Fatal Trouble | Y.Jw

| 13 |

Jungwon was staring at the noticeboard. A stack of new clues lying on the round table behind him. Time and time again his eyes darted around on the board and he continued to pick at his lips. 

Not even someone hammering their fist on the door made him flinch. He instead ignored it regardless of how long the hammering continued.

"Open the damn door you fools!" Jiyeon yelled from the other side and hammered her fist another few times before Jungwon sighed and wandered over to open the door and immediately, "hell? I've been knocking for a good five minutes now!"

"Hammering or fighting the door would be a more appropriate term to use," Jungwon remarked as Jiyeon dropped her bag by the table and immediately flipped through the file she had carried under her arm.

"Book club was cancelled today for some reason, but I did get that list for you," Jiyeon sighed and grabbed out the stack of papers that had been stapled together, "chronological order, dead or alive and alphabetic... one page one year."

"I told you to get the list, not kill a whole rainforest," Jungwon remarked and Jiyeon just stared at the back of his head for a few good seconds before he slowly turned around, "I mean... thank you. Just put them on the table."

"Nuh-uh, you know that's not how this works," Jiyeon shook her head and dropped the now empty file on the table to make enough noise for Jungwon to turn around and look at her, "I wanna know."

"Know what?" Jungwon frowned.

"For a starter, why the hell is this apartment so empty?" Jiyeon questioned.

"Heeseung and Jake abandoned the case. Some bigger one back home," Jungwon waved it off.

"I'm sorry-"

"I know," Jungwon hummed with a small nod, "thing is... this case is not gonna get solved unless I'm on it. Here I am, stuck. And that's even with a fresh body in the morgue!"

"Should I leave?" 

"What?" Jungwon frowned and looked back up at Jiyeon.

"Should I leave?" she repeated.

"God no. I need someone here to hear how incredibly brilliant I am," Jungwon waved it off, only earning an arched eyebrow from Jiyeon.

"Not gonna work on me suit boy," Jiyeon shook her head casually and waved the stack of stapled papers about, "tell me about the murder today."

"Campus. Auditorium. Two weeks," Jungwon shortly replied.

"Two weeks?" Jiyeon frowned, "two weeks for what?"

"I don't know!" Jungwon exclaimed in frustration before noticing the tired look on Jiyeon's face, "I don't know..." he murmured as a correction, "nothing is making sense in my head right now... nothing. My head is all wrong, it is not working," he complained and casually picked up the mug on the table and downed whatever liquid was in it.

"Alcohol is not gonna make you think clearer," Jiyeon remarked and Jungwon glanced over at her, "I don't smell tea or coffee. The sink has clearly not been used for a good while, if even at all while you've stayed here. I think that's a sticky fingerprint on the side of the mug? Water is sticky? Mm, no honey. Alcohol is."

"You're learning," Jungwon remarked and Jiyeon glanced from the mug and back up at his face, "we have used the sink."

"Just a guess," Jiyeon shrugged.

"And the alcohol helps me think," Jungwon excused before extending his hand towards Jiyeon.

"How are the victims killed?" Jiyeon questioned and held back the list for longer, "Detective Ahn says it's natural. How come people die naturally under suspicious circumstances?"

"Because it's not natural," Jungwon sighed and Jiyeon arched a brow, "I can't tell you-"

"I can't give you the list," Jiyeon shrugged casually and started to pick up the file again to tuck away the list.

"It's scary-"

"I have lived in a tiny town where people have been murdered mysteriously for the past year. Do not come here and tell me what is scary and what is not," Jiyeon sternly warned.

"It is scary because, unlike the blood we see on murder scenes, this one is clean and without many traces of the murder. It is scary because in theory the murders could have been overlooked," Jungwon pointed out.

"Tell me, what do they do?" Jiyeon questioned loudly and Jungwon kept staring at her before simply shaking his head, "Why can't you-"

"Because they know we're investigating and we must be close," Jungwon calmly pointed out, "I doubt Detective Ahn would appreciate it if I accidentally end up putting his transcriber in any danger."

"Alright..." Jiyeon murmured and wandered up to the board and looked at the clues he had put up, "I'm gonna give you one thing I think is pretty damn right and you try and tell me why it isn't?"

"Oh, yeah?" Jungwon asked in amusement, watching as Jiyeon turned to the board and started scanning every bit.

"Alright... two weeks? It said two weeks," Jiyeon calmly stated, "it's the first message that's been left at a body-"

"So they know we're investigating," Jungwon hummed with a small nod.

"So they're playing a game with you," Jiyeon corrected calmly, "two weeks. Two weeks to solve the case. They gave you the last victim to use."

"And if the two weeks run out?" Jungwon hummed.

"Next victim," Jiyeon murmured, "supposedly one that would frustrate you I suppose. That's the only way I could imagine them trying to make it funny... but what do I know? I'm just some stupid university student that barely makes a living on transcribing for you star detective am I not?" she questioned casually and slammed the list against Jungwon's chest as he quickly flickered his eyes around on the board, "I should get going I have an early lecture-"

"Oh... I see..." Jungwon murmured before slowly starting to snicker and casually letting the list fall to the ground, "oh you're brilliant Young," Jungwon continued getting a frown from Jiyeon.

"I just took the most logical explanation," Jiyeon frowned.

"Yeah, but you're so brilliantly logical," Jungwon grinned widely before rushing over and grabbing a small notepad quickly scribbling a note down to himself, "of course, it's a time limit! What's even more important... I know exactly where and when the next murder will be. And well... also the victim."

"How in the world did you-" Jiyeon started in confusion, "do you even know anyone outside of the police station."

"Don't have to," Jungwon happily replied before looking over at her, "it's the most obvious victim of them all. Would you like me to walk you home Miss Young?"

"Oh no... my bike is-" Jiyeon started and Jungwon waved it off, rushing over to grab his coat.

"No, no. I insist. I need to drop by the police station anyway. After that brilliancy, it's the least I can do."

It wasn't exactly like she could stop him from walking her home. Especially not when he had insisted on pulling her bike for her. That made it near impossible for her to jump on it and bike away.