He didn't know what on earth was going on; he was at home, catching up on a few of his favorite series' at the moment, when the cops pounded on his door. He opened up for them, and they nearly tackled him to the floor just to slap some handcuffs on him; they read him his rights, but no matter how many times he yelled and asked what he had done wrong, no one answered him. The steel handcuffs hurt his wrists even as they peeled him away from the wall to shove him to the awaiting car; all the blue and red lights hurt his eyes, and he felt his face turn red like a cherry as he noticed all his neighbors staring. He could only imagine the gossip that'd be going around now that they saw such a scene; 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡? 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑!

The whole ride down to the police station was like torture. His heart raced and his palms grew sweaty; what could have happened that they brought him in?
As he turned everything over in his mind, trying to figure out what he did wrong to get brought in, he was taken out of the car and escorted to an interview room - he hated how it was just a steel cube with nothing but a two-way mirror and a table with seats and a door. It looked so bare, so plain. So cold and disheartening and unwelcoming.

And that's how he ended up here with two detectives - Kim Jonghyun.

“I told you, I don't know anything about that girl!” He groaned for what he was sure was the fifth time in ten minutes, “I don't know anything about that murder. I didn't do it! How would I be able to tell you anything?”
“Trying to be a smartass won't get you anywhere. We've got a witness account saying they saw you leave her house just after she was murdered. They identified you along with a CCTV camera,” One of the detectives said with a pompous smirk, and Jonghyun ground his teeth together.
“I told you, that wasn't me! I was at home!” He yelled angrily.
“Do you have anyone who can verify that for us?” A female detective asked; she was much softer and kinder than her male counterpart. Still, Jonghyun couldn't say anything.

He grimaced, staying quiet.

“That's what we thought. If you can't provide a sufficient alibi, then I'd suggest you get a lawyer in here real soon,” The male detective said before he left, and the woman did the same.

Outside, Kibum turned to Seulgi.

“This is a clean-cut case. He doesn't have an alibi, we have a positive identification from both a witness and CCTV, what else could the court need to convict this guy?” Kibum said. Even though he was satisfied this case seemed to be on the verge of closing, something still didn't feel right. It was just too simple.
“Hm, yes. We'll still have to wait for a confession though,” Seulgi answered, and they turned to the man who sat in the interview room, brushing his hands through his light brown hair.
“Not to mention he'll call his lawyer in under an hour, I'm sure. That'll be fun to deal with,” Kibum groaned his sarcasm out, “I need a coffee,”

“How's it looking?” Jinki asked as he noticed Kibum by the coffee machine, getting a plain black coffee.
“Not good. He won't talk. I told him we have lots of evidence against him, but he still won't budge. I'm sure he's calling his lawyer right now,” The younger man grumbled, silently filling another cup with the steaming brown liquid to hand to his superior.
“Sometimes they take a while to crack. We still have over two days to hold him. He's bound to give in by then,” The elder man answered and nodded with a smile as a thanks when he was handed the coffee, and he took a small sip.
“I just want this to be over with. Her family deserves closure. Besides, a murderer shouldn't be walking free. Who knows who he'll attack next?” Kibum said in a surly manner. Just knowing a man attacked a defenseless woman, alone at home, didn't sit right with him. In fact, it infuriated him more than other cases - seeing how buff Jonghyun was, there was no way petite Sooyoung could stand a chance against him, and that didn't seem fair.
“Mhm,” Jinki hummed out thoughtfully, stirring some sugar into his coffee slowly, “you seem to be taking this harder than most,”
“Really?” The other one asked sheepishly while brushing a hand smoothly through his hair, “all of this just...isn't right. She was so young,”
“They usually are. It makes this job much harder,” Jinki said with a sympathetic glance, patting his friend's shoulder gently.
“If it'd make you feel more relaxed, why don't we go for some lattes and a cupcake sometime?” The elder one asked, and Kibum's cat-like eyes flashed up to meet Jinki's warm ones. There was an unfathomable look in them as always, and Kibum grinned teasingly, “my, my, Mr. Lee. Are you asking me on a date?”

Jinki, taken aback by the younger man's boldness, stuttered out an unintelligible reply.

Kibum laughed at it, moving towards the other one's side to whisper in his ear, “I'd like it a lot. Just let me know when and where, and I'll be there,”

He made his way to the interview room again to observe Jonghyun's behavior - sometimes, it was rather easy to tell when someone was guilty by their behavior when they were alone and under duress.
He paused in the hallway, seeing none other than Taemin in front of the glass, watching Jonghyun through the two-way mirror. He didn't seem too upset; his face held a mask of blankness on it, like he didn't really know what kind of expression he was supposed to have right now.

“Hey. What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd want to come by,” Kibum said as he stepped up beside his partner, and the blonde inhaled - he hadn't heard or noticed the elder one coming up to him.
“I just wanted to see him,” He answered softly, his hands curled into fists in his pockets. Honestly, he didn't really know why he was here. Maybe just to see Jonghyun after such a long time.
“And how do you feel now that you've done it?” Kibum asked softly, taking a sip of the bitter coffee. He wasn't sure what was going on inside of Taemin's mind at the moment, and he didn't know what to expect either.
“I don't know,” Taemin sighed, “neutral, I guess,”

“Well, you can't see him because you're a witness, you know that. But you're more than welcome to observe,” Kibum hummed out before he entered the room; now that he had had some coffee, he was feeling much calmer. If he hadn't stepped out earlier, he was sure he'd attack Jonghyun and force a confession out of him.

“Have you thought about how you're going to phrase your confession? Or are you still acting like you aren't the one who murdered Park Sooyoung?” Kibum asked as he sat down on the chair in front of Jonghyun; now that they were face-to-face like this, he could see why Taemin fell for this man so hard. He was gorgeous, and if he wasn't a murderer or Taemin's ex, Kibum might have hooked up with him once or twice.
“I'm not acting because that's the truth. How many times do you want me to say it? I didn't kill her!” Jonghyun exclaimed in a frustrated manner, “stop asking me the same thing over and over again if you know the answer won't be any different to what I've already told you,”

Kibum fell silent. Right now, it almost seemed as if Jonghyun was innocent from how frustrated and panicked and scared he seemed. But he had been identified by Taemin, and Kibum would much rather believe that than some man he didn't know.

“Taemin works here, right? Lee Taemin?” Jonghyun asked after a little bit of silence, his puppy eyes growing a bit in size. Kibum kept a straight face, but inside, it felt like his organs were all smashing and mushing themselves together.
“What's it to you?” He avoided answering the question; he didn't want to say yes and possibly place Taemin in danger. What if Jonghyun figured out it was him that identified him that morning? If Taemin saw his face, that meant Jonghyun had seen Taemin's, and to expose where a witness worked was certainly against the law somehow.
“I just want to know if he got into the squad like he had always planned,” Jonghyun said softly, “we haven't spoken in nearly four years,”

However, Kibum wasn't having any of it. He wouldn't purposely put Taemin in danger just because of his ex's curiosity.

“You're making this harder than it needs to be on yourself. If you're as innocent as you claim, then give me a clear alibi and you'll get to leave right away,” He changed the subject deftly, and Jonghyun sighed as he slumped against his chair. He pressed his lips together while looking away in an almost painful manner, “I have nothing to say,”

Later on, Jinki called a late meeting. Everyone was disgruntled about it since it was near to the time they usually left to go home. However, when they heard what it was about, everyone paid attention and sat up straight in their seats.

“I'm sure quite a few of you have already heard, but we brought our main suspect in tonight. However, we haven't managed to get much information out of him yet. He claims he's innocent, and apparently plans to stick to that until his lawyer arrives,” Jinki said. As expected, many people let their disappointment show by slumping down in their chairs.
“But we have a positive identification, both from a witness and a CCTV camera!” Someone said, and there were murmurs and nods of agreement, “do we really need a confession if all the evidence is on the table like this?”
“No, but it does make the court proceedings easier. We don't know how good his lawyer is, so we don't know if his lawyer can get him off or not. The fact of the matter is that we didn't find any DNA or other evidence linking him to the crime at the house, and that will count heavily against us when in court. Right now, a confession is the only thing that will ensure Kim Jonghyun is put behind bars,” Their superior answered; as usual, he was the voice of reason and logic in the office. Some hated to admit it, but he was right at the moment. A witness account would help a lot, but the CCTV footage was rather useless since it didn't show the suspect's face. And, when put under pressure, witnesses tended to fumble their stories - this gave them a bad reputation and made the jury doubt their accountability. Although Taemin seemed pretty sure, not many people had faith in his testimony on the stand. He was just too scatterbrained to keep it together.

“This ! There's no way we're going to get this guy in jail. The only way is if there's some DNA of his, but forensics have already checked,” One of the street cops complained by the water machine as he filled a polystyrene cup.
“Guess someone else will just have to die before justice can be served. And who even says this guy will leave DNA there the next time?” Presumably the man's partner, said glumly as she sipped some of the cold water as well.
Jinki sighed as he walked to his office.

“Here's the footage. We have a positive confirmation from a witness that this is the jacket they saw you leaving the house in,” Kibum said as he set up the CCTV camera footage for Jonghyun to see. The detective had left him for about a half hour to calm down again, and Jonghyun seemed more open to listening or talking now that he could see for himself where all his was coming from.

Instead of giving a defeated sigh or groan of aggravation, Jonghyun's face took on a blank look while he stared at the footage. This wasn't the reaction Kibum expected by far - he thought this would make his suspect crack, or demand a lawyer, or even shut up again, but he seemed genuinely...confused.

“What? Why do you look like that?” Kibum snapped eventually, and Jonghyun glanced up at him with furrowed brows, “that's not me,”

Kibum groaned. “Here we go again with the same bullsh-”
“No, I mean it. That's not me. It's my jacket, sure, but I haven't had it for months,” Jonghyun seemed so serious now, it sent shivers down the other one's neck and spine. However, he managed to hide it rather well.
“Like we're supposed to believe that. You could've just thrown it out right after you got home,” Kibum said, but Jonghyun shook his head.
“No, you have to believe me. One day, I took my clothes out for dry cleaning, and that jacket was there. I only realized when I got home that my jacket was missing. I haven't seen it until now!” Something in Jonghyun's eyes made Kibum hesitate, and he knew it was better to double-check facts before he made an assumption.
“Alright, let's say this jacket ℎ𝑎𝑠 been missing for some time. Who would have taken it? And why?” The detective asked.
“I don't know why. And I don't have an idea about who could've done it either,” The suspect replied, brushing his hands through his hair again.
“Well, I doubt the owner of the laundromat could be that interested, but I'll call and make sure anyway,” Kibum sighed - if this was true, then that meant who Taemin saw at the house wasn't Jonghyun at all.

Jonghyun gave the name of the laundromat and permission for forensics to find the digital receipt in his phone for that day. Once it was done (it only took about ten minutes), Kibum called said laundromat and asked them about the clothes on the receipt.
As he waited for them to find the records, he silently thanked the heavens for digital technology and the ability to find things so easily with just a few numbers.

“Ah yes, here it is,” The man on the other line said, “another man came in and said Jonghyun had sent him. He only collected a leather jacket, some underwear and a few shirts but left majority of it with us,”
“So Jonghyun only came in twice that day? Once to drop off his clothes and a second to pick them up at the end of the day? He didn't come in at all to collect only a few bunches of stuff?” Kibum asked with confusion lining his voice.
“No. Another man came in, like I said. He had the receipt, so I didn't question it, and I let him take whatever he needed. I thought it was weird, but...what is this about, anyway?” The man eventually asked. He knew the police were calling, but Kibum hadn't really explained why.
“Just checking on something for Jonghyun. Thank you for your time,” He said before he ended the call. Now he was even more stumped than before!

Taemin was sure it was Jonghyun he saw, but it couldn't have been; it had to be the man that had collected some of his stuff at the laundromat without his knowledge. But why? And how did he get the receipt without Jonghyun knowing? There were so many questions and too little answers.

All Kibum knew was that Jonghyun wasn't their only suspect.