Zilian stared into the darkness surrounding the room he's in, he gritted his teeth and clenched his hand, pressing his thumb and index finger into his temples, showing frustration and discomfort.

Did I miss something? Did I do something wrong? He thought repeatedly in his head, closing his eyes as he tries to uncover what's behind the murder of Caira Pacheco, a woman in her 40s.

Not enough evidence, confusing leads and tremendous amounts of alibis. He can't think of anything that can lead him to the murderer. Studying all the alibis and interviewing a bunch of people is definitely draining his energy.

"Dang it..." Zilian muttered to himself and walked out of the room, resting his arms in his side as he looked at the figure walking towards him. Chief Birio Hasmer.

Chief Birio's fat and short figure, brown eyes and almost bald head, only leaving brown hair strands around his head definitely contrast to Zilian's tall and masculine body, blue eyes and ink-black hair, resulting for a very, VERY handsome man.

Here we go again... Zilian thought to himself.

"Good afternoon, Chief." He greeted, bowing his head slightly before standing straight.

Chief Birio scoffed and looked around, placing his hands on his hip along with his arrogant expression. Though, Zilian can see a slight satisfaction on the Chief's face, he can't say anything or he'll lose his job for such a stupid reason.

"How long has it been?? 3 months!? You're taking a bit too long in finding a normal murderer, aren't you, Detective Zilian!?" Chief Birio spouted, being the narrow-minded and arrogant man he is, as always.

"It's 2 months, Chief-" Zilian said, definitely thinking about different ways on how he can kill this fat man and hide the body, studying and investigating many types of cases definitely gave him some knowledge. Of course, that's just one hell of an intrusive thought.

Chief Birio gritted his teeth and point at Zilian with his fat index finger, furious.

"I don't care! 2 months or 3 months! That's too long! What are you even doing here!? Brushing your hair?? Putting on some moisturizer!? Is having a handsome face all that you have? I thought you're a responsible detective, Detective Zilian!" The Chief shouted, some other staff looks at Zilian and Chief Birio, clearly uncomfortable.

Zilian sighed and smiled softly, "I'll take care of it, I'm still looking for evidence and studying the alibis, this case is pretty confusing, so it's taking a while..."

Chief Birio smirked and stand straight.

"Tsk, tsk... I have high hopes for you, Detective Zilian. You're very well-known in our agency, don't embarrass me." Chief Birio said and walked away arrogantly, doing that makes him look like he's only there to disturb working staff and Zilian.

High hopes, my ass. Zilian thought to himself and sighed deeply, rolling his eyes as unwanted memories starts flashing in his head.

It happened 2 months and 2 weeks ago...

................

In the Chief Birio's office.

"If he continues to outshine us, he might be chosen to be the next Chief soon! That can't happen!" One man said with a nervous tone.

"Zilian and his damn hunger for justice..." The second man said.

Zilian, who is accidentally passing by, heard his name and got a bit curious. Even knowing it's wrong to listen in those private conversations, he can't bring himself to ignore it. He gulped silently and walked over the door sneakily, pressing his ears in the door and starts listening.

"I know that, I know all your worries... but I'm sure I can get rid of Zilian in many ways. I just need to bring him down. I'm sure he'll get kicked out soon anyway..."

Zilian heard it, a familiar voice, he definitely knew who is it, Chief Birio.

................

At the present.

"Damn, he really wants to get you kicked out, Detective..."

Zilian snapped out of his head and look at the smaller guy beside him, Zilian's best friend, Tix.

"Oh, yeah... he does. He probably has something in his sleeves, he might be a bit dumb and arrogant but he's not chosen as a Chief for no reason." Zilian said and groaned.

"For him to say that, he must have had a REALLY thick skin... he doesn't just want to put you down but also embarrass you to the whole team." Tix said, chuckling and patting his best friend's back. "Good luck with that, dude..." Tix added.

"F*ck him, his damn insecurities... he kicked out Detective Xian, now he wants to kick me out too." Zilian muttered.

Tix stared at Zilian before sighing, he nodded slightly and pat the shoulder of his friend, calming the mad guy.

Zilian shook his head and took a deep breath, "That's enough venting, let's just finish the job as soon as we can so he can't kick me out... that damn bastard."

Tix shake his head and chuckles, "Yes~ yes, Detective~" he answered to Zilian playfully and grabbed his notebook from a nearby table.

......................

2 months later...

DAMN IT! DAMN IT! I'm so f*cking dumb, they definitely blocked the team's information source. They even stole the file that holds evidences so now, I can't even capture the murderer! They're too much, it's a freaking murderer! Why are they protecting him!? To kick me out?

Zilian thought angrily and punched the table thrice, he pressed his nose bridge with his two fingers and clenched his fist.

Zilian stopped as he heard the knock, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Yes?" Zilian answered as the door fully opened, his hand still clenching on the doorknob.

"Ew... what a small room... oh, are you Detective Zilian? The one who holds the case of Caira Pacheco?" A rich-looking guy asked as he glanced at Zilian's office with a slight disgust.

"Yes, who are you?" Zilian said and then notice Chief Birio behind the guy's back.

"Where are your manners?? This is-" Chief Birio said but was interrupted by the rich-looking guy.

"Ugh, shhh, don't steal my spotlight! Hey, Detective Zilian... I'm Detective Luan Fretetch. It must be nice for you to meet me, cause I'm the son of Thomas Fretetch, one of the ex-chief of this department and a pretty much billionaire that donates in this place to keep this place together. From now on, I'm your partner!" Luan said in a confident tone and held out his hand for a handshake.

Zilian stared at Luan for a few seconds, processing what Luan just said before a frown covered his face.

A spoiled brat...? Zilian thought to himself and sighed, hesitantly shaking Luan's hand.

"Oh? A frown? I don't think that's the right expression you should be putting on right now, you would really love to be my close friend one day." Luan winked at Zilian and chuckled before forcing his way inside Zilian's office.

"This place is a mess, isn't it? Don't you clean up? And no enough decorations, pretty boring if you ask me but never mind, I can ask my father to give this a makeover." Luan said as he walked around, touching the walls and stomping on the floor with his right foot.

"Makeover? No way..." Zillian answered, "It's my office, not yours..." He added.

"You mean, OUR office? We're partners now anyway. I want to know if my partner is a reliable one..." Luan said and sat down on Zilian's office chair.

"You're the one to talk... you're just a spoiled brat who wants to have some fun." Zilian answered sternly.

Luan stared at Zilian for a few seconds and smiles widely, "Ooooh~ how did you know? I like you, definitely a detective but don't worry, I can provide pretty much everything, I'm definitely even better at you."

"Do you know why I'm called spoiled? Cause I'm rich, my father's a billionaire and my mother's a model." Luan flexed.

"But forget that, I've talked about those too many times. I heard you got the evidences for the murder of Caira Pacheco. Where is it?" Luan said in a slightly more serious tone but still a hint of playfulness.

Zilian sighed and felt a bit embarrassed and frustrated at the same time.

"It's gone."

"What?"

TO BE CONTINUE...