That night, there was a storm. Rain pounded against the rooftops of houses and the wind howled with an unyielding fury, blasting its way through the air like an angered bull chasing after red. The sky, as expected, was dark. Large, black clouds covered the heavens, making it difficult for those caught in the streets to see. Although the roadside lamps had been , their weak bulbs offered little guiding light in the rage of the storm.

Fortunately, there was no thunder or lightning. Citizens anxiously glanced outside from time to time, but Earth had been spared of the booming claps and golden, dangerous streaks of electricity.

Woohyun stared through his window. The raindrops fell down like a shower of nails, splattering against the glass panes in a repetitious fashion. Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta. The sound was hypnotizing. It drowned out the monotone buzz of his television- he was dimly aware that the local news segment had ended, and a cliché commercial for canned soup was on- but mostly he focused on the aquatic attack the sky was delivering outside.

Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta.

The rain was relentless. It didn't look as if the storm would give way anytime soon- although, truthfully speaking, it didn't really matter. It wasn't like Woohyun had plans to go out for the night. All he intended to do before bedtime was work on the investigation, which was clear from the way he'd spread his notes on the table he was sitting at.

Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta.

"With a new rich, creamy taste to please your tastebuds, Hanstar Soup is the number one choice for a quick but delicious meal-"

Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta.

"- a variety of flavours including Basil and Tomato, Italian Garden, Classic Corn, and Split Pea and Ham-"

Noisy. It's too noisy. The man closed his eyes shut. There weren't too many sounds playing in the house, but all the same, they clamoured to a beat that was far from harmonious. They were mismatched; the drumming of the rain, the obnoxious jingle of the soup ad. But perhaps the loudest and most striking of them all: the sound of Sunggyu's bitter voice, echoing deeply into the crevices of Woohyun's mind.

"Why are you so reckless all the time? Do you really not care that much if you live or die?"

Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta.

"Made with 100% all-natural ingredients, for that fresh taste everybody loves-"

"You're just like the Tin Man. Both of you are empty shells, missing the one thing that makes you fully human."

Ra-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta.

"Everything has a purpose. You can't be reckless  just because. There's a reason why you act the way you do, and I'm going to find it."

"- satisfy your stomach! Hanstar Soup: Hearty, delicious, and made just for you."

"I'm sick of dealing with you and all of the you give me. You hate listening to my words of advice? Well, I hate giving you them. This is where it stops, Nam Woohyun."

RA-TA-TA-TA. RA-TA-TA-TA.

"I won't concern myself with you anymore. You're on your own from now on."

Woohyun abruptly opened his eyes. Breathing hard, he tried to calm himself down by looking around his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was his hands- they were both curled into tight fists, displaying all of the tension and complicated emotions he felt inside.

Taking a deep breath, Woohyun slowly released his fists. Faint crescent-shaped indents marked his palms. His fingernails. He'd dug his nails into his flesh too firmly. Funny, he hadn't felt  any pain. Nothing physical, anyway. It had probably been drowned out by the constricting feeling in his chest, the one that felt like a cold, heavy layer of fog was invading his senses.

A humourless smile twisted his lips upwards. "You're a bastard, Kim Sunggyu," he said quietly, gazing at the curved marks on his hands. "I told you I didn't care. You should have just left me alone in the first place. Maybe things would have been easier for you. For me. For the both of us.

"The Tin Man and the Lion." Lifting his head, Woohyun flickered his eyes towards the rain-covered windowsill. "We really do make quite the pair, don't we? You stubborn fool..."

Ra-ta-ta-ta, was all he got in reply.

The brooding man didn't know how long he stayed that way. A hurricane of thoughts invaded his mind- he needed to get back to work- Jung Ara and Park Donghoon were dead- What to do about Kim Sunggyu- but Woohyun did his best to shut everything out. For the next minute, or thirty minutes, or maybe even an hour, all he did was stare at the outer world in a silent, unmoving trance.

'So he's finally out of my hair. He should have gotten the message earlier instead of wasting all that time scolding me. He really is a persistent, narrow-minded idiot.'

Knock-knock-knock.

'What does it matter if he's no longer concerned with me? It's not his loss, and it certainly isn't mine-'

Knock-knock-knock. "Woohyun! Woohyun, are you home? Hello?"

The sound of a man's urgent voice, accompanied by a faint pounding noise, roused the inspector out of his thinking. Woohyun raised a brow at the sudden intrusion. A visitor? At this time? How odd. But although he hadn't been expecting anybody, he had an inkling as to who it was waiting on the porch. The voice sounded familiar to him- in fact, hadn't he just heard it the day before?

His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the door. There, standing on the front step, clothes wet and hair flattened against his head, was Luhan.

"It's about time!" Despite the fact that he was soaked to the bone, Luhan's face broke out into a grin. "I've been knocking for ages! Oh, and you should fix your doorbell, by the way. I'm sure people would rather press a button than break down your door for your attention."

"Maybe later. I don't get many visitors, anyway." Woohyun eyed his guest. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not moving to invite the cheerful man inside. He shoved all thoughts of Sunggyu into the back of his head. No use in wasting time mulling over his stress-inducing (and possibly former) partner.

Luhan's smile turned into one of sheepishness. "Fulfilling brotherly obligations." He gestured at the streets behind him. "My sister asked me to help drag in her furniture this afternoon. Remember when I said she recently moved into this neighbourhood? I lost track of the time and only just realized I had to go home now."

"In this weather?"

"Yeah, well..." The honey-haired male grimaced. "I have some work that really needs to be done by tomorrow. I thought  I could bear this storm until I got to the bus stop, but I guess I overestimated myself. Since your house was closer than my sister's, I figured I'd ask to stay until the rain stopped." He sent Woohyun a hopeful expression.

"Speaking of which, is that alright? I don't want to impose or anything, but I'd hate to get sick from the rain."

Woohyun trailed his eyes over Luhan's dripping form. Despite the situation, a long list of reasons to say no  came to mind. First of all, Luhan was practically a stranger to him. What else did he know about this youthful-faced man, besides the fact that his sister seemed to rule him with an iron fist? Secondly, no matter how friendly he seemed, Luhan's character was too suspicious to be overlooked. The gun, the 'coincidental' meetings, and Woohyun's overall gut feeling vouched for this point. And thirdly... Woohyun didn't trust him. Of course, he generally didn't trust most people he knew, but there was something about Luhan that made his guard rise way higher than it should have.

He opened his mouth to refuse. Perhaps he would offer an umbrella instead, so that Luhan could at least walk to the bus stop without getting wetter than he already was-

"Why are you telling me to stay away from him? Maybe I don't want to. Maybe I actually  like Luhan. You can't order me around like that."

"Fine," Woohyun found himself saying. "You can stay. Not for too long, though. I have things to work on, too, you know."

Opening the door wider, he motioned for his visitor to enter. A part of him was in disbelief. Was he really going to let this stranger  into his house, when it was obvious he didn't trust or even like him?

Apparently, from the way Luhan was beaming and bounding forwards, yes.

"Thanks so much, Woohyun," he was saying as he ducked inside. "I owe you one. I really didn't want to wait for the bus in this storm."

"Like I said," the agent answered wryly, "Don't expect to stay for too long. I'll be kicking you out in twenty minutes or so, even if the rain doesn't stop." He brushed past Luhan and headed for the kitchen, where he'd left his work on the table.

Luhan followed him. "No problem. I have things I need to do, as well. Anyways, sorry about the mess." His tone was apologetic. "I tried squeezing the water out of my clothes beforehand, but it didn't work out too well. I'm getting water everywhere."

Woohyun shrugged. He wasn't too concerned with that. The floor was made of hardwood; it would dry on its own. "It doesn't matter. I can clean it up later." He began to methodically clear his notes away, not bothering to keep the pages in order. Woohyun knew how curious  Luhan could be, and his work wasn't something that was meant for his visitor's eyes.

Speaking of curious...

"Were you working on a case?" Luhan came to a stop at Woohyun's side. "I've been keeping up with the news reports. You're still trying to find the person who killed that girl, right? Is it the same killer who got that Donghoon guy?"

"If you've been watching the news, you wouldn't need me to answer those questions," Woohyun replied, mentally rolling his eyes.

"Oh, right," chuckled Luhan. "I remember you saying how you weren't allowed to talk about it after work hours, but I guess I forgot. Sorry about that. My mouth has a bad habit of running away on its own."

"So I've noticed," the crime scene agent commented. He didn't bother to hide the mocking tone in his voice.

"Yeah." Once again, Luhan seemed completely oblivious to the sarcasm in Woohyun's answer. "I really need to stop these annoying habits of mine. I can only imagine the kind of trouble they'd get me into." He reached up to push wet strands of hair out of his eyes.

"So, how's it going with Sunggyu?"

Woohyun slightly tensed his muscles. "Why do you want to know?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his companion sending him an apologetic expression. "Sorry, again, if I seem too nosy. It's just... Last night, when I bumped into you guys, you seemed pretty tense. Like you were in the middle of an argument or something."

"Maybe we were," Woohyun grudgingly admitted.

"Mind if I ask what that was about?"

The agent slowly straightened his spine and turned to look at Luhan's face. "I don't think that's any of your business."

To Woohyun's surprise, Luhan let out another one of his good-natured laughs. "Actually, I think it is. Don't worry, it's not that big of a deal. At least, I'm hoping it won't be. It's just that, Woohyun, I have this little problem  that concerns the both of you, and I was hoping you'd help me fix it."

"... What is it?" Woohyun kept his tone light, but felt himself tensing up even more. Danger, danger, something's wrong, a voice in the back of his head screamed. It was the voice he'd been ignoring for most of his life, but tonight, it seemed to echo in his mind at a louder pitch than usual.

Luhan turned so that his back was facing Woohyun. Crossing his arms, he glanced through the kitchen window to examine the gloomy, dreary scene outside. "You're a really nice guy, Woohyun. I actually feel bad for having to say this, but you're just too much trouble. I can't afford to have you messing things up for me. Not when I've come so far." He released a heavy sigh, as if the thought of confronting the inspector actually pained him.

"See, I like Sunggyu. He's a cool guy, really nice and funny, and I want to become better friends with him. But there's just one thing standing in the way of that. You."

If Woohyun wasn't alarmed before, there was certainly a warning bell ringing in his head now. He tried to hide his apprehension by giving Luhan a deadpan expression, although the soaked man's back was still turned towards him. "So what do you want to do? Stay away from Sunggyu? Sorry, Princess, but I can't exactly do that. He's my work partner."

Luhan sighed again. "Well, if you put it that way, I'm left with no other choice."

At a speed faster than he looked to be capable of, Luhan whirled around. He was pressed up against Woohyun and holding out his arm in the blink of an eye. At first, Woohyun wasn't sure what he was up to. It took a few seconds to sink in... But when he felt a cold, metallic tip piercing his lower abdomen, he knew.

"One of these days, your attitude is going to get you in trouble. Lead to your end. For your sake, I hope you fix it before that happens."

Woohyun stared at the knife in Luhan's grip. It was relatively small, compact enough to fit into a jacket pocket, which was where it had probably come from. He could only see a fraction of the blade, however, as most of it was plunged firmly into his flesh. The small part of his brain that wasn't overcome by shock dimly took note of the blood. The liquid seeped steadily onto his shirt, its bright red colour standing out brilliantly against the white cotton fabric.

"I didn't want it to come to this," Luhan said regretfully, yet there was no mistaking the amusement in his voice, "But like I said, I have no choice. You're just too much trouble, Woohyun. I can't have you getting in the way of my next target."