case 143 | lee felix

7. bali

FELIX

"Are you okay?" Hwayoung asks me, eyeing my shaky hands. We had just boarded the flight and the jitters were getting to me.

"Yeah, take off's just get me nervous for no reason," I sheepishly say. Way to go, Lee Felix! Always embarrassing yourself in front of the one person you like.

She chuckles, but not in condescension. The plane was slowly making turns before gradually speeding and soaring off the runway. I shut my eyes tightly, fingers gnawing at the peeling fabric on the armrest. I suddenly feel warmth and I open my eyes a crack to see that she had placed her hand on top of mine, blushing and looking away. Unknowingly, a small grin creeps up my face.

"Excuse me? I'm so sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice how cute you two are. Are you newlyweds?" An old woman sitting on the same row as us asks, a polite smile resting on her features. We look at each other in surprise, blushing at the sudden question.

"That's so sweet of you," Hwayoung says, offering her a sugary smile. "And yes, we did get married recently. We were dating for four years till he proposed a few months back."

They make small talk for a while till the lady apologizes for cutting short the conversation because it was time for her sleep medications. She turns to me, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"Oh my God, I was not prepared for all those questions," she says, bringing a hand to her chest.

"You sounded like you had my whole proposal story learnt by heart," I tease her, wiggling my eyebrows.

"It's called improvising, so called 'real detective.'" She shows her tongue at me.

"How would she even know if we recently got married?" I think out loud.

"In case you forgot, we are travelling on a honeymoon package thanks to our lovely IT head."

"Right," I say in realization. A few moments of silence pass till I speak again.

"Hey, is it just me or do you think both the cases are connected?"

"Which two cases?" She asks.

"The gas station and the diner. It's really suspicious that this town hasn't had a single case of arson in the last three decades, and two of them spring up out of nowhere in the span of weeks," I point out.

"You're right. I've been thinking about that too. And such morbid crimes are rare here. I'm convinced that the same person was behind both of them, but that's just gut feeling and there's no actual evidence to back it up. Other than the similar lighters at both places, but I can't tell if that counts for anything because it could be a coincidence too. Somehow it makes the case all the more complex."

"I don't see any explicit reason why these murders took place. I could only sense some purpose in Jake's kidnapping, because the criminal went above and beyond to cover it up. The rest of the murders at the diner seem like they were done because they obstructed the abduction process." We discuss the case for a while till the food arrives.

HWAYOUNG

This. Is. A. Disaster.

"SEO CHANGBIN YOU MOTHERFU-"

"Woah, calm down. What happened?" Felix asks. We had just checked into our hotel room and it was bad enough that we were invited by a bed full of roses.

"I trusted that fraud to get our clothes here by the time we landed! Look at this!" I say hysterically, pointing at the revealing night dress and robe folded neatly on the couch.

"Oh..."

"What am I going to do? I only packed a pair of clothes to wear outside tomorrow." I rake my fingers through my hair in frustration. It was really stupid of me to pack that light, but in my defense we were so late we literally had to run to catch our flight.