In the morning, after a night spent with anxiety filled thoughts, a there was a knock on Jinki’s door. The nurses and doctors rarely knocked, barreling in at hours of the night to check Jinki’s numbers, so Minho had half expected to see either Jonghyun or Kibum. Jinki’s release papers had been signed less than half an hour ago and Minho was helping Jinki change into street clothes so he could leave.

“Onew!” came the shout through the closed door.

“Mir?” Jinki asked, eyes wide at the sight of the boy in the doorway when Minho turned the handle to pull it open.

Mir flew through the doorway, fully startling Minho, nothing but worry and tension on his face. He made a desperate lunge for Jinki and landed receptively in his arms. Jinki caught him a little awkwardly, due to his cast, but held on tight.

“This is Mir?” Minho asked, watching Jinki rub the younger boy’s back soothingly with his good hand.

Mir was younger than Minho had expected, a little baby faced, but completely adorable. Despite the distress on his face, Minho could hazard a guess that he had a normally cheery disposition, and knowing the people that Jinki liked to be friends with, was probably affectionate to a fault.

“What are you doing here?” Jinki asked Mir, keeping an arm hooked around the younger’s neck. “How did you know I was here?”

When Jinki looked to Minho for an answer, Minho had to shake his head. He’d thought to call a lot of people the day before, but Mir hadn’t been one of them.

Mir forced a smile, his hands gently taking Jinki’s cast in their grasp. “Are you okay?” The barely hidden fear on his face was unsettling. “I was supposed to meet Joon yesterday afternoon. But he never showed up, and I thought maybe he was just running late, so I headed to the hotel we stay at when we’re both in Seoul at the same time, but there were all these scary looking guys and they had a key to the room we always rent.”

“Wait, wait,” Jinki said, slowing him down. “You were supposed to meet Joon here? In Seoul?”

Hesitantly, Mir said, “It was supposed to be a secret. No one was supposed to know. Not even you, Onew. Sorry. We were … going to leave together.”

“Oh.” Jinki looked surprised, and Minho seconded it. Wasn’t Mir the one following his parent’s wishes at the sake of his own heart? “Really?”

Mir nodded. “My father … he told me to go. I don’t know how he knew Joon was in the country again, but he did. He confronted me about how important Joon is to me. And when I told him that I love Joon, truly love him, my father said being with him was okay. I think he just doesn’t want me there when he dies. Onew, he doesn’t have long now.”

Minho clarified, “So you were supposed to meet Joon, but he never showed? I’m guessing that was after your accident, Jinki?”

“You must be Minho,” Mir said, sizing him up. “Joon said you were kind of authoritative.”

Minho wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Mir continued, “When Joon didn’t show and I saw those men at our place, I knew something was wrong. Then you didn’t answer your phone, Onew. I thought something bad might have happened. I started calling the hospitals in this area late last night and I found you pretty quickly, but I didn’t want to come until this morning, just in case I had a tail.”

“Why would you have a tail?” Minho asked.

Mir didn’t say a word.

“Mir,” Jinki warned. “Joon and I were in an accident. Those same men you saw searching the hotel for you, they may have been responsible for Joon going missing yesterday. So if you know anything, you’d better say it. I know you don’t want to get Joon in trouble, but it’s more important we find him, than anything else.”

Mir shuffled his feet nervously. “We were going away together because Joon said it wasn’t safe anymore. We weren’t going back to China. Joon said he had some friends in South America that could help us out. We were going there, instead. He said we could get a house by the coast and be happy.”

“But why would you have a tail?” Minho pressed.

“Because,” Mir shrugged, ignoring Minho and turning to Jinki instead.. “Because you know as well as I do, Onew, that what Joon does for a living … it’s not exactly legal. I just expected it to be the police following me eventually, trying to get me to lead them to Joon, and not the people he’s supposed to be working with.”

Jinki’s hand curled around the back of Mir’s neck, saying, “By the time they were looking for you, they already had Joon, and that scares me. It scares me almost as much as anyone knowing about you. Joon’s always tried to protect you by making you a ghost to other people. No on should know about you.”

Was it wrong that Minho was thankful Mir was obviously as much a target to the men who’d taken Joon, as Joon himself? They could have taken Jinki with them when the accident had happened, but they hadn’t. They’d gone to find Mir instead.

“No one was supposed to know about me being in Seoul,” Mir said. “Not even you, Onew. We were going to call you after, when we were safe.” His voice grew quiet as he added, “Joon was even more nervous the last time I saw him, then ever before. He was more than just worried about something. Maybe this was it.”

Mind made up, Minho asked, “You have more information about what Joon really does when he’s pretending to be a fine, upstanding citizen than anyone else, right? I get that you don’t know everything, but you at least know more than Jinki does.”

Mir crossed his arms. “I can see why Joon doesn’t like you much.”

“Minho,” Jinki said, rubbing his forehead. “What’s your point?”

“My point is,” Minho said, “he needs to go see Jonghyun, and right away. This is the kind of stuff he needs to know about. It could be vital to finding Joon before it’s too late.”

Both Mir and Jinki paled.

Minho gave Mir directions to the police station that Jonghyun worked at, and said, “Ask specifically for him, and don’t stop anywhere before. These people who took Joon, Jinki said he heard them ask about something that was stolen. If they think he’s got something of theirs, they may try to use you as leverage. Don’t give them that opportunity.”

Jinki slid his feet into his shoes and said, “Maybe I should go with you, Mir. Just in case.”

“No.” Minho reached for him immediately, struck with inexplicable fear. “You don’t need to get involved in this any more than you already are.”

Jinki looked less than impressed with Minho’s hovering. “My cousin is missing. Mir is obviously in danger. Do you just expect me to go home, and sit in my apartment, and wait for news that something even more terrible has happened?”

“No I don’t.” Minho couldn’t wait to wash the antiseptic smell of the hospital off his skin. “But I was kind of hoping you’d spare me having to sit out in front of your place again all night, and just make thing easy by coming home with me instead.”

He’d had a lot of time to think the night before, and Mir certainly changed things. Initially he’d wanted to keep Jinki as far away from Taemin and Kibum as possible for everyone’s safety. But Minho’s skin was itching at the thought of letting his two brothers out of sight for long. And he was more confident in his ability to protect them all if he could keep them in one spot. Taemin and Kibum would be more than happy to smother Jinki with attention and care, and Minho knew he’d breathe easier with all of them keeping their heads down together until things got worked out.

“I don’t …” Jinki said, looking unsure and maybe a little uncomfortable.

Minho pressed, “My car isn’t as comfortable as it looks, and I’d much rather sleep on the couch of my own place, but you know I’m good for the car.”

“Just give in already,” Mir said, tucking his arms behind his head lazily as he watched them. “I’m getting tired just listening to him whine at you. Does he do this all the time? You think it’s attractive Onew?”

Jinki hid his face in his hands.

Minho remarked, “I’m really starting to see why you and Joon are perfect for each other.”

Mir gave him a thumbs up. “Holidays are going to be great for us four. Really exciting.”

Despite the comfortable temperature of the room, Jinki was visible shivering, and Minho helped him into his nearby jacket. “Are you going to give in?”

Jinki said peevishly, “You always get your way, Minho.” The words were harsh, but the smile that followed wasn’t, and Minho took it as a good sign. “At least take me home, first so I can pack a bag.”

Minho grinned. “I can do that.”

“You’re really obnoxious,” Mir told Minho, “But I can also kind of tell why Joon likes you.”

Jinki burst out laughing and Minho was stunned. Joon most certainly didn’t like him. At least he didn’t seem like he did.

Jinki pinched Mir playfully. “Go to the police station. Tell Jonghyun everything you know, and call me afterward.”

“Yes, mom,” Mir called out, heading towards the door. He stopped abruptly, leaning back against the door to asked tiredly, “He’s going to be okay, right Onew?”

Minho met Jinki’s eyes, neither of them what to say.

“Of course,” Mir said, answering his own question. “Joon’s the luckiest guy I’ve ever met in my life. He’ll be okay. He has to be.”

“Minho,” Jinki said when Mir was gone. “I can’t be the one to tell him … if the worst happens … if Joon …”

Minho scoffed, forcing himself to put on a brave face for Jinki. “Jonghyun is on the case, and if anything, that alone should be a relief. Now let’s get to your place.”

His nerves running a little high, Minho was thankful that the drive over to Jinki’s apartment was extremely dull, and the apartment itself was quiet and undisturbed.

“Can you tell me how long you’re going to be overprotective?” Jinki inquired, heading right back to his bedroom. “I’d like to know how long I have to pack a bag for.”

Minho sat down at the end of his sofa in the main room. “A couple of days, okay? At least until Jonghyun gets his feet under him with this case and he can assure me that you’re not going to be a target to these thugs.”

Jinki’s head poked back through the doorway, “Have you really thought this through? If I’m a target in any way, do you really want to be bringing me back to stay with people you care about?”

Minho leaned forward and nodded. “I want you where I can see you, and I also want to protect the other people I consider my family. Having you all in one place seems the most advantageous. But if it seems to be too dangerous, Taemin can stay with Jonghyun. Kibum, too. But Jinki, you are … important to all of us. Very important. And sometimes you have to take risks for important people.”

Jokingly, Jinki said, “I can see Key beating up anyone who tries to mess with you or Taemin. He seems like he could be the most unexpected threat to anyone trying to hurt his family.”

Minho snorted out, “You have no idea.”

After Jinki had his bag packed, and standing in the small apartment’s foyer, Jinki said, “I never had any kind of trouble like this before you came along Minho.”

Minho said with a low tone, “Sorry.”

Jinki grinned at him. “Don’t be. We both know this isn’t your fault. And all the seriousness of the situation aside, getting to meet you and have you in my life, it’s a fair trade in my opinion.”

They were nearly out the door when the apartment’s phone began to ring.

“Leave it,” Minho said, pressed against Jinki’s back.

“I can’t,” Jinki said, twisting away from him and back into the apartment. “I lost my phone in the accident, and when the police found it, it was completely wasted. I haven’t ha a chance to get a replacement yet and it could be work. Or Joon. I have to pick it up.” Jinki let his bag drop to the floor as he headed for the phone.

“It’s not going to be Joon,” Minho said, stepping over the bag as he followed Jinki.

Jinki had the phone pressed against his ear for a split second before he was shouting, “Joon? Where are you? What happened?”

Shocked, Minho asked, “It’s Joon?”

Jinki’s face creased as he frowned, and Minho wished he could hear the other side of the conversation.

“I don’t understand,” Jinki said, “No, wait. Slow down. I’m not … Joon!”

“What’s going on?” Minho asked, trying to duck in close enough to hear the other man, but he couldn’t make out much more than indistinguishable mumbling.

“You have to slow down! Wait … who? Do you mean Mir? Mir’s okay. I saw him this morning. I sent him to see Minho’s detective friend, Jonghyun. We were both so worried. And I--”

Jinki pulled back the phone suddenly and even Minho could hear Joon shouting angrily.

“Something is wrong,” Jinki said, meeting Minho’s eyes. “He’s being evasive. More than usual. He’s not making much sense, either.” Jinki pressed the phone back to his ear, listened for a second, then exploded, “Remember you? What are you talking about?”

The phone clicked a second later and the line was dead.

His mouth agape, Jinki let his hand with the phone drop. “I …”

“What did you hear?” Minho demanded. He plucked the phone out of Jinki’s hand. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know,” Jinki said, frustrated. “He wouldn’t tell me anything. He wouldn’t say where he was, what had happened, or anything. He kept telling me not to worry about him. He said he’s okay, and not to look for him.”

“Do you think it was on purpose, then?” Minho asked, setting the phone down in the nearby cradle. “The accident? Disappearing?”

Minho watched Jinki cradle his cast covered wrist and hated himself for bringing the idea up but it was quickly becoming an option in his mind.

“Joon would never hurt me on purpose.”

“Are you confusing that with the fact that you’d never hurt him on purpose?”

Furious, Jinki snapped, “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Then what other explanation do you have? He’s clearly okay. You’re not.”

“He’s not okay,” Jinki argued. “You couldn’t hear what I could. His voice was tight. His words were clipped. Something was definitively wrong. And then he started asking about Mir, and it got weird.”

“How so?”

“He didn’t use Mir’s name at all. He just referenced him, and he wasn’t asking any specifics when he told me to make sure he was okay and look after him.”

This time, Minho didn’t say it out loud, but it was beginning to really look like Joon had skipped out on the two people who cared about him the most. It was a shame, really, because Jinki didn’t deserve that kind of pain, and for as little as Minho knew Mir, he seemed a genuinely nice person, with maybe just a hint of attitude.

“I don’t understand,” Jinki continued. “Minho, I’m scared. He asked me to keep the memories we made and remember him. He said I have keepsakes to remind him, and then the phone ended. He … there were other voices in the background. Angry voices.”

“Jinki …”

Both Minho and Jinki startled as the phone rang again, the shrill tone the only sound in the apartment.

“Don’t,” Minho said, blocking Jinki’s attempt to reach for it.

“I have to. It could be Joon again.”

Minho shook his head and picked the phone himself, asking in a clear voice, “Yes?”

The voice that came across in response was not Joon’s. Minho had all but memorized Joon’s arrogant tone. This voice, however, was lower and more menacing.

“You now have proof that he’s alive.”

Minho leaned back immediately against the nearby wall, holding the phone tightly. “Who are you?”

The voice said, “It is now half past one. Sunset is in six hours. You will return our property by then, or we will send him back to you in pieces.”

Minho repeated, “Property? I think you have us confused with someone else. No one has your property.”

“You will meet us at the following address with the missing property.”

“Are you even listening to me?” Minho demanded. “I don’t know what Joon took from you, or what he’s telling you about that, but--”

An addressed followed, and then screaming. Joon’s screaming.

At the speed of lightening Jinki crossed the distance between them to snatch up the phone and shout into it, “What do you want? I don’t have a lot of money! Just give me my cousin back!”

With a vicious yell Jinki hurled the phone at the opposite wall. It skidded out of view and Minho wrapped his arms immediately around a shaking Jinki.

“It’s okay,” Minho said, holding him close.

“What has Joon done?” Jinki asked, sniffling miserably. “I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t know what do.”

Minho guided him over to the sofa and sat him down, leaving only to bring back a glass of water.

“Thanks,” Jinki said, reaching for it with trembling fingers.

Minho sat next to him and let the silence float between them, not sure what he could do to make the situation better. The only thing he could think of was what he offered to Jinki, saying, “We should call Jonghyun.”

“No,” Jinki said so suddenly Minho winced. “These people who have Joon will kill him if I do that. I can’t. And I won’t let you.”

“Then you just have this property that was stolen, you even know what it is, and you’re going to go hand it over in a couple of hours?”

“I don’t have anything stolen,” Jinki protested.

“They seem to think otherwise. And that’s why we need to call Jonghyun right away and give him the address that man told me. He’s with the police, Jinki. He’s trained for these situations.”

Jinki set the water down so harshly on the nearby table that liquid sloshed over the side. “We are not going to the police. They’ll get Joon killed.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

Jinki looked around a little helplessly. “I’m going to … I’ll …”

A thought weighed heavily on Minho’s mind.

Minho asked, “Other than the hotel that he and Mir like to stay at, Mir’s home and this apartment, was Joon staying anywhere else? Did he disappear for a couple of nights? Stay with friends?”

Jinki shook his head. “The entire time he only stayed overnight with Mir. He came back here every other time. Why?”

Minho gave a look around the small apartment. “Because your cousin very stupidly stole something important or valuable from some dangerous people, and my guess is that he hid it in the safest place he could think of, with the least suspicious person he knew. So we have six hours to find whatever it is he stole.”

“You think he put it here?” Jinki asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Minho admitted, hands out in front of him. “But we have to look, because we don’t have nearly enough time to make it to where Mir lives and back before sundown. So it has to be here.”

They tore apart the apartment. It took a little under an hour, and the destruction was scattered around them by the time they’d deduced there were no suitcases of money or precious pearls laying around.

“There’s nothing here,” Jinki said, his voice distressed.

Nearby, exhausted, Minho asked, “Do you remember that time that time someone was in your apartment? They trashed it and we all thought it was just some burglar looking for something to make a quick profit off?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Minho looked around the apartment once more. “What if it wasn’t some random guy? What if they weren’t trashing the place on purpose, either? What if they were looking for something?”

Jinki frowned, “But that happened before Joon ever came to visit.”

“Did it?” Minho wondered, “You didn’t actually pick him up from the airport, right? Who’s to say he wasn’t already in the country and just didn’t tell you.”

Jinki pinched his brow. “I don’t know, Minho. But how does any of this matter? I don’t know what Joon stole. I can’t find it, and it’s possible that even if I did find it, I wouldn’t know I was looking at it. That’s if it’s even here, and I’m not convinced Joon would even risk bringing something into this apartment.”

“I still think we should call the police.”

Determinedly, Jinki said, “I won’t let you, Minho. Joon will die.”

Minho shot back, “You think they’re not going to kill him either way? He stole from them. I have a feeling they’re going to take that personally.”

“Don’t say that!” Jinki stormed off towards his bedroom and slammed the door.

“I’m sorry for being the voice of reason!” Minho slumped back and entertained the idea of calling the police anyway, without or without Jinki’s approval.

The two of them sat in limbo for another hour or so, Jinki not emerging from his room and Minho too afraid to leave him alone.

“Minho,” Jinki said, emerging from the bedroom somewhat tentatively after that. “I have an account at the bank. It’s not my main account and I don’t think anyone but me knows about it, but maybe Joon found out. The account usually doesn’t have any activity, but it would be a good place to hide a lot of money without anyone knowing.”

“What about the account number and password?” Minho asked. It also seemed doubtful as the voice on the phone had said property, and not money. But they didn’t have any other leads.

Jinki looked depressed. “If he went snooping around here, he could probably find it. And he could guess the password. He knows me well enough. He knows what day I first came to the boy’s home and met him.”

Minho hated to be a killjoy, but he had to say what he was thinking, “The voice on the phone was specific that Joon had taken property. He didn’t say anything about money.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Jinki asked, an edge to his tone. “Because we’ve turned my place upside down, and we found nothing of value. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Me either,” Minho admitted. “So let’s go to the bank.”

Traffic was horrible, and as the time leeched away with them making no progress, Minho could fee Jinki’s grip on the situation slipping away.

Their problems were further compounded by no progress being made at the bank, and even more traffic on the way back.

“How will I tell Mir?” Jinki asked when they were back at the apartment. He trailed along the hallway with his socked feet dragging against the floor.

“He didn’t call you,” Minho observed quietly. “He was supposed to call you.”

Jinki hadn’t heard him apparently, disappearing back into his bedroom, but at least not closing the door behind him.

“Jinki,” Minho called after him, following. “We have to seriously consider calling the police now. We’re not going to find what they want, we don’t have any way to contract those people, and the police are your cousin’s best shot at getting out of this alive. I know you’re scared, but we have to make the right call.”

The sound of something shattering had Minho running, and then skidding to a stop in time to see Jinki grab one of his jade figurines and toss it on the floor. It joined one that had already been thrown and splintered off into tons of pieces.

“What are you doing?” Minho asked, reaching for Jinki’s wrist before he could throw another.

“He said to remember him,” Jinki shouted angrily. “On the phone. That idiot. He said I had plenty of things to remember him by.” Jinki wrestled his way out Minho’s grip and picked up another figure. “But why would I want to remember someone who’d do something like this to me?”

“Jinki!”

Minho jumped as the third figure smashed to the ground.

“I don’t want his memories, Minho. I don’t want his presents. I just want him. I just--”

“Jinki.” Minho gripped his shoulder hard. “Stop.”

“I’m tired of doing--”

“Stop!”

Jinki froze and Minho pointed down towards their feet.

“What are those?” Jinki asked breathlessly.

Minho wiggled his toes, trying not to step on shards of jade, but equally trying to comprehend what else he was seeing. “Those,” he said finally, unable to deny and kneeling down for a better look, “are diamonds. A lot of diamonds.”

Minho caught one between his fingers and held it up to Jinki who questioned. “Diamonds?” They were scattered all over the floor, gleaming under the lights.

“The better question isn’t what they are,” Minho decided, “but why they were in one of your jade figures.”

Jinki let the quarter inch diamond rest in his palm as he said, “I’m pretty sure diamonds are not supposed to be in my figurines.”

Minho looked at the remains of the two other statues. “There weren’t diamonds in the first two you smashed.”

“What about the others?” Jinki gestured at the other dozen figurines that were on the nearby shelf.

Slowly, Jinki said, “I told you once that friends buy me these jade figures? I mean, they do, that’s not a lie, but I don’t keep those in here. These are the ones that Joon’s bought me. It’s kind of our thing. He buys me jade figures. These are all from him.”

Minho picked up a nearby figure. “You know what we have to do.”

Jinki nodded and plucked the figure out of Minho’s hand. “Break them all.”

Minho told himself he was not getting a slight bit of pleasure from the act.

As they smashed the statues onto the ground, trying to control the spill of diamonds, it was obvious that they had a serious problem. Not all the figurines contained diamonds, but most of them did, and the total worth of the amount was staggeringly high.

“Wait!” Jinki called out, stepping over a grouping of diamonds to stop Minho from throwing one of the last statues. “Not that one!”

“Why not?” Minho frowned.

Jinki took it carefully from his hand, holding it almost protectively. “You gave me this one. And unless you’re in the thievery business with Joon, we’re not breaking this one.”

“I forgot,” Minho said, taking a better look at the figuring. “Thanks for stopping me.”

Jinki only nodded.

Half an hour later the jade had been cleaned up and they were left with a sizable pile of diamonds on Jinki’s bedspread.

Flatly, Minho said, “Your cousin is stupider than I thought, Jinki.”

Surprisingly, Jinki echoed he statement. Then asked, “Why wouldn’t he just tell me where the diamonds were on the phone? I could have gotten them right way. Why was he so elusive?”

Minho reached for a diamond, turning it over in his fingers. “Maybe he didn’t want you to actually give them back. Seems to me he wasn’t planning on it, whether they caught him or not.”

“Then why give them to me? Why steal them in the first place, and then why give them to me?”

“I guess we’ll just have to ask him that.” Minho wrapped the diamonds up in one of Jinki’s nearby scarves, tying the knot tightly. “But don’t expect me not to fight with your cousin after this. I think we’re way past playing nice.”

Jinki said deftly, “You may need to hold me back this time.”

Between the searching, traveling, and traffic, sunset was coming up on them quickly, and they still needed time to get all the way across Seoul to the address provided.

“I have to get something first,” Minho said, taking Jinki and the diamonds to a secure lockbox fifteen minutes away. From the lockbox he pulled out a black case and then walked briskly back to the car.

“What’s in there?” Jinki asked the second Minho was back in the car.

Minho sighed and requested, “You have to promise not to freak out okay?”

“I’m way past freaked out already, Minho.”

With nimble fingers Minho quickly put the numerical code into the box and popped it open to reveal a secured gun and one pack of ammo. “This,” he said deliberate and slow, “is Rosie.”

“You should not have that,” Jinki said shakily. “How do you have that?”

There was an additional locking mechanism keeping the gun in the case and Jinki watched as Minho entered a different code than the one that had opened the box. Then he pulled the gun free and inspected it thoroughly.

“It wasn’t easy to get this,” Minho said, seemingly satisfied with the condition of the gun. “I had to apply three times before my license was granted, and even though Jonghyun won’t admit it, I think he had something with that approval.”

Truth be told, Minho hadn’t ever considered owning a gun until a year previous when he and Kibum had started cutting their bills closer than ever before and had to consider taking some of the more dangerous cases they usually passed on. Applying for a gun license based on a necessity for personal safety wasn’t unheard of, but Minho had never known of anyone to actually get approved. The background check required before his approval had taken almost twice as long as the classes to make his handling the gun as safe as possible.

Taemin still didn’t know that the gun existed and Kibum practically refused to acknowledge it existed, even if he realized the occasional need for the safety it provided. Maybe Minho had jokingly named it Rosie in an effort to make Kibum feel a bit more easy about it. But no matter what, the gun remained a sore subject between Minho and Kibum.

“But all civilian guns are supposed to be kept in police or military possession,” Jinki pointed out. “You should have had to go to the police station to pick that gun up.”

Minho slotted the clip into the gun, then put it safely back in the case. “Hold this,” Minho said, passing the black object over to Jinki. “And stop looking like it’s got a mind of its own. The safety is on, I promise. And, uh, for the record, this gun is still at the police station. I mean … theoretically it’s there.”

“Obviously not in practice,” Jinki remarked, holding the case awkwardly. “It must really pay off to have friends in the police.”

Minho started the car. “You have no idea. Now let’s go get your cousin back.”