Jongin is supposed to be typing up some reports for the Chief, but his mind is anywhere but work at the moment. He’s worried about Sunyoung – who has been distant for days now – and he’s so caught up with the idea that he might find Kyungsoo in Jeju that he’s typed the same word three times in a row in his report.

He sighs and sits back in his chair, carding long fingers through his unruly hair. He wonders if the Chief would let him take a vacation. He could fly to Jeju in just a few hours.

Deciding he’ll never get this report done without some caffeine, he heads into the staff room to pour himself a cup of bitter coffee. He’s adding his sixth packet of sugar to his cup when Minseok strolls in.

“There you are,” he says. “I’ve been looking for you. We’ve got to head down to the morgue. A body turned up and the Chief wants you and I to check it out.”

Jongin looks at his cup of coffee almost wistfully before pouring it down the drain. Maybe he’ll be able to talk Minseok into swinging by Club Espresso on the way back for some real coffee.

“So what’s the deal with this body?” Jongin asks when they’re in Minseok’s patrol car, heading towards the morgue. “Where was it found?”

“The woods over by Jongno High School,” Minseok answers. “Apparently some kids found it when they were trying to sneak out. It’s pretty decomposed. No telling how long it’s been out there.”

Jongin feels his throat suddenly go dry. Those woods are the very same woods that he and Kyungsoo used to get lost in. But he shakes his head. There’s no way this body could belong to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo is alive. He’d left a note. He’s in Jeju, Jongin is convinced.

They arrive at the morgue and the coroner meets them in the lobby to lead them back to the examination room.

“We estimate that the victim died about ten years ago,” the coroner explains, a pair of glasses low on her nose. “It’s male, mid to late teens.” She pushes open the door and they see the body lying on the metal table.

The victim is more skeleton than actual body after ten years of lying in the woods, exposed to the elements and small scavengers. The smell is strong enough that Jongin has to put his arm over his nose to keep from gagging. Though of course he’s had to work with dead bodies before, he’s never had to be in such close proximity to one as decomposed at this one.

“Are there any signs of foul play?” Minseok asks, taking the coroner’s report and scanning it.

“Not so far,” the coroner replies. “But we’ve only done a cursory examination so far. I’ll know more after a more thorough autopsy. My best guess is a suicide. Probably over grades or something. That’s usually how it happens with kids this young.”

Minseok nods, looking over the body. “When will you have the body available to be transported?”

The coroner hums thoughtfully. “Maybe in two days? We’ve got to get what’s left of the flesh off, and then the bones will be all yours.” She pauses. “There is something that might help us identify him. He had a broken arm when he died. It had never been set, so it’s likely the accident happened right around the time of death.”

“Good to know,” Minseok says, pursing his lips. “Thanks. We’ll be back in a few days to get the remains.” He heads for the door but stops when he realizes Jongin isn’t behind him. “Detective Kim?” he says.

But Jongin isn’t listening. As his feet give out from under him, his entire world comes crashing down.

When he wakes up, he’s on the sofa in his tiny little office. Luhan is there, staring off into space and tapping his finger against his chin, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Jongin groans and sits up; Luhan is immediately attentive.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” he demands. “Minseok said you just collapsed at the coroner’s office and…” He sighs. “I heard about the body. I am so, so sorry, Jongin. I just…I don’t even know what to say.”

The body on the slab at the morgue comes rushing back into his head and Jongin feels like he might vomit. He leans over with his head between his knees, taking deep breaths that don’t really do much to calm him down.

Luhan sits beside him and rubs his back, but that doesn’t help much either.

Jongin rubs his temples wearily. “Look can you just…can you just leave me alone for a little bit? I just…I need to be alone…”

His friend nods understandingly and, after patting him one more time on the back, leaves the office.

Only once the door has closed does Jongin really let the information sink in and he all but collapses, wailing sobs wracking his body. He’d been so sure about everything. All the clues had pointed to another conclusion. But how could he argue with the body in the morgue? The age, time frame, and location could be written off as coincidental but the broken arm…the broken arm confirms it. Kyungsoo is really dead. 

It’s Sehun who comes to check on him next, hours later. Jongin is still sitting on his couch, staring stonily at the wall. He’s cried himself out and he feels so hopeless that he never wants to move again.

“Hey,” Sehun says softly. “How are you doing?”

Jongin gives him a flat look. “How do you think I’m doing?”

“Fair enough,” Sehun concedes. Then he sighs and takes a seat beside Jongin. “Look, Luhan didn’t think I should tell you this, but Chanyeol and I both agreed that you should know.”

“Oh god,” Jongin groans. He doesn’t know if he can take any more bad news.

Sehun takes a deep breath. “The coroner called. There’s a bullet wound on the body. She said she’s ruling out suicide now. She thinks it was murder.”

Jongin doesn’t know what to do with this information. He’s torn between feeling relieved that he hadn’t damaged Kyungsoo enough for his friend to take his own life and absolutely enraged that something so horrible had befallen someone as amazing as Kyungsoo.

When it becomes clear that Jongin isn’t going to answer, Sehun pats him on the shoulder and excuses himself, pulling the office door closed behind him.

Jongin’s not sure how much longer he sits there. Everything has become hazy and time seems to have no meaning. When he finally looks up, it’s long past his usual time to go home and the newspaper clippings about Kyungsoo’s case seem to be glaring at him from the opposite wall.

Overwhelmed with grief and anger, Jongin flies across the room and rips the offending articles from the wall. He rips them until they’re nothing but shreds littering the floor of his office, and even then he is still thrumming with electricity. His grief threatens to drown him, and it’s worse than anything he’s ever known.

He eventually manages to make it home, though how he gets there he doesn’t quite remember. He’s also smoked almost an entire pack of cigarettes along the way, though he barely remembers that. He wonders if it would be acceptable for him to just crawl into his bed and slowly shrivel up and die. At least then this horrible pain would end.

Sunyoung is already in her pajamas when he lets himself in the front door, sitting on the couch and grading papers. She looks up warily when he comes in. He’s late, but she hasn’t been talking to him much in the last few days so he doesn’t exactly expect her usual lecture.

But Sunyoung has been with him for a long time now and she’s more than a little intuitive, so she knows that something is wrong the second she lays eyes on him. “Jongin?” she says uncertainly. “Is everything okay?”

He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out. How can he say them out loud? His heart feels like it’s breaking. He opens and closes his mouth a few more times before he finally chokes out, “They found Kyungsoo’s body.” And then he’s sobbing again, sagging against the wall.

Sunyoung has her arms around him in an instant, hugging him close, running her fingers comfortingly through his hair, whispering soothing words in his ear. “Oh Jongin,” she murmurs, genuinely sad for him. “I’m so sorry, love. I’m so, so sorry.”

She leads him over to the couch and makes him a cup of tea to calm him down. Eventually he manages to get his tears under control, although his hands are still shaking so much it’s a wonder he hasn’t spilled tea all over himself.

Sunyoung rests her hand on his leg comfortingly. “I’m not going to ask if you’re okay, because I know you’re not. But do you want to talk about it?”

“He was murdered,” Jongin says bluntly. “Somebody murdered him.”

She claps a hand over . “Oh my god!” she exclaims. “How horrible!”

Jongin looks away. “They think it was a gunshot to the back of the head,” he says softly. “At least he probably didn’t suffer.”

Sunyoung is silent for a long moment. “What are you going to do, Jongin?” she asks.

“I’m going to find the bastard that did this and make him pay!” Jongin exclaims vehemently, and it’s not until the words are out of his mouth that he realizes he intends to follow through with them.

Sunyoung smiles a little sadly and nods. “I sort of figured you would say something like that,” she chuckles. “Excuse me.” She gets up and disappears into the bedroom.

When she reappears five minutes later, she’s fully dressed and dragging a suitcase behind her.

Jongin jumps up, alarmed. “Sunyoung?” he demands. “What are you doing?”

She turns to face him, and, even though she’s smiling, there are tears in her eyes. “I love you, Jongin,” she says. “And I probably always will. But I can’t compete with Kyungsoo. I can’t stay with someone who will always love a ghost more than me.” She reaches out and cups his cheek fondly with her small, familiar hand. “You’ll be okay,” she assures him, a tear rolling down her cheek even as she smiles. “You’ve always been so strong, Jongin. So you go avenge Kyungsoo’s death, okay? Do what you have to.”

Jongin isn’t sure he can take any more heartache. “Sunyoung,” he pleads, voice cracking.

But she puts a finger to his lips and shakes her head. “Don’t make this harder, Jongin. I love you, but I can’t do this anymore.” She replaces her finger with her lips, though the kiss is brief and chaste. “Goodbye.”

Jongin stands rooted to the spot until the front door closes behind the one person he was sure would always be there for him, and then he collapses on the sofa again.

He’s never been so lost in his entire life.  

Sorry it's been so long guys! I've been so busy! And then I got a concussion because I'm hella clumsy OTL

Anyway, story progression. 

So Kyungsoo's body has been found and Sunyoung has left Jongin. Not that I blame her. Girl's been putting up with a lot of

Oh no! What's going to happen next? TT.TT