~ Jung DaeHyun ~

DaeHyun works at his desk, scrambling to reset it back to being orderly. He sighs as he shoves papers into a stack in the corner and pulls out his two case folders. He opens the robbery sheet, to which he has named “The Clothed Bandit Case,” earning laughter amongst the other officers.

“If he’s ‘clothed,’ then why does he need to steal clothes?” Kim SooHyun had joked.

“Oh, just go patrol with DongHo,” DaeHyun had scowled in return.

SooHyun had sighed and shook his head as he took his coffee and went to look for the rookie, “You have no idea what’s it like having to work with that kid…he’s all excitement and talk,” he mumbled on his way out.

Now, DaeHyun searches through the papers.

“Another case last night of someone being held up for their clothes,” DaeHyun says to himself as he looks to the victim, a man in his late forties. “Items taken: a brown shirt, his blue jeans, and his shoes. Items left behind…his wallet, keys, and undergarments. Condition when reported…drunk,” he scoffs with a shake of his head. “Description of the perpetrator…unknown.” DaeHyun looks up and stares off into the distance, “How has no one even seen this guy? All had claimed to have been held up by the back so that his face wouldn’t show. Explanation of his voice is deep and quiet. Clothes were handed over their shoulders, but dropped to the ground. When they turned around to pick them up, the clothes and the bandit were already gone,” DaeHyun sighs and closes the folder…feeling no closer to catching the wary thief.

He huffs to himself, thinking that GDragon had been right when he claimed that the people in this town were weird.

He takes out the folder for GDragon’s case, running the tips of his fingers over the inscription “NATAS” on the cover. “What does that mean, chief?” he mumbles.

He opens the folder and looks through the few papers that are inside. “NATAS,” he reads, “National Army Technological Advancement in Sciences…what a mouthful.”

He looks through the pictures to see an old building that used to stand as headquarters somewhere in the northern tip of Korea. “Burned down after a chemical explosion,” he inhales quickly as he reads more, “53 victims dead, 68 injured, 208 with minor injuries sustained or completely fine. And…four reported unaccounted for,” DaeHyun looks up, “Are these the missing people that GDragon is searching for?” he whispers. He looks back down and rummages through the papers in search of profiles or names that might aid in the search, but he finds nothing; only a little information on the damage done to the building and some personal accounts of the survivors. Nothing in the file tells about what NATAS was using the building for, how exactly it resulted in a chemical explosion, or what GDragon is looking for. “Why would Hyori’s name be the same one that’s on GDragon’s list within this NATAS group? She disappeared three years before the explosion,” he asks himself as he leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head. “There’s something that this GDragon guy is hiding from me…”

“Jung DaeHyun!” a man calls from the front of the precinct, “There is a man here looking for you that claims to be from the government…but he doesn’t have any ID.”

“I’m coming!” DaeHyun calls, hiding the folders within his desk and then quickly rising, grabbing his hat and jacket as he goes.

DaeHyun walks out to find GDragon waiting by the counter, his hands clasped behind his back, wearing a black jacket and black sunglasses with a briefcase in his hand. He turns to DaeHyun as he enters, his lips in a thin line. “I was telling them, that my branch does not carry identification cards,” he states as DaeHyun takes his side and glances to the men sitting at the counter.

“It’s alright,” DaeHyun assures them, “He’s with my assignment. Just…let him in next time he comes. You can verify it with the chief.”

The men glance to each other and then back to DaeHyun and GDragon. They nod, “Yes sir, officer DaeHyun.”

DaeHyun smiles at the sound of his name and turns to GDragon, “Let’s go.” GDragon nods and follows DaeHyun out, glancing back to the men behind the table before exiting the building. “So why don’t you carry identification when you’re on these missions?” DaeHyun asks as he unlocks the cruiser.

GDragon smirks to him before opening the door, “I didn’t say we don’t use identification…I said we don’t use identification cards.”

They get into the car, “Then, what do you use?” DaeHyun asks as he looks to him.

GDragon stares ahead in a silent second before rolling the sleeve to his left arm back a bit. He turns his arm over so that the underside looks up, and then he pulls out his phone and casts a blue light onto his skin. A set of three numbers shows white under the blue glow, and DaeHyun scoots closer to better examine them, but GDragon turns off the light and pulls his sleeve down.

“This is the new revolutionary way to carry identification,” he states, “It cannot be lost or stolen.”

DaeHyun nods, “That’s pretty cool I guess,” he mumbles as he starts up the car. He pulls out onto the road, “So I was reading and I saw that you’re from NATAS?”

GDragon sits still, and then gives a slight nod.

“Right, and that’s some sort of…technology branch in the government?”

“National Army Technological Advancement in Sciences.”

“Right but…what does that mean?” DaeHyun laughs.

GDragon sighs, “It means that we discover and develop new technological uses of science for the nation’s army.”

“Oh, of course,” DaeHyun mumbles, feeling stupid. “There was an explosion at a chemical plant?”

“A year ago.”

“That’s right, and a lot of people were hurt or killed.”

GDragon nods.

“Were you at the branch at that time?”

GDragon looks out the window as they drive through town, “I was,” he says quietly.

“Wow!” DaeHyun exclaims, “How lucky that you survived!”

“I was lucky.”

“And now, you’re searching for the people that were unaccounted for from that explosion?”

GDragon nods, not turning to him. “I was researching at the plant, training under my father when the explosion occurred. From that, they assigned me as the one to do head count, and we found that four people are missing. We fear that they suffer from memory loss, and we must find them. Unknowingly to them, they contain top-secret information about the NATAS system and are crucial to our mission. Unfortunately, they are proving…difficult to locate. I doubt whether they had even survived, their bodies being burned in the chemicals.”

DaeHyun nods, “How interesting!” he exclaims, thinking that he has finally shed some light on this case, and that GDragon is looking to be a better man that he had thought. After surviving a chemical blast where so many had died, of course he must take his job seriously, he thinks.

DaeHyun grips the steering wheel, “GDragon, I will definitely do all that I can to aid you in your search.”

GDragon’s lip turns into a smile, “Thank you, officer DaeHyun, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

~ Kim HyunA ~

Hyuna sits at a table with YongGuk and JunHyung, the two seeming to get along better but hesitantly. They still glare at each other and try to avoid conversation, but at least they have moved on from their petty comments towards each other and such.

The store feels empty as business has been slow for a Friday. JunHyung looks to YongGuk for what seems like the first time today, and looks him up and down.

“Where did you find your clothes today?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

YongGuk loudly drinks from his frozen coffee, not even glancing to JunHyung. He shrugs, “Off of some bum in the streets.”

Hyuna looks to him in shock, “You’ve been stealing clothes from people?”

“Of course,” JunHyung scoffs, “You heard officer DaeHyun…he’s the one that’s been doing the robberies recently.”

Hyuna shakes her head, “YongGuk, you should stop that now. It’s too dangerous to risk being caught by anyone. We’re all in this together now, so if you need anything, you can just ask us.” She gives him a smile.

YongGuk shrugs again, “I was taking them from drunken old fools who probably don’t contribute much to society anyways. I think of it as justified.”

“It’s still stealing,” JunHyung mumbles, “And you put us all in jeopardy each time you do it.”

“No I don’t,” YongGuk huffs, “Only myself. I wouldn’t rat the rest of you out.”

“Just, please don’t do it anymore, YongGuk,” Hyuna pleads and he sighs and gives in with a nod.

After a moment of quiet, JunHyung looks to Hyuna, “It had been you that I chased to the ocean the other night.”

Hyuna nods and smiles as she remembers the scene.

“How do you…change so fast?” JunHyung asks and YongGuk looks to Hyuna as well.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“Like, whenever I…shift or whatever, I change into a leopard only, and it doesn’t happen as fast as yours. And it hurts like hell.”

Hyuna smirks, “I don’t know, I just do it. When YongGuk and I traveled, there were times when we needed a fast getaway, and in that time, I forced myself to change again into whatever I needed to become.”

“How do you do it?” JunHyung asks.

Hyuna shrugs, “Well…I close my eyes and picture what it is that I want to change into…and then from the feet to my back I look at the details and concentrate on the changes that need to be made and…it just happens.”

“Does it hurt?” YongGuk asks.

Hyuna purses her lips, “Only going from human to animal hurts the most. After that, it’s pretty easy and doesn’t hurt as bad.”

“Why not?” YongGuk asks with a turn of his head.
Hyuna thinks for a moment and then leans forward to speak, “I think it has something to do with our heart and breathing rate. Human’s rates are lower than animals, so I don’t change as easily when I force my rates to pick up pace, but when I’m already changed, my pulse and all is already high.”

YongGuk and JunHyung nod, thinking about her reasoning but not looking to each other. Hyuna begins to laugh, and the boys look to her in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” JunHyung asks.

Hyuna controls herself and glances between them, “It’s just weird to me that we all thought that we were different only a few days ago…and now we’re sitting here talking together about how it works and all,” she shrugs, “I find it amusing.”

JunHyung smiles and looks to YongGuk to see his smile. When they catch each other’s eyes, they become stoic and look away again. Hyuna laughs to herself again when the door to the shop opens, and they all turn to see officer DaeHyun and GDragon walk into the shop. They glance around, DaeHyun with an amused smile and GDragon without expression. When DaeHyun finds the group sitting at a table in the corner, his smile widens and he slightly bows in greeting.

“Hello!” he exclaims, “How funny that we find you all here again! We were in this part of town and I thought I would visit Chaelin,” he looks around the store, “Do you know where she is?”

Hyuna smiles and rises, walking behind the counter and putting an apron on, “Chaelin is out of town until tomorrow, I’m watching the store for her. Is there something that I can help you boys with?” she forces a smile on her face as CL had instructed her, but when Hyuna looks to GDragon, she feels as if his eyes would burn through her if it were not for his sunglasses.

“Oh, where did Chaelin go?” DaeHyun asks as he nears the counter and looks to the menu.

“To visit her sisters and mother in Seoul,” Hyuna replies, again glancing to GDragon as he steps up behind DaeHyun, his glasses pointing in her direction.

“Good for her! She needed a vacation,” DaeHyun laughs as he looks back to GDragon. “I’ll have a caramel cappuccino, GDragonshi, do you want something?”

GDragon holds Hyuna’s eyes for a moment longer before tilting his head slightly up to see the menu. He turns to DaeHyun, “Mocha Frappuccino,” he states quietly.

“And a mocha!” DaeHyun smiles as he hands his money to Hyuna.

Hyuna nods with a polite smile and turns to make the drinks, and DaeHyun moves to talk to JunHyung and YongGuk. GDragon walks around the shop, examining the counters, windows, and ceiling, his hands behind his back.

DaeHyun pauses and looks to YongGuk. “You have a very casual style in clothing,” he comments with a slight smile.

YongGuk looks down to his jeans and t-shirt and then back up. He smiles, “As long as I’m comfortable.”

DaeHyun nods, “You don’t have to wear a type of uniform at your job?”

YongGuk shakes his head, “Since I’m passing through, I don’t have a job in this area.”

“Oh I see,” DaeHyun turns to JunHyung, “How’s the shipping factory treating you?”

JunHyung smiles and shrugs, glancing to GDragon along the far wall, “Not too bad.”

“That’s good,” DaeHyun sighs as he looks around, waiting for his drinks. He turns back to YongGuk and leans forward, placing his hands on the table, “If you’re just passing through…how come you’re still in our small town of Chinju?”

Not a single muscle in YongGuk’s face moves as he stares up to DaeHyun, and finally, he blinks and smiles, “Oh, I’m just visiting with some of my friends,” he answers as he looks to JunHyung and then reaches across the table and pats his hands.

JunHyung stares back at him with an expression that can’t possibly hide his discomfort, but he tries to cover it up with a nod as he looks to DaeHyun, sitting back and placing his hands in his lap and away from YongGuk.

DaeHyun looks to JunHyung, “You two are…friends?”

JunHyung turns to YongGuk and purses his lips before answering with a forced smile, “Yes, we met about…a year ago.”

“Where at?” DaeHyun almost seems to struggle to keep his questioning sounding friendly.

“North,” YongGuk states.

“And you’re going…”

“South,” he smiles.

DaeHyun nods and smiles, standing up but looking down to JunHyung. His eyes look to YongGuk without him seeing and then back to JunHyung. “You staying out of trouble these days, right?”

JunHyung laughs, “Yes, of course! I told you last night…I’ve changed.”

DaeHyun smiles and backs away towards the counter, “I’m glad to hear it!”

Hyuna places GDragon’s and DaeHyun’s drinks on the counter and smiles to him. He looks genuine as he returns it and reaches for the drinks. “Thank you!”

“No, thank you for your business, officer.” Hyuna replies as she looks to GDragon.

DaeHyun walks to the man and hands him his drink. “Let’s go,” he says as he walks towards the door.

“I’ll meet you in the car,” GDragon replies, turning towards the counter while mixing his drink, “I have a question I’d like to ask the lady about the establishment.”

DaeHyun pauses in the door as he looks from Hyuna to GDragon to the boys tensing in the corner. He glances outside and finally nods, “Alright, I’ll start the car. We have a lot of area to cover.”

“Okay,” GDragon calls over his shoulder as he walks to the counter. Hyuna backs away, leaning against the far wall and grabbing a glass to clean with the towel.

She looks to GDragon as he takes off his glasses and leans his elbows on the counter, a smirk on his face. Once the sound of the door shutting ceases, GDragon looks over his shoulder to JunHyung and YongGuk, who stare at him with wide eyes. JunHyung clears his throat and sits back in the chair, looking outside, and YongGuk turns to him and looks down to his own drink.

GDragon smiles and looks back to Hyuna.

“I’m sorry miss, but I was wondering if I might be able to ask you a few questions? I’m researching locals from different towns.” GDragon asks her, and she stares back at him with hard eyes.

Finally, she forces a smile, “Well, I’m not exactly a local so…”

“You’re not from around here?”

She shakes her head, “No, YongGuk and I are just passing through.”

“But you work here?”

“We’re watching the store for Chaelin unnie until she returns.”
GDragon nods, “So will you be leaving in the weekend then?”
Hyuna blinks, “We’ll see. We might visit with Chaelin and BiRain and JunHyung longer.”

GDragon smirks as he looks around the store, “Are you staying at a local hotel then?”

Hyuna stares at him in a quiet moment and then she glances to the boys in the corner to see their eyes on her, “I’m staying with Chaelin.”

GDragon’s eyes flicker to YongGuk and then back, “And your friend there?”
“He’s staying with JunHyung.” She states.

GDragon pushes off the counter and stands straight, “You and him are traveling…together?”

“Um…yes,” Hyuna mumbles, looking to YongGuk for aid.

YongGuk seems to read her expression and stands, walking to the counter and placing his hand on the top. He turns to GDragon, “Why are you asking us so many questions? Are we in trouble for something?”

“Not at all,” GDragon answers before turning to him, “I’m only researching.”

“What kind of research?”

GDragon smiles, “Just about different people and their reactions and such,” he glances over his shoulder, “You wouldn’t be interested in it.”

“I’m sure,” YongGuk mumbles.

GDragon looks back to Hyuna, “I’m not sure if it would be considered safe for her to travel around with a man like that.”

“I’m her boyfriend,” YongGuk states, earning a pair of wide eyes from both Hyuna and JunHyung.

GDragon smiles and nods, looking over to JunHyung. “I suppose that makes more sense.” He sighs and turns towards the door, “Thank you for your patience.”

“Did you get all of the information that you require for your research?” JunHyung asks, walking over to YongGuk and Hyuna.

GDragon replaces his glasses and glances back as he opens the door with a smile. “Not quite,” he says quietly, “Perhaps we can talk again at another time. There’s many other people that I would like to meet here.”

Once the door shuts behind him, Hyuna exhales, not realizing that she had been holding her breath at all. She looks to the boys, their worried expressions mirroring her own.
“Who was that?” she whispers.

YongGuk and JunHyung look to the street.

“I don’t know,” JunHyung speaks up, “But I don’t like him.” He turns to YongGuk, “Her boyfriend? Really?”

YongGuk smiles and looks to Hyuna, making her laugh with his playful expression. “It’s the only thing that came from at the time.”

JunHyung scoffs, “Yeah, well, if we’re going to be facing more interrogations like that then we’re going to need better cover stories than ‘north’ and ‘south’ and improbable suggestions like that.”

YongGuk laughs, “Then you come up with it. If it were up to me and Hyuna, we would just leave town tomorrow after Chaelin returns.”

JunHyung purses his lips but Hyuna speaks up, “Remember, YongGuk, we’re sticking together in this,” she looks to JunHyung, “But I do think cover stories may be helpful.”

~ Jung DaeHyun ~

Reaching the car first, DaeHyun starts the engine but his mind rests inside the shop with the group of kids. He tries to think back to the description of the articles of clothing that had been taken the previous night, thinking that YongGuk’s style might match. However, the possibility of YongGuk didn’t seem very high to him. DaeHyun would need to find out when YongGuk came to town and see when the robberies began to find connections, as well as alibies.

DaeHyun sighs as he looks out the passenger window, waiting for GDragon to come out.

“What could he want to ask that girl?” he asks himself, glancing down to see GDragon’s brief case on the floor of the car.

He looks up to the street to see that GDragon still isn’t coming out, and he quickly pulls the case up and looks at it. His heart beats as he wonders whether or not he should look into it, but GDragon’s secrecy was starting to bother him. DaeHyun wants to help his hyung, but he needs more information in order to do so. GDragon had seemed to suspect something about the kids, the girl in particular, just as DaeHyun felt suspicious of the YongGuk guy. Perhaps GDragon was onto something in the case, and DaeHyun feels as if he should be let in on the information.

After one more glance to the road, DaeHyun opens the brief case and flips through the files. He finds folders on NATAS, different personal records form the chemical blast, and a file on missing persons. He pulls out the last, and flips it open to find a list of six names with pictures. DaeHyun’s eyes widen as he spots Hyori’s photograph among the other five.

“Why is Hyori here?” he asks himself, “She disappeared years ago, she wasn’t involved with NATAS.”

He reads the short bullets next to her picture. “Age, 31 as of four years ago…so she would be 35 now. Location, Chinju. Plant, YeonCheon branch,” DaeHyun looks up, “That’s near the DMZ line.” He looks back down and continues reading, “Status, deceased.” He pauses, feeling his throat run dry. He has to focus on his breathing and force his eyes to blink in order to keep reading. “Cause of death, extreme heat from the chemical explosion.” DaeHyun shakes his head, “Hyori is dead…and she was at the NATAS building?”

His pulse thuds in his wrists and his face feels warm. He looks to the bakery to see GDragon talking with YongGuk and the girl. DaeHyun quickly flips through the other pages, looking at the other photographs of the deceased. He pauses at another name and photograph. The last name “Kwon” and the facial structure similar to GDragon’s. “He said his name was Kwon didn’t he? Perhaps this is his father.”

He shakes his head and moves on to a different list. One status for one man reads, “active,” but he pauses on a list where the status of each person reads, “Missing,” to find four photographs…three looking far too comparable to the group of three within the store. “That’s why GDragon is acting suspicious,” DaeHyun whispers to himself as he examines the pictures. The boys do look like the ones inside, except that JunHyung and YongGuk have blonde and brown hair, as the two in the pictures have black. The boys in the photographs also appear to be much younger, but the date of the photograph may be older. The only picture that looks to be an almost direct match is the girl with dark black hair inside the shop. “Kim Hyuna,” DaeHyun reads her name and looks to the girl inside. “What was her name? It was Hyuna wasn’t it?”

He blinks, trying to get his mind to comprehend what he’s seen. He looks back down to the other pictures. An older looking male is considered “active,” the two boys and girl inside, as well as another younger girl with short hair, read as “missing,” and Hyori comes up as “deceased.” Six people. DaeHyun shakes his head, “NATAS,” he mumbles as he shifts through the other papers. He pulls out a sheet that’s titled as “Symptoms.” He quickly skims it, “Individuals exposed to chemicals would experience a rise in pulse and breathing race, pain in joints and muscles, heightened senses, and dramatic changes in physical appearance…what is this?” DaeHyun exclaims as he sits back and runs a hand through is hair. He looks up to see GDragon exiting the store and coming towards the car. DaeHyun gasps as he throws the folders back inside and shuts the case, tossing it to the floor and grabbing his drink just as GDragon enters the car.

DaeHyun tries to force his own pulse and breathing to slow to their normal rate as he looks to GDragon. GDragon picks the case up off the floor and resets it between his feet. He slowly sips from his drink.

“Um,” DaeHyun tries out his voice to get the shakes out, “What…what did you need to ask her?”

GDragon stares ahead, “It turns out that she’s not a local and she doesn't actually own the shop.”

“Oh, well I could have told you that! Chaelin owns the store.”

GDragon shrugs, "It doesn’t matter now.”

DaeHyun nods, pulling carefully away from the curb, but his eyes glancing to GDragon more and more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~LC~

Small update today, but with my busy schedule for school coming up, my updates will take a bit longer! Be patient! ;) but you know...new comments/subs wouldnt hurt ^__^ thanks guys!