“Don’t cry,” Junhee echoes. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Junhee doesn’t know if ghosts can cry, but Dae Hyuk is already sniffling. The ghost of Hayakawa Sayuri runs her fingers through Yeonhwa’s hair, whispering consoling words in her ear, yet Yeonhwa hears nothing, feels nothing. “I love you,” he hears Sayuri whisper. His Japanese isn’t as good as it used to be, but he can still understand what she’s saying. In a way, he’s glad his slow comprehension takes the edge off the raw emotion in Sayuri’s voice. “I love you, I love you, I wish I could’ve told you. I wish I could make you feel better. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
God, that makes everything ten times harder.
Yeonhwa chokes on a tear, and Junhee wordlessly hands her a tissue, patting her back. “If I didn’t start that fight, if I didn’t hate Sayu-chan dating that ACE boy so much, maybe she would still be…”
“Unnie, don’t just blame yourself!” Sayuri is also teary-eyed, clutching onto Yeonhwa’s shoulders so hard Junhee is almost sure she’s drawing blood. “It was my fault too, Taesuk knew we were just pretending, I was just trying to make you jealous so you’d finally say something, now you’ll never say anything to me ever again!”
“Don’t blame yourself, noona,” Junhee says, trying to make eye contact with Sayuri. I’m here, I want to help you. I can help you, let me help you. “I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. Maybe she liked you too, and she was just trying to make you jealous.”
Sayuri gasps, looking away from Yeonhwa only to find Junhee staring her in the eye. Hook, line and sinker. Hi, Junhee mouths behind Yeonhwa’s back.
“Don’t say things like that to me.” Yeonhwa’s voice is hard, even though her expression is still one of vulnerability. “Don’t- Don’t give me false hope like that. Don’t tell me things like that, especially when I can’t do anything about it.”
Junhee falters. “I-”
Yeonhwa sighs. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that. I liked her and I didn’t do anything about it, and now it’s too late, and that’s on me even if nothing else is.”
“See?” Dae Hyuk whispers to Sayuri. “She likes you too. At least now you know.”
Sayuri looks from Junhee to Dae Hyuk, then back to Junhee. “Jun-ssi? You’re- You can-?”
“He can see and hear us,” Dae Hyuk confirms. “Because he died, but he came back to life somehow.”
“Day-kun, you’re here too, so are we-”
“Yeah, noona. We’re ghosts.”
Sayuri brightens a little. “Since you’re still here, does that mean I get to look after Yeonhwa-unnie now? Even though she’ll never know I’m there? I don’t know what will happen from here, but I don’t want to go yet…”
Wolwol bounces over as if sensing Yeonhwa and Sayuri’s combined sadness. The dog rolls over, begging for belly rubs from the two spirits. Sayuri can’t resist the urge to pet the dog, instantly holding it close to comfort herself.
“I don’t know what to do without her,” Yeonhwa mumbles, a near-echo of Sayuri’s words. “Hell, I don’t even know what Dream is going to do without her, and I’m the damn leader. At least Sayu and I aren’t part of Star Entertainment,” she mutters under her breath, “they’ve got it even worse, with you gone and Day… dead.”
“So you should help me, noona,” Junhee pleads. “There’s not enough evidence, but I don’t think this is the last time something like this will happen.” Two’s a chance, three’s a pattern, who’s to say I wasn’t actually the start of it all? “I know it’s scary to think about, but please, tell me anything, anything at all about any suspicions you have. It might help me and Minji find whoever’s out there, killing idols for no apparent reasons.”
Yeonhwa frowns, shuddering. “The waitress didn’t have a staff badge,” she recalls. They look over to the several horrified coffee-shop employees gathered around Minji, Junhee checking to make sure all of them do have their badges. “Sayu-chan just said the waitress felt kind of odd to her, and a few moments later, she- she-”
Yeonhwa folds in on herself. “Sorry, Junhee. I can’t- I can’t tell you much. Sayu’s the one who saw, not me. I didn’t even think of checking whether anyone left the cafe either. I didn’t think- I didn’t think Sayu would be- be-”
‘Murdered’ is the word, but none of them can say it.
“She had long black hair and glasses,” Sayuri adds. “But that’s most of the population, which doesn’t really narrow things down, right?” Dae Hyuk nods sheepishly. “What else… She seemed really peppy? Like weirdly peppy. She asked about Taesuk-oppa and if we were really getting along well, which was really weird, because the staff here don’t usually ask about our personal lives.”
“That’s the whole reason why we go here,” Dae Hyuk answers in place of Junhee. “At least for me and the boys. We like our privacy every now and then too.”
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“Maybe she was new,” Sayuri muses. “Why else would she knock over drinks and ask idols about their private lives if she wasn’t?”
“Maybe she’s just clumsy,” Dae Hyuk offers weakly. “She wouldn’t deliberately knock over your drink and get you a new one that’s poisoned… right?”
Sayuri goes silent, unwilling to think of the consequences if Dae Hyuk is right, not knowing that Junhee had also come to the same conclusion as the younger idol. But would someone really start working for a café just to poison a well-known, well-loved idol? Worse yet, what if the answer is yes?
Suddenly, Minji grabs Junhee by the shoulder. Her grip is tight enough to make Junhee wince, her nails digging into his skin. She’s worried about something, and Junhee steels himself to hear whatever she’s deduced. “Sorry, I’m gonna borrow Watson for a moment.”
“Borrow away,” Yeonhwa tells her. “I need a moment to myself too.”
Minji tugs Junhee to a secluded corner, her lips drawn tight. She eyes the remaining waiters and waitresses, who are quietly discussing something amongst themselves. “You deduced it too, didn’t you?”
“The killer wasn’t a member of staff,” Junhee realizes. “I thought maybe she would’ve been new, but…”
“She snuck in with a spare set of employee clothes,” Minji finishes. “The employees told me a set of clothes had gone missing weeks ago. Around the time I found you,” the detective says meaningfully. “Your serial killing theory is starting to make sense, if we think of you as the first case. The killer - female, age unknown but probably somewhere in the thirties - failed to kill you, but we still don’t know if she knows or not. She might be continuing her killing spree because she thinks Star Entertainment is covering up your death with some mysterious illness.”
“Blunt as always,” Junhee mutters. He should feel mostly hurt, if not for himself but for Dae Hyuk and Sayuri, but instead he respects Minji’s complete lack of remorse. “But it’s still too early to jump to conclusions, isn’t it?”
Minji nods. “Chung-jae has people out looking for the suspect’s clothes, but they haven’t had any luck so far. Nobody knows her name either, but she managed to fit in well enough to fool Park Yeonhwa and Hayakawa Sayuri, who were regulars here, and then leave immediately before the poison set in and anyone who worked here would recognize her. If we had the clothes, we could-”
She clenches her fists. “Damn!”
It takes Junhee a moment to remember about DNA testing, although he’s not entirely sure how it works. Something about everything leaving a trace? He’s a musician, not a scientist, cut him some slack. He had always been better at arts than at math anyway. “What about a motive?” He asks. “We have somewhat of a pattern, but I can’t think of anything I have in common with Dae Hyuk and Sayuri. Besides being an idol, of course.”
Minji’s frown deepens. “Could it be things you’ve done for fans? Things you’ve done on camera? Haters?”
“There are so many reasons to hate idols,” Junhee points out. “You didn’t like me at first for my, I quote, ‘assumed 2D personality’. If we’re talking about haters, there are so many things to choose from!”
The two of them slip into a depressing silence. Junhee hears Wolwol bark from over at Yeonhwa’s table, but he doesn’t pay it any mind. Surely whatever a ghost dog has to say is less important than trying to think of connections between him, Dae Hyuk and Sayuri? Being a soloist is out of the question, GENES1S is still a rookie group, even if Instagram and Twitter seem to adore them and netizens believe them to be the monster rookies to challenge ACE, the reigning kings of boy groups.
"Maybe it could be a sasaeng," Junhee muses out loud, "or a stalker. Crazy fans,” he clarifies when Minji cocks her head. “Once I had to cancel a concert because I got a death threat from one. Usually we don’t take sasaeng notes so seriously, but I almost got kidnapped another time, so…”
“Jesus,” the detective says quietly. “I never knew idol life was so dangerous.”
Junhee looks back at Yeonhwa, who is now sitting in silence, her gaze blank with denial. His eyes widen when he sees the dark figure standing next to her trying to pull Sayuri away. “No!” Sayuri screams. “Don’t touch me!” She yells again, this time louder and in near-unintelligible Japanese, when the figure tries to physically peel Sayuri away from Yeonhwa.
“It’s time,” the figure orders. It’s a woman, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and an old fashioned hanbok. A jeoseung saja, like the ones from the myths. Like his crow. “Leave without fighting, and you will be able to move on to the afterlife in peace. Refuse, and your soul will be obliterated.”
Daehyuk tries to push her away, but she doesn’t budge. Still, the younger idol stays determined. Wolwol follows up with a bark, standing beside him protectively. “She said she didn’t want to go! Leave her alone, lady! What’s your problem?”
There’s some kind of heavenly light coming from her hands, and it makes Sayuri, Dae Hyuk and Wolwol freeze. Overwhelming dread seeps into Junhee’s veins. “You,” the grim reaper lady says.
“Me,” Dae Hyuk says bravely. He’s still glaring, even if he’s shaking.
“Son Dae Hyuk,” the woman reads out of a book in her hands. It’s black and covered with unfamiliar scrawling letters. It reminds Junhee of that anime, what’s it’s name… Death Note? “You died weeks ago. Why has nobody collected your soul?” She shakes her head. “Why must I do everything myself? Both of you, come peacefully with me, or else.”
“Not under my watch,” Junhee mutters under his breath. He’s not done talking to Sayuri, and to be honest, he doesn’t want Dae Hyuk to leave either. He’s grown attached to the boy. Minji looks at him curiously, utterly unaware of the near-fight going on half a room away.
“Sorry, Minji, I, uh, have to pee!” Junhee is gone before Minji can even ask about that pathetic excuse of a lie, bee-lining towards the jeoseung saja.
On his way to the ‘toilet’, he takes a detour over to Yeonhwa’s table. “Hi,” he mutters to the lady.
The feeling of triumph at the pure shock on the grim reaper’s face is almost enough to make his probable imminent death worth it. Almost.
Ah, he thinks to himself when he hears her heels clacking on the floor behind him, Crow-ssi, this would be a really good time to swoop in and offer me some help. Really, how does she walk so fast in heels? Being chased by scary women is really not cool!