𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒 ✦ jikook

t h i r t y . e i g h t

Jungkook's eyebrows stick together in a dark mass full of confusion at the male who is standing in front of him. Brunette hair with slightly slouched round-framed specs on the bridge of his nose, flipping the pages of the files in his hands. The orange-haired male is still in the room on the swivel chair he got for himself, insisting to help him with investigating the places, looking at them with curiosity-filled orbs. The brunette stole a glimpse of him, his lips formed into a thin line. He, too, is as frustrated as Jungkook is. The whole department trusted Jungkook in handling the case and now, he is as if pushed into a dead-end with no other witnesses and criminals. The culprits were handled by the doctors, which contains of Jin and the others who are working at the hospital and supervising the morgue. They are all killed. However, the thing which was on Jungkook's mind right now was not anything but Crow's identity.

Lisa bursted into their room a while ago, leaving nothing but Crow's true identity behind his wicked mask. The Crow was a female named Park Chaeyoung with strikingly beach wavy hair painted in a shade of crimson, her skin smooth and glistened with fueled youth - That was when she was alive and in close relations with Alice, thick as thieves to be regarded as a companion. Her alias was Rosé and what also happened, seemingly too coincidental to be true, was that Rosé was also somebody whom Jisoo met a handful of times.

"That was... weird." Jungkook finally said, breaking the tension in the room. Jimin was with Jin to get the formula for Jungkook while he stayed in the station with Taehyung and Hoseok to wait for the news from the others. Namjoon is leading the Patrol body to the drugs, carefully as he was said to handle since just one impact and the whole world is doomed thanks to his being clumsy. "I was sure that Crow's identity was male. Her voice and posture were all but feminine."

Taehyung drew out a handful of theories in his head, it might be possible but he knows he shouldn't be jumping into conclusions regarding the fact that he hadn't gathered enough information to handle the case. However, what is not impossible might be true.

"What if she is forced to do it?" Jungkook looks up at him with glassy eyes, a few strands of raven fall in his eyes and he brushes it off with his hands, continuing to hear Taehyung's hypothesis as Hoseok, still fiddling with the pen between his fingers, now trying to get closer to them with a leg pushing his swivel chair. "Did you notice any odd behaviors from the Crow? I came up with the idea that it could be true, regarding the fact one does have the capability to disguise with masks and other elements."

Jungkook recalls how the Crow's mask was completely different from the others', with all of his face hidden under one black piece of plastic - almost similar to the haze masks of the men in the room that offered Lewisite to the wealthy and the eyes before the Crow chose his path to suicide. It was nothing but filled with melancholy and almost haunting, as if the person who said the voice wasn't her, the girl with her bed of striking fame-like hair. Regarding the fact that sisters would never have a heart to mercilessly bestow upon each other the sense of betrayal and murder one with cold, blood-stained hands.

"She... did look at me with those eyes..." Jungkook trailed off, his voice barely came out as a whisper. What unraveled has became more of a riddle to solve than just simply an investigation and all that is left in Jungkook are questions fogging his mind. What was the motive behind Rosé's killing her friend after such a long time? Was she really forced to fire a bullet into her friend Alice? And the Crow he met was such a different person that he would never even think of as a young lady, regarding how successful she was acting.

"It's something so logical but illogical all the same time, Tae." Jungkook exhales a breath of air, picking up his keys and jacket as a sign he will go out of this stuffy enclosure soon. The clock's hour hand has long passed the number ten, which indicates that his shift is over.

"Jimin is on his way back the station." He heard Hoseok calls out from behind which makes him stop, the pink-haired lad never fails to make him stop everything that's happening around them to think about his eye-smile, his smooth skin, his baby-fat cheeks and his admirably strong body. "Aren't you going to wait for him though?"

"If he ever comes back here, tell him to go to your bar."

"I'm sorry for your friend," Jungkook starts off when his eyes stare down at the dark red liquid which was professionally filled in a clean wine glass. Music is blaring next to his ears and bodies are aggressively grinding on the dance floor under the colorful flashing lights. The people here seemed so care-free as they fuel themselves lungful of tobacco in the sex-drilled atmosphere. Jungkook wishes that he was in their spot, dancing the night away with nothing in their heads while eye-fucking the dancers and nothing but the image of what catches his eyes, except for the fact that he would rather him and Jimin do what he wants instead.

"It's okay, actually." Jisoo says while wiping the glasses clean, she glances at Jungkook a second after she is done pouring a shot of amber liquid - Jack Daniel's whiskey, and serves it to a man devouring a young dancer's lips in a dark murky corner. "People eventually come into your life and go out of it at the time when you least expect it to be."

Jungkook looks at her sunken eyes, bags are starting to be evident and her skin, though under the constantly changing hues, he can tell it's a shade paler than her porcelain other days prior and her eyes are fogged with nothingness, much different from the usual cheeriness she withheld. Jungkook's lips formed into a thin line as he let the music drowned them both and nibbled on the spiciness of the poured wine, he is nothing near Jimin with making conversations and he's always this awkward type of person who would stand in an unnoticeable corner at the party and observe everyone with a plastic cup of punch in his hands. Furthermore, he thinks it might be better to be silent rather than uttering nonsense words that might injure the conversed person even further.

"She's just this person who would stand in front of your house at two a.m in the morning with her homemade clam chowder all hot just because you say that you're hungry through a midnight video call." Jisoo smiled sadly at the memory of her friend standing in front of her house with a plastic bag and a smiley pink sticky note. Jungkook, sipping on his wine while hearing Jisoo telling her story. "She's just this person who would still visit you everyday, at eight forty sharp morning recess, with sometimes candies although she knew that she would have to walk very far back every time. She's just this person, who would climb inside your room through your unlocked window to play on your Nintendos or something as simple and childish as building a tent from blankets and wooden chairs." Jungkook sees tears pool on the verge of Jisoo's eyes and slowly slip down her cheeks and drop down freely, splashing on the black surface of the bartender table as reaches her hand up to wipe them off of her eyes. "She's just this person, who would willing to share your love for insects even though she would freak out every time she sees a lady bug. She's just this person, whom you would see that's too beautiful for this world, physically and mentally. She just this person..." Her voice breaks a bit when she tasted the mild saltiness and Jungkook can't help but feel sad for her "Whom would vanish off Seoul without a warning and still be back for you because fate has destined us to be together as soulmates no matter the distance.

But sadly, I only knew that after her death."

With that, Jungkook looked at Jisoo's sniffling figure , her black slightly crouches down as if the impact of the pain were heavy dumbbells which were too much for her to handle in one go. Jungkook's heart aches at the scene of seeing Jisoo's suffering from loss - a friend, a soulmate that she has been searching for too long to know how many years have passed and only comes to the end of learning that her friend attempted suicide, leaving this world in a split second with the causes of her death not determined.

"She was beautiful, even though she was flawed." Jisoo sniffled and smiled fondly at the memory of a young girl with flaming red hair. "She was mute."