Crimson || GyuRicky

10. Hope

When he made sure that Ricky no longer had the ability to reject him, or even move for the fact, Gyuvin slowly untied his limbs. He could tell that the other hadn't died yet, as his closed eyelids trembled, his whole body convulsed from time to time, swollen, clotted blackish red blood were there where the fresh cuts were seen. He stared at the masterpiece he had created. Ricky looked paler with loss of blood, just the way he would have liked.

Blood on snow. The prettiest crimson.

But Gyuvin knew he couldn't take his time to stare until the elder died. Hanbin and Hao were closing in, he barely had half an hour left. He needed to do things fast.

First, he put all the knives in a sterilizing solution, kept it aside. Then he fetched the large plastic bag he had customized over the days. He put Ricky's body inside, making sure the bag is securely tied. Keeping it with a whole, still living person inside to a corner, he grabbed a mopper to mop all the excess blood. Those clotted blood didn't look pretty at all, and he hated it. However, he knew he couldn't make a person bleed forever. Therefore, he had to let Ricky go.

After the initial step, he opened his back door, leading straight to a set of stairs which he intentionally kept locked. Those stairs were meant for fire exit, but being the landlord, Gyuvin didn't allow anyone to have access to that. Soon, he unlocked it, carried the plastic bag all way up to the topmost floor, to a room dedicated as the store room. Once again, it was his personal store room, no one had access to that. Of course, keeping the body there was risky, but he couldn't possibly take his car and drive to the jungle like he used to, especially as he had people coming over to his place.

He just had to hide the body for a few hours. Late at night, he'd dump it like all the other victims of his.

However, he was clever. So he found out all his old suitcases there, unpacked them, then lined them side by side. He cut off the shorter sides of each suitcase, expect for two at the extreme corners, making a small casket like structure where he put the plastic bag. He then dropped the lids of all those suitcases, satisfied with his work cause even from a foot away, those bags looked ordinary. Never doubtful to hold a dead body inside. Since the store room could only be accessible through the fire exit, he was pretty sure no one would even think about checking it, at least not the night Ricky went apparently missing after being seen by the cameras. He was pretty smart, because he changed so quickly and subtly after reaching the blindspot that when he put the wig, the coat in his previously prepared bag, put on another wig instead, wore another coat, and walked in such a different manner that no one doubted him- everyone thought he was a random person seen coming at the opposite direction right after Ricky's disappearance.

Getting back home after handling the body, Gyuvin put those knives in the kitchen cupboards, mopped the entire room a second time with disinfecting floor wash. He got rid of all his bloody clothes in the same plastic bag accommodating Ricky beforehand. So there wasn't any clue left. He even cleared his laptop. Being a successful hacker, it was nothing for him.

So when Hanbin eventually arrived, he put on his mask again- acting as an innocent, good for nothing soul, who's very worried for his missing boyfriend.

What Gyuvin did not know, was that he had underestimated a capable detective and his more capable ally. Because the moment Jiwoong broke in the apartment after Hanbin had taken him to the police station, he knew something had happened.

The place was awfully clean and sterilized, as if someone had to do it to hide something nasty.

He could tell that there was a huge possibility of finding nothing in that house, yet, he made two of his assistants do the job- to look for hidden compartments or anything of that sort. While he focused on the architecture of the place- trying to think like the killer. It was certain that by some means, Gyuvin understood that Hanbin and Hao were approaching his place, or else, he wouldn't have cleaned his apartment so thoroughly. He most definitely had hidden the body somewhere. The apparent 'Ricky' in the cameras did not convince him.