It was a lovely day outside. The sun was shining, the clouds were tumbling about, and Bang Yongguk was investigating the murders of a female student and a middle-aged lawyer.

It was now four days since he, Woohyun, and Sunggyu had been assigned to the case. Four days since the young girl known as Jung Ara had been killed. Four days since she'd been preyed on, possibly tortured, and ultimately murdered by an unknown sicko. 

Why her? Why Jung Ara? Why kill a girl who's only fulfilling her role in the world? Why her?

The same went for Park Donghoon. From what Yongguk gathered, the man sounded like he'd been what was considered a good person- he had a clean criminal record, no trouble with his job, and seemed to have been on the right track of life. And yet, Jung Ara's killer had gone for him, as well.

Why?

It was the number one question CSI agents asked themselves every single day. And from the looks of it, the trio wasn't going to find the answer any time soon.

Yongguk stepped out of Sunggyu's car and onto the pavement of the parking lot. The three men had decided to kick off their morning at Gaenari Park. Besides the fact that it was too gorgeous of a day to spend indoors, there was something about the park that made it the obvious number one choice to visit: it was the only connection they could find between Jung Ara and Park Donghoon. 

Donghoon's body had been discovered in Gaenari Park. Ara's mother had told the agents how her daughter loved taking walks there, sometimes spending hours upon end in the recreational area before returning home. Of course, this link was weak and raised much unwanted skepticism from the peanut gallery. But it was a crime scene agent's job to comb over the fine details, and they weren't about to let a possible lead slip through their fingers like that.

Plus, it was really all they had to work with at the moment.

Behind the weaponry agent, a car door slammed shut. A few seconds later, Sunggyu appeared at his side, wearing an odd expression that said he was down for serious business, but would have liked nothing more than to crawl back into bed.

Yongguk raised a brow. "Feeling tired?" he asked. In their line of work, it wasn't rare to see agents looking like deadbeat zombies, complete with eye bags, bird's nest hair, and a cup of extra strong espresso to keep them going for the day. But something about the older man's appearance told Yongguk it wasn't the investigation that had kept him from sleeping. "We could have stopped for coffee along the way if you needed it. You alright?"

"Never better," was Sunggyu's short reply.

"Are you sure about that?" Yongguk gave his friend a sideways glance. It wasn't in his nature to push a topic, and Sunggyu sure as hell looked like he didn't need to be sent over the edge. But all the same, he wanted to make sure the inspector was okay anyways- even though he knew he wouldn't get the truth in return. "Looks to me like you had a pretty rough night."

The brunet pressed his lips into a hard, thin line. "You could say that," he muttered after a while, still not meeting his companion's eyes. "I was just... working on the case."

Yongguk gave him a hard stare. As expected, Sunggyu's answer was nothing more than a weak, transparent lie. 'Working on the case, my .' He had an extremely strong hunch it was something else that had bothered the older male last night- no, he was sure  of it- and it certainly didn't come in the form of two murders and a virtually unknown killer.

On the contrary, it was walking towards them with a rather bored expression on its face and a phone pressed to its ear.

"- we should be back before three. You can give us the full report then. Yeah, thanks. I'll see you later."

Woohyun hit the 'End Call' button on his phone and shoved it into his pocket. "That was Dongwoo," the agent said as if sensing Yongguk's unasked question. He stopped in front of the other two men, all the while completely ignoring Sunggyu. "He finished with Park Donghoon's post-mortem report. Said we should get it from him as soon as we return to HQ."

Yongguk shrugged. "Fine by me," he replied. From the corner of his eye, he could see that the weariness on Sunggyu's face had disappeared, replaced by a stiff, unreadable mask. So he was right. Nam Woohyun was the cause of the brunet's misery... Or at least, whatever recent fight they'd had was. Yongguk had suspected they were on bad terms from the moment he arrived to work that morning- the two didn't even look at each other, they barely spoke, and the car ride to the park had been as frigid as ice.

If they were trying to be subtle about their post-argument feelings, they weren't doing a very good job of it.

Internally sighing, Yongguk turned back to Woohyun. Whatever fight it was they were having, it was no business of his. Both Sunggyu and Woohyun were good friends of his, but their disagreements were meant to be solved by themselves. Having a third party in would only make things worse.

"What did Dongwoo say about the autopsy? Any interesting news?"

Woohyun shrugged. "Not particularly," he answered, maintaining his unconcerned facade. "It's the same story as with the first victim. No signs of harassment, , or ual acts, but the same pattern of crisscrossing cuts all over his body. And he didn't have any forensic evidence on him, if you wanted to know."

"I guessed as much, punk." The weaponry agent smiled grimly. "And there was no evidence left on the girl's body, either. Nothing, too, from both locations where the victims were found. It'll be one helluva time finding this guy."

"It's safe to say this isn't a ual predator we're after," Sunggyu spoke for the first time since Woohyun's arrival. He stared straight ahead with the same stiff expression, not allowing anyone to know what he was thinking inside. "His interest in his victims obviously runs much deeper than physical attractions or needs."

Woohyun raised a brow. "Is that so? I couldn't tell. Thank you for pointing it out, Sunggyu." His voice sounded mild, civilized, but Yongguk could hear the faint note of bitterness underneath. It caught him off-guard. When Woohyun and Sunggyu fought, it was always Sunggyu who did the arguing and Woohyun who smiled like nothing was happening. He never gave any other response, just a smile. Huh. Exactly what had gotten these two so riled up? "Perhaps you could be so kind as to tell us the next step of our investigation. That shouldn't be hard, seeing as you seem to know everything about everything."

A muscle twitched in Sunggyu's jaw. "I'm surprised you're asking that. Usually by now you'd be running off on your own, not giving a damn as to what I have to say."

Keeping his mouth shut, Yongguk slowly looked from Woohyun to Sunggyu. He sensed another fight was on the rise, much like how the air brews dangerously before a storm's arrival. If things got too out of hand, he would have no choice but to step in.

Giving his partner a piercing stare, Woohyun answered, "And I  don't know why you're still bothered about that. It's not like you have much to say to me anymore. You're too busy making doe eyes at your new friend Luhan, aren't you?"

Sunggyu visibly bristled. "Don't bring Luhan into the conversation," he warned. "He doesn't have anything to do with this. Let's just drop it, okay? We need to focus on solving the case and figuring out where the killer is."

"Avoiding the question?" Woohyun clucked his tongue, but his voice took on a hardened edge. "I shouldn't be surprised. But you always did have a bad habit of running away, Sunggyu. Don't you think it's time to stop hiding like a coward, Lion?"

The older man scowled, but chose not to answer. He turned his head to the side and began examining the entrance path of the park. His body language made it clear he was done with the conversation. But judging by his clenched jaw and tightened fists, Woohyun's words were anything but  erased from his mind.

Woohyun rolled his eyes. "Fine. Forget about it. Forget I even said anything." He, too, turned to face the park, but not before Yongguk caught a glimpse of his expression. Gone was the poker face, gone was the fierce stare- they were both replaced by a look of pure, raw, uninhibited pain. Like he wanted nothing more than to shake Sunggyu's shoulders in anger, but his wounded, bitter pride was preventing him from doing so.

The inspector abruptly began walking forwards. "I'm going to go scope the area. I'll let you know if I find anything useful." He strode towards the entrance path without a glance back, not giving either of them a chance to reply.

Yongguk watched as Woohyun's figure disappeared inside of Gaenari Park. "This isn't any of my business, but you're not gonna stop him?" he asked quietly, finally allowing himself to speak. "You're letting him go just like that?"

Sunggyu was silent. Like a statue frozen in time, he gave no indication that he'd heard the artillery expert's question. Just as Yongguk opened his mouth to ask once more, he jerked his head up as an overdue response. "Leave him be. Let him do whatever he wants. Nam Woohyun isn't my concern anymore."

But the regret flickering in his eyes told Yongguk otherwise.

[A/N]  Woohyun and Sunggyu are so stubborn, they're just perfect for each other. Haha. 

See you at the next chapter! Anticipate it, because that's when things will really  pick up ;D