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Chapter One
I Call It Charm

"Upon further investigation," the black haired female started, desperately praying not to mess up, "I found out that Mr Min was a victim of homicide; not suicide like you had thought, Mr Kim."

"Oh? Are you saying I was wrong?" Mr Kim smirked at her as if to challenge her indirectly, which made her visibly gulp. But she stood her ground, determined to have her way this time.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she replied said bluntly despite her nervousness and held up a file labelled 'Mr Min' closer to her chest as if it were her most prized possession. And at the moment, it most likely was.

"And what proof do you have?" Mr Kim was genuinely interested. He had deemed the case a suicide, and he was rarely, very rarely, ever wrong. In fact, he was probably the best in detective in South Korea.

She held you a note between her two gloved fingers, grinning. "A 'suicide' note. It was found by his desk— on the floor— unfinished and very little writing on it."

"So? If it's a suicide note, why are you declaring it a homicide?" Mr Kim challenged his apprentice. He didn't want to admit he was wrong, but if Seoyun was right, they had a murderer on the loose, and that mattered more than his pride.

"The murder's amateur mistake was handwriting," Seoyun muttered as she placed a thin sheet of paper on Mr Kim's desk, along with a small diary, "that's Mr Min's diary, and that's the 'suicide' note. Handwriting is too neat and tidy, and those? Definitely not tear stains."

Mr Kim stared at the evidence before reaching out for them, but he was interrupted by Mr Park, another detective taking the case. "Namjoon Hyung, I don't think it's a good idea for you to touch the evidence."

Mr Jung, who was in the corner of the room, spoke up. "Cut him some slack, it's not his fault he's destructive."

Scowling, Mr Kim folded his hands together. "Shut up. Anyway, is that all you have, Miss Lee? Because that's not enough to deem this a hom—"

"I have more clues." Seoyun interrupted hastily, not ready for another never-ending psychological rant from Mr Kim. "I have a sneaking suspicion the murderer was female. There were obvious heel marks imprinted on the carpet— new, too."

"That's not enough to prove anything, he has a wife, does he not—"

"His wife died last Autumn, November 12th, around 1 am, to be exact, which is always helpful, as you say."

"He could be seeking some kind of se—"

"He's a businessman with no compassion outside of his work, his phone is void of any text conversations, dating apps, and such."

"Damn it, Seoyun, stop interrupting me," Me Kim grunts in disappointment and disapproval. "That doesn't prove anything, he could just be lonely or looking for a new wife. He has a son to take care of—"

"He was drunk the night he was murdered, too!" Seoyun yelped out loudly and suddenly, gaining the attention of Mr Kim. "There was alcohol in his system, it's on the autopsy if you didn't notice."

"Just because you're desperate for action, Seoyun doesn't mean you can just deem a suicide as a homicide! Life isn't a petty game where you can just win! It's a complex game filled with rules and strategies have to be thought out. You can't just win with one move, you need to prioritise your goals and—"

Seoyun had heard enough of Kim Namjoon's philosopher manner of speaking shit to do her an eternity. She decided to stop dragging the meeting and get to the good part. "There was a mother fucking witness!"

Namjoon stopped almost immediately, as did the others upon hearing what Seoyun had said—well, yelped out. "What do you mean 'there was a mother fucking witness'?! And watch your language, Miss Lee!" Namjoon abruptly stood from his seat, hands flailing in all different directions. "Why didn't you tell me that first?!"

"... Suspense?!" Seoyun exclaimed, happily clapping her hands while the others scowled at her. "Ahem, anyway, Min Yoongi was the witness. The victim's son."

Mr Kim's eyes widened. "The son? The very son that didn't show up at all... why now all of a sudden.

Kim Seokjin pulled a sad face, obvious sympathy playing on his beautiful face. "His father's death must've taken a toll on him. And he saw him die? Isn't he, like, twenty?"

"Twenty-five," Seoyun corrected, "and he's going to tell us what he saw. He wants to find the killer. He's outside right now."

"Tell him to come in." Namjoon kept a serious face, but on the inside, he was questioning life itself, and the sudden appearance of the victim's son.

"Right-o!" Seoyun chirped. "Min Yoongi! Come on in!"

The door opened and a boy with (maybe re-dyed) black hair slowly walked in. He didn't look happy in the slightest, but that was expected. He held a neutral expression on his face, but Seoyun could tell he was mentally stabbing the killer in his mind.

"What did you see—"

"The killer was female. 5'3 at the least. Short hair, I only saw her from the back though..." he responded quickly, keeping his gaze on the floor. "... She seemed professional. Like she had killed someone before, but... that's just my guess."

"... How did she kill him?" Namjoon pressed, maybe he shouldn't have hesitated. But he couldn't help himself, it was odd that a witness was only showing up now—almost a month after the case had been ruled a suicide.

"Tell 'em Yoongi!" An excited Seoyun encouraged, raising two fists. "Fighting!"

The seven males in the room glared at the female, who backed away against the wall slowly and quietly, almost like a mouse being cornered by cats.

"Ahem, well," Yoongi started, his hand brushing out stray strands of his black hair from his eyes, eyeing all the detectives closely. "I was coming home late to tell my dad about my recent debut as a rapper. I had just finished writing some lyrics for a song I planned to duet with I don't know yet. Um, I opened the door, I have my own keys, and honestly, it was too quiet for my dad.

"It was, I think, a Friday? Yeah, and I guess I only realised when I walked in that dad would go drinking with his co-workers on Fridays and Saturdays, so I thought maybe he was still out.

"But then I heard, I don't know, these grunting noises? They were coming from his room... to be honest, I didn't want to go any further into the house because it sounded like—well you get it.

"But then his bedroom door opened, the noises were gone, I could only see a black silhouette from where I stood. But it looked like a small girl, she had short hair, kinda like the length of Seoyun's, and around her height too, 5'3? Anyway, she left out the living room window, and I was so confused.

"And I... I went into my dad's room because I found it strange. If my dad had someone over, why would she leave just like that? I was pretty sure I was really quiet entering the building...

"And I... I looked through my dad's door, and h—his body was just... just lying there on the ground... I could see that his desk was clean as can be, the window was closed, there were no stains—except for the red stain on the carpet, of course."

"At first, I couldn't think of anything, but slowly I began to realise what was in front of me. My dad's—my dad's dead body, just lying there. Lifeless eyes looking up at the ceilings.

"And had I been there moments before, I could've, maybe, kept him alive."

Everyone could see that the twenty-five-year-old was trying to hold back tears. Seoyun tried comforting him by resting her hand on his shoulder–but doing so didn't come naturally to her, so it was kind of awkward for me as Yoongi rested his head on her hand.

"Mmm... How did I miss this?!" Namjoon muttered bitterly, staring at the files in his hands, completely ignoring the scene in front of him and immediately getting occupied with work. "Why didn't you come to us before?"

"I wanted to solve the case alone..." Yoongi muttered, mentally rolling his eyes at himself as his lifted his head from Seoyun's hand and rubbed the tears away. "But I didn't have much information, so I'm joining you guys."

"What? But you're not even the littlest bit qualified for that—"

"I studied law in college," Yoongi interrupted. "No biggie, I can handle it. I know enough."

"Are you sure? You could get hurt, and I sure as hell ain't paying nothing for your hospital bills, we—"

"I'll be fine."

"Why does everybody keep interrupting me?!" Namjoon exclaimed, but couldn't hide the faintly amused smile forming on his lips.

Seohyun looked over to Yoongi, grinning widely. "Looks like you're on the team!" she exclaimed, loud and happy. "We're gonna solve this case easy with you!"

Yoongi didn't react, keeping a straight face, he was already embarrassed because he had cried, he didn't need to make himself seem more of a fool.

Seoyun softened, realising that he had lost his father weeks ago and seen the dead body, maybe he wasn't over it. "We'll find your dad's killer. I promise," she smiled at him. "And when we do, we'll celebrate our first case together, me and you? I'll treat."

"Sounds like a plan," he said, seemingly uninterested. But Seoyun had a gift for reading minds.

Min Yoongi was looking forward to this.

"What makes you think you're on this case, Seoyun?" Jeon Jungkook suddenly says, making the smaller girl jump from the unexpected deep voice. "You're still an apprentice, you've never been on a case. I for one still think you're too immature."

"Kookie! We're friends, aren't we? I mean, we're roommates! Have my back for once on this," the older girl huffed, suddenly realising that Jungkook was right about the immaturity. "Anyway, I'm the one who brought the information, was I not? I have a right to join in this time!"

"This'll be your first case? You seem so... Familiar with everything... And professional," Yoongi muttered, regretting the compliments immediately after they came out of his mouth.

"A charm, I call it," Seoyun gave a toothy grin. "A charm for those both brave and stupid enough to wield."