Case 8: Secret of Us

"Hey Vicky", the stiff female greets him.

Her body tensed up, it's been a while since they contacted each other. Vicky smiled tenderly as if nothing ever happened between them.

"How's work?" he asked delicately.

"Umm, busy I suppose" she replied awkwardly.

"I see, so I heard that there's been a homicide case this morning" he perplexed.

She nodded to him, she wondered whether the homicide case traveled fast around his peers.

Vicky is a top-class lawyer, he handled so many crime-related cases and always ended up victorious in court. Her father and Vicky's father are colleagues, Rae’s father is a lawyer while Vicky's father is a judge. As a perfectionist himself, he never used his father's fame in court to rank up.

"The student that was murdered was actually one of my colleagues' children", he sighed. "He was my student, so when I heard about his death I was devastated".

"Huh? You teach people?" Rae asked him.

"Yes, I teach English in my free time,'' he replied.

Strange, Vicky came for this student, and yet she hasn't seen or heard his parents come over. Something about this seems suspicious to the detective lady.

"Vicky, how much do you know about Yoo Jae Sung?", she whispered to him.

"This isn't the right place to discuss this you know"Vicky reminded her.

"I know, that's why I'm whispering,'' she whispered to Vicky.

Vicky chuckled, he patted her head. "You're still as adorable as ever my cute Rae".

"Stop treating me like a child", she pushed his hand away from her head.

"I never treat you as a child, in fact, I see you as a woman", Vicky smirked.

Vicky and his eloquent flirt lines, she could die due to embarrassment from his flatter.

Her heart beats faster as Vicky uttered those sweet words to the flushed detective. This is why she tries to avoid him, his words always managed to entice her.

His sweet words trapped her inside a never-ending fantasy inside his world.

"Rae", Troy's voice snapped her out.

She was startled and turned around to Troy.

"Oh Troy, what is it?" she asked Troy.

"I think I got a new lead about the killer, you should come and see", Troy said.

"Got it" the female detective nodded.

Vicky suddenly intervenes in their conversation.

"I was requested by his parents to investigate the case, it's one of the main reasons I'm here", Vicky said.

"What is the other reason?" the detective thoughts suspiciously.

"Sorry but this is a police matter, you shouldn't butt in", Troy spoke rudely to Vicky which caught the detective off guard.

"Troy he's way older than you! Be respectful to your seniors!", she punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Right sorry" Troy sighed.

He doesn't look apologetic, she doesn't understand the content of his mind. He looks like an entirely different person, his flirtatious nature is gone, switched with a different side of him.

"Rae, there's something I want to talk about" Vicky grabbed her shoulder before she left.

"Yes? What is it?".

He leaned closer to her ear and whispered delicately, "I will come to your house tonight".

* * *

"So I spoke to some residents around the area and received no convincing testimony but there's one person who seemed to remember that he saw someone at five", Troy explains.

"Huh, when did you interview them?"Jae Min asked.

"When you two screwing around the crime scene, I got to ask the residents around the area", Troy said proudly.

"There's this guy from the next block called Hansel who said that he remembered faintly that he saw someone with a purple sports jacket jogged around the neighborhood".

"Morning jog huh?", Jae Min furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes that is true, he could be the culprit or an eyewitness to the case", Troy added. "No one would suspect someone who had a morning jog because they would think it's a normal thing to do".

"Is the pattern consistent?" the female detective looked at Troy expectantly.

"What pattern?", Troy asked me back.

"Morning jog, we need to know whether the mysterious hooded man did that morning jog every day or only on the day before the incident'' she added.

"This type of information is also important, and also we need to investigate the victim's habits".

Both Jae Min and Troy nodded in agreement with her statements. Rae checked her watch and noticed that a few hours have passed, and it's currently three o'clock in the evening. Strangely, Yoo Jae Sung's parents haven't contacted the police.

Panicked parents would immediately come for police aid because of the news of their son. This made the detective wonder about the victim's family background.

"Jae Min and Troy, do you know anything from the Yoo Jae Sung family?" Rae asked them both.

"Unfortunately no", Troy replied solemnly.

"Call them", the female detective ordered them.

"Yeah, I have their number. Let me call them", Jae Min dialed a number from his cellphone.

After a while, Jae Min's face brightened. It seemed someone was there. He spoke politely through his cellphone. The detective let him do the conversation because she has no social skills in interacting with strangers.

"Very well, thank you for your time,'' Jae Min ended the call.

"How is it?", Troy asked fidgetily.

"They said they will be available tomorrow because they were outside of Theister today", Jae Min said casually.

"Woah, when did you get their mobile numbers?", Troy looked at Jae Min curiously.

"Oh I searched it online, apparently Yoo Jae Sung's parents are awfully famous", Jae Min replied. "Yoo Jae Sung's father is a famous businessman who developed the newest brand of Sex droid, while his mother is a news reporter".

"Wait, what? That disgusting Sex Droid that always shows up on hologram ads around Theister?", Rae growled sullenly.

"Ah well anything can happen in 2021 you know", Troy sighed. "Sex droid, what next? Puppy droid? Geez, technology is getting weirder.

"Agree, anyway good job both of you", Rae complimented them.

"Thanks, Inspector detective", Jae Min grinned jokingly.

Troy widened his eyes in disbelief, "She's what? An Inspector?".

Jae Min scratched his head awkwardly.

“Right, you don’t know! She used to be an inspector before Mr. Vaan replaced her” Jae Min smiled

"No, I'm a wizard", the detective laughed jokingly.

The three of them laughed like children, it is more to dry laugh though. This brings her back to the old days, she used to laugh a lot with her best friends.

"Anyone up for a grill tonight? My treat! Since I'm a nice guy", Jae Min smiles proudly.

"Sorry, don't count me in", Rae refused.

"What? Why Rae?", Troy pouty.

"I had an appointment tonight,'' the female detective explained.

"With that Vicky guy?" Troy growled unamused.

Troy is so perceptive it's very unsettling. Her feelings about Troy were true, something about him made her feel insecure. The way he's perceptive about everything and that the eyes of his who could pierce through her defense.

"It's none of your business", Rae scoff.

Troy looked rather displeased with the reply she gave to him. He must have suspected something about her because he emitted this dominant aura around him. But then again why would he care for the unknown detective he just met? They are just colleagues for work purposes. She pondered about this for a moment.

After the discussion, Rae tried to focus on the documents on the desk but her mind was elsewhere. Moreover, Troy's gaze fixated on her. She was quite uncomfortable with his eyes following her every movement, even the movements of her pen.

"What is wrong with this man?", she pondered.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" Rae asked Troy.

"No", he replied sullenly.