The call came not long after dawn, when Jongup was still twisted in blankets and wrapped in dreams. Lights flickered across his vision as he skimmed between sleeping and awake until the blaring sound of his ringing phone jolted him. He reached blindly for it across the mattress and brought it against his ear.

“Hello?” He asked gruffly. He felt movement on the mattress and peeked open one eye to watch the approaching body of his cat, Goyangie, and welcomed her with half a smile against his chest. For a moment the other end of the line was silent, and Jongup his fingers gently down the length of her side, he could feel her purrs rumbling through her form as her eyes fell closed and she chased sleep again, warmed by his skin.

Static crackled, then Yongguk's voice came rumbling into Jongup's ear, “She's been found.”

It took all of seven minutes for Jongup to be dressed and on the road. A man had found her while walking his dog, Yongguk had said, on the side of a mountain east of Seoul. He hadn't known how long she had been there, but Junhong would, and he assured uniformed officers were watching over her every moment until she could be brought back to the Unit's examination rooms. It saddened Jongup to know she had to end up there, her pressed against the cold and sterile metal of Junhong's examination table to be cut open and taken apart like machinery for scrap. He just hoped their search through her body would give her a name, so that she didn't have to spend eternity alone.

The roads were still mostly empty so early in the morning, and Jongup made it out of the city and into the mountains before the sun had fully risen. Red and blue lights flashed through the trees and Jongup could see them when he was only half way up the mountain. Families were peering through open curtains as he drove past, parents holding their children close as they watched on in horror. He didn't know how fast news spread around there, but he guessed it was already filtering its way through phone lines and across social media. Nothing could be kept secret these days. Well, almost nothing.

He parked between two police cars, and held his overcoat closed against the morning wind with his left hand, while his right flipped open his identification wallet to flash his badge to the officers standing guard along the expanse of fluorescent crime scene tape. One of them lifted it up for him, and he ducked underneath and into the cordoned off carpark beyond. It wouldn't be long before the crowds started to gather, it was good they'd set up a perimeter to keep them out. No one should have to see what Jongup was about to.

Uniformed officers were rushing around him, and every now and then a siren sounded while lights flashed and refracted off the surrounding trees, illuminating everything in an eery red and blue glow. Ahead of Jongup was the path that lead down into the trees, but he saw the ambulance parked not far within the perimeter and veered towards it instead. Both the back doors were hanging open, and a man was sitting on the ledge with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and a Poodle seated at his feet. He was rubbing his fingers across the creases in his forehead, while Himchan nodded along to what he was saying with his arms folded across his chest. Not even early mornings could ruffle Himchan, Jongup observed as he came closer. The agent was wearing the same sleek overcoat he had the day before, and he somehow appeared rested which was frankly just unfair.

Himchan noticed Jongup as he came closer, and greeted him with a single nod of his head. Jongup reciprocated it.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Shim.” Himchan said with a solemn smile, “I'm going to get someone to take you and Huchu back home, but one of our Uniformed officers is going to need to come take an official statement in a little while.”

“Of course, of course. Thank you, Detective Kim.” The elder man said earnestly, and as Himchan bowed and turned away, a uniformed officer came forward to him home.

“He find her?” Jongup asked, falling into step alongside Himchan.

“Mm.” He said, “Or, well, his dog did. I'll make sure the local police check in on him over the next few days, see if he's doing okay.”

Jongup didn't need to respond, so he nodded instead. In front of them, the uniformed police had began rolling back the yellow crime scene tape to allow another car through, a black sedan not too unlike Himchan's own that pulled to a stop only a few metres away. The two agents walked towards it as the driver's door opened and Junhong stepped out and ran his fingers hastily through his mess of dark hair and flashed them half a smile.

“I'm sorry I'm late, I had to stop by HQ to grab my kit.” He said. He was wearing the same clothes he had been the night before, with an overcoat that sat too-big on his slight form and a small silver stud pressed through his right nostril. The cabin light stayed on a moment after the Doctor slammed his door closed, and Jongup saw an empty mug of what he assumed had once been coffee tilting haphazardly in the centre console's cupholder, with the of a cigarette laying sodden and extinguished in the bottom. Himchan must have seen it, too, because he followed Junhong round to the boot of the car and helped him open it.

“You okay?” He asked in a lower tone.

“Why wouldn't I be.” Junhong replied. He was stripping off his coat and pulling out a folded plastic suit he could pull on over his clothes to prevent contamination of the crime scene. It made a loud sound when he slid his feet into its protective guards, like the crinkling of a tarpaulin on the ground.

“Does Bbang know you've started smoking again?” Himchan folded his arms and watched Junhong zip up, “He hates it when you do.”

“What I do in my personal time isn't a concern of Yongguk's.” Junhong grabbed his bag and slammed the boot closed, “He's not my boyfriend, he's my boss. Where is she?”

Himchan watched Junhong for a moment with pursed lips, then tipped his head in gesture towards the path disappearing into the trees, “She's down there.”

They followed the path down the side of the mountain, to where they could look out and over Seoul glittering on the horizon. The sun was already up and bathing the quiet forest around them with a soft yellow glow, and the red and blue bustle of the carpark above was barely noticeable. The uniformed officer leading their way, Park, gestured off and between the trees once they made it to a pair of guarding cops, and all three men ducked low under the branches to make their way off the path to where the body lay lifeless between melting piles of snow. Himchan and Jongup paused to pull gloves on over their cold fingers while Junhong stepped forward and set his case down beside her.

Twigs and sticks were twisted in her hair that fanned out over the ground around her, her hands were folded too neatly across her stomach, and red thread had been stitched across with careful precision. She hadn't just been dumped, she'd been posed.

“Good morning...” Junhong started in a hushed tone, “My name is Dr. Choi, but you can call me Junhong. I'm going to be looking after you from now on.” He spoke softly as his gloved hands moved along the exposed skin of her wrist, feeling the texture of her muscle through the latex with his brows furrowed, “I'm sorry we don't know your name, but I promise we are going to find it, just like we are going to find the person who did this to you. Is it alright if for now I call you Noona?”

Himchan stood back with his arms folded and watched the way Junhong's fingers pressed into her forearm, then her bicep. Every touch was gentle, like she was alive and he was doing his best to examine her without causing pain, or discomfort. “With the extent of rigor mortis what it is, I estimate she must have died at least thirty hours ago, but I can get a more accurate timing back at the lab.”

“That would be consistent with what the paramedics told Daehyun yesterday morning.” Himchan noted. His eyes were focusing on the red thread sewn between her lips, “This is new.”

Junhong followed Himchan's gaze and grimaced. He gently rest her arm back down across her stomach and moved to gesture with the tip of his pinky finger at where the red thread penetrated her skin, “These were put here a long time post mortem. See how there's no blood or swelling around the puncture marks?”

“What about her fingers?” Jongup came closer. Junhong glanced at him, then down at her hands.

“There's a little bit of blistering where they've been burned. I don't think she was alive, but it must have been pretty soon after death.” He frowned, then glanced around her body, “I need to take some samples from the scene, then get her back to the lab and take a better look.”

Himchan nodded his head and straightened up again, “You, call four more officers down here. I want them surrounding the scene's perimeter while the doctor works.” He said to Park standing a little way off towards the pathway, who withdrew his radio from its holster and spoke quickly into it.

“Do I need a babysitter?” Junhong asked without lifting his head. His fingers were feeling slowly along her scalp, like he was giving her a massage.

“No, but if Yongguk found out I left you alone in the forest with a body that's already been stolen once, hers wouldn't be the only liver you'd be weighing this afternoon.” Himchan turned back to Park as footsteps started approaching down the mountain path. Jongup could already see fluorescent green peaking between the trees as the police advanced, “Where does the path go?”

Park dug around in his pocket, and withdrew a map. It was creased and bent, the laminated coating around it cracking to disfigure names of roads and towns and Jongup could see him squinting down at it, then looking wide eyed around them to determine their location.

“Down the side of the mountain.” Jongup provided. Himchan and the Uniform both turned towards him, “It follows the waterways to where they meet the river at the bottom of the valley. There's a carpark there, and other walking tracks.”

Uniforms flooded the pathway, then came through the trees and stood around Junhong while Jongup followed Himchan back towards the mountain path, with Park taking up their tail. It was steep, and Jongup knew it would only get steeper as it descended into the valley, corroded from years of rain and weather weighing down onto it.

“You know the area well?” Park puffed. He was stout, middle aged, one of the senior attending officers at the scene. He had a kind face, though, creased from expression and worn by wind.

“I grew up not far from here.” Jongup said, with his hands tucking back into his pockets to keep the tips of his fingers warm.

“Aah, I did my service nearby. Quite a long time ago now, when you would have been just a wee little thing.” Park chuckled. Ahead of them, Himchan kept his gaze focused forward, but Jongup knew he was listening.

“The old base near the lake?” Jongup turned to glance back at Park.

“The very one! Spent some very long summer nights down by the water there. A beautiful spot, beautiful spot.” Park rubbed his hands together, “You know it?”

As a boy, Jongup had found it fascinating, the big stone walls wrapped around the complex hidden away between the trees. He'd always loved the forest, and in summer he'd often take off his shoes and feel the damp grass soft between his toes, or climb up into the trees in search of squirrel's hideaways, or birds nests. He didn't want to disturb them, though, he just liked looking at them, learning about them. Everything seemed so magical to him, and he wanted to understand where it was that birds chose sticks to build their nests, how deer knew the best food to eat, and why in the middle of nature, man would want to build a wall.

“Very well.” Jongup nodded.

“Did you do your service there, too?”

“No.” Jongup replied, “I haven't done my service.”

On the side of the mountain, in the shade the snow had yet to thaw, but the path was still slick with wet from the rain that loosened pebbles and stones and when Park stepped somewhere unsteady, he stumbled. Jongup was quick, though, and extended out an arm to catch him.

“You okay?”

“My-my.” He chuckled again, one hand gripping Jongup's bicep through his coat as he nodded, “I'm fine, I'm fine, but I don't know if my legs are steady enough to get me much further.”

“Will you be alright to get back?” Park straightened up and nodded his head.

“Don't you fuss about me, but take this.” He slipped his radio from its holster at his waist and pressed it into Jongup's hand, “Radio up if you need anything, yes?” Jongup nodded, and Park's hands drew back from around his upper arm. He turned and followed the pathway back the way they'd come, and it was only a few moments before he'd disappeared from sight, and Jongup felt like he and Himchan could be the only human life for miles.

The path grew more unsteady the further they went down, eventually growing so steep it was cut into stairs only stabilised by the odd plank of mossy, rotting wood. Creeks that ran down the side of the mountain had overflown from the recent rain, and in parts it flooded the pathway, sending them clambering between trees and over brambles to avoid the slipping mud. Sticks crunched under Jongup's boots, and in his hand the radio buzzed to life, “Detective Moon, can you hear me?” Park's voice crackled through static.

“Loud and clear.” A bird launched off from a nearby branch, and Jongup ducked.

“The coroner has just come to collect the body. Dr. Choi is just finishing off, and he's getting ready to leave.” Park said. Jongup could hear voices in the background, then the rumble of an engine, “I'm sending a squad car down with a couple of officers to meet you at the river, just in case you need assistance.”

“Thank you, we'll meet them down there.” With a click the transmission ended, and Jongup tucked the radio back into his pocket.

“Do you make a habit of befriending uniform at every crime scene you attend?” Himchan said, without glancing over his shoulder.

“I don't usually attend crime scenes, but I figure being nice to people is only going to work in my favour.” Jongup's breath fanned out in a billowing cloud, and he tucked his hand deeper into his pockets to try and bring a little more feeling back to his fingertips.

“What do you mean you don't usually attend?” Finally, Himchan stopped and turned to face Jongup. His brows were furrowed low over his eyes, and his lips dragged downward, “You haven't done your service, you don't visit crime scenes, tell me how exactly you got chosen for this?”

“The criteria by which you were chosen isn't the only criteria available.” Jongup said evenly.

“Oh yes of course, I was put on this case because I'm good at my job, but there's any number of reasons how someone else could be selected.” Himchan pursed his lips and stood back to look Jongup head to toe, “I know the name and family of everyone in government, so I think it's safe to rule out nepotism.” Himchan held up one finger, as though ticking things off a list, “You're young and attractive enough, but I don't think the police commissioner is into boy toys, she's too smart for that, but the minister of defence has made questionable decisions in the past and from how easily you have the Uniform fawning over you, I'm sure you could talk your way into his bed quite quickly.”

Jongup didn't laugh, though he felt tempted, “You really think I need to sleep with politicians to get a job?”

“Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried.” Himchan scoffed, “What about your service, though? Are you a coward, or do you just like avoiding responsibility?”

“Maybe I'm a conscientious objector.”

“What, you don't like violence, so you became a cop?” Out of the corner of Jongup's eye something moved, then the sound of crunching sticks echoed through the trees.

“Did you hear that?” He asked.

“Hear what?” Himchan folded his arms over his chest. The sound came again, this time closer to the pathway and Himchan turned towards it. Blackberry bushes were twisting between close growing tree trunks with beads of crystal water dripping from the tips of their branches. Everything was very still, other than the puffing clouds of breath sliding from their mouths with every exhale.

Very slowly, Jongup pulled his radio from his pocket, “Park?” He said quietly.

It buzzed and murmured for a moment, then came to life again, “Detective Moon, what can I help you with?”

“Those officers you sent, they wouldn't happen to be coming to meet us on the path, would they?” Himchan gestured with his head, and Jongup nodded. Both of them quietly took a single step forward, towards the edge of the forest.

“No, they'll wait for you by the river.” Park said, “Is something wrong?”

“I think... We've got company.” Himchan took another step forward, and a stick broke under his weight with the faintest crack. Everything went silent and a cloud passed over the sun, casting a shadow through the forest. Jongup's eyes were searching between the trees, hoping he would find the arching spine of a deer, maybe a rabbit searching through the undergrowth but instead he met the dark eyes of a man.

For a beat, they just looked at one another until in a sudden rush of movement, the figure launched himself out from where he hid in the brambles and took off at a run down the sloping hill towards the river, making Himchan curse, “! Go down the path, try and cut him off!” He said over his shoulder as he leapt over the twisting brush and into the forest and Jongup didn't hesitate before he was doing as asked.

He took the stairs two at a time in his race to beat the man to the bottom of the mountain. His feet landed in muddy puddles, sending splashes up the legs of his pants, while water started to seep into his shoes and around his toes. Through the trees he could see flashes of colour, the murky green of the man's jacket then the charcoal grey of Himchan's coat getting closer and closer. The man ducked and swerved through the trees quickly, and though Himchan was hot on his heels, he couldn't quite keep up his pace and the space between them was starting to widen.

Jongup's thighs were burning in protest as he stumbled his landing on the final steps, and ahead of him the path was opening out to where he could see the river glittering in the sunlight. It wouldn't be much further before he could round the corner and cut the man off, he'd thought, but by the time he was spilling out onto the road, he'd lost sight of him. He looked around, his chest heaving and face flushed red, for any sign of movement between the trees, but the man had vanished.

“Where'd he go?” Himchan grunted once he'd broken free of the brush. His shoes and pants were a mess of mud, and somewhere along the way a tree branch had sliced across his cheek. Jongup shook his head and Himchan's hand ran through his hair in frustration, “!”

Static was crackling from the radio gripped tightly in Jongup's hand and Park was calling his name, “Moon? Detective Moon? What's happening?”

“We lost him.” Jongup panted into the air.

*

Jongup didn't notice the sound of the elevator anymore as it rocked its way underground and opened up with a wheeze. Mud was caking the soles of his shoes and around the hem of his pants, and while the automatic doors to Junhong's lab opened with a melodic ding he scuffed his feet on the comic Welcome mat positioned outside.

“Here he is!” Daehyun said. He was standing in the doorway to Junhong's office, holding a paper cup in each hand, and he extended one towards Jongup as the man approached.

“Sorry I'm late.” He said. Through the glass that separated the lab from the cutting room, Jongup could see Junhong and Youngjae both wearing lab coats and aprons, with caps covering their hair as they stood over their identified woman who lay on her back with her body concealed by a white sheet up to her neck.

“No worries. You haven't missed anything yet. We're just about to open her up.” Junhong's voice came through a speaker and he pulled a face mask on over his mouth just as Jongup stepped into his office. It wasn't big, but it was comfortable. The floor was polished cement, with a colourful rag rug spread across it that looked soft to the touch, and although a large desk took up the entire right wall, the left half was reserved for a comfortable looking red couch, complete with neatly arranged pillows and a selection of blankets folded and piled together at one end. Along the wall opposite the door was a selection of neatly drawn anatomical illustrations, coloured and labelled with intricate precision. First was a heart, beside it a skull with the flesh stripped back and each muscle detailed against bone, and finally came a human eye. They were beautiful, in a Frankenstein-esque kind of way, and Jongup remembered the image placed on Yongguk's desk that ran along a similar theme. He made a point with himself of not thinking about that too deeply.

“Thanks.” Jongup smiled to Daehyun as he took the cup of steaming coffee from his hand and turned to face the window. Himchan and Yongguk were already taking up most of the couch, and as Junhong's knife made the first incision, Daehyun stepped forward to perch himself precariously against one arm rest.

“Himchan told us you met someone in the woods.” Yongguk said, but he didn't take his eyes from where Junhong was folding back the skin of their victim's torso with careful hands.

“I don't know if met was the right term.” Jongup leant against the wall and took in a long sip of the hot drink. Himchan's gaze was focused foreward, but from where he stood Jongup could see the scratch on his cheek had been cleaned, and was hardly noticeable at all. His elbows were resting on his knees, and he'd managed to change clothes since returning to HQ. If only Jongup had been so lucky.

“Unidentified female, estimated between ages thirty and thirty-three.” Junhong said, to the tape recorder perched not too far off, “Autopsy has began at oh-nine-three-seven hours by Doctor Choi Junhong, with Doctor of Psychology Yoo Youngjae assisting.”

“Do you really need to say the 'of Psychology' bit every time?” Youngjae rolled his eyes, and from the way Junhong's eyes crinkled, Jongup could tell he was smiling behind his mask.

“There are no signs of abrasions or wounds, defensive or otherwise on the victim's body.” Junhong continued on.

“Any sign of cause of death?” Yongguk's arms were folded over his chest and he watched every movement of Junhong's hands from beneath furrowed brows.

“Not as of yet, no. I'll need to check her lungs for water, and run some other tests on her heart and kidneys.” Junhong looked up and through the window towards Yongguk, “She's been scrubbed clean, though. There was nothing under her nails, and the only things I've found in her hair or on her clothes so far have been sticks and leaves from the scene today.”

“Running tests on her heart and kidneys, you mean like for natural causes?” Himchan shifted forward in his seat.

“Clearly someone has taken and dumped her body, but she hasn't been strangled or hit over the head, shot, stabbed or anything.” Junhong gestured to her body with his right hand.

“Suffocated?” Daehyun tried.

The doctor moved up alongside her and used the pad of his thumb to gently lift the upper id of hr left eye, then gestured at the whites with his pinky finger, “If she were suffocated she'd have ruptured blood vessels in her eyes, or across her face, and usually there would be some kind of defensive damage to her fingertips. Broken nails, scratch marks et-cetera.”

His voice was static through the microphone with the whirring of the extractor fans rhythmic and constant in the background.

Jongup wasn't sure how long they sat there, watching the two doctors dismantle her body piece by piece. It was hard to watch when they used tools to crack open her ribcage so Junhong could reach inside of her chest cavity and pull her apart like pieces of a puzzle. First they took out her heart and weighed it on the scales, then her lungs, then liver. Junhong narrated every movement and touch, making note to his later self of everything he saw, everything he noticed that he may want to revisit. Somewhere after her bones cracked Daehyun's face had gone grey, and he was trying to look everywhere except the body, though Himchan and Yongguk remained intent.

“Hey Jun, do you smell that?” Youngjae asked. Junhong had poured the contents of her stomach onto the scale to weigh, and now Youngjae was transferring it into a container to be re-examined closely later.

“Smell what?” Junhong asked. His head was bent over her liver, and he was moving his fingertips across it slowly, searching for abnormality.

“It's like... I don't know but I... It's...” The stuttered words had Junhong looking up from his examination just in time to watch Youngjae crash to the floor, unconscious.

“Youngjae!”