Project IZ*ONE: Secret Files

The Masked Singer: Part 2

"Breaking news! Several hours ago at 8:27 pm, an unidentified man was found dead in an alleyway along Dongmak road. Eyewitnesses claimed they heard a singing voice from the area before the victim's scream, which connects it to seven recent and similar cases across Seoul. This time though, it appears the perpetrator was caught on camera before fleeing the scene. While police work to investigate the identity and whereabouts of this serial killer, the public is urged to stay safe at night and give any information they can that can lead to the arrest of said killer." The broadcast concluded with a low resolution picture of a short-haired girl wearing a mask and a hoodie.

"At least they got your good side." Yena says after turning down the tv's volume.

"Yah, that's the first thing you notice from that whole segment?" Yuri replies with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm just kidding, Yul! I'm just trying to lighten the mood. You know I was worried when you didn't come back home in time, right?"

"Yes, I know. I feel terrible though; whoever that was died on my watch because I was caught off guard, and now I find out this isn't the first related case." As members of IZ*ONE, protecting the innocent was just something the girls were hard-wired to do, so to fail in that duty hit Yuri harder than anything.

"It's okay, Yuri. I know you tried your best. Now that we know there's a mutant out there murdering people, it's our duty to go out and catch her before anyone else gets hurt. That's how we can make it up to the first victims." Yena says quietly while giving her girlfriend a reassuring hug.

"Thanks, unnie....I really wonder who that mutant really was. Her ability was definitely voice-related, but I don't know the specifics yet." Yuri thinks. Of course, she knew that rogue mutants existed from stories she's heard from Yena, Gaeun, and her trainers, but this was the first time she'd encountered one in person.

"I'll do some research on it tonight. You should head to bed because you have a schedule tomorrow morning." Yena advises. Yuri is shaken out of her thoughts by the reminder as she'd completely forgotten about her music show recording. The past couple hours have really been a blur for her, but she didn't want to drop the topic just yet.

"Are you sure, unnie? I can still help out. I'm the one who couldn't save that guy."

"Don't worry about it for now and just rest. I got this." Yuri wanted to argue more, but the exhaustion was finally catching up to her, causing her to yawn. Yena took this as her queue to lead the hamster to her bed and tuck her in.

"Alright, let's see what we have here..." The duck says as she heads over to her PC and starts searching about the case.

~~~~

The next day...

"Jo Yuri-ssi, please keep your focus." The stage producer says when he notices the pop star a bit lethargic during the rehearsal run.

"Sorry, producer-nim! Just haven't gotten my stretching done." Yuri replies, trying to make up an excuse. In truth, she didn't have a good sleep with the memories of the night before replaying in her dreams. She wanted to ask Yena if she'd found anything, but when she woke up, her girlfriend was still sound asleep, no doubt because of an all-nighter.

"Well, recording is in 20 minutes, so I'm going to need your head back in the game." The producer says as he begins doing his final checks on the cameras. The young girl nods and tries to focus back on her performance, but she was interrupted by her manager calling from beside the stage.

"Yuri-ssi! Can you come down for a second? It's urgent." Yuri had a feeling she knew what this was about, so she tells the backup dancers to take five and heads off stage.