He woke up, sweat streaming from his pores, throat hoarse from screaming. But it hadn't been the nightmare that had woken him. Rather, it was the loud pounding on the door of his apartment peppered with a call asking if he was okay.

He knew who it was. There were only a handful of people he'd trusted with the location of this particular apartment, and only one brave enough to still approach him in recent years. He opened the door, a slightly pained look on his face in reply to the mild smile given to him. "Kyujong."

"I'd say 'good morning', but from the screaming I don't think it's starting out so good." The man named Kyujong shook his head, stepping in without preamble. He looked at the room, wrinkling his nose at the mess of papers, maps, newspaper clipping, case folders and take-out boxes strewn everywhere before glancing at him. "How you get any work done in this mess is beyond me."

"Well, I never figured out how to get any work done in a room so sterile it could be an operation room so I guess we're even," he countered tiredly, leaning against the nearby pillar, nursing his throbbing temple with his knuckle. "Why are you here again?"

"To check that you haven't died and if you did, then to make sure your sorry corpse hasn't stunk up the place," Kyujong replied genially, picking up a few takeaway boxes and stacking them up. "Pretty sure that you left me this place in your will so I'm just taking care of my own interests really."

"Hardi har," he replied dryly, "well. Since you're here and have accidentally brought along that special blend of coffee that I love so much, might as well make yourself useful and get brewing."

“Fine." Kyujong sniffled affectedly, waggling his finger at him. "But only to protect my spot in your will.” That elicited a snort and a small smile from him - it had been what Kyujong had been aiming for after all. There was that flicker of satisfaction in Kyujong's eye whenever he got what he wanted, or... whenever he had a successful hit. The reminder had him turning away, expression sobering.

"Whatever, once you're done you can go. I need quiet. I need to think... I think... I think I might be nearly there."

He missed the slight frown on Kyujong's face, but he could hear the sigh in the other man's voice. "Jungmin..."

"I know what you're going to say, Kyujong." Jungmin's figure was stiff, arms folded as if trying to pull himself inward and away from the rest of the world. He looked painfully like a shadow of himself - his once vibrant red hair had grown out to its natural black, and his skin had the pallid tone of someone who stayed indoors far too much. "But I'm so close. I know I am. You know me Kyujong, I won't be able to rest until I find the person who..."

"...the person who was the cause of Youngsaeng's death," Kyujong's lips thinned as he noted the obvious wince Jungmin gave at hearing that sentence. "Jungmin. It's been two years. I don't think Youngsaeng would want you to be mulling over his death for so long-"

Jungmin turned around then, his face a near snarl. "And what? That I should really be using my time, effort and skills for the Watchers? Nice try, Kyujong. But, I don't think so."

Kyujong's eyes held a glaze that looked too much like pity, and Jungmin couldn't stand to look at him then. "... Fine, I might have an ulterior motive saying this. But Jungmin... I don't think surrounding yourself in reminders of Youngsaeng's death is going to help you either. You're just torturing yourself. Youngsaeng wouldn't want that-"

"YOUNGSAENG WAS MY PARTNER." Jungmin burst out, eyes flashing as he glared at Kyujong. His lips quivered - but Kyujong knew that expression was not one emotional but one of anger. "I think I would know what my partner would want from me."

"...And Youngsaeng was my best friend, even before he was your partner." Kyujong's gaze was hard. "I think I do have some idea on what he would want."

"SHUT UP. I STILL KNOW HIM BEST! HE WAS MY PARTNER! HE WAS... HE WAS..."

"This is stupid Jungmin. Youngsaeng was a secretive man, which was what made him such an effective informant in the first place. Just because you two slept together doesn't mean he let out all his secrets to you-"

The older man didn't even flinch when a knife flew right past his cheek, embedding itself into the wall behind him.

"Get out."

The tone of Jungmin's voice was dead - they both knew that there was truth in Kyujong's words but Jungmin would never admit it. "...There were things to Youngsaeng that you didn't know about, Jungmin. Things you might be better off not knowing. If you continue searching... I can't guarantee that you won't get hurt."

"...If I said that I don't care, would you break your vow as secret keeper and tell me what those things are?"

Jungmin's lips quirked when Kyujong looked away. "Thought not. You can see yourself out." He went over to a discarded file on the floor, picking it up. He'd been reading it halfway last night before he'd fallen asleep.

Kyujong watched Jungmin for a while before it became obvious that the other would just ignore Kyujong's presence until he left. Shaking his head, Kyujong pulled out the small packet of coffee beans he'd brought, leaving it onto the small space he'd cleared amongst the rest of the mess.

"Jungmin..." Kyujong hadn't said a single word walking to the apartment door. It was only now as he was one foot out of the apartment that he'd turned around to speak. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I just... there's people waiting for you back at the agency. We need you there, Jungmin. You're one of our best."

But his plea didn't get so much as an eyelid bat of acknowledgement, and Kyujong finally stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Hearing the door close, Jungmin took in a shaky breath, putting down the file. Kyujong was a good man, and as much as he hated to admit, Kyujong's words had had truth in them. But he couldn't give up now. He couldn't go back. Not yet. Not now.

After all, what sort of Watcher would he be if he left things open-ended like this? If he couldn't even find the reason why his partner had to die.

~*~

Jungmin sighed, swirling his drink as he inconspicuously gave the bar another once over. Nope, nothing out of the ordinary. His contact was late.

He hadn't really wanted to come here in the first place. It'd been a lead that Kyujong had forced onto him. The older man had come back a few days later saying that he'd decided to try to help Jungmin find the truth since advising him against it wasn't going to help. Simply put, Jungmin didn't think that it'd be a good lead. In fact, he had his suspicions that this was another one of Kyujong's meddling schemes.

But then, it wasn't as if he had anything else to go on. His own leads had fallen through, one leading to a dead end, the other turning out to be something entirely unrelated. And so, here he was, in sad desperation, waiting for a contact whom he didn’t really want to meet.

It took another drink before someone finally entered the bar. Someone meaning someone suspicious. He was looking around too much but trying to play it cool, ironically being way too obviously in trying to keep a low profile. Jungmin was torn between laughing and sinking deeper into disappointment. This guy was a newbie. The chances of this meeting being any useful at all was getting lesser and lesser.

Jungmin got through half his drink before the guy finally managed to determine that Jungmin was the person he was supposed to meet, despite Jungmin’s increasingly obvious dropping of signals. Hopefully there wasn’t anyone else here who knew what Jungmin was doing. At least, there wasn’t, as much as Jungmin had the ability to make sure of. He supposed his displeasure was pretty clear on his face because the smile his contact gave in greeting wavered.

“Uh… hi… You’re… um… Romeo aren’t you?” The guy asked nervously, and Jungmin wanted to groan. Fresh out of the press this one was. “Umm… I’m uhh… Jihoo. It’s nice to meet you.?”

Jungmin counted to three in his head before letting out a slow breath.

“Romeo-sshi…?”

“Why did Kyujong send you?”

The man looked startled, “eh- uh. Well, I have information-”

“No, really. Why did Kyujong send you?”

Jihoo looked taken aback, but it was clear that Jungmin had thrown him off enough that he wasn’t thinking too clearly anymore. “I… well. I’m supposed to be your new partner…”

Jungmin had heard enough. Getting up from his seat, Jungmin plonked a few bills down onto the table for his drinks - far too much but he didn’t care. He heard the startled yelp from Jihoo at his sudden departure and the sudden frenzied steps after him but he didn’t care, although his eye did twitch at the constant repetition of his call name.

The only warning he had was the sudden silence. At first, Jungmin thought Jihoo had given up. Then, his instincts perked up and he ducked to the left, barely dodging the briefcase swung down at him.

But he had barely any time to recovered before he was dodging very well executed punches and kicks. He did everything instinctively, his brain trying to comprehend the fact that the newbie who had been mumbling his way in the bar was now keeping one of the best Watchers in the organisation on his toes. No sooner than he’d caught up to the fact that he realized that he was being pushed back into a darkened alleyway, and as much as he tried to get away, he couldn’t, being pushed back into a wall.

Then, his legs were swept out from under him and he fell to the ground, barely suppressing a squawk. Then, he froze, feeling the press of something cold against his neck.

To his credit though, Jihoo was panting pretty hard, even as he pinned Jungmin down. It took him a few moments before he could speak. "Please... Romeo-sshi... Just hear me out."

"...I can't really afford not to if I don't want my neck to be slit." Jungmin said evenly, an eyebrow raised at the other man.

"..." Jihoo blinked, before he flushed in embarrassment, realizing that was true. And despite himself, Jungmin couldn't help but feel amused. "I... I'd let you go if I didn't think you would run away at the first chance..." the other man mumbled before he shook his head. "Look... The reason why Kyujong put me as your new partner is because we're after the same thing."

Jungmin's initial amusement was swept away in the wake of that presumption, "what makes you say that?"

"Because you're looking for the person who killed your partner." Jihoo's voice was soft. "So am I."

"...What connection do you have to Youngsaeng that you want to find his killer?" Jungmin asked, not understanding.

"None. Other than through the killer himself," Jihoo clarified. "My partner was killed by him as well."

It finally clicked in Jungmin's mind what this other man was saying. "We're after same guy. That's why you have information on him," then Jungmin frowned. "But why work with me? If you have information you could pursue him on your own."

Jihoo winced, "because... I'm only good at getting the information, not piecing it together. So, Kyujong suggested-"

"That you work with me," that sly .

"Yes..." Jihoo couldn't look at Jungmin's eyes, becoming fidgety. "He said that you were good at piecing things together and tracking people down, and if we worked together we might get further."

"And also, at the same time, you get a senior partner who can help train you and Kyujong gets me back into working for the organization again, at least on paper." Jungmin completed craggily, "and what if I refuse?"

Jihoo looked a little startled. "Wha....?"

"What if I refuse? Were you ordered to torture me? Threaten me into accepting?"

"Wha-no! Of course not!"

"Then what about you? Would you go to that extent? Threaten, torture me, so that you could catch your killer? And if I still don't cooperate, slit my throat?"

Jihoo seemed to turn paler with each accusation, and finally with the last question, he pulled the knife away from Jungmin's neck, getting off of the watcher. "If you truly don't want to work with me, just say so and I will leave you alone," his lips were thin, voice cold. "Good day, Romeo-sshi."

Jungmin sighed, looking up at the sky above. The sky was overcast, but there in the far distance, a patch of blue peeking out. "...Jungmin."

He heard Jihoo pause in his steps, having began walking away. "My name. It's Jungmin, not Romeo. Lesson number one, never use your call name unless it's for the purpose of leaving a trace or as a signal. Call names are ironically easier to track than real names. As long as you're careful with your real name that is."

Jihoo hadn't seemed to understand yet where this was going, "er...?"

"Seriously, an utter newbie. But I suppose I have my work cut out for me. Help me up will you?"

There was a pause, then Jihoo's hand grasped Jungmin's own. "Er. Sir, what-"

"Not sir, just Jungmin. There's no rank in the Watchers, even if I'm more senior. So what's your name? I can't call you 'newbie' all the time."

Jihoo seemed to have finally caught up, and from the way he was smiling, Jungmin thought that he might as well be staring at the sun. "Hyunjoong, s- uh. I mean. My name's Hyunjoong."

~*~

They began working together like any pair of Watchers would, except that Jungmin had cautioned himself not to get too close, making sure that their relationship was purely professional.

So at first, it was all sterile instruction as they went on stakeouts, information runs and setting up of what Jungmin liked to call their brainstorming base. Their string map, files and evidence were all stored there - duplicated of course, in case they ever needed to abandon this place, but Jungmin has a track record he means to keep. Hyunjoong listened well and wasn't averse to taking orders. But he's not entirely a robot, able to think for himself, able to improvise, and surprisingly able to keep up with Jungmin's pace. And despite himself, Jungmin began to... like Hyunjoong.

It didn't help that Hyunjoong was easy to get along with. The man could get chatty when engaged, but could just as easily sit in silence. He didn't seem to take offence too easily, even with Jungmin's admittedly short-temper. And although he could be a little off-beat in his mental process, he made it up with an abundance of easy smiles and a very disarming disposition.

A disarming disposition that Jungmin soon learnt, was the key to Hyunjoong's rather amazing skill of charming information out of people.

"You know, just a few more minutes and that guy would have probably taken off his clothes, handed you whatever you had in his wallet and probably have written you into his will." Jungmin commented lightly to Hyunjoong one night after an information run, and the trainee had come back from talking his way into acquiring the photocopies of the guestlist at the hotel that the target, Jungmin and Youngsaeng had stayed at the night of the incident.

Hyunjoong blinked at Jungmin, confused. "Why would I do that? We only needed the photocopies. Is the guy getting his clothes off and me getting into his will imperative for solving this case?"

"N-no...." Jungmin sighed. If anything else, he'd also learnt that Hyunjoong hadn't been lying when he said that he was bad at putting things together. But Jungmin had realised that it wasn't because Hyunjoong was slow or stupid or anything of the sort. It was just that his way of thinking was unique from most other people.

"No. It's just, with your skill you could charm your way into anything you wanted."

"Oh." Hyunjoong blinked again before giving Jungmin a slow smile. "Perhaps. But if I did, I wouldn't have been chosen as a Watcher. More likely I'd have been someone on your hit list instead."

"True," Jungmin couldn't help his own slow smile. "I should be glad that you aren't that sort of person, shouldn't I?"

"Maybe. Yes. Unless you regret knowing me." Hyunjoong's smile turned into a grin, as he turned around, beginning to make his way back to their base.

It had been a joke, but Jungmin's reply was serious, even though Hyunjoong probably couldn't hear him, "...No. Surprisingly, I don't think I regret knowing you."

~*~

It's after another late night, and both of them had pounding heads; Jungmin from trying to make sense of the information they had and Hyunjoong from thinking of questions to help him. And so, they've taken a break, opening a couple cans of beer and chatting about the mundane.

They've gone from favourite brands of beer, to whether beer had corn or not, to corny jokes, to air-conditioning, to winter, to favourite seasons, to funny stories of the past (and Hyunjoong teasing Jungmin that he made conversation like a girl), to Jungmin suddenly wondering how Hyunjoong became a Watcher.

"I mean, if it's sensitive and you don't want to share, that's fine." Jungmin quickly reassured Hyunjoong at his initial hesitation. "I'm just being nosy."

"Occupational hazard?" Hyunjoong joked, but then sobered. "Nah. I'm ok with it? It's just not much of a story? I was in the police force before this, and my partner got killed. I began to investigate to the point of obsession, and by luck, some how managed to connect your partner's death to mine and stumble upon the Watchers existence at the same time. You can guess what happened next."

"Yes, I can imagine." it was a join or be killed (or detained for life) situation. But usually, the choice was only given for those who were deemed to have a 90% likelihood of accepting. "Did you get thrown into the fray straightaway?"

Hyunjoong looked amused, "your impression of police combat training is too flattering if you think that. No, I had slightly more than six months of intensive training before I was thrown to you."

"Six months is pretty fast actually. Even secret keepers go through years."

Hyunjoong gave Jungmin a pained smile. "I did say intensive training." He looked away, “I wanted to get back to working again as soon as I could.”

Jungmin was quiet for a while, then he reached out and popped open another can of beer, offering it to Hyunjoong. “Cheers to the past who made us who we are?”

Hyunjoong stared at the offered can. For a moment, Jungmin thought he wouldn’t take it, but then, he felt the tugging pressure and let go.

Hyunjoong lifted the can up, giving him a soft, unreadable smile. “Cheers.”

~*~

It was yet another stakeout and they'd been at this one for 3 days and still nothing.

Their position wasn't too sensitive that they couldn't talk and joke around so that's what they did. They mostly stayed around safe topics and funny stories from their past, so it wasn't too out of place when Hyunjoong asked Jungmin about his call name.

"It was because of- because of my partner," there was a slight wince as he said it but it wasn't too bad. "I couldn't think of a call name, and kept hemming and hawing about it that he got annoyed with me, grabbed my application sheet and wrote it down," Jungmin shook his head, smiling as he remembered.

"Did you get mad at him?" Hyunjoong grinned too. He'd learned about Jungmin's legendary temper by now.

"A little. But I suppose it could be worse. He could have put 'mal' or 'horse' or something. Long story, don't ask." Jungmin forestalled the obvious question. "At least Jet Li is kind of cool. Even if that particular character is corny and unrealistic."

Hyunjoong blinked, "Jet Li?"

"Yeah. It's from the movie 'Romeo must die'. Some corny movie we were watching the day before we had to fill in the forms. Ahhh... You wouldn't know it. You're too young."

Hyunjoong blinked again, "...why wouldn't I know it? If you know it I definitely would. And if I'm too young, you would be even younger?"

"Huh? Wait." Jungmin eyed Hyunjoong. "How old are you?"

"...Twenty-eight?"

Jungmin's brain froze. "Wait. You're older than me?"

"..Yeah...?" Hyunjoong blinked, "I thought you knew? You don't do a mandatory background check on your partner?"

"I... what? No. Wait. Like really? You're older than me?" Jungmin blinked back, then the question finally sank in. "Wait. You did a background check on me?"

"...Wasn't I supposed to?" Hyunjoong looked confused. "It was in the training. And well, I only read your file-"

"You read my file?"

"Just particulars and your case records. No personal details or that sort." Hyunjoong held up hands in a pacifying gestured. "At the very least I needed to know what sort of person I was working with professionall- hey, where are you going?"

"Taking a walk so my brain can digest the fact that you're actually older than me."

"Huh? Okay? Hey, wait! You haven't told me how Jet Li and your call name tie together!"

~*~

Hyunjoong winced at the loud crack that sounded as Jungmin slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a large dent where it had landed. He winced again as Jungmin pulled his hand away, seeing the swelling and purpling skin. "Jungmi-"

"Don't." Jungmin warned sharply when Hyunjoong took a step forward. "Don't come near me now. I'll punch you if you do. And then I'll regret it, get mad and then punch you again because I'm mad."

The statement was actually laughable, but Hyunjoong wasn't laughing. Because Jungmin didn't need someone laughing over his cracked heart.

After a while, Jungmin took in a deep breath, and when he released it, it seemed as if all the air inside Jungmin had gone with it. He looked deflated, and flat. And slowly, he sat himself down onto one of their couches.

Neither spoke for a while: Jungmin too deep in thought, and Hyunjoong not even daring to breathe really. Then finally, Jungmin sighed, "I don't even know why I'm upset. It's not like I didn't know that there was that possibility. Saeng was quite a promiscuous fella, even outside his job."

Hyunjoong didn't say anything, only quickly took the opportunity to scratch his nose before Jungmin continued, "maybe it's the fact that it's a bloody government fella. I never knew Saeng had such refined taste. Then again, he used to go with all sorts, so why not a suit?" Jungmin pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Argh, who am I kidding? The guy said 'lover'. Lover. Saeng never allowed titles like that, even for a long term thing. He obviously cared about this guy a lot to be that serious about him."

And he hadn't told Jungmin. That was what was left unsaid. Of course, there could have been good reasons why Youngsaeng hadn't told him. An assassin dating a government official was scandalous and good enough reason for Youngsaeng to keep mum even to his most trusted partner. But the truth was, as much as Youngsaeng had good reason to, this secret kept from Jungmin was fuel to a deeper fear. That it was a secret lover was just a red herring. What had really gotten to Jungmin was just that it was that: a secret.

One secret meant that there was the possibility of more. And it rattled something fierce inside of Jungmin:

His trust of his partner. His trust in Youngsaeng.

"There were things to Youngsaeng that you didn't know about, Jungmin. Things you might be better off not knowing. If you continue searching... I can't guarantee that you won't get hurt."

"Or it could be that he used you as a rebound." Jungmin looked up, seeing Hyunjoong jump before swallowing. "Well... He did start sleeping with you straight after his lover died. Quite a bastard move if you ask me."

Jungmin just stared at Hyunjoong before a strange sound escaped from his mouth. Startled, Jungmin began to laugh when he realised that it'd been a strangled sound of amusement. "Yeah. It was a bastard move, now that I think about it."

But Jungmin's eyes were suspiciously bright, and Hyunjoong couldn't help but take a step closer. There was a tense moment when Jungmin's shoulders trembled and squared, defensive, but then, that moment passed, and Jungmin relaxed, unmoving even as Hyunjoong moved to sit down beside him.

It was probably quite unmanly, but since when did either care about that? So Jungmin simply laid down his head on Hyunjoong's shoulder and cried. And Hyunjoong just sat there with his posture too awkward and expression too stiff, saying absolutely nothing, and yet Jungmin's heart was eased.

~*~

It was a few stakeouts and runs after that Jungmin began to notice something weird.

At first, he merely dismissed it as coincidence. But as one incident became two, and two become three and three became more, Jungmin was beginning to think that Hyunjoong was avoiding him.

What was happening was that every time they had a plan to meet, Hyunjoong had something else on. It could be a family thing, a friend thing, a work thing (and more often not it was a work thing), or once it was even because he was sick. But whatever it was, he wasn’t free and since these sort of things were time sensitive, Jungmin either had to run them on their own, or Hyunjoong had already done it and he’d already sent an email with the information he’d found.

Even meeting up to discuss their plans wasn’t spared, and more often than not, Jungmin found himself talking over the phone for at the most fifteen minutes in the most directed and to-the-point conversations he’d ever had in life before hanging up to the sound of an uncommitted goodbye. Even mission briefs were most meandering and personal.

But Jungmin decided to give Hyunjoong the benefit of the doubt. The police had on and off seasons. And maybe Hyunjoong was the sort who got really snappy when he got busy.

But the days turned into weeks and turned into a month, and Jungmin was beginning to wonder if it was something he’d done.

~*~

“Sorry.”

Jungmin jumped, nearly shooting a bullet at the person who appeared behind him while he’d been in the middle of tracking a target. It’s pure reflex and skill that he doesn’t, realising that it wasn’t an enemy that had crept up on him. “H-hyunjoong.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” Hyunjoong squatted down beside Jungmin. “We managed to catch the killer on my recent case, so we were let out early. Who are we tracking?”

Jungmin blinked, “you mean your schedule’s back to normal?”

“...” Hyunjoong nodded, lips curling ruefully, “yeah. It is. Everything’s back to normal.”

Jungmin’s smile was slow, but it was wide, even as he straightened up, passing Hyunjoong the binoculars. “Someone who has access to recent weapon deliveries into Korea. He also does quite a bit of personal requests so we might get lucky.”

“Mmm…” Hyunjoong nodded, taking the binoculars and placing them to his eyes, “business as usual then.”

“Yeah.” Jungmin had to turn to look out at the streets so that Hyunjoong wouldn’t catch the sudden tears in his eyes. Tears born of sheer relief. “Business as usual.”

~*~

The day had started out like any normal day. In fact, Jungmin would have classified it as one of the better days. The weather was brisk and the sky a soft blue. He and Hyunjoong had another successful run and they'd gotten the trace of the killer's vehicle trail. With any luck, they'd be able to pinpoint the killer's movements in the past month pretty soon.

"Got the beer." Hyunjoong popped open a can passing it to Jungmin before popping one of his own. "Maybe let's watch a movie to relax a bit."

"Sure. Go pick something out. I gotta check my mail," his laptop was flashing with an email notification. One of his contacts had sent an encrypted mail with the subject: something you might be interested in.

"Ok. I'll get something to munch on too then. Maybe heat up the leftover japchae." Jungmin hummed in agreement as he ran his usual decryption softwares, taking a few gulps of his beer while he waited.

"We got some leftover dokbokki too. Want me to hear that up?"

"Sure." Jungmin called back, distracted as the file decryption was completed. Seemed like an image file with no message. Curious, he clicked the file to open it.

He didn't understand it at first. It was a little too dark and a little gritty - a security camera picture. Then, he examined the two figures closely and his blood froze.

They were two figures he was very familiar with. One he'd grown up seeing, and the other he'd become well-acquainted with only recently.

"I feel like frying an egg. You want one?"

"Huh?" Jungmin was only paying half a mind to what Hyunjoong was saying. "Oh. Yeah. Sure."

"Okay. Usual then. Sunny side but cooked through."

"Uhuh." Jungmin mumbled, not exactly sure what he was agreeing to. He was busy pulling up files, looking through the information that they'd found. The moments, the timeline. Some were hit and miss and there were quite a few gaps but it fit. But could it have been coincidence?

Pausing for a bit, Jungmin pulled up a file, opening it on his laptop. It was one of first few pieces of information that Hyunjoong and him had found together: a hotel guest list of the week going up to the day of the incident.

He hadn't thought of doing this until now. At the start, when he still hadn't trusted Hyunjoong, he'd ran his partner's name through but had come up with nothing. But if course. Why would have Hyunjoong used his real name for that? Typing in his search, Jungmin's heart pounded as the machine whirled.

"Hey. The food is done. Help me carry it over?"

The search was done. And it came up with one result:

'Yoon Jihoo. Room 140. Single room. Special request for room not to be disturbed till he leaves.'

"Jungmin?"

Jungmin closed his eyes, taking a deep breath that was heavy in despair. He wondered if that would tip Hyunjoong off.

"I don't know," his voice is surprisingly light. It sounded like someone else's. "I'm not really hungry all of a sudden. The thought of eating with a liar is putting me off."

Silence.

Jungmin was fast, but Hyunjoong was faster. The knife was pulled out of his hand and he was slammed to the ground. Papers flew everywhere, their table knocked over in the tussle.

As usual, Hyunjoong still bested Jungmin in close combat. But Jungmin had rage on his side. And he might have bested Hyunjoong if his world didn't suddenly slow, limbs moving as throguh treacle. And it took him a whole minute to realise Hyunjoong had him pinned, holding him down easily as the rage seemed out of him into the cold floor, leaving him numb and drained.

There is a bit of wet on his face. And he spies the beer can on the ground. There is an odd smell from the beer, he realises. Nothing he'd normally question but....

"Sorry," Hyunjoong was speaking, and Jungmin wished he could punch the other man. As it was, the only thing he could do was let out a whine. "Yeah. I know. You want to kill me. That's why I added the sedatives into your beer."

Jungmin closed his eyes, so Hyunjoong had been planning this. But before he could ponder on it further, Hyunjoong was picking him up from the ground, seating him gently onto the couch. "I wish it could have lasted longer," Hyunjoong was saying. "But I guess I shouldn't be greedy. I've already dragged as much as I could. But you have everything now, so I must let go and leave it up to you."

Jungmin didn't understand what Hyunjoong was saying, but it sounded as if he was leaving. No. He couldn't, not when Jungmin had finally realised the truth. Not when the person he'd been seeking all this was within arm's reach. Without realising it, Jungmin had lifted up an arm, whimpering as he tried to reach out to catch Hyunjoong, even as darkness began to at the corner of his eyes.

He heard Hyunjoong let out a sigh. And then a hand grasped his own and warm lips brushed over his knuckles. He let out a whimper of confusion, fear suddenly gripping him as Hyunjoong leaned close, whispering into Jungmin's ear. "Don't worry. I have high hopes for you. But don't let me down all right?"

That was as puzzling as everything else, then Hyunjoong paused as he had begun to pull away. He leaned back again and said, "I left the food in the microwave. You might want to heat the things up again after you wake up."

And that was the last thing Jungmin heard before his world fell back into darkness.

~*~