Criminal || Hwang Hyunjin ✔️

3.

When Hyunjin returned, Bang Chan followed close behind him, Changbin on his tail.
"Ah Y/N! What did you find?" Detective Chan asked, running up to me.

"A weapon, I would assume.. and a message.." I said, passing Han's bloodied phone to him.
"A threat? Well, we'll be focusing on this killer as much as the other one. What about the weapon?" He asked.

I picked the large rock up again. "It's covered in blood. I reckon it may have fingerprints on it. It's worth a try. To my estimation, they would have dragged the victim out here once he had died of blood loss, hence the trail of blood," I said, flipping the rock in my hands. "Then they would have smashed in his bones with this, attempting to follow the method of our original murderer." I explained.

"That would make sense. Alright, bag the stone up and we'll take it back to the office. I'll bag up the phone. We've found a few hairs, too." Detective Chan said, passing me a samples bag.
I placed the rock inside, holding it from the bottom as I placed it in the trunk of the car.

"Hey, Y/N?" Hyunjin asked me.
"Mhm?" I responded, scribbling a note on the bag in black marker.
"What if this isn't a copycat.. like what if it was the real deal? Maybe he just ran out of time or something.. you know, to do the job properly?" Hyunjin stated.

"That could be a possibility, but I doubt it. The killer we're used to dealing with rips his victims apart while they're still alive. This victim was tormented after he passed." I said. "The autopsy showed that. I understand where you're coming from though."

"I just- Y/N can I be honest with you." He asked, looking at me with down eyes, his hair spilling in his face.

"Yeah, of course." I turned to face him. "Hyunjin, are you okay?" I asked, noticing his trembling, his lip quivering.
As he looked up at me, I saw his eyes glisten, with fear.
He was scared.

"Y/N.. I'm terrified.. they've already came after one of us.. what if someone else is hurt next.. they did threaten us, didn't they? I don't want anyone else getting hurt.. what if we lose Detective Chan? Or any of the others.. or what if they hurt you?" He cried, his head dropping onto my shoulder.

"Hey hey.. it's okay..." I said, wrapping my arms around him. "Everyone will be safe.. don't worry. We'll catch this person. In return, I'll keep you safe, okay?" I said, pulling away to look into his face.

He sniffled, before smiling slightly. "Yeah, you're right.."
He hugged me tightly. "Stay safe, Y/N, please."
I felt a sense of déjà vu course through me, as the words replayed in my head.

"Stay safe, Y/N." Han said, driving off.

"Yeah.. I will..." I said. "I'm sorry Han.." I whispered.
Hyunjin let me go, looking at me with confusion. "Hm?"
"It's nothing. Come on, the others are waiting inside, we still have some more examining to do." I said, dragging him inside.

"Alright Y/N, can you take these bags to the car. Hyunjin, help us in here to collect a blood sample from the floor." Changbin said, passing a bag with a strand of hair inside, as well as a bag with a bloodied fork.

"Alright." I said, walking off back outside to the car, placing them in the back. "Don't worry, Han, we'll get them for you." I whispered, looking up at the pale sky, clouds rolling in like grey snakes, twisting in patterns, threatening to cover the only blue patch in the faded sky.
The other members of the team came out shortly, putting the last of the specimens in the trunk, before hopping in the car, and driving off.
I sat in silence, watching as the buildings rolled by.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us. The other members are still looking at the jaw breakers specimens, and we have these ones for our copycat. Most likely, the jawbreaker will kill someone again tonight, so we have our work paved out for us." Detective Chan said.

"I've got an extra house available if anyone wants to come stay there, incase.. they come after us again... it's my grandparents house, and they're on holiday, so we can stay there for now." He added, looking at me through the rear view mirror.
"I'd rather stay at home. My pets won't feed themselves." I said.
"You can bring them with you." Detective Chan suggested.
"No, really I'm alright. I doubt this person is going to come after us again, anyway." I said, as if to assure myself.
"Alright. The offers always open." Detective Chan said, as we pulled up at the office.
We removed all the specimens from the car, and begun our work.
After over an hour or two, we finally started seeing something.

"The phone.. there's lacerations in its side. Lots of fingerprints, too. Not Han's fingers, that's for sure. Over every letter in the keyboard. The blood, it's fresh." I said, examining the scraped blood under a microscope.
"What do you mean fresh?" Jeongin asked.
"It's newer than when we predicted the victim died. The murderer must be injured. He must've came back to write this message." I explained.
"The fingerprints on the rock match as well. If we send this out to the labs, they'll be able to run a DNA test, and figure out traits our murderer. Gender specifically anyway. Maybe ethnicity, as well." I said, placing the rock and phone into a container.
"We can send the hair in for DNA sampling, too. It's definitely a human hair." Lee Know said, placing the bag inside.

"I'll drop this off to the lab on my way home." Seungmin said, grabbing the container.
"I'll see you guys later." He said with a wave.
"Well, my shifts over too. I'll see you all tomorrow." I said, packing my things as I stood up and left.
When I got home, I dropped my bag, and fell to my knees as I shut the door.
It was the first time I was alone all day.
All I wanted to do was cry.
So I did. My heart ached, my breathing in slow pants as the tears dribbled endlessly down, like waterfalls.
"Han, I miss you so much.." I whispered to myself, hiding my head in my knees.
I sat there crying for so long.
I was only pulled out of my mess of a state when my phone began to vibrate.

I pulled it from my pocket, looking at the contact.
Incoming call from Seungmin
I picked up. "Seungmin?"
No noise from his side. Maybe it was an accident.
Then I heard a gut wrenching scream, and the sound of crunching.
I stood up quickly, running outside with my car keys.
I drove as fast as I could to his house.
I wasn't going to lose another friend.