e p i s o d e  x

“Hey Minseok hyung.”

God, no.

“Hyuuuunnnngg.”

Minseok looks up to the lab ceiling in despair. What did he do to deserve this? Can’t a guy work overtime in peace?

“Come on, hyung, let me in. It’s not like I’m Lu Han or anything.”

“Go away!” the elder shouts, struggling to regain his focus as he looks down at the slide of a blood sample through his microscope. “I’m busy!”

“I just wanted to have a quick chat with you!”

“Like hell!” Minseok hollers. “And I just want to make it through a day of work here without wanting to strangle one of you s and you aren’t making it any easier!”

“You know what they say,” Jongdae sings, the glee evident in his tone, “If you’re not a part of the solution-”

“No,” Minseok whispers to himself in horror. He wouldn’t. Out of all the possible puns to torture him with, Jongdae goes for the chemistry one?!

“You’re part of the precipitate!”

Jongdae cackles as he hears Minseok’s half strangled scream of existential angst from behind the locked lab door. Nothing better to end the day than by pissing off his coworker with one of the other’s least favorite things in the world: puns.

“Sorry about that hyung,” Jongdae struggles to keep a straight face as he goes in for the final blow. “You know I had to make these bad chemistry jokes because all the good ones… argon.”

There’s an angry click as Minseok unlocks the lab door, peeking his head out to glare at Jongdae with every fiber of his angry being.

“You’re dead to me,” the elder hisses.

“I wouldn’t have had to resort to that if you had just unlocked the damn door in the first place!” Jongdae protests, looking around to make sure no one is nearby before scurrying into the lab and shutting the door behind them. “Besides, you’re the only one who I can really discuss this with at this point.”

“If this is just another ing pun, Kim Jongdae, I swear to god-”

“It’s not!” the hacker insists as he watches Minseok jot a couple of observations down in his report. “I just... I don’t know, it’s about Yixing.”

“Yixing? What about him?”

“He’s… He’s just been acting, I don’t know, weird lately?”

Minseok pauses to look up and stare at Jongdae with a face that all but says ‘are you ing serious’. “He’s Yixing. If he weren’t acting weird around here, then I’d be really concerned.”

“Not his usual weird!” Jongdae runs a hair through his hair in frustration. “It’s just-”

He leans in, his voice barely above a whisper. “That hacked call was definitely to him.”

“Huh?”

“You know! The other day, how I was saying our phone line and the recording system were hacked a while back. It was definitely to the phone on Yixing’s desk in the front.”

“So? Maybe it happened when he wasn’t around.”

“I checked the times. It was after our usual hours. And the only ones that were left in the building other than him were you and Lu Han.”

“Oh,” Minseok pauses for just a second too long, prompting Jongdae to narrow his eyes at the elder. “Well, I guess it was him them.”

“Something happened that night between you two.”

Minseok just about chokes on air as he turns to look at Jongdae in horror. “What?! No! How the hell did you reach that conclusion?!”

“You were blushing like a schoolgirl,” Jongdae lies with a cheeky smile.

The elder claps his cheeks in horror, feeling his face begin to burn. “I was not!”

“But you are now!” Jongdae cackles, quick to dodge the embarrassed swing Minseok takes at him. While the elder may not be a trained field agent like Yifan or Lu Han, he is most definitely a gym buff and one well-aimed punch could have Jongdae feeling pain for the next week or so. “It’s not like much can happen when you lock him out and he just pines for you through the door for a solid twenty minutes anyways.”

“That’s not what happens!” Minseok squawks, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down and regain control of the conversation. “And this entire matter is completely irrelevant to whatever on earth it is that you’re trying to convince me.””

Jongdae sighs and plops himself down onto the nearby stool. “That’s exactly my problem. I don’t exactly know what it is I’m searching for or investigating at all. All I really know is that someone capable of disarming and sneaking through my security barriers made contact with the front desk of our office, where Yixing was. And that Yixing has been acting a little off ever since.”

“You could, I don’t know, just ask the guy?” Minseok deadpans, recapping his pen and sitting down at his desk with a heavy sigh of his own.

“I can’t do that! Then he’ll know I’m onto him!” Jongdae sits forward to gesture to the elder. “Look, I know I’m no super detective like Yifan or a lab genius like you but I know danger when I see it. And Zhang Yixing? For ing sure the most dangerous guy I have met by far in my entire career. And I used to be involved in some shady stuff back in my hacker days!”

“He’s our receptionist,” Minseok snorts.

“He was at a crime scene the other day for maybe half an hour tops filling in for Lu Han and managed to give the department an entirely new ing lead!” Jongdae scoffs. “I think we all know by now that the dude isn’t just a simple receptionist. For ’s sake, I get lunch with him pretty much every week and still can’t get a proper read on him sometimes! Lu Han’s known him since they were children and still doesn’t know the half of his life story.”

Minseok frowns. “He’s on our side, Dae.”

“I never said he wasn’t, I just-” Jongdae runs a hand through his hair in mild frustration. “I just- something’s going on, and I have a feeling that Yixing knows something. Something he isn’t telling us that’s related to this case and I want to find out what it is. I just needed someone to talk to about this, that’s all.”

“Alright, just- just be careful okay? I know Yixing would never hurt you on purpose but this is a lot different than our usual work. Digging too deep could possibly get you killed at this point.” Minseok shudders at the thought. He should be used to death since he practically spends days on end staring at dead corpses on his examination table but he’d be lying if he said he hasn’t seen his own friends’ cold, dead faces in a couple of nightmares.

“I know, I know,” Jongdae leans back against the countertop and stares up at the ceiling. “But isn’t that why we’re here? To find the truth?”

“Is that how you see it?”

Jongdae chuckles. “I’m not the same naïve comp sci major nerd that left college thinking that there was a black and white to everything in this world. Especially considering my past. I think it’s just a little too late for me to claim to believe in one true justice, not that I really do at this point anyways. The work I do here, the work you do here, aren’t they all just a means to find the ultimate truth behind all these crimes?”

“I suppose,” Minseok muses. “I guess calling what we do searching for the ultimate truth certainly forgives your nosy personality a lot more.”

“Details, details.” Jongdae sniffs.

Minseok shakes his head in amusement. “One day you and your snooping are so going to get you in trouble.”

“And until that day, I will hang onto the final shreds of my luck and incredible computer skills with the utmost of gratitude.”

Minseok snorts. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re a workaholic,” Jongdae is quick to quip back. “When’s the last time you had a night to yourself outside of the lab?”

Minseok crosses his arms defensively. “I have to carry my weight around here, especially since Lu Han’s team is still finishing up the last of the sample collecting at the bomb site. And with all this new evidence, I can’t afford to miss anything. We’re going to have to examine everything down to the atomic level if we really want to put K behind bars.”

“I’d be careful if I were you, working with atoms and all,” Jongdae says as he casually slides off of the stool, slowly meandering his way towards the exit.

Minseok’s brow furrows. “Huh? Why?”

“You know what they say,” Jongdae’s wearing that -eating grin on his face again and Minseok realizes his intentions just a beat too late. “Don’t trust atoms, they make up everything.”

Jongdae barely closes the lab door behind him just as the test tube Minseok throws in pun-induced rage shatters against the door. “I ING HATE YOU!”

Jongdae hurries out of the office with a cackle.

All in a good day’s work.

“Local police are still trying to determine the criminal’s motives for abandoning a rental car filled with gasoline and rigged with countless explosives in an Incheon parking garage. While public safety bomb technicians have yet to confirm whether or not the car has been defused and rendered safe to the public, officials say there is no immediate danger and ask that the local population remain calm and cooperate with investigations. More news to come after our weather update-”

“I see the lovebirds are finally up and awake!” Jongin switches off the TV and sits up from his usual spot in the living room to look over as Baekhyun and Chanyeol make their way downstairs for the first time that day. “Hmm, you all look a little more cleaned up than I expected. No post- glow or anything. No make-up last night?”

Baekhyun’s only response is to flip him the bird while Chanyeol doesn’t even so much as acknowledge Jongin’s presence, finding the pantry a much worthier subject to devote his attention towards in order to search for ingredients to make brunch.

Jongin’s lips press together in a firm line. He was really expecting a little bit more gusto from either of the pair, though they’ve probably already realized that he just likes to mess with them more for the fun of it that anything else. Figures. He’ll just have to find a new target to distract him in the meantime. “Also Baek, you should probably avoid Kyungsoo at all costs for the rest of the day. He was not very happy when he found out about your stunt on the news this morning and may or may not be out for your blood.”

“,” is all Baekhyun manages to mutter before Chanyeol flicks him the forehead. “Ow!”

“You’re so ing reckless, I can’t believe you actually did that.” Chanyeol grunts, rolling his eyes as Baekhyun dramatically holds his forehead in mock pain.

“I would say I’m sorry but I’d be lying,” Baekhyun shrugs, as if the result of his actions isn’t currently plastered across every breaking news headline across South Korea.

Chanyeol scowls but doesn’t pursue the issue any further. There’s no use arguing with someone as headstrong and as lethal as Baekhyun now that the damage has already been done. “Tch.”

“Don’t ‘tch’ me,” Baekhyun crosses his arms. “This wouldn’t have happened if you had just told me where you were going.”

The only audible reply he receives is the sizzling of the eggs as Chanyeol cracks them into the frying pan.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun warns.

“Later,” the marksman murmurs, his eyes briefly flitting back to glance at Jongin, who appears to simply be lounging on the couch and scrolling through something on his phone.

But Chanyeol knows better.

If anything, Jongin is probably doing his absolute best to strain his ears to hear listen in on their conversation. The kid’s weakness was always his knack in stick his nose a little too far into other people’s business. Makes manipulating others a lot easier, and has unfortunately saved their asses a time or two. However, it also puts him at risk a lot more if caught, and while Chanyeol isn’t the fondest of the guy, they’re working together for now and the last thing he wants at this point is for Jongin’s inability to contain his curiosity to be what sends them to prison. Perhaps he should talk to the younger about it.

Baekhyun seems to take the hint and doesn’t press the topic any further, albeit reluctantly with a pout on his face.

Chanyeol lets out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, only to crinkle his nose in an act to conceal the pain of Baekhyun’s nails digging into his arm.

“Later,” the bomb technician breathes in an almost inaudible whisper. There lingers a tinge of desperation in his tone and it isn’t until then that Chanyeol realizes just how much not knowing about Chanyeol’s previous whereabouts digs into Baekhyun’s insecurity in their relationship which is so often filled with trust and communication.

Chanyeol tips his head forward ever so slightly in confirmation and Baekhyun pulls away satisfied with his answer, letting go of his arm and returning to his original activity of making them toast.

In the living room, Jongin’s brow furrows in mild disappointment as to how quickly what he predicted to be quite an interesting conversation trailed off into nothing but a silent, domestic partnership working atmosphere. He huffs and crosses his arms, a little put out by the current development.

But his curiosity is almost immediately piqued once again when he spots Sehun suddenly come trotting down the stairs, his backpack slung lazily over one shoulder and gaze flickering down to the cellphone in his phone every few seconds. Ah yes, another favorite target of his. And when he notices the corner of Sehun’s lip twitch upward into what can almost be considered a half-smile while looking down at what appears to be a text (Sehun? Texting other human beings?), Jongin knows he’s hit the jackpot.

With almost lightning speed, he bolts off of the couch and hurtles in the direction of the front foyer to cut off Sehun’s route to the exit.

“Sehun! Hey! My good ol’ pal Sehun!”

Almost equally quick to Jongin’s previous speed, Sehun is locking his phone and stuffing it into his hoodie pocket, any traces of potential happiness wiped clean from his face as it drops back into his usual expression of blank indifference, coupled with a hint of exasperation and mild hostility since it’s Jongin he’s dealing with. “What.”

“Where are you going?” Jongin decides to start out slow, tilting his head innocently as he scans the younger’s figure in an attempt to attain any more clues than he’s already picked up on.

Sehun narrows his eyes in suspicion. “None of your ing business.”

He takes a step to the left in order go around Jongin, only to have the other mirror his movements and once again cut off his path of escape. “Jongin-”

“It’s just a question,” Jongin protests, hands up in a (bull) display of sincerity. “Is it so terrible of me to wonder where my friend is headed? To inquire about his wellbeing?”

“Out,” Sehun finally replies tersely, stepping back right but just like last time, Jongin is there. “And we’re not friends.”

“Ouch, that hurts,” Jongin places a palm across his chest in mock pain. “But whoever you were texting just now definitely seems to be your friend.”

Sehun’s figure stiffens and Jongin knows he’s got him.

“And I’m quite certain you don’t have any classes today, or really anything that would require you leaving your room, which you usually don’t bother to do. And there have been no calls from Junmyeon… which means you’re going out on your own free will to meet someone.” Jongin covers his mouth in fake surprise. “No way.”

“Shut up.” Sehun snaps.

Jongin bounces back on the balls of his feet giddily. “I’m right, aren’t I? Oh Sehun is leaving headquarters to willingly spend time with another human being, something I never thought I’d live to see the day of. Come on, spill. Is it a girl or guy that managed this incredible feat? Are you going out on a date?”

To Jongin’s shock but also utter delight, Sehun’s face flushes the slightest shade of pink as he stutters out a quick, “I-It’s not a date!”, before shoving past Jongin’s shoulder and make a beeline for the exit.

Holy , this is even better than Jongin imagined.

“IT’S TOTALLY A DATE!” he hollers at the maknae’s back, knowing that the last thing Sehun wants right now is for others to find out and try to dig into his business as well.

Almost as if on cue, Baekhyun’s shrill voice floats out from the kitchen area. “Sehunnie’s going out on a date?!”

Just steps away from the door, Sehun spins on his heel and scowls at Jongin with a withering glare before responding in his typical haughty tone. “I am not!”

Jongin purses his lips in amusement and simply raises an eyebrow. “Sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Sehun all but hisses at him before turning around and heading back for the exit. “ off, I’m leaving.”

“Hun,” Jongin calls out just as Sehun hand grasps the doorknob.

Sehun lets out an irritated sigh and looks back at the other over his shoulder. “What.”

“Just-” It must be all in Sehun’s imagination but for a moment, Jongin looks genuinely worried. “Just… Don’t get attached.”

“Huh?”

“You know,” Jongin waves his hand around flippantly, “Whoever this is. Don’t get too attached to them. You know that puts us at risk in the line of work we do here.”

Sehun scoffs and rolls his eyes. “With all the socializing you do, I think you should be telling yourself that.”

Jongin shrugs. “It’s because you never hang out with people that I’m warning you. I’ve done this long enough to not give a about the people I meet. You haven’t. Hell, you don’t even like people unless they’re dead corpses. All I’m saying is to be careful.”

“Whatever,” Sehun mumbles, pulling open the door and slamming it shut behind him. , he’s never going to hear the end of it when he comes back later. For good measure, he shouts once more, “And it’s not a ing date!”

He checks his phone as he steps out into the hallway and heads for the elevator. He’s received a new message.

Huang Zitao: okk! c u in 15 (￣▽￣)”

Almost automatically, a small smile works its way onto Sehun’s face, his previous irritation easily melting away. A foreign feeling stirs in the pit of his stomach and he pockets his phone quickly, stepping into the elevator as the doors slide open and pressing the button for the 1^st floor.

It’s already too late, Jongin.

“Hey Yifan, there’s some guy out here asking for you,” Yixing’s voice crackles through the intercom as Yifan is finalizing a report for a different department.

“That’s weird, I wasn’t supposed to have any appointments today.”

“I know.”

There’s a pause, and in the faint background Yifan hears an unfamiliar voice plea, “You’ve got to let me talk to him. It’s of utmost importance.”

Yifan furrows his brow and sits up in his office chair. “Yixing, what’s up with this guy?”

“Says he’s a witness.”

“A witness? To what?”

“Dunno. Something about a dead body.”

Yifan grunts as he leans across his desk to reach for his pack of mint gum. “That’s homicidal division.”

Yixing doesn’t take very long to respond with his usual smartass reply. “Yeah, we’re a sector of the homicidal division.”

“I know that,” Yifan snaps, though there isn’t any real gripe to his tone, “But we’re a specialized unit. If he’s got something to report it should be to the main police station.”

“It’s not that simple,” comes the unfamiliar voice again through the intercom.

“I mean, it’s pretty easy. You just dial 911 and then-”

“That’s not what I mean! I-” the man’s voice drops to a whisper, but the words Yifan picks up sound loud and clear nonetheless. “I think… that this murder had something to do with that underground crime syndicate you all are after. You know, K.”

Yixing’s hushed “oh” is barely heard in the background and Yifan’s hand almost slips from trembling so hard in excitement as he presses the talk button once more.

“Yixing, bring him to the back.”

Wow hello! It has been far far too long I is sorry :-( finals are coming soon and I am at a tournament rn but I AM NOT DEAD THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD (some characters in this story doe? for sure already dead rip) (also pls don't sue for the chemistry puns i'm a nerd IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN REGARDLESS)

Also wowowow a witness? possibly? find out next chap? I need to keep you all waiting somehow??? Hopefully next update will be much sooner??

Anyways thanks for all the patience if you all enjoyed reading please subscribe, upvote and comment! They all make me very happyyy :D

Happy Saturday!

Less than three,

PalmerPie