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"one person's craziness is another person's reality. "
— Tim Burton —
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[ 3RD PERSONS VIEW。]
"I don't get it–" Yunjae chuckled darkly, a hand on her forehead as she looked down soullessly at the last kid she had kidnapped.
"I- I pieced it all together! They were supposed to be the copycat!" she yelled in frustration, fingers tugging roughly on the roots of her hair as she threw the knife away.
The sharp blade clattering against the shiny pavement of the abandoned house. "I even got fired from my job because of it!" she huffed, yanking the young boy by his collar. "What's the point? You're already dead anyway," she muttered and threw the kid's body, letting it cascade on the ground, blood splattered everywhere.
Yunjae wipes the stained blood on her hands before walking towards her desk. Scattered were bubblegum wrappers, pictures, notes, files — she had been all up for weeks, monthseven just to solve the imitator.
"The only way to stop it... is to kill it." she murmured, picking up the framed picture she had. A picture of her brother, someone who died and returned, the copycat of the year 2014.
It was nauseating for Yunjae. To have to kill his own brother. A shrill scream coming from herself as she slammed the picture frame on the ground, "Nonsense! This is such nonsense!"
Yunjae kicks the broken pieces away, sauntering towards the little kid. She looks up at the clock, "You wouldn't mind camping in the woods for a few days, hm? Lee Jaewon." she snickered before stuffing the kid in a big sack bag.
"Maybe there is no copycat..." she chuckles, trudging through old trees. A scoff left her lips, "As if."
Leaving the sack bag there unattended, inside was her last victim everyone would come to know as Jaewon a few days after.
Ahn Yunjae kept stooping low, an eye on everyone as if a copycat were to pop out any minute. Soon enough, she had changed her name though that didn't really stop her.
Now known as Ahn Yura, a fake detective who roams around the town collecting pieces of information, in the desire of stopping the copycat chain that ruined every bit of her.
"Seems like the detective is back but behind bars instead." an officer mocked her, pushing her inside the cell.
Yura turned around, her shoulders rising before falling loosely. After cocking a gun towards a student, thankfully the police had arrived before she could even pull the trigger.
Yoonseok made sure that everyone was safe, not wanting any more losses. All of the events resulted in a few days off from school, knowing how overwhelmed everyone could be after two reported deaths and the killer of the Case 2017 finally captured.
It was definitely a lot to take in.
The group had agreed on meeting up with each other at Renjun's house. As usual, Jaemin decided on buying a few snacks on the way, even brought an extra popsicle for Haruka.
Donghyuck yawned, not really caught up with leaving his house in the morning. But who is he to argue? They literally raided his house and dragged him with them in his pajamas.
Lihua pushed the doorbell, a buzzing sound came from the other side. The door opens and Mrs. Huang greeted them with a friendly smile, gesturing them warmly inside their abode.
"Renjun! Your friends are here!" Mrs. Huang yelled, calling for Renjun's attention.
The blonde-haired boy glanced back after hearing his mother. "Seems like they've arrived," Haruka called out before tugging on her curtains. They have been talking nonstop about the confrontation with Ahn Yura, a bit frustrated since Yura didn't really link well with Haruki's death, making it obvious that Haruki could in fact be the first and only death of the copycat ghost.
Renjun nodded, "I'll go down now, you're coming in a few right?"
Haruka hummed, "You don't want me to?" she raises a brow, slightly teasing him.
"Of course I want to!" he retorted before looking away, "I mean– just come, okay?" he stumbles upon his words, giving her a small genuine smile.
"I will, Renjun." she chuckles, watching the blonde boy walk out of his room.
Haruka took a deep breath, exiting her room, and careened down the stairs. Craning her head as a soft humming voice came from the kitchen.
Mrs. Choi's back faced her as she prepared for tea. "Haruki is that you?"
"It's Haruka." she corrected, clenching her fists.
"R-Right... Haruka. I'm so sorry." Mrs. Choi said before turning around, "Have some tea with me?"
Haruka shook her head, "No, thank you." she mumbled, making her way towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" with a stern voice, Mrs. Choi spoke.
Her hand gripping around the doorknob, she peeked seeing the grand piano, "Just... outside."
"Hmm. Okay."
Seeing as that seemed like it was the end of their conversation, Haruka left the residence, not quite catching the look Mrs. Choi had.
— • • • —
"How is it with your mother, Haruka?" Jeno hummed, pinching a few chips from the open bag of chips in front of them.
Haruka pursed her lips, thinking back to her conversation with Mrs. Choi a while ago. "She's acting weird, the usual..." she mumbled.
"Guys, take a look at this," Mark called out for their attention, gesturing them closer to him and Renjun where they were examining the newly released paper for today.
"Arrested for the Case of 2017, huh?" Jaemin muttered.
"But we're still not done," Jisung sighed, "Yura wasn't linked to Haruki's death... then who the hell killed her?"
Chenle pursed his lips together, poking his cheek again and again, "Haruki said something like she was being watched right? And talking to her before felt like– she kept hinting something..."
Donghyuck rubbed his temples, "Don't tell me there's another murderer in this town."
Haruka squinted her eyes upon Chenle's statement, analyzing it, still a bit annoyed since she couldn't really come up with anything, it was like her memory has been blurred or – erased.
"But," Mark started off, diverting his gaze from the newspaper and onto Haruka, "The dream." he points his finger back and forth between him and her, "We've met before, at least that's what both our dream says, that's something, right?"
"If you've met before, and it was blurred out from your memories, then maybe it had to do something with what we're dealing with so that we won't find out," Lihua said.
