Jungkook remained silent for a moment as up until now, he had always tried to avoid talking about Rosé's past. Even so, he knew that if Jimin was serious about chasing her, then he would eventually get someone to find out a bit more about her.
"So, are you still going to go after her?" Jungkook asked.
Jimin did not answer immediately.
The sun was just starting to set as they talked to each other, and Jimin was sitting in his car which was parked right at the front entrance of a cafe.
It was Rosé's go-to café. Every afternoon, she would sit on the second floor of the café for a while. Jimin had been chasing her enthusiastically, so he knew her schedule very well.
He sat in the car and looked on as Rosé casually walked out of the café. She was still as beautiful and radiant as ever.
"Let's talk about it another time." He hung up on Jungkook and quietly stared at her graceful figure moving through the crowd.
Suddenly, a BMW convertible from across the street slowly pulled up next to Rosé. Then, Rosé revealed a sweet smile to the man in the car.
Jimin's eyes instantly widened.
The man in the car was Baekhyun. He was wearing a suit and had shaved off his beard such that he now looked as handsome as ever. However, due to the hardships that he had been through, there was also a steeliness in his eyes which was not normally found in other people his age. He got out of the car, opened the door for Rosé, and watched happily as she gets into the car.
After Chanyeol's death, the police ransacked his home and found all sorts of evidence locked in his basement. There was potassium cyanide, aphrodisiacs, chains, and many photos of the victims. There were also photos of the eight victims from the "Angel Killer" incident. Thus, with the help of Jungkook's testimony, Baekhyun was finally cleared of all charges.
However, at that time, there were still several other missing persons. Their information and bodies had not yet been found, so they could not determine whether or not their disappearances were related to Chanyeol. The police could only deduce that they had been disposed of by Chanyeol in some unknown location.
According to Chanyeol's will, he left all his property to Rosé. Nonetheless, the Hong Kong authorities claimed that about one-third of it was inherited from Chief Park, which was Baekhyun's mother. Thus, Rosé agreed to split up this part of the property and return it to Baekhyun; the legal proceedings surrounding the handover were still in progress.
The news of what Chanyeol did soon spread among their old friends, enraging every last one of them. They now welcomed Baekhyun's return with open arms. As such, Baekhyun was actually here to pick up Rosé today because he had invited a few high school classmates to have a gathering in his villa.
After Rosé sat down, Baekhyun smiled at her gently, "I prepared a barbecue tonight, along with your favorite caramel pudding."
Rosé nodded. "Thank you."
The evening sun was still blazing hot, so when Baekhyun lowered his head, he saw Rosé's slender neck glowing like a piece of jade under the sunlight. He was taken aback and quickly put his arm around the back of her seat. "Is it too hot? Do you want me to turn up the air conditioning?" "
Rosé smiled and shook her head. "It's okay, it's good to bask in the sun."
Baekhyun nodded but did not remove his arm. Then, he averted his gaze and noticed a handsome man sitting inside a Cadillac staring at them.
Baekhyun instantly recognized Jungkook's friend who he had once met during the full moon party.
The two of them made eye contact and Baekhyun smiled at him briefly.
Jimin felt a mixture of dread and disappointment rising in his heart when he saw the man's pearly white teeth, but by then, Baekhyun had already started the car with Rosé inside.
The villa that Baekhyun bought was located in the suburbs of Lin City. The place was filled with tall, green trees which helped give it a tropical vibe. When they arrived, a few friends were already sitting together in the garden while barbecuing and drinking. As they chatted, they could not help but sigh as they reminisced about the past.
Compared to the wild boy of days gone by, Baekhyun's temperament had become much gentler and more restrained. He sat next to Rosé and naturally took care of her the entire time. Because of this, some of their classmates teased, "The two of you were wrongly separated in the past. Aren't you planning on getting back together again?"
After saying this, everyone laughed. Baekhyun joined in the laughter, but he also put his hand around the back of Rosé's chair and looked at her quietly. Everyone saw him do this, so they quickly got the hint.
However, Rosé smiled plainly and shrugged. "It's all in the past, so let's not talk about it again. Are the chicken wings done?"
Baekhyun was stunned as the others immediately tried to smooth things over. "It's done, it's done, here you go."
After eating for a while, Baekhyun went into the house to get some more food. Rosé, on the other hand, continued to chat with everyone for a while, but she eventually put her bag on the chair and got up to go to the bathroom.
The villa was brightly lit as she strolled along the corridor. After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.
The door on the right side of the hallway was left slightly ajar, but she still spotted a few photos hanging on the wall. There was a picture of Baekhyun and two elders, which Rosé quickly recognized to be his deaf-mute parents. There was also a picture of his high school graduation photo from the past. Moreover, there was also a huge photoshoot collection of her which Baekhyun had saved half of his pocket money to take her to when they were both dating.
She gently pushed the door open.
The room looked like a showroom. Other than photos, there were also many vintage cameras, books, and small sculptures.
At this moment, she heard Baekhyun's low and gentle voice from behind her. "I've lost a lot and have only managed to retrieve a few things from my old life, which I've kept here."
Rosé turned around and smiled at him. "You can always add more stuff in the future."
Instead of answering her, Baekhyun leaned his tall body against the cupboard and lowered his head to look at her. When he did this, the atmosphere in the room immediately changed.
Of course, Rosé understood what he was thinking, but she pretended not to notice it. Instead, she looked at the neatly arranged dolls in the cupboard with great interest. The figures had human faces and were carved out of a maple-colored wood. All of them had masterfully crafted faces which looked like life while also keeping its doll characteristics at the same time. The eyes of the dolls were made of a black meteorite while the smiling teeth looked like pieces of porcelain and jade.
Rosé stared at them for a while before changing the subject. "Where did you buy this? It's so unique. Can you take it out and let me have a look?"
Baekhyun picked one up and handed it to her. "Of course. A friend made it and gave it to me."
Rosé gasped in admiration. "Your friend's really skillful." Then, she put down the doll and smiled at him. "Let's go out." As she turned to the door, Baekhyun grabbed her waist and pulled her back. Rosé was startled and instinctively tried to push him away. However, Baekhyun's arms were very strong and he simply lowered his head to look at her without letting her go. A streak of light from the hallway shone inside, casting a ray of light over his focused, intense face.
"Little Chaeng, past or present, whether I was working in Hong Kong or on the run... I've never stopped loving you. What would it take for you to give me another chance?"
—
It was nightfall by the time Rosé and the other classmates walked out of Baekhyun's villa. Since she did not want Baekhyun to send her home, she had asked her driver to bring her car around to Baekhyun's villa. After this, he was dismissed.
Instead of going home straightaway, she stopped by the roadside. She was on the main road and there were many crowded stalls with plenty of patrons eating supper inside. The atmosphere there was very lively and cheerful, and so, she sat there quietly for a while, then called Lisa.
Lisa had just put her child to sleep and Jungkook was taking a shower. She picked up the stack of documents that Jungkook had brought back from the police station and was just about to start reading when she saw Rosé's number flashing on her phone screen. "Are you calling because of Jimin?"
Rosé smiled and shook her head. "He's not the problem. I'm not going to get together with anyone right now." She paused and added, "Baekhyun also asked to get back together with me just now, but I refused."
Lisa thought for a moment before replying, "You made a right decision."
Rosé leaned back on the chair and looked up at the starry midnight sky. "Why? What do you think of him? Tell me honestly."
Lisa replied, "He's not a good match for you. When he was a teenager, he was very arrogant. After that, he was on the run for three years and lived in complete isolation in the forest. Of course, these are not necessarily drawbacks, but both of you have too many things on your plate right now and it would be better if you have a fresh start."
Rosé was slightly shocked, and she answered softly, "I didn't think about it that deeply. It's just that it has been so long so I no longer have feelings for him."
"Oh. That's also true I guess."
Her reaction made Rosé laugh. Her disappointment slowly disappeared as she began to feel upbeat again. "Okay then, go and take care of my godson. I'll visit you in a few days."
The two of them hung up the phone, but the call quickly reminded Lisa of Chanyeol's case. She put aside the files that Jungkook had brought back, then went to the drawer where they stored the previous case's files and started going through it again.
When Rosé hung up to put her mobile phone back into her bag, she was shocked. Rummaging through her handbag, she could not find her housekey. Naturally, she tried to re-trace her steps. Previously, she had left the garden and gone to the toilet. When she did this, she had left her bag on the chair, so it was possible that this was when her keys fell out.
Rosé instantly turned around and drove back to Baekhyun's place whilst feeling slightly embarrassed. However, she did not dwell on it for too long as she soon arrived at the place. She did not park too far away from Baekhyun's house, so after locking her car, she strolled over to the villa.
The streetlights shone brightly in the otherwise gloomy street. This was one of the best residential locations in the city and as such, there were security guards on duty at every corner. There was also a row of luxury shops by the side of the street that were still operating, ready to tend to any midnight customers. She walked along the boulevard step by step and she soon spotted Baekhyun's large iron gate.
Just as she was about ring the doorbell, she peered through the gate and saw Baekhyun sitting alone on a lounge chair in the porch. He was holding the doll figure that she had handled earlier with an odd smile on the corner of his lips.
Rosé was a bit confused, so she stood still and watched him without saying a word. Suddenly, she saw him lift up the doll and bring it near to his face before planting a kiss right on the doll's lips. The streetlights were very bright which caused the porcelain-like teeth of the doll to glow with a soft gleam.
Rosé trembled slightly as she stood there in silence for a moment before walking away as quietly as she could.
At the same time, Jungkook just returned to the bedroom after taking a shower. He saw Lisa unpacking all the information and arranging it on the table before reading intently.
"Are you looking at Chanyeol's case again?" Jungkook asked gently.
Lisa sighed and said, "Husband, do you remember, that before Chanyeol died, I told you that he said that he only found Sehun to confess for his crimes after Sehun killed the third victim. Later, we deduced that it's very difficult to get a hold of such a poisonous substance like potassium cyanide. Chanyeol could get it from Hong Kong's black market, but Sehun is just an ordinary college graduate and an ordinary forest guard. Through what medium did he buy it? We've not found out about it."
"Just now, I was going through the previous files and in comparison, the third case was way too similar to the first two cases. Therefore, we assumed that Sehun was coincidently a heavy forum user at that time and that he just so happened to know everything about the "Angel Killer" from his time trawling the internet. When he came across Chanyeol, it triggered his internal desires to commit a crime. Thus, he imitated Chanyeol and used the same methods to carry out his deeds."
"There are just so many coincidences and assumptions - I always felt that something was not right. The more I go through the file, the stronger this feeling becomes."
Jungkook nodded as he also had doubts about their initial hypothesis. He stroked her head and nodded. "Let's go through the file once again."
He sat down beside her and picked up one of the files containing some that he had brought back from the police station. Taehyung had handed him this particular document as he was about to go home, he claimed that it was some follow-up information regarding the angel killer case that he had just received from Hong Kong this afternoon.
Jungkook was initially calm, but after reading a few lines, the expression on his face changed. After he finished reading it, he looked up at Lisa and said seriously, "The Hong Kong authorities came across a number of bodies in the open sea last week. After conducting some DNA test, they confirmed that the corpses are, in fact, the other nine victims of the 'Angel Killer' case who went missing in the past. All of their bodies were dismembered and some of them had been disemboweled and their teeth had been pulled out."
Lisa was shocked. She took the information and her eyes widened in horror. She quickly went through it and murmured, "This couldn't have been done by Chanyeol. It doesn't match his methods or his character at all. The only possibility is that it was done by another person."
She suddenly raised her head and looked Jungkook in the eye only to see his astonished expression staring back at her.
Was there another psychopathic serial killer in Hong Kong at the time?
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