“Kim Kibum.”

Kibum flinched at the sound of his own name. He hasn’t heard it being said by others for a long time. Kibum could feel his heart racing in his chest, fearing the others could hear its beats too. Before he could decide what to do, Onew continued.

“That’s the missing person.”

Kibum breathed out, realizing Onew wasn’t calling to him, and still, his body didn’t stop shaking. As Onew started to talk about “Kim Kibum”, with every fact about “him” Kibum felt the embracement increasing. This feeling was so uneasy he couldn’t describe it, listening to all those information and details about “him”. Yet, to be honest, he wasn’t listening very carefully. His mind was set on power mood. Too many things were going on in his head.

First, the young man in the picture was Lee Taemin. Kibum recognized him at first sight. That was undoubtedly the young man he had met at the airport, the one who gave him the red cap that led him to Jonghyun. But, how did Lee Taemin become Kim Kibum? Why was he with Minho?

Second, who knew what? Did Onew really think the young male in the picture was Kim Kibum? Or was he playing dumb as well?

Third, even though Kibum understood this wasn’t a situation for sentimentality, still… Was Jonghyun aware he was staring at a picture of the man he was supposed to marry? The real Lee Taemin. What would Jonghyun think, if he knew? Would he prefer this Lee Taemin over Kibum?

“Ok, let’s get to work. Xiumin, check the security cameras and try to reconstruct Kibum’s route. Start with this restaurant.” Onew said, handing the hacker a business card.

“Lay, ask around in the underworld. Maybe someone got wind of the kidnapping. Take D.O. with you, just in case.” Lay nodded and dragged D.O. along. Kibum hasn’t figured out that D.O. guy yet. For such a harmless looking guy, D.O. got an intense glare and a dark aura. In addition, the man hasn’t said a word since he arrived.

“Kris, shadow Minho. I don’t think he’s involved but it’s still not certain. And it’ll be good to know what he’s doing.” And with that, only Jonghyun and Kibum were left.

“Jonghyun, check the hospitals and police stations until Xiumin finds the actual crime scene.”

“Key,” Kibum almost jumped as the oldest man called his nickname. Something about Onew was intimidating, even though he looked nice and even smiled despite the circumstances. Maybe it was because Onew was the leader? Kibum has always had a problem with authority. Thank to his father.

“Can you help Xiumin with the videos? It’s better to have two people checking them.” Onew asked.

“Of course,” Kibum managed to answer calmly.

Kris, D.O. and Lay had left as soon as they got their tasks from Onew. Jonghyun disappeared to make one phone call after another, but not before he convinced himself that Kibum was ok with being alone.

Kibum rubbed his eyes. He has been watching the videos for over an hour, looking for Taemin to appear again. It wasn’t difficult to track Taemin as he came out of the restaurant. But after he turned into a side street, they couldn’t find him again.

“Here,” Xiumin said, giving Kibum the eyedrops. “That’s the job. The hacking is fun, but the observation isn’t.”

“Thank you,” Kibum replied.

“Did you send Onew hyung and Jonghyun the address?” Kibum asked.

“Yeah, they should be there soon,” Xiumin answered, laying his hands under his chin as he looked at Kibum with narrowed eyes.

“So, Key…Who are you?” He asked and for the x-times that night, Kibum’s heart skipped a beat.

“I have never seen Jonghyun being so close to someone. You must be someone special.” Xiumin teased.

“Ah, I would love to go online and find out everything about you right now.” The “baby faced” man growled. Yet, as he noticed Kibum’s concerned expression, he added.

“Just kidding. It’s our codex. We don’t sniff in other’s private life.”

“Thank God, because I have so much to hide,” Kibum confessed with humor and Xiumin laughed out loud, taking Kibum’s statement as a joke.

-------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Jonghyun and Onew headed to the address Xiumin gave them, the side street where Taemin was last seen.

“Hyung,” Jonghyun asked carefully, trying not to sound rude. “are you sure Kim Kibum is kidnapped and not… just ran away or even just having fun somewhere, forgetting to call you?”

“What do you want to say, Jonghyun?” Onew asked back.

“I mean it’s not like you to overact only after an hour. You assumed him to be kidnapped without considering other options.” Jonghyun explained.

“I know him very well and he would never disappear without telling me. Trust me, ok? Can we treat this as a missing case until the evidence proves us wrong?” Onew argued, and Jonghyun nodded. If this person who Jonghyun respected more than his father asked him for a favor than he’d do it. Period. 

The two men barely arrived at the “crime scene” for a minute as Jonghyun corrected himself.

“,” he said. “You’re right. Something is fishy here.”

“I’d rather be wrong,” Onew sighed.

“I’m sorry.” Jonghyun laid his hand on Onew’s shoulder to comfort the leader. “A fight happened here… definitely.”

Onew nodded silently in agreement. That was what he saw too. There was no doubt Taemin was taken at this place. While Jonghyun was busy taking pictures of the crime scene, Onew scanned the place, paying attention to every detail. He has been undercover for too long, he missed the classical work as a detective. Xiumin hadn’t gotten far with the videos since there was no camera in this alley. But maybe they’d find something else. They must find something.

“Is that blood?” Onew worried as Jonghyun kneed down to take a sample of the dark liquid on the ground.

“I need to test it but… yeah pretty much.” Jonghyun answered.

“,” Onew snapped. “What happened here?”

Followed the blood trail, Jonghyun found a small object behind the garbage sacks.

“Does that Kim Kibum guy