A local thief and outcasted police detective, Park Seonghwa, become unlikely partners in crime to solve a string of murders.
START: 3.31.2020
FINISH: 2.20.2021
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record 25...AUGUST 19
8:31 AM
SEONGHWA HAS ALWAYS HATED the sound of sirens. The shrill shriek always seems to cause the past to blur with the present until it is an indistinguishable blob of memory. His years spent as a detective and a police officer taught him that sirens are like a map straight to trouble.
He soon finds his intuition is right.
Standing on the side of the gravel road outside of Levi's home, his grip on his phone tightens as he shoves it in his pocket. He came to check up on her. The night prior, she had suddenly sent texts saying that she needed space before they continued to investigate. The scent of her still sticks to him but now it is eerie instead of comforting.
Rain soaks through his clothes, but he feels more cold inside than anything. Bodies under umbrellas swarm around the McKinney residence eager to get a peek into the chaos. Nothing ever happens in a town like Cape Freewell and everyone wants to catch a glimpse at the inner workings of another case added to the growing stack of victims.
He pushes through the nosy neighbors with his heavy shoulder, not bothering to murmur any apologies. They jeer and complain and he brushes it off as he steps into the front lawn, rain sticking his hair slick to his forehead.
It is like stepping into an alternate reality. Everything is tinted in shades of gray, sky cloudy and tempestuous, shadows long and muddled. The usually quaint atmosphere is broken apart by the bright red and blue flashes of the police cruisers parked on the grass. Plastic is bent and twisted, the leg of the pink flamingo just outside of the door is broken.
Seonghwa digs his nails into his palm to stay calm, inhaling a slow breath and ignoring the gossiping whispers of the trailer park residents. His gaze falls on Amit, the officer's face ashen as he whispers to Levi's aunt under a spindly tree on the far side of the yard, barely visible behind two parked police cars. Seonghwa's feet seem to move before his mind does.
"What happened?" he asks Amit, trying his hardest to stay grounded. It does no good for anyone for him to lose his head. The officer jerks his eyes up to Seonghwa and then back to Patrice, his grip on the umbrella all too tight.
The woman is staring at nothing, eyes swollen and pink. Tears silently spill over. She'd hardly look like she is even breathing if it wasn't for the way her body shudders every few seconds.
"Maybe we should talk about this in private..." Amit offers, voice gritty as if barely holding it together. At the sound of his voice, Patrice jolts.
"No. I'm alright." She looks up finally, staring at Seonghwa from under the rim. She pushes Amit's arm off of her, wraps her own around herself instead. "I went out last night and when I came back in the morning..." Amit won't look at Seonghwa. Neither does Patrice as her voice cracks. "She's gone. I never thought...I don't-"
