Luhan and Sunggyu, both struggling to overpower the other. Sunggyu's discarded gun, lying motionless in front of him. If only he could stretch his arm out- a few inches had never been more frustrating in his life- then he'd have the weapon in his grasp and could put an end to the battle. But wishful thinking was no match for reality. He couldn't do it. It was impossible. Not with the botulinum freezing his body in place. 

Instead, all he could do was watch in horror as Luhan's knife sank into the flesh of the crime scene agent's leg- 

"No, you er! Get away from him!" Woohyun choked, jerking himself upright.

The only thing he got in response was... silence?

Automatically, his survival instincts kicked into gear. With a heaving chest, Woohyun scanned his rather disturbingly silent surroundings. It was too quiet. He tried to calm his erratic heartbeat as he whipped his head to the right side of the room and over to the left, grimacing at the way his neck muscles protested at the sudden movements.

Cramped white walls. Drawn curtains. Flowers and cards on the bedside table.

Confusion replaced his pain as he continued to survey the place. This wasn't his house, was it? Woohyun may not have been the most observant person to ever grace the world, but the last time he checked, curtains and flowers had definitely not been part of his kitchen interior. And although the walls of his house were white, they didn't exude the same sickly presence as these did- wait, was that an IV drip attached to his arm? 

The detective closed his eyes in an attempt to organize his thoughts. There were so many questions he wanted the answer to, but seeing as thinking about them only gave him a bigger migraine, he decided he'd be better off working with what he knew for sure. 

Fact one. He was in a hospital.

Woohyun stared at the needle digging into his forearm. Judging by the look of things, he wasn't just in a hospital; he was the lucky patient of the room. It had been a long time since he'd been admitted as one. A very long time, now that he thought about it. Granted, there were occasions when criminal chases had led to the odd scrape here and a bleeding gash there, but his stubborn personality and disinterest had caused him to dismiss any help from the professionals.

Still, even with his lack of experience in medical institutions, the injured man concluded that no, this was not his house and yes, he should probably find somebody to fill the missing gaps in his memory as soon as possible.

Fact two. He was alone.

The last time he was conscious, he'd been held down by his own frozen body while his colleague and the killer were engaged in a fierce struggle. Now, he seemed to be the only living person in the room. No Sunggyu, no Luhan trying to kill Sunggyu, no back-up squads which had probably been a lie to begin with...

''Reinforcement is outside', my paralyzed .' Despite the situation, Woohyun found himself rolling his eyes. There were a lot of things Kim Sunggyu was good at, but in all honesty, lying was just not one of them. Really, twelve teams? If he was going to bluff, he could have at least come up with a more believable story.

Fact three. He was alive. 

This one, Woohyun had to admit, was up for debate. It wasn't just his neck that hurt; every part of his body was either sore, clammy, or screaming for painkillers. The pain was good, though. It meant that death hadn't fully claimed him yet. But even so, he couldn't quite shake off the fog swirling in his head. The disorientation. Like everything was surreal and he was still living in a badly-knit dream. 

After musing over the last thought, Woohyun exhaled the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. 

'Dream... It was just a dream.' The detective finally allowed himself to feel relief. It had only been a nightmare, seeing Sunggyu get attacked by the cold-blooded Luhan- no, hang on a second. Sunggyu and Luhan. If he was in the hospital hooked up to medical instruments, then where were they? Where were Sunggyu and Luhan now? The fleeting breeze of relief morphed into a cold gust of panic and trepidation. He had to get out of here, had to find his partner and hope the psychotic criminal hadn't done anything dangerous yet-

It was then that the door clicked open. Tensing, Woohyun instinctively turned to see who it was, only half-forgetting the frenzied state his mind was in.

Bang Yongguk stood in the doorway, holding a plastic cup and wearing an expression of delight on his face.

"Well, would you look at that. It's about time you woke up, Nam Woohyun. I was beginning to think you were sleeping just for the hell of it."

"I- What are you doing here?" Woohyun blurted out the first question that popped into his head, but immediately regretted it. His voice was nothing more than a painful rasp. It was like trying to talk with a throat made of sandpaper and pine needles. 

Shutting the door behind him, the weaponry agent seated himself in a chair beside Woohyun's bed. "Glad to see you too, Sleeping Beauty. At least the toxin didn't do any damage to your warm and inviting heart." As sarcastic as his words were, there was absolutely no trace of malice to be seen in Yongguk's grin. On the contrary, he was smiling so hard, his cheeks looked like they were going to split in half.

Woohyun coughed in an attempt to rid himself of the raspy feeling. In a nimble fashion, Yongguk set his drink on the nightstand and handed Woohyun the bottled water that was placed on top of it. The patient took it gratefully and downed half the bottle.

"Thanks," Woohyun muttered, wiping his mouth. He screwed the lid back on and returned the drink to the table. "I needed that. And I'm glad you're here, Yongguk. I just- I didn't expect to see you, that's all." 

Yongguk chuckled. "Of course you didn't. You've been knocked out for nearly three days now. Which is an improvement over what the doctors said," he added, sensing Woohyun's surprise. "They warned us that because of the amount of damage the toxin caused, it could take anywhere from a day to a year for you to wake up. But I knew better. Not much can keep your stubborn self away for too long."

Although his tone was teasing and open for friendly banter, the bedridden agent ignored it. There would be time for jokes later. All Woohyun wanted now was the answer to the question still lurking in the back of his mind. "Sunggyu- What about Sunggyu? Where is he now? And Luhan! He's the killer we've been looking for; it was him all along-" He was promptly cut off by another coughing fit.

"Careful now. I know you're tough, punk, but you just woke up. Don't push yourself already." Yongguk helped him finish the last of the remaining water. 

Woohyun swallowed his drink and pushed the bottle away. "Sunggyu? Where is he?" he repeated with an increased sense of urgency. If Yongguk was avoiding the question... If he was deliberately choosing not to answer... Woohyun clenched his jaw, suddenly afraid to hear what the weaponry agent would say next. 

As if sensing the younger man's fears, Yongguk gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "He's fine, Woohyun," Yongguk said in a voice much softer than he looked to be capable of. "Your partner's all right. Don't worry about Luhan either. It's all been taken care of."

It took Woohyun a moment to register those words. Your partner's all right. It's all been taken care of. Allowing the fear to drain out of his system, he closed his eyes and forced himself to take a calming breath. Sunggyu was fine. Everything was okay. He would have to be satisfied with that for now. 

The injured detective exhaled. "Tell me what happened."

In the same quiet voice, Yongguk recounted the events that had taken place three days ago. "I was at HQ reviewing CCTV tapes when Sunggyu called. He said he was going to visit you but felt uneasy, like something terrible was going to happen soon. A premonition, if you want to call it that. He also asked me to look up information on somebody named Luhan. That was what immediately set off the warning bells because, as you already know, Luhan was the man who murdered Jung Ara and Park Donghoon.

"We only realized it after talking for a few more minutes," continued the older agent. He grimaced ever so slightly, as if the memory of that night left a bad taste on his palate. "It was just a hunch, but it was obvious what was going on. And as Luhan was trying to befriend the two of you, it seemed he'd chosen either you or Sunggyu as his next target. Since Sunggyu was already on his way over, he sped off to make sure you were alright. I tried to join him as quickly as I could, because I also felt that something wasn't right. Luckily for you my gut instinct is never wrong." 

For the first time since his awakening, Woohyun cracked a tiny smile. "And what's a crime scene agent without his gut instinct?" he asked. It was a topic Bang Yongguk often liked to lecture others about- there were only three things a good CS inspector needed, he constantly told them. Vigilance, wit, and the ability to sniff out lies like a police-trained bloodhound.

"Exactly!" Yongguk agreed. Giving a firm nod, he went on to narrate the rest of his story. "Anyways, I arrived at your house as quickly as I could. When I got inside, Sunggyu and Luhan were at each other's throats and you were out cold. Sunggyu actually looked like he was on the verge of collapsing himself. But when Luhan saw I was there, he knew he wouldn't be able to win. Not when you're facing somebody as tough as me. So he surrendered and stayed quiet until reinforcements arrived."

"And then?" Woohyun waited for him to continue. He sensed there was something Yongguk was keeping from him, at least for the moment. Probably trying to be considerate of the fragile, battered state he was in. 

The artillery expert gazed searchingly into Woohyun's eyes, but said nothing.

Again, there was that same feeling of fear. Apprehension filled Woohyun's body as he stared evenly back at his friend. Not every story had a happy ending, and he was certain this was going to be one of them. "I'm going to find out sooner or later, so you might as well tell me now. What happened after that? The arrest, the trial... Is there even enough evidence to convict him?"

Perhaps Yongguk found what he was looking for in Woohyun's expression, because he then crossed his arms and spoke in a solemn voice. "There isn't going to be a trial. Luhan's dead."

Woohyun stared at his friend. "What?"

"He's dead," Yongguk repeated shortly. "Grabbed Sunggyu's gun and shot himself in the head before we could move him to the patrol car."

The bedridden man automatically searched for signs that it was a joke, a really, really horrible joke, but he knew he wouldn't find any. For one, Yongguk wasn't the type of person to kid about something as terrible as that, and two... He'd had a feeling that was the path Luhan would have chosen. Either continue with his evil plans or end them on his own terms. Being locked behind bars had apparently not been an option for him.

He let his gaze trail from Yongguk's serious expression to the drab white walls in front of him. So. Luhan was dead. Shot himself just before being arrested. A classic case of escape by suicide, neatly timed. Woohyun silently pictured the scenario in his mind. A captive Luhan, looking at the two agents with a gleam in his eyes. Waiting, waiting for the right moment to come by... And there! Twisting out of Sunggyu's grasp, he yanked the gun from its holster and shoved the injured agent away. Had he given a farewell, Woohyun wondered, as he lifted the revolver to his head? Or had he simply died with a smile on his face, the one full of taunting, triumph, and amusement?

But the question that bothered him most of all: how was Woohyun supposed to feel now? Content that the case was over? Resentful that Luhan had managed to escape the law in the end? There were so many emotions swirling inside of him, he wasn't sure where which one ended and another one started. It was enough to give him another painful migraine, so he decided to forget about it and focus on what Yongguk was telling him instead.

"- searched his house right after," Yongguk was saying. It was clear by the briskness of his tone that he wasn't going to linger on the subject of Luhan's death. "They found faint traces of blood on some of his clothes, as well as a small collection of knives in his basement. Everything was sent to forensics for analysis."

"What did the results say?" Woohyun turned to the weaponry agent, thankful for the change in topic. He could deal with the emotional upheaval later. Right now he needed to concentrate on other matters. Like bringing himself back in touch with reality, for one. "Or did you not get them yet?"

Yongguk shook his head. "No, Dongwoo gave us a report yesterday morning. All of the traces were a positive match. Both the blue sweater and grey jeans sent in had tiny specks of Jung Ara's blood on them. There was nothing from Park Donghoon, so we can assume he was much more careful with the second murder." Reaching out a hand, he picked up his coffee and took a gulp of the bitter liquid.

"Disgusting. The sludge back at headquarters tastes better than this. And to think I willingly paid for this poison."

"Consider yourself lucky. At least you don't have to eat the food here." Woohyun glanced at the clock hanging on the wall beside him. It was almost 6 PM. He didn't know when visiting hours were over, but there was one more thing he needed to know before Yongguk had to leave. "There's still one thing you haven't explained yet. How did you figure out it was Luhan? You said it was a hunch, but there must have been something you based your suspicions off of."

Tossing his plastic cup into the trash can, Yongguk responded, "We have the intelligence unit to thank for that." He gave a small smile of satisfaction. "I pulled in a few favours and asked Youngjae for help on the case. Got him to first investigate the call from the anonymous witness. Remember? A heavyset male in black clothing?" 

"Yeah." It seemed like it had been ages ago when they'd received that phone call. "Let me guess, it was a dead end."

"Got that right, punk." The older man snorted. "Turned out to be a middle-aged lady who liked the idea of being involved in a murder case. Nothing helpful at all. People think they can watch one crime show and suddenly they're the next Hercule Poirot... Anyway, we did some more digging and finally found the link between the two victims. The White Cross. Ever heard of it?"

"Isn't that the pub near Nabi Cemetery?"

Yongguk nodded. "That secluded bar that looks like it came from a ghost town. We have footage of the two victims making several visits in the last month, on separate occasions. Each time they went they only talked to one of the bartenders there. A twenty-six year old man who went by the name of Luhan." He paused, as if giving that bit of information time to sink in. "My guess is that's how they became acquainted... But why they kept meeting, I have no idea."

With a grimace, Woohyun recounted what Luhan had told him about the victims' hidden pain.

"Poor things." Yongguk shook his head. "When you're in a bar, the bartender's supposed to be your best friend, your therapist with a bottle. Most of them have this uncanny ability to appear sympathetic yet at the same time remain an outsider. That's what draws people in, makes them want to open up about their deepest, most intimate secrets. It seems our killer used that to his advantage for his own purposes." 

"He only needed to look in their eyes," Woohyun said quietly. "They all had the same eyes, he told me, full of misery and emotional suffering. All three of them. Donghoon, Ara, and..." 

"Everyone suffers inside," his visitor gently corrected. "Some just show it more than others." As he spoke those words, a slight note of sorrow seeped into his voice. Perhaps Yongguk was thinking about his own pain that he had experienced... But as quickly as it came, it was replaced by a brisk, business-like cough that told him that side of the conversation was over.

"I hate to say this when you've only woken up, Woohyun, but you'll have to make an official statement regarding the case. When you're up for it, of course. You're one the very few witnesses we have-"

At that moment, the door swung open for the second time that day, interrupting whatever Yongguk was going to say next.

"These nurses are unbelievable... One of them just tried to stab me with a tranquilizer, like I'm some sort of rabid dog-"

Kim Sunggyu stopped short and stared at the man sitting upright in his bed. Yongguk smiled and gestured for him to enter. 

"Come on in, Sunggyu. As you can see, our other hero of the day has just woken up." 

Sunggyu slowly stepped inside. Surprisingly, he was dressed in the same pale green hospital clothes as Woohyun was. The only difference was that he had a bone-white cast plastered around his leg, which made it difficult for him to move in ease. 

Yongguk must have noticed Woohyun's questioning stare because he explained, "Your partner here injured his ankle that night. Apparently sweet-talking secrets from people wasn't all Luhan was good at. I walked in just in time to see him land a kick hard enough to shatter this punk's talus."

"It was a trick attack," scowled Sunggyu. In an awkward manner, he used his crutches to maneuver his way beside Yongguk's seated figure. "I would have dodged if he hadn't pulled a feint on me."  

"I'm sure you would have. What about that poisoned knife, then? You're lucky the ambulance came when it did, or you'd be in a much worse state than our friend here," snorted Yongguk. He stood up and motioned for their new company to sit down. "Here, take my chair. I need to get going, anyways."

"You're leaving already?" Woohyun spoke for the first time since Sunggyu's arrival. He could feel his partner's eyes boring into his head, but chose to ignore him in favour of the departing man.

Yongguk nodded. "I can see you two have a lot to talk about. Besides, I still have some paperwork to finish for this case. Somebody didn't write his own report, so I have to do it for him." He shot a mock glare in Woohyun's direction.

"Hurry up and recover already, Nam Woohyun, so I don't have to do your work for you."

Woohyun gave him a deadpan expression. With a rumbling laugh, Yongguk bid them a final goodbye before stepping outside of the room. The door shut with a clack behind him.

A deafening silence filled the room. Woohyun slid his gaze from the door to his remaining visitor. Sunggyu was staring at his crutches, studying them like they were going to give him the numbers for tomorrow's lottery draw. Woohyun remembered his initial feeling of panic upon waking up, worried out of his mind that something bad had happened to his partner. Now that the alarm had passed there were so many things he wanted to talk about with him. But judging by the look of things, Sunggyu wasn't going to be the one to start the conversation. The bedridden man inwardly sighed. It looked like it would be up to him to break the ice.

"So. They've finally resorted to using tranquilizers on you, huh?"

Sunggyu raised his head to glare at him. "They were badgering me to go back into my own room. Kept nagging about needing rest and how I shouldn't be wandering around as I please. Humph! Like I have the time to lie in bed. There's too much work to finish. The case still isn't wrapped up- it'll take at least another week for everything to settle down- not to mention there's a certain idiot I need to explain the importance of personal safety to." His scowl deepened.

"What were you thinking? I actually had hope that you'd be smart enough to stay away from Luhan, but then I find you let him in your house... Why would you invite him in like that? Weren't you the one who was suspicious of him in the first place?"

Woohyun gave him an appraising look. "That's why you're here? To lecture me on a topic I've heard a thousand times before?"

"That, and I was afraid you were going to do something stupid once you woke up," griped his visitor.

"You don't have to worry about that." Woohyun winced at the aches and pain his body was suffering. He eyed the half-empty bottle on his bedside table, but decided it wouldn't be worth the effort. "I don't think I can get out of this bed even if I tried. Besides, even I know better than to test the patience of the nurses here."

Sunggyu wordlessly picked up the drink and shoved it into the younger man's hands.  

"Thanks." Woohyun unscrewed the lid and took a long, filling drink. When the bottle was empty, he replaced the cap and let it rest on his bed covers. He glanced over at his visitor, who had crossed his arms and was watching his every move with narrowed eyes. There was a question he wanted to ask, but with the way Sunggyu was staring daggers at him, he wasn't sure if he was going to get a proper answer or a snarl.

Woohyun decided to take the risk. "Yongguk said you were already coming to my house when you uncovered Luhan's identity. Why?" 

Perhaps it was the frankness of his tone or the question itself, but Sunggyu appeared to be caught off-guard. He pursed his lips together, moving his gaze to stare at the empty water bottle on Woohyun's bed.

Eventually, after a minute or so of contemplative silence, he gave his reply. "I was going to visit you to... apologize," he bit out. It was obvious he had to force himself to speak those words. Woohyun wasn't sure what to say in response. Was Kim Sunggyu, the stubborn, ever prideful man really trying to ask for forgiveness? This was something akin to a blue moon. His confusion didn't matter, however, as Sunggyu was steamrolling ahead with his mini speech. 

"I felt like such an idiot." A muscle twitched in Sunggyu's jaw. His eyes were still trained on the plastic bottle, but Woohyun could hear the seriousness in his low voice. "Actually, I still do. I ignored everything you said about Luhan, just because I was fed up with what you kept saying and doing. Things like I don't care about my life, if I die then I die, no big deal. It made me furious to hear that, but I shouldn't have let my personal feelings interfere with my judgement. I was a stupid jerk so I'm-" Here, he broke off and took a deep breath. 

"I'm sorry, alright? You can blame me all you want because I know everything's my fault. Just look at our situation. You were stabbed with a poisoned knife and nearly died, I'm here with a broken ankle, and Luhan killed himself with my own goddamn gun..."

"I'm glad," Woohyun blurted out. Sunggyu's eyes shot towards his face, but he couldn't stop himself from saying those words. They tumbled out of his mouth like a waterfall before his mind could even process them. "Don't get me wrong; I hate that he chose the easy way out. It's like Kangta says, the person who created the mess should always be responsible for owning up to it, right? But still, I'm glad. It was going to be either you or him..." 

Sunggyu studied his face. There was still a trace of frustration there, but other than that his expression had become completely unreadable. "Is that what you really think?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Woohyun's voice was still hoarse but rang as clear as day. "Yeah. It is." 

His CSI partner hesitated before asking another question. "How are you feeling now?" 

Woohyun also paused, taking a minute to gather his thoughts. He had briefly contemplated this before, when he'd been given the unexpected news of Luhan's suicide, but even now he wasn't completely certain of his feelings. "I'm not sure," he slowly said. Both he and Sunggyu knew the inquiry hadn't been solely about his physical condition. "To be honest, there isn't one definite answer I can give you. I'm satisfied that the case is over. Frustrated that we don't have a murderer to put in prison. Regretful. Tired. Relieved. I guess in one word, you could say I feel a little bit of everything."

"Everything," Sunggyu repeated. "You feel everything."

The bedridden agent glanced at him. "It sounds weird, I know. I'll work on it. I haven't been this-" he tried to find the right word, "-honest in a long time."

Finally losing the last of his anger, Sunggyu gave him a faint smile. "We'll work on it," he corrected quietly. "People don't change overnight. It's okay if you start with small steps for now. As long as you understand what I kept trying to tell you all those times..." His face stiffened, as if a sudden thought had just occurred to him.

"You do understand, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." Woohyun felt his lips quirk upwards. He thought back to those moments when Sunggyu had scolded him, lectured him, furiously questioned his habit of throwing himself into danger without sparing a glance at his own life. Back then he had always brushed it off, dismissing the words as mere flies that were buzzing in his ear. But now he knew better, thanks to Sunggyu and- ironically enough- the bartender and killer who'd been known as Luhan. "But I should tell you, you're not the only one who feels sorry for what happened. I should be apologizing as well. You were right about everything- me not caring about life and thinking it was easy to throw away, and chasing after armed criminals like a reckless bastard.

"I told you once that I believed I didn't have a goal." Woohyun briefly closed his eyes. "No purpose in life, nothing to drive me forward and keep me determined to stay alive. But now I realize how stupid I was. As despicable as it is, a part of me owes Luhan for helping me realize that. After he stabbed me and the poison started taking over my body, I felt something that I hadn't experienced in a long, long time: fear. I was scared that I was going to die but strangely enough, that terror also gave me a determination to live. I told myself that no matter what I had to survive the night, because there was something I absolutely had to see through."

"Oh?" Sunggyu raised a brow. "And what was that?"

Woohyun waved his hand around. "This conversation. And..." Voice trailing off, he decided it would be better to show the other detective. Actions spoke louder than words, after all. Before he could second-guess his decision, before Sunggyu could ask what he was doing, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Sunggyu's own.

It was different from the first time they had kissed, much more different. During that night, Sunggyu had snapped at Woohyun and Woohyun had lost his temper in return, leading to a kiss that was full of anger and hurt and misunderstanding. It had practically marked the end of their relationship that had always been hanging by a thread. 

But this kiss was full of hope, uncertainty, and an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability. This time, it wasn't being used as an outlet for emotional turbulence. This time, there was no rage coursing through Woohyun's veins, but rather a feeling that was more softer and making him lightheaded. But most importantly, this time, Sunggyu wasn't recoiling away with shock and fury flashing in his eyes.

Instead, he kissed Woohyun back like they were the only two left in the world and he, too, wanted to move on from their rocky past.

[A/N] Thank you to everyone who's still keeping up with this story! There's still one final chapter left, so bear with me until I get around to posting it (which hopefully will be soon). Happy New Year, everybody! I hope 2015 brings more joy and happiness for you all ❤