Doctor Demon

Blood was still dripping on the floor, creating a red puddle underneath a chair which was placed next to a desk. The whole room was neat almost to an obsessive extent. Not even a speck of dust was on any furniture. Every spot was cleaned rigorously and the white walls were almost shining.

It was spotless. Except for one place.

On the chair, sat a boy of around fifteen. Staining the neat desk was his own blood. His books were soaked with red blood while the wall behind him was also stained. The boy was seated in a peculiar position. His feet were pulled behind him on the chair looking as if he was on his knees when he died. His throat was slashed with a long and sharp kitchen knife while a look of pure horror was etched on his face. His mouth was wide open and he was staring at his laptop screen.

The knife lay on the ground next to the chair.

For a moment, Jina did not move as a million thoughts entered her mind. Her gaze was on the boy who died and suddenly, she was scared.

"Tinkerbell!" Hobin nudged her. She was startled and nodded. Clearing her throat, she approached the corpse.

"Is this a suicide?" Jina asked in a shaky tone. She put on her gloves and was examining the boy. The wound was fresh and still oozing blood. She was silent as she watched the blood drip slowly from his neck and she looked away. Her heart was troubled at the sight of him 

Meanwhile, Hobin was checking the door for forced entry but there was none. He went into the bathroom but everything was kept in its proper place.

"OCD?" he wondered. He shut the door and returned to the crime scene where Dahoon was now checking the laptop.

"Nothing fishy here," he declared. "The guy has a squeaky clean search history!"

"But why did he kill himself?" Woohee winced. The sight of the body was making her uncomfortable because the boy was really young and reminded her of her teenage cousin. It was hard to fathom that a person so young would take his life.

"How was his relationship with his parents?" Hobin asked the rookie officer. 

"The parents said that he was studious and quite a good kid," the officer replied. "They can't believe that their son died like this."

"Who found the body?" Jina asked.

"The sister did. She's outside talking to the cops now."

Jina and Hobin went outside to check on the sister. She was also in her mid teens and had the same dark hair as her brother. In fact, they looked almost like twins except for a few differences.

"Eli, right?" Jina asked. Kim Eli was distraught but Hobin noted that she looked scared which made him slightly frown. 

"Y-Yes!" she stammered, fidgeting her fingers. "I'm Eli. Yisub's twin."

"Are you alright?" Hobin asked her pointedly.

"No," she sniffed. "My brother just died!"

Jina was also surprised by Hobin's question but did not think too much into it for the moment. She turned to Eli and patted her head.

"Can you tell us what happened?" she asked in a kind tone. "Why did your brother kill himself?"

"I...I don't know," Eli replied in a thick voice. "He was always the perfect one! Best in everything. His grades were high and he was good at sports. Everyone in the family loved him and he was good to me as well. I don't know why he will kill…"

Eli choked up her tears, unable to control them. "I was going to call him for dinner," she whispered. "And I saw...I saw…"

She burst into tears and Jina consoled her. Hobin also felt sad for the girl who just lost her brother. He turned to the parents and slowly approached them.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim were quietly crying in a corner. Mrs. Kim seemed to have lost all sense of time and place, crying in her husband's arms. Hobin did not want to ask them questions but he had to. He picked out a few tissues from the tissue box and handed it to Mrs. Kim.

"Please accept my condolences," he said gently. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Kim."

She looked up and accepted the tissue, wiping her eyes with it. 

"My boy!" she wept. "My poor son! I...I can't believe that he would do something like this!"

"He was a good boy," Mr. Kim added, barely controlling his own emotions. His eyes were stung with tears but he had to be strong for his wife and daughter. 

"He never had any problems," he went on as he recalled his son. "A little obsessed with cleanliness but very protective. He loved all of us and never complained. We were always worried because he…"

Mr. Kim trailed off, trying to fight back tears. ""Because he was mildly autistic," Mr. Kim revealed. "He suffered from a mild case of Asperger's Syndrome. Ever since he was a child, he was unusually sharp and brilliant. He rarely communicated with people and worked in a set routine."

"Some kids tried to bully him but the school authorities always kept an eye on him," Mrs. Kim sniffed. "Over time, with the help of therapy, he managed to open up. He was functioning normally and was even very popular. Only his obsessive need to stay in a routine and clean things remained. That is it."

That explains the state of the room, Hobin realized.

"Did he go to regular therapy?" he asked.

"Yes! He went there regularly. It became part of his routine. Even if we didn't go, he would go one his own. But everything was timely for him. Not a minute late!"

Hobin scanned the living room. Even in that place, everything was kept in an orderly manner. It was not visible to most people but to a psychiatrist like him, the setting was obvious. 

Everything from the furniture to the photo frame were kept in a set of strict rules as if by one person. The coffee table was exactly three steps away from the couch. An ottoman was placed three steps left of the table. The photo frames on the table were angled at exactly 180 degrees and the paintings on the walls were one inch apart from each other. 

Nothing was out of place as if in a series of rules.

"You put all of these in a precise manner?" Hobin asked them, indicating their possessions. Mrs. Kim nodded.

"For Yisub's well being," she added. "If anything was out of place, he would become restless. He became anxious and neurotic. When he was young, he even harmed himself when something was out of routine but it lessened over the years."

"Yisub is prone to hurting himself?" Hobin frowned.

"But he didn't do it for years!" Mr. Kim explained. "I...I don't believe he will kill himself. We made sure to keep him happy and healthy! I personally taught him not to hurt himself and he learnt eventually. Yisub was smart!"

"I know," Hobin nodded. "I can tell. I'm a psychiatrist myself. What about your daughter, Eli? Is she also suffering from autism?"

"Eli is perfectly normal," Mrs. Kim stated. "She's also a smart kid. Both the twins are perfect in almost everything. They never gave us any...any grievance. But now...my son…"

She wept harder, unable to take the pain anymore. Her husband hugged her and turned to Hobin.

"Doctor, this is a hard time for us," he said in an apologetic tone. "I-I don't think that we can talk right now…"

"That's alright," Hobin assured him. "I'm sorry for your loss. I truly am."

Mr. Kim nodded at him gratefully and Hobin left the couple alone. The CSI was done investigating the crime scene and they were packing the corpse in a body bag. Mrs. Kim let out a wail and wanted to go and grab her son's body but Mr. Kim held her back with great difficulty. Her cries were echoing the once happy house, making even the tough policemen around them pity the couple.

"MY SON!" Mrs. Kim yelled. "DON'T TAKE HIM! HE'LL BE SCARED WITHOUT US!"

"Honey…" Mr. Kim tried to assure his wife but he, too, was crying. Eli hugged her parents, crying hard. 

"Dad...Yisub…" she sobbed. Jina was sad and also disturbed by the grieving family. Hobin noticed that she excused herself and left the apartment. He followed her.

"What happened?" he asked her once they were out of earshot. To his surprise, she was shaking as if she was scared. 

"Tinkerbell…" 

Jina took a few deep breaths to calm herself and collect her thoughts. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "Lately, I've been a little jittery. Especially after the whole issue with the serial killing demon and what Magrod told me. I...I guess this suicide made me anxious as well."

Hobin silently hugged her, letting her feel safe with him. Jina relaxed in his arms and was grateful for his warmth. He kissed her forehead.

"When I saw that boy, I couldn't help thinking," she whispered, almost teary. "What if it was Minyoon? Or Yoonmin? I mean...he was the same age as them!"

"You really think that those two will kill themselves?" Hobin asked. "You're talking about a couple of money lovers who have faced ghosts and demons with ease. They won't do something like this!"

"Yeah…"

Jina did not know what came over her but lately, these thoughts would plague her mind. They watched as the CSI carried the body out while Mrs. Kim's cries were being heard by everyone in the vicinity.

They did not know whether it was the aftermath of their encounters with demons or was it the deceased boy's death, but there was no denying that everyday brought a new shock.

"But what really saddens me the most," Jina said. "Is not only this boy's death."

Hobin glanced at her and frowned but she was not looking at him. She turned to her side and stared at a pale figure with dark eyes and hair, looking exactly like the boy who had just died. His ghost was also watching the cops carrying his body away.

"It is 8 PM," he said in a hollow tone. "Dinner time.. Mom makes chicken stew every Wednesday. Why didn't she make any today?"