그립다고 천번쯤 말해보면 그대가 올까요?

If I say I miss you a thousand times, will you come?

Night, he came to realize, was only a small sliver of time that held all the world's secrets. Which is why he didn't have much time. He needed to execute this with absolute precision — no mistakes, no hints left behind. 

With his back pressed up against the wall, he sauntered along further into the darkness towards the halo of blue light emitted from a computer screen in a room at the end of the hall. His hand reached slowly into his pocket, his fingers lightly brushing the bristles of the rope inside. in his breath, he peered inside the room partway. His target was seated in front of the computer, oblivious to the mysterious figure stowed away in the shadows. Slowly, he slipped the rope out of his pocket and held both ends in his tightly clenched fists. He felt his heart race to the point that he was starting to hear it rattling in his chest, drowning out the rapid clicking of the keyboard. He waited, his hands twitching with impatience as he shifted his gaze to the screen. It should be happening right about now.

On cue, the screen blinked from blue to black. Before he could panic, the rope had already been brought down to strangle the target.

Night, he realized, was the perfect time for murder.

~

When Kim Myungsoo stepped over the neon police tape and waltzed into the crime scene, he disregarded the fact that those who ranked below him had shifted their gaze away from his with unease. Being the newcomer of the squadron (let alone the youngest) had both its perks and disadvantages. After becoming a detective six months ago, Myungsoo realized that he gained the independence and self-suffiency he felt most comfortable with; as long as he didn't bother his co-workers, they left him alone. But because of his minimal interactions with the other members of his unit, he was somewhat an outcast, seated in a small island of a desk detached from the rest. It didn't help that he was also the center of whispered rumors in the locker room or during smoke breaks by the back entrance. Kim Myungsoo, the detective who could stop a cold-blooded killer in his tracks with just an icy gaze. Kim Myungsoo, the young genius who graduated from the police academy in less than 3 years. It was because of these rumors and the detective's withdrawn demeanor that everyone seemed to be intimidated by him. Not that he cared, to be frankly honest. He didn't become a detective to socialize or make friends anyways; he had more things to worry about than that.

Myungsoo gestured to one of the officers nearby, and the man in uniform hurriedly scrambled to his side, offering him a stiff salute. "Sir," he greeted politely.

"Another murder?" the detective inquired, making his way into the lit hallway with the officer following closely behind. 

"Yes. We received a call at the station from the victim's friend who happened to drop by and found the guy hanging from the ceiling fan. The paramedics are dealing with the body, and we have the friend in custody for the time being."

Myungsoo stopped at the doorway of the victim's bedroom, his gaze set on the scene staged out in front of him. From the overturned chair to the remainder of the rope tied around the ceiling fan from which the man was hung, all clues would normally lead him to believe that this was nothing more than an act of suicide. However, as he redirected his attention to the computer screen, he thought otherwise. In bloodred letters contrasted against a black background, he found himself staring at the word "Atonement" flashing repeatedly on the screen. The detective grit his teeth, infuriated. There was definitely a killer involved in this case — a serial killer to be more exact — who not only murdered his victims but somehow managed to play around with the detective as well. He's mocking us, that bastard, Myungsoo thought to himself bitterly. Then what are we waiting for? Let the game begin. 

~

Kim Sunggyu gestured to the evidence presented on the projector screen, a picture of the victim hanging from the ceiling fan. "Sung Jungho, age 31. Like the previous victims of this case, he was arrested three years ago on February 10th for assault and illegal possession of drugs. The victims, Kim Kyunghoon, Lee Jaeho, Chun Hongjun, and now Sung Jungho, were all murdered in way that made it seem as though they committed suicide. Kyunghoon was thought to have overdosed on sleeping pills, but the autopsy report said that he was poisoned with cyanide. Jaeho was found in the bathtub with slit wrists, but forensics believed that he was drowned after finding water in his lungs. Witnesses saw Hongjun fall out of his apartment window, but since there were traces of dry ice placed in his bedroom, he most likely could have died from carbon dioxide suffication first. Jungho was also thought to have been hung, but the bruises on his neck tell us that he's been strangled or choked to death. The only clues left behind by the killer are the victims' computers which have been programmed to shut down and flash the word "Atonement" on the screen. So the only conclusion we can reach so far is that those who were involved in the incident from February 10th are being targeted, and at this point, we have no choice but to believe that there may be more people at risk."

Out of the group of six, Lee Sungyeol raised his hand to interject. "Team leader, there are two more people that the killer's targeting," he informed. His teammates turned in their seats to face him, perplexed. "When the cyber crime investigation team took in the victims' computers as evidence, they discovered something. The killer is using a hacking program by sending out a mass email attachment to the people he's targeting, programming it in a way so that two things would happen when his victims opened the file — infect the system with a virus that shuts it down within an hour of opening the email and hack into the computer in a way that the killer would know the target's IP address."

"We're dealing with a clever bastard," Nam Woohyun sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "So you're saying that the killer could track his targets' whereabouts with just an IP address?"

"Yes. He's murdering them by the order they open the email attachment, which makes sense because that's the order of when he receives their IP addresses."

"Then the killer's IP address," Myungsoo suddenly declared. "Can't the cyber crime investigators find out the IP address of the killer's computer with the email he used to send those attachments?"

Sungyeol shook his head. "Like Woohyun said, he's a clever bastard. He created the email account in a local internet cafe so we can't track him down that way. But he did leave us something that might help us solve this case." The detective grinned at his associates. "When the killer sent out that email attachment, he made the mistake of sending it to all of those he planned on targeting, even the ones who're still alive. The cyber crime investigation team gave me the IP addresses of the two who haven't opened the attachment yet -"

"What are their addresses?" Jang Dongwoo inquired hurriedly.

"One's apartment 12 in 629-7 Yeoksam-dong in the Gangnam district, the other's in 21-25 Sungsan-dong in the Mapo district."

Sunggyu pounded his palms down on the desk, redirecting the five detectives' attention back to him. "We're going to have to split up then. Myungsoo, Sungyeol, and Howon are going to Yeoksam-dong while Dongwoo, Woohyun, and I are heading to Sungsan-dong. Understood?" 

The detectives agreed in unison and filed out of the meeting room, breaking apart into their respective groups to head off towards the outside world of animosity.

~

Howon slammed down on the brakes of the car in front of their assigned address to which both Myungsoo and Sungyeol jerked forward as the vehicle lurched to a stop. Sungyeol, who was sitting in the passenger seat, hit his head against the dashboard and shot a glare in their designated driver's direction. "Yah, are you a detective or Speed Racer?!" he snapped. "You're going to end up killing us before we can even solve this case!" Myungsoo leaned back in his seat impatiently as he watched the two bicker over Lee Howon's driving etiquette (or lack thereof) until he finally brought himself to load the chamber of his handgun and throw open the back door. Sungyeol and Howon swerved around in their seats, watching the youngest soundlessly climb out of the vehicle and head inside the building without them. "K-Kim Myungsoo, wait up!"

When he reached the second floor, Myungsoo found his speed slowing from hurried strides to cautious steps as he sneaked through the shroud of night past the doors that led to apartment 12. He counted silently as he went along. 8 . . . 9 . . . 10 . . . 11 . . . and 12. Holding his breath, Myungsoo held up his free hand, tapped the door with his knuckles, and waited for a response. He was met with absolute silence. "This is the police," he called, hammering his fist against the entrance. Silence, again. He raised his gun slightly, pulling back the hammer mechanism and keeping his finger hovering over the trigger as he took a step away from the door. Without a second thought, Myungsoo threw himself at the barrier that stood between him and possibly the only living clue he had that would help him catch the killer. The door flung open.

Just from glancing around the darkened room set in front of him, Myungsoo knew that this apartment belonged to a college student. The furniture was simple and minimal; a television set on one wall, a couch pushed up against the other, and a few plants situated on the windowsills. This struck him as odd. What business did a serial killer have with a student? Myungsoo padded further into the apartment only to find himself greeted by the sound of a seemingly heavy object falling in the distance. He stopped, extending his arm to direct his gun towards the source of the sound only to face yet another closed door. The grip on his weapon never faltering, he kicked open the door and waved the pistol around as his eyes shifted hastily around the room.

He was in the student's bedroom now, but it was apparently empty. However, as he took another cautious step inside, he managed to make out the contours of someone's leg sticking out from beneath the desk. Myungsoo lowered the gun, exhaling. "This is the police," he said slowly. "I need you to get up so you can answer some questions for me." The figure hesitated before sliding out from the shadows and straightening up, shakily revealing himself in the blue light emitted from the computer screen. 

The pistol slipped from Myungsoo's grasp, untangling itself from his fingers and clattering to the floor. 

Just barreling into the bedroom, Howon and Sungyeol raised their guns at the vague figure facing their teammate. Howon, his gaze never wavering from the target, grit out, "Myungsoo, what the hell-"

"Sungjong," Myungsoo uttered quietly in a daze. The two armed men exchanged a questioning glance, their grip on their weapons wavering slightly. 

The target, quivering in fear, managed to choke out, "Kim Myungsoo?"

"You two know each other?" Sungyeol inquired loudly in surprise. He glanced at Myungsoo, expecting a reply, but the youngest detective seemed to be at a loss for words. Even the boy he called Sungjong couldn't bring himself to speak on his acquaintence's behalf. They could only stare at each other and allow the memories of their shared past to build a ghost of a wall between them. Myungsoo knew that he had to say something. Anything. But then again, what was there to say to his first love?

~

After the four of them had returned to the station, they found that the other group had not returned yet from their assigned address. Unsure of what else to do, Howon suggested that Myungsoo should be the one to interrogate Sungjong alone while he and Sungyeol monitor their conversation from the outside. Myungsoo had turned to him irritably. "Why me?" he had snapped. "You two are perfectly capable of doing it yourselves."

"Look at him, Myungsoo," Howon insisted, gesturing to the boy sitting on the other side of the glass. "He thinks he did something wrong, and he's scared out of his wits. Since you two know each other, you might be able to ease his nerves." Myungsoo bit his lower lip in contemplation to which the oldest of the three knit his brows. "Did something happen between you two in the past? You seem pretty reluctant on associating yourself with him."

But Myungsoo had already brushed past the two older detectives and stepped into the interrogation room without another word.

So here he was, seated uncomfortably across the boy from the memories of his adolescence and watching him preoccupy himself by picking at the hem of his shirt. They remained like this for a while with Myungsoo being unsure of what to say and Sungjong being unsure of how to respond to the silence. It's been three years since they had last seen each other, and Sungjong had thought that his old friend would have something to say to him. Like how he ended up becoming a detective at such a young age or how he was doing nowadays. But the older boy seemed to have nothing in mind. To be honest, Myungsoo did have things to ask Sungjong, things that had nothing to do with the case. It was the first time in three years that he felt this strong urge, one that didn't involve crime solving or detective work. He wasn't sure what exactly it was, but he knew better than to express himself verbally. It was best for him to keep quiet while he put his thoughts together.

However, eventually, it was Sungjong who spoke first. "H-hyung," he uttered hesitantly. Myungsoo met his gaze, perplexed. "Aren't you going to tell me why you brought me here? Did I do something wrong?"

The detective remained unresponsive before finally bringing himself to shake his head. "No, you didn't," he replied quietly.

"Then what's going on?"

"You're being targeted by a dangerous criminal; the killer sent out a mass email attachment to his targets which contains a tracking program he utilizes to hunt them all down. We managed to get to you before you could open that email, and I brought you in because we needed to ask you some questions . . . about how you're involved in the case." Myungsoo brought out a manilla folder of evidence. He presented Sungjong with pictures of the previous victims, carefully watching for his reaction. "Do you know any of these men?" 

However, upon glancing through the photos, he seemed unfazed by the faces peering up at him as though he were completely unfamiliar with them. "No, I don't," Sungjong replied.

"Then does the date February 10th from three years ago mean anything to you?" 

The younger boy glanced up at him, his brows knit slightly in disbelief. "Don't you remember?" he inquired. "That was the day of our high school graduation."

Myungsoo shifted his gaze uncomfortably. "Other than that . . ."

"Something did happen," Sungjong began slowly as though he were trying recollect those memories. "That day, on my way home, something happened. I'm not sure what it was, but I remember waking up from the hospital the next morning with an injured head. A nurse told me that I was found unconscious on the streets, but I don't remember how I ended up like that though." 

"You were attacked?" Myungsoo asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure about that, but that's what I've been thinking for the past three years."

The detective stood abruptly from his seat. "Then why didn't you report it to the police?"

"Would it have mattered?" Sungjong countered quietly. "I have no recollection of what happened so even if I did report it, the police would probably send me away because they have no leads on what happened."

Myungsoo clenched his fists, the weight of the truth slowly settling onto his shoulders as he brought himself to sit back in his seat. He reached for the button on his end of the table and pressed it, preventing both Howon and Sungyeol from hearing their conversation now. "Why are you here, Sungjong?" he asked, a note of indignation in his voice. "You don't belong in this room. You shouldn't be targeted. You should be nowhere near this case. So why? Why did the bastard have to choose you?"

"Myungsoo, I-"

"Aren't you afraid?" the detective interjected. "Aren't you afraid of this at all?"

Sungjong shook his head and offered him a small smile. "No, I'm not," he said, "because you're here."

~

"House was completely empty when we went," Sunggyu sighed as he leaned back into his seat in the meeting room. "He probably knew that he was being targeted and relocated himself to somewhere safe. He could be outside of Korea for all we know, but another team was already assigned to go search for him in case he's still in the country. The only clue we have for now is a college kid with no recollection of what happened three years ago. Howon, did you manage to get some background information on Lee Sungjong?"

"Yeah, and he seems pretty clean to me. Number one in the nation during high school, currently attending Seoul University, taking undergraduate courses in fine arts and psychology, ranked at the top of every class, tutors high school students as a part-time job. No criminal record. He's a model student from what I'm seeing here."

"And what's this I've been hearing about Sungjong and Myungsoo?" the team leader inquired, turning to the youngest of the six. "Something about you two knowing each other in high school?"

"Apparently, they were classmates," Dongwoo said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Sunggyu leered at Myungsoo in suspicion. "Something tells me that you two weren't just classmates."

Myungsoo, who had been preoccupying himself by twirling a pen between his fingers, glanced up. "We were friends," he replied tentatively, unsure exactly what to make of their past relationship.

"Well, that's good to hear," Sunggyu affirmed with a nod. "So you wouldn't mind if the kid stayed over at your house for the time being, won't you? Just until we close this case."

The pen unknowingly slipped from Myungsoo's fingers and plunged to the floor, rolling against the tile by his feet. Even his groupmates turned to face their team leader with their mouths agape in absolute shock. "What . . . did you just say?"

"I know it's a strange request, but we can't just send him back home; it's much too dangerous. Under these circumstances, we would normally have him stay at a motel and keep him under police surveillance, but I think it's better if he lived with you. That way, you would be able to keep a close eye on him and help him gain his memory back."

"But, team leader-"

"Myungsoo, I'm not doing this to joke around. As detectives, we're given the responsibility of protecting people from harm, and we can't let our personal feelings get in the way of our job. If this is the best method we have to solve this case, I don't see why you would be against it."

Myungsoo parted his lips to retaliate, but something was telling him that there was nothing he could say that would convince his team leader otherwise. He leaned back in his chair in defeat, glancing out the glass window to see Lee Sungjong seated in the hallway with an empty paper cup clenched in his hands. Even from here, the detective could sense the fear rattling the boy's shoulders, and his hardened gaze softened into that of empathy. His eyes fell shut, slowly taking down the wall of his own defenses brick by brick as he brought himself to nod, a vague sign of agreement. 

~

After Myungsoo had punched in the passcode to his flat and ushered Sungjong inside, he had announced a few "house rules" that the boy was never to break under any circumstances. No touching Myungsoo's workspace (which was really just a desk cluttered with stacks of police reports and colorful post-it notes). No going through his drawers. No leaving the apartment without him. No answering unnecessary calls. When going to school, he would be the one to take Sungjong there and back (no exceptions, he emphasized). Sungjong was beginning to think that the only think he could do was sit around and stare at the wall during his stay. With that, Myungsoo had left to collect some belongings from the boy's apartment in Yeoksam-dong after mumbling an inept goodbye.

Upon arrival, Myungsoo switched on the lights and found himself greeted by the sight of not just any college student's residence but the place that Lee Sungjong had called home for the past three years. Now that he was able to get a good look at it, everything seemed to be exactly the way Sungjong would want it. Not too tidy, not too unkempt. Even as he stepped into the boy's bedroom, he couldn't help but brush his fingers along the wall as he took in the familiarity of it all. Clothes tossed haphazardly on his bedframe, bedsheets unmade, desk littered with paper, walls decorated with schedules and photos. Photos. Myungsoo leaned forward, peering at the familiar faces smiling back at him. 

These, he realized, were from Sungjong's high school days. Back when the number one student in the nation had befriended the clumsy fool of a teenager.

Myungsoo didn't remember when most of these pictures with him in it had been taken (probably when he hadn't been looking), but two stuck out to him the most. Gently peeling off the tape from the back, he leaned against the desk and stared down at the teenaged Kim Myungsoo trapped in that one moment of time. What seemed odd about the photo was the fact that he was standing next to Sungjong, arm thrown over the younger boy's shoulder and beaming straight at the camera. He was actually smiling in a photograph (not that he didn't smile often back then, but capturing it on film was a rare occurrence nonetheless). As Myungsoo kept looking at it, he found himself gradually recalling this day as though it weren't so long ago. A day of spring, where the distant fragrance of flower petals became all too familiar to him . . .

Sungjong the camera in a nearby classmate's hands and hurried back to Myungsoo's side, standing by the open window that ushered in the light spring breeze. He positioned the older boy to face the camera with a bright smile spreading over his lips. "Myungsoo, let's take a picture," he said.

"Why all of a sudden?" Myungsoo inquired, but he managed to return a smile nonetheless. 

"It's our last year of high school. Are you going to leave this place without making any memories?" 

"But we took plenty together. Do we really need to take another one?"

"Yah, are you saying you don't want to?" Sungjong snapped.

Myungsoo couldn't help but laugh; he's always found it endearing whenever Sungjong threw a fuss over the little things. In fact, the two of them were so preoccupied with bickering at each other that they didn't realize that the classmate holding the camera had already begun counting down until she had reached the number 3. Without thinking much of it, Myungsoo draped his arm over the boy's shoulders and faced the lens, the traces of laughter still lingering on his face as the picture was being taken. 

~

When Myungsoo returned home, he stepped out of his shoes and bustled inside, expecting the boy to greet him with a timid smile like he did in the past. But instead, he found Sungjong sprawled on the couch, asleep with his knees bent towards his stomach and his arms hugging a square pillow to his chest. The detective put down the duffel bag containing Sungjong's things and soundlessly opened one of the drawers to pull out a comforter from inside. He gently threw it over the boy's sleeping form before straightening up to retreat into his own bedroom. However, he found himself stopping midway and glancing over his shoulder questioningly before snapping out of his momentary stupor to continue on his way.

Maybe it was just in his imagination, but he thought he had heard Lee Sungjong mutter Kim Myungsoo's name in his sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: OST Track 01-BK Love by MC Sniper

        OST Track 02-끝나지 않은 노래(The Song That Never Ends) by 노 리플라이(No Reply)