The sun had just begun to crest over the grey skyscrapers of central Seoul as Kim Sunggyu drove in to work. He'd hardly slept a wink all night, staying up late to go over his case files again and again, wondering if he'd missed something. After six years as a detective inspector he couldn't remember the last time a case had got to him like this one; the faces of the victims haunted him in his dreams, always silent, always staring at him with blank eyes, accusatory looks on their faces as if to ask him why, why couldn't he discover what had happened to them?

As he turned into the precinct car park he clocked one of his coworkers hurrying in, his tie not fully tightened and his shirt a little untucked. Sunggyu shook his head with a wry smile, parking up and grabbing the stack of slim manila envelopes on the passenger seat. If he ever saw Lee Sungyeol arriving at work fully prepared he'd eat his hat. Hos feet crunched on the gravel of the pathway to the main entrance and he stifled a yawn, setting his face into the professional mask he always wore at work. With a nod of greeting to the woman at reception, he took the lift up to the third floor and walked the corridor to his cramped office. It may have been small but it was his own space and he'd worked hard for it. After hanging up his jacket on the back of the door, he straightened the name plaque on his desk and placed the envelopes in the tray marked 'Open Cases'. Although this murder case had been open for some time now, the amount of files on it were pitiful; mostly the crime scene photos and autopsy reports. Any leads they'd thought they had ended up to be false trails, and there was still no connection between the victims except the way they'd died. This killer was good - too good. 

Stretching his arms above his head, Sunggyu yawned, mentally berating himself for sacrificing a morning coffee for ten more minutes in bed. He hadn't even snoozed anyway, but had instead lay there staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of everything he'd gone over the night before. He switched on his desktop computer and waited as it whirred to life, cursing the ancient piece of technology for the millionth time in his career. Still no response in his inbox from the DNA lab, which he'd expected anyway. They'd been unable to pull any usable prints from the crime scenes and the bodies were almost clinically clean, all and wrapped in identical white sheets, the kind you could buy from any household store in the city. He pinched at the bridge of his nose in frustration, closing his eyes and running through the list of things he wanted to do today. He could ask one of the patrol officers to come with him to interview the guy who'd found the last body again, although it would probably be much the same as last time he'd spoken to him: "I didn't see much, sir, just the white sheet in the undergrowth and then that poor woman inside it." He was a street vendor who sold ddeokboki at the corner of the park this victim had been found in, and someone who seemed uncomfortable with police officers. Understandable considering it was technically illegal to sell food on stalls in the streets, but Sunggyu hadn't been interested in trying to fine the man for making a living. God knows times were tough in the nation's capital and some people were barely scraping by.

Not the woman who'd been found wrapped in a sheet, though. No. They'd identified her by her dental records as Kim Soojin, 32 years old and from a good family. She'd been due to get married that Spring to some big name in the textiles industry and lived comfortably at her parents home in a good neighbourhood. It seemed like such a pointless waste of human life. 

It could have been anyone, Sunggyu found himself thinking, and not for the first time.

He pulled up the document he'd made two days ago listing names and ages of the victims, wondering if looking at them together might trigger some sort of response. Was there some hidden clue in what they did? Would their ages combined show some kind of date or coordinates? He was grasping at straws, desperate for answers. The case had hit the media like a storm, the headlines screeching 'Serial Killer Stalks Streets of Seoul', 'Is nowhere safe from the Seoul Night-Stalker?'. The fact that they'd given this madman a name riled Sunggyu. He didn't deserve their acknowledgement. 

1. Lee Jaehoon, 22, Student
2. Kang Jimin, 40, Housewife
3. Hong Donghyun, 25, Office worker
4. Kim Soojin, 32, Office worker

The only pattern so far was that the killer had started with a man, moved on to a woman and then back to a man again. Other than that, there was nothing to connect them. Lee Jaehoon was studying English at Korea University on a scholarship, played on a football team and donated to charity. Kang Jimin had three kids, had been married for 15 years and spent most of her free time shopping with her husband's credit cards. Hong Donghyun worked for a large company, liked to drink with friends, and lived alone in a medium wealth apartment building full of people just like him. There wasn't one scrap of evidence that the victims had ever even gone to the same buildings as each other, all from different areas of the city, all from different lifestyles. 

The shrill ringing of the phone on his desk broke Sunggyu from his thoughts and he answered it almost angrily, hoping it was something useful at least and not just Howon calling from the next office over to see if he wanted to get lunch together. 

"Detective Kim?" It was the woman from reception (Sunggyu had forgotten her name again).

"Yes..." He replied, an edge to his voice.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but there's a young man here who is adamant he talk with you. He insists on speaking to you and you alone," She lowered her voice, "He says its about your case, sir."

Sunggyu's heart skipped a beat. He briskly told the receptionist he'd be right down and hung up the phone, sitting for a few moments to let it sink in. No one had come forward so far in reponse to police pleas for any information. There'd been one phonecall a few weeks before, just after the second body had been found, but it had proved to be nothing more than a prank. Could this be legitimate? The clue he'd been looking for? There was only one way to find out.

He grabbed his jacket from the door and hurried to the elevators, tapping his foot impatiently whole he waited. The descent had him smoothing his sweaty palms on his trousers, wondering who this person could be and what they had to say. He reminded himself to use the interview room at the end of the corridor, because it had better ventilation, and then the doors opened and he stepped into the well lit lobby of the precinct, stopping dead in his tracks. 

Standing by the reception desk, dressed in a pair of scruffy looking ripped jeans and a very familiar looking black leather jacket, was the last person in the world Sunggyu expected to see. The man span around as Sunggyu approached, an uncertain smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes - eyes Sunggyu suddenly remembered so well that he felt as if he's been physically hit when looking at them again - and holding a hand out to him in greeting. 

Sunggyu ignored the hand offered, standing awkwardly a few paces in front of the man, unaware of his colleagues walking by and staring with curiosity.

"Long time no see!" Said Nam Woohyun, and Sunggyu thought he was going to throw up. 

A/N: please leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts and your theories! I really love hearing what people think is going to happen.

COVER EDIT by the amazing footsteps-btd