ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴ.

She was alone inside the storage room when she heard the door opening. She looked at the person who just arrived but she saw no one. Her heart started to beat so fast because the two young men were outside to get the new items while the older one skipped work because of an important matter. She placed down the files on the table and looked around. Because of her anxiety, she needed to consult a psychiatrist. It has been three months. She should be coping up already.

"Ren, you're fine." She convinced herself as she picked up an item and looked at the number tag attached to it. She wrote it down on the list and the lights started to flicker. She dropped everything she was holding and she fell down to the chair. Her vision started spinning and her body was feeling hot.

"What's happening?" She mumbled and a dark figure appeared in front of him. She couldn't scream for help. She felt like her voice was stuck in her throat. It walked closer to her and she finally saw the face of it. It was sad and it was crying. It was a man. The lights were back to normal when the door opened. It was Kenta. He rushed to her side when he found her unconscious on the chair.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked while trying to wake her up. He didn't know what to do and he was unsure if she would want to stay in the hospital, so he took another chair and sat close to her, making her body rest on his back. He let out a sigh and waited for her to regain consciousness.

It has been five minutes but she was not yet waking up, so when he carried her out of the storage room, they almost fell because she suddenly woke up and struggled from his grip. She fixed her composure and was about to ask what happened when the two young men arrived with the boxes. She told them to make lists for it first before bringing them down to the storage room. She took her seat in front of her desk and covered her face to think what she saw that time.

"You're weird." Kenta said and she looked at him. She didn't really want to deal with him because she was having a headache but he was the one who found her unconscious inside the storage room.

"Listen. Whether I'm weird or not in your eyes, I don't care. Let's just do our job here, okay? After all, you will leave this department soon." She said and she didn't care anymore if Masahiro and Riki were there to witness the moment.

"Three months. Three more months and I will not deal with your weirdness anymore." There was anger in his voice, so she threw the files to him. He grabbed everything and slammed it on his desk before working on it.

She was walking out of the headquarters when she felt someone following her. She turned to look around but she found a group of police officers instead. She already sent a message that she will sleep in her own house instead. She gripped on her bag tightly when she turned to the dark alleyway. She didn't need to hail a cab since her house was just a few minutes away from the headquarters. Her walking pace went fast until she started running. She almost tripped down when the man she saw inside the storage room appeared in front of her.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" She was already on the verge of tears and trembling. The man pointed in a direction and gestured to her to follow him. He waited for her to follow him, so she had no choice but to do so.

They arrived in a small abandoned cloth shop and then, the man passed through the broken glass door. She hesitated, so she took the pair of white gloves from her bag and wore it. She carefully opened the door and followed him inside. It was already dark, so she took the small flashlight and turned it on. The man pointed in a direction again and they went inside the basement. Ripped clothes were scattered on the floor but she almost screamed when she found dried blood on some of it.

"W-what?" She whispered and then, she pointed the light to a dump of ripped clothes. The man disappeared and then, she started clearing it out. She screamed when she found a dead and decayed body under it.

Kenta looked at her with such suspicion since the dead man she found was missing for almost five months already. The case remained a cold one because the main suspects were released due to lack of evidence. She stayed outside the shop and stared at the ground. She felt a blanket on her shoulders and she saw that it was her second brother. She smiled faintly, muttering a small thanks.

"You can go back to our house when you want to, Ren." Sho said and she nodded. After all, she can't stay alone, especially now that these kinds of things are happening to her. Her brother picked up the equipment box and went inside the shop because he is the forensic analyst for this case.

"How did you find the man?" Kenta asked and she shook her head. She couldn't tell anything because he thinks that she is weird and he will probably not believe her. She covered her body with the blankets properly and buried her face on her knees. She also couldn't believe that the man earlier was already dead. Does it mean it was his ghost? Another figure arrived and it was her future sister-in-law this time. She will be the prosecutor of the case and her team went inside to help Sho from investigating.

"Sho said that you should go home for now. I'll question you later regarding the incident. For now, take a rest. Can you drive her home?" Fuyu asked Kenta and he nodded. She took her business card from her wallet and gave it to him.

"Here's the address. Mother is waiting for her at home. Take care of her, okay?" Fuyu added and he couldn't believe that he became an errand boy. She helped Ren to get up from her seat and then, Kenta assisted her to his car. He fastened her seatbelt and closed the door before going to the driver's seat.

"If you will not tell me anything, how would I understand why you are acting like that? Look, I just want a healthy work environment. You don't need to share personal experiences with me but at least, telling me how you found the dead body will help a lot." He said as he started the engine. He drove her home after that. She didn't speak throughout the whole trip but he didn't force her to open up as well.

They saw her mother waiting for her outside, so she quickly got out of the car and ran towards her. She will be in her thirties soon but she felt like she lost half of her life because of that incident. Her mother hugged her and thanked Kenta for driving her home. She offered him a cup of coffee but he declined because he wanted to go back to the crime scene and to know what really happened there. He made sure that they were already inside the house first before driving back.