Chapter One

~-~-~-~-~-~

 

The day had only just begun, and he was already starting to feel the irritation of little sleep seep into what was a decent mood with each passing minute.

 

Hot coffee sloshed from his cup onto the skin of his hand, causing him to quietly curse himself for dozing off. The main office was already starting to buzz with activity as he patiently waited in the main hall, trying his best to keep his eyes open. Namjoon had called an hour earlier saying something about their current case, but he honestly couldn’t recall much of what he said other than he needed to come down to the station pronto. Considering how little they were accomplishing in recent weeks, he knew it had to be something important from how serious he had sounded. Namjoon was a naturally more serious man, but there was a slight distinction in the way he spoke that gave Jin a reason to be concerned. Something strange was definitely going on, and he wanted to find out just what it was.

 

That was if Namjoon ever showed up to meet him.

 

Jin tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at the clock on the wall several times in faint agitation. Namjoon was usually always on time for everything, even when it came to just paying a bill or finishing a small task. The fact that he was already 10 minutes late made him all the more worried about whatever had happened or was happening.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” His best friend’s familiar voice muttered as he stumbled through the door, holding tightly to the coffee in his hands and the files held against his chest. “There was a lot of traffic and the coffee shop was unusually busy this morning. Not my fault this time, I promise.”

 

Despite the irritated sigh he gave him, a soft smile lit up Jin’s face. It was honestly hard for him to be irritated with Namjoon, even in his most sour mood. The moment Namjoon showed up anywhere he was, he always felt something. He didn’t understand what it was, but the only way he could describe it was content. “You're something, you know that? I was barely able to stumble out of bed this morning, I get here expecting you to explain what the hell is going on, and I’m left waiting by myself!” he shook his head, “I’m not going to let you forget the fact that you were actually late for something.”

 

Namjoon quirked an eyebrow at him. “Nine times out of ten, I’m late. Sing a different song for me, hyung.” His lips curled upwards in a playful smirk, revealing one of his dimples. “It’s about to be one hell of a day, you know.”

 

Jin laughed, following his younger companion closely as they made their way down the hall. “Whatever! It’s usually ten times out of ten, and when you called you sounded so serious I expected you to be here already waiting!” He raised an eyebrow at Namjoon, tucking his free hand in the pocket or his jacket, “Speaking of which, would you care to explain what’s going on? I honestly don’t remember anything you said earlier.”

 

“Right. I got a call from the medical examiner from that body that dropped a week ago, the rookie detective. In short, they determined the cause of death and all that, but there’s more,” he responded, brushing his hair from his eyes. “I also got the fingerprint analysis back from the syringe they found near the body. We know who did and he’s already in custody.”

 

“What were the results?” He watched Namjoon brush his hair to the side and swallowed, blinking rapidly and turning his eyes to the bland carpet of the hall.

 

“So, the cause of death was a lethal dose of ketamine via his jugular.” the younger detective bit his bottom lip in thought before a low sigh escaped his lips. “The fingerprint analysis matched to one singular Jung Hoseok.”

 

This caught Jin completely off guard, and he turned his dark eyes back to stare at Namjoon, “Hoseok? Are you serious? Detective Jung Hoseok? You’re sure?”

 

Namjoon dug into his bag and handed Jin packet of stapled papers. “Medical examiner faxed me these this morning. The fingerprint analysis with the results is the last page. For whatever reason, Hoseok killed someone from our department and he was messy about it.”

 

Jin took the packet and opened it to quickly examine its contents. Everything Namjoon stated was the truth. Jung Hoseok was the owner of the fingerprints found on the syringe, and it twisted his stomach. Hoseok had always been very kind and had good relationships with everyone at work; he was a decent detective. They had had lunch with him on several occasions, and it had always been a good time. The fact that someone they worked so closely with just turned and murdered one of their own was a shock to him. Like a switch had flipped. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “One hell of a day indeed.” he glanced over at Namjoon, “Please tell me we’re not the ones interrogating him?”

 

“You wish that, don’t you?” Namjoon chuckled. “But, actually, there’s one more thing that we have to look into after this-- it’s about Hoseok and about that drug lord we’ve been tracking for several months.”

 

“You mean, the two are connected?” Jin questioned, following him around the corner and down towards the interrogation room at the end of the hall.

 

“That is precisely what I mean. Jung Hoseok was, to be simple and straightforward, a double agent meant to sway the investigation.”

 

Jin scoffed, “Of course he was. This is just great.” he shook his head. Even if this was somewhat of an unpleasant surprise, it was also something they had been needing. Maybe finally, after all t