Apologies for the delay! *bows bows*

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Seated in his worn office chair as flips through his files and makes a few phone calls, the detective busied himself with closing up a case. Picking up and reading newspaper article, the man smiled happily and throws the thick wade of greyish recycled paper into the arms of a colleague who was walking past. Splashed all over the headlines is the picture of one of the officers as well as the name of the department, praising them for their hard work solving one of the longest running case yet.

Reading through Jaejoong’s report, which was investigated and finalised by one of his subordinates, Yoochun gave his stamp of approval. Naming the missing young man’s case as solved, since he was reportedly sighted in the police station, Yoochun allowed the case to come to a close, since the officer in charge wasn’t able to get a link between the case and Junsu’s kidnappers.

Taking note that Jaejoong is actually classified as one of the illegal immigrant since his visa was apparently missing together with his school application approvals and that there were no hard copies or signed copies by official authorities, Yoochun is certain that he was taken by the syndicate he had been hunting since forever. He is certain that Jaejoong can give him information about Junsu’s case, but the officer had lost contact with the lucky escapee and assumed he was deported by the local police.

With various unfortunate twist in events, the work of fate perhaps, Yoochun never got to find out Junsu’s real identity.

“RING!! RING RING!!” Picking up his phone on the first few rings like always, Yoochun answered with a light hearted tone, still beaming with pride because of the newspaper article, which his subordinates have carefully cut out and framed up for décor. The office is in an awful state of maintenance and that frame somehow brightens up the place.

All geared up to accept a new case since he just closed two, he got an even better news. However, the news made him nowhere near ecstatic though he would have been over the moon a little more than a week ago.

“Congratulations Yoochun. Boss has decided to give you all the funds you have applied for.” This is a call from one of his friends in the headquarters and Yoochun is aware that he is only getting it now because of the credit his department chalked up. The human trafficking department is always the one behind the scene and missing out on the glory anyway, and the detective is used to it.

“Can you send over the cheque to our admin then?” Yoochun askes, glad that their admin staff finally has something to do, since that department is always complaining of lack of job applicants and stuff.

“Oh! Yoochun! About the custodial funds you applied for, it’s been granted.” The man continued cheerily and Yoochun is a little taken aback. “You can send him over to the department and our social worker will handle him from tomorrow on.”

Silence ensued as Yoochun glances at the packet of Korean snacks he got a colleague to buy when the man went for an investigation in one of the bigger malls out of town. He had specifically asked for the officer to get him one of each and ended up with two huge paper bags full, which he was planning on bringing home to Junsu later.

“Let me see… Tomorrow, get someone to drop him off at…” The man’s sentence is interrupted by Yoochun and even the detective himself has no idea why he did that. “It’s alright! I still need him to investigate a case.” “I will send him over when I’m done.” Yoochun sounded really guilty when telling that lie but the friend does not sense it.

“Bye. Thank the boss for me.” Hanging up and feeling his heart palpitate, Yoochun brought a palm across his face and forced himself to relax. No one will question why he would want to keep Junsu with him. No one could care less. However, he knows his intention to extend Junsu’s stay was selfish. He knows he just likes it when he is around the boy.

Missing Junsu terribly all of a sudden, he dials home on his phone and waits for Junsu to pick up the call. He had been doing so rather frequently and especially during times where he would usually slack off a little and go for a smoke. He doesn’t even smoke up to three sticks a day nowadays, when he can smoke up to three or four most of the time.

Hearing Junsu’s voice in the receiver, he felt somewhat comforted and the warmth returns, chasing away whatever emptiness he felt. “Yoochunnie. I found…” The unnatural silence that ensued threw Yoochun into disarray as he shouts into the receiver. “YEOBOSEYO?!”

A loud thud and crash in the background followed by loud barking and panting of their pet indicated something wasn’t right. Yoochun knows better and grabs his coat by the door, running out of the office like a charging bull.

Being a mere half an hour drive away from his workplace during non-rush hours, Yoochun stomped on the paddle and decreased the time required to twenty. Dashing up the stairs when the lift was waiting for the cows to come home, Yoochun was so flustered that he couldn’t even find his keys.

Entering and not even bothering to take off his shoes, he dashes in and found Junsu out cold on the storeroom floor. The boy likes to explore so Yoochun’s house is the best place, since he hasn’t been clearing up the pile in his store for nearly a decade.

Lifting Junsu up and transporting the boy back to his own bed, he did not even allow himself to recover from the eight storey climb. Then, kicking off his shoes and climbing onto his bed, he positions the boy to lie on his side and checked for his breathing and pulse. They were all present so Yoochun could only sit and wait for Junsu to wake.

Specific instructions have been given to bring Junsu back to the hospital if he does not wake, so Yoochun ended up dabbing his pale face with a wet clothe, hoping to stimulate a response with water. Junsu slowly opens his eyes after a long painful wait, but does not have the strength to get up. Every convulsion seems to weaken him more as the time goes by.

“Yoochunnie…” The boy whispered and the man leans in. Whimpering instead of speaking, Yoochun knew what he is trying to say.

Racing over to the most commonly accessed cabinet, Junsu’s medication cabinet, he dispenses all the pills and pops them into Junsu’s mouth, feeding him water and caressing his forehead subconsciously.

“Go back outside...” Junsu said and pointed to his own make shift bed, which is now visible from inside the bedroom since Yoochun positioned them so on purpose, for visibility of the boy’s activity in case he fits out. The boy hasn’t been cooperative with the detective and there was no way Yoochun can persuade him to use the proper bed.

“No. From today on, you will sleep here with me.” Yoochun concluded and grabbed the boy’s pillow and blanket from outside, tucking him in.

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POV from Junsu

I am feeling more and more afraid of being in my own body nowadays. It’s just like being in this capsule where your memory is being locked up and double locked. Then, as and when it likes, it will shut down and you can feel it coming.

Recently, I can’t even restart after my body shuts down. Even after I wake, I can’t function as well as I did before. I can’t even walk in a straight file when I want to, no matter how hard I try. I see something that I want to pick up, but when I reach for it, I will miss the exact spot I was aiming for and it just gets worse.

I am so useless right now and it is distressing. Then, when I just wanted to be of some help to Yoochunnie, I would just mess up the place. I know he is just being nice by saying that I did a good job cleaning up this and that but I know I am really incompetent.

He treats me so well that I feel terrible about causing all those trouble. I want to go back to where I belong too… but how do I do that? I feel bad for free loading all this time.

Where can I go from here? If Yoochunnie doesn’t want me anymore, then I won’t be able to go anywhere else right? I want to just rely on him… but I can’t do that forever. He is a nice policeman with a kind heart… like a hyung to me. Yet as much as I would like him to be my best friend forever, I have to leave someday. I don’t want to…

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Meanwhile…

In a dark corridor of a facility, lit up by a flickering light bulb, stinking of collected human excrements, a tall well-dressed man strolls through and waits while his personal escorts knocks on the thick rusty but robust metal door. “Open up!!”

As the door clicks open, a few shocked faces stares right back at the uninvited guest. “Jung Yunho!” “That’s Jung Yunho!!” Nudging one another, the inhabitants of the shady looking place rushes to clean up the mess they have made on the floor, sweeping away the takeaway packaging and beer bottles.

“Don’t mind me. I am not here to stay.” Frowning as he brushes the speck of dust that had fallen on the shoulder of his elegant jacket, the man exudes a dangerous charm, literally lethal yet as attractive as honey is to bears. He does not come with a friendly disposition.

Taking his time to walk around the facility, as if supervising, the man sulked as he takes his time to scrutinise the dirty faces of all the male captives. Tapping his chin with a finger whenever he stops in front of someone who looks a wee bit like anyone he might know, Yunho purse his lips after realising that the search is futile. His visual sweep confirmed his worst fears.

“Oh my! What brings you here?” “You can call me over to your house anytime you want you know!” The same syndicate leader he just met a day ago appears, offering to be at his service. No one can make Yunho move on whim and especially not to such a place. Yunho never sticks his nose into his elder’s business since they do not want him to.

Following the man into a cleaner and more organised room, which Yunho assumes to be the office, he sits down and eyes the man with hawk like eyes. “Did you or did you not bring him here?” Yunho asks with a scary tone to his voice.

“No! Why would I lie to you, my friend! We were not even close to returning here when he went crazy and had to get rid of him!” The man’s reply is not satisfactory since Yunho expects a more detailed account.

“Tell me more.” Choosing between writing a cheque and brandishing a weapon, Yunho decides to stick to the more civilised approach. Clicking his tongue, he waits for the man to sit down and tell him what he wants to hear.

“Here’s what happened.” “We were celebrating after making the deal with your grandfather when we ran into this kid from that picture.” “He recognised one of my boys and I was surprised but since he manages to reveal our identity, we had to get rid of him.” The man shifts around a little in his seat and scratches his head. “We thought he might be nutcase at first but he seemed serious and he was the one who chased us around.” “We had no choice. He knew that we kidnapped your… fiancé.”

“So… you shot him?” Yunho is getting impatient.

“No. We tried to take him with us since it would be a waste to dispose of him just like that.” “He fought back and we were tired of all the bull.” The man chose his words carefully.

“You killed him and left him by the roadside?” Yunho sums up the conversation, rubbing his tempers with both fingers. “Is there any chance that he could be alive?” He asks again, just to be sure.

“Well… we didn’t get to check.” “There was this police car and he almost got us. Luckily, it was dark.” The syndicate leader sighed. “I am quite certain that he is a goner since no police has come knocking at our door after so long…” “He would’ve pointed us out and make us all wanted men…” Nodding his head, Yunho agrees and leaves.

“We need to check out the morgues.” Bringing his men with him, Yunho moves on to the next most likely location, unsure of how his search will end. Seeing Jaejoong cry is the last thing he wanted but what is done is done and no matter how influential or powerful Yunho is, he will not be able to bring Junsu back to life if he is really gone.