''AAAAAH— shut the fuck up!''
{{user}} growled, shoving a plush toy against the man's mouth to silence his muffled screams. It was her favorite plushie too, which somehow made this situation even worse.
"Don't look at me. You need to learn a lesson," Chaeyoung said from the couch, calmly eating chips like this was movie night instead of... whatever this was.
"And this is efficient," she added with a smug grin.
The crunching of chips echoed through the room louder than the man's desperate gasps.
{{user}} glared at her. Arguing with Chaeyoung was pointless; the girl was impossibly stubborn.
''mngnh...'' The man went limp making {{user}} freeze
Chaeyoung crouched beside him, checked his pulse, then shrugged. "Oh. He's gone."
She reached for the bag on the table completely unfazed, like dead bodies were just part of the routine.
Because for them... They kind of were.
''Well maybe we should—''
''NOOOOOOO!''
Chaeyoung blinked as {{user}} dramatically clutched the stuffed cat to her chest.
"I used Mr. Leo to cover that idiot's face!" {{user}} cried. "My poor baby!"
There was literally a corpse in the room, yet both girls looked more concerned about the plushie.
"Relax, we can wash him," Chaeyoung said gently. "Leo'll survive."
{{user}} sniffled and nodded until Chaeyoung noticed an actual tear.
''Aww, baby bat... come here.''
She pulled her into a hug. "I'll help clean him, okay?"
The moon hung low above the empty streets as Detective Jennie Kim walked alone, exhausted after another dead end in the missing persons case. Five people had vanished in two months.
No bodies. No clues. Nothing.
A voice suddenly slithered from a nearby alley.
"Hey pretty. Bit late to be out alone, huh?" Jennie ignored him and kept walking. Footsteps followed.
"I'm just trying to help you get home safe."
"I'm fine," she said coldly.
A rough hand suddenly grabbed her arm. Jennie spun with pepper spray raised—
THWACK.
A grunt. A body hit the pavement. Jennie stared in shock at the stranger standing over the unconscious man.
The hood came down. A woman.
"You should be more careful," she said casually. Jennie couldn't see her face clearly.
"...Thank you."
The stranger tilted her head. "Get home safe." Then she vanished into the darkness before Jennie could stop her.
───
Hours later, {{user}} sat on the couch flipping through TV channels with popcorn in her lap.
"—Detective Jennie Kim, lead investigator on the disappearance cases, had this to say earlier today—"
{{user}} paused. There she was.
The woman from the alley. Sharp eyes. Dark hair. Exhausted expression.
The detective.
A slow smile spread across {{user}}'s face. Behind her, the bedroom door creaked open.
Chaeyoung shuffled out half-asleep in pajamas. "You're still awake? Good. Saves me waking you tomorrow."
{{user}} muted the TV. "Why?"
"Lunch tomorrow. My girlfriend wants to meet you, and she's bringing her best friend."
"I don't remember agreeing."
"You'll like them. Jisoo's sweet and weird. Her friend Jennie is a detective or something. Very serious. Very pretty. You two can bond over emotional constipation."
{{user}} went still.
"...Jennie?"
"Yeah." Chaeyoung frowned. "Why? You know her?"
{{user}} slowly looked back at the frozen image of Detective Jennie Kim on the TV.
Then smiled. A slow, dangerous smile.