The Murderer's Favorite

A tall, raven-haired male happily entered the premise of L Publishing House with the hope that one of his works would be published again. Sirius Kim, a twenty-four-year-old writer, had been writing novels since he was in high school and decided to take a creative writing course in college, although his parents were against it. He still pursued his dreams and was determined to prove to them that his choices were right.

"Good morning," he greeted the lady who was on duty at the reception" Good morning, Mr. Kim, do you have an appointment today?" The lady asked; she knows him because Sirius often comes here. The male nodded his head. "To the Head Editor," he answered. The lady told Sirius to go up to the second floor, and he would call the head editor's secretary to let him know that he was there. The young man immediately went to the second floor and sat in the waiting area.

A few minutes later, his name was called by the secretary, Sirius immediately stood up and went to the head editor's office. He gently knocked on the mahogany door and he heard a small voice from the inside telling him to come in, he turned the doorknob then opened it, and went inside, "Have a seat, Mr. Kim," ordered the head editor, Sirius sat on a vacant chair next to HE's table.

"What are we going to talk about?" The young man asked curiously while smiling, and the head editor sighed before speaking again. "I won't care about you anymore, Mr. Kim." Sirius felt like he knew what was going to happen: "The director decided to drop down your novel." " His whole world crumbles; this must be the fifth time they've rejected or removed his novels, and it's not new to him; he seems to be used to it. "Why?" Even though his novel was not accepted, he still wanted to know the reason. "Don't feel bad for me because your work is good, but the boss said it was lacking and the genre you use is not popular with the masses anymore so we don't make any money." explained the head editor.

Sirius just smiled, "I understand," he said goodbye to the head editor and then left his office sadly as he was leaving he witnessed the removal of the promotional poster of his novel and replaced it with another poster, the janitor should have thrown it away in the trash when he suddenly stopped, "Brother, Can I have that?" he said, the janitor immediately gave him some memorabilia of his novel before it ended up in the archives of the publishing house.

He quietly left the building and sighed; he had lost his income again now, and it seems like he will lose hope in writing. He can no longer swallow his pride and go home to his family only to hear bad words from his parents. He has many jobs, but he just can't do them. His thoughts were cut off as he felt a hand placed on his shoulders. "How are you?" Julius asked him, only then did he remember that the publishing house is close to L News Center where his best friend works as a reporter. "It was rejected again," he answered, Julius gasped then softly massaged Sirius' shoulder because the tone of his voice sounded like the young man was about to cry.

"Let there be a next time, god, don't give up right away. You too? You were Sirius Kim, so you were the best in essays in high school." the reporter jokingly said to ease the friend's feelings even though he made the other smile. "Thank you." Sirius said softly, feeling a little better, "It's nothing, anyway, we're friends so we should work together." the reporter stated letting go of the writer. "So cheer up, there are many more opportunities," he added, Sirius didn't know what to do if Julius doesn't exist in his life, he was happy to know there was someone who supports him.

"Come on, Edward was waiting for us." before Sirius could even react, the reporter pulled him towards a diner that was familiar to him because it was where they used to hang out in high school and college. "Hey! You're here," shouted Edward then waved at the two of them to see him, Julius smiled then let go of Sirius's hand to go ahead of their other friend while Sirius stopped because something suddenly came to his memory. "Sirius? Are you alright?" he came back to his senses when he heard Julius's voice, he just shook his head for a moment before answering his friend. "I'm fine," he said and smiled as he approached the two and sat in the empty seat. "Oh, the 3D is here!" The waiter happily greeted them as he approached them. "What is your order? Is it still the same?" Edward nodded and suddenly answered, "You already know that man, increase the amount of soup." he replied jokingly, then the waiter just gave an okay sign.

After they had lunch Edward returned to their headquarters especially because he is a detective while Sirius had nothing to do so he decided to return to his apartment. Since he disobeyed his parents' wishes, he left their house, sat on his swivel chair, and stared blankly at his computer screen. He had to write a new novel but nothing came up on his mind no matter how hard he thought, if he could just smash his head on his table so that he could think of a plot. He remembered that he had posted on his sins that he was open for commission so now he is waiting for a client, he leaned on his swivel chair thinking of some possible ways so that he won't have to borrow money from his friends especially close ones that the rent is to be paid, he is also ashamed of every time they help him.

Suddenly his stomach rumbled due to hunger; only now did he notice the time, and it was night. He stood up and went to the kitchen to see if there was anything he could eat, but to his dismay, his refrigerator was empty. He forgot to go grocery shopping today because of what's happening; he doesn't have a choice anymore, even though he doesn't want to lose money now and he also doesn't want to die of hunger. Sirius entered the room again to get a hoodie and wallet. Then, leaving his apartment, making sure the door was locked before finally leaving and heading to the nearby 24/7 store, he realized he was going to pass through the alley rumored to have many more hold-ups. It was still early, so he probably wouldn't get hurt, so he sped up. He was thankful that nothing bad happened, and he arrived safely at the store. He immediately bought a cup of noodles and was taken to the counter to pay. "Are you going to eat here, sir?" the cashier asked, nodding his head in response.

The cashier opened his cup of noodles and filled them with hot water. "Here it is, sir," he said, taking what he ordered before heading to the seat near the window. Sirius was busy rethinking his life decisions when something caught his eye. A man seemed to be in a hurry; he quickly finished up his food and ran out of the store to follow the man. He arrives back again in the same dark alley where he passed earlier. He followed the man in until he heard a shout. Sirius stopped in his tracks as he witnessed something he wouldn't forget.

What did he witness? A woman was lying on the ground, and a man was lying on top of her, covering her mouth so she wouldn't cry. Sirius couldn't move from where he was standing as if he were frozen, and he should have helped the woman but he couldn't. He just watched as the man stabbed the woman, and when the man suddenly turned in his direction, Sirius immediately hid. His heart beating so fast as his breath hitched, he didn't last long, and he might be the next victim, so Sirius no doubt ran back to his apartment, but he went around the other corner so he could get home safely.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he reached his apartment. He hurried inside and locked the door. He catches his breath as soon as his body falls on the floor; the terrifying scene earlier is still replaying in his mind, and he can't believe he has witnessed a murder. This is making him crazy; Sirius has witnessed a crime happening between his two naked eyes. He didn't think twice about standing up and grabbing his phone to call any of his friends, but it kept directing him to an answering machine. On the third time he called Julius, the latter answered it, but before he could utter a word, suddenly his world turned black.

"Sirius," he gasped as his eyes opened wide, a white companion greeted him, his eyes immediately closed a bit because of the sudden light, and his vision was still a bit blurry but after a few minutes it cleared up, and he could hear a beeping sound beside him, and there was also an IV fluid connected to his hand, so he realized he was in the hospital now. "Sirius!" He suddenly heard Julius' voice, and in just a second, the said male appeared in his vision. "Thank God, you're awake." I'll just call the doctor!" The reporter said Sirius panicked and immediately left to call a nurse or doctor while he was still processing where he was. He blinked his eyes again to make his vision more clear as Julius returned to the room with a doctor who immediately approached the male on the hospital bed to check his condition.

"It seems like Mr. Kim's condition is good; he can go out anytime, but make sure he can eat well and take the medicines I prescribed," the doctor said before leaving because he still had a lot of patients to see. Julius breathed a sigh of relief at what the doctor said before approaching his lying friend. "You worry us," Julius said softly, then took the chair from under the bed and sat down. "Sorry, Jules." was the only thing Sirius said since he woke up; he knows Julius can't stay mad at him longer. "What else can we do? You're already there; don't starve yourself, and Edward almost ran away from his duty to come here." Sirius frowned at what his friend said; he remembered eating with him last night; his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered what happened last night, and he also remembered that he ate. "Earth to Sirius!" He came back to his senses when he heard his friend's voice, "Huh? Are you saying something?"

"Nothing, I just want to say that you rest first and we'll leave later."

In the evening, Sirius was discharged from the hospital, even though, against his better judgment, he just let Julius pay the hospital bills. He left him in the lounge to go to the cashier and pay. "Did you hear what happened to Marina?" He heard the nurse who passed in front of him say, "That's why I pity her because she's too young to die," commented one; he suddenly frowned when he heard that, then something replayed in his memory of a man being stabbed by a woman before he lost consciousness again; Julius immediately caught his friend's body before it landed on the ground; fortunately, they hadn't left the hospital yet, so he asked for help again. The doctor immediately approached him and asked him to check Sirius again. Maybe the writer was tired from writing his novels. The young man was not admitted to the hospital again; instead, Julius took you home to his apartment until he woke up.

Where is he? It was dark around him, and he didn't know where he was going. The only thing he could hear was a woman's cry, which he didn't know where it was coming from: "Sirius." He stopped walking in the void because it was as if someone whispered to him. "Sirius," he sat down then covered his ears so he couldn't hear the caller, "Remember, I did this for you." He opened his eyes, and a familiar ceiling greeted him. He sat up from lying down, holding his head, which was still pinching. He looked around the room and realized he was in the guest room of Julius's apartment. He carefully got up from the bed, then walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen, where he could hear Julius and Edward arguing. "No! He can't know those things! "His life is fine; why do you say more?" Julius responded angrily.

"It's about time he found out," Edward suggested, and the reporter aggressively shook his head. "Are you out of your mind, Ed? You were there, and you're a witness." Julius was cut off when his eyes caught Sirius entering the kitchen. "Are you guys arguing?" he curiously asked the two, "Ah, I have a case like that, and the victim doesn't remember what happened, so I asked Julius for his opinion." Edward lied; it was good, and the writer immediately believed him. "Does your head still hurt?" Julius asked worriedly then approached him. "Just a little, do you have any pain reliever there?" the reporter immediately gave the medicine he bought from the pharmacy, and the two just watched as he drank the medicine. "Are you okay?" it was Edward who asked, Sirius nodded with a smile because his energy was slowly returning so the two silently thanked each other, "As long as something hurts you again, just say it."

They drove Sirius home to his apartment because the two still had jobs to do, but they made sure he was okay before leaving, and Julius even left groceries so the young man wouldn't go hungry, so the writer was very grateful and promised they would be paid when he had money. When he entered his apartment, he suddenly felt tired, but he had to write a new novel again. He immediately changed his clothes and returned to his swivel chair, then faced the computer again. He just stared at his computer's screen, trying to get some ideas. A horrible scene came into his mind, and he held his head again because it hurt as his eyes widened. He remembered what happened last night; he had witnessed a crime. Why did he only remember now? He was startled as his phone vibrated; he handed it to the table to see who had messaged him-maybe his friends. He was taken aback when he saw that it was from an unknown number, and even though he was hesitating to open it, he didn't have a choice but to click the screen to open the message. As soon as he read it, his world stopped moving. "I know you were watching last night. Tell the police about it, and you'll be the next."

The phone slipped from his grasp as soon as his hands trembled after reading the message, Sirius looked around to see if someone was watching him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he was the only one here but his body was still shaking from fear, how can he report to it the authorities without getting caught by the suspect? He should have just forgotten about it but it couldn't be erased from his mind, he was surprised again when his phone that was still on the floor suddenly rang. Seeing the caller's id, even though he was still scared, he picked up the phone. "Hello, Mr. Kim." the head editor uttered as Sirius answered his call. "Good evening, sir." the young man hoped that the head editor won't notice his voice was shaking. "I received your email last night, so far the novel you sent me is good. I hope you update as soon as possible." he frowned after hearing what the head editor said.

"I didn't-" A sudden memory flashed to his mind, causing him to stop talking. He saw himself sitting on his swivel chair and leaning against the table while typing something on his computer as he kept adjusting his glasses. He could even recall sending an email to the head editor before passing out: "Hello? "Mr. Kim, are you still there?" His thoughts cut off as he heard the head editor's voice. "I'll send the next chapters once I'm done," he said, imagining the head editor was smiling. "That's good to know, Goodbye Mr. Kim." As the call ended Sirius quickly browsed his emails to see what he had sent, completely forgetting the incident that happened earlier. He stopped on his recent emails as he saw the file that he had sent to the head editor, he immediately opened it to find out what he had passed, "The Mystery Killer of the Night?" Sirius uttered as he read the title, he remembered that it was already in his archive and he had no intention of passing it on because the mystery/thriller genre was not his forte. He clicked the file to open it and read what was in it because he couldn't remember what he had written in it.

(Note: This is a novel that Sirius has written)

"It's up to you to close the shop," Hillary sighed when she received a text message from her boss and immediately put the phone back in her pocket then cleaned the table used by their last customer, closed the door; make sure the window blinds are locked properly before lowering them. After cleaning everything, she changes her clothes into her casual ones, grabs her things, then exits the shop using the back door because she doesn't hold the key to the main door; He has a colleague at work. She glanced at her wristwatch, the time was 10:30 indicating that the last trip of the bus passing by their house was near.

She quickly walked to the bus stop and it was a bit far from the shop but she would make it on time, she felt like someone was following him but she just ignored it when she got to the bus stop and the bus arrived just in time so Hillary rode. She ignored the person behind her who also looked tired and came from work. It only took a few minutes for her to arrive at the bus stop near their apartment, Hillary pressed the button to make the bus stop and she did not forget to thank the bus driver before getting off. He realized that he was going to go through the dark alley to their apartment complex again even though there was another way and someone said it was dangerous here, Hillary didn't care because it was close and she had passed through it several times.

Feeling that someone was following her again, Hillary tried to brush the feeling off because maybe she was just hallucinating then she walked quietly down the alley but every step she took felt heavy as she entered the dark alley, and all of a sudden; a hand reached out for her shoulder making her eyes widen and stop walking. "Miss-" "Brother! Don't hurt me and hurt me now because I don't have any money!" she said as she closed her eyes and prayed that she would be saved while waiting for the holder to do next but she only heard a laugh so she opened her eyes. Hillary turned to see what was happening behind, a man who almost fell on the ground while holding his stomach was laughing at her. She cleared her throat to get the man's attention so he immediately stood up straight while covering his mouth and preventing himself from laughing again. "I'm sorry for laughing, miss, but I'm not a thief, okay? I'm here to return your wallet." The man explained then held out the hand holding Hillary's wallet.

She stared at the familiar purse that the man was holding, her eyes widened, then she rummaged through her bag and realized that the wallet was not inside. "I saw a man following you inside the bus as if he was taking something from your bag so I didn't hesitate to help you, I know it's important to you." He added, Hillary quickly grabs her purse and said. "Thank you very much, you are a great help to me." She doesn't know what to do if her wallet suddenly disappears because it has her important documents like Cards and IDs, the male responded while smiling. "You're welcome." The girl thanked her again and then said goodbye because her parents might be looking for her, Hillary turned again but before she could walk. Something hits her head causing her to lose balance to fall on the ground and almost blackened out her vision, the man crouched with a smirk slowly painted on his lips, "It's so easy to fool you."

(Note: End)

Sirius can't believe what he just read, as far as he remembers this is not what he wrote because it was from the perspective of the killer but from witnessing the crime, but it seems like a lot has changed. He was busy overthinking as his phone lit up again, another message from the unknown number. "I see you have already been reading it, I'm impressed with your writing skills, Sirius." he reads, his eyes widened because the killer mentioned his name so he immediately replied. "Why do you know me? Who are you?" He pressed the send button, and he also quickly received the message from the killer. "You'll know me soon but for now have a good night, my dear." Sirus couldn't reply again because he was like being blocked by the killer, he also planned to call him but he couldn't be reached. Sirius stared at his computer screen again because he had something else to do, maybe he could add some chapters or maybe he should just put a scene similar to what he witnessed last night. He doesn't know what got on his mind but he decided not to tell the police about it and also for his safety.