Double update to celebrate SHINee's 5 year anniversary! 

“What’s this all about Taemin?” Key asked, concerned and Taemin looked away.

“A man identified as Yang Jinon was found earlier last week, shot execution style with ligature marks on both his arms and legs.” Taemin said as he clicked a button that brought up a picture of the man on the screen.

“You know we can’t investigate without an invitation from the local PD.” Key reminded gently and Taemin nodded.

“I know, but this isn’t something the PD will be able to help us with.” Taemin said and the rest of SHINee looked at him confused. It sounded to them as if Taemin were speaking in code even though everything he said was clearly plain Korean.

“What I mean is I think I’m being stalked.” Taemin clarified and Jonghyun’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“What? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Minho exploded and the rest hurled question after question at him.

“Wait, just hold on a minute.” Taemin said, putting a hand up to settle their curiosity and concern. “I didn’t really know until earlier today when I found several other killings all with a victim identified as Yang Jinon. Coincidence? Unlikely.”

“How long have you been compiling this for?” Jonghyun questioned, a crease appearing in his forehead and Taemin shrugged.

“A few years, but nothing had actually appeared until I started my job here.” Taemin said as he dismissed Jonghyun’s question quickly.

“This isn’t healthy Taemin.” Onew murmured and laid a comforting hand on Taemin’s shoulder. Taemin shook it off quickly and resumed his speech.

“So are you going to help me or what?” Taemin asked slightly impatiently. He was afraid of what his teammates would respond with and he held his breath as he waited for the verdict.

“We are all aware that the bureau is in no way involved, correct?” Onew asked and he was met with four solemn faces. They all knew what the consequences of their actions may lead to and exactly what was at risk.

“Won’t they get suspicious if five of their detectives suddenly take a break?” Minho asked hesitantly.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Jonghyun said through clenched teeth.

“Besides, we ought to take some time to recover from that last case.” Key added and Taemin nodded in thanks at their support.

“We will be working on this case on our own hours and of our own free accord, if anyone has a problem with that, they can leave now.” Onew said looking around at the other members, half expecting someone to leave but no one moved an inch.

“Good.” Onew said, realizing that no one was going anywhere. He felt a surge of pride rush through him knowing that his team was so loyal to him and to each other.

 “Thank you so much.” Taemin breathed. He hadn’t been sure how his team would react to such a matter but they were much more supportive than he thought.

“Alright, so, how are we going to look at the crime scenes and the autopsies without access to the cases?” Jonghyun asked. They all knew that they had to be invited by local PD or the NIS would strike a deal with the chief in order for SHINee to be cleared to investigate.

“We can’t. Even if this were an official case, we’d still have to go through the channels. Not a single police department has reported signs of a serial killer; we wouldn’t even be able to sneak in under that jurisdiction.” Key said.

“Speaking of which, why did no police department make the connection? The similarities in the crime scenes are strikingly obvious; it wouldn’t take a top notch profiler to figure it out.” Minho asked, frowning.

“Well considering the large expanse of area in addition to the time frame of which the murders occurred, it would’ve been hard to track.” Onew mused, “That and local police departments wouldn’t have access to the resources that we do.”

“Either way, we have what we have. It looks like we have to start from square 1.” Jonghyun said.

“Taemin, you can get us access at least to all the photos and reports of the crime scenes, right?” Key asked and Taemin nodded, typing furiously on his computer for a few minutes before the printer spurred to life and started spitting out picture after picture.

“Okay, since you have some personal connection to this case, Taemin can you tell us everything you know? It is imperative that you don’t leave out any details, no matter how insignificant.” Onew said looking at Taemin who nodded in response.

“What can you tell us about the victims?” Key asked and Taemin took a deep breath.

“I knew every single one of them.” Taemin said quietly and the other four stare at him with their mouths gaping open. “That’s how I knew something was wrong. The first guy there isn’t Yang Jinon at all, it’s Choi Jinhyuk but we called him dangshin because he was short.” Taemin continued.

“But there have to be more than 8 people in this list; you’re saying you knew every single one of them?” Minho said shocked.

“How close were you to them?” Jonghyun asked.

“Fairly close I suppose, more so than acquaintances but not quite a close friend.” Taemin responded paling slightly. He began to see the implications.

“We know that you’re attached to this case but do you think the killer may be attached to you somehow?” Key asked, frowning and Taemin shook his head in response.

“I don’t know.” He replied scrunching his eyebrows together. He fiddled with his fingers at the terrifying implication. Why would a killer like Jinon be somehow attached to him? The thought reminded Taemin of his nightmare and he shuddered at the memory.

“Hey guys, I don’t think we need to visit the crime scenes to know what this is all about.” Jonghyun said as he pressed a button on his tablet. The images from the projector morphed as the first letter of each victim’s name was circled and arranged in order of their kill date.

“No way.” Onew breathed as he looked at the array of words displayed before him and Taemin paled at the sight of them.

“Let’s see how much you shine.” Minho read from the screen and sat back in his chair in disbelief.

“He’s sending you a message Taemin. You’re his target, he wants to attract your attention.” Jonghyun said and Taemin’s blood ran cold.