After receiving the news from the Yangsan station, Sunggyu immediately called forth a meeting with the Mockingbird case agents. He waited until the last person had shuffled inside the room, then impatiently tapped the whiteboard with his marker. "Come on, hurry up. We have a lot of things to cover right now."

They seated themselves quickly, not wishing to waste a single second of their precious time. Not everyone was present. Only Woohyun, Hoya, Chen, Youngjae, Kahi, Yongguk, and Dongwoo were able to attend. And of course, Sunggyu was there, looking every bit of the leader he was with the washable marker in his hand.

"Alright. Getting straight into business." With a grim expression, the Seoul branch director addressed his awaiting and ready agents. "I have some news about the Mockingbird that will probably shock you, but let's save that for the end. Woohyun, you start."

"Gotcha, Boss." The jokester of an inspector gave Sunggyu a mock salute. He picked up the notebook he had found in Seonwoong's house, the one detailing the cryptic Case 21. "Okay, so here's the situation with me. Yesterday, Chanyeol got a call from Lee Seonwoong's daughter, Lee Jangmi. She told him about a secret room hiding in his house, so he and I immediately went to check it out. What we found was mostly old lab equipment and research notes, but..." Woohyun held up the notebook for the others to see.

"There was one particularly strange box we found with everything else. All that it contained were more notes, but something made us think it could be linked to our case. See, it was labelled with a picture of a mockingbird."

"What?"  Hoya, Yongguk, and Dongwoo voiced their surprise in unison.

Woohyun nodded. "What's even stranger is that the mockingbird is further outlined in this notebook here. Right here on the first page, everyone. This is what Seonwoong called it: Case 21- Project Mockingbird."

Chen added his own two cents. "A mockingbird? That could be a major lead for us. It's one thing to discover that one of the victims has a hidden closet, but to uncover a key skeleton in there... What exactly was in that box, Woohyun? What kind of notes are in that book of yours?"

"I'm getting to that." Woohyun wrinkled his nose. "I'm sure many of you are aware of the fact that science and I are just not meant to be-" here, Sunggyu rolled his eyes in exasperation- "so you won't be surprised to know that I have no idea what these notes mean. But after looking over them for a while with our good ol' Boss, we managed to figure out one thing: body composition. It only listed compounds and chemical formulas, but these notes have a lot to do with body composition."

"Body composition, huh..." Dongwoo mused aloud. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at that notebook later. Maybe I could uncover another thing or two that you guys missed."

"It's all yours, buddy. You're the science expert around here, after all." Woohyun tossed the book over to his pathologist friend. "I'll call Chanyeol after this meeting and see if he's found anything. He's actually at the research institution where Seonwoong used to work, in case anybody didn't know. Trying to find a match between these notes and the old man's projects."

"I have a feeling he's not going to find anything there," Yongguk said in his rumbling voice. "If these research notes were locked up in a secret room, they were put away for a reason. Now we just have to figure out what that reason was."

"Mhmm." Sunggyu was silent for a moment. His shoulders were slightly hunched over, as if the heavy weight of the investigation was burdening them. But the agents didn't blame him. He had every reason to feel that way. As the Seoul branch director, it was Sunggyu who would be facing the wrath of the National CSI Bureau if the case remained unsolved.

As if he could read the others' thoughts, Sunggyu quickly straightened his spine. "Alright, so that's one thing out of the way. Dongwoo, read through that notebook as soon as you can. Preferably right after we finish here. Let us know right away if you find anything of interest. Now, for the next order of business. Kahi, Youngjae, you two are up."

"Thank you, Sunggyu," Kahi said crisply. She picked up her pen and tapped it a few times on the table. "Before we begin, allow me to fill in a few details about the matter Youngjae and I attended to today: Park Kyung's illegal trafficking business."

Hoya looked puzzled. "Park who?"

"Park Kyung." Youngjae handed out photocopies of the criminal's profile, which he'd made right after Sunggyu had called the meeting. "Possibly one of the most elusive black market dealers in the trafficking world. Also presumed to be the partner of Kwon Jiyong, the man who sold the mockingbirds to our killer."

"His name, along with an address in the Highwater area, was the only unmarked contact in Kwon Jiyong's laptop," Kahi added. "That's where Youngjae and I went today. We assumed there would be some trace of Park Kyung there. But what we actually found was certainly more than we were hoping for..." In a serious tone, she recapped all of the events that had occurred in the warehouse, from discovering the opium operation to finding the dealer's black notebook.

Said notebook was placed on the table in front of Youngjae, who pushed it out for the others to see. "Before Sunggyu called us together, Kahi and I looked through this book. What we found was surprising, but it could  work out to our favour. And I say could  because, well... You'll soon see why."

The intelligence agent flipped the book open to the first page. "This notebook is a list of illegal and harmful substances Park Kyung dealt in his business. Opium, MDMA, Angel Dust, but there are also items other than drugs, such as various models of guns and knives. And right here, near the bottom of the page, are the weapons used by the troublesome Mockingbird Killer: a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, a cleaver, and a 17 HMR revolver."

Chen arched a brow. "I'm assuming that the iron rod, which was used in Lee Seonwoong's murder, isn't listed there because of its easy accessibility. That sort of tool is quite common in big cities, where a lot of construction takes place. The killer would have been able to get a hold of one on his own, no problem."

"Assumption correct," Youngjae responded as Woohyun, who was sitting beside him, grabbed the black notebook for a closer look. "At least, that's the theory we're going with. There wasn't any mention of an iron rod in the list, so most likely the killer just found one for himself."

"Hey, Youngjae, what's this?" Woohyun interjected. He pointed at the top of the page. "Sorry to get off track, but there's a name beside this item. It's the only name I'm seeing here. Should it be of any importance?"

To all of the readers who are unfortunately unable to see Park Kyung's list, this is what Woohyun had drawn attention to in the book:

4. G3A3 ver.2 (for Yeollie~)

And, as the procrastinating agent had observed, it was indeed the only name that appeared on the list. Yeollie. Whoever this Yeollie person was (most likely a client, but they had no way of being sure), it sounded as if he had a very good relationship with Park Kyung. They must have been close, if the trafficker had used such an intimate-sounding nickname for him.

Youngjae must have been thinking along the same lines as Woohyun, because he frowned a little at the worn-out book. "It could be. With regards to this lead, Park Kyung and this Yeollie are both Persons of Interest to us. If Park Kyung really was Kwon Jiyong's partner, there's a chance he would know something about the mockingbird trade. If we track down 'Yeollie,' we can get some answers about the trafficker, and possibly where he might be at this moment."

Kahi picked up the explanation. "That's why Youngjae said this notebook could  work to our favour. If we find Park Kyung, it would give us a huge advantage in this investigation. But this man is, as mentioned before, an extremely elusive dealer. We don't even know what he looks like, let alone his current location."

Sighing, Sunggyu pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course. It's always the ones in hiding." He nodded almost wearily at the two odd partners.

"Youngjae. Kahi. You know what to do. Focus on finding Park Kyung, and finding him fast. I heard you caught some of his henchmen during the drug trade last night, correct? Get going on interrogating those men. If Park Kyung is as secretive as I think he is, they won't know anything about his activities or where he's hiding. But who knows, there could be a chance."

Immediately after Sunggyu issued out his commands, Hoya jumped in with his own news. "So, it's my turn now. You'll have to cut me some slack here, because my partner's currently M.I.A."

Woohyun snickered. "Got shot in the leg, poor thing. Though I can't say that I'm jealous of him for missing all the fun."

Hoya rolled his eyes, but gave Woohyun a rueful grin. "You don't say. By the way, he called me last night. Said not to let you visit him again, or he'd throw your out the window and break your  two legs."

"Pfftt, he wouldn't do that. Kris loves me too much."

"You keep telling yourself that," Hoya snorted. He turned back to the rest of the agents. "I'll try to make this quick. Everyone here knows about Kim Jongin, right? The back-stabbing traitor of a partner Lee Seonwoong worked on a project with?"

"Of course we do," Chen answered for the group. "Any news on him?"

Hoya smiled in a grimly pleased manner. "If there wasn't, Kris would still be here today." He opened his folder and tapped his notes. "Like I said, I'll make this short: We found him. Thanks to Youngjae, we initially set out to look for Park Hana, his step-sister. She has an apartment in the outskirts of the city, so that's where we went looking. But it wasn't Hana who we found in the apartment. It was Jongin.

"I still don't know where Park Hana is right now," continued the mahogany-haired male. "A few guys in intelligence are trying to contact her, but she's not answering her phone, her email, nothing. Not even her relatives know where she could be. Although her son wasn't too concerned. He said that this sort of disappearing act was normal for her. She apparently likes to vanish for a week or so to be alone."

"If you find her, she could fill in a lot of gaps about Kim Jongin," Dongwoo voiced. "I actually visited him this morning at the station's cells. Hoya knows; he's the one who asked me to examine and get an opinion of his mental state. I think it's obvious enough, but he's in no condition to be interviewed any time soon."

Sunggyu ran a hand through his hair. "I know. The station's warden called me around noon today. He said that the detainee's behaviour was odd, ever since he was put in custody. Before he was sedated, Kim Jongin had been in a state of hysterics, screaming and yelling and throwing a downright fit. But afterwards, when the guard when to check on him, he was just sitting in his cell crying, whispering to himself, 'Forgive me. Forgive me.'"

There was a moment of silence as the agents digested Sunggyu's little story. The more they thought about it, the more unsettling it sounded. Forgive me... Forgive me... What exactly had Kim Jongin done to make him act this way? What terrible deed was he hiding in his past?

As usual, it was Woohyun who broke the solemnity of the air. "So, Sunggyu... Any chance you're gonna get to your  news soon? Time's a ticking, buddy."

The branch director shot a glare at his friend. "Thank you, Woohyun, for your need to hurry things along. I only wish you could be this time-conscious whenever you come in late for work."

Ignoring the jab to his work ethic, Woohyun flashed his pearly whites in a grin. "Anytime, Gyu."

"As cute as the two of you are together, can you stop flirting and get on with it already?" Hoya groaned. "We're not even close to solving any of the three murders yet. There's so much we still have to uncover."

"Well, here's something that'll make you really happy, then." Narrowing his eyes, Sunggyu took a moment to glance at each of his awaiting subordinates. "There's been another murder. The Mockingbird's struck again."

Silence. That was all that could be heard in the room. The degree of shock in the agents' individual faces was all different, but it was there. From Chen's stunned expression to Hoya's dropped jaw, it was clear that Sunggyu's news was like a little bombshell for them. Only the CSI leader, Woohyun, and strangely enough, Dongwoo didn't look surprised.

"Explain," was all Yongguk uttered.

Sunggyu scowled, although it wasn't aimed at the artillery agent. It was more from the frustration caused by the newest kill. "You all know how murder cases work. While investigations are going on, we send notices to other CSI stations, in the event of a similar murder coming to light in their area. Well, that's exactly what happened in Yangsan. Their station sent me a fax of everything they had on the case so far. Dongwoo, if you will."

The pathologist took his cue and stood up from his seat. "Right after he got the notice, Sunggyu called me down," Dongwoo explained. Picking up a photograph that had been lying in front of him, he passed it to Yongguk, the person on his left. "That's a picture of the victim the Yangsan agents took on scene. Take a good look and pass it around. Anyways, he wanted me to read the autopsy report so I could explain it to you guys. I'll tell you all right now, it is not  a pretty thing."

He eyed the photograph, which was now in Woohyun's hands. "I hope you all remember the fact that our killer uses copycat methods. First, let me ask: how many of you have heard of the Black Dahlia?"

"The Black Dahlia?" Kahi echoed. "I vaguely remember something about it from my academy days, but the details escape me. Explain, please."

"Her real name was Elizabeth Short," Youngjae piped up. Pushing up his glasses, he carried on with his mini "Murders of the Past" lesson. "She was called the Black Dahlia by newspapers which liked to nickname murders they found particularly striking. Anyway, her death dates back to 1947, in the city of Los Angeles. She was found in an empty lot, mutilated and sliced in half at the waist. I assume that's how our latest victim was found in Yangsan."

"Right as usual, Youngjae," said Dongwoo approvingly. "But unlike the twenty-two year old Elizabeth Short, this victim was a sixty-two year old woman named Kim Hwayoung. Another difference is that the cause of death wasn't hemorrhage and shock, which is what the Black Dahlia suffered, but a gunshot to the chest. Other than that, the two cases are pretty much the same. Both women were found washed, cleaned, and put in a pose by the killer, as well as being severely mutilated and completely drained of blood."

"And the mockingbird? Where did our guy place it this time?" Woohyun asked, grimacing.

"It was in her right hand," Dongwoo replied. "Since rigor mortis had fully set in by the time Kim Hwayoung was found, it was difficult for the forensics team to see what it was. But when they realized it was a crushed bird, they knew right away it was the work of our copycat killer."

Crossing his arms, Sunggyu frowned at the picture of the fourth victim. "Since she was found in Yangsan, I'm going to send Myungsoo there to collaborate with those agents. He's familiar with the area, so it shouldn't be too hard on him."

"Kim Myungsoo? Why him, specifically?" Kahi wanted to know.

It was Yongguk who answered her question. "That punk grew up in Yangsan," he said, expression slightly softening. "He, along with Sungjong, were sent to live in the orphanage there for about twelve years. They both left as soon as they became of age."

The Boss nodded. "And the day Kim Hwayoung was killed was the day he and Sungjong missed work to visit that town. Sungyeol was there, as well. He'd also requested that day off for personal reasons. If anything, I might tell him to go with Myungsoo."

Chen frowned. "Hold on... Sungyeol? Did you just say that Sungyeol  was in Yangsan that day, too?" He stared at the director for a moment, then snapped his head towards Youngjae.

"Park Kyung's notebook. What was the name we found in the list, again?"

The intelligence agent showed him the book. "'Item #4. G3A3 version 2, for Yeollie,'" he read aloud. A look of realization dawned in his eyes, one that was rarely seen on the all-knowing, genius man. "You don't think-"

The model-like inspector made a grim noise. "That's right. Sungyeol. Yeollie. Doesn't Yeollie sound like a fitting nickname for a name such as Sungyeol?"

Again, there was nothing but stunned silence in the room. Chen, without waiting for the others to recover from their surprise, bulldozed on ahead. "Think about it, everyone. It's a big stretch, but Lee Sungyeol might possibly have a connection to Park Kyung, one of our top Persons of Interest. He was also in Yangsan on the day of Kim Hwayoung's murder. What was he doing there? None of us know. He never told us he was planning on visiting that city. He never even mentioned he was taking that day off, at all. And I'm not sure about you, but every time I see him, I get an undeniable feeling that he's hiding something from us."

Woohyun stared at him. Usually, he would crack a lame joke to break the tense atmosphere of debriefings, but right now, the matter was just too serious to laugh about. "You're kidding. You can't be serious. I mean, come on, Chen. Sungyeol? Our Sungyeol?  You're not actually suspicious of him, are you?" He looked around at the other agents.

"Come on, guys. Sungyeol can't be the Mockingbird Killer. He's one of us, he's our friend, he's..."

"How much do we really know about him?" Kahi asked quietly.

Woohyun opened his mouth to further defend the newcomer, but nothing came out.

Sunggyu was the next to speak. Unlike his previous responses, he sounded quite sharp and in control, like he was ready to handle the increasingly tense situation in the room. "Woohyun. Enough. I know what you're thinking, and trust me, I find this just as absurd as you do." He trailed his gaze over to where Chen was sitting.

"You were right about one thing, Chen. That is  a big stretch to accuse Sungyeol of being the killer. It's true that he's a mysterious person, and we know next to nothing about his past, but that's hardly enough to blatantly say he's the murderer. Is there any actual evidence to support your claim? Or is it just a hunch you have? 'Yeollie' can be a nickname for a thousand other names, not just Sungyeol's." He narrowed his eyes and appraised the slender male.

"Until I see the physical proof with my own two eyes, I want you to forget about this little idea of yours. Focus on helping Youngjae and Kahi instead. If we're going to catch this Mockingbird, we need to cooperate with each other 100%. I know anything can sound like a logical theory at this stage, but still. Pointing fingers within our team will only cause trouble and mistrust."

Chen tilted his head to one side, looking totally unabashed. "Of course. My apologies."

Sunggyu acknowledged him with a sigh. "It's alright. I can understand how you came to that conclusion. For the rest of you, meeting adjourned. You all know what to do next. Get a move on it and pick up the pace, people. It's been over two weeks and we still  don't know who the killer is."

In a brisk, efficient manner, the crime scene agents all rose from their chairs and exited the room. Before he got up, Yongguk took one last look at the photo Dongwoo had handed out. The artillery expert hadn't examined it properly the first time, because Woohyun, ever the curious one, had taken it from him before he'd had the chance. How strange the gunshot on her chest looked, like the bullet had been specially designed to make it appear so... It was odd, but the wound almost looked familiar to him... Like the bullet had caused it. Like the bullet had left behind this unique mark-

Realization hit Yongguk full in the face. Of course. The G3A3.20. The adapted revolver version of the difficult-to-use rifle. The weaponry division even had one of its own; Yongguk knew from firsthand experience what kind of markings those bullets left on their targets. He also knew just how talented a certain suspected rookie was at operating that gun. 

'So she was killed from a G3A3 bullet, huh...' He thought back to the black notebook which Youngjae had shown them. 'Makes me wonder... This isn't looking good for you, punk-'

"Yongguk, aren't you coming?"

A voice interrupted the weaponry agent's thoughts. Glancing over his shoulder, Yongguk saw that it was Chen speaking to him. He was leaning against the doorframe, watching his friend with a patient, but slightly curious expression.

"... Yeah. I'm coming, don't rush me." Yongguk pushed his chair back. Before leaving, he stole one last glance at the picture of Kim Hwayoung. Oh, no, things were definitely not  looking good for a certain hard-faced newcomer.

[A/N]  You guys, I actually cried after reading your beautiful comments of support ;;w;; You don't know how much that meant to me, and I'm really glad I have you all as readers /sobs/

But after I posted that goodbye message, I started thinking some more. To clear things up, I'm not quitting until after I finish Mockingbird. But I love fanfics. I love writing them, and I love how kpop can play a huge role in it, as well. But after this summer, would I be able to handle my stories along with everything else I'll have to deal with? Time management isn't one of my strengths, but I'm honestly so reluctant and hesitant about leaving AFF T_____T

I guess we'll just have to see. By the end of this story, I'll let you know if I've fully decided to quit or continue. Oh Lord, growing up has never been tougher Q_Q

Anyways, on with the story! How many of you are actually trying to solve the mystery as we go? Do you think it's Sungyeol who's the killer, or maybe Park Kyung, or maybe even Zelo? LOL Zelo <3 See you at the next update!