance at the screens, his jaw tightening slightly, before looking back at her.

"See you tomorrow then," He said as he went past her and towards the door, Jongho right at his heels.

Something didn't sit right in her stomach as the list of people around the case increased.

"It's too much of a coincidence right?" She muttered to herself.

"Y/N!" Irene exclaimed.

The smell of oranges hit her nose as Irene came rushing to her.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?" She asked, Mingi walking in closely.

"I'm fine," She said with a big smile. "He didn't do anything"

"I congratulate you Miss Y/L/N" Dr. Song suddenly said from where he stood. "You managed to get a rather calculated response out of him"

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"How?" Professor James asked.

Her excitement fell slightly as she took a deep breath.

"He created his version of me that he could piece together from what I told him. I barely gave him information, but he did hit a couple of nerves." She explained. "His response was based on the one thing he could lash onto perfectly."

She looked at the frozen image of the sitting in front of one another.

"How similar we seem to be," She said as her heart dropped.

She didn't want to believe it herself, but it seemed to be more and more true as she looked back at every interaction they had.

"It's a collective response. He thinks a version of himself is making the questions. As a result, he believes he can break through the glass easily" Professor James muttered as he looked at Dr. Song. "Want to fire my student Song or is she good enough?"

Dr. Song raised an eyebrow.

"She is getting close, but one more physical reaction and I'm not letting her inside that room ever again," He said, looking at Y/N.

She nodded.

"We are dealing with the denial and cooldown. He will interact quietly unless we find something out in the meantime" She said.

Her friends nodded before all of them left the room.

"Is that the detective's number?" Irene asked.

Mingi and Y/N paused before looking at her with wide eyes.

"What?" She said holding their gazes of disbelief. "Wasn't he cute?"

The judging duo shared a look before shrugging.

Y/N knocked on the glass door softly. Three people were currently in the room. Detective Park leaning against the table. Officer Choi checking a few papers. And a mystery person looking through the pictures and taking notes.

The detective was the first one to hear it as he straightened up and walked towards the door.

All of them were wearing casual outfits. Jeans, a few turtlenecks and black shoes. Y/N swallowed.

"Welcome," Detective Park said with a smile as he gestured her in.

"Thank you," she said bowing her head as the other two gentlemen stood up to greet her.

"Jung Wooyoung," the mystery man said as he extended his hand. His smile was enchanting as it pulled up her own.

"Y/N Y/L/N," She said softly as she shook his hand.

"I'm the assigned medical examiner on the case. If that's needed information" He said, his smile never leaving his face.

His excitement seemed quite refreshing after the whirlpool of chaos that she had been living the last couple of hours.

She nodded.

She pulled out a chair as she sat down. She came in "lightweight", as they called it in her class. No big notepad. No professional attire. After all, they were going to have a conversation with a florist, not Mr. Choi.

"Can I offer you a cup of water? Coffee?" Detective Park said.

She shook her head. "No, thank you."

It felt so much different. When she was sitting in the same place a day before, it felt suffocating, under lasers, but now the man was loose and not so guarded up as per se. Even the other two were relaxed. As if it was more of a group project than a murder investigation. She really was not sure how to feel about it.

"I will begin if you don't mind detective," Dr. Jung said as he looked up.

Y/N blinked a few times as her confusion began to show.

"Well, I was tasked with revising most of the reports made on the bodies and I found discrepancies. Your theory of a full year, a victim a month, fitted much better than 6 months total." He said calmly. "I checked and the timeline is still a pretty hard thing to get by"

Y/N frowned for a moment, her gaze falling on the table. A photo of one of the victims before the murder was clear and crisp. The woman was smiling happily as she hugged a man. Lili Lordford and Kim Hongjoong.

"I rearranged it, but it's hard to say. I will be moving it around a lot more once I get the lab results" He handed her a piece of paper.

A neat list of names was accompanied by handwritten times and even dates. She could guess they were mostly speculation.

"I went on the field under Dr. Song request and I found a few notable names," Officer Choi said as he handed her a neat file.

She opened it carefully as a set of profiles appeared in small sections. Names that didn't seem to stand out were printed into the paper.

"And I found this" Detective Park said as a picture came into view. It was someone's records. Mostly in another language, that she could be familiar with, but it was too blurry.

"We found a match to flower on one of the Jane Doe's hands. It was an Azalea" Dr. Jung said.

"I looked into our database and nothing came up." He said. "A friend of mine found this photo in one of the evidence boxes once I went down there"

"As for who she is, no clue," Officer Choi said.

Y/N absorbed the information, keeping quiet. She knew something about this was way too natural. Yes, they could have worked together before, but it stuck way too nice for it to just be professional business only.

"We also went over the recordings of your sessions," Detective Park said, surprisingly attentive to see her reaction.

She nodded as she looked through the file with billions of names on it.

"All the information we could get was tested and it seems to be fitting our new hypothesis," He said.

She nodded, finally looking up. Feeling small was not her favorite pastime. All three gazes held a power she knew she couldn't beat. It made her feel watched and looked over. The entire idea of casual interaction right out the window with extreme force.

She lowered her eyes again before clearing her throat.

"What about alibis?" She asked.

"Pardon?" Detective Park said.

Only then did she notice where he was standing. A few inches away from her with crossed arms.

"I spoke with Lili Lordford's boyfriend a while ago. I never got a confirmation of his alibi" She said looking at the two men sitting in front of her. She really didn't want to look at the detective for long periods of time. The man was intimidating and, with Irene's comments the entire ride back to their apartment, she was really not sure how to feel about it all.

"Kim Hongjoong?" Officer Choi asked as he looked at the detective.

"He was confirmed abroad during the estimated time of the murder. But she is now the first victim.." He trailed off.

"So he has no alibi," Y/N said as she looked at the table once more.

"Pretty much," Dr. Jung said.

A phone ringing suddenly made Y/N jump out of her thought. Dr. Jung moved quickly as he excused himself out of the room.

"It's almost lunch break" The detective suddenly said. "We have to get going"

Y/N blinked before realizing where they were going.

"Twenty-minute drive detective," Officer Choi said.

"I drive" He answered as he opened the door, gesturing for her to leave first.

She gave him a small smile as something didn't quite fit the narrative.

The walk all the way to the very nice looking car went in a blur for her. Something about it all was bugging her.

"Quick question: Is there a list of visitors for Mr. Choi?" She asked once the elevator opened.

"It was prohibited for his case" Officer Choi answered.

The car beeped open as the officer opened the door for her.

"Thanks," She said as she got in.

Once everyone was settled in and the car was on its way, she began to feel rather uncomfortable with the entire thing.

Her stomach rumbled softly, taking her back to reality. A small part of herself seemed to remember the small note of 'Bakery' in her notes.

"Umm..." She hummed, feeling her cheeks grow warm. "Is there any place around here that sells food? A bakery? A restaurant?"

Her voice was small, showing her embarrassment.

"There is a coffee shop across the street" The officer answered.

"And a bakery next door" Detective Park said.

Surprisingly, both of their demeanors were pretty fluid. The casual feel was there somehow.

"Thanks," She said as her mind roamed over a few questions that she really didn't expect to think of.

Her senses could tell that this mess of a web of his case was just growing messier.