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chap 9

Seokjin stares down at Namjoon's little notebook, at the way he'd scribbled down Hong Haejoo's name under the mess of roman numerals and random words. He swallows, hard, and looks up to Namjoon. "So."

"Yeah."

"The killer did leave a message. It just wasn't received," he concludes. Namjoon nods slowly and returns the book to the bookshelf, shoving it in so that it fits back into place amongst the volumes of manga. But his fingers linger along the spine of the book, and he continues to stare at it intently like he isn't done with scrutinising it. "Where did volume twenty-two go?" he asks, his brows furrowed heavily.

"Huh?"

"Volume twenty-two," Namjoon repeats, meeting his eyes. "The one that was taken out and replaced with this book," he taps along the spine. "I doubt that Jang Jaewon would've collected seventy-three out of seventy-four volumes and missed out a random one somewhere in the middle. Besides, even if he did for whatever reason, not have volume twenty-two, why would it be replaced with this book that has exactly two-hundred and sixteen pages, the same number of pages that volume twenty-two has?"

Seokjin licks his lips. "If this was any other case I would've told you that you're reading too deeply into this... but not this time. Our guy has already proved to us he's considered all details, down to a t. But... I'm drawing a blank."

"Me too," Namjoon sighs. "Is it okay if I take this book?" he pokes at the spine of it, looking at Seokjin with big, expecting eyes. "I want to cover all grounds possible. I don't want to miss another thing this bastard may have hidden."

"Let me call Yoongi and ask him," Seokjin pulls his phone out of his pocket and hits dial on Yoongi's number.

Yoongi picks up just before Seokjin has had enough of waiting and is about to hang up. "What," he snaps through the receiver, and Seokjin just presses his lips together, unimpressed.

"Hello to you, too. We found a clue here that spells out the second victim's name. I think it'd be a good idea to have a look around the second crime scene, as well."

Seokjin hears a sigh coming from Yoongi. "Fucking shit. Yeah. You can head over there now if you have time."

"Will do. I have one request," Seokjin edges in, "to take a book from the bookshelf here."

"No," Yoongi barks. "Either you read the whole damn book then and there or you buy a copy for yourself. Okay?"

Seokjin almost feels like a scolded puppy. "Okay," he concedes, a little bit hurt and a little bit embarrassed.

"Alright. Keep me posted on anything else you find, okay? We're working hard to find the guy who purchased the flowers from Floral-Lee, so you guys better put in the work, too."

"Of course, sir," Seokjin tries to laugh, but he's only met with a grunt from Yoongi, who doesn't sound amused in the slightest.

"Look out for yourself, okay?" Yoongi requests, and Seokjin just hums a noise of affirmation before he bids his farewell and hangs up. Then, he looks at Namjoon who's watching him intently and patiently.

"You can't take the book, unfortunately," Seokjin breaks the bad news to Namjoon who doesn't seem fazed at all. Instead, he just pulls out his phone and makes a note of the title, the author, before slipping it back into place. "Now what?" he asks Seokjin.

"Now, we head over to the second crime scene," Seokjin tells Namjoon as they scan the room once more for anything they might have touched and misplaced. Once he's satisfied, the two of them head out of the dorm, down the stairs, and into Seokjin's car.