Donghae hissed and Kyuhyun was taken aback at the ferocity that was imbued in that sound.

“Get back inside!” Donghae swiftly pulled Kyuhyun away from the door as he shouted to the guardian, “Kangin!”

But Kangin had already leaped forward past Kyuhyun and in front of him. 

If only the situation hadn’t been so serious, Kyuhyun would have found time to admire Kangin’s bravery and apologize to him for thinking him a cowardly guardian when here he was, protecting him.

Then Kangin just as swiftly pushed out the dead body that was blocking the doorway and went to close the door. He yelled, “Well, don’t just stand there, lock the darn door! They might still be outside!”

Oh, so that was it. The body was blocking the door. 

Donghae and Kyuhyun quickly obeyed and bolted the doors and Kyuhyun thought that for all the alleged powers other-worldly beings had, surely they can’t be stopped just because of a double-locked thick, heavy door?!

It was a tense minute as all three of them looked warily at the closed door with Donghae keeping on sniffing for enemies and Kangin standing rigid on all fours, fangs bared. Kyuhyun thought he should do something himself so he knelt down with a finger pointing to the floor.

“What are you doing?” Kangin whispered fiercely.

“Preparing to open a gate. If someone breaks through, I’m getting us out of here.”

Kangin gaped and stared at him in something close to admiration. Kyuhyun almost preened to accept the compliment but being in a very serious situation, he supposed he could remind Kangin later of his cleverness.

Another minute passed and still nothing happened and his two companions acknowledged that the boy wasn’t followed. Donghae immediately opened the door and crouched down to look at the body just outside. His usually bright face now turned dark. Kyuhyun could see the play of emotions on the dragon’s face and for the first time, saw a serious expression on it.

“Do you know him?” It was Kangin who asked.

Donghae nodded. “Kim Jonghyun. He was a dwarf.”

If it had been any other situation, Kyuhyun would have protested and say that Donghae was too critical and the young man before them wasn’t that short and… Oh right, he means an Elysian dwarf.

“He was just like Amber. They were my decoys and they’re all gone now,” Donghae’s voice was surprisingly calm. It was in contrast to the expression on his face and the tears starting to stream down his cheeks.

Before Kyuhyun could approach to comfort him however, Kangin growled, “So it’s true? They are attempting to assassinate you?”

Donghae just nodded forlornly but then shook his head quickly. “No! We are sure of the assassination but we still don’t have evidence of who’s doing it.” 

“This dwarf was supposed to be the one from Interpol, correct?”

Donghae nodded again and Kangin hissed.

Kyuhyun now had to ask, “Wait, Interpol? Ho- … how did they get involved in this?”

“It’s not the Interpol you know,” Kangin snapped as he was now agitated, “Well in a sense it is. It’s a secret subdivision of the one you know but it’s called the same, only it stands for Inter-world Police instead of International Police. Not very original but it’s subtle and it serves its purpose.”

“And this Jonghyun was an agent?”

“Yes,” it was Donghae who answered in a very sad tone then suddenly, a soft pop was heard and he cursed. Kyuhyun and Kangin stared half in fascination and half in horror as blood suddenly spread out from under Jonghyun’s head.

“Can-… can a blow have a delayed reaction like that? He should have been bleeding the moment he got wounded.” 

Donghae was furious, “I knew it! There is a poison that can have an effect like this and it’s not from this world or ours!” 

Kyuhyun quickly asked, "Donghae, can you check Jonghyun’s phone and see if he just called my number?”

He did.

"He called you?!" Kangin asked in surprise. 

“I went home because I got a call from someone asking me to get them to Pendarak saying it was urgent and that it had something to do with treachery," Kyuhyun explained to them, "Apparently, it was him." 

Then he remembered something else. Jonghyun had told him that he wasn’t sure if he’ll be able to make it but he wanted to be examined for evidence. How can one be examined for evidence if well, they were dead? Unless…

“I think I can guess what Jonghyun was saying about treachery. Whatever was used to kill him, he wanted someone from Pendarak to know about it. Even if he doesn’t make it there alive, he wanted his body examined.”

As he said the last words, all three of them looked down at the body and then at each other.

“No way am I doing it!” 

Perhaps fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you view the situation, the matter was taken out of their hands since their-forgotten-for-the-moment housemate returned just then.

Zhou Mi took one look at the body sprawled right on their apartment’s door step and the amount of blood flowing from it, and like any other normal human being, promptly screamed his head off.

*************

“So Mr. Cho, we meet again and what’s more you have Mr. Zhou with you.”

“Ah, Detective Inspector Lee. Uh, yeah, nice to see you again, I guess,” Kyuhyun smiled a little nervously, “And just call me Kyuhyun if you want,” he said timidly, trying to dampen the suspicious and piercing look the police officer was giving him.

“And you can just call me Detective Lee,” Lee Sungmin said, his pretty pink lips curved into an almost amused smile. “I wonder what exactly is so magnetic about this apartment floor that victims are just dying to die here.”

Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi gave an automatic laugh at the detective’s attempt at humour. It was definitely imperative that they get on the police’s good side. Two dead bodies found in their apartments within the space of only less than a week just screamed: ’I am suspicious! Take me away officer.’ 

“Do we need to go the police station again, Detective Lee?” Zhou Mi asked, flashing his brightest smile. Right now, they were all inside Kyuhyun's apartment with uniformed and non-uniformed police officers swarming around the apartment and the corridor outside.

There was a tense few moments as Sungmin looked at each of them in turn before he sighed as he said, “No. One of my officers will take your statements here.”

Kyuhyun was grateful that Detective Lee was a very rule-abiding officer because from the disgruntled way he sighed, it seemed as though he was hoping to haul both he and Zhou Mi to the station. Preferably, in handcuffs. 

“Sungmin, is it possible to get a report of how this victim died and the other victim before?”

Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi stared at the familiar way Donghae was speaking to the detective. “You mean an autopsy report? Uh Don- Aiden, Detective Lee might think that’s a little too much.”

Donghae frowned in confusion and Sungmin replied, “Reports from cases that are under investigation, including autopsy reports are available to the public, therefore it’s no problem if I just fax you a copy,” he informed them, then he added, “And I had told Aiden he can call me Sungmin,” the detective grinned widely before leaving them to talk to his sergeant.

So Donghae can call him Sungmin but he and Zhou Mi must call him Detective Lee? Wow, he definitely likes us.

*************

“I’m sorry Kuixian. I shouldn’t have lost my head like that and I shouldn’t have called the police right away.”

The four housemates were alone now in the living room and Zhou Mi was visibly upset as Kyuhyun was slumped on his favourite armchair, nursing a glass of soju.

Kyuhyun was surprised, “No, of course not Mi. That was a normal reaction.” Besides, the whole apartment building could hear you screaming bloody murder. Who wouldn’t call the police? Kyuhyun added silently.

“Well, yes but this was hardly a normal situation wasn’t it?”

“Hmm, what do you mean?”

“Well the one who died wasn’t human and you might have wanted to investigate first what killed him.”

There were varied reactions after that startling announcement. Kyuhyun dropped the glass he was holding, Donghae’s eyes widened and Kangin croaked out, “You- you know we’re not human?”

Zhou Mi shouted even as he leaped up from the sofa, “WHOA! What are you?!”

“Eep!” Kangin covered his mouth with his paws which further condemned him as Kyuhyun sputtered out, “But- but you just said…”

“I know Aiden’s a dragon and that dead guy was probably from Nibiru or maybe a dwarf. I’m not sure. I haven’t met his kind before but I haven’t seen something like that,” Zhou Mi explained as he pointed an accusing finger at Kangin.

All three others were now staring widely at Zhou Mi. “Yes, Aiden’s a dragon and Kangin here is a daemon,” Kyuhyun explained as he slowly stood up and moved away little by little from the other man, “He’s my guardian actually. You probably know what I am, do you?” he was now trying to keep his voice calm even as he tried to signal to Donghae to do as he was doing and move slowly away from Zhou Mi.

“You must be a Gatekeeper then if you have a daemon guardian,” Zhou Mi grinned then it faded as he noticed Kyuhyun’s movements, “Oh for goodness sake Kuixian! I’m a perfectly normal human being just like you. Well, not exactly like you since you’re a gatekeeper and all but I’m harmless!”

Kyuhyun blushed in embarrassment, scolding himself for being stupidly suspicious. Then again, who was to blame him, there was just a murdered dwarf in his house and here was his supposedly normal human neighbour, knowing things that other normal humans didn’t.

“Then that’s good Mi, we can be much closer friends,” Donghae said delightedly, “I was always feeling guilty for hiding things from you. And by the way, call me Donghae, that’s my real name,” he said, going to sit beside the other man and taking his hand.

Kangin muttered, “And I don’t need to continue eating those disgusting dog food you buy me.”

But Kyuhyun wanted to answer the more crucial question, “Mi, how come you know these things?”

Zhou Mi smiled again, “Oh, that’s because of my job. The establishment I work for doesn’t just cater to wealthy humans, they cater to wealthy other-world beings as well. So in most cases, I can recognize other-world beings in human forms. But there are only a select few of us who know and are assigned to them. It’s a special job on top of my regular one.”

“And what exactly is that job?”

“I’m a professional .”

Kyuhyun blinked, certain that he hadn’t heard right, “I’m sorry, you’re a what?”

“A professional ,” then seeing the other’s confused face, Zhou Mi explained cheerfully, “You know those stories and myths about our ancestors who sacrifice s to appease the gods when there are natural catastrophes like volcanoes erupting? My job’s like that but no,” he put a hand up when he saw the horror on Kyuhyun’s face, “those stories were actually exaggerated Kuixian. The s aren’t dropped into the mouth of the volcano or something. It’s just a ritual, no one gets pushed in.”

Zhou Mi continued, “Anyway, other-world beings still have plenty of uses for sacrifices, not that we’re actually sacrificed in the truest sense and most people still prefer female s over male ones but still. We just you know, appear at the rituals usually dressed in white, do a sort of dance while they chant, and sometimes they require blood. Just drops mind you, and the maximum you can request is three drops of blood, no more than that should be shed.”

Kyuhyun was by now rubbing his temples. He didn’t know which was more absurd. Zhou Mi working at an service company as a or that Zhou Mi was a and he chose to work as a male . Nothing, simply nothing is more ironic than that.

Then he remembered something, “Uh, Mi. You had dragon clients, didn’t you? Was there one who’s tall, about 182 cm, has jet black hair, dark eyes, a chiselled face and um, is an archaeologist?”

“No, I don’t think so. I would have remembered someone like that. Why?”

“Um, nothing,” Kyuhyun wanted to kick himself for even asking in the first place. Not that he was relieved that the dragon in question didn’t actually go to those kind of establishments. 

Just then, the fax tone was heard. Kyuhyun went at once to receive it. He took out the paper but seeing the header “To: Aiden” he made a wry smile and passed it to the dragon, knowing at once who it was from. 

Donghae scanned the paper, “This is a partial autopsy report on Jonghyun and the full one on Amber,” he paused as he read more properly then he swore loudly. “I was right! They were both poisoned!”

“Poisoned? How? And with what?”

Donghae turned to Kyuhyun as Kangin took the paper with his mouth and set it down on the floor to read it with Zhou Mi.

“Your human police will not be able to detect the poison but the report indicated an unknown substance found in both bodies. They say it’s not deadly but the poison I’m talking about precisely acts that way once it has done its job. Do you remember the popping sound we heard before blood came out of Jonghyun’s head? That’s what the poison does. It enters the bloodstream, targeting the organs and as it does its job, the poison gets warmer and warmer until it somehow boils and bursts an opening to escape. Usually, it’s the back of the head and as soon as it comes into contact with air, the toxic component of the poison disintegrates.”

“But tha-… that’s fantastic!” Kyuhyun then continued hurriedly, “I mean it isn’t fantastic that those two died because of it but a poison that’s not traceable and what’s more can make it look like the victim died of something else is well, for lack of a better word, amazing. Where is it from?”

Donghae scowled, “It’s from Hielo and you’re right about it being amazing. In your language, the poison’s name is Deadly Trick.”

“So that means Amber didn’t receive a blow to her head like we thought. She died the same way as Jonghyun, no matter how these autopsy reports say that they both died from a blow to their heads. And yet they could not identify the weapon used,” Kangin said as he finished reading, “We all saw what happened to Jonghyun but it seems like the police didn’t believe what you said.”

Then he told Donghae in a commanding and serious tone that Kyuhyun had only heard once, from the first time they had met, “I think it’s time you tell us the whole story. I already know some parts of it but Kyuhyun now needs to know everything especially since you’re here with us and you don’t have your decoys anymore. Zhou Mi, you don’t need to hear this if you don’t want to. You don’t need to get involved.”

“Are you kidding? I’m not abandoning my friends. Besides, I may not have powers or abilities like you guys but I have connections I can use to gather information.”

Donghae nodded and Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi sat down on the couch, waiting for the dragon to begin.