A beautiful Monday morning, shining and refreshing welcomed a pair of sleepy eyes. Key just woke up from his high quality sleep last night. Stretching his back and looking around, he found his roommate still asleep next to him. A well-known detective named Kim Jonghyun, lay strewn in a fluffy warm bed, covering his topless body with a warm blanket.

“Aigoo… you’re still sleeping?!” Key yelled at his roommate and pulled his blanket away, uncovered his body. “Wake up, hyung, wake up! We have things to do today, and it’s seven in the morning! Don’t you remember we have a business with—”

“Shut uuuuuup!” Jonghyun unwillingly opened his eyes, gazing up at the figure sitting next to him. It was true that the sun had risen, and he should not stay in bed procrastinating like a high school student. Yawning, he sat up and rubbed his closed-eyelids. “Oh my God… the night surely passed so quickly!” He stood up and stretched.

Ignoring his roommate, Key walked across the room right toward the door, carefully unlocked it to check his mail box. There were some important invitation for Jonghyun and some letters for Key. As he yawned and stretched again, Key’s eyebrows slightly furrowed when his eyes caught a very surprising letter—no, but a piece of paper with untidy scribble on it. Almost squealed from shocking, Key quickly ran into his roommate and dropped the paper on the bed, angrily pointed at it.

“Look!” His voice trembled and he interlaced his fingers nervously. “Something is happening, Mr. Detective! And this letter, somehow it’s delivered into my mail box!” He took the paper again and showed it right in front of Jonghyun’s face. “See???”

“I see, I see,” Jonghyun said, trying to be as calm as possible, even though his heart pounded as it filled with his curiosity and worry. He grabbed the paper and for five minutes stayed in silence as he examined the letter. It was an anonymous letter which was not the first time in his life to receive something like that. Even though it was not the first time, but receiving something like an anonymous letter was always surprising. Moreover, if there was something wrong written on it. Just like this one...

“’21-3, die‘?” Jonghyun eyes slightly narrowed before it’s widened. “I don’t get anything from this...”

“Welcome, dr. Key, ah and detective Jonghyun, I believe this morning’s case will be very interesting for you.” Chuckling, an officer welcomed them outside the office.

“Ah, this morning’s case?” Jonghyun replied with a smile decorated his face.

“Yes, there is a woman—she’s still inside, I believe, because I haven’t seen her come out since she entered there—and she was in a big trouble, I suppose, from the way she acts... umh, well... she cries and a bit hysteric, calling out a name—ah, I forgot, you’d better check her by yourself.”

“Ah, of course. But thank you for your information, and have a nice day, officer Hyungso.”

Jonghyun entered the office with Key following him. People greeted them as if they were artists who came to entertain their fangirls. As usual, Key smiled gently at them and nodded—trying to be as perfect as he could—while Jonghyun was only grinning at them and waving his hand casually. What a different manner they had, and some people said that was what made them could be a perfect partner since the two of them complimented each other.

“Aigoo...” Key shrugged off his white coat and hung it on the hanger in the corner of his room. He saw his partner’s silhouette walked into his own room. They hadn’t got any notification to investigate any case. But suddenly, the phone on his table rang, bringing a big shock to the blonde man who stared outside the window.

Picking up the call, Key sat on the table and spoke as formal as usual, “Good Morning, dr. Key is here—ah, yes, yes, I came with Jonghyun this morning...” He played with his bracelets. “—Oh, yes, yes... ah, I see. Oh well, I’ll get him with me to your room. Ah, yes, I’m sorry.” Click. A sigh.

“Well, how many times I have to remind him not to redirect his phone to the mailbox...” He picked his notebook and stepped outside his room, locking the door for safety.

“Yo,” Jonghyun glanced through the corner of his eyes and smiled ever so slightly to the blonde man who just entered his room. “What’s up, Key?”

“What’s up? Oh well, can you just turn your cellphone on and don’t redirect your office phone to mailbox? Boss is waiting after he tried to call you like thousand times. Ah, and we should just go to his room by now because we have a client who needs our—no, no, who needs your help. Well, well, I wonder why I have to get involved in all of your cases, regarding my position is only as a forensic officer! What a troublesome! And why the hell I have to be the only one who is busy to remind you about your work and duty!? Ah and—”

“Psshhh, shut up and let’s go,” He grabbed Key’s wrist and whispered in Key’s ear, making the blonde’s man silent in that instant.

Dragging his partner to his boss’ room, Jonghyun found his boss with a woman who was crying. “Ah, I’m sorry Sir. I forgot to turn on my phone and whatnot. May I know our business this morning?”

“Ah, Jonghyun and Key, please take your seat while I’m explaining about this to the two of you.” He watched as the two young officers sat on the sofa. “So, this woman, Mrs. Lee just lost her one and only son yesterday. Her son said he just wanted to celebrate their graduation in a bar, but it turned out bad, he didn’t go back home until this morning.”

“I see... so her son is missing. But it hasn’t twenty-four hour straight yet, shall we wait until—”

“I can’t wait until my son is being murdered!” She yelled hysterically and her body trembled.

“Ah, yes, yes, madame, we will take care of this case with the most efficient methods we are able to use, and of course we will find your son as soon as possible. Don’t worry so much, I know this situation is such an urgent but by being worry and uncontrollably behave like this would only bring the problem into the worse condition.” Key patted her shoulder and squeezed it lightly as giving her reassurance that everything would be just fine. “And back to the topic, any further explanation...?” He gazed back at his boss and raised his eyebrows.

“There is. Hm... You may take a look at his document, Jonghyun,” he handed him a document of the missing boy.

An 18-year old boy who just graduated from a high school in Seoul, and he just got accepted in one of the most well known college in Seoul, with long light brown hair, pale white skin, and he was such a skinny boy. From his appearance, Jonghyun could tell that this boy lived in a good family witha mother who cared a lot about him, it looked clearly from the way he dressed.

Lee Taemin, it was his name. He looked like an innocent boy, and it made the detective slightly raised his eyebrows, wondering why such an innocent-look boy spent his night in a bar just to get hunted down by someone which perhaps he didn’t know—just if there was really someone going after him. He handed the document to his partner and puffed his breath to the air.

“Well, that is boss, I’ll take care of it. And I’ll borrow this document if you don’t mind, I’ll make a copy. Key will help me this time, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, I need dr. Key to guide you, Jonghyun. You can’t work by yourself, and you know it yourself.”

Jonghyun sat on the corner of the cafe, eating his hamburger. Key who sat before him just took a sip of his orange juice, eyeing silently at his partner who looked like oh-so-hungry-this-afternoon.

“Omoooooo! You can eat more careful can’t you?!” Key took a piece of tissue from his pocket and lapped the dirt on Jonghyun’s shirt. “Aigoo...!”

“Pffft... shut it, Key. I’m so hungry. And—” He finished his food and drank his cola. “This,” He put the paper he just took out from his pocket.

‘21-3, die.’

“Any explanation?” Key asked him coldly.

“My rough assumption, okay?” He took a pencil from his coat’s pocket and another piece of paper, lowering his voice. “Twenty one, dash, three,” He murmured, scribbling it on his paper. “A house’ number?” He grinned dumbly.

“Don’t kidding me, hyung.”

“I’m not. I wish there is another clue about this...”

Key furrowed his eyebrows and sighed. “Twenty one...” he murmured. “Three... die? I don’t see any connection!”

“You don’t, no. We don’t, because maybe there is no connection in it.”

“I’m confused. Where do you bring me now?”

“Ah... I have to explain it to you. Don’t you think this anonymous letter is only aimed to attract our attention? I mean... to distract us from something which is actually really happening under your nose? Make it this way, what if there is no ‘die’ word in it? Will you care and squeal just like this morning?” Junghyun stared at his partner and when Key just wanted to answer, he quickly spoke, “No. Of course, no. It wasn’t the number which made you squeal and being attracted to this anonymous letter. But the word ‘die’ was! You know why? Simply because you work for the police and you live with a detective! Something which related to an anonymous letter and mysterious—or creepy words such as die, death, murder, kidnap and etcetera will automatically give you a negative assumption. Oh come on, correct me if I’m wrong!”

Key looked at him in surprise. Perhaps he was right—no, but he was actually right about this. The first time he saw the message, and found the word die in it just made his heart pound like crazy. It was because... simply because he often investigated cases such as murder. And anonymous letter with ‘die’ word in it was such a trigger inside his mind to think about something bad was actually going on. But then again, whether something was really happening or not, Key had no single idea.

“I believe you are right about that hyung. But I’m curious, who sent us something creepy like that? And what is their motive? Just playing? I don’t think so. Why? Because this morning, something bad is really happening.A boy just being kidnapped last night!”

Jonghyun raised his eyebrows. “Pardon me? Being kidnapped? How do you so sure about that? He just went to a party and didn’t come back home. There is no assurance that he’s being kidnapped. He’s just missing and that is.”

“O-okay...” Key took his words and sighed. “So what should we do to that anonymous letter?”

“Nothing.” Jonghyun shrugged.