APRICITY | SKZ

11 - The Siren pt.2 | L.MH

As fate wanted, the next day, Minho met Jia at the same bar during the same time again. And the day after that as well, and the day after that, and the day after that, and so on until they've been seeing each other enough for him to man up and finally ask her out.

Their routine for the past three months has been the same:
He arrived, had a glass of whiskey as they chatted before he dropped her off at her home and left.

Today was a bit different, though.

They were in the same car, and he was driving her; the only difference was that this time he was driving her to their date.

They were mostly quiet, brief chitter chatter breaking the silence. It took a lot of convincing for Minho to make her agree. Obviously, they enjoyed each other's company a lot the past few months, but for some reason, when he asked whether he could take her out, something within her switched.

Jia wasn't sweet and smiley anymore; no, she turned dead silent and simply stared at him. That was until he averted his eyes, apologizing. She felt bad, so she stated her conditions instead, and even though it was her who indirectly agreed, she kept making the conditions more and more specific and harder to fulfill.

One part of her wanted to give him a chance after seeing his eyes light up and gleam when she agreed.
T̶h̶e̶ o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ p̶a̶r̶t̶ w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ r̶i̶p̶ h̶i̶s̶ s̶k̶i̶n̶ i̶n̶t̶o̶ s̶h̶r̶e̶d̶s̶ a̶n̶d̶ s̶m̶e̶a̶r̶ h̶i̶s̶ b̶l̶o̶o̶d̶ a̶l̶l̶ o̶v̶e̶r̶ t̶h̶e̶ w̶a̶l̶l̶s̶.

Currently, they were seated at the table of one of the most prestigious and fancy restaurants Jia had ever dared to step foot in.

He must have a lot of money.

Her sharp eyes watched him as he tugged at his collar, gulped, and looked around. His hands kept fumbling with everything in reach: his phone, his glass, the fork, the paper towels.

It was painfully obvious; he was nervous.

Jia found it borderline cute but also felt extremely bad for him, so she leaned forward and smiled at him warmly.

"I don't remember ever asking you, but what do you do as a profession?"
Indeed, it was for the very first time she ever bothered to ask him about his job.

For a mere second, he halted to look at her. His shoulders relaxed, and there was a confident beam in his eyes as he answered.

"I work for the police, I'm an inspector."

That caught her attention.

"Oh."

Jia gulped.

"So that must be why I always feel this safe around you."
She joked with a laugh.

The tips of his cheek dusted with a rosy red, his head falling back as he laughed. Minho's whole body shook as he looked at her, all of the previous nervousness gone. His mannerism seemed amused as he supported his head on top of his hands.

"Now, do I?"

"Tell me, Mr. Inspector, what cases are you working on right now?"

Minho tilted his head and acted as though he were in thought.
"That's top secret though, isn't it?"

She shrugged, leaning back with a grin.
"Of course, there's nothing I can do if you don't want to tell me."

And then she pouted, and Minho felt something within himself turn heavy.

"I don't think my current case could really interest you; it's pretty serious."
He sighed out, watching her smile finally widen.

"Nawe, please? I think policemen are hot."

He chuckled again, his front teeth flashing as he shook his head.

"They call themselves 'The Siren', we're not sure yet, but we believe they are female. She's a serial killer, a vigilante."

For a second, the world stopped breathing and Jia felt her blood freeze cold. By some miracle, her smile didn't slip, she took a big gulp of her wine and asked him with her best curiosity.
"A vigilante, you say?"

With his full confidence, Minho nodded and put his hands on his lap.
"A vigilante because her victims mainly concern criminals with past records."

She hummed.
"And why are you chasing her? She's basically doing your work."

Minho's brows furrowed, immediately sensing the underlying defensiveness in her voice.
"Because she has no right to kill those men."

"Aha."
The words came out humorless.
"I think she has, those criminals are bad excuses of men, unworthy of life."

"No one is above the law."
Minho didn't intend to spit his words out the way he did, but he couldn't help it. It felt almost as if Jia knew something, she was defending the Siren quite passionately.

"Have you ever tried talking to her? Maybe she has a reason."

"No, we haven't. There's no room for sympathy when dealing with criminals. The Siren obviously is not in a place of mind to communicate when she kills multiple people within a single night.

At this point, Jia could feel her blood boiling again and her eye twitched.
"But what if it's for a good cause? What if she kills those rapists because she was a victim herself?"

Minho could feel it-the way the air was sucked out of his lungs and his limbs turned heavy. The disbelief felt like a bitter pill on his tongue, the reality as it crashed upon him like a dagger digging right into his heart as he connected all the dots.

"I never told you they were rapists."

Silence.

"I want to go home now."

Her face was completely blank as she stood up, pushing everything aside and walking past Minho, who barely managed to catch her wrist before she could leave. His grip was strong and hurt, but she didn't allow for the pain to show on her face.

"Are you sure?"
He took a deep, hard breath and closed his eyes. His question, if anything, was more of a warning.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything?"

"Let go of me, right now."
She sneered at him with venom dripping from her voice.

All he could do was comply, allowing her to snatch her wrist from his grip and walk off with angry steps.

"I'm done here, Mr. Lee. Have a great fucking night."

For a second, all he could hear were her steps as they faded.

For a second, he felt completely defeated.

Then, he grabbed his coat and rushed out, heading towards his office.

_ _ _
Pt. 2/3

31.07.2024; 1008 words