Jungkook's POV

The winds of December were too cold. The kind of cold that seeps into your brain and makes it stop working. But the chilly wind was not enough to distract me from the grotesque site I was seeing.

The corpse which laid there was beyond recognition. The body didn't look human anymore. But what caught my attention more than the corpse was the long path of blood trailing from the highway to the forest. This made it clear. It had a story. A horrifying one.

My brain already started making scenarios while my eyes followed the trail of blood. Dragged? It looked like it. A deep yet familiar voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Jungkook."

I turned to see my colleague who was a friend of mine, Detective Kim Taehyung. He was approaching me with his hands gloved. He held two sealed evidence bags which contained a purse and a bracelet.

Without delaying a second, I pulled on my gloves. I took the purse and examined it. It was slightly burnt at the edges but was still in a usable state. I carefully opened it and found things which are common for a purse. A Little cash, receipts, coins, etc. But what caught my attention was the small photo in it. A girl no older than 13 stared back at me. Her smile was frozen in time.

I frowned. Who could this girl be?The victim's sister? Daughter? Niece? Before I could process the new information further, a loud sob broke through the air.

I turned to my side to see a woman kneeling down on the damp ground and crying her heart out. Her cries were raw and gut-wrenching. The man beside her was frozen. He was completely blank. He made no efforts to comfort the lady as he himself looked like he needed help.

I clenched my jaw realizing the hardest part of this moment. It was dealing with family and friends. They all react differently to grief.

I walked toward them, my shoes crunching on the dead fallen leaves. I stopped in front of them and cleared my throat to gain their attention. I decided to talk to the man as the lady was not in a state to answer me.

"I'm Detective Jeon. And you are?"

I doubted if I would get an answer from him by the way his expression didn't change at all. But surprisingly he answered.

"Min Yoongi"

That's when it clicked. Min Yoongi was one of the well known journalists.

My gaze shifted to the woman who I was sure was Jung Haerin, another well known journalist. I can't help but think about another memory that crossed my mind. Haerin was the sister of Jung Hoseok, my senior and my mentor. For some weird reason, he always wanted me to date his sister. He feels I am the only trustable guy in this whole universe.

Before I could investigate further about the victim, I heard her scream with grief.

"He's not dead!"

Her voice cracked. I heard this kind of scream too many times. It was a scream of denial. A scream which expresses hope before everything crashes down when reality seeps in.

I exhaled and pressed my lips into a thin line. Though it wasn't my first time going through this, something in me ached when I looked at Haerin. Not only her but Yoongi too.

But I had a job to do and emotions had nothing to do in it.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke, ensuring that the choice of my words wouldn't hurt them.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Jung. But we will need you to come in for questioning tomorrow."

I could have asked them to come today itself but I knew they were in no state to go through the questioning. I highly doubt if they were even ready for tomorrow. But this process can't be delayed

Min Yoongi barely reacted. He simply nodded, his face unreadable.

I turned away, feeling that I had no more to do there and headed back. On my way, I ran into  Kim Seokjin from the forensics department.He gave me a small casual smile. It was too casual for a place like this.

"Jungkook. morning" He nodded in greeting.

I shook his hand firmly. "Morning, Seokjin."

He glanced over my shoulder at the corpse and winced.

"Damn," he muttered. "I am afraid we might get very little from that cause the body is completely burnt. DNA testing is going to be a long nightmare."

I sighed. "We might not need it."

He raised an eyebrow.

I pointed toward the journalists behind me. "It seems like they are familiar with the victim."

A flicker of amusement and relief crossed his face. "Well, that makes my job easier."

I smirked slightly. "Don't get too comfortable already."

Saying that, I gave him a small nod and walked away. As I approached my car, Taehyung appeared beside me out of nowhere.

"I am sure you already have a theory in your mind. Right?" He asked, his tone curious.

I rolled my eyes. "You sound like a damn rookie."

He huffed. "Oh, come on. Just spill it out."

I sighed and shoved my hands into my coat pockets. "Honestly? I don't think this murder was done for money or power"

Taehyung frowned. "Then for what could it be?"

"I am not really sure" I muttered, mostly to myself. "Anyway they're my top suspects for now."

He stopped walking, eyebrows knitting together. "Who?"

I turned and looked back at him. "Min Yoongi and Jung Haerin."

His frown deepened. "But... they're his friends."

I exhaled through my mouth, the water vapour visible due to the chilling temperature.

"Taehyung."

He met my gaze.

I held it for a moment before saying, "The people closest to the victim should always be our first suspects."

He frowned his eyes almost as if not accepting with me but he nodded regardless. We were too experienced to realise the harsh reality that most of the time it was the immediate family or friends that turned out to be the murderers.

We continued walking toward the highway when something caught my eye. A car. It was parked on the side of the road. The parking was too perfect as if the driver took time to park it straight.

I pointed towards the car. "That's the victim's car."

Taehyung followed my gaze. "You sure?"

"Positive."

I walked towards it, gesturing for him to follow. "Look at how it's parked. This explains that the victim didn't just park here randomly but with a purpose.

I then pointed at the 200-meter distance between the bloodstains and the vehicle. Taehyung followed my line of sight, his face darkening as if he was connecting the dots.

I continued, "This means the killer didn't attack right away. They walked together first. No signs of struggle near the car. No sign of a fight. Which means—"

"—the victim trusted the murderer," Taehyung finished, realization dawning on his face.

I nodded. "Exactly.." After a long pause I said, "But we can't be sure yet. It's just a theory of mine"

Silence settled between us as we both stared at the scene before us.

"This wasn't random," Taehyung murmured. "It was planned."

I nodded agreeing with him. Just then, the crane from our investigation team arrived and started lifting the car. I watched it for a moment before shaking my head.

"There's more to this case than it meets the eye."

I walked over to my car, opening the door. Taehyung went back to his car.

We exchanged a nod before parting our ways.

---------

Haerin's POV

I sat on the couch feeling completely numb. It's has been at least 6 hours I have been sitting there, barely moving a muscle. The darkness of night was spreading outside. It almost felt as if the sky was mocking my inner turmoil. Jimin was gone but it didn't feel real. It almost felt like a dream from which I was unable to come out of.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention. I looked up and saw Yoongi standing there, holding two cups of tea in his hands. He silently handed one to me which I took with my trembling hands. I couldn't speak cause the pain in my chest was too overwhelming. I just stared at the hot liquid, not feeling like having it at all

Without my realization, tears streamed down, hot and relentless. It was very hard to accept the reality. Yoongi didn't say anything at first. He just wrapped his arms around me, letting me cry in his warm embrace. But that did very little to stop the ache in my heart. It didn't stop the brutal images that kept playing in my mind.

After what felt like hours, I finally spoke. "Who even had the heart to do this to our Jimin?" I whispered, not sure if I was asking Yoongi or myself.

Yoongi sighed deeply before speaking out the heavy truth which both of us wanted to avoid. "Haerin, I know the truth is bitter but we have to move on. We can't just sit here and cry about it. We have to find who did this. We'll get him justice, but sitting here and crying isn't going to bring him back. I think you should take rest now. We have to go the questioning tomorrow.

I nodded while wiping my tears away. I knew he was right but it felt impossible to move on. How can someone move on in such situations? I stood up slowly and headed to my bedroom. I wondered if I would even be able to sleep now.

"You can sleep in the guest room," I said quietly.

Yoongi gave a soft nod. Before entering my room I saw him entering the guest bedroom. The moment I stepped inside my room, my eyes caught the photos on the wall. It was filled with the pictures of Jimin, Yoongi, and me. We were inseparable right from our college days. Even after graduation, we almost stayed together through our internship times and managed to land a job in the same press. Now, looking at those pictures, it felt like moments from past life, where everything was happy.

I walked closer to one of the photos of Jimin. His smile was so bright and pure like an angel. Who could have done this to such a sweetheart? My hands were shaking and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the photo.

What I hated about the whole situation was that our last moment was not something I ever would have wanted as our last memory. It was an argument. Not just any argument but an argument filled with harsh insults thrown at each other.Though we had fought before, it was never this bad.

I looked at the matching bracelet which we three shared together. He made these himself and showed us with a proud face though he was a little embarrassed about it. We did call him cheesy for that but in the end decided to share these matching bracelets.

Why did I let him leave in the first place?

I clutched my hands to my chest cause my heart was aching. I was consumed by horror, fear and more than that guilt. I couldn't shake the feeling that the person who was the last to hurt Jimin was me, even if I didn't mean to. And now he was gone. Forever. I can't even ask for forgiveness anymore.

----------

The room was lit by dim lights. The overhead two lamps were the only source of light for the dim room. Yoongi and I sat across from Jungkook and another detective whom I assumed was Taehyung as it was written on his badge. Their eyes were cold and calculating as they sifted through papers in front of them.The silence was heavy. I was barely able to keep my mind in the  present because it was thinking about nothing but Jimin.

Jungkook broke the silence and asked me an unexpected question. "Are you Jung Hoseok's sister?"

I nodded even if I really didn't understand what it had to do with the case. Jungkook nodded as if he already knew about it but Taehyung looked a little shocked about it.

They asked many routine questions. They asked about his name, work, his age, his mental status, his relationship, his salary, and many more. But then they asked a question which actually made sense.

Taehyung leaned forward and with a skeptical gaze asked, "How are you so sure the body was Jimin's?"

Yoongi answered. "The purse was his and the bracelet was something which we shared together. It was handcrafted by him, so there was no chance of someone having the same one. Also the car found there was his."

Jungkook asked the next question. "When and where was the last time you saw him?"

"We three were at the office last night around 11 pm," I said softly with my voice trembling slightly.

Taehyung raised an eyebrow as if that answer gave him a clue. "Why were you in the office late at night? I assume it ends at 5 PM"

"We had an article that was supposed to be a work of the three of us. We needed to submit it the next day."

Taehyung's eyes narrowed and it was clear he found something suspicious in that fact. "When did you three leave the office?"

"Me and Yoongi left at 1 AM but Jimin left at around 12 AM," I explained.

"Why did he leave before you?" Taehyung asked.

I was unsure if I should mention the argument but in the end I did. "We had a fight,"

Jungkook raised an eyebrow which made it clear that they weren't going to leave this topic without a detailed explanation. "Continue."

I continued. I tried to keep my voice steady. "Jimin was chose to go to the Nexus fashion event which is being held at Paris. He was supposed to write articles about the event. It was a great opportunity and every journalist dreamed of that considering the fame, salary hike, promotions,etc. But in the last moment for some reason our boss, Mr Kim Namjoon changed the plans and decided I would be the one going for the event.

I clenched my fists as Jimin's face came in front of me. His hurting eyes when he came to know about the change of plans.

I continued with a heavy heart. "Last night he barged into my room angrily and then it turned into an argument."

I sucked in a sharp breath before continuing. "Jimin got angry. H-he a-acussed me of sleeping with Mr Kim to steal the opportunity." I saw Yoongi clenching his fist beside me.

"And then he left angrily. He was probably on his way to his town to meet his sister, who had an operation. We came to know about it from Mr kim" Yoongi continued for me.

Silence fell over the room. It was suffocating in here. Jungkook and Taehyung exchanged glances as if deciding who should be the one asking the next question. We saw some silent conversation going between them before Jungkook decided to ask the question.

"Miss Jung, were you involved in any sexual activity with your boss?" His voice was calm and unreadable as if he asked the most common and decent question ever.

Something in me snapped. I slammed my hands on the table in rage. I can't let anyone degrade me like that.

"Fucking no!" My voice echoed in the small room.

Taehyung exhaled sharply and leaned forward. "Miss Jung, we had no choice but to ask that question. Please be respectful," he warned. "Unless you want us to suspect you more than we already do."

My breath caught in my throat and my body stiffened.

Yoongi's face darkened. "Is Haerin being suspected?"

Jungkook clarified Yoongi's doubt with a firm voice. "Not only Miss Jung. But also you, Mr. Min."

To be continued