“Remind me where we are going again?”

“To Siwon’s office.”

Seeing how worried Eunhyuk suddenly looked, Donghae hurried to reassure him?

“He has nothing to do with the murders.”

The detective let out a relieved sigh and Donghae couldn’t help to smile. He could be so cute… But he soon became serious again, because even if Donghae was sure he wasn’t the Checkmate killer nothing proved that he wasn’t the Classic one… He hoped it wouldn’t be the case that’s why he didn’t share his doubts with Eunhyuk; he had already suffered enough, no need to give him more pain with an uncertainty.

A few minutes later they were going up the stairs to Siwon’s lawyer office. It was Donghae’s turn to let out a relieved sigh when he saw that his brother wasn’t there. Siwon was surprised to see them.

“Hey you two! What are you guys doing here?”

“Hyung, we need your help!”

Siwon threw a questioning look at Eunhyuk, who shook his head; he didn’t know what the brunet was looking for either.

“Do you remember a case you defended of two kids, the oldest brother stabbed his mother in self-defense but was incarcerated?”

Siwon seemed at the point of saying something else but the question took him by surprised and suddenly looked absolutely mortified.

“I do remember it… It wasn’t one of my finest moments.”

The analyst felt a bit guilty to remind him such unpleasant memories, but they didn’t have time to lose.

“Do you have the files? Can we see it?”

“Hum, sure… But Hae… Shouldn’t you be at the hospital right now?”

That stopped Donghae on the fly. Why would he have to go to the hospital? Seeing that he had no idea of what he was talking about, the lawyer explained.

“Your brother… It was stupid really, but he burned himself making coffee… I drove him to the hospital he is fine! I wanted to call you but he said he would…”

Donghae’s heart clenched… It was usual for his brother to get hurt and end up at the hospital, with his condition it was nothing new. But for him not to call… that was rather unusual. Siwon looked guilty.

“I know about his condition I should’ve paid more attention, I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine… When did it happen?”

“A few hours ago…”

Donghae was itching to call his brother to check on him, but right now they had something more important to take care off.

“About that file…”

“Ah right! It’s a closed case so there’s no problem in you reading it, but I have to admit that it’s your brother who classified everything and I have no idea where he put it.”

“Do you remember the date?”

Siwon told him and they went to the file room. Eunhyuk was strangely silent, he was almost calm, which Donghae thought it was strange but at the same time was glad about it; he was respecting the brunet’s moment. But before he could open a drawer he came close to him and whispered.

“You should call your brother…”

“It’s fine really. This file is more important.”

“Hae…”

The detective forced him to turn around and stared deeply into his eyes. He understood how worried Donghae actually was, even if he tried to hide it. A silent conversation passed between them and Eunhyuk smiled at him.

“Call him. Siwon and I can look for it.”

“Thank you.”

Then he went outside the office, letting them look for the file. After 2 rings his brother picked up.

“Hey you.” he said with a detached voice.

“Hyung…”

With his reproachful tone, Donghwa understood that he knew.

“Siwon told you?” he sighed. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you in your work…”

This time it was Donghae’s turn to sigh. What was he going to do with his brother, seriously?!

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“It’ll probably leave a scar, but that’s fine. It’s even a bit heroic I have battle scars.”

“A battle you had with the coffee pot and that you lost, I don’t really see it as heroic…”

Donghwa burst out laughing and that reassured the youngest a bit. Of course it’s not like he was worried about his brother’s pain since he felt none, but rather he was worried about his body, which he really didn’t take care of.

“Do you need me to pick you up?”

“No it’s fine; I’m already going home now. So we’ll see each other for dinner?”

“Sure! But you’re not cooking! We’ll order in tonight.”

He could almost see his brother’s smile at the other end of the wire.”

“Alright, alright! I promise I won’t touch the pans!”

“See you tonight then!”

“See ya!”

Then he hung up. Donghae was glad he listened to Eunhyuk’s advice to call his brother, his heart was lighter now. For a while now things had come back to normal between the two brothers, and Donghae was really glad to find this complicity once again. The brunet went back to the file room where the two men were still searching. Hearing him enter, Eunhyuk turned around, curious.

“How is he?”

“He’s fine thanks. Did you have any luck with the file?”

“I don’t know how your brother does to find anything in that mess…“ Siwon said, emerging from a pile of files still on the ground.

Donghae laughed, and they continued looking for it. In some point the detective couldn’t take it anymore and dared finally say.

“I suppose I can’t ask anything until we find the file?”

“It’s better if I show you.”

“What is this case about anyway? And how did you know Siwon represented it?”

Finally, after a few minutes he found it. Pulling out the right file, the brunet smiled proudly.

“You’ll understand soon.” he turned to Siwon. “We found it! We are borrowing it, hyung.”

Then they bid Siwon goodbye and got back in the car. The lawyer was totally confused, but it was better this way. Donghae thought it was better if they reviewed the case home… Eunhyuk’s home of course. But waiting to be there, the brunet explained some of what he knew to the detective.

“My brother told me about a case Siwon defended a few years ago, two brothers living with a mother who worked as a e, she forced the oldest to work too which he did, to protect his little brother. But then things went south and one night, trying to protect his little brother, the oldest stabbed his mother twice in the abdomen. Siwon tried to plead self-defense, but the oldest was incarcerated.”

“What does that story have to do with our killer?” Eunhyuk asked, still confused.

“That’s what I want to see.”

They arrived, and as soon as they passed the front door, Donghae went straight to the living room, scattering the files on the table, while Eunhyuk brought the white board. Grabbing one file the analyst started reading it, while the detective read another one. They were trying to have the whole story in one piece and Donghae was trying to find all the hints he was sure would be there. Again Eunhyuk was being of a supernatural patience.

Changmin and Changsoo were the names of the brothers. At the same time he was reading the files, Donghae compared it with the police database. In the files there was a small resume of the brothers’ life, how, since he was only fifteen when his brother was put in prison, the youngest was thrown into child care. But he never was adopted and didn’t integrate well the system. He stopped going to school and after he entered the military at eighteen, he completely disappeared. But that didn’t surprised Donghae… he probably changed his name.

When they were