SoulTies | MoonSun | Mamamoo

Chapter 2

She splashed cold water onto her face before she stood back and looked into the mirror. Moonbyul had never had the ability to appraise her own appearance. Instead her gifts were appraising other people's appearances, empathy and an obsessive, tenacious determination that required her to follow every possible outcome until, like peeling away layers of skin before hitting bone, the truth was uncovered. She turned her eye for detail onto her own image that reflected harshly in the weak bathroom light.

She had sad eyes but she didn't used to. She didn't have sad eyes before she came into contact with Ahn Hyejin. She smiled at her reflection and cringed. Who was she kidding? But she tried to make an effort.

She had on a simple black blazer and black pants with a crisp white shirt underneath. The blazer which, just over a year ago had fitted perfectly, now hung a little loose around her shoulders and waist. She had flat tied up shoes on because if she ever needed to run she couldn't do that in heels and her socks were clean at least. She appeared, to herself anyway, to look nearly normal.

She hadn't felt properly rested in over a year, she was twenty-seven but felt ten years older. She was losing a battle with sleep. She only spoke to a select few people in her life. She survived mainly on coffee and yet she appeared almost normal. Yes, she could carry this off. She could do this. She was a detective, she reminded herself.

I can bullshit magnificently.

Eight white oval pills were lined up on the back of the sink. She counted them out one last time before she nestled six of them into the pillbox, padding them carefully into the box so they wouldn't shake when she walked around. Then she put the pillbox into the pocket of her blazer which had a neatly concealed zip. Eight Vicodin.

It should be enough, but sometimes it just wasn't. She had done the maths. She played at controlling her intake, carefully. Just enough that she wasn't addicted, but enough to get her through the day. It was almost like a game now. King of the Hill.

At least you're off the Ambien and Xanax now, she thought to herself before she popped two of the chalky pills into her mouth and pushed herself away from the sink. It was time to bullshit magnificently.

- x -

The new task force office had moved into a former bank which The NYPD had leased just last week. The building was a grey one-storey rectangle with few windows, surrounded on three sides by a parking lot. It looked like the ATM outside still worked.

To Moonbyul it looked depressing as hell. Moonbyul had a look at her watch, she hadn't worn it in months but it still worked. It had just left eight in the morning. James had dropped her off at three this morning. "Get a goodnight's sleep," James had said, and they had both laughed sarcastically.

She had parked across from the building and stood outside her car, her hands deep in her pockets while she scanned the spectacle that was unfolding outside the bank. A fucking bank. There were already local news outlets parked around the building. No national news yet, but that was just a matter of time. She watched the reporters carefully, dressed in waterproofs and heavy coats. They jerked forward every time a car pulled up.

They were waiting for her, she realised. Not the missing woman. Not the other task force members. Her. They wanted her: Ahn Hyejin's last victim. She felt the blood in her veins run cold before she lifted her hand and ran her fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath and pushed Hyejin from her mind before she trudged towards her new office. An old bank. She still couldn't believe it.

The group of reporters flocked around her as soon as her shoes had hit the concrete of the parking lot. She ignored the questions and the cameramen, blanking them from her system as much as she could. She walked as fast as she could towards the front doors, reach them and you're okay she thought to herself. Don't get distracted by these people. "How does it feel to be back?" "Have you spoken to Ahn Hyejin?" "Are you fully recovered?" She heard the reporters say.