54^th and Lexington

New York, New York

03:58 AM

As his car, courteously driven by his partner, Jaejin, came forward to the crime scene in question, Jonghun felt the tip of his brow knit together in response to the ever so populated crime scene. Despite his, and the rest of the NYPD’s apparent desensitization to homicides, society deviated the phenomenon to be an anomaly, hence the large gathering of paparazzi, news reporters, bystanders, and other “annoying little s.” And although they proved to be quite troublesome at first, the mindless hoards of people managed to rub off on Jonghun to such lengths that their unwarranted appearance had become somewhat of a norm for him.

However, this “norm factor” was nowhere to be found in the scene reported to him today, save the gathering of a few media reporters from the larger network stations, alerting Jonghun to the notion that something was most definitely wry in the grander schematics of this particular case.

Staring out the window intently, Jonghun asked inquisitively, “Where is everyone, Jaejin?”

“Everyone?” the younger responded intrigued.

“Yeah, everyone. There’s no one here,” Jonghun replied cautiously.

Sensing Jonghun’s perceived suspicion, Jaejin too briefly scouted the immediate area before looking onto the classical “NYPD laptop” located on the dashboard and began to scroll through the patched case. “Well according to the current report from witnesses, a car exploded out of the blue when someone stepped into it.” Peering out the window, Jaejin angled his head in the slightest, earning him greater peripheries. “CSU is here and so is the bomb squad. Uniforms seem to be canvassing. I think everyone’s here, Jonghun.”

“I know that, Jaejin.”

“Then what do you mean by ‘where is everyone’, Jonghun?”

Rubbing his forehead in a somewhat stressed manner, Jonghun replied lethargically, “How long has it been since the explosion?”

“Fifteen minutes or so. The logs state that calls were made almost immediately as the explosion happened. On top of that, ‘Minnie and Smiley’ were the first to respond and they called us right after. Why? Is there something wrong?”

Taking a somewhat contemplative and elongated sip of his coffee, Jonghun answered, “Look. Normally, it takes at least thirty to forty-five minutes for uniforms to achieve crowd control. And even then, there’s still at least twenty people outside the evidence line looking on.”

Perplexed by Jonghun’s suspicious rationale, Jaejin beckoned for the senior to continue. “I’m not seeing what you’re trying to ask here, Jonghun.”

“What I’m trying to ask, Jaejin, is where is our crowd?”

As if an immediate reaction to the aforementioned question, Jaejin too knitted his brows in confusion. “Now that you mention it…the scene does seemed controlled…a little too controlled actually.” Forming somewhat of a mischievous grin on his face, Jaejin snickered, “But I swear that I never would of thought that you of all people, Jonghun, would miss the crowd. There is a heart inside that deep, bottomless hellhole after all.”

Taking notice of Jaejin’s poorly orchestrated bait, Jonghun retorted in similar fashion, “It’s not that I miss the crowd, Jaejin. I just happened to find it peculiar that a factor which is present at every crime scene is missing, which should, for any first rate detective, set off an immediate alarm that something’s off.” Opening his side of the car, Jonghun took amusement in Jaejin’s apparent discomfort and waved his index finger in front of the irritated man. “First rate, Jaejin. First rate.”

“Get that finger away from me before I shoot it off,” countered Jaejin.

“Oh. I don’t ever recall you’re marksmanship skills to be at that level. Don’t you normally specialize in the bigger, more static targets?” jeered Jonghun.

“Keep that up and I just might perform a demonstration.”

“Whatever rocks you’re boat, kid,” replied Jonghun as he began to step out of the car. Once out, he peered his head to the driver’s seat where Jaejin sat and threw a nonchalant wink at the younger lad, smirking, “If it helps, feel free to shoot my too.” And with that, his muscular anatomy whisked away into the drawl of the scene. Had he stayed a moment longer, however, Jonghun just might have noticed the ever so slight blush that had formed upon Jaejin’s cheeks.

…

His back covered by Jaejin, Jonghun found himself being quickly approached by ‘Minnie’ and ‘Smiley’ upon his entrance into the evidence zone. Much to his surprise, however, the car, which had exploded, was being towed. “What’s going on? CSU’s done with the car already?”

“No,” replied ‘Minnie.’ ‘Minnie,’ or Choi Minhwan, if recorded by his given name, was also another homicide detective under the direct supervision of Jonghun. Together with his partner, Song Seunghyun, who was also interchangeably known as, ‘Smiley,’ they functioned mainly as reconnaissance, and also as the ‘unorthodox’ strike force in Jonghun’s team, given their previous affiliation with organized crime.

“No? Then why is it being towed?”

“Because the fed’s are here,” answered Seunghyun in a most deranged and uninterested tone. “And you know how helpful they are.”

“Who’s leading them?” pried Jonghun.

Pointing towards his rear, Seunghyun rolled his eyes as a man, similar in age to his cohort, stood by the foot of the car. A brunette in appearance, his age didn’t seem to exactly correlate to his ‘federal agent’ status. Clad in a black trench coat and formal attire, he reached into his pocket and pulled a packet of cigarettes and his lighter. Engraved with the letter ‘H,’ the steel element shined brightly against the dawning day as the man motioned to light his cigarette.

“He’s a real prick,” chimed Minhwan. “Seunghyun and I had just finished running the plates on the car and identifying the victim when he came and seized all our evidence. He has a warrant, Jonghun. Don’t waste you time on him.”

Undeterred, Jonghun responded brashly, “He can take his warrant to hell before interfering with my investigation,” before walking towards the man.

Seeing the faint silhouette fade away, Jaein the tip of his chin for some moments before massaging his temple. Looking to the disinterested Seunghyun and Minhwan, he spoke with equal tiredness in tone, “I wonder why he even tries sometimes.”

…

“Hey you! You with the cigarette!” Jonghun called as he flashed his badge. “What are you doing to my crime scene?”

At the question, the man lazily turned his head towards Jonghun, taking a deep whiff of his cigarette as he did so. Rolling his eyes, he asked sluggishly, “You’re crime scene?”

“Yeah, my crime scene,” Jonghun spoke while jabbing his chest.

“Since when did the crime scene belong to you?” he riposted in the same monotonous tone.

“Since I was assigned to it. Now I’ll ask you again. What are you doing to my crime scene?”

Looking Jonghun straight in the eye, the man blew his cigarette fume directly at his face before taking another whiff. He then proceeded to signal the man behind him, concluding, “This conversation is over,” before turning around and walking away. Irked, Jonghun attempted to give chase but was stopped by the man who had been commissioned earlier by the escaped figure. Flashing a federal warrant, he spoke, “We’re seizing all the evidence here. The NYPD isn’t needed.”

“The hell we aren’t. There’s been a homicide and I intend to solve it,” shot Jonghun.

“Sir, this is you’re final warning. One more word out of you’re mouth and I’ll incarcerate you for misconduct and interference with an ongoing federal investigation.”

Helpless, Jonghun stood silenced and dismayed as the man too, turned around and walked away from his grasp. “Why do you even try, Jonghun?” chimed Jaejin from his rear. “You know it’s pretty much a lost case once the feds get involved.”

“That still doesn’t give them the right to interfere with my investigation.”

“What investigation?” Pointing to the car, Jaejin followed, “Our crime scene is gone.”

“Last I checked, Seunghyun and Minhwan had already ran the plates and identified our victim before the prick showed up.” Looking to Jaejin with a smug grin, he concluded, “That’s our starting point.”

…

NYPD Precinct

New York, New York

05:45 AM

As he swiveled upon his public funded, state-of-the-art, detective chair, Jonghun calmly drank his fifth cup of freshly brewed coffee. “Stressed,” was a major understatement when describing Jonghun’s current mood.

“Yo, Jonghun. Got a minute?” chimed Seunghyun as he approached the agitated detective. “I got the stuff you were looking for.”

Shifting his head to the murder board, which now Seunghyun stood in front of, Jonghun readied himself to synthesize the minimal amount of information that his party had been able to amass. “Victim's name was Joseph McClinton,” the taller spoke as he pinned a picture of a middle aged, white man onto the murder board. “According to his record, McClinton was a physics professor up at Stanford. He made a decent income and the family is reported to have been quite happy. The bloke was as normal as an American could be.”

“So you’re telling me we have no motive, and that his death was just a coincidental explosion?” Jonghun asked tiredly.

“Yeah, right,” Seunghyun chimed sarcastically. “If that was the case, Minhwan and I wouldn’t have called you.” Reinforcing his witty remark with a bright smile, the lanky detective pressed on, stating, “In addition to the ‘American’ background, the guy was a government whistleblower.”

“Whistleblower, huh?”

“Yup. Whistleblower. The guy had a website where he would upload classified documents, conspiracy theories, in addition to other anti-government sentiments.”

“And how’d he access the documents?”

“He consulted for the military on a regular basis and worked on their drone technology. Given his status, he could’ve easily accessed classified material. And for a techy like him, it would’ve been just as easy to upload onto the web as a ghost.”

However, before Jonghun was able to speak, Jaejin interrupted the fray, questioning, “Did you trace the website. If we can find its primary domain, I can hack into the server and – ”

Raising his hand, Seunghyun silenced the latter, speaking grimly, “I already did trace it.”

“And?” Jaejin beckoned.

“And its at a place where we can’t access,” Seunghyun completed.

“What do you mean it’s at a place we can’t access? The US has the jurisdiction to maintain and search through any Internet database or server internationally given the right warrant,” confidence Jaejin. “There’s no place on Earth we can’t run our grubby little hands through.”

“I mean exactly what I said, Jaejin. The servers located in a place where we have no jurisdiction or authority over whatsoever.” Looking Jonghun dead in the eye, Seunghyun grimaced, “The trace showed the server’s location to be at the Vatican in Italy.”

To this, Jaejin, like Jonghun, slumped into his respective seat and slouched. Being considered the mecca of western religion, and the home of the Pope, the Vatican, although located within the heart of Italy, was a considered a separate nation with its own unique privileges. However, amongst the myriad of jurisdictions the nation was granted, perhaps the most noteworthy luxury was the fact that the Vatican was essentially sanctioned from all investigative practices as any, and every, investigation that is connected with the Vatican is almost immediately quarantined and dismissed.

However, unlike his fellow seniors, who focused on the Vatican’s apparent involvement, another trouble, or factor per say, was edging away the corners of Seunghyun’s mind. Surely, the Vatican’s immunity was a problem, but during his investigation, the tall, lanky detective had found another lead; one that he was most reluctant to reveal to his seniors.

“There’s still one other thing though,” Seunghyun approached cautiously.

Hearing the apparent reluctance, and somewhat uncustomary caution in Seunghyun’s tone, the pair immediately grazed their attention towards the latter. “If you have something to say, Seunghyun, just say it. Evidence grows duller with time,” commanded Jaejin. Profiling the younger’s discernible discomfort, Jaejin found himself perplexed at the unusual behavior. Treading softly, he continued, “Although something tells me, Seunghyun, that whatever you’re about to reveal to us isn’t the happiest thing on Earth.”

Sighing, Seunghyun shook his head as he spoke dejectedly, “It really isn’t. Which is why I want you and Jonghun to be ready before I do anything with it.”

“Does it concern Minwhan?” forwarded Jonghun.

“No, hyung. It doesn’t.” Peering his now solemn gaze to Jaejin, he concluded, “But it concerns Jaejin.”

“Me?” the latter asked bemusedly. “I don’t see how I would pop up in this case.”

“It’s not you exactly, but it does involve you.”

“Spill it,” Jonghun commanded. “If it’s relevant with the case, then I want to know, Seunghyun.”

Offering a curt nod to his superior’s order, Seunghyun dropped a file before the two detectives. It’s outer appearance worn with age as it seemed to be something from the archives. It’s cover read,

CASE: 12171991

VICTIM: LEE CHAE-YOUNG

CRIME: HOMICIDE

STATUS: UNRESOLVED

Almost immediately, silence encapsulated the entirety of their conversation, and the once-intimate space between the three detectives had morphed into an dark, inescapable void of reluctance. 

"Seunghyun,” Jaejin whispered as he fixated his gaze over the dusted cover.

“I’m sorry,” was the quaint reply.

Glancing briefly at the younger detective, Jaejin reverted his focus onto the aged file and stared at the relic intently, as if it were some key that unlocked the very doors to the deepest, darkest corner of his mind. And as he continued his bout with the file, the darkest trepidation began to manifest in the corner of his heart, as if the very contents of that archive would ultimately grant him two things; destruction and closure. Grabbing his affects, he stood up and stared at the dossier once more before reverting his gaze to Seunghyun. “I’m can't do this. I'm sorry,” was the quaint answer, to which both Seunghyun and Jonghun acknowledged.

Once Jaejin had diminished into the crowd of detectives, Jonghun glanced sparingly between Seunghyun and the file before bringing himself to finally ask, “What did you find?”

Sighing, Seunghyun answered, “According to the case files, Jaejin’s sister, Lee Chae-Young was killed in an explosion when her car detonated. The detective in charge of the case, John Coughner, killed the case deeming that there were no validated leads.”

“And?”

“Seeing that McClinton was killed in a similar way, I looked through the old street recordings of her death.” Looking to his sides, Seunghyun placed a photograph before Jonghun. “That was in the sky above her car seconds before it exploded,” he stated as he pointed to a hazy, unidentified object. “This was on top of McClinton’s car,” he beckoned again as he pulled forth a second photograph and pointed to a most similar, unidentified object. Realizing the conclusion Seunghyun was forwarding, Jonghun hastily grabbed the two photographs and assessed them closely.

“…I had tech enhance and analyze the pictures for me, and they came to one conclusion, Jonghun.” Staring his senior directly in the eye, the younger detective responded quietly, “…They’re military drones.”

…

10:42 AM

As they drew closer to the allocated location, Jonghun and Jaejin sat in deathly silence as the car came to a quiet pause. Parked on the curb opposite to their location, Jonghun sighed heavily as he stared out his window to the house that sat across the street. It was always like this, and although the reactions displayed consistency, no form of routine could ever be established for the task at hand; informing loved ones and immediate parties about the wrongful death of their loved one.

“Jonghun,” Jaejin whispered softly. “I…I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he answered as he stared out the window.

“For leaving like that. It was unprofessional to refuse valid evidence like that and I owe it to this victim’s family to–”

“Please don’t,” Jonghun interrupted. Tearing his gaze away from the peaceful house, Jonghun looked at Jaejin in the eye. “You don’t owe anyone anything,” he assured. “You only owe it to yourself. Jaejin,” he called softly as he placed his hand on the younger’s shoulder. “It’s understandable for any homicide detective to want to solve their case, but also remember that we’re humans too. And just like the victims and their families, we have definite thresholds that can make or break us. There’s no reason to jump into something that you’re unprepared for. Remember, our jobs demand that we only speak for the dead, Jaejin. That doesn't mean we owe them our lives.”

“I always thought that I’d be ready for it,” Jaejin finally said as he chuckled in small amounts. “Ready to put my sister’s murder behind me…ready to finally let that part go,” he continued. “I’ve spent so much of my life just obsessing over it…reading and rereading the case file…memorizing every single line of the notes hoping that I would find a loophole that was missed.” He sighed. “But soon, I realized that if I continued to obsess over it, I would eventually end up destroying myself. So I tried, Jonghun. I tried to forget it." Tears began to well in his eyes. "But the more effort I put into it, the more I came to realize that I couldn’t resolve that part of my life, so like a coward, I ran away, thinking that time would heal everything.” Clutching his own fist in response to the overflowing wave of emotions, a singular tear was seen falling across Jaejin’s cheek as he continued, “…But…it didn’t...It feels like I failed, Jonghun…I feel like I failed you guys…like I failed myself…”

Maintaining his silence, Jonghun calmly soothed his hand over the latter’s back in a reassuring manner. Wiping the tear from Jaejin’s cheek, Jonghun mused, “Everyday…I come to work with a partner who fails in so many ways…marksmanship…ego control…field skills…” Smiling, he continued, “He fails at so many things, and yet…I’m thankful…thankful that I have him as a partner because I know that he has my back.”

A faint smile could be seen across Jajein’s face.

“And I want him to know…that I have his back…so if he ever feels like he needs someone to talk to…someone to lean on…someone that will always be there for him no matter what the cost…I want him to know that I’m that someone…his partner. One who will stick with him through thick and thin.” Slowly embracing Jaejin into a warm hug, Jonghun spoke, with the utmost sincerity, “Because I know he’ll be there for me.”

…

NYPD Precinct

New York, New York

“Minhwan,” Seunghyun called as he approached the detective, who at the moment, was engrossed in sorting papers and documents related to the case. “That federal prick from the scene wants to see you. He’s in the briefing room.”

Curtly nodding to Seunghyun, Minhwan lightly sipped his already-cold coffee before whisking away to the briefing room. Once in, he nonchalantly closed the door before taking a seat directly opposite to the federal agent.

“So how’re you liking the NYPD, Detective Choi?” sang the brunette. “Are they treating you nicely?”

“I don’t have time to chit-chat, agent,” Minhwan replied coldly. Standing up, he continued, “You can go somewhere else if chit-chatting is what you want.”

Removing his glasses, the agent continued to sing along in a cheery tone, “Such a cold reception to the guy that got you into witness protection when you turned states.”

Turning around, Minhwan carefully profiled the man before speaking in the same, unreceptive tone, “Hongki.”

“Hello to you too, Mr. Choi. Or do you still go by ‘Minnie C.’ like you did back in you’re enforcer days?” he replied casually as a sly glint of mischief sparked in his eyes.

A/N: And here's the second chapter! Revised a couple of things and hopefully, it's still enjoyable. Thanks for reading and let me know on how you like the story so far! Thanks. ^^