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……

The scent of disinfectant and corpses hit her nostrils the moment she entered the lab. The walls were stacked with shelves containing strange surgical equipment which she could not recognize. There were jars of dead animals preserved in chemicals while the white walls and floor were sparkling because the whole lab had been recently disinfected. But the room was freezing cold so Jina had to pull up her hoodie to stop herself from shivering.

In the middle lay a series of surgery beds carrying corpses. Thankfully, they were covered inside body bags; the dead bodies must have been brought recently and were still awaiting for the coroner. At one table, was a white coated pathologist in his late twenties. He was wearing a pair of surgical eye loupes and was stooping over the body of a newly arrived corpse. His long hair was tied tightly into a knot and was engrossed in his work.

Jina shook her head. The pathologist was Doctor Lee Kyuhyun, one of the most eccentric guys she had ever met. Even though he was quite capable in his job, he was an odd fellow who lacked social skills. He never looked anyone in the eye, preferring to gaze elsewhere while speaking as if he was shy or scared to talk to others directly. 

Jina used to think that staying around dead bodies all the time probably messed up his head but over time, she realized that he was a nice person despite his tendency to be too methodical in his work.

Kyuhyun was examining the external injuries of the corpse. Jina maintained a distance, not wanting to see what the doctor was doing but it seemed like Kyuhyun was stitching back the brain into the corpse. Finally, he was done and he took off his gloves. Looking up, he saw Jina standing there.

Jina was about to greet him but Kyuhyun headed towards a basin and washed his hands.

“The unnamed male victim aged between nine and ten brought in on the tenth of July 20XX was fed or drugged with Temazepam,” he parroted in a robotic tone. “The marks around his neck were from a coaxial cable, probably an RG-6 of inner diameter of 6.9 millimeter and an out diameter of 0.275 inches. The child was unconscious when the diaphragm was constricted with enough external force. However, the presence of tissues and skin under his nails indicate that he was scratching at some external force before he was unconscious and hence-“

“Hello, Doc!” Jina greeted warily. “I’m assuming you had a good week.”

Kyuhyun looked lost for a moment, not looking into her eyes but rather seemed like he was trying to process her question.

“My water pipe is clogged with rust and fungus so it has been difficult to wash myself so I had to boil mineral water at exactly hundred degree Celsius and let it cool to seventy degree before I could wash off my body but the area in between my groin needs-“

“Enough!” Jina quickly exclaimed. “I’ll listen to your water troubles later!”

Kyuhyun scratched his head and replied, “Alright.”

Even though Kyuhyun was an expert in dealing with dead bodies, he had a hard time adjusting with the living. Many people made fun of him but Jina respected his dedication towards his work. Thanks to him, they managed to catch many criminals and despite his eccentric way of explaining the cause of deaths without any emotions, Kyuhyun had a knack of remembering the diagnosis of each and every body he had ever examined. He also treated all the corpses with respect.

“So he was killed by someone?” Jina asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“Diaphragm constricted by external force using an RG-6 coaxial wire,” Kyuhyun stated.

“In other words, he was murdered,” Jina sighed.

“Yes,” Kyuhyun nodded. “The unnamed male of ten years of age-“

“Okay, I got it!” Jina said. “Where’s the body?”

“Wear the PPE equipment,” he instructed, pointing at a new pair of gloves, hair mask and face mask. Jina put them on, took off her shoes and followed him to another room which was situated in the corner. 

This room was even colder than the outer room. In fact, it was biting cold in that room to the point that Jina could not stop her shivering. Kyuhyun, on the other hand, was completely fine. There were several metal shelves with long drawers in them. The room was a morgue which had the corpses of several victims. Once Kyuhyun was done with the autopsies, the bodies were kept in the freezer for up to one week. If no one claimed them, the cops would cremate them and put the urns in the local temple.

Kyuhyun walked towards one of the drawers and opened it.

Minki’s lifeless body lay in that cold room, lonely and abandoned. The boy’s lips had darkened and the marks on his neck were more profound. His skin was hardening due to rigor mortis but it looked as if he was asleep. He had been completely stripped but thankfully, Kyuhyun had his body covered with a white cloth. 

Jina could not help but feel sad. Minki’s ghost was still roaming around the living but if he saw this, it might devastate his young mind. Even as a spirit, a child did not deserve to see such a horrifying sight.

“You said that there was skin and tissues under his skin,” she said.

“Yes and I’m analysing them,” Kyuhyun confirmed. “But I need to match them against a specific suspect to confirm the DNA.”

“Doctor Hobin, the new profiler was with me at the crime scene,” she said. “Coincidentally, one of his patients is from the same orphanage as this boy. Hobin was researching his patient on the internet and stumbled upon a photo with this boy. I’ve sent the picture to Jiwoon. She’ll send me the details soon. I’ll text you the name for the labeling.”

Kyuhyun did not reply but was simply gazing at Minki’s body. He then turned around to leave, prompting Jina to follow him out.

“I’ll take the reports,” Jina went on as she discarded the gloves and masks. “Is there anything else I should know?”

He slowly shook his head and simply returned to dissect another body. Jina sighed and left the man alone who was happy in his own world.

She picked up the reports from the reception and called Jiwoon’s cell phone.

“I have good news for you,” Jiwoon said in a smug tone. “I found out the name of the boy. It’s Yang Minki and he was living at the Smiling Sun Orphanage.”

Tell me something I don’t know, Jina said inwardly.

“And, there’s something else,” Jiwoon went on. 

“What is it?” Jina asked.

“It’s a blog post,” Jiwoon said. “An anonymous blog post written a few weeks ago. The post is claiming that the Smiling Sun Orphanage is defrauding money from the donors.”

….

Hobin was studying Haeji for a while. He had given her a piece of paper and some crayons to draw her favorite people in the world. She was mindlessly drawing a few sticks which resembled people.

Finally, she was done and handed the paper to Hobin.

“Five people?” he smiled. “So, tell me. Who are they?”

Haeji was silent. Hobin knew she would not easily tell him anything so he took out the picture he found on the net and showed it to her.

“This must be the owner of the orphanage, right?” he asked, pointing at a tall stick figure Haeji drew. She slowly nodded her head.

“But who are the rest?” he wondered out loud. “Can you point them out in this picture?”

He put forward the group photo of the children and placed her drawing beside it.

“Can our Haeji tell us who this is?” he asked in an excited tone, pointing at a blue stick figure. “Is he or she in this picture?”

Haeji nodded and pointed at a girl of her age. “And who is this?” Hobin asked, pointing at a yellow stick figure from the drawing.

For a moment, Haeji did not move but then she put her finger on one of the children in the photo. Hobin did not betray his reaction but maintained his calm.

Smiling at her, he asked, “Ahh, it’s a boy! Are you close to him?”

She slowly nodded.

“What’s his name?” Hobin asked. 

Silence.

“Is he at the orphanage with you?” Hobin gently probed. 

Haeji slowly shook her head. Hobin glanced at the picture again, this time scrutinizing what he had just discovered.

The picture Haeji pointed at was of the boy whose dead body they had found the other day.

This means Haeji is connected to this boy’s murder, he deduced.

“Haeji, wanna see a magic trick?” he asked her. Haeji enthusiastically nodded.

“Give me your hand,” Hobin requested. The girl felt a little shy before stretching out her hand, touching Hobin’s palm.

Let’s read your memories then, he thought.