Doctor Demon

"The Blue Fish game?" Jina asked. "What is it?"

Eli looked around as if to make sure her mother was not around and lowered her voice.

"It's the rage now!" she hissed. "Almost every teenager is playing it. The game is not easily accessible but once someone accesses it, you can put in any wish you want. Once you're done, your wish will come true."

"Put in any wish I want?" Jina echoed. Eli nodded.

"I used to think it's a rumor," she said. "But I don't think it's a rumor anymore."

Jina stiffened. Did this dumb girl write her wish in this game? 

"My friend, Lara, wrote a wish in it and it came true," Eli claimed. "We were at her house one night and she told me."

"What was her wish?"

"She wished that the most popular boy in our class would sleep with her," Eli revealed. "It's a nearly impossible thought!"

"Why so?"

"The most popular boy in our class is Jonah Cho," Eli explained as if it was obvious just by his name. "He's not just handsome but rich and quite frankly, out of Laura's reach. You see, she's not good looking at all and she has several moles on her face. Jonah slept with some of the most beautiful girls in the school. He never even looked at Laura but one day, he suddenly confessed he slept with her. It was insane! The whole school went crazy but Jonah claims he had no idea how it happened. He was at a friend's party and suddenly, Laura came in front of him. Next thing he knew, they were kissing and ended up in bed together."

"When I asked Laura how she did it, she confessed to me about the Blue Fish. I didn't believe her at first but Laura invited me over to her place that night. So at midnight, she showed me the site and I was stunned. It really was true!"

Site? Jina wondered. "What was on that site?" She asked.

"A sort of contract," Eli shrugged. "It said that our wish would come true but it also had this weird thing about the ending time of the contract. We had to put it in. As a joke, Laura entered three thousand years into her contract. But after seeing how her wish came true, she is nervous about this part. I wanted to sign a contract too but at that moment, my mom called and told me to come back home."

"Did you return to the site again?"

"No. I didn't get the time with all this craziness."

Jina was now in deep thought. She doubted Eli had entered the site but they still needed to be sure. However, she also felt that Eli was still hiding something. If Jina probed too much, Eli might alert the real culprit and they would lose a lead. She would have to coerce the girl some other way.

"But you can use the app to teach your brothers a lesson," Eli suggested. "If Laura can snag the most popular guy at school, surely it'll help you as well."

"I'll pass on it," Jina winced. "I guess, I should go back to the precinct. But Eli, I'd advise you not to go to that site again."

"Why not?" Eli frowned. "I have-"

"Trust me, it's not going to help you at all," Jina emphasized. "If a site is asking you to make a wish in exchange for a time limit, there's something wrong with it. Nothing is free in this world."

Eli did not seem to have understood the importance of her words but the girl shrugged. Jina was sure that this girl was going to visit the site at the first chance she could get so she made a mental note to have Magrod prowl this area around midnight until the case was solved.

She stood up and left the house. Once outside, she sent a text to Hobin asking to meet up. He replied that he was at Kyuhyun's lab.

Time to go, she thought.

…

Hobin was in Kyuhyun's lab, waiting for the eccentric pathologist to finish his examination of the bodies. Kyuhyun was a little too involved with these deaths and had taken a while to conduct an autopsy as if he was taking great care of the corpses. Hobin suspected it was because Kyuhyun was also autistic like Yisub and somewhere in his heart, the pathologist felt a connection with the boy.

He waited patiently until Kyuhyun wheeled out Yisub's body while his assistant brought out Minjoong's. Both the corpses were kept side by side, the autopsy finally complete. Kyuhyun had also stitched their throats back, a deep scar on their necks completely visible.

"Patient name, Kim Yisub," Kyuhyun parroted. "Sex is male. Date of death, 16 May 2XXX. Time of death 12 AM. Found in his bedroom by his mother with his throat slashed at exactly five centimeter deep. Cause of death is blood loss due to severe injury to the jugular vein. Weapon used is a talon similar to an eagle-"

"Kyuhyun-" Hobin began but the pathologist ignored him and continued to narrate his findings.

"Second patient's name is Lee Minjoong," he went on. "Sex is male. Date of death 17 May 2XXX. Time of death 12 AM. FOund in his bedroom by his mother with his throat slashed at exactly five centimeter-"

"Kyuhyun calm down," Hobin said but Kyuhyun was gripped by a strange paranoia.

"Cause of death is blood loss due to severe injury-"

"Doctor Kyuhyun, get a grip-"

"Weapon used is a talon similar to an eagle-"

Hobin sighed and did not bother to stop him, knowing fully well that Kyuhyun was going to get even more agitated if he was forced to calm down. Instead, he let Kyuhyun repeat his analysis over and over again until the latter became tired.

"Talon similar to an eagle," Kyuhyun murmured. 

"I know," Hobin said once Kyuhyun was tired and slowed down. "Let me take you out of here."

Kyuhyun was shaking and it took Hobin a long time to calm him down. He could not help feeling sorry for the pathologist who was clearly traumatized.

"Five centimeters," Kyuhyun kept on murmuring. "Five…"

"I know buddy," Hobin said. He glanced at the bodies, feeling a surge of anger at the murderer.

"I know," he whispered.