[Evil - SHINee]
 

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE DISCLAIMER, READ IT HERE. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. 

Byul takes a swig from her morning cup of coffee, letting the smooth liquid warm her up from the inside as she swallows. Her sigh of satisfaction turns into a frosty cloud as she pulls open the door to the police department headquarters.
 

It’s deceptively quiet.

The receptionist doesn’t give her a second glance, and Byul’s flats tap against the shiny tiles of the lobby as she traces her usual path to the third floor, which is mainly for detectives.

A frazzled male passes by, muttering to himself and twisting a small wire in his hand. Byul is about to say hello, but it’s clear that Do Kyungsoo has a lot on his mind and Byul is sure that one of the topics of choice is Mina, an officer who doesn’t seem to acknowledge Kyungsoo’s existence.

She stifles a yawn, entering the large expanse of the floor stuffed with cubicles and rooms. The glass of Junmyeon’s office reveals him poring over a file with a squint. Byul raps her knuckles against his doorframe, startling him.

“You’re going to get wrinkles if you stare at all of your cases that way.”

“Maybe I like wrinkles.”

“I like tigers but I don’t want one.”

Junmyeon struggles to say a comeback, and after a few seconds, gives up and seems to push the topic aside. “Do you want to see the updates on the case?”

Byul nods, closing the door behind her, padding to his desk, and slumping into a spare chair while the last dregs of her coffee. As much as her actions from the party at the Shilla may have helped the case, she knows that Junmyeon will want more and more details to try to piece the case together.

She can’t blame him for his obsession. She would easily admit that she is just as passionate about the case, but she’s used to pretending that she doesn’t care about much. Other than the few that know her well in the office, especially the members on the case, people would laugh at and dismiss any admission about caring.

He pushes the folder across the veneer of the desk, focusing his eyes on her as he explains. “You said that you have confirmation that his name is Oh Sehun, but we don’t have recorded proof. You serving as the witness isn’t enough, nor does it actually connect him with a crime.”

“So you’re saying we need proof that he’s the criminal. As in video or admission of his guilt.” Byul frowns, poring over Junmyeon’s notes. She knows that much. After all, she’s a trained police officer, even if she’s mainly restricted to detective work.

“No.” He shakes his head. “If this is the Kyrie, we need more. We need to understand how he works and everything that is behind him. Just finding out his name is the tip of the iceberg. We have to uncover how he functions and who he works with.”

“Did you look into his records?” Her eyes scan over the physical descriptions that Junmyeon had scrawled across the paper which is littered with eraser marks. Everything he recorded is exactly the same as Byul had reiterated to him, except for one thing. “Why did you write his hair color as unknown?”

“Oh Sehun’s records are clean. And just because he has black hair during your interactions doesn’t mean that he can’t change his hair color. Matter of fact, he probably has changed his appearance several times because it’s taken years on the case to even find out his name or a confirmation of what he looks like.” Junmyeon, as always, is incredibly thorough. “But basic online searching shows more.”

“He grew up rich and his father died early.” Byul hums in affirmation, because she had looked through the web herself after the party. “Somewhat high test scores. Has been known to travel.”

“Somewhat?” Junmyeon shoots her an amused glance. “You’re downplaying him as much as you’re downplaying yourself.”

“Pot calling the kettle black, Officer Kim Junmyeon and head detective on the—”

“Anyway,” he clears his throat with a rather embarrassed smile, which is normal as soon as any of his accomplishments are brought up in conversation. “Finding his name just means that we’re only at the starting line. Even if we can somehow piece enough information together to get a warrant and attempt to arrest him, we don’t know just how deep this case goes.”

“So we’ve gotten nowhere.” Byul sums up the conclusion that Junmyeon is toeing around. “Other than seeing the information about him that’s easy to find.”

“We know that it’s his last crime and his biggest,” he corrects. “And you’re the one who got that information.”

She had left the more detailed versions of her excursion out of her report, but she has a feeling that Junmyeon is aware of her actions anyway. As someone who runs his cases through the rules and structure of bureaucratic law, he would consider her to be somewhat of a wild card. But it’s obvious on this case that his lack of risks are hindering him.

Byul knows that he thinks the opposite of her, simply because he made that clear when she first came under his jurisdiction. She doesn’t like playing by the rules, and that makes her a liability on high profile cases. Needless to say, she has come to respect Junmyeon during the short amount of time working with him, and she is willing to play by his rules when necessary.

So she’s not exactly surprised Junmyeon is saying that not much of her findings could be used as evidence. In court, if any knowledge of her actions are brought up, the case could be thrown out for tampering. But neither of them can argue that she’s produced results.

“But it’s not enough.” Byul closes the folder and pushes it back towards Junmyeon who nods solemnly. “We have the burden of proof in this case, and that means we have to either understand everything he does during his last crime, or we have to connect the pieces of evidence of his past crimes.”

“He probably has a few places that he frequents around the city, but we don’t know them. We need to gather more evidence, and he hasn’t dropped any clues yet.”

She sighs, shoulders slumping as she tosses her empty coffee cup in his trash. “I don’t like the Kyrie.”

Junmyeon cracks a smile at her admission. “I doubt you would. He’s stolen billions of won over the years.”

“No.” She shakes her head. It’s hard to explain, because despite the Kyrie’s past crimes, he’s fascinating. And even though she’s on the other side and is one of the people working to bring him to justice, she wants to know what motivates him. “He just—he talks to people like they’re underneath him.”

Junmyeon shifts, understanding lighting up his eyes. “What did he say to you, Byul?”

A loud screech interrupts their conversation, and Junmyeon instantly cringes. The sound has become synonymous with a certain officer, and Byul has become somewhat fond of her and her abnormal behavior. Detectives are odd, and Mina is odder.

The door opens, revealing a wild-eyed female who is far too energetic for half past eight in the morning. A pair of handcuffs is snapped around one wrist, and she throws her hands up, letting the metal clang against the doorframe. Byul can hear Junmyeon wince.

“Minseok! Has anyone seen him?”

“Sorry, Mina. Haven’t seen anyone but Junmyeon and Kyungsoo today.”

“Who?” Her eyebrows scrunch together before she dismisses the subject. Byul chokes down a laugh. It’s become a running joke for her to not know who Kyungsoo is. “Tell me if you see Minseok. I need him.”

And with that, she leaves as fast as she had come, leaving a quiet peace behind.

“Minseok is probably hiding under his desk again,” Junmyeon mutters. Byul turns back towards him to see him fighting to keep a smile down.

She can’t help but laugh.

Junmyeon stretches, laughing at Jongin who is now choking because he attempted to swallow his food too fast. Despite the short break, he doesn’t feel that rejuvenated, and he knows others on the case feel the same way.

This entire month will be like that. They’re all on edge, especially because Junmyeon had made it clear that this is their final chance to find the Kyrie.

The news has trickled down to other departments, and even Do Kyungsoo had stopped by earlier, saying that if they needed technological assistance or more, he would make himself available. The man is technically assistance to the SWAT team and apparently qualified for being part of SWAT, but he turned down the role for reasons unknown.

“Junmyeon?”

“Hm?” Junmyeon looks up from his lunch at the now serious Jongin, affectionately known as Kai around the headquarters. The man is a new addition to the detective department and is assigned to another case under Yifan, who keeps insisting that Kai needs more experience, hence him being on standby duty during the party at the Shilla. He has potential, but so far, he has yet to do fieldwork.

“If the Kyrie is caught—”

“What do you mean, if?” Minseok cuts in, looking up from his phone. “We don’t really have a choice, otherwise the entire department is going to be put under fire.”

And Junmyeon would get the heat the most. He knows that. But Minseok’s statement doesn’t relieve the pressure in any way.

“But there’s a chance that the Kyrie won’t be caught, right?” Kai insists. “After all, it’s been years and this is the first solid lead that anyone has.”

“If Byul is able to get a lead like that on her first time doing fieldwork,” Minseok says slowly, “then I feel a little better about the situation.”

“You’ve been on the case the longest,” Chanyeol yawns, sprawled acros