“Ouch!!”

                “Hold still Jongin! This isn’t supposed to hurt as much!”

                “Well it does now! Ouch!!!”

                “Okay okay okay stop.” Kyungsoo walked over to Jongin and grabbed his left arm. He pulled out the cuff from his wrist and Jongin almost fell to his feet, the numbness in his whole body giving way.

                “Does it really hurt as much?”

                “It does.” Jongin mumbled, half dead. “You might wanna turn down the voltage.”

                “Got it. The Electro-Shock Cuffs go back to the lab.” Kyungsoo tossed the cuffs back to one of his assistants. “Make sure you take a note of that.”

                “Yes sir.” The assistant nodded, his white lab coat sparkling under the fluorescent lights. This is the P.I.E Weapons Testing Facility, and Jongin just volunteered himself as a test run dummy for some of their new weapons. So far, he has tested the Ultrasonic Boombox ( nearly blasted his ear drums off), the Invisible Ring (only half, it was more transparent than invisible) and now the Electro-Shock Cuffs, which sent bolts of static electricity through his whole body, meant to stun the oppressor.

                “I really appreciate you doing this for me.” Kyungsoo smiled. “Our usual test volunteer couldn’t make it today and we couldn’t have done this much without you.”

                “It’s my pleasure.” He smiled. “So what’s next? Do I get to try a stun umbrella or some secret formula for growing moustaches in 3 seconds?”

                “No such thing.” Kyungsoo laughed. “This time you get to eat.”

                “I do?!” Jongin’s eyes brightened instantly. “Finally! I knew there was a perk to this job!”

                “Try this burger and see what you think.” One of the assistants handed him a plate burgers and fries on the side. Jongin eyed the burger suspiciously.

                “What does this do? Make me fall asleep? Do I turn blue or something?”

                “We can’t tell you that now can we?” Kyungsoo lifted up the burger to his mouth. “I promise you won’t turn blue though.”

                “How’s the testing coming?” Kyungsoo whipped his head to see Baekhyun and Chanyeol returning from their interview with Hani. Jongin raised a hand and waved, the other holding onto his burger.

                “We’ve had more misses than hits so far.” Kyungsoo sighed. “Most of the stuff needs more upgrades. Apparently the Invisible Ring is more See-Through than Invisible.”

                “That’s a shame. I wanted to try that one so badly. I’ve been begging for one since I started working here.” Baekhyun sighed. He patted Jongin on the back and asked “How’s it like being a test dummy?”

                “Not bad. I get to eat. Any new leads?”

                “Well we now know that Hani is in an unhappy marriage as she plans to file for a divorce, she shares a close bond with her mother, no current evidence on whether or not she has an affair with the driver although she admits that she does flirt with him and Burger King has decided to pull out their Bacon Burger Surprise which is tragic and Hani is a big fat liar.”

                “What?” Kyungsoo just blanked out.

                “Hani lied about being in a happy marriage. We found court documents for a divorce.” Chanyeol chuckled. “The Burger King one has nothing to do with the case.”

                “On the plus side I also found out that EXID Cosmetics uses all natural ingredients in their skin care line. Perhaps I should try one of their products soon.”

                “I think it would be a good idea to head back down to our office and discuss what we know thus far. I called Amber and she says her autopsy results should be out tomorrow, but we already know what she died of based on the preliminary results she just sent me.”

                “What is it?” Jongin asked, the bits of his finger.

                “Poisoning. If she took a pill before going into the bathtub, she must have taken a poisoned one and died in the bath tub.”

                “Poisoned by what? And how?” Kyungsoo puzzled.

                “That’s what we need to discuss.”

                “Okay, I just need to *hiccup*.” Jongin clamped a hand over his mouth. A bubble had just escaped out of his mouth and flew in the air. Everybody stared at him and back at Kyungsoo.

                “Er Kyungie, was that supposed to happen?”

                “No, it was supposed to be a truth serum. The formula inside the beef patty was supposed to make someone tell the truth.” Kyungsoo grabbed his notes and started scribbling down again.

                “Well I don’t feel like telling anything *hiccup*.” Now two more bubbles flew out. “Except that Chanyeol jerks off to gay .”

                “KIM JONGIN YOU ASSHAT!!” Chanyeol kicked him straight in the .

                “And once when I was young I lied to my parents about going to the library but really I went to a bar with my friends and tried smoking but it stinks and I hate it.” Jongin blurted out again.

                “It’s back to the drawing board with this one.” Kyungsoo sighed.

                “Baekhyun looks like a chicken on steroids.”

                “ you Jongin!!” Baekhyun jumped to his feet and chased Jongin around the room.

                “Or maybe not.” Kyungsoo took down more notes. Jongin had stopped running as he bent down, choking and retching. A giant bubble escaped his mouth as everyone stared in shock, horror and a bit of disgust.

                “Yeah it’s back to the drawing board.” Kyungsoo sighed.

**************

                “When will this wear off?” Jongin groaned, holding back another hiccup as he helped himself to some water.

                “In a couple of hours or so. Do you feel any pain?” Kyungsoo massaged his lower neck, feeling sorry that he has put him through such an ordeal. Baekhyun had already threatened to beat him to Kingdom Come and Chanyeol has already kicked his several times.

                “No, just a lot of belching.” Jongin burped again, and a few more bubbles escaped. “Chanyeol once shaved his head to impress someone.”

                “Seriously?!” Baekhyun laughed as Chanyeol glared at his Bubble Belching Asshat of a best friend. “How did that work out for you?”

                “Four words. No girl and hair.” Chanyeol groaned. “Can we get down to business? Jongin it’s best you shut up and wait for the effects to wear off.”

                “Okay.” Jongin nodded.

                “Right, let’s review what we know so far.” Chanyeol got up to the board and drew a circle around the Dame’s picture. He labelled it victim and pulled the other suspect’s pictures surrounding the victim, labelling them as such on the touch screen panel in their discussion room.

                “Okay, victim died before 8.30p.m, found in her bath tub. Preliminary cause of death was drowning but now with the second autopsy we know that she died of poisoning before she drowned.”

                “Meaning her time of death is much earlier now.” Baekhyun noted.

                “Yes. Time is still uncertain and what substance used to poison her has yet to be confirmed as well, but it must be something rare because usual poisoning methods like arsenic and lead can be detected in the first autopsy. The method of poisoning her is also still unknown. Poison still takes time to react so unless we know what kind of substance was used, we can’t tell exactly when she died.”

                “But there were no other marks on her body right? The only way she could be poisoned was by consumption.” Kyungsoo pondered, pulling out her autopsy file record on the screen.

                “That is correct. We found pills on her table in her room, so those are our current leads from now on. She could have been poisoned with a meal, but her stomach was found to be empty during the autopsy, meaning her last meal was at least 6 hours before she died. If she poisoned during her meal she would have died much earlier.”

                “It could be a fast reacting poison too.” Jongin mumbled, hiccupping again at the end.

                “And we have our suspects. First is Kris, her ex-husband. They have been estranged for a number of years since the divorce and seems to harbour no ill feelings of sort, at least not the kind that would allow you to murder someone.” Chanyeol circled Kris’s picture with his finger. “Does his alibi check out?”

                “It does. Jongin and I scanned the CCTV records that Baekhyun copied for us, and he was seen entering the building with Tao around the time of the murder.” Kyungsoo nodded.

                “What about the others? Luhan? Sehun? Hani? Jongdae?”

                “Hani and Jongdae were spotted too. Luhan and Sehun did not arrive until 8.00p.m.”

                “Kris seems to be the least probable suspect here. Sehun on the other hand, has been known to have a very strained relationship with his mother. But we don’t know much yet. As for Luhan…”

                “No way, not Luhan!” Baekhyun rushed forward, blocking Luhan’s picture with his hand. “Luhan would not do such a thing. He’s a former agent for heaven’s sake!”

                “I understand how you feel but we can’t leave him out of the loop. His alibi was different from the others and if he had a very bad relationship with his mother in law he could have intentions to kill.”

                “Plus he has the gadgets and the experience.” Jongin spoke up and another bubble escaped. Kyungsoo just shushed him.

                “Jongin is right. Whoever did murder her must be someone manipulative and calculating because they left no traces behind. Luhan would be an obvious reason because he has had the experience and we can’t overlook that.”

                “Yeah but don’t you think that would be too obvious?” Baekhyun pointed to him. Chanyeol shook his head, knowing full well where Baekhyun was coming from, but he just couldn’t overlook his suspects like that. That was not how it worked.

                “Then we have Hani, the seemingly prime suspect now.” Chanyeol continued. “In an unhappy marriage which let’s not forget, started with her mother and now is suspected of having an affair.”

                “But she is very close to her mother.” Baekhyun contradicted.

                “But her actions are arousing suspicion. If her unhappiness has led to any sort of conflict with her mother she could be the criminal. And then we have Jongdae, the only member of the family on good terms with The Dame. But we can’t rule him out too. He’s known to be a philanderer and to many in the business world as cunning and deceptive.”

                “He does have a reputation.” Jongin nodded. “Didn’t he invest in some of her projects as well? If the projects are losing money and so did he, maybe he secretly has ill feelings towards her.”

                “Good point. The Dame has been obsessed with this earthquake model experiment for years. She has been hitting up everyone she knows to join her in trying to ensure the model succeeds but so far it has done nothing but fail. The investors doubt her, and her own children have abandoned her.”

                “This has something to do with her own experience as an earthquake survivor.” Baekhyun reminded. “She lost a husband and a son. It must be terrible traumatic.”

                “How about the driver? Remember what Luhan said? If anyone loved him more than Hani it would be The Dame. Is he her secret lover?” Kyungsoo bought up, completing another circle around the driver’s profile. The group fell silent and stepped back, looking at the map of relations between the six supposed suspects and the victim. Chanyeol raised his finger and pointed.

                “We need to know more about Xiumin. Is he having an affair with Hani or his employer? Is he really being treated very well as Luhan mentioned? Is he connected to this in anyway?”

                 "According to his employer file his real name is Daniel Lee and he has a Japanese citizenship. He graduated from University of Tokyo with a degree in biotechnology. Sounds strange that he would apply for a job as a driver." Kyungsoo furrowed his brows.

                “And what about Sehun? We don’t know anything about him and even Luhan.” Jongin mentioned. He opened his mouth and saw that no bubbles came out anymore.

                “I have a funny feeling about this earthquake in Costa Rica.” Chanyeol tapped his fingers on the table, eyebrows furrowed together. “She lost her husband and child, and it remained forever a huge part of her so much so she was willing to lose millions in the hopes of creating an invention that would one day predict earthquakes.”

                “It costed her a divorce, finding out her husband was gay which led to a son that moved out of the house, forcing her daughter to marry Jongdae which made her daughter unhappy and now her life.”

                “Something happened during that earthquake.” Chanyeol mused. “I have a feeling our murderer is connected to that. Everything happened because of that. It’s the centre of the web we are trying to unravel.”

                “Perhaps we should head to Costa Rica to find out.” Baekhyun said. Kyungsoo looked at him and smiled.

                “Hey that’s a great idea! We can hit up Jungkook and Taehyung and get them to help us! We can look through archives and hospital records to find out what exactly happened!”

                “Whoa whoa, are you actually suggesting we fly there?” Chanyeol’s eyes widened in shock.

                “Well duh what else? Let me tell you, Suho just purchased this new jet and I have been dying to try it for months. We finally have the perfect opportunity and I don’t have to fly economy anymore!!” Baekhyun jumped in his seat and did a mini celebratory dance but his face dropped instantly when Chanyeol shook his head.

                “No way. I can’t leave the country! We’re supposed to be working on the case here in South Korea! Can’t we just email the government and ask them to send the files to us?”

                “The details about the earthquake are in the library and national archives and they are not going to let a second grade detective, a freelance reporter, a tech nerd and a pole dancer get a hold of it.” Baekhyun gestured to everyone in the room. “Besides those papers will be in Spanish and you wanna bother to bring those papers over here and get them translated? Now we have two of our own P.I.E agents stationed in San Jose and we can get them to help us.”

                “That’s right. 300 agents worldwide.” Kyungsoo high-fived Baekhyun.

                “But the investigation….”

                “Tell you what, just give us the orders now. If we hurry, we can notify Suho on leaving for Costa Rica, get the papers done in an hour, and you can leave tonight. The remaining half of us will carry out the investigation here and wait for Amber’s full autopsy report.” Kyungsoo suggested.

                “If that’s the case then I’ll stay here.” Chanyeol said.

                “Nuh uh,” Jongin protested. “You’re the head of this investigation you should go. You can take Baekhyun with you. Kyungsoo and I can do the rest here. We’re already planning to see Luhan and Sehun tomorrow as well as head back to the crime scene to check the grounds.”

                “I don’t know…”

                “Chanyeol, since I’m your best friend,” Jongin breathed. “You need to get out of this country. Seriously. You haven’t slept well since the investigation began, you hardly ate or even washed. Your eyes are so red, your hair is falling out and you’re beginning to smell.”

                “Has the truth serum wore off yet or not? You’re still talking funny.”

                “Jongin’s right. You should go. It doesn’t have to be long.” Kyungsoo looked over at Baekhyun, exchanging glances. Baekhyun seemed to have understood what he wanted to say or do because he got off his seat and walked over to where Chanyeol was sitting. He kneeled down before him and looked up with gentle eyes, his hands on his Chanyeol’s forearm.

                “Come on. This is the best way to find the truth, and I know deep down inside you agree with us.” Baekhyun’s hands felt light against his skin as they ran up and down slowly on his forearm. Baekhyun kept his eyes trained on Chanyeol’s, his head tilting slightly as he pulled himself closer, so that he was placed in between Chanyeol’s legs.

                “Please say yes.” Baekhyun whispered softly, his gorgeous hands now on Chanyeol’s chin, as his fingers ran along his jawline. He knew exactly what the other person was trying to do. He should say no. He should stick to his guns, but Baekhyun’s fingers were so distracting. It felt like it was everywhere. On his arms, face, chest, lips, thighs and even his heart, gripping it so tightly he felt like he could combust. His fingers ran along his chest, slowly, slowly moving down…

                “Okay okay. I’ll go. Baekhyun will come with me and the rest will stay here.”

                “Yes!!!” Baekhyun pulled away and jumped up triumphantly. “Come on Kyungsoo, let’s go tell Suho!!”

                “Finally!” Jongin smiled. “This is Chanyeol’s first time flying with someone he likes!!”

                “You like me?” Baekhyun’s mouth formed an O shape before a cheesy naughty grin spread all over his face.

                “I thought I told you to shut up Jongin.” Chanyeol groaned, slamming his head against the table.

                “I’m sorry! I guess it hasn’t worn off yet.” Jongin apologized. “That wasn’t much of a secret though. The secret is that the only reason why I volunteered for this dumb gadgets testing is so that I can spend more time with Kyungsoo.”

                “WHOAAAAAAA!!!!” Chanyeol’s head shot up as he and Baekhyun teased the two of them at the same time. Baekhyun pointed at a red-faced Kyungsoo and Chanyeol stared at his best friend, who had just realized his mistake.

                “No wait! I didn’t mean to say that!! What I mean was that Kyungsoo’s really cute, I mean uhm, he’s nice and uh…”

                “Come on Soo, let’s go tell Suho what we want before lover boy here spills everything out and starts writing love songs.” Baekhyun pulled his partner’s arm and the two spies ran out excitedly as Chanyeol got up from his seat and slapped Jongin’s arm.

                “I didn’t know you felt that way about him.” He teased.

                “The same way you don’t realize how attracted you are to Baekhyun when even a blind man in Abu Dhabi can see it.” Jongin burped a little and a small bubble escaped.

                “You better hope this wears off. No one wants to kiss a bubble gun.”

                “No one wants to kiss an overworked and depressed either.”

                Chanyeol tackled Jongin on the table and tickled him, making all the bubbles in his system fly out as he gasped for air in fits of screams and laughter.

A/N: There is a steamy scene in the next chapter, in which I wrote listening to jazz scores from those classic P.I movies back in the 70s. The music was sooooooooo y and it just fit the whole vibe that I was going for, so if you're excited to find out about Baekyeol's steamy scene and Kaisoo's relationship then please stay tuned!!

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*throws you guys a wet Hunnie as a gift* XD