Park Chanyeol could hardly remember the last time he'd interviewed the families of deceased victims. It must have been a little over two years ago, when he'd had to enquire about a woman who'd been found dead in a museum display case. He wasn't particularly adept at talking to stunned, weeping parents or siblings, so he usually left that sort of task to his partner Chen. Chen was empathetic. Chen was tactful. Chen knew exactly the right questions to ask and when to ask them, unlike Chanyeol who used humour to get through pretty much any situation.

But it was Chanyeol, not Chen, who'd volunteered to meet Bang Yongguk's brother and sister, so he would have to do his best to act appropriately for the interview. When the arranged time of two o' clock rolled along, he found himself sitting in the armchair of Bang Yongnam's house. The two siblings, on the sofa next to him. A cup of coffee was balanced precariously on his knee, and he took a hasty sip of the drink before starting.

The height-gifted man cleared his throat. "Thank you for meeting with me today, Mr. and Ms. Bang. I can't tell you how sorry I am about your loss."

Shaking his head, the brother gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Please, call us Yongnam and Natasha. Mr. and Ms. Bang makes us sound like a married couple." He hesitated, then abruptly closed his mouth. Whatever he'd been about to say was left unsaid, though Chanyeol had a good idea what it was from the mournful look in his eyes.

Natasha added, "And it's no trouble for us, really. Anything to help catch the bastard who killed our brother." Her voice had a raspy tone to it. Either she'd raised hell and done a lot of screaming upon hearing the news, or, considering the deceased weaponry agent's own rumbling voice, it was just a trait that ran in the family.

"Of course. He was one of the most respected and admired in the force. Don't worry, we're doing everything we can to track down the killer." Chanyeol set his drink on the coffee table. Straightening his spine, he took a closer look at both of his companions' faces. They were drawn, grave, filled with anguish or sorrow or whatever was used to describe the suffering of the heart. But despite their pain, the siblings carried themselves with a remarkable air of resolve. Chanyeol could see that they had no intention of becoming like those people who allowed grief to take over their minds. For that, he had to admire their strengths.

Chanyeol clasped his hands together. "I think we'd better start from the beginning. Tell me about Yongguk's childhood. What was he like growing up? Did anything strange happen to him or the people he knew? Even if it's just a speck in your memory, don't hesitate to mention anything that comes to mind."

Yongnam scrunched his nose in concentration. "I don't think there was anything unusual. In fact, I'm almost sure of it. If there was, I'm certain I would have known about it." Seeing Chanyeol's confusion, he clarified, "Yongguk is- was- my twin. I'm the older one, but when we were young we spent almost every minute of the day together. Then we grew up and went our own ways- you know, made different friends, found different hobbies- but we still understood each other in a way nobody else could. Because of our bond as twins, I guess. I'm positive I would have known if anything strange happened to him."

"So you can't think of an event that would've put Yongguk in anybody's bad favour?" Chanyeol leaned forwards.

"No, I can't say that I do."

"Nothing at all?" The agent persisted. "Maybe like a fight between friends, family, or even a person passing by on the street."

"I'm sorry." Yongnam shook his head in a regrettable manner. "But I can't think of anything."

"He was a good kid," Natasha spoke up. She was playing with her own coffee mug, tracing the rim of the cup with her index finger. "Quiet, well-behaved, liked by practically everybody he met. Though for a period of time, up until he was five years old, Yongguk couldn't speak. He had no trouble walking or listening to us. But when it came to talking, his mouth was shut tight. We couldn't tell if he was mute or just didn't want to say anything."

"I think I remember that," her brother slowly commented. "Mom took us to a bunch of different doctors to figure out what was wrong."

The older woman nodded at him. "You were fine, Yongnam. As far as we could tell, there was nothing wrong with your vocal cords." She looked back at Chanyeol.

"It turned out we were worrying for nothing. He gradually started speaking after that, and soon it was like he had never lived as a little mime in the first place."

Chanyeol sat back in his chair, processing the information. "That's interesting. I'm sure there were plenty of other kids who went through a delayed speaking stage, but usually there are reasons for it. Trauma, accidents, physical disabilities, that sort of thing. Did anything happen to him that would have caused his silence?"

Again, it was the sister who answered. "He was a perfectly healthy boy. The only accident he got into was when he twisted his ankle playing soccer. Other than that, he wasn't involved in any incidents at all."

"Weird. I'll have to ask Dongwoo about this later," Chanyeol murmured, mostly to himself. "I know you said Yongguk was well-liked by people, but was there anyone in particular who wasn't fond of him? You know, disliked him enough to want to cause him harm."

"There were a few bullies who lived in our neighbourhood, but they never targeted Yongguk specifically," Yongnam supplied. "Like most kids, they lost interest in teasing others as they grew older. And in high school there were feelings of mutual dislike between him and the captain of the basketball team, but that was because they considered themselves to be rivals. Yongguk had no enemies, inspector. If he did, he wouldn't have been aware of it."

Chanyeol inwardly agreed with him. More often than not, the victims had no idea that there was somebody out there who abhorred them, hated them to the point where they were willing to commit homicide. It wasn't a surprise to know that this had been the case for the artillery expert, what with his friendly demeanor and wide, inviting smile. "You're right; it sounds like that's what happened with Yongguk. We'll look into it and see if he made any enemies unknowingly, then." Though he had a feeling even that would be a dud.

"What else can you tell me about your brother?"

Natasha and Yongnam proceeded to fill in the gaps of the story that was Bang Yongguk. He'd had a typical childhood, playing in the park with his friends, watching cartoons every weekend, wrinkling his nose at girls and the infamous cooties they came along with.

As he grew from adolescent to teenage boy, he began centering his interests mainly in three things: sports, action movies, and oddly enough, weapons. The sports and movies weren't unusual of him. Most teenagers tended to like athletics and films. It was the growing obsession in weapons that was the source of mild alarm.

"I think it began when we were thirteen," mused Yongnam. "His best friend at the time wanted to be in the National Intelligence Service, so he spent days training to become a part of it. Naturally Yongguk was stringed along. They did everything together- even if he didn't want to join the NIS himself, he still went with it because it was his best friend's dream. They tried learning different languages, studied everything from American politics to the Russian Revolution, and even aimed to become masters of hapkido."

Natasha picked up when her brother paused for breath. "But it was weapons that our brother was interested in. Machine guns, grenades, nun chucks, you name it. Anything that could be used to cause bodily harm to people, he wanted to know about it."

"It's not that he was a violent person," Yongnam interjected. No doubt he was afraid of giving the CS agent the wrong impression of his twin. "Far from it. He just wanted to learn about the mechanics, that's all. There was a time when he even considered becoming a weapons technician in the military."

His sister frowned at the interruption, but carried on with the story. "They never really gave up the self-training, not even when it was time to graduate high school. Unfortunately, something happened to the friend- he's gone now. But Yongguk still marched onwards. He ended up joining the CSI force, and... Well, you know what happens after that."

"He always wanted to help others, even when he didn't have the strength to help himself," Yongnam said in a soft voice. But there was no disguising the grief in his eyes. "Anyways, is there anything else you'd like to know? I'm sorry we haven't been very helpful yet."

"No, no," Chanyeol protested. "Everything you've told me has been useful. I appreciate all of your help." And he really did. Now that he'd listened to their reminisces of their lost brother, Chanyeol felt he had a greater sense of who Yongguk had been as a person.

Taking a final gulp of his lukewarm beverage, the agent stood up to make his leave. He thanked the Bang siblings and reassured them he would call if any developments were made.

Once he had left and was settled down in his car, he pulled out his cell phone. There was a missed call from Chen and two texts from his friend Minseok, but he ignored them all as he rang a different contact.

Barely two seconds had passed before the person picked up the other line. "I hope you found some new leads over there."

"Not really. Sorry, boss." Despite the bad news, Chanyeol grinned. It sounded as if Sunggyu had been waiting for his call all day, desperate for the information only Yongguk's brother and sister could provide. "If you were hoping Yongguk was secretly an underground thug or part of the mafia, you're outta luck." He proceeded to relay everything that he'd been told in Bang Yongnam's house. Mindful of the time, he tried to keep his words as concise as possible.

"Basically, besides the fact that he was really into sharp, pointy, exploding stuff, he didn't do anything that would have put him in danger," Chanyeol concluded. "I'm almost positive that Yongguk was only targeted as a warning to us. As Chen would call it, a typical case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sunggyu was silent. For a moment, Chanyeol wondered if his lack of tact had gone too far. He knew that the branch director had been close to Bang Yongguk. He was one of the few people who'd been hit the hardest by the loss. Had Chanyeol's brazen personality pushed Sunggyu off the deep end?

Thankfully, when the director finally answered, it didn't seem like he was angry with the younger man. "Alright. Nothing suspicious was found in his apartment either, though I expected as much. I still want any old friends and relatives to be interviewed. They might know something that his siblings didn't. Do you think you can take care of it?"

Chanyeol saluted, though obviously it couldn't be seen over the phone. "No problem, boss! Just leave it to me, I'll get it done."

"Where do you get all of this energy from?" Sunggyu muttered, but gave a thanks anyways. The two exchanged brief goodbyes and hung up, going their separate ways for the remainder of the day.

Chanyeol glanced outside of his window. The sun was hidden behind clouds, leaving an abstract of grey to fill up the sky. And yet there was no sign of snow. It was already over a week into December, and there was still no sign of the fluffy white stuff. Some people liked the soft, delicate flakes, others cursed the sight of it. Chanyeol, he considered himself to be part of the former. Snow always put him in a festive mood. It never failed to make him smile, even if he was working late nights or had one too many errands to run. Snow reminded him of Christmas...

The inspector shook free of his daydream, then stuck his key into the ignition. He had work to do.

-----------

The rest of the day passed by with much frustration and little success (unless you counted Hoya and Kris' snag on Park Hana, and even that wasn't exactly gold for them). It moved at what some might call a snail's pace, but finally, when the clock struck seven, Myungsoo found himself at the Vin Sonata. It was a quiet, classy bar, one that was more for adults looking for a relaxing evening than youths who wanted to get drunk and party hard. Knowing this, Myungsoo hadn't protested too much when Woohyun had dragged him here... Plus, in all honesty, he kind of wanted to take a break, too. Let loose, relax for the night. Woohyun was right; he had  been letting work take over his life recently.

Of course, he'd cut his own tongue out before admitting that out loud.

Speaking of which... Myungsoo eyed the easy-going inspector over the top of his glass. "I can't believe you actually convinced me to come here."

Woohyun cheerfully raised his own drink in return. He made no attempt to hide the smug little grin playing at his lips. "Here's to the night. This one's on Gyu, so drink up and go wild."

Next to him, Sunggyu scowled. "Excuse me? If memory serves me right, you said you would treat me  if I agreed to come. And you didn't even give me a chance to answer. You dragged me out of my office with the computer still running and everything."

"Aww, loosen up, Sunggyu." Woohyun nudged the irritated director with his elbow. "Both of you guys need to chill. Just buy us this one drink, yeah? Come on, you get paid way more than we do."

Sunggyu glowered at him, though this time it was more out of habit than frustration. "Maybe if you did your work like you're supposed to, you'd be promoted and get that raise you're always whining about. And I still don't understand why I'm here. What, you couldn't get drunk without my supervision?"

His friend snorted. "Yeah, that's it. I need you to babysit my wasted self because I won't have a shred of responsibility left, Mom." As if to prove his point, he took a large gulp of the amber liquid in his glass.

"Hmph." Sunggyu reached up to massage his temples. "Fine, I'll stay. But only for a little while. I need to go home early and finish looking over reports. You know, Hoya called me again about that Park Hana. Said he and Kris got permission to interview her about Kim Jongin, but only after she recovers from her surgery. And knowing what doctors are like, they might not let us see her for a week at the minimum-"

"Nope!" Woohyun chided. "I don't want to hear it. Work is unmentionable here. This is a CSI-free zone. Further talk about anything related to the case will result in paying for the next round of drinks." He nodded impishly at his already half-empty glass.

Sunggyu sent a hopeless sort of look Myungsoo's way, but the ravenet merely shrugged. It was no use fighting against Woohyun and his stubborn mind. As they said, it was easier to go with the current than it was to fight it.

Myungsoo lifted up his drink. "Bottom's up," he told the older man ruefully, then tipped the contents of the glass into his mouth.

An hour and three glasses later, Myungsoo felt his head start to throb. By no means was he a lightweight- he could handle his own fair share of liquor, thank you very much- but it had been a while since he'd last gone drinking. The music sounded louder than before, and he was getting a light, funny feeling in his stomach. All of this plus the fact that he had to drive home later was not  an appealing choice to him.

He pushed his empty glass away. "Hey, I'm gonna go out for a bit."

"What? You're leaving now?" Woohyun exclaimed. He was already on his fourth glass, and judging by the slight flush in his cheeks, the effects of drinking were starting to hit him, as well. But Myungsoo knew better. On more than one occasion he'd seen Woohyun drink before, and it was almost scary how high the man's alcohol tolerance level was. "You're no fun, Myunggie. I told you to relax for the entire night. What was the point of bringing you here if you were gonna leave so soon?"

Myungsoo sighed. "I'm not going home, Woohyun. I just need to cool off, that's all. See you in a few minutes."

He peered in Sunggyu's direction before sliding out of his seat. The branch director was also nursing a fourth drink, but the alcohol had done a much better job on him. He looked relaxed; all traces of his initial stress were nowhere to be seen. Completed with drooping shoulders and an unusually bright gleam in his eyes... Myungsoo just hoped the boss still had enough sense to know when to stop.

Woohyun watched as the younger man left the bar. He wondered if it was alright to let his friend go like that. While Myungsoo hadn't been swaying, he didn't exactly seem to be in complete control of himself, either. But before he could give the matter anymore thought, a flash of movement caught his eye.

He turned just in time to see Sunggyu lolling his head to the side. "I'm so glad you brought me here, Woohyun," his friend beamed. "You were right; this break was way overdue. I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed like this."

"Of course you are. I'm always right, aren't I?" Woohyun chuckled. "Though how much do you wanna bet that as soon as I enter HQ tomorrow morning, you'll be scolding me on the dangers of weekday drinking?"

Sunggyu dismissively waved his hand. "I won't scold you. Maybe I'll ask you to bring me an aspirin or two, but I won't lecture about tonight. I know you're only trying to look out for me."

Woohyun raised a brow. "You do, huh?" He suspected his friend was just entering the emotional stage of drinking. All the same, he felt a warm feeling spread throughout of him. It had been a while since they'd had a serious heart-to-heart.

"Yeah." Sunggyu shot him a crooked grin, which only strengthened the sensation. "Your jokes are terrible and you write reports, but you're always there to have my back. You don't even get mad when I yell at you or threaten to transfer you to another branch. You understand me. So thanks. Thank you, Tin Man."

The inspector slowly nodded. "You're welcome, Lion." A faint smile tugged at his lips. "But next time, do you mind saying that when I have my phone out? I need to record it so I can show you whenever you're pissed off at me."

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. "I'd regret telling you that, but I can't. I had to let you know before you- you know- like Yongguk-" His words were graceless, but it was a kind of clumsiness that was caused by something other than intoxication.

The elder sighed, then dropped his head into his hands. "It's my fault," he muttered. His words were tinged with guilt and self-disgust. "Yongguk's gone and it's all because of me. What kind of chief am I if I can't even protect my own agents? My own friends?  I thought we'd be okay as long as we caught the killer in the end. But to let one of my oldest friends die right under my nose..." He shakily reached for his drink.

"I feel like I failed him."

"No, you didn't," Woohyun said in a low voice. The playful banter was gone, and he felt his heart thump again. Only this time, the fist that was squeezing it was pain, not affection. "You can stop right there, Kim Sunggyu, because this isn't your fault at all. You're not psychic. You didn't ask for this to happen. There was no way you could have known Yongguk was going to be targeted." 

He jabbed a finger in Sunggyu's direction. "I'm only going to say this one last time, so stop your pity party and listen carefully: his death wasn't your fault."

"What do you know?" Sunggyu scoffed. He turned to his companion with a twisted grimace, clenching his free hand until the knuckles were visibly white. "You  don't stay up late at night thinking of how it could have been prevented. You  weren't there in the examination room when Dongwoo went over the autopsy. When his cold, dead body was just lying there on the table. Yongguk was always there for us, but I never got to return the favour. Do you know how that makes me feel? And you, you're not even sad that he's gone. How can you say it's not my fault when you don't even care about it?"

Woohyun deftly plucked the drink out of the director's hand. Sunggyu's words stung, but he reminded himself that his friend was just upset and needed to vent his anger out. "Of course I'm sad. Yongguk was my friend too, you know. I probably owed him more than anybody else in this world. You of all people should know that. But just because I'm not crying over it doesn't mean that I don't miss him." He wryly pushed the glass to the end of the table.

"And drinking your sorrows out isn't going to bring him back." Woohyun closed his eyes. "Nothing can bring him back now. All we can do is catch the er who killed him and bring peace to his memory."

Turning his head, he pretended to check the time on the wall. He didn't want to let Sunggyu see the tear that was running down his face.

-----------

The moment Myungsoo stepped outside, he was hit by waves of crisp December air. It was cold- he had forgotten his jacket inside- but it did its job in clearing the fog from his head. He wasn't quite sure of where he wanted to go, so he let his feet take him away from the bar and down the street. It was better than sticking around the Sonata's entrance with the doorman, that was for sure.

The crime scene agent walked steadily, careful not to trip and fall flat on his face. Once or twice he was hit by a spell of dizziness, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Still, he made a mental note to drink only ice water when he returned to his friends.

He was now passing by a row of empty shops. It wasn't a particularly late hour, but none of them seemed to be open. Boutiques, cafes, pharmacies, game stores... They all had flashy signs advertising their merchandise, but Myungsoo wasn't interested in that. No, he was much too busy fighting the clamour of thoughts in his mind. It was like listening to an unorchestrated symphony- each mental strand was a musician playing at their own pace, and he had no idea which one he was supposed to listen to.

We're never going to catch the killer, he's too smart for that, let's face it this case was impossible from the beginning-

Why Yongguk? Why him? What did he ever do to deserve such an ugly fate?

I'm sorry Sungjong, I'm sorry for not trying to understand you, but what the hell am I supposed to do when I don't even understand myself-

A traitor? Hypocrite? Nobody would've pegged her for one. What made Kim Hwayoung so special that the killer chose to single her out? What exactly did she do-

Then Myungsoo turned the corner, and it was like the world had come to a stop.

"How- You- What are you-"

The person who was facing him on the sidewalk gave a sigh of annoyance. His reaction was the exact opposite of Myungsoo's- he didn't seem surprised to see the ravenet there at all. Instead, he was slightly hunched over as he walked- no, staggered- closer to the shell-shocked agent. "I was under the impression that you actually knew how to speak properly. Or did you leave your tongue behind in Yangsan?"

The familiar sardonic tone was enough to ruse Myungsoo out of his shock. The symphony of thoughts took up their song again. This time, however, they were all in synch with each other, centered on one thing only. On the man standing in front of him.

On Lee Sungyeol.

The streetlights weren't the brightest, but they shed enough for Myungsoo to realize the horrible state of the newcomer's appearance. Bruises and cuts littered his skin and his clothes had what looked like rust staining them. It automatically brought to mind the image of dead bodies lying in pools of dried blood. Perhaps those stains were  blood.

Myungsoo was worried, he really was. He was horrified and concerned and wanted to know how the hell Sungyeol had become such a mess, and just what was so important that he'd up and disappeared for. But in that moment the only thing he could process was that it was Sungyeol, Sungyeol was back, he had finally found Sungyeol and oh god he was so relieved that he wasn't even thinking straight.

It was probably the alcohol. The three drinks he'd had earlier were making him crazy. So with the excuse of liquor messing up his mind, Myungsoo strode right up to the rookie and grabbed him by the collar.

"Where have you been?"  he snapped, not caring that he was causing a scene in public. The street was practically empty anyways, and he was too worked up to care if he had an audience or not. His ears were roaring, his pulse was racing, but he tried to ignore those as he stared Sungyeol straight in the eye. It almost hurt to see that they were still as guarded as before.

Sungyeol opened his mouth to reply, but was given no such chance. Myungsoo was already past the point of reason. He didn't want to listen. He didn't want to talk. Instead, he tightened his grip on the ruined jacket, gave it a sharp yank, and- without even thinking about the consequences- pressed his lips firmly against Sungyeol's own.

And as he stood there kissing the injured man, he knew: he couldn't blame it on the alcohol anymore.

[A/N]  Whooo hoo hoo Myungsoo, go get 'em, tiger. I wasn't planning on posting this chapter til after this week, but it was my birthday on Saturday so this is my gift to you wonderful readers ❤

You probably noticed that it was mostly Yongguk-centric. Two reasons for it: one, it's kinda like a final tribute to him (ynaaww meeeeen), and two, I'm... actually considering writing a Yongguk prequel =x= I know I said I'd quit AFF after this and Tin Man, but I just can't seem to stop. It keeps dragging me back in, like a black hole... Like tumblr, actually. Haha. Anyways, it's just a thought. Still uncertain, but if I do decide to write it, I'll make sure to let you all know ^^

As always, thank you for reading, you lovely people! Things will start picking up by the next chapter, but nonetheless I hope you enjoyed this one. Happy reading :)