Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“New case, Detective Seo, from the Chief Sergeant.” 

Chan drops a vanilla folder in front of his partner and best friend, Changbin, before settling himself onto the desk beside him, his feet hanging off.

Changbin opened it to find pictures of a body, multiple stab wounds across the victim's chest. He outwardly grimaces, he sees things like this all the time but it doesn’t mean it can’t make his stomach churn.

“Looks like a homicide.” Chan spoke up from beside him. “The victim’s house cleaner came to do his duties on the morning of April 9th and was surprised to see his boss’s car still parked in the driveway. He found it suspicious, so he went to go look for him and as he opened the bedroom door he found… well, this.”

Changbin nodded along as his partner was explaining. “Any sign of a break in?”

“Nothing as of yet. The victim is Park Youngjin, 42, the CEO of Park Industries. He was a multimillionaire, he had top of the range CCTV cameras installed. If there was a break in, it would have been caught. He had high end alarm equipment installed too, so the police would have been notified straight away.” Chan slumped, slightly. Changbin could tell he had been up all night researching.

“And the witness? The house cleaner?” Changbin asked.

“Uh yeah… Hwang Hyunjin. The police only questioned him though, there was nothing much he could tell them. He was sent home after.” Chan turned the page of the file and pointed at a picture of probably the prettiest person Changbin’s ever seen. And he thought Chan’s boyfriend, Felix, was pretty.

He looked closer at the picture, it was one of the professional pictures you take for your ID or when you apply for your passport. 

Hwang Hyunjin has kind eyes, full lips and soft features, his dark hair flowed down just above his shoulders, there’s no way he could’ve killed someone. Right?

Changbin tapped his pen against the folder and turned his chair to face Chan. “I guess we’ll start with him then.” 

Chan hummed in agreement before sliding off Changbin’s desk and heading towards his own, already arranging the interview.

Changbin looked back at the victim’s photos, his eyebrows furrowing as he whispered. “What happened to you, Park Youngjin?” 

-

Hwang Hyunjin has a relaxed look on his face but his hands give him away instantly; the constant folding and unfolding, the rings on his fingers being played with. Chan just hoped it was nerves.

Chan places a cup of water in front of him, giving him a friendly smile before walking to the opposite side of the table, settling down in his chair next to Changbin.

“Hi Hyunjin-ssi, I’m Detective Bang Chan and this is my partner, Detective Seo Changbin.” Chan motioned between them, looking over at Changbin to see the man already looking at Hyunjin, an unreadable expression on his face.

“So what can you tell us about the morning you found Park Youngjin murdered in his own bed?” Changbin asked, his voice cold. Chan winced in his seat at the tone, giving a quick side eye at his partner. Guess they were starting at the deep end then.

Hyunjin calmly sipped on his water before looking up between the detectives. “I arrived at the house at 8am like I do every morning. Normally, Mr. Park is at work already, he’s in the office most days a week so it was unusual for his car to be there. If he has a day off he usually tells me.” He took a breath before continuing. “I called out for him but there was no response so I- I walked up to his room to see if he was in there and-“ 

He choked on the last of his words, a hand coming up to close over his mouth, a sob caught in his throat.

Chan immediately pushed a box of tissues towards the pretty male. “It’s okay, Hyunjin-ssi. Take your time.”

Hyunjin took a tissue out and started wiping at his eyes. Chan looked over at Changbin to see that he was just quietly watching.

The room stayed silent for a few more minutes, the silent cries of Hyunjin releasing into the tissue he held, before he took a big sigh and carried on speaking.

“I walked into his room and he was just lying there on his bed, I didn’t even notice the stab- the stab wounds until I got closer. That's when I saw the- I saw- there- there was blood everywhere. It was horrible. And then- and then that’s when I called the police.”

Chan wrote notes into his notebook as he glanced up at his partner. “That matches what he told the police.”

Changbin ignored him and spoke up. “Hyunjin-ssi, you’re the first person to arrive at the house, you're the first person to find Park Youngjin… Do you see what I’m trying to say?”

“What?!” Hyunjin’s shocked voice echoed off the room's walls. “You think I killed him?”

“Well no.” Changbin stated. “I’m not saying you killed him but I am saying it doesn’t look very good for you right now, Hyunjin-ssi.”

Tears started to form again in Hyunjin’s eyes, but they were gone as quick as they appeared, replaced with something else. Something intense.

He looked up, eyes narrowing, staring straight into Changbin’s eyes, his voice coming out low. “I don’t know what you think I did, Detective, but it wasn’t me.”

Changbin straightened up his shoulders, like he wasn’t going to be intimidated by him. “But what about-“

“Changbin.” Chan interrupted. “That’s enough.” He turned towards Hyunjin and stood up. “I think that’s all we have for you today, Hyunjin-ssi.” 

“Are you sure?” Hyunjin asked, looking between the two.

“Yes.” Chan turned to his partner, who was still sitting silently, just watching. “Right, Changbin?”

“Sure.” He managed to say, before looking down at the folder, reading the first thing his eyes found first.

Chan led Hyunjin to the door and opened it for him. “It was lovely meeting you Hyunjin.”

“You too, Detective Bang.” Hyunjin gave him a small smile, then looked over at Changbin, something changing in his eyes before it was gone again, giving Chan another quick smile and leaving.

“What the hell was that?” Chan asked, his voice slightly raising as soon as the door closed and Hyunjin was out of ear shot.

“What?” Changbin looked up at him, his brows arched up.

“The way you were speaking to him. Like he was some criminal.” He flailed his arms around, his partner just sitting there calmly.

“I just think he did it.” Changbin firmly stated, his facial expression stoic.

“With what evidence?” Chan collapsed in a nearby chair, giving up. 

“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to find some.” He closed the vanilla folder and stood up, leaving the room, Chan following suit with a sigh.

-

The morgue wasn’t the nicest place to be, but for Lee Minho he enjoyed every bit of working there.

Chan, Changbin and Minho were all crowded around a table, staring down at the disposing body of Park Youngjin.

“I don’t know how you work down here, Minho, it’s so creepy.” Chan shivered, subconsciously sticking by Changbin as they walked around the examiner table.

“Hey! You have your work up there, I have my work down here.” Minho held up his hands defensively, Chan just shaking his head in response.

“So, Minho-hyung, can you tell us about the body?” Changbin interrupted, eyes never straying off from the cold body lying in front of them.

Minho turned back to the table, grabbing his clipboard. “Well, the estimated time of death was early hours of April 8th, his wounds were a day old when they brought him in on April 9th so the body was already starting to decompose. There’s no sign of a struggle, so the poor man probably didn’t have a chance to even defend himself. Was probably killed in his sleep, I’m suspecting. Whoever did it though, they must have had a lot of anger in them, these wounds go deep, man.”

The two detectives nodded along to their friend’s explanation, jotting it all down. 

“Any suspicious substances in his blood?” Changbin asked, raising his eyebrows when the other two were looking at him strangely. “What? I’m just asking.”

“Um, none that I know of. If you want to see the blood results though, you’ll have to ask Seungmin.” Minho answered.

“Okay, thanks, Minho-hyung.” He shut his notebook, giving a quick look at the dead body and walking out.

“What’s up with him?” Minho asked, once Changbin had left.

“I’m not sure..” Chan’s brows furrowed with worry. “I think he has no evidence for his suspect.”

“Ahh, I see. He’s stubborn when it comes to stuff like this. It’ll be alright Chan-hyung.” Minho clapped him on the shoulder once, putting on his gloves and walking over to another corpse.

Chan hurried out the room before he could throw up. 

-

“Seungmin?”

“…”

“Yah.. Kim Seungmin.”

The man in question took his safety goggles off with a huff and loudly dropped them on the table beside him.

“What?” His voice irritated.

“Finally.” Changbin inwardly cheered. This man gets on his nerves so much. “Have you got the results for Park Youngjin yet?”

“Who?” Seungmin asked.

Changbin really wanted to wring his neck but he needed the information Seungmin had, so he held back, plus there's no way Chan would ever let that happen. 

Chan spoke up, so much calmer than Changbin would’ve been. “Park Youngjin, the rich CEO that got stabbed in his chest four times last week. The case me and Changbin are working on.” 

“Oh, that Park Youngjin! Yes! Let me go grab it.” Seungmin smiled and didn’t wait for a response before he was rushing off into the back of the lab.

Chan sheepishly looked around. “Why do our friends work in such strange places?”

“They’re strange guys so it’s quite fitting.” Changbin teased, a smile forming on his lips.

“You know,” Chan started. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since like forever.”

“That’s a bit dramatic, hyung.” Changbin rubbed at the back of his neck, shrugging. “I think I’m just tense about this case, that’s all.”

“Ahh yes, you're that tense about the case, you’re taking it out on poor Hyunjin-ssi.” Chan teased but his smile immediately dropped when he saw the hard expression of the other man. “You still think he did it?”

“I know he did it. I just need to prove it.” Changbin spat out.

“You don’t have any proof, though. They found no fingerprints on the knife, no DNA on the body. Plus, he has a witness for his whereabouts when he wasn’t at the house the day that Park Youngjin got killed. You know… the day before Hyunjin found him.” Chan explained calmly again, he doesn’t understand what Changbin has against Hyunjin. He knows this case is a stressful one but it’s not like they haven’t had cases like this before. It’s probably just a home intruder, maybe someone he didn’t know or maybe someone he did, he was a CEO afterall, he must’ve had his enemies. 

“He has a witness?” The surprise in Changbin's voice made Chan aware he didn’t fully read Hyunjin’s statement.

“Yes, Changbin. He does.” 

Chan folded his arms and shifted his weight on his feet, still waiting for Seungmin to return. 

“Well, we can just wait till we see the camera footage.” Changbin said.

Chan rolled his eyes and was about to retort until Seungmin came waltzing back in, a piece of paper in his hand.

“I have it!” He stated, holding it up, a proud look on his face.

“Great.” Changbin deadpanned. “Now tell me, are there any unknown substances in Park Youngjin blood?”

“Unknown substances? Like what?” Seungmin asked, surprised.

“Seungmin, I don’t have time-“ Changbin rubbed his forehead, his one hand on his hip. “Is there anything like drugs or sleeping pills in his blood?”

“Sleeping pills? Changbin, what’s that got-“ Chan got interrupted by his partner.

“Tell me, Seungmin.” 

Both detectives stared at Seungmin, watching as he put his prescription glasses on and started to read over the results.

“Um.. no.. nothing like that. No drugs.” Seungmin said.

Changbin snatched the piece of paper out of Seungmin’s hands and read it for himself. 

“Fuck.”

Squeaky clean. Well, apart from the high percentage of alcohol, but he didn’t consume that much of a huge amount to make him completely unconscious, especially when someone is above you, stabbing you four times in the chest.

Changbin shoved the paper into Chan’s chest and walked off in a hurry.

“You’re welcome, Changbin-hyung.” Seungmin sarcastically called out, waving at the retreating back of the detective.

Chan shook his head, he really doesn’t know what’s got into his partner these days. Surely this case wasn't the reason he was acting so weird. Maybe something else was going on. 

“Maybe he needs to get laid.” Seungmin’s voice brought Chan out of his head.

“What?” He thought he heard it right but he just needed Seungmin to confirm it.

“Changbin-hyung, it sounds like he needs to get laid, all that stress is not good for him. Tell him he’ll die at a young age.” Seungmin stated. 

Chan nodded while slowly backing away. “Uh… I will do. Thanks, Seungmin.”

The other man gave him a brief wave before putting his goggles back on and returning to whatever he was previously looking at through a microscope.

Chan turned and went out the door, stopping just outside of the lab for a few minutes to calm down a bit. Everything was getting a bit too much, this case, they’ve only been on it for a few days but it feels like they've been at it for months. Then the other thing with Changbin and just the way he's been acting so strangely. Chan is very determined to find out why.

His mind starts to think about his pretty boyfriend waiting at home for him, his smile, his laugh, his voice, his freckles, how much Chan adores him. It gives him the motivation to return to his office, to not quit right there and then. Do it for Felix, Chan.

-

Apartment 143 is a tall, grey, modern building facing the Han River. The home of one - Hwang Hyunjin.

Changbin and Chan carefully aproach the person at the main desk. She starts eyeing them up suspiciously, her face then completely changing when they show their official badges. She smiles up at them and immediately lets them in. Chan quietly chuckles, the privileges of being a Police Detective.

They walked into the elevator pressing the eighth floor.

“What if Hyunjin isn’t home?” Chan asked.

“We’re not here to talk to Hyunjin.” Changbin stated, turning to look at his partner.

“Then what the hell are we here for?” Chan’s hair shaking with his head. He really doesn’t know what’s gotten into Changbin recently but he’s going to find out.

“You said he has a witness, right?” Chan nodded so Changbin took that as a sign to carry on. “Well the witness lives with him. So we’re going to talk to him.”

Chan was sure his hair was starting to turn grey at all the stress his partner was putting him through. “Don’t you need some sort of clearing or something before we do that?”

Before Changbin could answer, the elevator doors opened, cutting their conversation there.

Changbin walked down the hallways with some familiarity which Chan raised an eyebrow at.

“Have you been here before?” Curiosity clear in his voice.

“No, I just know these apartment layouts are all the same.” Changbin’s stoic expression deepens, stopping Chan from pressing further.

They reach the door and lightly knock on it. 

A young man, who someone would definitely confuse with a teenager, with bright orange curly hair and dimples, opened the door just enough so his head could peek out. “Can I help you?”

Chan held up his badge and flashed that friendly smile of his. “Hi I’m Detective Bang and this is my partner Detective Seo, we’ve been investigating the murder of your roommate’s boss. Is it okay if we come in for a chat?”

Changbin tried to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Chan was too soft. Too friendly. People trusted him too well. In this world, you’ve got to watch your back or else you might end up just like Park Youngjin.

The orange haired male nodded and stepped aside, letting them in. 

They gathered on the sofa. It was an off-white, in a style that neither Chan or Changbin would’ve ever picked out but it goes well with the room. The place seems well decorated, it feels lived in, it’s nice. There's drawings and paintings hanging up, filling the space on the blank wall.

Jeongin, who they had come to learn his name from, had placed cups of water for them on the coffee table before settling down on the sofa himself. 

“So Jeongin-ssi, how long have you been friends with Hyunjin?” Chan softly asked. It was like he was talking to a child, Changbin did roll his eyes at that. 

“We’ve been friends since we were in school. There were quite a few of us but me and Hyunjin moved in here together, the others are dotted around Seoul.” Jeongin explained, his eyes looking between the two detectives.

“And did Hyunjin ever talk about his job? Did he get on with his boss?” Changbin asked, leaning forward slightly, the couch rustling under the shifted weight.

“Um… he didn’t talk about it too much. He just said it paid well and Mr Park gave him some freedom, that he would often let him paint in the house.” His voice quietened nearing the end, the detectives suspected he might have noticed he was giving a bit too much information, but it was a good thing for them.

Changbin’s hands clenched and unclenched as he spoke, voice thick. “So you would say… Mr Park was very fond of Hyunjin?”

“Uh… I guess.” Jeongin shrugged.

Chan glanced over at his partner, trying to read the expression on his face, seeing the clogs turning in his head. 

While Changbin was thinking, Chan looked down at his notebook with all the prepped questions they were going to ask, before settling on one. “So Jeongin, were you the ‘friend’ that was with Hyunjin on the 8th of April?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I am. There was a movie at the cinema we both wanted to see and since we were both off, we thought what better time than to go then.” Jeongin explained, his voice firm. Doesn't sound like he's lying. Okay, nothing suspicious there.

“And you were at the cinema the whole day?” Chan asked, pen still pressed to his book.

“Um… no, we went for food and then we headed straight home. We didn’t leave the apartment until we both went to work the next day.” 

“And Hyunjin, he didn’t leave again when you both came back here?” Changbin asked this time. His hands just perched on his thighs, looking between what his partner was writing and how Jeongin was acting, seeing if there was anything strange going on.

“No! Of course not. He’s not a murderer, Detective Seo. We stayed here the whole day. Check the cameras.”

Changbin raised his eyebrows at that. “The cameras?”

“Yeah,” Jeongin sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck before dropping his hand on his lap. “The apartment has cameras right? Check them. See if we left.”

“We will, Jeongin-ssi. We’re not saying he’s the one who did it, we’re just trying to get a timeline and the facts before we jump into any conclusions.” Chan spoke up this time, his voice gentle again, the last bit directed to his partner.

Changbin rolled his eyes at that before abruptly standing up and heading towards the front door.

“Where the hell are you going?” Chan raised his voice.

“I’m checking something.” Then he was gone. The door shutting behind him.

Chan still gaped at the closed door. What the hell is going on with his partner? 

He turned back to the younger male and smiled at him. He thought about something though, hesitating for a split second before asking.

“So Jeongin-ssi?” The boy hummed so Chan took it as a sign to carry on. “You said Park Youngjin was fond of Hyunjin, right?”

Jeongin took a sip of water, his head nodding into the glass.

“What do you mean by that?” Chan asked, his voice low and soft.

“Well.. from what Hyunjin told me, is that if Mr Park had a day off, he’d tell Hyunjin not to come in, that he wasn’t needed but…” Jeongin hesitated.

“It’s okay Jeongin-ssi. You can tell me.” Chan smiled encouragingly. He noticed the younger man kept looking at the door, his knee starting to bounce.

“Well… he said one day he just started not telling him… you know that he was having a day off.. so it ended up being just the two of them in the house. The cook and the gardener.. Hyunjin never saw them but Mr Park said they’d been dismissed which Hyunjin thought was weird but he got paid so he didn’t question it. Until..”

“Until what, Jeongin?” Chan pressed, he was so close but could tell that he was scared. 

“Until.. he let him paint. Mr Park knew Hyunjin liked to paint, it came up in a conversation at some point, so he showed him to a studio room with canvases, paints, brushes and everything Hyunjin ever dreamed of purchasing…” His voice started to shake a little, like he wasn’t supposed to be sharing this information, but Chan was grateful for him being brave and pushing on.

“So…” Chan started, not sure how to say it. “Were they in a relationship?”

“God no! No!” Jeongin shrieked, looking up in disgust. “Hyunjin he-, he didn’t see him like that. He just did his work to get paid, and then took advantage of being able to paint when Mr Park would let him.”

Chan was definitely hesitant in asking his next question. His jaw clenched. “Do you think Mr Park saw Hyunjin like that?”

Jeongin’s face went pale, his eyes widening, staring straight into Chan’s eyes. His expression already answering the question. 

Except, just as he opened his mouth to speak, the clicking of a key turning in a lock was heard, causing Jeongin to immediately close it.

As the door opened fully, Hwang Hyunjin was walking through it, his footsteps freezing as he noticed the two figures in the room.

“Umm.. Detective Bang, what are you doing here?” He quietly closed the door, shrugging his coat off and hanging it up on the rack near the entrance. 

“Hi, Hyunjin-ssi. I was just asking Jeongin here about your whereabouts on the day of April 8th.” Chan stood up, quickly packing up his pen and notepad, putting them in his pocket. 

“I already told the police I was out with Jeongin that day.” Hyunjin answered, defensively, his arms coming up to wrap around his chest.

“Yes, I know. Jeongin confirmed it too. So that will be all for today. I’ll uh.. I’ll leave you to it.” Chan bowed to them both before heading to the door but stopping as Hyunjin called out to him.

“I didn’t kill him.”

Chan sighed. He looked between Hyunjin by the door and Jeongin still sat there on the couch. “I know you didn’t, Hyunjin.”

With that Chan opened the door and left, his footsteps were now heavy. He headed towards the elevator, no sign of his partner. He really needed to find where the fuck Changbin had disappeared to.

He really can’t wait to clock off, go home to his gorgeous boyfriend, soak in the bath with him and hold him in bed until all the stress of this case disappears. 

A sound from his phone brought him out of his thoughts, the elevator doors opening at the same time. 

[Changbin]

went back to the office, found something.

meet me there

Chan was really glad he didn’t have much of an aggressive bone in his body, because if he did, he’s sure Changbin would be pissing off every single one of them. 

-

He arrived at the office, stepping out of a cab since Changbin had selfishly took the car. He had already texted Felix that he was going to be home late. Again.

He found Changbin at his desk, looking at the familiar vanilla folder. The same one that’s been haunting them for the past week.

“Changbin, what the fuck? Where did you go?” Chan asked, his voice raising slightly.

“He has a boyfriend.” Changbin turned to him.

“Changbin… what? Who?” Chan was so confused or maybe he was just sleep deprived.

“Hyunjin. He has a boyfriend.” Changbin picked up the file. Chan noticed the page Changbin had it on was Hyunjin’s profile page. “I went to ask Hyunjin’s neighbours about him, about his character, if there was anything suspicious going on with him and they said they didn’t really know him but they remember seeing him with a shorter man quite often, they assumed it’s his boyfriend.”

“Okay and… he has a boyfriend. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Well, what if the boyfriend found out Park Youngjin was fond of his boyfriend and you know... killed him?" Changbin suggested, like it was a light accusation he had just thrown out. 

“You’re insane, you know that?” Chan pinched his brows, he’s sure he’s going to get a headache soon. He didn’t know how to tell Changbin about what Jeongin just told him earlier but decided it was best to tell him later.

“Hyung, what if the shorter man was Jeongin?” Chan was so tired, but Changbin was really not letting this go. 

He grabbed his chair and sat next to his partner, his voice softening. “Bin, there’s a lot of men smaller than Hyunjin. It could be anyone. I think you need to shift your focus onto someone else. Have you looked into the cook or the gardener? Any business partners?”

“They both had that week off, they went on holiday together abroad.” Sighing, Changbin leaned back into his chair, his shoulders defleating. “And the business partners.. well..no.. not yet. I just-”

“No Changbin. Leave Hyunjin-ssi alone. Look into the business partners. There’s got to be someone out there who’s guilty.” Chan, calmly explained. Praising himself at the fact Changbin’s shoulders were relaxed now more than they have been the past week.

“Fine.” He finally muttered. “I’ll look into the business partners.”

Chan clapped his hand over his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Good, Bin. Go home, get some rest. Drink some alcohol. I think it’s important for some cases, especially with the homicide ones, that it's okay to take a few steps back if you feel like it’s getting too much. Do you understand me?”

Changbin nodded, giving Chan a small smile. He rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, you're right. I’m just tired and stressed. Sorry Chan-hyung. Oh god, I’m keeping you from Felix, aren’t I?”

His lips turned up at the mention of his beautiful boyfriend, his mind thinking back to going home to him. Chan nodded, but his face was still so friendly. “You are, but you’re my best friend and I love you. You're just a bit much sometimes. I think Seungmin was right-”

“Seungmin? What did he say?” Changbin’s eyebrow raising, curiosity in his voice at the mention of his menace of a friend.

“Well, he said… that… you need to get laid.”

“Me?” Changbin gasped. “Says the freak that hangs out in a laboratory all day surrounded by test tubes and fungi.”

“Hey! He’s your friend too.” Chan reminded him, hand still rubbing his shoulder to calm him down. “Just go home and de-stress. Tomorrow is a brand new day.”

Changbin sighed, standing up and pulling his partner into a quick hug. “Thanks, hyung. Oh, and don’t forget we’re meeting Jisung in his office to go over the security cameras.”

“I won’t. See you tomorrow. Night, Bin.”

“Night, Chan-hyung.”

-

The smell of the coffee in Chan’s hand smelt heavenly. He couldn’t sleep much last night, even with Felix calmly rubbing his back and giving him soothing kisses, his brain kept thinking about this case. 

How something just doesn't feel right. That what Jeongin told him yesterday didn’t sit well. How if Hyunjin hadn’t walked in, how much would Jeongin have told him? He needs to find the right time to tell Changbin as well.

At the thought of his partner, his mind then strayed off to what Changbin had told him yesterday. About Hyunjin having a boyfriend. And then, was Jeongin the boyfriend? Or if this new person was a suspect? Could they have possibly killed Park Youngjin? Chan starts to think that if it was himself and he found out that Felix’s boss was getting fond of him, lying to him just so that they could be in a house alone together, to then giving him a room to do what he wanted in, then yeah, Chan would probably kill him too.

He eventually stands in front of a door, the gold plate shiny in the bright fluorescent lights showing the name ‘Han Jisung, Camera Specialist’. He knocked once before opening it and seeing two men sitting on a desk facing a big computer monitor, the both of them turning towards him when they heard the door open.

“Hi Chan-hyung!” Jisung enthusiastically said.

“Hey Jisung.” Chan waved to the younger. He nodded towards his partner. “Morning Changbin.”

“Morning Chan-hyung.” Changbin nodded back.

“Oh good, you two aren't fighting.” Jisung let out a breath, turning back towards the monitor. Chan sat down next to his left, while Changbin was on his right.

“Fighting? We weren’t fighting?” Changbin stated. “Who said we were fighting?”

“Um… no-one. Anyway the cameras-”

Changbin interrupted. “Who said that, Jisung?”

“No-one.. Just some people thought they heard you arguing, that's all.”

Chan and Changbin shared a look over the top of Jisung’s head but mutually decided not to press further, instead turning their attention to the big screen in front of them.

“So what are we reviewing today?” Chan asked.

“Well, we’ve got; CCTV from Park Youngjin’s home security, surveillance from Apartment 143 and CCTV from the Step Out cinema.”

“Changbin-”

“What? Yesterday, Jeongin told us to check the cameras, and I had already requested it before we spoke last night.” Changbin explained, his hands coming up defensively.

Jisung looked between them but remained quiet.

Chan huffed out, before nodding, gesturing for Jisung to carry on.

“Okay so first I looked into Mr. Park’s home security and… nothing.” Jisung played the tape, all three watching. Jisung started to speed it up, from the moment Park Youngjin got home on April 7th to when they spotted a familiar face, unlocking and walking in the door on April 9th, to then a herd of police men and paramedics flooding the footage.

“It was just him.. All alone.” Chan sat back in his chair, a hand going up to rub at his chin. 

“No-one came in or out, I checked every single camera from around his house, internal and external… nothing.” Jisung shrugged, a worried look appearing on his face.

“So how the hell did he end up being stabbed if no-one entered his house?” Chan asked, looking over to his partner, Changbin just staring at the screen. “Bin?”

Changbin snapped out of his gaze before turning towards his two friends, shoulders slightly slumped. “I have no idea.”

Jisung cleared his throat, turning back to the computer. “I checked the systems to see if there was any sign of hacking or firewalls being targeted and again.. Nothing came up. Sorry.”

“Great.” Changbin said, sarcastically. “So we’re chasing a ghost.”

They all sat in a few minutes of silence, just thinking to themselves.

Jisung was the first one to break the silence. “Do you want me to show you the Apartment 143 camera footage?”

“Sure.” Changbin said, voice still deflated. 

Jisung pulled up another set of camera feeds, the hallways they once were walking in yesterday, now here on the screen in front of them. The time and date in the corner of the screen showed: 08.40am, April 8th. 

They watched for a bit, just usual residents walking through the halls, commuting, collecting their mail, people dressed in gym clothes, people going to work.

Then there they were.

Two familiar bodies, walking through the lobby, arms interlinked.

“So, they were together on the day Park Youngjin died.” Chan stated, to no one in particular, just to open space in the room. 

Jisung fast forwarded it till the screen had changed to: 01.27pm, April 8th. The two figures they were looking out for, came walking in, a takeaway bag with a chicken logo on the front in Jeongin’s hand.

They continued to watch the rest of the footage. Changbin leaned forward slightly, seeing if there was something indicating that Hyunjin had left that day after getting back with Jeongin and… he didn’t.

“So they stayed in the apartment all day?” Changbin asked, turning towards Jisung but glancing at the screen, hoping to see a fragment of the tall, long dark haired boy.

“Yep, all day.” Jisung replied, popping the ‘p’. 

“Shit.” Changbin cursed, his hands covering his face.

Jisung looked between them again, deciding upon turning to Chan. “What’s up with him?” 

“He has no evidence that his main suspect did it. The footage shows exactly what Hyunjin-ssi told us, what his witness told us.” Chan explained, looking over at his partner, slightly feeling sorry for him. Chan knows how much Changin has stressed himself over this.

“I can show you the cinema footage but it places Hwang Hyunjin and Yang Jeongin there at 08.54am to 01.08pm. Sorry Changbin-hyung. I don’t think he would have time to stab someone, clean himself up and get home at 01.27pm.” Jisung sent a sympathetic look towards Changbin, hand patting his knee.

“That’s okay, Jisungie. Thanks for looking for us.” Changbin smiled at the youngest, patting his back before leaving the room.

“So, what’s going to happen now?” Jisung asked.

“We’ll have to look into other possible suspects; like his business partners. It still doesn't explain the cameras though. How does someone get past high security cameras to murder a guy? It makes no sense.” Chan rubbed at his chin, still trying to process the fact their victim had been alone all day on his supposed ‘death day’. “It'll probably just end up joining our pile of unsolved cases.” Chan stated, getting up himself. 

“Well sorry I couldn’t be of help.” Jisung said, turning his chair to face the detective.

He ruffled Jisung’s hair before picking up his bag. “It’s okay, Jisungie. Thanks anyway. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

Jisung nodded, muttering a “you’re welcome, hyung.” and waving the older man off as he left the room also.

-

“Maybe it was a suicide.” Seungmin casually said, his mouth full of rice.

The five friends were out at a Korean restaurant, the one closest to the police station, deciding at the last minute to go while all their schedules were open. Since it was a Sunday, it was less busy, meaning the food came out quicker, just the way they liked it.

Changbin, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Seungmin, lightly kicked him in the shin, shaking his head. “How can someone stab himself in the chest four times? That doesn't make any sense.”

“It’s entirely possible, I watched it in a movie once. He probably wanted to frame poor Hyunjin-ssi for his murder.” Seungmin argued back, pointing his chopsticks at Changbin.

“By the time he got to the 3rd stab, he wouldn’t have had the strength to pick up the knife, idiot.” Minho commented.

Chan spoke up this time, saving Changbin from almost jumping the table. “Sorry Minnie, it’s just not possible. The way the angles of the stab wounds were shown, someone would have had to have been hovered over his chest. The blood was splattered all over the bedsheets, even spreading to the floors and walls.”

“Guys, can we not talk about stuff like this why we’re eating?” Jisung said, sticking his tongue out in disgust before shoving another spoon of rice in his mouth. 

“Fine.” Seungmin muttered. 

The two detectives nodded also, going back to eating their meals. Minho just sat silently watching them, chewing his own food. Seungmin smirked before speaking up again.

“So Changbin-hyung, have you had any good dick lately?”

Changbin immediately choked on some rice, loudly coughing and patting his chest. Minho, who was sat next to him, started to pat his back, handing him a glass of water.

Chan turned his head over to the youngest at the table, throwing him a dumbfounded look. “Seungmin..”

“What? I’m just making conversation.”

Just as Chan was about to say something, a familiar figure in the corner of his eye caught his attention. 

Hyunjin stood near the front of the restaurant, waiting to be seated. He was shifting his gaze between the restaurant staff and the entrance. Which Chan did think was weird, but that thought soon vanished when the familiar bright orange haired male came bouncing through the door, Jeongin greeting Hyunjin in a hug.

Changbin was still coughing his lungs out, causing Hyunjin to look over at their table, his expression changing into something Chan couldn’t really put his finger on. He watches as the tall male approaches the table, Hyunjin showing a small smile before turning his attention to Changbin. 

“Are you okay, Detective Seo?” Hyunjin asked, a slight concern in his voice. 

Changbin looked up from where he was currently trying to sip on some water and soothe his throat, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. 

“Um… Hyunjin-ssi, yeah I’m fine. Food just went down the wrong way, that’s all.” Changbin replied with a small smile on his face, before sending a glare to Seungmin.

Hyunjin started to play with the loose thread on his cardigan as he pressed his lips together and nodded. “Oh.. okay. See you then.”

With that, Hyunjin walked back to Jeongin, whispered something in his ear, causing the other one to look at their table before looking back at his friend, then both males turned to leave the restaurant. 

“That was weird, right?” Jisung asked, noticing how everyone just witnessed that interaction.

“Definitely weird.” Minho agreed, leaning back in his chair. The whole group’s attention was still on the restaurant’s entrance. 

They stared for a few minutes before turning their focus back on the food, everyone continuing with what they were doing. Changbin’s coughing fit subsided. 

“I think he likes you, Changbin-hyung.” Seungmin commented, putting his chopsticks down and pushing his plate away from himself. 

“Who?” Changbin was sick of his friend’s antics, the comment earlier still processing in his brain.

“Hyunjin-ssi. The way he was just checking in on you like that.” He motioned to the door where the same man that had just been standing there, now gone.

“What the fuck, Seungmin?” Changbin snapped, his voice getting irritated. He kicked Seungmin hard this time, earning an ow from the younger.

“What? I’m just making an observation.” He shrugged in response.

“You’re being an asshole.” With that Changbin stood up and shrugged his jacket on. He pushed his chair back in and pointed at Seungmin. “He’ll pay for my meal.” And then he left.

Chan looked between his friends, the tension thick. Jisung breaking it first.

“Seungmin, that wasn’t very nice.” 

“What? I can’t tease him now because he gets all pissy.” Seungmin argued. 

Chan ran his hands through his hair, slightly tugging at the ends with frustration, he felt that sometimes with his friends it was just like babysitting children. “You’re allowed to tease him but you crossed a line, Seungmin.” 

The shoulders of the youngest deflated slightly, he sighed as he spoke. “I just want him to be happy and have someone, you know? He’s been alone for so long. And Hyunjin.. he seemed… interested.. I don't know.”

Minho clapped his hand over one of Seungmin’s shoulders, giving it a light squeeze. “That’s alright, Seungmin. We all want him to be happy but you know you can’t push him.”

“That and Hyunjin is a murder suspect as well.” Jisung pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

“Jisung!” Minho turned towards him, the same time Chan did. Seungmin gave a slight laugh.

“I thought Hyunjin wasn’t a suspect anymore?” He directed his question to Chan, the other two also looking at the Detective.

“He’s not. Well.. we’re still looking into the other possible suspects but there’s no evidence that Hyunjin did it.” Chan explained, voice low, looking around the restaurant to see if anyone was listening. “But we really shouldn’t be talking about this here.”

Jisung clapped his hands, excitedly. “Yes! We should be talking about the party I’m throwing next weekend.”

“Why are you throwing a party?" Minho asked, his eyebrow raising.

“Do I need a reason to throw a party?” He sassed back.

Minho rolled his eyes, muttering ‘brat’.

“Love youuuu.” Jisung said, teasingly. 

Chan smiled, looking between his friends. They tried not to be too affectionate in front of people down to the jobs that they do, but they let it slip every once in a while. It was nice to see, they were happy. 

He thinks about how it is that they both grew up together, how they both fell in love all the way back in school.

Jisung, Minho and Changbin started off as friends, Seungmin soon joining their group in high school and then eventually them befriending Chan a few years back, but yet, it feels like they’ve been friends with him forever.

He is very grateful for his little group of friends. They all click and get on so nicely when they're not getting on each others nerves. He trusts them with his life. 

“Yeah, yeah love you too, idiot.” Minho quietly said, Chan and Seungmin almost missed it.

They eventually all finished their meals and paid, Seungmin paying for Changbin’s. They gathered outside the restaurant giving a quick hug and a goodbye before parting ways.

Seungmin and Chan headed off walking together, since they were going the same way. Their apartments being not that far between each other.

“You think Changbin-hyung is still pissed at me?” Seungmin asked, his voice low.

Chan glanced at him before looking back ahead, focusing on the path they were heading down, the lights of Seoul bright and fluorescent. 

“He’ll be okay. You just need to apologise to him.”

Chan saw Seungmin look over at him, worry plastered on his face. He stopped walking, the older coming to a halt as well. 

“Seungmin-ah?”

“Do you think this case will ever get solved? So we can get our old Changbinnie back?”

“I’m not sure. Seungmin. It’s complicated. We just want to find out who did it.” Chan pulled the younger into a hug, a comforting hand rubbing up and down his back. “I’m sure once this is all over, we’ll have our Binnie back and then we’ll all be sick of him.”

Seungmin nodded, his shoulders finally loosening in relief. 

They reached Seungmin’s apartment complex, Chan giving him one last goodbye.

“Let me know how Changbin-hyung is? I doubt he’ll respond to my texts now.”

Chan smiled at him, patting him on his hair. He knew if it was anyone else that did that they'd probably face the wrath of Kim Seungmin, but was glad that the younger one let him get away with it.

“I will do, but text him, Seungmin. He’ll appreciate it.”

With that, they parted ways again. Just Chan by himself now. His head clouded with everything that happened in the past few hours. It felt like a bit of a blur. He loves his friends so much but they can be a bit of a handful sometimes. 

He thinks about Changbin, about where he is, he probably went to cool off somewhere or maybe he just went straight home. Still, he sends a quick text to his partner anyway:

[me]

Hey, hope you're doing okay.

You know Seungmin is sorry, Binnie

He’ll text you, please don’t ignore him

Chan locks his phone then continues on his way. He will be so glad when this case is done. It’s made everyone so on edge with Changbin stressing over it, which means that Chan has to stress over Changbin, it's all one big fucking cycle.

The only sane person keeping him grounded is Felix. His angel, his beautiful, beautiful angel. He thinks to himself that Felix truly may be the one. He’s had relationships before but none of them came close to Felix, he doesn't think he loved them as much as he loves Felix. He doesn't think he could live without him. He hopes that when the time is right and Chan eventually pops the question, he hopes Felix says yes.

-

Dune is a small bar located on the outskirts of Seoul, it was a pretty dingy place, Changbin would say, but that’s what made it perfect. Lowkey just enough to not raise suspicion.

He entered the place, as casually as he could trying not to catch any unwanted attention. He was wearing a black hoodie and black joggers, a cap sitting low on his head.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, he ignored it though, it was probably Chan or Seungmin checking up on him. He had already texted Seungmin back and made up with him a few days ago but the younger man was insistent on trying to set him up with someone. Changbin wasn’t really interested, his work was his main priority and being with someone would only get in the way of that. 

And plus Seungmin kept sending pictures of men that were the complete opposite of Changbin’s type.

His type being tall, lean, pretty males, with beautiful full lips and beautiful eyes like…

He snapped out of his mind reminding himself why he’s here, he mentally smacked himself for getting distracted when he was supposed to be undercover.

It wasn’t that busy, just a few customers dotted around, a tall, dark haired bartender was scrolling on his phone, looking up only once when the bell above the door rang as Changbin walked in. 

Just one man was sitting at the bar, nursing a half-filled glass between his hands. 

Changbin approached with caution, looking around before sitting on the bar stool next to him, the man glancing sideways at him before drinking from his glass.

The bartender places a bottle of soju in front of the man, who then immediately fills his glass back up. Changbin makes eye contact with the barman and motions towards the bottle of soju, the taller man understanding before he reaches down and grabs one, settling it in front of him, taking the cap off.

Changbin pulls out his wallet and places his money on the counter, watching as the bartender nods at him, taking the money and walks off back to the other side of the bar.

“You should have told him you wanted it for free, detective.” A voice next to him murmured. 

Changbin snapped his neck around the place before scowling at the man next to him. “Watch your fucking mouth, Wooyoung.”

“Relax. No-one in here gives a fuck, remember? That’s why you chose to meet here.” Wooyoung stated before sipping from his drink again.

Changbin sighed, earning a chuckle from Wooyoung.

“Are you going to tell me the information I asked for or are you going to keep being an asshole?” Changbin asked instead of answering.

Wooyoung let out a small laugh again. “Can’t it be both?

“Wooyoung-”

“Fine fine, keep your wig on.”

Changbin took a sip from his drink watching as the other man reached down into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive, sliding it across the bar, the barman noticing.

Wooyoung made eye contact with him and pointed, his voice raising slightly. “Mind your own business, Yunho.”

The bartender, who Changbin came to know as Yunho, raised his eyebrows, showing his middle finger to Wooyoung, before going back to looking at his phone.

“Everything I found is on there.” He motioned to the USB Changbin was currently playing with in his hands. “You said he had business partners, right?”

“Yeah, he was a CEO, he was rich, it’s impossible to have that much money without some sort of partnership happening.” Changbin explained.

“Well I looked into his accounts, then at the transactions that came up, and hyung...” Wooyoung hesitated, glancing down at his hands before looking back up to Changbin.

“What?”

“He doesn’t have any.”

Changbin felt his body go cold, confusing taking over his face, he asked. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means, all those accounts, the transactions, they were all fake.” Wooyoung slowly let out.

“What do you mean fake?”

“It means, this guy, Park Youngjin, he had all this money, but no business partners. I’d be surprised if he was an actual CEO, that it was just a front, a cover up. Those accounts that paid into his, I traced their IP addresses and it all went to the same person - Park Youngjin.”

“Shit.” Changbin cursed.

“Yeah.. so your next question, I’m guessing, is where the fuck did he get all his money from, right? Well, I tried to see if there was any dodgy dealings, you know, some sort of money laundering but nothing came up, unless he had good security but you know that I’ve hacked into worse.” Wooyoung finished, shoulders slumping. He reaches forwards and chugs his drink back, motioning towards Yunho for another.

Changbin thought to himself, trying to piece the information he was just told about in his brain. He slowly went through it. Picking at it, bit by bit. Everything was fake. He thought about his next question. “So… the company Park Industries.. Was that fake too?”

Wooyoung stared at him for a couple of seconds before slowly nodding his head, his voice apologetic. “Yeah… sorry, hyung. I looked into the company documents too.. There’s no employees, just fake made up names and profiles.”

“How did we fucking miss that?” Changbin banged the table in frustration. The other customers looked over for a brief second before returning to whatever they were doing.

“It seemed like the police only saw what he wanted them to see: a thriving company, for fucking washing machines of all things, the company earning money every single day, happy employees. It didn’t really look suspicious.”

“Fake employees.” Changbin spat out.

“Yeah.. well that’s what you have me for, right? To look into it for you.. to do your dirty work.” Wooyoung teased, slightly nudging his elbow into Changbin’s side, earning a small smile to form on his face.

“Yeah… thanks Wooyoungie. So much for the police department having access to everything.” Changbin patted his friend on the back, drinking the rest of his drink.

“Well.. you can never trust a cop.” He chuckled, earning a punch in his shoulder by Changbin.

“Watch it, I can arrest you for insulting an officer, you know.” 

“Detective Seo, are you threatening me with a good time? Do tell me, will there or will there not be handcuffs involved?” Wooyoung joked, his voice in a teasing tone.

“Fuck off.” Changbin cursed, though his face was grinning, he shook his head. He pocketed the USB securely in his pocket as he turned to face Wooyoung again. “Thanks again for the information, Wooyoung. It means a lot.”

“Anytime, Binnie.” 

With that, he smiled, patting Wooyoung on the shoulder, turning to leave, still holding the USB in his pocket.

He has a lot to catch Chan up with.

-

Chan stumbled into the office elevator, tucking in his shirt and messing with his hair trying to straighten it outin the mirror. It was too fucking early. He didn't even have his morning coffee yet.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he rushed out, starting to quicken his steps until he reached the room he was told to go to, a familiar broad body, waiting outside.

“Chan-hyung?” Changbin raised his eyebrow in greeting.

“Hey, you got called here too?” Chan asked, noticing Changbin was looking slightly rough, possibly rougher than himself.

“Yeah… I didn’t even check my phone until this morning. Luckily I was about to go to an early gym session.” Changbin said, leaning against the wall opposite the door they were going to be walking into in the next couple minutes or so.

The two stood in silence one again, both still trying to wake up since they rushed out of their houses. If the Chief Sergeant calls you to his office for 6am in the morning, you’re there at 5.50am, no later.

They could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door, not making out what was being said, sounding like the Sergeant was on the phone.

“Bin, there’s something I need to tell you later. Something about what Jeongin told me. Well, what he almost told me if it weren't for the fact Hyunjin walked in.” 

At the mention of Hyunjin, Changbin looked up, confusion on his face. “What about?”

“Later, Bin. After this.” Chan replied, sighing. Already regretting mentioning it now, seeing the clogs clicking in Changbin’s head. “I promise, I’ll tell you after.”

Eventually, Changbin nodded, finally letting it go. “Okay, well I have something to tell you as well.” He answered back.

Before Chan could question, the door they were waiting outside opened, revealing an older man, grey hairs starting to take up his dark hair and thick rimmed glasses, balancing on his nose.

“Gentlemen, please do come in.” He gestured to the two chairs sitting opposite of his desk.

Chan and Changbin have never been in Sergeant Kim Siwoo’s office before, but Chan noticed straight away how it was the biggest room in the building, the floor to ceiling windows showing pretty much all of east Seoul. It was a beautiful view. He hopes he can get an office like this one in the future.

“Sit please.” Siwoo said, as he sat down in his own chair.

The two men exchanged glances before sitting down.

“So,” the man started, resting his elbows on the desk. “How far are we from finding our killer for the Park Youngjin case?”

They both looked at each other again before looking at Siwoo, Changbin speaking up first.

“Um.. nothing at the moment yet, sir. We’re still looking.”

“‘Still looking’, it’s been 3 weeks. What’s going on? You’re two of the finest detectives here yet you can’t even find a suspect.” Siwoo snarled.

“Well, we did have a suspect, sir. But, there’s no evidence he did it.” Chan spoke up this time, voice surprisingly calm for how his leg was bouncing.

“Ahh.. Hwang Hyunjin, right? I heard about him.”

Chan was sure he heard a small noise coming from his partner but when he looked over, Changbin was sitting there, staring straight at Siwoo, a cold expression on his face.

Seeing as Changbin wasn’t going to say anything, Chan took the lead. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Well, why didn’t you charge him?” Siwoo asked.

“I just told you, because we didn't have any evidence that he did it.” Chan slightly raised his voice, but suddenly remembered who he was talking to, his gaze dropping to his feet.

“That’s not how I see it. House cleaner finds rich CEO stabbed four times in his bedroom, no fingerprints, no DNA, there wasn’t even a struggle. Nobody else in the house. Sounds pretty simple to me.”

“Are you suggesting we charge Hyunjin when we have no evidence, sir?” There was something in Changbin’s voice that Chan couldn’t recognise but was glad that they were on the same page in this. That they both think how ridiculous this was.

“Yes I am. I mean, he’s a pretty obvious suspect. He has the motive after all.” Siwoo leaned back in his chair, relaxing. A grin started to form when he saw the confusion on the two men in front of him.

“A motive?” Chan asked.

“Ahh, you two didn’t know? What kind of detectives are you?” He insulted, the both of them getting more uncomfortable in their chairs. 

At their silence he decided to carry on. “Well since you don’t know, I’ll tell you. Mr Park Youngjin changed his Will one week before he died.” He paused, to let his words sink into Chan and Changbin, before carrying on. “Do you want me to tell you more or are you going to connect the dots yourself?” 

Chan and Changbin both looked at each other, mouths slightly open, Chan raised his eyebrow did you know Changbin shook his head no.

“I’m sorry sir, but are you saying that Park Youngjin put Hyunjin in his Will?” Chan asked, still not believing what was happening.

Siwoo clapped his hands, his eyes lighting up, his voice slithered with sarcasm. “Congratulations, 10 points for you Detective Bang!” 

The two detectives stared at him, not laughing. 

His face suddenly dropped, looking between the two, his voice serious again, his hands clasping in front of him. “Park Youngjin left Hwang Hyunjin, everything.”

The whole room started to feel thick, Chan couldn’t breathe, he tried counting in his head like Felix had told him before but it wasn’t working. Hyunjin wasn’t the killer. Chan knows that. But, now with what Siwoo's just told them, about Hyunjin having a motive, now he wasn't too sure.

“What about his family? Weren’t they in the Will?” Chan asked, hoping there's a reasonable explanation for this, he glanced at Changbin noticing he was still sitting there, dead silent.

“I can’t believe I let you two idiots take this case. Did you not read anything I gave you?” Siwoo spat, his voice getting angry.

“There was no Will in the file, sir. Don’t you think that if there was, we would've seen it?” Changbin snapped, Chan was slightly taken back by his partner's tone.

“Excuses after excuses.” Siwoo tutted, shaking his head. “Park Youngjin had no family. Well, no one he still kept in touch with. We couldn’t find his original Will but we found his new one. Hwang Hyunjin is now one of the richest men in this city.”

He went quiet after that, letting the new information process. Chan rubbed his forehead, how could they have missed all this? What are they supposed to do now? Was the case going to be passed on? Were they going to get fired? They fucked up pretty bad. Just when Chan thought they were getting somewhere.

“So what do you want us to do?” Changbin scowled, his eyebrows pinching together.

Siwoo clapped his hands again before pointing at Changbin. “Great question, Detective Seo! 10 points to you too!” His face going serious again, his features sharp, making the two detectives slightly cower in their seats. “I want you both to arrest and charge Hwang Hyunjin for the murder of Park Youngjin.”

“What?!” Chan exclaimed, standing up, Changbin followed suit only to hold him by the arms and push him back a bit, away from their boss. “But, sir-”

“We’ll do it.” Changbin interrupted, Chan snapping his neck at him, his partner’s face stone cold again.

“What? Changbin, we can’t-”

“Listen to your partner, Detective Bang.” Siwoo looked between them both. “I’m giving you 24 hours, if Hwang Hyunjin is not in a cell by tomorrow, you’re both fired, do you hear me?”

They both said “yes, sir.” in unison.

“Okay, you’re free to go.” He smiled sweetly at them, but Chan and Changbin knew what was really beneath that.  

They both abruptly headed for the door, not looking back once.

-

They took the elevator back down to their floor where their own offices were located in complete and utter silence, still processing everything that just happened in the last half an hour.

As they got to their floor, they noticed there weren't really any people in the office around this time of the morning, so they had the space to talk freely. 

Changbin slumped down in his chair. Chan pulled a chair from his own desk and sat next to his partner. He tooth a deep breath in before he says what he's been thinking since the moment they stepped out of Siwoo’s office.

“We’re not arresting Hyunjin, Changbin.”

“But-”

“No, he’s innocent, we’ve proved it.” His voice, firm. He hopes Changbin listens to him. He saw it, that look in his partner’s eyes when their boss had asked them to do that ridiculous request. He knows Changbin agrees with him.

“What other choice do we have?” Changbin said, his voice laced with tiredness, he picked up the vanilla folder, it feeling heavy in his hands now.

“There’s always a choice. He might not even know that he was in the Will.” Chan reasoned.

“And if he did know?”

Well, Chan didn’t want to answer that. He thinks telling the information to Changbin that he had learnt from Jeongin, might be completely useless now. Even if Hyunjin didn’t reciprocate Park Youngjin’s inappropriate feelings, he could have still known and used it to change the Will. Chan shook his head. Hyunjin wasn’t like that. But he realised, from the fact that, he doesn’t really know Hyunjin at all.

His voice low, he settled on. “I guess we’ll find out.”

-

Chan and Changbin pulled up once again in the car park of Apartment 143, both sat still, minds heavy with the fact that if they didn’t return to their office without Hyunjin today, they’d be not coming back tomorrow. 

“There’s someth-”

“Before we go in-”

They both started at the same time, they chuckled before Changbin gestured for Chan to speak first.

“There’s something I need to tell you about when you left me the last time we were here, oh yeah, thanks for that by the way.” Changbin rolled his eyes but then raised his eyebrows in curiosity. “Jeongin… he insinuated to me that Park Youngjin had some sort of infatuation with Hyunjin. That Hyunjin didn’t see him that way though. I was so close to Jeongin telling me more, Changbin, but then Hyunjin walked in.”

Changbin nodded his head as he listened, his expression hardening as Chan finished.

Chan notices the way he gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles whitening.

“Changbin… if Hyunjin knew… knew about that… do you think he could’ve convinced Park Youngjin to change his Will?” Chan cautiously asked, swallowing the bile in his throat. He’d spent the past few weeks convincing Changbin that Hyunjin didn’t do it and now, now he wasn’t so sure.

Changbin was quiet for a moment, his fingers tapping on the wheel, his teeth chewing on his lips. Chan wondered what he was thinking about.

“Are you suggesting Hyunjin used the fact that Park Youngjin was obsessed over him to change his Will, to leave everything to him, to then go and stab him a week later?” Changbin said, saying it slowly, trying to process, his hand going up to rub at his chin.

Chan sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat. “Yeah.. ridiculous I know.”

“Not ridiculous, no.” Changbin stated, thinking to himself again before speaking. “But we don’t even know if Hyunjin knows about the Will or not yet.”

“True.” Chan said, his voice deflating. He rubbed his face before turning to Changbin, his curiosity peaking up. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh,” Changbin pinched his eyebrows, patting his thighs before turning to Chan.

Chan noticed a strange expression on his partner's face, he’d never seen Changbin like this before. Stressed, yes. Tired, yes. Nervous, yes. This was bigger than that. It looked guilty.

“Bin?”

“I have a source.” Changbin finally said.

“Okay, that’s a normal thing to have when you’re a detective.” Chan nodded, sending a quick smile to the younger.

“No.. he isn’t like that. I- he finds information out for me but it’s technically not official. As in, it's not done through the company.” 

“What are you trying to say?” Chan asked, completely confused now. He had a little feeling of what Changbin was trying to say but surely Changbin wasn’t dealing with anything illegal, was he?

“It doesn’t matter about that.” He quickly brushed it off. “What matters is the information I found out.”

Chan watches as Changbin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a USB, holding it out in front of him.

“On here, there’s every single document and transaction about Park Industries and about Park Youngjin and… hyung, it’s all fake.”

“Changbin, why the hell do you have all this? And what the fuck do you mean by fake?” He managed to get out, his eyes widening. 

Changbin took a deep breath. “It means everything, and I mean everything was fake. Park Youngjin had no business partners, he had no business, no employees. I don’t have a fucking clue where all his money came from because it was definitely not selling fucking washing machines.”

Chan was at a lost for words. Everything they had read about Park Youngjin was fake, none of it was real.

“So,” Chan started. “You’re saying he might have been involved in something illegal?”

Changbin shrugged, pursuing his lips. “Maybe. My source says he couldn’t find out about that. That whoever has the information about it, must have covered their tracks pretty well.”

“Your source, huh? And he’s reliable?” Chan asked, not really trusting this person. If Changbin had met up with this person in secret without Chan knowing, it seemed pretty iffy. 

“Yes, hyung. I trust him with my life.” Changbin nodded, his voice so sure. Chan was still skeptical but he felt slightly better with that. He trusts Changbin so he guesses he'll have to trust this person too.

“So what do we do now?” His voice was defeated. Everything they had learned in the past few weeks just burst into flames, the ashes mocking them, laughing at them. There was a whole new layer to this, something deeper and Chan wasn’t sure he wanted to go down that road. 

Sure, they’ve had to deal with illegal criminal activity before but whoever’s involved, whoever was involved with Youngjin and his money, may just be the same person who killed him.

And, they might as well just be chasing ghosts.

“I’m not sure, hyung. But for now, we need to speak to Hyunjin and hope he knows about the Will.” Changbin finally said.

Chan frowned as he stared at Changbin, his partner avoiding his eyes.

“You still think he did it?” Chan asked, voice low.

“It doesn’t matter about that anymore. We could lose our jobs, hyung.” Changbin explained, still not making eye contact.

Chan scoffed, shaking his head. “So you’d rather put an innocent man in jail for something he didn’t do? We’re being blackmailed, Bin.”

“Don’t you think I know that!” Changbin shouted. He took a breath before speaking again, his voice calmer this time. “Look, I don’t like this as much as you. Our job is to find the facts and the evidence, but what other choice do we have?”

Changbin finally looked at him and Chan could see how tired his eyes were, that the fight in them wasn’t as strong anymore. 

“There’s always a choice.” He answered back.

“Not when your boss is making the calls.” Changbin huffed.

“We can report him, Bin.” Chan suggested, a glint of hope in his voice. “It’s still blackmail and immoral, no matter who it is.”

Changbin sighed and nodded. Chan mentally high-fived himself, he got through to his partner’s stubbornness. He knows Changbin is just scared, he is too, but he didn’t become a detective to just arrest the wrong person only because it's convenient.

“Well, let’s go talk to Hyunjin then.” Changbin stated, his hand reaching to open the door. Chan swiftly stopped him by gently gripping his shoulder.

“Whatever happens, Binnie. We’ll get through it together.”

-

Chan and Changbin, once again walked into Apartment 143, they headed straight towards the elevator, the receptionist already recognising them and buzzing them in.

As they’re waiting, Chan felt an uneasy feeling in his body, he just brushed it off as what they were about to do but as he glanced around the room, that’s when he spotted someone, dark clothes, dark eyes, his dark hair covering his forehead, his hood thrown over his head. He wasn’t doing anything. Just, standing there, staring. 

When Chan looked back at Changbin, then back at this mysterious person, he clocked something. This man wasn’t staring at them both. He was staring at Changbin.

He gently nudged his partner, who then turned to look at him confused. Chan cocked his head back to the direction of the lobby, towards the strange man, who was still staring.

“Do you know him?” He said, his voice low. 

Changbin threw a glance over, his eyes narrowing before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, it looks like he seems to recognise you.” Chan quipped.

Changbin hummed, looking back once more before the bell on the elevator went off, the doors opening for them.

They both stepped inside facing outwards, their gazes locked on the man who in turn wasn’t backing down either, still watching them, still standing firmly in his place.

As the doors closed, Changbin shifted his weight on his feet before mumbling. “I probably put one of his buddies inside and he’s trying to scare me.”

Chan let out a slight laugh before nodding, the uneasy feeling still there. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

They reached the 8th floor, stepping off and already knowing where to go. Chan felt his heart quicken, he’s really hoping Hyunjin had no idea about the Will. He wants to believe he’s innocent and that they have all the evidence that he didn’t do it but something just feels off.

They arrive at the door, Changbin lifting his fist up first before knocking. 

It took a few minutes until they heard rustling and the sound of the door opening. Hyunjin standing there, his eyes wide, looking between them both.

“Detectives, what are you doing here?” He asked, his body becoming a barrier between the hallway and his apartment.

“Can we come in, Hyunjin-ssi? We just need to ask you something.” Chan responded, his voice soft, giving him a polite dimpled smile.

Hyunjin hesitated, staring at them both before he eventually nodded and moved aside, letting them in.

They both took a seat on the same white couch they had sat on the last time they were here. Changbin scanned around the room, he asked curiously towards Hyunjin. “Where’s your friend?”

Chan raised his eyebrows, why did he say it like that? Oh right, yeah, it’s because he thinks Jeongin is Hyunjin’s mysterious lover.

Hyunjin stared back at Changbin, an intense look in his eyes, something Chan had seen before from someone but couldn’t think who.

They soon broke their weird staring contest when Hyunjin shrugged and sat down on the matching white armchair. Chan finally relaxing in his seat.

“Jeongin isn’t here. I think he’s out with some friends.” Hyunjin explained, he picked at the loose threads in his jeans before speaking again. “So what did you want to ask me?”

The two detectives exchanged glances before Changbin spoke up first, his voice deep and serious. “We recently came to light on new information about Park Youngjin’s Will.”

“Okay…?” Hyunjin asked, confusion taking over his features.

“Hyunjin-ssi, did you know anything about the Will?” Chan asked this time. He looked for any signs of Hyunjin lying, any nervous movement, any facial expression changes or avoiding eye contact.

Hyunjin shook his head. “Not really, I usually just did the jobs he left for me to do. We didn’t really speak much.”

“So he didn’t let you paint in one of his rooms?” Chan almost snapped his neck looking at Changbin when he said that. Hyunjin didn’t know that Jeongin had told them this.

Hyunjin’s eyes widened, his mouth gaping. “How did you know?”

“It doesn't matter, but what does matter is that you said you didn't speak to Park Youngjin often but he must have spoken to you to let you paint, no?” Changbin asked, eyes never leaving Hyunjin’s.

“Well yeah..” Hyunjin looked down, not finishing his sentence, his shoulders slumping. He started playing with the rings on his fingers. Chan made eye contact with his partner, noticing the heavy glare he was giving Hyunjin. He hopes Changbin doesn’t push him too hard.

“So I’ll ask you again, Hyunjin. Did you know anything about Park Youngjin’s Will?” Changbin pressed, leaning forward slightly, his eyes narrowing.

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes back at him, he sat up straighter, his voice clear. “No. He never mentioned any Will.”

“You didn’t hear him mention it to someone else or on the phone?” He pressed further. Chan shifted awkwardly in his seat, thinking whether or not he should step in.

“Of course not! Can you just tell me why you’re asking me these things?” Hyunjin raised his voice, now looking between the two detectives.

Chan placed his hand on Changbin’s bicep to stop him from talking, Changbin looking at him puzzled. He gave it a gentle squeeze before speaking. 

“Hyunjin-ssi, we were made aware recently that Park Youngjin changed his Will one week before he got killed.” Chan explained carefully, still watching Hyunjin’s reactions. He seemed calm, nothing suspicious. “We found out that he had put you in it, Hyunjin.”

Chan and Changbin watched as Hyunjin’s eyes widened, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. “What?”

Changbin spoke this time, his voice calm now. “Park Youngjin put you in his Will, Hyunjin-ssi. He left you everything.”

Chan noticed Hyunjin’s hands started to shake, saw the way he clasped them and unclasped them, rubbing them on his thighs.

“What? What does that mean?” He mumbled towards them.

“It means… Hwang Hyunjin, you're one of the richest men in Seoul.” Changbin’s voice echoed what Kim Siwoo said earlier.

“What?!” Hyunjin stood up abruptly, hands running through his long dark hair. He put his hands on his hips as he turned towards the detectives. “Are you sure?”

Chan nodded, a sympathetic smile on his face. Okay, so Hyunjin wasn’t aware. That’s a good sign. “Yeah, our boss told us this morning. I know it’s a lot to take in but we just needed to know if you knew about it.”

Hyunjin scoffed, a breathy laugh coming out. “What? So you think that I somehow persuaded Youngjin to change his Will and then stabbed him a week later?”

“No, no.” Chan shook his head, standing up as well, his hands coming out, trying to calm Hyunjin down. “We just needed the information that you didn’t know about the Will, and you didn’t, so we’re done here.”

“We are?” Changbin asked, his brows pinching, eventually getting up as well.

“We are.” Chan confirmed. He bowed to Hyunjin before giving him a quick smile. “Sorry about the intrusion, we’ll be going now.”

“Detective Seo?” Hyunjin turned his attention to Changbin, his gaze softening. “You still think I did it?”

Changbin stared back, chewing his lips. A few seconds passed then he shook his head, his response coming out quiet. “No, I don’t.”

Chan grinned, clapping his hands. “Okay. Good. We’ll get going then. Sorry about this again, Hyunjin-ssi.”

Hyunjin smiled back, the look of relief in his eyes. Chan was just glad Changbin agreed with him. He dreads to think what’s going to happen now with the fact they’ll be returning to the office without Hyunjin. 

As they stood near the door, Changbin turned back to look at Hyunjin again. “Hyunjin-ssi?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you plan on doing with the money?” Changbin asked. There was no venom in his voice, just curiosity.

“Changbin-”

Hyunjin interrupted Chan, giving him a small smile. “It’s okay. I don’t plan on keeping the money. I’ll probably donate it to charity. I can send you the receipts if you want?”

Chan chuckled, nodding as Changbin raised his eyebrows in question but soon nodding his head as well. 

“Well, that’s great, Hyunjin-ssi. Thank you for speaking to us. We’ll see you around then.” Chan smiled.

With that, the two detectives left, stepping back into the elevator, hopefully for the last time.

“Well, that went pretty well. He didn’t know about the Will.” Chan said, feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, he reached in to grab it, stopping when Changbin didn’t respond. Chan looked at him, trying to read his partner's expression. 

“What is it?” Chan asked.

“Nothing.” Changbin shook his head, going back to staring at the elevator doors.

“It’s not nothing. You think Hyunjin is lying?” He questioned.

“No… it’s not that. Chan-hyung, do you realise we’re jobless now?” Changbin replied, his voice sounding almost scared.

Oh.

Yeah, Chan hadn’t really thought about that. Sure, it was in the back of his mind but just the thought of Hyunjin not going to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, helped Chan realise he had made the right decision. 

“Yeah, fuck.” He took a sigh, thinking to himself again. “Changbin, we need to report him.”

“Yeah…” Changbin rubbed at the back of his neck. “To who, though?”

Chan thought back to when Felix had a problem with someone from his work, one of the men, one of the higher ups, he was getting a bit handsy and not knowing how to back off, no matter how much Felix had told him to stop. Chan had offered to Felix to come and punch the guy, but his pretty boyfriend just laughed, not knowing that Chan was being serious. 

It wasn’t until one day when Felix had come home after Chan, on a rare occasion, that he came bouncing in telling Chan that he had reported him to HR and he got fired. Apparently Felix was not the only one he was harassing.

“We can report him to HR.” Chan finally said.

“You think that’s going to work? He’s the main boss, he’s a Sergeant.” Changbin asked, his voice tired again. 

Chan knows how much dedication Changbin had put into this job, him too, all those late nights they had worked through, the blood, the sweat, the long days, sometimes not even sleeping, just running on coffee. They worked their asses off for this job, so there’s no doubt in his mind that Chan’s gonna let either of them lose it.

The elevator doors soon opened, the two detectives stepping out into the foyer, the man from earlier nowhere to be seen. They made their way to the car, and as Chan reached for his door, he looked over to see Changbin near his own door, facing up at the building they just came out of.

“Bin, you okay? He asked.

Changbin looked back at him and nodded, giving him a small smile, before climbing into the car.

Before Changbin could drive off, Chan quickly spoke up. “You remember that asshole I told you about. The one who was harassing Felix?”

Changbin turned to him, pursuing his lips before humming, his face darkening. “Yeah, I do. What a dick.”

“Yeah he is, well, his job was above Felix’s right?” Chan asked, Changbin humming in response. “So Felix reported him and he got fired. Turns out there were a few people that reported him.”

“Good, even though that asshole deserved worse. I shouldn’t have held you back when you wanted to kill him. If that was my boy-”

Chan suddenly looked at, his eyebrow immediately raising in question. Did Changbin just talk about having a boyfriend?

“In theory!” Changbin quickly scrambled to explain himself. Chan narrowed his eyes at him. “In theory, if it was my boyfriend, my fake boyfriend, I’d kill him too and you’d help me hide his body.” He laughed it off, even though Chan knew that he and Changbin were the same, especially when it came to people they cared about. 

Chan chuckled with him until eventually he patted him on the thigh. “We’ll sort it, Changbin-ah.”

Changbin nodded as he inserted the keys into the ignition and turned the engine on. “I hope so, hyung.”

-

As Chan and Changbin approached the road to their work, they noticed a crowd of people forming around the building. Chan leaned forward to see if he could see what was going on. The sound of sirens going off and then an ambulance quickly passing them by.

“What the fuck?” Chan whispered.

Changbin parked up and they immediately got out, speeding over to Minho when they saw him standing on the steps by the entrance of the building.

“Where the fuck have you two been? I’ve been calling you. Answer your fucking phones.” Minho shouted, as they all met each other halfway.

“What’s going on? Why’s there so many people here?” Changbin asked, looking around, noticing police officers, police dogs, paramedics, and news reporters.

“If you answered your fucking pho-”

“Minho! Just tell us.” Chan demanded.

“It’s Sergeant Kim Siwoo. He’s dead.”

Chan’s blood ran cold. There was a faint ringing in his ears. He started to go dizzy. There was no way, no way. Siwoo was very much alive a few hours ago when Chan and Changbin had been in his office. Oh God. What if they were the last ones to see him alive. His vision started to go blurry. 

He snapped out of it when he saw Changbin waving a hand in front of his face, his eyebrows creased in worry.

“How? How did he die, Minho?” Chan asked, he was thankful for Changbin’s hold on his arms otherwise his knees would buckle.

“Police haven’t confirmed it yet… but people have said they saw a bottle of pills on his desk. Pills for his heart.” Minho said, looking around before leaning closer so it was just the three of them that could hear. “They’re saying it was an overdose… a suicide.”

“A suicide?” Changbin mumbled, his voice still full of shock.

“Yeah.. I mean how could anyone who didn’t have an appointment with him, get into his office, force a bunch of pills down him and effectively kill him. It makes no sense. He must have had some really bad demons to do that though.” Minho said, looking around again, his eyes lighting up when he found the people, well person, he was looking for. 

“Jisung, Seungmin over here!” He called out to them.

As the two made their way over, Chan and Changbin exchanged looks, both understanding what each other were saying without needing to say the words. They were both in that office, they both had an appointment with him and the demons, could the guilt of arresting Hyunjin really drive him to suicide? Surely not. And then, does that mean that they’re not going to lose their jobs? Since, only Siwoo knew about it.

“Did you guys hear about Siwoo?” Seungmin asked them, he must have noticed the paleness on their faces. “Wow, what’s up with you two?”

“Fuck off, Seungmin.” Changbin cursed.

“God, I was only asking. I know he’s your boss and all that but if we’re being real here, he was a pretty shit one.” Seungmin stated, Chan does love how brutally honest he can be.

“He was, but he didn’t deserve to die.” Chan breathed out, his knees finally giving out, Changbin held him up, helping him across to the steps to sit down at.

Minho looked between the two of them, his eyebrow raising in question. “Did something happen to you both?”

Chan stared at Changbin wondering whether to say it or not. It was only their friends and they could trust them, and plus, they’d only find out later when Chan and Changbin would have to give their statements, especially since their appointment was definitely logged.

Changbin sighed before quietly talking. “We were with him this morning. He called us. We went to his office, he told us to do something, we left and then we didn’t do the thing he wanted us to do and now we’re back here and now he’s dead.”

“What was the thing he wanted you to do?" Jisung asked.

They all took a step closer to each other, Changbin’s voice dropping. “He wanted us to arrest Hyunjin-ssi.”

“But I thought he was innocent. Was he not?” Seungmin questioned.

“He is innocent.” Changbin insisted. Chan glanced up at his partner when he heard how firm his voice was. Like, Changbin actually believed that Hyunjin was innocent, that there was no if’s and but’s and maybe’s but just a no, he is innocent.

“So why did Siwoo want you to arrest him?” Jisung asked this time.

“I’m not sure.” Changbin rubbed his hands over his face before speaking again. “We didn’t have any other suspects and I guess it’s easier just to blame him.”

Chan was glad Changbin had stopped there. He trusts his friends but right now they can’t know about the Will. Not now everything will be going up in shit. There will be an ongoing investigation now until they rule it a suicide or if it was murder. And, Chan and Changbin still needed to get back to work, cases still needed solving. A new sergeant will have to be placed, a temporary one right now while they go through candidates and pick one.

They all stood in silence. The chatter of people all around them, other detectives and staff members still stood outside waiting for the call that they could be let back in. They watched as news reporters were filming, trying to get a story for their channel while police officers were trying to hold them back.

“Well, it sucks that I have to move my party now.” Jisung mumbled.

“Jisung!” Minho screeched, slapping his boyfriend on the arm.

“What? I’m just saying!” He argued back. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be allowed to do it at my place anyway, we’re having construction on the building in the next few weeks.”

“Sucks for you.” Seungmin laughed, earning a slap on his shoulder from Jisung.

Minho thought for a second before suggesting. “You could always have it at Changbin’s.”

The man in question snapped his head up from where he was sitting next to Chan, softly tapping at his arm in hope to calm him down, to see the other three staring at him.

“No.”

“But hyuuunggg. Why not?” Jisung whined, shaking his shoulders like a child.

“Why can’t you have it at Minho’s?” Changbin asked instead.

“His neighbour is a 90 year old deaf woman who complains about the noise when she hears us drop a plate. Like, how does that work?” He complains.

“God, I bet she hates when you two have sex.” Seungmin comments, this time getting a smack on the arm from Minho.

“Well, what about Seungmin? Throw it at his place.” Changbin suggested again. Chan could see he was starting to lose this argument.

“Ew, after all the men I know Seungmin brings home, I don’t want to touch anything in that apartment.” Jisung screwed his face up in disgust.

“Hey! I bet you two are just as bad.” Seungmin argued.

Chan glimpses up at his friends, he can’t believe they just found out someone died and now they’re talking about this.

“Come on, Changbin-hyung.” Jisung pleaded. “I know you don’t bring home any men, so I bet your house is free of sti’s.”

“Jisung, I get tested, you little shit.” Seungmin shoved him.

“How do you know I don’t bring home any men?” Changbin asked, raising his eyebrow. 

“Well, do you?” Minho replied instead.

They all turned to look at him, Chan glancing at him too, wanting to hear the answer.

His shoulders deflated, he shook his head. “No.”

“Well. That’s settled.” Jisung clapped his hands. “The party will be at Changbin-hyung’s in a few weeks time. Chan-hyung, you can bring Felix with you.”

At the mention of his favourite person, Chan smiled. He had taken Felix to Jisung’s parties before and Felix has told him many nights about how much he enjoys them. That he loves speaking to his friends and being around them. The fact that his best friends and his boyfriend get on so well, makes him so happy.

“And Changbin-hyung, you can bring Hyunjin.” Jisung said, grinning.

“What?” Changbin choked out, slapping his chest to cough out the spit that had just gone down the wrong way.

“I said, you can bring Hyunjin-ssi to my party. He did seem into you that one time.” Jisung shrugged.

“Yeah and he’s your type, Bin.” Minho said, so casually.

Chan was taken back by what he was hearing. Changbin has a type? And that type is Hyunjin? Is that why he had been acting so weird lately? He has never seen Changbin romantically involved with anyone as much as being interested in anyone in the past few years that they’ve known each other. He’s just been about work. He thinks back to when Felix had tried to set Changbin up with one of his friends but Changbin just politely declined the offer, saying he wasn’t looking for a relationship.

“Yeah plus he’s not a murder suspect anymore, right?” Jisung asked, his eyes sparkling.

Chan wondered whether his friends were planning something. He’d have to ask them later.

When Changbin finally had a say, his jaw clenched. “Even if he’s not a murder suspect, I’m not asking him to your stupid party, Jisung. And Minho-hyung, he is not my type.”

“Liar.” Minho interjected.

“Shut up.” Changbin pointed at him, his face falling slightly before it went neutral. “Plus, he has a boyfriend. So even if I wanted to ask him, not that I do, he wouldn’t come anyway.”

“He has a boyfriend?” Jisung asked, shocked. “Oh, I’m sorry, hyung.”

Changbin waved him off before putting his attention back on Chan, asking him if he’s alright, in which Chan just smiled and nodded. Glad the sick feeling he felt had subsided. 

“That doesn’t make sense. Minho, did you not see the way he was looki-”

“That’s enough, Jisung.” 

They both looked up when they heard Minho’s stern voice, eyebrows raised.

Before they could say anything the chatter around them started to increase. Chan and Changbin stood up, the whole group's attention now on the entrance of the building, paramedics coming out, wheeling out a stretcher, a body on top, covered by black tarp.

“Shit.” They all cursed. It was real. Kim Siwoo was really dead.

-

A few weeks later, Chan was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, razor in hand and bits of cream still on his face, turning his head side to side to make sure he got all the stubble.

He felt tiny hands cup his butt from the back and heard deep giggling. He smiled and made eye contact with Felix in the mirror, already dressed and looking beautiful as ever.

It was the night of Jisung’s party. The location now changed to Changbin’s apartment. As much as Changbin had protested, eventually giving up in the end.

The past few weeks have been stressful. They had to deal with getting back to usual, getting on with their lives. The police had ruled Kim Siwoo’s death a suicide. They didn’t find a note or anything but they couldn’t find a suspect or anyone who could’ve got into his office, sabotaged his pills and left without detection. 

Apparently, the appointment Chan and Changbin had with him hadn’t been logged, no-one saw them go in or go out. The cameras weirdly were not showing their grainy figures. They figured it might’ve been a glitch in the system, something they didn’t question though. They should’ve really, but since no one else knew about the blackmail, this was the way they’d get to keep their jobs.

Park Youngjin’s murder was left unsolved, thrown onto the pile of other unsolved cases. Hyunjin was never charged and the last time they saw him was the day they went to his apartment. Although, Hyunjin did send him the receipts of the money being donated to charity, the house being donated too. 

Chan was glad. Hyunjin seemed like a kind person. He hoped that maybe in another world, they could have been friends with him, that he was a part of their little group. Jeongin too. 

Their new Chief Sergeant Lee Haeun, she was nice, Chan instantly liked her the moment she introduced herself. He knew that things would be different now. He realised how fucked up everything had been under Kim Siwoo’s control. The air was different now, everyone could finally breathe.

Him and Changbin are still on cases together, solving them, not solving them. They know that the most important part about what they do is evidence. So they find some, they dig deep, they take risks because if not, the wrong person can end up paying for it.

Changbin seems happier now. The stress is no longer on his shoulders. Chan is just glad it’s over. He wonders sometimes whether Changbin has met someone, he subtly tries to ask him but his partner just shakes his head and shrugs him off, saying he’s feeling better now that they’re done with Park Youngjin’s case.

Chan feels hands massaging his bare arms and tiny kisses being left on his biceps, bringing him back to reality.

“What are you thinking about, hm?” Felix murmured, his voice so deep. Chan is so in love.

Chan rinsed his razor off and toweled his face dry before turning around to meet Felix’s loving gaze, he brought his arms up to wrap around Felix’s waist, pulling him into an embrace.

“Nothing that’s as important as you.” He mumbled into Felix’s hair, leaving gentle kisses there.

Felix slowly pushes him back, hand going up to wipe at his face. “Channie, you got glitter on your face now.”

Chan laughed as he brought Felix in for a kiss, pulling back slightly just to murmur against Felix’s lips. “I don’t mind, only if it’s your glitter.”

Felix giggled before he wrapped his arms around Chan’s neck, crashing their lips together again.

Felix pulled away first, placing his hands on Chan’s cheeks, brushing his fingertips under his eyes. “Come on, or we’ll be late for Jisung’s party.”

Chan rolled his eyes, still smiling, his voice going sultry as he leaned in to pepper kisses up Felix’s neck. “We don’t have to go though, we could just stay here.”

He felt a smack on his shoulder and pulled away to look into Felix’s eyes. No matter how many times he looks at him, he gets more beautiful each and every time.

He has dark eye make-up, glittered to the high heavens, to match his blonde hair he had styled earlier, a pink see through blouse and Chan saw the pink fur jacket in the living room earlier that would complete the look. It makes Chan go crazy. Felix is so beautiful. Like, he could wear a paper bag and Chan would still think he’s the most perfect person in the world.

They pulled apart so that Chan could grab the white shirt Felix had laid out on the bed. He spotted a pink blazer jacket on a coat hanger and turned to Felix, raising his eyebrow. “You want me to wear that?”

Felix nodded, his eyes sparkling. “Yeah, I thought we could match.”

Chan finished pulling his shirt on before grabbing Felix’s waist and pulling him with him, them both falling onto the bed. 

“Chan!” Felix squeaked out. “My blouse! You’re going to get it all crinkled up.”

“It’s fine.” Chan laughed out, sliding his hands up and down Felix’s sides to flatten out his shirt but also a habit he just loves to do.

Felix huffed before shoving him off, standing up, his hands on his hips. “Get your pink blazer on and hurry up.”

With that he left, Chan still laying on the bed laughing to himself. He loves Felix so much. He never gets bored of thinking it, of saying it. He thinks that it could be time. He’s known him for a few years now and he can’t even begin to think about what life would be like without him. He knows Felix loves him too, so he would know what his answer will be. 

With a grunt he gets up, stretching his back out before unhooking the pink blazer from the hanger. It’s so Felix. But, he beams as he puts it on. It’s to show that they’re a couple, that they’re in love, that they have this special bond between them, a trust that can never be broken.

He walks out into the living room, spotting Felix on his phone, him putting it down the moment he sees Chan. He whistles. “Wow. Sexy.”

Chan giggles and watches Felix sway his hips, walking up to him, his pink fur coat, hanging off his shoulders. Felix brings his fingers up, combing them through Chan’s dark locks, his hair getting longer now. Felix had suggested he try it out and whatever Felix wants, Felix gets. And plus, he's starting to like it.

“I’ll be jealous of whoever you take home tonight, darling.” Felix said, alluringly, kissing up Chan’s jaw. Oh, how Chan just wanted to ditch the party, carry Felix to their room and spend the whole evening just showing him how much he loves him.

"Only you, baby. Only you." He murmured, voice low.

Felix pulls back from his neck, looking into his eyes in which Chan brings up a hand, his fingers dancing over Felix’s beautiful freckles that he just adores.

“We best get going otherwise we’ll be late. Plus, Changbin-hyung will probably kick us all out at 11pm. What a grandpa.” Felix joked, his smile growing. 

“Hey! I’m older than him.” Chan said, trying to sound offended but couldn’t.

Felix just giggled and grabbed him by the wrist, leading them out into the crisp but warm May night.

-

Chan isn’t much of a party person, he likes to just stand by a wall, with a drink in his hand, people watching, just like what he was doing right now.

Felix was off dancing with some people that he knew, that somehow Jisung also knew, but Chan just stared, entranced by the way Felix moved. Maybe in another life, Felix was a professional dancer.

He looked around the room, and unexpectedly there were quite a few people here. Jisung does know a lot of people but he's also the type to just invite anyone as long as they bring free alcohol.

Chan was moving his head along to the pop song currently playing off of the speaker, luckily Changbin’s apartment block was full of younger adults so they didn’t have to worry about noise complaints, when all of sudden someone bumped into him, his drink spilling down his white shirt.

By the time he looked up, the person disappeared and he didn’t see who it was. Shit.

He thinks, if he doesn't get the shirt off right now, it’ll be stained red and it’s one of his favourite shirts so he does the best thing he can think of. Borrow something off Changbin.

He places his now empty glass on the island in the kitchen before taking a quick glance to see Felix still in the middle of the makeshift dance floor in the living room. He was satisfied with that and hoped Felix stayed there until he came back.

He finds Changbin’s door and knocks just in case someone is in there but he does remember seeing Changbin earlier talking to Seungmin and Minho, out on the balcony. He brings his ear to the door and after he hears no noise from the inside, he starts to slowly open the door, thankful he didn’t just walk in on something.

Changbin’s room is quite empty, there’s not many things in it, not a lot of pictures. He has a bed, a desk and a wardrobe, the necessities. He also spots a set of dumbbells in the corner. Exactly, the necessities.

He takes his jacket off, placing it on the bed before walking over to the wardrobe, opening it and revealing not that many colorful items of clothes. It’s a bit of an eye change from the wardrobe at home with Felix’s collection. Not that he wouldn’t change it for the world.

He knows he and Changbin are around similar sizes, they have a similar build so Chan knows he’ll find something in here.

He spots something at the top, a black hoodie with some writing on the sleeve, he squints at it and he recognises it as his own.

It had been one of those days when it was warm in the sun but chilly in the wind. Chan and Changbin had been at the gym working out, working up a sweat, but when they had finished and stepped outside, Changbin was complaining he was cold, that he had forgotten to bring a jacket, so Chan being the good friend that he is, lent it to his partner. Changbin must've forgotten to give it back, not that Chan minded, he’s sure he has some of Changbin’s clothes too.

As he reaches up, he notices it’s on top of a box but the box is placed at a weird angle so Chan has to hold the box so he can reach up to grab the hoodie, but as he’s doing it though he misjudges it and the hoodie falls, the box going down with it, the contents flying out.

And that’s when he spots it.

The familiar vanilla folder.

Chan squints his eyes down at it before crouching and taking it into his hands.

It can’t be, can it?

He opens it up and his mouth drops.

Park Youngjin, Deceased.

But why would Changbin have it?

Chan flicks through the pages to see if anything had been taken out but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

That’s when he reaches the end and sees two additional pages.

Park Sungjin. Deceased.

He looked at the picture, his face seeming familiar. Chan looks down further and reads the comments; suspected suicide, police found him in the bathroom of his boss’s house, bath water overflowing, police confirmed suicide by drowning.

There was something scribbled in the corner, just big enough for Chan to see. Not suicide. Murdered.

He continues to read, stopping when he sees another name.

Boss’s name; Park Youngjin

Chan nearly drops the folder, the bile coming up near his throat. It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense. This person, Park Sungjin died in the same house Park Youngjin died in. Could it be linked? The note said it wasn’t a suicide, that it was a murder. Does that mean whoever killed Park Sungjin made it look like he had drowned himself?

And then why would Changbin have this? Was it a case he had worked on before Chan joined this department? He needed to ask his partner but he couldn’t bring himself to stand up, his legs too weak, his mind wanting to know more, wanting to see what the other page was. 

So he flipped it over.

Yang Jeongin.

Why would Jeongin be in this folder? Yeah, he was a witness but that was all he had to do with this case. Nothing else. Plus, Jeongin’s file wasn’t even in here to begin with, so why is it now?

And then he sees what high school Jeongin went to.

District 9

Who else did he know that went to that same school?

Minho.

Jisung.

Seungmin.

Changbin.

Chan felt his heart drop, they were all best friends way before they met Chan. They all went to school together, they all grew up together. 

But if Changbin knew Jeongin, wouldn’t he have said?

Then Chan’s body went cold, ridged again, the realization hitting.

Hyunjin and Jeongin were childhood best friends too.

The folder dropped out of Chan’s hands, then too shaky to hold anything. He fell back onto the floor, his knees coming up for him to wrap around them. No, no, no.

He shook his head, closing his eyes trying to forget everything he just learned. There’s no way, he has to be dreaming, right?

But then he thinks of something else. And he thinks he might actually throw up this time.

Hyunjin and Changbin know each other.

Luckily, Chan finds Changbin’s trash can just in time and empties himself out into it. Everything he had just consumed in the past hour, spilling out. Has everything been a lie? Why would Changbin not just say that he knew Hyunjin? But, Changbin’s been saying Hyunjin was guilty from the start, what was that about? He’s been weird about this whole case since the very beginning.

As he brought his head up from the bin, his mind still blurring, his eyes caught on something else that had fallen out of the box.

Blood test results.

He picks the sheet up reading it once over, confusion taking over his face before he feels another wave of nausea come and empties it out in Changbin’s bin again. Chan felt slightly guilty about it but with what Changbin has to explain to him now, he thinks the trash can is the least of his worries.

Blood test results of Park Youngjin

Ambien (zolpidem) - sleeping pills 85%

Meaning an overdose.

But Seungmin… Seungmin said that his blood was fine. Why would he lie about that?

“Need some help?”

Changbin’s voice startles Chan and he jumps. He didn’t even hear the door opening. His heart starting to beat faster. Changbin is just as strong as him but if Chan can catch him off guard, he thinks that he could take him.

“I don’t…” Chan manages to stammer out, he doesn’t know what to say. He’s trusted Changbin since the moment he met him and now, now he’s scared of what he might do. He swallows before forcing himself to say something, anything. “Why do… why do you have these?”

Changbin hummed, nodding his head, his voice calm. “The case was unsolved, right? It doesn’t matter what happens with the documents. If someone wants to re-open them, then I can give them back.”

Chan stays there, sits helplessly on the floor, he wishes he could get up, grapple Changbin to the floor and bolt out the door with Felix and not stop until they get to the safety of their apartment. He thinks about his boyfriend and how he wishes Felix could just hold him and tell him it's all just one big fucking nightmare.

“You… you already knew Jeongin.” Chan managed out, a spluttering mess. He needed to really get his act together, to get back on guard.

“I did.” Changbin smiled, although Chan couldn’t really tell whether it was friendly or not.

“And…. and you… and you already knew Hyunjin, right?” Chan asked, his heart beat thumping, right into his ears. The sound of the music from the living drowning out the whole apartment. 

Changbin’s gaze softened, but yet filled with something else, and that's when Chan noticed it. That gaze. The same look Felix sends him whenever they’re curled up in bed together or when Chan has to leave at stupid hours of the morning and Felix kisses him goodbye, the gaze Chan sends equally as intense back to him. The one that says I love you. He remembers seeing it in Hyunjin’s eyes too.

And then it hits even harder.

“Oh my god, you’re the boyfriend.”

-