"So."

Sunggyu paused and looked around the room. It was now three days later, and the agents found themselves back in Conference Room Eleven. This time, however, Sunggyu had managed to find the time to join them. The head of Seoul's CSI branch was standing at the front, arms crossed and eyes raking over all those sitting before him.

"So."

Even Woohyun, who was known to have quite a close relationship with the Boss, kept his mouth shut. Cracking remarks right now would be like adding fuel to a blazing hot fire- not  a very good idea.

"It's been eight days." Sunggyu nodded almost angrily at the whiteboard. All of the key information had been scribbled there. But with a total of three victims and details from all cases, the board was practically covered in heavy handwriting. "Eight days. More than a week since the first murder. Are you kidding me?  I thought you people were better than this. Just what have you been doing since then? Waiting for the killer to waltz through our doors and give himself up?"

Myungsoo raised a weary hand. "No," he said, sounding tired and worn-out. He'd pulled another all-nighter the day before, only this time it hadn't been because of Sungyeol. He'd actually had a few leads he'd been caught up with (but, truth be told, there had  been a few moments he'd allowed his mind to wander to the newcomer). "From looking at the victims' backgrounds and records of ex-convicts in the area, we've pulled together a list of possible suspects. But I'll be frank with you. It's seriously doubtful and weak at the moment. They all have too narrow of a focus. Kwon Changsun, for example, has the motive to have killed Lee Minhee. He was in love with the girl, whom the minister told us had zero interest in him. Changsun also has an extremely violent and short-tempered personality. Maybe he killed Minhee when she rejected his feelings for the nth time.

"Or it could be Son Yejin. Younger sister of Son Taehyun." Myungsoo shuffled through his notes. "A drinker, gambler, and apparently in a lot of debt. She knew that her brother had included her in his will. She was to gain a decent sum of money, roughly $10,000. And you never know. Desperate people in need of cash will resort to desperate methods."

"But it doesn't add up." Hoya took over Myungsoo's explanation. The intelligence agent was staring at the board, brows furrowed and eyes deep in thought. "These motives are the only things we have to link the victims and suspects together. There's no DNA or visual proof to back it up. Plus, the suspects are only listed for one  victim each. They have absolutely no connection to the other two who have been killed."

Sunggyu gave a frustrated sigh. Reaching for his water bottle, Myungsoo glanced at the older man. He noted the dark circles underneath his eyes, the rather haggard air surrounding him. It wasn't only the agents who were worrying about this case. Sunggyu was also stressed, maybe even more so than them.

"He's smart, whoever we're searching for." Sunggyu pointed to the left side of the whiteboard. Labelled as 'Criminal Profile', it had the best possible description of the killer which Youngjae had pieced together from case facts. "I know this is obvious, but I'll ask anyway. Do any of your suspects fit this profile here?"

Myungsoo recalled how Youngjae had previously described their killer.

"He's clever," the intelligence agent said, pushing his glasses up. "Clever enough to plan beforehand how he wants to carry these murders out, while at the same time completely evading our trail. I don't think his style is erratic- there's a reason why the victims have been killed differently. He's neat and orderly, judging by how Son Taehyun was found, but also powerful and unpredictable, as seen by the strength used and the various methods of killing. I also believe he's experienced abuse or trauma of some kind in his life. More often than not, a killer this cold-hearted will have a past of psychological pain feeding their motives."

"... No. No one on the list fits this profile," Myungsoo confirmed after a minute.

"," Sunggyu cursed loudly. Almost everybody who heard him was surprised. Sunggyu rarely swore. He had never liked saying such degrading words. But this case- this Mockingbird Killer- must have gotten him really riled up if he was willing to mouth profanities. "Does this guy even exist? He's left us virtually nothing. No traces of DNA, footprints, or any other visual evidence. We don't know what his motives are. We don't know how he's linked to the victims. We-"

"We don't even know how he got the little birds," Chanyeol interrupted cheerfully.

Sunggyu glowered at him. Shrugging, Chanyeol said, "It's true. You know that Northern Mockingbirds aren't native to South Korea, right? The killer must have transported them here somehow. But the only transcripts we could find are of the city's aviary, which has birds from almost everywhere in the world. And we checked. Kahi and I went there to confirm their number of mockingbirds, and all were present and accounted for."

"This bastard..." The Bossman sounded like he could have used an aspirin or two. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing. "Okay. That's what we'll have to figure out, too. I want you two, Chanyeol and Kahi, to look through all live animal transcripts again, as well as registers for this certain species. There's a chance you could have missed something. Northern Mockingbirds don't just fly to Korea."

He turned towards Myungsoo's direction. "You and Sungyeol can expand on that list of suspects. Broaden your view to outside of the city. Look primarily for those with a record of anything similar to this, or even a history of having faced extreme mental trauma."

The other agents were then assigned their duties: interrogate the suspects for a second time, come up with connections that could link the victims together, and try once again to find any witnesses of the three murders.

"Good job keeping the mockingbird details hushed down," Sunggyu grudgingly added as the others filed out. "It's confidential from the public, and the last thing we need is press attention on that matter."

When it seemed like the last agent had left the room, Sunggyu sighed. He slumped his shoulders, allowing his exhaustion to catch up with him. Conference with the agents, check. Now he had to finish his remaining pile of paperwork and phone the head of Korea's National CSI Bureaucracy, who was demanding to know why they hadn't caught the killer yet-

"Yo, Boss."

Turning around, Sunggyu saw that it was Woohyun approaching him. Oops. Guess the room hadn't been as empty as he'd thought.

"What?" he snapped at the latter. Woohyun hadn't spoken a single word the entire meeting, a fact which Sunggyu supposed he should be grateful for. If he'd been made to listen to talk from a wise guy, he was sure he would have exploded right there and then. "Don't you have a case to investigate?"

Woohyun nodded.

"Sure I do," he said, casually leaning against the wall. "In fact, that's what I'm about to do now. But forget about me." He eyed the older man up and down.

"When was the last time you took a break?"

Sunggyu nearly snorted. Had this guy not been listening for the past half hour? There was a scarily devious murderer loose in the streets of Seoul. More people would soon find themselves as his victims. Sunggyu couldn't take a break. He couldn't afford to. "I don't know, it may have been a while. I lost track ever since this killer came to our attention," he answered sarcastically.

Raising a brow, Woohyun said, "But don't you think your health has some importance, too? I mean, look at you. Your hair's a mess. Your eyes have bags under them. And haven't you been wearing that same outfit for the past three days?" The agent wrinkled his nose.

"Well, excuse me," Sunggyu flared up. Really, he had no time for this kind of chit-chat. "I've been stuck here filling papers after papers, wondering when the hell you'll find a good lead. Any day now, the Director will barge into my office, threatening to replace me with someone who's more competent and can get results. I can't be like you, Woohyun. I can't just take a break whenever I damn feel like it."

Raising his hands in defense, Woohyun responded, "Whoa, take it easy. All I'm saying is that you can afford to take care of yourself, too." He examined the Boss for another moment and tilted his head.

"Tonight, I'll be visiting The King's Pub. It's a secluded bar on Chestnut Avenue, right behind the church where Lee Minhee was found."

"So? Tell someone else if you want to get wasted, not the person who signs your paycheck."

Woohyun grinned. "My goal isn't to get drunk," he replied cheekily. "Thought I won't refuse if the opportunity presents itself. No, I'm going to see if there's anyone who knows something about the girl's murder. I know Sungjong already went, but with a different barman and different patrons today, there's a chance we could find a potential witness. Maybe somebody who saw the murderer leave the scene."

Sunggyu narrowed his eyes. "And why are you telling me this? What do you want me  to do about it?"

"Come with me," was Woohyun's simple answer. "God knows you could use that break."

Was he being serious? Sunggyu stared, dumbfounded at this absurd suggestion. "I just told you what kind of problems I'm busy dealing with, and you want me to go drinking  with you?"

His companion rolled his eyes. "If it makes you happy, think of it as work. You're helping to investigate one of the crimes of an elusive serial killer."

With a shake of his head, Sunggyu groaned. "You're taking this case way too lightly, if you ask me. I hope for your sake, Nam Woohyun, you actually manage to find a witness there." He pursed his lips as he surveyed the waiting man in front of him.

"Are you paying?"

Woohyun feigned a look of shock. "Me?  I'm offering to take you on a getaway to forget your problems for a night, and you want me  to pay?" Eyes twinkling with laughter, he added, "Well, I might. If you ask nicely."

This time, Sunggyu really did snort out loud. "Glad to see your generosity hasn't been affected by all of this." But as he began to make his way out of the room, he could feel some of his tension drain away. Good ol' Woohyun. He could always be counted on to make Sunggyu feel better (albeit in his own weird, annoying way). "If you drink too much and start hitting on me again, I swear I'll leave you in the bar this time."

"Then I should pick you up at ten?" He heard Woohyun ask behind him.

Sunggyu couldn't help the little smile appearing on his face. "Don't be late."

-----------

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The sound of the ticking clock was the only thing to be heard. Other than that, everything else in the office was quiet- the computers, the printers, and the telephones were all in sleeping mode. Every cubicle seat was empty, too, except for one. It was occupied by a man equally as mute as the office appliances.

Myungsoo was grateful for the silence, actually. His lack of sleep had somehow turned into a rampaging headache, one that only a hot cup of tea and sleep medication could fix. He really needed to stop this habit of working through the night. Or at least, learn to be more time-efficient and self-disciplined.  Because honestly, if he was going to keep thinking about a certain rookie during his precious sleeping time, Myungsoo might as well get a diagnosis for insomnia. He couldn't let himself keep thinking about-

"- Sungyeol."

The ravenet jumped. A sudden voice had appeared out of nowhere, startling him out of his thoughts. When Myungsoo looked around, he saw that it was Sungjong, who was standing beside his cubicle with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"What? Oh, it's you, Sungjong," Myungsoo blearily said. "Sorry, what did you say?"

The slender man shook his head in a pitying way. "You must be really tired if you didn't hear me come in. I said, what are you doing here? I thought you were making a new suspect list with Sungyeol." He handed the hot drink to his friend. Myungsoo was grateful; a cup of caffeine was just what he needed to keep him going for a few more hours. Accepting the cup, he took a few large gulps of the coffee before answering Sungjong's question.

"I am," he said, putting the cup down. "Sungyeol's already in Data Room One. I'm only here because I left some of my notes behind, and I wanted to have all with me while we look through records. And then, I guess... I don't know. I just wanted a moment of rest. It was so quiet and peaceful. And... And there was something else bothering me, as well."

"What's the matter?" Sungjong pulled the nearest office chair out and plopped down on it. "Is it the case? If it is, then I don't blame you. I don't think there's an agent right now who's not  stressing out about it. Or..." Eyes darkening, his voice lowered to a tenser tone. "Or is it... that  day? Is that what you're worried about, Myungsoo?"

"Huh?" It took Myungsoo a second to realize what Sungjong was talking about. "Oh! No, no, that's not it. Not even close. It's just... What I'm worried about is..."

How to phrase this? It was hard, coming up with the words to describe this strange feeling. But Myungsoo did the best he could, because he really, really  wanted to have somebody else's opinion on it. It had been bothering him ever since the first meeting Woohyun and Dongwoo had initiated together.

"These murders," Myungsoo finally said after a minute of silence. Sungjong tilted his head and watched him in an attentive manner. "There's something about these killings that I can't describe, but feel every time I think about the victims." He reached out for his cup, only to absentmindedly play with the ceramic handle.

"You might call me delusional, but the closest I can get to this feeling is familiarity. Like I've seen these murders somewhere before. I just can't seem to remember where."

"Like Deja Vu?" Sungjong offered. "When you feel like you've seen or experienced something from the past."

Myungsoo thought about it. "Yeah. A bit like that..."

Puzzled, Sungjong crossed his arms and observed his friend's perturbed expression. "Why, though? I don't really understand. What's gotten you thinking like this all of a sudden?"

"That's just it. I don't know. Maybe it's from something I read in the news, or it could be that I'm remembering random things from Academy lessons." Myungsoo heaved a sigh. Picking up his mug, he drained the cup of its contents before setting it back down. "Just forget about it for now. We both have work to do today. Aren't you supposed to be helping Chen find connections between the victims?"

As the agent was sliding his notes inside of his binder, Sungjong hesitated. There was obviously some kind of internal struggle happening inside of him. Perhaps it was like what Myungsoo had just experienced before: a thought too difficult and unsettling to describe, one didn't know how  or if  he should even speak of it. "Hey, Myungsoo? Before you go. You... You haven't forgotten, right? About the 21st? I mean, it is  almost here..."

Myungsoo gave him a brief glance before continuing to organize his belongings. "Don't be silly. I already told you that I haven't forgotten. And we will  go, Sungjong. Don't worry. Sunggyu will have to make do without us on that day." He rose out of his seat and tucked the chair in. "Listen, I'll talk to you later. Sungyeol's waiting for me in the data room."

With a word of goodbye, the ravenet exited the office. Sungjong was left alone. As he continued to stare at the door where his friend had walked out, a funny expression crossed his face. It was sad, but it was also strangely defeated, as well. As if he'd known this would happen sooner or later. As if he'd known this day would come.

Sungjong sighed.

"Are you sure you haven't forgotten, Myungsoo?"