A clock was ticking on the wall and Himchan's hands were clasped together loosely in his lap, his right leg crossed over his left and he leant back in his seat. Beside him, Daehyun was twisting his fingers together until the knuckles were turning white, and his straight teeth were worrying so much at his lower lip that Himchan was beginning to wonder if it was going to start bleeding. There were bags under their eyes, they'd stayed out for hours searching the apartment block and surrounding area for the missing body, but nothing was found and by mid morning the partners had dragged their feet back to headquarters and into their director's office, lacking anything close to a good explanation.

So there they sat, across the table from Bang Yongguk, and Himchan knew that if there was ever an expression that could make someone cry, it was painted across Yongguk's face right then, and Daehyun was only just holding those tears at bay.

The director set his elbows on the edge of his desk and pressed the tips of his fingers together while he gazed evenly towards his agents, and while Daehyun's eyes flicked anxiously around the room, Himchan stared evenly back. In the six years he had known Yongguk, he had learned not to waste his time being intimidated by him, as so many around them were. They had met early on in their military service, after basic training was complete and they were all crammed in the barracks together south of Seoul. Himchan's bus had been the last to arrive, and most of the other soldiers had chosen their bunks and settled in by the time he came, bag slung over his shoulder and exhausted. The room bustled with life, young soldiers moving each and every direction, some excited for what was to come, others already dreaming of a home far away that they probably wouldn't see until the winter was out.

At first, it looked like all the bunks were taken but Himchan spied one way back in the corner. A large body was laying on the bottom bunk facing the wall, but the top was vacant with the simple blanket still neatly folded beside the standard issue rock hard pillow and he'd made towards it. He had hoisted his bag up onto it and taken off his shoes before he noticed the young man looking at him over his shoulder, face blank and eyes hard. His full lips were perfectly pouted, and his face was gentle but for the intensity of his stare.

“Hope you don't mind me taking this bunk, I'm Kim Himchan.” He said, glancing down at the badge pinned to the other's chest and reading aloud, “Bang Yongguk. It's nice to meet you.” It was three days until Yongguk had spoken to him for the first time, and even then the words came far and few between but Himchan didn't think he was a bad guy. On the contrary, he grew to believe Yongguk was the greatest man he'd ever known.

“I only went outside for a couple of minutes.” Daehyun said all of a sudden and both Himchan and Yongguk turned to look at him.

“I know.” Yongguk replied.

“I didn't even think to have someone stand in the room with her! People don't want to stand there and just... stare at a dead body like that, I-I thought having the cop outside would be fine! I was just going downstairs to get Himchan.” Himchan's fingers pinched at the bridge of his nose, Daehyun did have a habit of word vomiting.

“I know.”

“Who steals a body? Like, that is such a special kind of ed up, I didn't think that anyone would-”

Yongguk cut Daehyun off by lifting his hand and the boy bit his tongue. It was somewhat amusing to Himchan, he'd seen Daehyun negotiate with armed criminals, heard him interrogate known murderers and been at his side as he navigated a path between dismembered body parts scattered around a tiny room and nothing had him bat an eyelid, yet he fell to pieces in front of Yongguk. He'd laugh, if he didn't think it would make Daehyun actually cry.

“I know.” Yongguk said for a third time, “But the commissioner has already been told, and she is unimpressed. If it gets out that the Unit are losing bodies from their crime scenes, we are all in hot water.”

“Nobody even knows the Unit exists.” Himchan said.

Yongguk turned from Daehyun to look at Himchan. “The government does. Whether or not the Unit is known to the public, we are still Federal Agents, Himchan, and we will be held accountable all the same. The commissioner is looking at us with a microscope for this. We have a missing body who we can't even identify.”

“Neither of those things are Daehyun's fault.” Himchan argued with a wave of his hand.

“My hands are tied, Himchan.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I'm taking Daehyun off the case.” Yongguk said finally, and the youngest closed his eyes. Across the room a fly was buzzing incessantly along the cloudy grey painted walls. It was impossible to know how the creature had made it down there, so low below street level but it continued to buzz without interruption in search of food or an escape. Himchan's eyes traced the frantic fluttering of its cellophane wings and guessed it must have followed a temptation into the Unit's elevator where it was carried down and down to where it wouldn't have a chance of finding its way free again.

“I understand, Sir.” Daehyun said, after a beat and Himchan's focus returned to the matter at hand.

“You can't be serious, Yongguk.” He stated simply.

“As I said, Himchan, my hands are tied.”

“Bull.” Himchan scoffed and shifted forward in his seat. A knock came at the door just as he prepared to continue, and Yongguk immediately turned his eyes towards it.

“Come in.” He said, sending Himchan a pointed look to keep him silent.

The door opened and Yongguk's assistant, Jin Shinyoung stepped over the threshold with a schooled expression on her face. She had a habit of that and in all his years working alongside Yongguk, Himchan had never liked her. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she so outwardly didn't like him either.

“Sir, your next appointment is here.” She said and Yongguk nodded.

“Perfect timing. You can send him in.” Daehyun and Himchan both began to rise, taking that as their dismissal, but the director was quick to gesture towards Himchan, “You're not going anywhere. Sit back down.”

Himchan shared a final glance with Daehyun, then his partner was gone and instead through the door came another man. He wasn't tall, maybe just below average and upon first sight, he appeared to be all angles. Sharp cheekbones pointed down towards a pouted mouth and perfect jaw, while strands of jet black hair fanned out across his forehead and fell into his dark eyes that surveyed the room in short flicks, from each book in their case behind Himchan, to the fly still buzzing across the wall, then to Yongguk and finally to Himchan. He was beautiful, strikingly so and young. Himchan doubted he could be much older than his early twenties, at most.

“Moon Jongup, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, sir.” Moon Jongup said with a voice both smooth and soft, like fresh powder snow or exquisite silk. Yongguk rose and took his hand in a firm shake, then gestured towards the seat Daehyun had left empty, and Jongup sat.

“This is my lead Detective, Kim Himchan.” Yongguk gestured with his right hand towards his old friend and Jongup turned to bow his head respectfully.

Yongguk leant forward in his seat, his steady gaze shifting between the two men before him. It was something Himchan had always liked about him, he would never speak until he knew just what it was he wanted to say. That didn't mean Himchan always liked what he said, though. He definitely wasn't enjoying himself right then.

“Himchan, with Daehyun sitting out on this one, it has been arranged for Jongup to take the place as your partner on the investigation.” Yongguk said easily.

“Excuse me?” Himchan scoffed, “The body went missing less than five hours ago and you've already replaced Daehyun?”

“You can't work a case on your own.”

“Then bring my partner back.” Himchan challenged. Silently, Jongup continued to watch with sharp eyes that flicked between the Director and his Detective.

“Jongup-ssi, if you would be so kind as to leave us be for a moment. All the documents you should require for briefing are at your desk, and Himchan will take you to view the crime scene soon.” Yongguk said.

“Yes, sir.” Jongup rose from his seat without even sitting in it long enough to keep Daehyun's cushion warm. He turned and bowed his head to Himchan with the hint of a smile on his lips, then silently slipped free from the room.

The door clicked closed and Himchan turned to Yongguk, “Daehyun is a good cop.”

“No one is saying he isn't.” Yongguk's tone was infuriatingly steady, “But so is Jongup.”

“He's a kid. There is no way in hell that he is capable of working this case.”

“He's no younger than Daehyun was when you first met, and we have younger than him on our team.” Yongguk reasoned.

“We have a murderer to catch, now isn't the time to be making a point to take Daehyun off the case. He made a mistake, he shouldn't be punished like a child.” Himchan leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he tensed his palms in frustration.

“Not everything is about crime and punishment, Himchan, this isn't a Dostoyevski novel.”

“Yongguk we are literally police officers!” Himchan groaned. His right hand lifted and he rubbed between his brows with the tips of his fingers and his jaw clenched. Across the desk, Yongguk was leaning back in his seat, his gaze turned towards the frame positioned on his desk. He had never been one for decoration in his office. Cases of books and old files lined the walls, but he had never bothered the fresh plaster, or tidy desk with imagery until he was gifted an intricate drawing, an anatomical study of the human skeleton. Its arms hung limp at its sides and empty eye sockets stared unseeing from the paper, while small hand written notes and arrows gave names along either side of the form. Fibula, sternum, radius, metatarsal. It looked like a printed picture in a biology textbook, except from between its gaping ribs, blossoms of red, pink and orange were blooming outwards, their petals caught inside the cage of its chest but threatening to overflow. It had been drawn specifically to take pride of place on Yongguk's desk, and sometimes when they worked late through the night Himchan saw him staring at it as he thought. He knew how precious the drawing was to Yongguk, but that would never come close to how dearly he loved its creator.

“Jongup is here to stay.” Yongguk said finally and Himchan sighed.

“If this case goes south, it's on you.” He replied and stood and Yongguk couldn't help but smile.

“Just go do your job.”

“Yes, sir.”

*

Jongup walked away from Director Bang's office. The voices that rose in the room were muffled by the door, as were Jongup's heavy footsteps as his boot-clad feet landed against charcoal grey carpet and he took his time to properly survey his surroundings. From the outside, the building hardly seemed anything special, just a run down office block barely standing on its foundations and as Jongup triple-read the address on his phone he realised with some disappointment that it wasn't quite the set of a James Bond movie he'd been imagining. That is, not until he stepped inside. Two wide automatic doors slid open and he had been welcomed into the well heated vestibule by a security guard demanding identification, who then patted him down thoroughly and sent him through the security gate to be met by a woman with tumbling ebony hair and a honey smooth voice.

“Good morning, Detective Moon.” She greeted, “I am Agent Jin, personal assistant to Director Bang.” Behind her, a room of scattered desks was bustling with uniformed police, but instead of leading him towards it, they stepped together into the empty body of a broad elevator. A series of buttons numbered one to five were lined up vertically on a panel with a small keypad situated beneath. Her nails clicked as she tapped in a series of numbers, then with a scan of her keycard, the carriage began its descent.

Jongup had first heard rumours of Unit 12 when he enrolled in Yonsei University and moved onto campus. It had started as a whisper through the halls of the Law Faculty dorms, something the students from Seoul would spook the country kids with, and have them rolling their eyes and dismissing it as an urban myth, something no more real than the Illuminati. Later, as the weight of their Law degree settled onto their shoulders, it progressed into a joke, “Unit 12 will come and get you for that.” They would say across a staged trial, even for the slightest fictitious infraction. The South Korean federal police had eleven known units, each one focusing its resources on a different task, from patrolling the coastline to chasing cyber criminals, tackling organised gangs on the city streets, even protecting the President himself, and Jongup could see why the idea of a legendary, secret twelfth unit was so attractive to young and curious minds. He'd never believed the stories himself, until he was told they were true.

Jongup wasn't sure what it was he'd been expecting when the elevator's rickety doors slid back open, but a wide mezzanine overlooking an open plan office probably wasn't it. Television screens lined the walls, some showing live media feeds from news programs all across the world, while others displayed an array of crime scene photos, detailed maps, numbers ticking and counting something Jongup didn't know. A row of three broad desks were set up at the room's centre and through the glass wall opposite them, Jongup could see an elaborate meeting room. It appeared that the towering roof was supported by slim pillars made of steel and painted white, but at each of their bases someone had positioned a plant that crawled upwards slowly, and filled the space with green and life that distracted from the lack of windows and natural light.

“Welcome to Unit 12.” Agent Jin said as she came up alongside him and Jongup followed her down the stairs and into the belly of the beast.

With Director Bang, and Detective Kim's voices still echoing behind him, Jongup passed Jin by and walked back into the main expanse of the wide open office, now he had time to finally take it all in. It was slightly thrilling in a way, to know he was privy to a secret so coveted by the government, and Jongup felt the corner of his lips twitch upwards. His brother would love this, it was a shame he could never know. The ceilings were so high that sound seemed to echo from the televisions up into it, and Jongup's eyes followed a vine hugged pillar up to where the plant was spreading over plaster to form the beginnings of a rainforest like canopy high above his head.

“A truck crashed into oncoming traffic on Macquarie Street this morning in a tragic accident...” A prim man said in a broad Australian accent from behind a news reader's desk, and Jongup's head turned towards it. On the next television, a young woman was announcing news in French, and beyond her another was reporting in Chinese. Jongup squinted at the screen, he could see an image of something on fire super imposed behind the stoic woman, but she was talking too fast for him to understand her perfectly annunciated words.

“We keep them on in the background when we're not using them for anything else.” Jongup turned his head quickly towards the voice, just as the detective who had been dismissed from the Director's office rose from his knees on the floor. He set down a series of documents on the desk beside a small collection of bulging evidence bags and dusted off his hands, and his full lips spread into an easy smile, “Jung Daehyun.” He said, and extended his hand for Jongup to shake, which he did.

“Moon Jongup.”

Daehyun gestured vaguely to the TV's on the wall, then flicked through the pages laid out upon his desk, “It's good to see what's going on elsewhere in the world sometimes, especially when we don't have a case we're working on. This way we know when anything big happens.”

“None of them are in Korean, though.” Jongup observed and Daehyun laughed again and used the tip of his index finger to push the thick black framed glasses he wore further up his nose.

“No, but between the six of us who work here we've got a couple other languages under our belts, mostly thanks to Shinyoung-noona.” He said, and tucked the sheets of paper safely into their manila folder.

“So... Since you'll be around a while, make yourself at home. This is my desk, and opposite me is where Himchan sits, we do most of our work here. There's stationary and in the cupboards, feel free to help yourself, same with the break room, we have a microwave and everything but we usually end up heading out onto the street to get food. Gives us some time in the sun, y'know?” Daehyun's words were coming out in a rush and he was gesturing around the room as he spoke. Jongup glanced down at Himchan's desk, it was neatly organised, completely opposite of Daehyun's mess of pens and papers scattered about. Pens and pencils were kept neatly in cups, while notepads were stacked in piles with documents clipped together to keep them in order. The lid of Himchan's laptop was closed, and a small plant was positioned beside it along with a small photo kept in a gold frame of a young woman. Her black hair was tumbling down on either side of her face dotted with small white flecks of falling snow, and ruby red lips were spread into a smile so wide her eyes almost disappeared. It seemed so personal and candid that the image was captured of her when she wasn't quite paying attention, and Jongup felt like he was intruding on a moment of intimacy by looking.

“Anyway, moving on.” Daehyun said, and Jongup's eyes snapped up to watch him stride over towards the two doors built into the glass wall opposite, “So in there is the meeting room. We don't use it often but it's useful for forensics and stuff, then beside that is the break room with a couple couches and a table. Yongguk says they weren't put there to be slept on, but they come in handy if we ever need to work through the night.” Daehyun smiled again, “Downstairs is the labs where the Doc works, there's lockers and showers and stuff down there too if you don't have time, or go out in the field and end up a mess. I usually keep a couple changes of clothes there just in case.”

Jongup nodded his head. He stepped a little closer and as he rounded the desk he saw the mud that was drying around Daehyun's shoes, and the hems of his fitted blue jeans almost up to the knee. He knew the reason why the Director and Himchan were fighting was this man in front of him, complete with mud caked clothes and his brown hair wind swept and knotted.

He cleared his throat, “The Director mentioned there was a case file...” Daehyun pointed again, this time to the desk beside his. It was empty, except for a yellow manila folder tucked with a handful of printed sheets.

“Noona made one up for you this morning.” He said, then hesitated. Daehyun's fingers distractedly fiddled with the papers in his hand, and Jongup waited.

“Are they fighting in there?” He finally asked and when Jongup nodded, Daehyun winced, “Look... Himchan is a good guy. Don't take this personally, he's just... Loyal.”

“I won't.” Jongup replied. He wanted to say the same, that Daehyun shouldn't take it personally that he had been brought in to take his place, but it didn't feel like the right time. Instead he shifted on his feet and gestured to the evidence bags folded up on Daehyun's desk, “What are these?”

“Ah!” Daehyun said and picked them up, “Samples collected from the scene. Soil, fabric... Nothing that could quite be called evidence at this point... But I figured we can't come back to Dr. Choi empty handed. Since I'm not on the case anymore, I can't really be part of the chain of evidence, though, so I was waiting for Himchan to come out so he could take them down to the lab.”

“I'll take them.” Jongup said and his lips twitched into a smile, “If you tell me where to go.”

*

The elevator clunked and rattled on its way down, and Jongup made a face as the doors wheezed their way open. You'd think a technologically advanced secret government agency could afford at least a half descent elevator. He stepped out and glanced around, this floor wasn't as grand as that above. The doors opened into a shallow soulless room with linoleum floors and dull grey walls. It was just as wide as that above, but instead of being a mezzanine overlooking an open plan office it was a vestibule opposite a broad glass wall with automatic doors built in that lead through into two long rooms running parallel to one another. On the left the room was dark, with a bank of lockers build up against one wall and instead Jongup turned to the right, where he could clearly see a lab with long white counters lining either wall towards an open door at the opposite end. He stepped forward, and the automatic doors opened with a ding to signify his entry. Immediately beside the door was a sink and a half empty box of disposable latex gloves, then further along the counter was an array of beakers and microscopes leading to another piece of complex machinery Jongup wasn't quite certain the purpose of. About a quarter of the way along the room, the wall separating the lab and the space beside it fell away and was replaced instead by a glass panel that showed through to a dimly lit operating theatre. The floor was lower in there, and a set of stairs lead down from the locker room Daehyun had mentioned. Large metal capsules lined the opposite wall with a grid of handles three by four imbedded into them, the morgue.

“Who are you?” Jongup jumped as he heard the voice of a young man and turned his head towards the opened door, where he could see a boy, seated on a wheeled desk chair, looking at him with distrust. A pair of clear framed glasses sat on his nose, and a white lab coat hung from the back of his chair, while the boy himself was dressed simply in a black t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans with rips at the knees and sneakers. It was striking, how young he was, and his choice of clothing had Jongup feeling somewhat over dressed in his fitted black suit.

“Detective Moon Jongup.” Jongup said and the boy quirked an eyebrow curiously.

“The guy brought in to fill Dae-hyung's spot?” He asked.

Jongup nodded, “I'm looking for Dr. Choi.” He said, holding up the evidence bags. The boy rose from his seat and stepped forward into the main lab, clearly enticed by the bags.

“You found 'im, Detective Moon.” He said vaguely and snatched the bags clean from Jongup's hold, already peering disappointedly into them, “Soil samples, really? That's all I get?”

“You're Dr. Choi?” Jongup asked as the tall boy plopped down into another rolling chair and already started decanting the soil samples into a nearby dish so he could look at them through one of the microscopes.

“At your service.” He replied distractedly.

“You're so-” Jongup cut himself off, he probably wouldn't be the first to comment on his age.

“Boyishly handsome with a winning personality?” The doctor said, with his right eye pressed up against the microscope's eye piece. Jongup would have thought he was pissed, if he didn't see the hint of an amused smile tugging at his lips, and the detective couldn't help but mirror it with a smile of his own.

“How did you guess what I was going to say?”

The doctor pulled back from the microscope, he was grinning brightly, causing his eyes to crinkle at the edges and a small dimple to show in his right cheek, “It comes with being the Doc.” He said and offered out his hand, “Choi Junhong, it's nice to meet you, Detective Moon.”

“So you're the forensics guy?” Jongup asked as he took hold of Junhong's hand and shook it firmly.

Junhong shrugged and when their hands parted, he was reaching for a pair of latex gloves and peering at the soil sample again, “Yes and no.” He chuckled, “Technically I'm the Forensic Pathologist, but they prefer to keep all lab work in house so as not to let our operations out of the bag, so I do this as well.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.” Jongup frowned and Junhong shrugged. He was grinning again, and Jongup had quickly learned the kid's smile was damn infectious.

“Yeah but I don't mind. It's pretty cool, honestly. I like to think of it like another hobby. Excuse me,” He said and Jongup only had a second to step out of the way as Junhong launched his wheely chair down alone the bench to a cupboard holding more petrie dishes in varying sizes and he went about choosing the perfect one. Jongup watched the way his hands searched through the cupboard, certain with what they were searching for and he noticed the distinct black of tattooed ink on his bicep. At first, he thought it was a selection of geometric shapes, then when he tilted his head he saw ancient runes of some kind until finally Jongup made sense of the lines and circles printed under skin.

“Is that a TI-Fighter?” He asked and Junhong glanced down at the ink on his arm.

“Yep, and an X-Wing.” He said, setting down the dish he'd chosen and using his finger to tug up the hem of his shirt to show off the simple tattoos. It was nothing but line work, delicately placed in a line along the inside of his bicep, a TI-Fighter, an X-Wing and above them a simple rendition of the Death Star, “Cool, huh?”

Jongup nodded and came forward to get a better look, “Which's your favourite movie?”

Something in Junhong lit up at the question and he turned around to have his back to the cupboard he had been so focused on only a moment before, “A New Hope is such a classic, and the new ones are pretty good too but Empire Strikes Back is just so good, y'know?” He launched in, “The plot is like the backbone of the original trilogy, and it's so beautifully shot. The colour palettes across the three planets are just so unique, and it's so awesome the way they like juxtapose the murky green of Dagobah with the pinks and peach tones of Cloud City it's all just so well done-”

Junhong stopped talking when the signature rattle of the elevator approaching sounded and both men turned to watch as a disgruntled Himchan stepped from the carriage and headed for the lab. The doors slid open with the soft ding and he was already gesturing to the evidence bags sitting on the counter not far from Junhong, “Have you found anything?” He asked.

“Good morning, Himchan-hyung. You're cheery as always today.” Junhong said with a bright smile. Himchan gave him what could only be described as a look. Junhong continued, “There's no evidence here, Hyung. I've got a clump of soil and some mouldy curtains.”

“You're supposed to be a genius at this .” Himchan pressed the tips of his fingers into the creases of his forehead.

“Yes, a genius, Hyung, not a magician. I can't conjure up something from four bags of nothing, but I'll keep looking. Just because you asked so nicely.” Junhong stood from his chair and grabbed the petrie dish he'd set aside and carried it back towards his trusted microscope.

“Come on, I'll take you to have a look at the crime scene.” Himchan said, only turning his attention to Jongup for long enough to look at him before he was heading back the way he had come.

“I'm sure Jongup-ssi can't wait, you sound so excited.” Junhong said from where he was peering through the microscope again.

“Just find me some evidence, Choi.” Himchan said as he made his exit, this time with affection tinting his words.

“I will when you find me a body, Kim.” Junhong called and the doors slid closed.