Nine.

 

"This is next to nothing." moaned Hyuk sitting at his now cleared desk. They'd had to move most of the boxes to the storage room across the hall. "How are we supposed to find a suspect, a motive, anything if there's no evidence..." he muttered laying his forearm over his eyes. They'd been there for hours already, looking over the reports for each murder and what the officers that had been previously on the case had found out. But there was next to nothing. And this was already after their first two days as a team. 

 

After their first day, everyone had been kind of tense because of the Infinite situation. They were getting no where in their investigation and it was starting to get to some of the task force members. 

 

N seemed to take this into account as he pondered what to do next. They weren't getting anything done in this outdated HQ. They needed air...but first he needed to review everything they already knew at this point. 

 

"Ken, tell us about the victims." N said, looking up from the current thick file he was reading through (or at least trying to read through), listing the places the victims were found and the backgrounds of them all. 

 

Ken sighed running a hand through his hair but nodded, looking over his notes. "The victims have all been found within the last three months, the T.O.D (Time of death) was from 6-18 hours before each victim was found. There aren't many similarities between the victims, each was killed in a different way." Ken said pausing and looking around at the others. 

 

Wonshik raised a brow. "How do we know these murder are all connected then?" he asked and adjusted his jacket slIghtly whilst fidgeting. 

 

Ken hummed slightly, a few possible answers running through his head. "At this point, it is just a theory that they are connected. All the recent murders are within a 20 mile radius of eachother. On the second and fifth victims in particular...the cuts seem to be deeper, jagged and rough. It tells me that the murderer will have had a previous wrist injury. Probably his left hand. " Ken said and signed rubbing his face. 

 

The others blinked at him. He could tell all that from just the end result. Leo sighed very slightly. At least Jaehwan actually knew his stuff. 

 

N hummed in appreciation and sat back at his desk. "Good work...it could give us an indication later on. For now though we need more information. We should follow up on each victim." He said, fixing his fringe as he spoke. 

 

Taekwoon immeadiatly stood, already half way to the door before Hakyeon's voice stopped him. 

 

"Hold your horses there Taekwoonie." he said and sat up straight clasping his hands together in front of him. "We're going to be investigating in pairs. There's safety in numbers." he said, his eyes accidentally wondering over to Hongbin as he spoke. 

 

"Jaehwan, you and Taekwoon are going to go to the nightclub where Park Seo-Yeon was last seen." N stated and Taekwoon stopped himself from groaning. He'd rather go alone. But he'd humour N for a while. 

 

"Hyuk and Hongbin, you guys can go to Yoon Jung-hoon's home, speak to his wife and see if we can add to the background information we already have. Anything out of the ordinary and what not." He said. Hongbin signed in relief and smiled at Hyuk. He felt safe with the younger man, after all he had saved his life. 

 

"What about me, oh fearless leader?" 

 

N smiled very slightly and then turned to Wonshik. "We are going to go back to school." he said before humming. 

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Taekwoon wasn't sure how much more he could take. He was ignoring Jaehwan as best as he could. Somehow Jaehwan was driving His car. His car.  He just sighed from the passenger seat, he'd let Jaehwan drive so he'd stop whining and begging on his knees in the car park (obviously attracting some weird looks from his coworkers that made Taekwoon very embarrassed.) 

 

Taekwoon wished he would of said no now though. He felt as if Jaehwan was purposely trying to scare him to death. Sure he wasn't breaking any traffic laws as such but he was cutting it pretty close. 

 

"So what's your story?" Jaehwan suddenly asked, taking a quick glance over at Taekwoon and flashing him a grin, making Taekwoon more worried. He didn't like the look of Ken's grin....it spelled trouble after all. 

 

"Keep your eyes on the road..." he muttered and sighed running a hand through his hair. 'I pray I make it through this journey alive...' Jaehwan merely laughed and smiled at Taekwoon before looking back to the road. 

 

"You don't talk much do you?" Jaehwan pondered as he pulled to a stop infront of a traffic light. They were only a little bit away from the club now. It was called 'Heaven's Shadow'. The name was weird but it wasn't the strangest name for a nightclub that Taekwoon had ever heard. He'd never heard of it, he guessed it was one of those exclusive nightclubs that you only knew about if you knew the right people.  

 

Jaehwan's finger were suddenly in his face, irritably clicking as if he were in a trance and not trying to ignore the younger man. He cringed, Jaehwan reminded him of Hakyeon a lot of the time. 

 

"Are you listening? Jease I might as well talk to myself...." he muttered before the light turned green and he sped off quickly wanting to shorten their journey considerably. "What are we doing after we get into the club?" Ken suddenly asked, voice slipping into his more professional and serious tone for a moment before his laid back grin formed on his face again. 

 

"We talk to the owner and the bar staff, see if anything out of the ordinary went on the night Park Seo-Yeon went missing." Taekwoon's response was immediate and simple. It was drilled into his head from the many times he'd said it before or even thought it. It was standard procedure of course. Jaehwan only gave a confirmation nod before he pulled up infront of the club. 

 

It was a dark building, windows tinted black and bricks missing from each wall either side of the entrance. There was a man sat on a stool outside of the club with a cigarette held between his lips, eyes closed almost as if he were sleeping. His eyes were immediately open and alert when Jaehwan shut the car door after having shut off the engine and stepping out of the car. Taekwoon merely showed his badge to the man, not sparing him a second glance as he sauntered through the doors and down the stairs immediately to his left. It was about 4:30pm now. They should be preparing for opening time around about now. 

 

Jaehwan caught up to him by time he was half way down the stairs, muttering something about calming down and 'holding his horses'. The downstairs of the night club was a contrast to the outside. It was a mixture of black and white, dark and light mixing perfectly well to create an odd sense of harmony within the room. The dance floor was a polished black abyss that seemed to go on forever and the white pillars that littered the room gave it an antique and almost historical look. The bar was opposite the dance floor and furthest away from the stairs, lit up like a Christmas tree within the club. It probably stood out a lot more when it was darker. 

 

There were a few people milling around, doing this and that to prepare for the busy night ahead. A few noticed them and others just walked right past them without a glance. Taekwoon took the lead, shoes making next to no noise on the dance floor as he made his way to the bar where there was a young man  stoking up on the alcohol. He looked up as they approached and raised a fine eyebrow at the pair. He didn't seem to be wearing a uniform, quite the opposite actually. He was dressed in a dress shirt and black trousers. Taekwoon made note of the expensive looking watch on his wrist and the gold chain he was wearing. 

 

"Is there anything I can do to help you two, gentlemen?" His accent was odd but his pronunciation was almost perfect. He looked to be the owner of the club. Though his near perfect professional bravado was somewhat hindered by the SnapBack he was sporting. He looked familiar to Leo even though the detective was sure that he'd never met this man in his life. 

 

Taekwoon sighed as his Leo chic persona came out a little more. His badge was shown a second time and this time accompanied by Jaehwan's badge. "We're here about the murder of Park Seo-Yeon. We'd like to ask you and your staff some questions." Jaehwan immediately said almost as if from a record player. It seemed as if Jaehwan had said it hundreds of times just changing the victim's name each time. It surprised Taekwoon...just how mechanical it sounded. 

 

The man seemed to straighten up and then sigh before folding the clothe that had been thrown over his shoulder. "Please follow me..." he muttered, gaze directed at his other workers that were pausing and glancing their way during the interaction. 

 

They were lead through a black door with the words 'Staff Only' printed in white across the door, down a well lit featureless hallway. The Room they were taken to was clearly an office. It was plain, devoid of anything that could act as a hint as to who used said office. 

 

The man sat down and sighed, clasping his hand together infront of him as he leant his elbows of his desk. "I'm Kim Namjoon, the owner of this club. I heard about that poor girl...it's a real shame...but I don't know how much I can help you." he said with a saddened glint in his eyes. 

 

Taekwoon kept quiet, studying the man quietly and watching his facial expression slowly twist with each thought he had in his head. Taekwoon could read them clearly from his face as Jaehwan discussed something about dates and times that he tuned out of his head. Taekwoon knew all of this already. He'd read the reports and knew what was being said. 

 

Jaehwan on the other hand was trying to get a new and better angle on the information. Perhaps there was something they'd missed. He knew that you could never be too careful. There weren't any cameras on the lower floors unfortunately (Jaehwan had checked when he was coming down the stairs of course.). But no. It seemed that the information was almost exactly the same. He sighed as Namjoon drawled on about the atmosphere of that awful night. It was going to be a long shift. 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The pins shifted into place accordingly as Wonshik turned the key in the lock to his house. The door swung open and let the December winds sweep into the house, giving it a slight chill. Wonshik didn't want to freeze, so he shut the door as soon as he stepped through, shrugging off his coat and shoes by the door. There were about 5 pairs of shoes by the door, he'd been meaning to clear them away eventually but always forgot to at some point between him walking into the kitchen and sitting down.  

 

N had decided that only Ken and Leo were to go on their 'mission' right now. His reasoning was that the school was most likely closed by now and that Hongbin needed a little longer to settle down after the incident that had taken place. Wonshik frowned at that. After Hongbin had calmed down a little, Wonshik had began talking to him more and (even if he didn't like to admit it) Wonshik already found himself becoming attached to him. They'd talked about their likes and dislikes and Hongbin had even taken some photos of him, much to Wonshik's own dismay. He liked Hongbin. That was what made it hurt all the more. 

 

He did his usual routine, depositing his keys on the kitchen counter and unwrapping his muffler from around his neck. After all it was starting to get cold now with Christmas just around the corner. He didn't want the winter chill to bite at his skin each time he left the house. 

 

Wonshik suddenly paused and stood up straight breathing out a sigh. "I didn't expect you to be so quick." he muttered and tossed his scarf besides his keys on the counter before brushing past his visitor who made an indignant noise and grasped his shoulder, giving him an awkward man hug before letting him go. 

 

"It's so nice to see you too, Little Brother." the sarcastic comment usually would have gave Wonshik reason to crack a small and innocent smile. However his face stayed devoid of emotion, almost to a point where his face ached. They looked almost nothing alike. It was a wonder they were brothers at all. But they were. And that's what counted. 

 

Wonshik continued on into the living room and wasn't surprised to see his usual seat was taken by another man with black hair and a peaceful perhaps even thoughtful expression on his face. He looked up as Wonshik entered and furrowed his brows in confusion. You see usually whenever they visited Wonshik would be thrilled, smiling and whining that they should visit more. However now both older siblings watched as their youngest brother slumped down on the sofa without a word. Something was definitely wrong. 

 

The oldest sighed and sat besides his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder about to speak comforting words but was surprised when Wonshik turned and glared at him shrugging his hand off.