The lab is bustling as it usually is, with interns and various forensic scientists doing their parts to help the police department solve the most gruesome of murders. Lee Taemin, who is just a grad student trying to learn from the best to ensure a future in the anthropological field, finds himself glancing at the wall clock repeatedly. His slender fingers are almost shaking in excitement, and he almost forgets he has a vile of solution in his hands to clean particulates off of bones. This leads to spilling some of the solution onto his labcoat, and Taemin is grateful that the coat is protecting his clothing; though he's not sure if some solution had sprayed onto his short, sandy brown hair.

Kim Kibum, a well established artist that uses his talents to discern victims' identities, notes Taemin's fidgeting with an amused smile playing at the corner of his lips. Kibum is the only one who isn't wearing a labcoat, instead wearing a blazer and his signature skinny jeans. His raven black hair styled to the side, and a cup of steaming coffee in his hands, he takes in the state of the lab in astonishment. He himself is excited, as well, but if the scientist they're waiting for comes in to see their lack of progress, he would be far too ashamed to consider himself part of the best forensic team in Seoul. 

"Look at this place," a voice chuckles from beside him, and Kibum sees Choi Minho with his arms crossed over his chest as his gaze takes in the state of the lab,

"it's full of life for such a morbid place."

Minho is another scientist- one who has a very strong passion for dirt, bugs, and the like. There's the smallest smear of dirt on his cheek that he and everyone else ignores, because Minho's quite dashing with curly brown hair that falls to the nape of his neck. His labcoat is on, but undone to signify the break he was taking from his duty.

Kibum barely manages to stifle his own amused chuckles as he nods, "It's not everyday we get a living celebrity in the lab."

The pair are referring to Lee Jinki, a world renowned forensic anthropologist who was almost considered a god to the many grad students that worked in their field. Armed with a quick wit and a vast knowledge of anthropology, Jinki was rumored to have been able to determine everything down to the smallest detail needed to rule a death as a homicide. In short, Jinki was a genius among geniuses.

After an umarked mass burial site had been unearthed on public land with the victims having been tossed there for any time between ten years and two weeks prior, the local authorities had deemed this to be a national crisis. The lab had been given full access to the burial site and the bodies were exhumed until their history was assertained; and this became a story that was all over the news, all over the country. It garnered a lot of attention, and when the lab couldn't produce answers fast enough for the public, the police department had taken it upon itself to commission a contract to Lee Jinki.

All of the clocks and watches struck twelve, and a chorus of alarms sounded from each person's individual timepieces to prepare them. Both Kibum and Minho glance at each other with eyebrows raised, for they obviously weren't given the memo about alarms. A moment later, both burst into a round of boisterous laughter that soon enveloped the entire lab. The scientists and students that worked for the lab were all equally odd, and that's another part of the reason it was such a great place to work.

The laughter was so loud, however, that no one noticed Lee Jinki walk in. He was dressed casually in jeans and a short sleeved shirt that was only half tucked into his pants. Confused, his eyes darted around the room and then down to himself to ensure he wasn't dreaming about being again. When he was sure he was dressed and that nothing about him looked comical, he awkwardly raised his hand to draw attention to himself.

"Am I in the wrong place?" Jinki asks, and though his voice is loud enough to cut through the room and silence it, he sounds unsure of himself.

Everyone stares at Jinki in perplexion, and Kibum is wildly taken aback. Jinki was a well known anthropologist, but no one had ever seen what he looked like; and though his real age made him older than Kibum, Jinki had a young face and striking facial features.

"Are you Lee Jinki?" Taemin asks to break the silence that had once again enveloped the room, and his tone sounds disbelieving.

The tips of Jinki's ears turned red, the corners of his lips curving upward as he dipped into a quick bow,

"It's a pleasure to work with you."

For such a respectable scientist, this Lee Jinki just seemed to be too... is dorky the right word for it?

"No offense, but you look like a kid," Minho quips, and though Jinki turns with his eyes widened in what was definitely offense, Minho just turns and gestures to one of the tables that are occupied with decomposed bodies,

"can you possibly show us what we'll be working with?"

Jinki looks in the direction that is gestured to, and almost like a switch is pressed, his entire demeanor changes. Taking swift steps to one of the cadavers, Jinki doesn't waste a moment. He digs a pair of gloves and a voice recorder out of his pocket, then takes only a moment to look at the body.

"The size and density of the bones indicate this was a male in his mid to late 50s," Jinki answers as he walks around the table to the skull, then gingerly puts the voice recorder down so he can get a closer inspection of the skull.

He's silent for a long moment, as if he's lost in thought. The other scientists are waiting with bated breaths, and though Kibum can't always follow the logic and the science behind it all, even he feels tense. They had all been working with these bodies for days, and not even a clue as to what could have happened was found. 

"Can I see your files on this body?" Jinki asks, to no one in particular.

Taemin, who's watching with his shoulders tense, is the one who obliges, and he holds out a manilla folder to the seasoned anthropologist. Jinki puts the skull down carefully before reaching for the folder, and his eyebrows furrow as he reads the information that was logged when finding the body.

"Did you find something?" an assistant asks, but Jinki doesn't seem to hear him.

The silence stretches on for what feels like an eternity, but just when another assistant is about to call for Jinki's attention, the lab doors slide open. In walks the police chief, along with the lab supervisor in charge of the forensic department, and another young man dressed in a suit. Kibum recognizes the young man, who's also sporting a head of platinum hair, as Kim Jonghyun. He's the detective that's been all over the news, as well as the one who's in charge of the investigation.

"Oh, good! It looks like he's here!" The police chief states in enthusiasm, but when he's about to call out to the anthropologist, the lab supervisor puts a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"I heard about his behavior from the lab that lent him to us," the supervisor says with a cautious smile,

"he's absorbing information and won't be able to hear you until he processes it."

"He sounds like a robot," Jonghyun snorts, and both Kibum and Minho snort under their breaths as they hear it.

"How long has he been... 'processing', anyway?" Jonghyun continues on, and his eyes dart between the various scientists and anthropologists like any of them have an answer.

Just as Kibum is about to answer, Jinki closes the folder in his hand with a snap. Everyone's attention is drawn back to him instantly, but Jinki is in his own world as he turns back in Taemin's direction. The young grad student is visibly surprised that Jinki had turned to him of all people, but when Jinki beckons him closer, Taemin does just that. He's not the only one, either. The chief of police and supervisor step closer to learn whatever it was that caught Jinki's attention, and everyone else just seems to take a step closer out of curiosity.

"I've noticed some inconsistencies between the cadaver and the report filed for it," Jinki starts to explain with a wave of his hand over the body,

"the wearing of the bones suggests he had been buried for anywhere between seven and eight years, but the report states the burial site looked as though it was just recently dug up."

Everyone just takes turns glancing at each other, like they're not sure of what to make of the explanation. Minho was the fastest to step forward, as dirt was kind of his specialty.

"When I ran the particulates in the soil found around the body, I found traces of a substance used in a mulch that only started production about a year ago."

Jinki looked up at him for a long moment, then back to the body before him,

"I can see signs of blunt force trauma to the skull that could implicate cause of death, but I won't know for certain until I examine the bones more thoroughly. The one thing I can tell you for certain, though, is that this body was dead for years before it was moved to that site."

It was a lot to process, that was for sure, and just the way Jinki delivered the information had Jonghyun's body shiver. Jinki had become sombre after reading the case file and looking over the body, and it was as though the coldness of the murder had transferred onto the anthropologist.

"Jinki!" The police chief called out, finally, and now that the anthropologist was no longer absorbed into the file, he had jumped in surprise.

The tips of Jinki's ears turn pink as he pulls his gloves off his hands and tosses them in the trash, and he stumbles on his way over to where the police chief stands. He notices Jonghyun as well as the lab supervisor, but he knows to follow the direct orders of the police chief before communicating with anyone else.

"Now that you're here, Jinki, I have a feeling we'll resolve this case quickly," the chief states with an authoritative grin, and just as Jinki is about to answer, the chief continues by putting a hand on Jonghyun's shoulder,

"This is Detective Kim Jonghyun, the lead in charge of this case. I ask that you two cooperate fully with one another to ensure we solve this case and put these bodies to rest."

Jinki's gaze flickers over to Jonghyun's to find the Detective staring blankly right back at him. He doesn't really know for sure, but Jonghyun doesn't seem to be thoroughly impressed with him. In fact, there's a certain sharpness in his gaze that has Jinki's heart clench. He's had a few run-ins with death, but something told him to be more wary of Jonghyun than anything else.

"Jonghyun, I expect you to take good care of the Doctor when you're out on the field," the chief seems to be completely unaware of the tension brewing between the Detective and the Doctor, unlike everyone watching their interactions.

"On the field?" Both Jinki and Jonghyun sound like it's an absurd notion to have Jinki out on the field to begin with.

"With a case as messy as this, we need everyone that can be out there, out there," the lab supervisor explains, though he's not oblivious to the tension between the two.

Jinki just turns to look at Jonghyun once more, and his heart clenches as soon as their gazes meet. Jonghyun was not looking forward to watching Jinki out on the field. Not in the slightest bit.