The same morning Myungsoo left for Yangsan, Yoo Youngjae found himself sitting in the main data room. This would have been normal, except it was way too empty to feel like a typical day. The other intelligence officers were out either working on cases or performing whatever task they'd been assigned. But he didn't mind. He found it peaceful, actually. The quiet atmosphere, disturbed only by the humming of the computers, was perfect for thinking to himself, perfect for trying to find the answer to an important, but greatly irritating question-

"Yo, Youngjae! What are you doing all alone in a place like this? Seriously, it's like a graveyard in here."

Well, it had been nice while it lasted.

Sighing, the bespectacled man looked over at the doorway, where two familiar figures were crossing the threshold uninvited. "Chanyeol. If you're complaining about the lack of noise and general chaos, which I happen to find rather pleasant, then I suggest you go find Woohyun and spend the day with him. I'm sure he'll  live up to your expectations. Hello, Chen."

Chanyeol gave a bark of laughter. "I'm not complaining, exactly. I just think it's too quiet in here for your own good. You're not looking too hot, buddy."

"Besides, I'm not sure I could handle a Chanyeol-and-Woohyun duo by myself," Chen added wryly. He greeted the intelligence agent with his usual smile. "But as rambunctious as my partner is, I must agree with him. How long have you been cooped up in this room, Youngjae? You look like you haven't seen daylight in quite a while."

Youngjae arched a brow. "What are you talking about? I'm always 'cooped up in here.' This is  a room of the intelligence division, if you recall."

"Well, yeah," Chanyeol responded in a duh  voice. "We know that. What we mean is, how long have you stayed in here without a break? I know you love your job and all, but there are  times you could come up to the break room and relax, you know, have some coffee. Or maybe you could release that stress with some target practice. I do that sometimes. Yongguk has the best pointers-" His voice abruptly cut off. Suddenly, the happy-go-lucky agent looked tense, upset. In fact, the entire mood of the room had taken a sharp turn for the worse.

But that was understandable. Bang Yongguk's death was an extremely sensitive topic for them, especially since barely any days had yet to pass by. It was said that time was the greatest and most often used healer of humanity, but... For the crime scene agents, there would be no time. They had an investigation to finish, and the Mockingbird would certainly not be waiting for them to squeeze the grief out of their hearts.

"Maybe later." Youngjae tried to ignore the sudden lump in his throat. Don't be silly, he scolded himself, and glanced around the room instead. He settled his gaze on a nearby computer. It appeared to have a slight malfunction with it, from the way the screen was flickering unsteadily. Immediately, he rose out of his seat and made a beeline for the machine. "I need to find more on this Park Kyung character. I also need to figure out where he's hiding now. After I do that, we can go out for coffee."

"So that's what you're so focused on." Chen nodded, delicately avoiding the subject of a certain deceased artillery expert. He stepped aside to allow Youngjae to walk past him. "I thought as much. You're quite bothered by this, aren't you? Usually, you have the answers to every question imaginable, so I'm assuming the fact that you're not able to track down Park Kyung is frustrating you."

"Maybe it is," Youngjae admitted in a grudging tone. He typed a few things into the computer and peered at the screen. Once he was satisfied all was well with its system, he proceeded to shut it off. "I've tried everything I could think of to track him down. I looked at all relating files, searched through the national database, and even tried finding him through the known black market business trades."

"And?" Chanyeol probed, curiosity overcoming his initial sadness.

Youngjae huffed. A look of frustration crossed his face, something that was rarely ever seen on him. If there was one thing the intelligence worker hated, it was not knowing. Park Kyung was quickly proving to be one of the most difficult mysteries he'd ever faced. "Nothing. There wasn't anything I didn't already know. It's incredible how this man has managed to evade my trail for so long."

"Well, perhaps this will freshen your spirit." Chen lifted a manila folder for his friend to see. "We brought over the recordings of our latest interviews. It took some effort, but some of Mr. Park's men finally agreed to be questioned. You were only there for the interrogation of Kim Kibum, correct?"

"Not for the whole time." Youngjae walked over to an empty table by the wall, motioning for the others to follow suit. He pulled out one of the wooden chairs and seated himself in it. "There was a malfunction in Tech Room Six, so I was called down after the first five minutes. I managed to fix it just as the session came to an end."

"Then we'll begin with his interview." Chen sat down on the opposite side of Youngjae, while Chanyeol chose the seat in-between them. With quick, nimble fingers, he pulled out a few tapes and a small recording device. "Chanyeol and I have already reviewed these tapes a few times, but we'd like for you to listen to them, as well. You may catch something that we weren't able to before."

"Meaning he couldn't get anything out of them," the height-gifted man snorted. He threw a lively grin in Youngjae's direction. "Just sit back and make yourself comfortable. These recordings take a bit longer than usual, probably because of all the cursing the detainees did."

"I dare say they lacked greatly in eloquence." Shaking his head in disapproval, Chen selected one of the tapes he'd taken from the folder. He pressed the play button on the recorder and motioned for his companions to quiet down. "Pay attention, you two. Chanyeol, I know you've already listened to these a number of times, but for Youngjae's sake, please try to keep your ADHD under control."

Youngjae leaned forwards in his seat. He ignored Chanyeol's grumbled protests and focused on the tape now playing in the machine.

"How many times have I told you, I'm free-spirited. Free-spirited..."

Kahi's voice came on first.

"Kim Kibum. Thirty-one years old. South Korean citizen. Worked towards a college degree in engineering before dropping out. Currently lives with his girlfriend in the outskirts of town." Her tone, as expected, was cool, calm, and collected. "As you can see, our team has already composed a brief sketch of you, Mr. Kim."

"So what, am I supposed to be impressed or somethin'?" a man sneered back. "Congrats, you know how to do your job. If you already knew everything about me, what am I here for?"

"I never said we knew everything about you. In fact, there's much we'd like for  you to answer for us. How long you've been working in the trafficking business, for instance. Who your boss is. Where he might be hiding at this moment."

" if I tell you any of that, lady."

"I don't think you quite understand the position you're in, Mr. Kim." Kahi's voice took an icy turn. "You don't have much of a choice. I'll remind you that you were caught red-handed in the operation of an illegal drug trade. Even if you don't tell us anything, you will still be sentenced to a very good number of years in prison."

Kibum snickered. "Then I might as well not say anything. If I'm gonna be sent to jail anyway, why should I bother telling you about Kyung? Jeez, I know I dropped out of college, but even I'm not that stupid."

"Then maybe you'll be smart enough to listen to everything I have to say before interrupting," Kahi said sharply. There was a pause, as if she was daring the drug dealer to give a smart-aleck reply. Once it was clear he wasn't going to interrupt again, the female agent continued. "You will, undoubtedly, be sentenced to prison for your actions. However, if you cooperate during this session- if you agree to give me the entire truth about Park Kyung and his work- the judges may take your assistance into consideration."

"... What, like they'll cut my sentence down?" A reluctant interest crept into Kibum's voice. "How many years are we talking?"

"That depends entirely on the judges. And whether or not I like what you're telling me."

There was another pause. It was longer than the first one, perhaps by a minute or two. Chanyeol shifted slightly in his seat, boredom evident on his face. Youngjae, on the other hand, was picturing the scene in his mind: Kahi would have been sitting still in her seat, gazing at her interviewee with a steely glint in her eyes. Kibum would've been staring back at her, a mixture of contempt and suspicion flitting across his face.

"Let's say I help you out," Kibum finally broke the silence. "You're not kidding when you say they'll let me go easy?"

Kahi was back to her cool, composed self. "I can't promise that. But the judges  do look favourably towards those who aid the CS forces."

"And you'll help my case when I'm being tried?"

"Again, no promises. Like I said before, it depends on whether or not I like what you're saying."

", lady, you're like an iron brick," Kibum cursed. He paused again. "... Fine. Maybe I have some things to tell you about Kyung."

"Go on."

"He was-" For the first time since the interview began, the questioned man sounded confused. Vulnerable. As if he himself was puzzled by the mere thought of Park Kyung. "He was weird. Even before I met him, I knew he was strange. I started working for him two years ago, through a friend. He warned me that Kyung wasn't your typical gang boss. When I met him a week later, I knew my friend was telling the truth."

"How was he weird? You need to be more descriptive than that."

"I dunno. Kyung's just a weird guy, alright? If you see him in person, you'll know what I mean. He's as creepy as hell. It's like he has a bi-polar disorder or something. One minute, he'll be smiling real friendly at people, and the next, he'll be threatening to chop their heads off."

"That's not too uncommon to hear, Mr. Kim. Most black market dealers tend to be on the temperamental side."

"No, it's not like that," Kibum said slowly. "It's more like- , just thinking about it gives me the creeps. He made a lot of sadistic jokes about killing people, but when he threatened you, you could tell he wasn't kidding. He smiled and talked in a normal, laughing sort of tone, but there was a look in his eyes that said he would enjoy shooting your brains out."

"I see."  There was a scratching noise, like Kahi was jotting notes down on a pad. "And yet you stayed with him. He was clearly unconcerned with the value of your life, but you continued to work for him anyway."

"The cash was good, okay? I'd have to be a ing idiot to refuse what he was paying."

"Of course, it's always about the money," Kahi responded dryly. "What kind of work did you do for your boss? Was it concentrated on drug shipments? Was there anything about rare weapons?"

"Rare weapons? Nah, there was nothing like that. All the stuff he made us do had to do with drugs. Sometimes there were other things, like illegal poisons, but we never had to deal with weapons."

"Are you sure about that?" Kahi asked sharply. "He never had you move any firearms or blades?"

"Listen, lady, I'm sure of it. Whenever we had shipments, I checked inside all the boxes myself. Err- Kyung told us not to, but I was curious. I worked hard for him. Besides, it's not like he ever found out or anything."

"So he only allowed his men to handle the least dangerous items..." Kahi murmured to herself, before addressing her detainee. "Do you know where he is now? Where his home or personal hide-out is located?"

Kibum's tone was scornful. "Kyung may have been a sadistic bastard, but he wasn't stupid. He didn't trust any of us with his personal information. The only thing he gave us was his business number, and I think that was for an untraceable, private mobile."

"Yes, I know. We already followed up on that lead... Is there anything else you can recall about him? Something which you think could lead us to Park Kyung?"

"I don't have anything, but... There's this guy who worked with us. Jiho. He was like Kyung's second-in-command. ing traitor bailed on us when the cops stormed in. I'm sure if you catch him, he can tell you more about Kyung. But I don't know where he's hiding, so don't bother asking me."

"I won't. We already know about Woo Jiho. A team is working on tracking him down." By this point, Kahi sounded almost bored. "If that's all you have today, Mr. Kim, then I'll be on my way. Thank you for your help. Your cooperation has been most appreciated. Have a good day now."

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor followed, indicating that Kahi had risen and was making her way outside. 

"H-Hey! Wait a minute! Don't forget, you said you would help with my prison sentence! I told you everything you wanted to hear, right?"

"Oh, didn't I mention this before?" Kahi responded in her cool voice. "I'm a crime scene investigator. My job is only to catch criminals and solve investigations. Therefore, I make it a rule to never interfere with the court's decision. Best of luck with your trial, Mr. Kim."

"What? You ! You tricked me! You said you'd help me if I gave you information! You ing liar! I swear, once I get my hands on you-"

"I think," Chen said, pushing a button on the recorder, "We can end it there." Kim Kibum's furious screams were put to an end, leaving a peaceful silence behind in the room. "You can imagine how the rest of the session ended. I heard he almost gave one of the guards a black eye trying to chase after Kahi."

"I expected as much," Youngjae commented in a sardonic voice. "Anyways, I'm not surprised he sold out his boss the way he did. It's obvious to me he was only loyal to the money in Park Kyung's bank account."

"It was almost like he was waiting for the chance to rat him out," Chanyeol added, straightening his spine. Now that the first recording had finished, he looked eager to begin the discussion at hand. "Maybe he knew Kahi was going to offer him some kind of deal, and he wanted to know what the benefits he'd be getting were first."

"Highly possible," noted Chen. "However, my opinion is that there was nothing Kim Kibum knew in the first place. He only gave very basic facts, information that anybody working for Park Kyung would know. Yes, he was eager to sell out his colleague, Woo Jiho, but again, I believe it was more out of anger than the desire to aid our search."

"So basically, he's a dead end," Chanyeol summarized with a grimace.

His partner sighed. "It seems so." He switched the tape in the recording device for a new one, then glanced at Youngjae. "Is there anything you wanted to add? Perhaps something you caught from the recording?"

Youngjae gave a little frown. "No, you and Chanyeol are right. There's nothing else this man can offer us. But at any rate, I'd advise you to keep him heavily monitored. If Park Kyung is as secretive and untrusting as described, he may try to make contact with Kim Kibum. Whether he wants to ensure his secrecy, get information, or even kill him, I'm not too sure. But anyways, let's move onto the next tape. I'll speak to Sunggyu about this later."

"Very well." Chen tapped the cover of the machine. "This is the interview of Lee Taeil, another one of Park Kyung's henchmen. He's a slight-looking fellow, not particularly big or muscular in build, but he has a very shrewd look in his eyes. Chanyeol and I were the ones questioning him. He was quite difficult, to say the least. If you listen to the tape, you'll know what I mean."

Once again, the three men fell silent, focused on the sounds coming from the recorder.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lee. My name is Chen, and this is my partner, Chanyeol. We'll be the ones conducting your interview today."

"There's no need to be so formal, Inspector."  Lee Taeil sounded rather sly and silky. It wasn't hard to think of why he'd been accepted into Park Kyung's ring. This man had the voice of a con artist, an extremely persuasive tool that would have been useful to his boss. "It's not like I'm anyone of special standing. Please, relax. Make yourselves comfortable."

"First time I've ever been told that in this room," Chanyeol commented with a laugh. "Usually it's the other way around."

"Yes, I can imagine," tsked Taeil. "There aren't many pleasantries exchanged in moments such as this."

"Quite unfortunate." Chen sounded amused. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get started with our session. We're running short on time, Mr. Lee, so if I may..."

"By all means, certainly."

"Thank you." A shuffle of papers. "Mr. Lee Taeil, thirty-six years old. South Korean citizen. Lives alone in a quiet neighbourhood in Hongdae. Your only living relative is your uncle, who lives in Cheongju with his family. Is this all correct so far?"

"Yes. Though I expected nothing less from Seoul's crime scene forces."

"You also work at an underground jazz club," Chanyeol added. "Even though I'm sure your job with Park Kyung pays for more than a comfortable life, you sometimes do gigs on the weekends. Is this true?"

"I see you also have your sources."  It was easy to tell that Taeil was smiling. "Yes, you're correct, as well. I suppose I could have simply relied on Kyung to pay the bills, but I wasn't satisfied. I was bored. I needed entertainment. And what better way to amuse myself than by singing? It was always a hobby of mine, you see. The owner of the club knew I liked to sing, so a few years ago, when one of the acts was cancelled, he asked me to perform in its place. I've been working there part-time ever since."

"A drug dealer and a jazz singer. You are a man of many talents," Chen said lightly. "But enough of this small talk. Let's move on to the  real reason of today's interview. I'm sure you know you're not here to give us vocal lessons, Mr. Lee."

"A pity," Taeil replied just as mildly, "You have a nice voice yourself, Mr. Chen. Have you ever considered a career with the microphone?"

"Sadly, I have not. I'm afraid my shower head will be the only one to hear my soprano."

"But moving on," Chanyeol interrupted impatiently. He clearly wanted to hurry things along. "What we'd like today are some answers, Mr. Lee. Are you willing to give them to us? Your help would mean a lot."

Taeil's voice reverted back to its sly tone. "That depends, Mr. Chanyeol. What are you offering me in return?"

"Must you need a reason?" Chen asked. "Think of it as a duty to your country. People are dying. Some have already died and others are on their way to death. You could help us stop these murders from terrorizing the city."

"That sounds very patriotic and all, but I'm afraid I already did my part. I completed my military service seven years ago. I no longer have any obligation to South Korea."

"So it doesn't bother you that there's a murderer loose in the streets?" Chanyeol rumbled. "It doesn't bother you that he's already killed a number of people, and won't stop until he's locked behind bars?"

"As I said before, I have no obligation to serve this country." There was a pause. "But even if I did, Mr. Chanyeol, I don't see how I could be of any help. How could knowing about Kyung possibly lead to the identity of the killer?"

Chen chuckled. "If you have no obligation of helping us, Mr. Lee, then I'm afraid we have no obligation to tell you anything."

Click. Chen stopped the recording. "I'd continue playing this tape, but this is generally how the rest of the interview went. Lee Taeil is a tenacious man. It was like playing a game of cat and mouse- all we did was go around in circles, chasing tails in hopes of trapping the other in a corner."

Youngjae pushed his glasses up. "I see what you mean. It's obvious he's a tricky sort of character. The way I see it, there are two conflicting views he brings to mind. One, people dislike Lee Taeil, largely due to an uneasy feeling caused by intuition. Two, they're immediately taken in by his soft yet cunning voice. But given how skilled he is in the art of talking, I'll say it's the second option which occurs more often."

"Personally, I didn't find him too appealing. But maybe that's because he reminded me too much of Chen." Chanyeol wrinkled his nose, completely disregarding the fact that his partner was sitting right in front of him. "You know how he talks in that pretentious speech of his? The one that makes him sound like a walking British dictionary? From the way that Taeil guy spoke, it was like they were long-lost twins or something."

"Please, don't think too highly of me," Chen said with an ironic expression. He didn't seem too  offended, however, as he knew his friend was only teasing him. "But at any rate, Lee Taeil was another disappointment. I spent thirty minutes trying to find his breaking point. Needless to say, I failed dismally."

"I believe," the intelligence agent responded, "That even if you were  to find his breaking point, you wouldn't have gotten any information from him. It's similar to how it went with Kim Kibum. Lee Taeil knew nothing useful about Park Kyung, but he decided to trick you into thinking he did. Most likely he thought of it as a game. Dangle the bait and see how high the crime scene agents would jump."

Chanyeol let out a little laugh. "Yeah, he did seem to have a manipulative side to him. Next time, you should go talk to him, Youngjae. I don't think he'll be able to play mind games as well on you." In one effortless move, he reached across the table and snagged the remaining cassette.

"Last tape, you guys. I think you'll enjoy listening to this one. Even I found it entertaining- Wait a minute." A frown graced his features as he examined its label. "Chen, I think you grabbed the wrong one. This is a blank."

"Is it?" His friend looked at him in puzzlement. "How odd. I could have sworn I grabbed the correct three recordings from the box."

"You probably just mixed them up," Chanyeol assured him. "I can go get it now, if you want. It'll only take a minute."

"No, don't bother." Youngjae was the one to answer. "I have a feeling I know what happened, but tell me anyways. It was Kim Yukwon's interview, wasn't it?"

"Right as usual," confirmed Chen. He began packing away the equipment, plucking the tapes off of the table with a fluid air. "This time, I was the only one holding the interrogation. He was the least surprising of the three. Kim Yukwon's reactions were quite predictable- he was confident at first, certain he could ward my questions off with arrogant responses. After I told him a few things, he began to waver. It was much easier to find his breaking point than with Lee Taeil. In the end, I had him yelling in a hysterical fit that he didn't know anything about his employer, along with a string of profanities I'd rather not repeat."

"Scary as always," Chanyeol snorted, "But good job. Seriously, I don't know if I should be happy or terrified to have you as a partner."

"We've been working together for six years. Are you really going to start complaining now?"  Chen raised a brow.

"We need to get going," Youngjae spoke before Chanyeol could argue back. He stood up from his chair and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 10:02 AM. Perfect. "We've spent almost two hours listening to interview recordings, but we haven't made any progress at all. And if you two know me, you'll know I dislike not having an answer to anything for too long."

"Wait- Where are we going?" Bemusement lined Chanyeol's face as he peered at the intelligence officer.

"I thought that was obvious." Youngjae impatiently clucked his tongue. "To return to work. To resume our search. To have the question we're all thinking about put to rest, once and for all."

And if any readers are wondering what kind of question Youngjae was referring to, it was this, the question he'd been asking himself ever since they'd caught the opium trade, over and over again without any rest at all: Where in the world was Park Kyung? 

[A/N]  Can I just say how happy I am for Block B's return? There are tears of joy streaming down my face ;;3;; I don't know if my love for them is the reason why I included Taeil and Ukwon here, or if it's because Block B would make such a badass gang. But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless <3