The bus ride finally ended when they stepped down near the residential street where Maya lived. The noisy chaos of the crowded bus slowly faded behind them as they walked through the quieter lanes of the neighbourhood. Tall apartment buildings stood in neat rows under the soft glow of streetlights, their windows shining like scattered stars in the evening.
Alina walked ahead with determined steps, clearly knowing the route by heart. Kai followed beside her, occasionally glancing around the unfamiliar surroundings. After a few minutes, they reached the entrance of a modern apartment building.
The moment Kai stepped inside the lobby, something about the place felt strangely familiar. The layout. The elevator position. Even the pattern of the hallway lights.
He narrowed his eyes slightly as they walked deeper inside the building. The feeling grew stronger when they reached the corridor lined with apartment doors. The carpet, the numbering system, even the quiet atmosphere reminded him of somewhere he had been many times before. Ryan's apartment building. It looked almost identical.
Kai frowned slightly but didn't question it yet. Instead, he continued walking beside Alina as she moved confidently down the hallway.
In his mind, he assumed she would stop somewhere near the door. After all, if this building were truly the same layout, that door belonged to another unit in the same position. But Alina didn't stop there. She walked straight past it. Kai slowed down slightly. Then she stopped in front of the door directly opposite Ryan's room.
Kai's eyebrows rose immediately. "Wait," he said, looking from the door to Alina with clear surprise. "Maya lives here?"
Alina looked at him casually. "Yes."
Kai pointed toward the door across the hallway. "That means Ryan lives right there."
Alina nodded. "Yes."
Kai stared at her. "You're telling me Maya's house is directly opposite Ryan's house?"
"Yes," she repeated calmly.
Kai rubbed his forehead slowly. "And no one thought this information was worth mentioning earlier?"
Alina shrugged. "You never asked."
Kai opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself. Somehow, that answer sounded exactly like something she would say.
After a moment, he turned his attention to Maya's door. It was locked. Kai crossed his arms thoughtfully.
"So," he said, "how exactly are we planning to open this door?"
Alina blinked once. "…Right."
They both stood there in silence for a moment. Then Alina suddenly reached up and pulled a small hairpin from her hair. A few loose strands of her hair slipped free as she held the tiny metal pin in front of Kai's face.
"Here," she said proudly.
Kai stared at the hairpin. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Alina looked at him like the answer should have been obvious. "Open the lock."
Kai slowly took the pin from her hand. "You expect me to pick a lock with a hairpin?"
"Yes."
Kai looked at the door again, then back at her. "You do realize that only works in movies."
Alina folded her arms confidently. "If you had actually watched suspense dramas properly, you would know that's exactly how the main character breaks into rooms."
Kai crouched slightly in front of the lock while examining it. "I told you before," he muttered, "I acted in those shows. I didn't actually learn how to break into houses."
"Excuses," Alina replied immediately.
Kai sighed but still tried anyway. He inserted the hairpin carefully and attempted to twist it inside the lock while concentrating on what little knowledge he remembered from film sets.
Behind him, Alina watched with exaggerated seriousness, occasionally shaking her head like a disappointed instructor.
"You're doing it wrong."
Kai didn't look back. "Then please enlighten me."
"In episode seven of *Crimson Detective*, the main lead opened a door in under ten seconds."
Kai twisted the pin again. "I am not the main lead of your drama."
"Clearly," she said.
Kai continued struggling with the lock for another moment while Alina stood behind him observing with dramatic disappointment. Then, without warning, Alina stepped forward.
"Move," she said casually.
Kai looked over his shoulder. "Why?"
Instead of answering, she typed the password on the smart lock of the door. Kai blinked. "You know the password this entire time?"
The door unlocked instantly. She pushed it open with the effortless confidence of someone who had done this a hundred times before. Then she turned back toward him with a completely savage smile.
"Wow," she said slowly. "That was painful to watch."
Kai stood up slowly. "You could have told me earlier."
Alina walked past him into the apartment while shaking her head dramatically. "In hundreds of languages," she declared proudly, "that performance translates to one word."
"Loser."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
She took two steps inside before adding another sentence over her shoulder. "Common sense, Kai."
Then she casually switched on the lights and stepped further into Maya's apartment like a professional detective entering a crime scene. Kai remained standing at the doorway for a second, staring at her. Then he sighed deeply and followed her inside.
The apartment was quiet when they stepped inside. The faint smell of coffee still lingered in the air as if someone had been here earlier that day. The living room lights flickered on, revealing a neat space with a small couch, a coffee table covered with magazines, and a few scattered items that made it clear Maya had left in a hurry or hadn't returned yet to clean up.
Kai stepped inside carefully, his eyes immediately scanning the room with quiet focus. His playful annoyance from a few minutes earlier had faded, replaced by a more serious expression. Alina closed the door behind them and leaned against it for a moment while looking around the apartment.
It felt strangely empty. Kai walked further into the living room, glancing at the windows, the shelves, and the table as if trying to absorb every small detail. Then he turned toward Alina and began giving instructions like someone who had suddenly stepped into full investigation mode.
"Alright," he said calmly, pointing toward the hallway. "You check the bedroom, the bathroom, and any other rooms down there. Look for anything unusual. Notes, messages, signs of struggle… anything that looks out of place."
Alina stared at him. Kai continued without noticing her expression. "I'll check the kitchen and the living room."
There was a brief silence, then Alina's eyebrows slowly rose. "Wait," she said.
Kai looked at her. "What?"
She crossed her arms. "Why do I have to check the bedroom, bathroom, and everything else while you only get the kitchen and living room?"
Kai looked genuinely confused. "Because that's the logical division of work."
Alina stared at him as he had just said something ridiculous. "Logical?" she repeated. "You just assigned me ninety percent of the apartment."
Kai shrugged slightly. "The kitchen and living room are the central areas. If Maya left in a hurry, she might have left something there."
Alina stepped closer and pointed toward the hallway dramatically. "And what about the bedroom? Or the bathroom? Or the closet? Or the other rooms? You just casually handed all that work to me."
Kai looked at her calmly. "Yes."
Her eyes widened in disbelief."I'm not your secretary, Mr. Arden," she said sharply. "You're forgetting something very important."
Kai tilted his head slightly. "What?"
"We are partners," she reminded him firmly.
Kai looked at her for a moment before replying in a matter-of-fact tone. "This is a female apartment."
Alina blinked. "And?"
"And," he continued patiently, "if this were some random guy's apartment, I would have already barged into the bedroom, opened every closet, and checked every corner without hesitation."
Alina narrowed her eyes. "But since this is Maya's house, it would be inappropriate for me to go through her personal spaces."
She stared at him for a moment. Then she scoffed loudly. "Oh, please."
Kai frowned slightly. "What?"
"That is the worst excuse I have ever heard."
"It's not an excuse."
"Yes, it is," she insisted. "And a very bad one."
Kai crossed his arms. "And why exactly do you think that?"
Alina tilted her head and looked at him suspiciously. "Because I've seen your dramas."
Kai paused. "My dramas?"
"Yes," she continued casually. "Your movies, your television shows… all of them."
Kai's eyebrows lifted slightly. "And?"
"And the kind of chemistry you have with your co-actresses," she said while raising one eyebrow meaningfully, "doesn't exactly make you look like someone who suddenly becomes shy around women's rooms."
Kai blinked slowly. Then something interesting happened. A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "So," he said quietly.
Alina suddenly realized what she had just admitted. Kai took a step closer and looked at her with amusement in his eyes.
"You watch my movies?"
Alina immediately looked away. "That's not the point."
Kai folded his arms. "No," he said calmly. "That's exactly the point."
Alina shifted uncomfortably, searching for a lie that wouldn't soul-crush her. She couldn't exactly tell him the truth—that she knew every frame of his filmography by heart. She couldn't admit that whenever his office hours didn't end too long, or when his late-night shoots stretched into days, she turned to his screen persona to bridge the gap.
That was when the house felt too quiet, and his absence grew heavy; she'd hit play to see his face and pretend he was still in the room with her.
"I just... happened to see them sometimes," she murmured, the half-truth tasting like lead.
"How many?"
"That's irrelevant."
Kai leaned slightly closer. "Name one." Alina hesitated.
Kai's smile grew slightly wider. "You can't," he said.
"I can!" she protested immediately.
"Then say it."
Alina opened her mouth, then closed it again. Kai waited patiently. The silence stretched for a few seconds. Finally, Alina turned away abruptly.
"This conversation is over," she declared.
Without giving him another chance to ask anything, she quickly walked down the hallway and disappeared into one of the rooms. Kai stood in the living room watching her retreat with a faintly amused expression.
"Interesting," he murmured to himself.
Then he shook his head lightly and turned toward the kitchen. Their chaotic investigation had resumed… but now with one very new piece of information. Alina watched his movies.