Just over a week later on a Friday night, Jaejoong found himself sitting in Kyuhyun’s office again with his fingers anchored in his hair as he stared at the profiles that had grown considerably since they’d started looking into the three companies more in-depth; and none of it was indicative of any of them.  Tiredly, he let his head droop so that it knocked into the top of the desk, arms falling back to rest on his shoulders.  “Why are they so damn hard to actually meet with face to face?!” he groaned in frustration.

                Kyuhyun scoffed at the question but grunted himself, tabbing through the online profiles again.  “It’s because they’ve got legions of lackeys more than happy to run interference.  If they even get a hint of the fact that one of us suits is heading their way, they manufacture all sorts of bull to keep themselves ‘busy’,” he sneered, using his fingers to indicate quote marks.

                Muttering under his breath, Jaejoong shifted to rest his chin on his hands instead, peering at the file in front of him.  “On the surface, they’re all squeaky clean, which in and of itself is an announcement of some sort of guilt.  You don’t get this successful without having a few skeletons in the closet,” he stated, tapping on the picture in front of him which happened to be Sven this time.

                “Okay!  So we can’t speak to them directly without a warrant or subpoena, but who else do we know?  They’ve got underlings and they’re not so good at escaping without cause,” Kyuhyun reminded him pointedly, snagging the file for Jongwoon and flipping his profile page out of the way.  “We know he has two lackeys in particular that he never goes anywhere without at least one of them.  Let’s see…  Lee Sungmin and Kim Jonghyun appear to be his muscle.  Kinda short though…” he frowned.

                “Keep reading,” Jaejoong reminded him, recounting what he knew of the pair.  “Sungmin is an accomplished fighter in Chinese martial arts and has a record of being the cause of ‘accidental’ deaths for more than a handful of people.  He won’t start the fight but he’ll definitely end it,” he mused, chewing his lip thoughtfully.  “And as for his buddy…  Jonghyun is more of the underground brawler type.  He’s got a record of unnecessary violence in the majority of his confrontations.  Aish.”

                “Look at this,” Kyuhyun urged, tilting the page for Jaejoong to see.  “All charges against them have been dropped in the majority of their cases.  And the ones that weren’t…”  He whistled with a shake of his head.  “The ones that didn’t die at the time of the incident have all died or been permanently incapacitated in some very convincing accidents.”

                The two males exchanged meaningful glances.  “So they’re all bad news, but that doesn’t connect them to my parent’s death though.”

                “No, but we’re not done yet,” Kyuhyun reminded him, focusing again.  “Aside from his muscle, he’s also got a personal business consultant that he meets with on a fairly regular basis.  Choi Siwon is a fairly new face in the upper echelons of big business.  He only made the scene at the end of last year but since his association with Jongwoon, the Ddangkoma Foundation has grown significantly in power and finances.  He’s a modern day prodigy basically,” he grumbled, already disliking the guy.

                Jaejoong tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the folders, snagging the one for the American Freight and Ferry Company.  “They’re big and they have several dealings in Korea but he doesn’t actually ship anything himself.  He’s pretty much avoided that entirely…” he frowned, reviewing Mr. Benson’s file.  “But he does seem to have a very good rapport with this fellow in regards to shipping stuff; both in and out of the country.  We could check out the fleet Captain to see if he knows anything.”

                “Who’s he again?” Kyuhyun asked, setting his papers down and craning over to get a look at the distance shot they’d gotten of the Captain.

                “Um…Kim Youngwoon,” he answered, regarding the short haired male with interest.

                “Him and Jongwoon related by chance?”  Jaejoong just looked at him with a raised brow.  “What?  It’s a valid question,” he defended himself, well aware his companion was also a Kim.

                “Doesn’t say so,” Jaejoong shook his head, trying to hide his smile and failing.  “There doesn’t seem to be any relation with Jonghyun either though, which I don’t really find surprising.”

                “Why are there so many damn Kims?” Kyuhyun grumbled spying yet another one further down the page.

                “Kim Ryeowook,” Jaejoong murmured in response.  “He’s Youngwoon’s cargo master.  Both he and Youngwoon would have access to the cargo manifest of what Jongwoon would be shipping.  Do you suppose either of them are in on this too?” he asked, almost to himself.

                “No idea, but everyone is suspect at this point,” Kyuhyun replied firmly.

                Jaejoong looked at the details in front of them and took several deep breaths.  They had several places to start anew and he had no idea how any of them were going to link back to which person hired the hit on his parents.  “Even if we can’t find the link immediately, if we can get any of them on anything substantial, we should be able to dig up more charges to throw against them, right?”

                “Neh,” Kyuhyun nodded, drumming his fingers on the desk.  “Theoretically, if their lawyers don’t bull their way out of the charges first, we could technically hold them indefinitely until they are proved or disproved.  We both know how long that can potentially take if we have lawyers who are up to par too.”  They grimaced at each other.  All the really good ones seemed to be buyable…

                “Ugh…” Jaejoong groaned, rubbing his tired eyes with both fingers and taking another deep breath.  “Bad guys ,” he muttered, laughing at the absurd but true statement, feeling like he was missing something important.

                “That they do,” Kyuhyun agreed, chuckling once before he sighed and started closing the folders, hiding the main pages behind the manila cover.  “It’s late though and we both have a lot of leads to look into.  We should get some rest for now and try to look at things again in the morning.  I’m starting to see double with all these damn profiles and…Kims.”

                The last part made Jaejoong laugh in earnest and he sat up, nodding in agreement.  “Alright.  So we’ll call it for tonight but are we meeting back in the office at eight?”

                “On a Saturday?” Kyuhyun scoffed with a shake of his head.  “You’re welcome to be here then but I won’t be coming in until ten, thank you very much,” he stated firmly.  “We’ve already put in some serious overtime here and I am at least going to sleep one of these days.”  Roughly, he scrubbed both hands over his face and stretched his arms above his head, groaning before he relaxed and slumped into his chair.  “You could use some sleep too,” he mused, eyeing Jaejoong critically.  “Those bags under your eyes aren’t making you any prettier,” he winked, earning the middle finger from his companion in response.  “Hah!”

                “I’m still prettier than you,” he remarked completely serious, smiling at the last minute to confirm he wasn’t being a total .  “But yeah.  You’re right,” he nodded, scraping together his copies to review later.

                “Of course I am,” Kyuhyun retorted with a smirk, standing up and logging out of his computer, shutting it down for the night before he made sure to lock up everything in his office.  He was slightly paranoid when it came to that but at least he didn’t leave anything lying out in the open.

                “Alright, Kyu.  Take it easy and I’ll see you in the morning,” Jaejoong waved, hiking his locked briefcase under his arm protectively.

                “See ya, Jae,” he waved in return, back to using his initial nickname since they’d gotten over that first little bump of theirs.

                Wearily, Jaejoong returned home, catching a cab and hauling his rather tired body to his door at just after eight forty-five in the evening.  He almost missed the sticky note on his door while he tried to unlock his door and it took him a moment to realize what he was staring at before a smile broke out across his face.  Breakfast? – Minnie

                He chuckled to himself and removed the sticky note, shaking his head.  Before he had a chance to open his door, the one next to him did instead and Taemin poked his head outside, grinning broadly when he noticed Jaejoong standing there.  “Hyung!  He’s home!” he called, waving excitedly at the other male in the hallway.

                “Hey Taemin,” Jaejoong waved, clearly amused, opening his door anyway.

                “Oh!  Hold on a sec,” he urged, hurrying out to approach him.  “Jinki hyung made dinner and wanted to know if you would care for some.  You’ve been so busy lately,” he pouted, resting his chin on his balled up fists.

                “Oh…not your aegyo,” Jaejoong laughed, ducking his head and hiding his eyes with his hand.

                “Jae…” he whined, wriggling in place, which the elder male noticed because he saw him peeking through his fingers.

                Hyukjae emerged from the doorway just then and walked over to snag his youngest sibling around the waist.  “Really Taemin?” he laughed, dragging the mildly flailing youth back to their apartment.  “Can’t you at least let him get in the door?”

                “Oh yeah…” Taemin grinned sheepishly, relaxing in Hyukjae’s hold as his sibling dragged him back with an amused smile.  “But you better come to dinner anyway, Jae,” he pointed at Jaejoong before he disappeared inside.

                The only thing Jaejoong could do was laugh, which he did, and then stepped inside his apartment, resting his back against the door and forcing himself to take a deep breath.  “Food would be good,” he agreed after a brief pause, running a hand through his hair and grimacing at the feel of it.  He really needed to wash it soon…  “First things first,” he murmured, heading to his private safe sequestered under his bed to place the files he was currently holding onto in.

                With a relieved sigh, he pulled his tie off and tossed it onto the bed, letting his work shirt follow before he scrubbed his hair with both hands, giving his head a good scratch.  His gaze settled on his bathroom door and he pursed his lips.  He could always shower later…  With a heavy sigh, he wandered back into the living room, intent upon getting a drink in the kitchen but his work desk caught his attention instead.  Frowning thoughtfully, he approached it with interest.  The surface was completely bare, since he never left work out on it when he was gone, but there was a strange layer of dust or debris coating the top.

                Humming under his breath, he ran a long finger along the surface, creating a thin line in the dust.  “What the…?”  Confused, his gaze traveled the room, running over the ceiling first and then the walls.  There wasn’t any sort of hole to indicate where it had come from, but there was a vent nearby.  Could that be it?  With narrowed eyes, he pulled his desk chair under the overhead vent and stood on it as he inspected the slatted cover.  Running his finger across the slats revealed a similar dust coating the metal.  “Strange,” he murmured, rubbing the substance between his index finger and thumb.

                “Jaejoong?”  He heard a knock at the door accompanied by his name and he recognized the voice as Jinki’s.

                With another frown, Jaejoong stepped off the chair and shoved it under the desk, filing it away for later.  He opened the door and smiled at his neighbor, glancing down at his bare chest in belated acknowledgement.  “Hey Jinki,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

                “Hi!” he chirped brightly, glancing at his own doorway and waving in a shooing gesture.  Apparently his siblings were watching him.  “I know Taemin already told you, but I figured I’d come and extend the invite formally.  We know you’ve been busy and I didn’t think you’d have time to make much tonight but you’re welcome to join us for a late dinner.”  He bowed politely, hands clasped in front of him.

                “Thanks Jinki,” Jaejoong smiled, genuinely grateful.  “Do I perhaps have time for a shower?” he asked, glancing at his person once more.

                Jinki looked mildly embarrassed at the question and he waved his hands in front of him in a quickly reassuring gesture.  “Of course!  There’s no hurry,” he reminded him with a smile that nearly had his eyes disappearing in his face.

                “Great.  Fifteen minutes then,” Jaejoong smiled.  “I promise.”

                “Right!” Jinki nodded, bowing again.  “See you in fifteen then, Jae,” he waved, hurrying back to his door, hastily explaining to his siblings in a lowered tone of voice before the door closed behind them.

                Once more, Jaejoong could only chuckle at their concern.  He knew they didn’t treat the neighbors on the other side like him but they were also a married couple, so far as he was aware, and he was a single bachelor…much like all three of them.  Maybe it was the whole common brotherhood thing or something.  Whatever it was, he really did appreciate their attentive care, especially on nights like this.  The mystery of the dust on his desk was going to have to wait until later for the moment as he had a shower to take, dinner to enjoy and a response to get up to Changmin, all before he crashed for the evening.

                Refreshed and changed into more comfortable clothing, Jaejoong wandered next door to sit in with the Lee brothers, enjoying a very low key Friday night.  Dinners with the trio were always interesting and this time was no exception.  It was nearing the end of the school year for Taemin and Jinki both, the latter of whom was in college, finishing up his Masters at NYU for pediatric care.  He was planning to work on his doctorate the following school year but for now things looked good for him otherwise, and he always had interesting stories to tell of his graduate thesis that had him working in a hospital most days of the week, which was why he was late with dinner this evening.

                Taemin was finishing up his senior year of high school and was planning on studying abroad for college, focusing on Korea or Japan.  As for Hyukjae, he was struggling to get his music career off the ground, taking up odd jobs on the side to help supplement his income until things became a bit steadier.  He was in touch with most of the temp agencies in the area and had the most sporadic schedule in the meantime.

                He wasn’t sure how they managed it, but somehow they ended up on the subject of relationships and crushes and Taemin immediately became their first target.  “Taeminnie has a girlfriend,” Hyukjae teased, pointing at him with his chopsticks with a gummy grin.

                “No I don’t!” he denied immediately, looking at the others as he quickly tried to defend himself.  “Noona just helps me with my homework after class!” he yelped.

                Jinki leaned over and whispered to Jaejoong, “He’s got a crush on the afterschool math tutor.  He doesn’t need to go but he does anyway because she’s there,” he chuckled, watching Taemin flush brightly when he heard the comment.  The youngest sibling promptly stuffed another bite of food into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to come up with an immediate response.

                “What about you, Jae?” Hyukjae asked, nibbling on his chopsticks as he regarded the rest of their dinner.

                Jaejoong snorted once and then shook his head.  “Nah.  No one for me either.  Work keeps me so busy I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I had someone anyway,” he winked, setting his chopsticks down, pretty much done at that point.

                “Seriously?” Taemin coughed around his mouthful of food, chewing with a pained expression as he tried to swallow it before he spit it everywhere.

                “Taemin!” Hyukjae cried, patting his sibling on the back and handing him his glass of water.

                “Neh,” Jaejoong laughed, taking a sip of water too.  “I met this one guy at a bar but that went nowhere.  Fast,” he rolled his eyes.  “I talk to my upstairs neighbor sometimes but other than the people I work with and you guys, I’m pretty much solo,” he winked, rather content with that.

                Taemin eyed him intently as he finally managed to swallow and coughed once to clear his throat.  “Is he that tall fellow that posted the note to your door today?” he asked, cringing when his siblings teamed up on him.

                “Taemin!”

                “What?!” he looked between them, confused.

                “Don’t pry,” Jinki chided him with a finger pointed in his direction.  “It’s rude.”

                “It’s alright,” Jaejoong assured them with a wave of his hands.  “And yes.  That is my upstairs neighbor,” he agreed, focusing on Taemin.

                “He’s scary,” the youngest admitted, earning himself a glare from his siblings, though the look he received from Jaejoong was considerably more thoughtful.

                “Scary?  How so?” he asked, rather intrigued now.  The only side he’d seen of Changmin was the smiling and occasionally shy one with moments of candor and humor.

                Taemin looked between his brothers uncertainly but then looked at Jaejoong directly.  “I see him sometimes.  Not often, but after school he occasionally comes by and he’s never smiling.  Only this last time, he saw me and he smiled only after the fact.  You know how when someone smiles because they know it’s expected?  Well that’s what his smile was like,” he explained, feeling foolish with his siblings still looking at him with disapproving expressions.

                “Taemin…” Jinki sighed with a shake of his head.

                “It’s alright, Jinki,” Jaejoong urged, leaning forward to express his earnestness.  “Thank you for telling me, Taemin.  I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised with a warm smile, earning an answering one in return from the younger male.

                After that nugget of information, the conversation turned to lighter matters revolving around plans for the weekend.  None of them had anything spectacular lined up and Jaejoong was the only one with work on the docket but they were all adamant about finding something to do in the meantime.  Jaejoong had no doubt they’d come up with some plan or other.  He was more concerned about a plan of action for the morrow in his own life…

                He finally managed to excuse himself later in the evening, somewhere closer to eleven or so, and made his way to the fourth floor so he could speak with Changmin.  It didn’t take long for his upstairs neighbor to answer the door and he seemed relieved more than anything when Jaejoong agreed to catch breakfast at Sunny’s Diner the next morning.  He found it a bit odd that the younger male wouldn’t open the door more than enough to actually speak with Jaejoong but he knew all about being embarrassed by the state of one’s room…  Jaejoong agreed to a breakfast time of seven in the morning, after the 6am rush but still giving him a decent bit of time to sleep in, per Kyuhyun’s suggestion.

                At exactly seven in the morning, Changmin was knocking on Jaejoong’s door, ready to him to Sunny’s Diner.  Despite his insistence that he could manage that bit on his own, his companion was adamant about meeting him at his apartment and traveling from there.  Annoyingly, Jaejoong was secretly pleased by the courtesy and actually liked traveling with him while they made their way to the diner.

                Like usual, Changmin found them a seat, waiting on Jaejoong’s final approval before they sat down and this time, it was Sunyoung that waited on them.  She brought their tea and left to give them a moment to review the menu before they placed their order.  With his back to the door, Jaejoong couldn’t see any of the patrons who entered or exited, but when he glanced up to ask Changmin a question, he noticed his companion’s focused expression.  “Changmin?” he asked, turning around to look at whoever had caught his attention.

                He was initially confused and then floored when he saw it was none other than the guy from the bar…Yunho.  His surprise became utter astonishment when Yunho actually waved at them and addressed, not himself but rather, his companion…  “Changmin!” he grinned, walking over to their table with all the excitement of one who hadn’t seen someone in quite a while.

                “Yunho,” Changmin forced a smile, sitting up while his hand disappeared under the table.  “Fancy seeing you here,” he laughed, eyeing the standing individual intently.

                “Yeah!  I know,” he gasped, clapping his hands together excitedly.  “How have you been?” he asked, gesturing at him before he took a moment to glance at Jaejoong.  He pointed at him and shook his finger.  “Don’t I know you?” he asked, giving him a speculative glance.

                “Umm…I…” Jaejoong floundered, looking in abject confusion between Changmin and Yunho.

                “That’s right!” Yunho smiled, nodding to himself.  “I met you in the bar a couple weeks ago.  You were with that other fellow.  Am I right?” he asked in a completely disarming manner.

                “N-neh,” Jaejoong responded uncertainly.  He looked between a fairly stoic Changmin and the newcomer, letting his finger switch between the pair.  “I’m sorry.  How do you know each other?” he asked, his lip nervously.

                When Changmin didn’t answer, Yunho laughed as if the younger male had forgotten.  “Me and Minnie?” he asked, pointing at himself and then at the still seated male.  “We went to school together.  We were best friends in high school,” he grinned, looking at Changmin intently.

                After a brief hesitation, Changmin finally nodded in agreement.  “Neh.  We’re old high school buddies.  I didn’t know you were in town,” he commented, shifting to focus his full attention on Yunho.

                “Yeah.  I just moved here a few weeks ago,” Yunho explained, nodding his head enthusiastically.  “Got a new job in the area,” he shrugged.

                “Oh?  Doing what?” Changmin asked politely, nodding at Jaejoong in an apologetic manner.

                “Construction,” he laughed, scratching the back of his head in mild embarrassment.  “What about you?” he gestured, apparently earnest in his inquiry.  “Last I heard you were still in Korea,” he smiled innocently.

                “Neh,” Changmin nodded.  “I was and then I got a new contract here,” he assured him pointedly.

                “Yeah?  What sort of contract?” Yunho asked knowingly.

                “Painting,” the other male responded without missing a beat.  “Landscapes,” he clarified for Jaejoong’s sake, winking at his companion before he looked at Yunho again, as if daring him to argue.

                Jaejoong glanced between the two feeling completely out of the loop.  He didn’t know the full story but old friends or not, he knew there was a lot of underlying tension between the pair and he had absolutely no idea what any of it meant…

(a/n: I swear short updates are just not my forte.  I'm still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or not...  At any rate, thank you for reading and I know I threw a lot of new info at you.  For those who may not be entirely familiar with their non-stage names, Jongwoon is Yesung and Youngwoon is Kangin.  I'll probably be switching to Jongwoon's stagename in future updates for simplicity sake.  ;)  And hello Yunho!  hehe  I'm hoping you enjoyed the latest update and that you're looking forward to the next one!  Huzzah!)