KILL THIS LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 78

Jennie

"Lieutenant Jang presided over a press conference earlier this afternoon, where more details of the Cho Mi-yeon murder were brought into light. Miss Cho's larynx has been reported by the coroner to have been cut out post mortem, and the actual cause of death being trauma to the head by an unknown blunt forced object.."

I furrowed my brows in perplexity. That was strange. That's not her M.O.

"What's an M.O.?"

I turned to the direction of the voice, "Oh, did I say that out loud?"

Jin-goo the clerk nodded plainly, his attention seemed to having been focused on the screen, as he stood sprawled back behind the counter. Thankfully he didn't seem to have caught the entirety of my sentence.

"It's short for modus operandi."

"Huh?"

I couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that, "It's uh.. Well, it's basically how a criminal works. Their patterns or rituals, to put it simply."

He mumbled a small 'oh' and changed the channel to football.

"You're studying that right, what's it called? Criminal justice or something?"

"Criminal psychology." I corrected, as I put in the last of the books on the shelf.

"Yeah, I didn't even know that was a thing. So what are you gonna do for a living kid? Spend your life psycho-babbling some low lives in prison?" He tore his eyes away from the screen, looking at me.

From the 15 months that I had worked at the store, I'd concluded that Jin-goo was a man of few words, not the inquisitive kind. This was the probably the most we have spoken to one another in a single piece of conversation, ever.

And he of all people, was asking me the question I should have asked myself, the minute I applied for the Doctor Sang Min Whang Scholarship for Criminal Psychology at Seoul National University.

"I..don't know yet. I haven't really thought about it." I answered candidly, caught off guard a bit.

When Jin-goo didn't respond to my answer, eyes still glued to the match, I walked up to counter.
"I'm done." He tore his gaze away from the screen, to steal a glimpse at the shelf, acknowledging me with a curt nod.

I grabbed my bag, tugging a windswept piece of hair behind my ears, as I took my leave. It was seven in the evening, just minutes before the night would inevitably fall. Darkness would creep over every little nook and cranny in Seoul. Perfect time for a prey to be hunted.

My fingers involuntarily brushed my jacket, just where the heart in a human body is, perhaps in an odd attempt to comfort myself. This is a full-of-people college campus, there is no way she'd come here, I told myself.

The wind rustled harder, forcing me to pull my jacket more stringently close around my body. It was then that there was a distinct sharp sound from behind me, a soft snap, the kind that comes from twigs being crushed under the weight of someone's foot.

I stopped dead in my tracks. My lungs tightened, almost. My legs, although rooted to the spot, were unmistakably shaking. Was this it? My inexorable end? With the shred of will that was left in my body, I turned around. My eyes widened in confusion, but a sigh of multitudinous relief was quick to follow.

I virtually fell on my knees, thanking God that it wasn't my worst nightmare. Two unfamiliar figures made their way towards me. As they got into my vicinity, I could clearly see them now. One was a burly, but good looking woman, the other was a tanned man with a handsome face.

"Jennie Kim?" The man called out to me.

I was baffled, the scepticism in my voice the proof as I answered, "Y... yes?"

They now stood directly in front of me, the man taking a step forward, as they both flashed me a familiar badge, "We're from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency."

Shit, my conscience went into a frenzy.

"I'm Sergeant Cha Seung Won," He then pointed towards the woman beside him, "That's my partner Detective Kim Hye-soo." He then looked at me in the eye, "We have some questions for you Miss Kim, you'll have to come with us to the station."