White feathers fell from the pitch black ceiling. He reached out, feeling the softness between his fingertips. One single feather rested itself on the middle of his palm. The man looked up from his palm as he felt another’s presence in the empty black room which rained white feathers. He tried to see who it was but the person on the other side was in blur. Squinting didn’t help. The figure was that of a female wearing a white dress. Other than that, nothing more could be said. He tried to reach out but the figure was a lot further than he had anticipated. He tried to walk over but his feet wouldn’t move. He tried to call out but his voice wouldn’t come. It was as if he was a doll with only the ability to move his arms and head. Slowly, it began to crumble.  Everything started with a beautiful piece played by a violin and a piano. It ended with the shattering of a glass. It was nothing but a harmless dream that appeared in his sleep. However, a mirage that made people go crazy. That was all it was to it… but why…why did it feel so real?

Myungsoo woke up covered in sweat. A loud cry escaped his lips as he sat upright on his bed. His fingers tightly clutched his covers which surrounded the bottom half of his half body. Sweat covered his forehead. His breathing made it difficult on his heart and the beating of his heart made it difficult for him to focus. His mind began to play tricks on him as white semi-transparent feathers began falling around him once again. He tried to get a grasp of reality which only hit him a lot later on. Finally, the calm had come. First thing he did was get a glass of water before drinking it down in one full shot.

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Tuesday 25th May 20XX

The world is a strange place. That was the first thing Myungsoo realised as he held his crystal ball on his right hand, staring right into it. People are given life only to end up dead. Throughout their life time, they achieve and rise or they fail and fall. Many go unnoticed while some are forever remembered. Each and every one of them is different in their own way but also the same in another. Life was simply yet excruciatingly difficult.

“Like Confucius once said ‘Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.’” The young detective muttered to himself absentmindedly.

Myungsoo was always an oddball in the station. Many people found him weird due to the fact he enjoyed talking to himself and would often drift in and out of daydream. However weird he was, no one could deny he was a great detective for someone his age. Myungsoo was only 17 when he gratuated from the academy, making him one of the youngest people to graduate.Now he was 22, 5 years since he's left that place and came here to become a full fledged detective.

He had the look of that of a model which made others fall for his charms and others wonder why he chose to become a detective rather than the latter. Myungsoo was awkward to the people around him which meant there weren’t a lot of people who were close to him as a friend. The only time he didn’t cut himself off the presence of others was when he was out investigating a case or doing an interrogation. His voice became the only one audible in the room filled with dedication and perseverance. However, many a times, his cold, intimidating voice would come through and frighten not only the suspects but also the detectives. Almost like seeing another person, Myungsoo’s colleges gave that ‘voice’ a name.  ‘L’ was what was chosen. Even those closest to him chose to stay away during the time ‘L’ came out. No one could approach him and quite frankly, no one wanted to. It was then; everyone knew how serious Myungsoo was about him job.

“Talking to yourself again?” The dark brunette felt someone tap him on the shoulder which broke his concentration with his beloved crystal ball. Myungsoo doesn’t remember when or where he got his crystal ball but it had always been part of his life since he could remember. There was some sort of charm to the ball which soothed him. Being a detective was hard work and many a times, led to insanity. The amount of cases which piled up over the years was no joke. Because of this, many cases had to be put on hold or dropped. Evidence doesn’t last forever. That was something Myungsoo had to learn the hard way with one particular case during the time when he was still fresh out of the academy.

“Sorry…was I disturbing you?” Daehyun was one of the people who he could call his ‘friend’. The both of them had a close relationship since Daehyun was Myungsoo’s senior, being 3 years older than him as well as his mentor. When Myungsoo first came to the station, there was no doubt he was going to be a great detective. However, the higher ups didn’t like the fact his anti-social behaviour led to him being disliked and ultimately caused the whole department to have a somewhat negative reputation.

People would gossip behind closed doors, spreading false rumours about the station (mainly something about Myungsoo) which ended up with citizens becoming scared of them. It caused a lot of cases (in their case, they worked for murder and missing people) to become unlisted and passed onto another station which usually wouldn’t handle cases in their aerial range as they were too scared to call for them. Angered by that, the Chief Superintendent, aka chief, forced Myungsoo to sit out on a lot of face to face questioning and made him do desk work instead. It wasn’t after a long battle with the Chief, Yongguk who is the Detective Superintendent (Just under the chief) and Daehyun that Myungsoo was finally allowed back on the field team. Yongguk had to title of ‘leader’ as he was the one who was most in charge within the station while Lee Minho (the chief) worked in the background.

“No, of course not! I’m used to it by now.” The man smiled.

“I heard there was another case. This time, it seems like it was a young female in her mid-twenties.” It was normal for conversations to change from one to another in a single heartbeat. One second they’ll be joking around, the next they’ll talk about someone who was killed by a slit to the throat using a craft knife. Myungsoo didn’t care as long as they didn’t disturb him while he was working.

“Where about did it happen?” He turned to face Daehyun.

“Near the Han river. We got a call at approximately 13 hours ago at 11:24am by a man. I heard Yongguk hyung himself along with Himchan hyung went to the crime scene right after they located the call. When they arrived, no one was there except for a body and a phone.” Myungsoo listened carefully to the information which came out of Daehyun’s lips. Cases by the Han River or near the element of water were always nearly impossible to solve. Maybe it was luck but the water tends to wash away important clues such as finger prints, bodily marks and would cause decay to quicken (especially in summer). 

“Has the report come in yet?”

“Not yet. Hyung hasn’t come back from the crime scene yet.” The young detective looked at the clock after Daehyun’s words before turning back to his friend. It was clear Daehyun was worried for the other two. Other than being colleagues at work, they were also very close friends outside. Myungsoo didn’t like it when his mentor was in some sort of distress. It tends to make the surroundings a lot darker since he was the mood maker for them.  A small smile formed on his lips, as he tried to comfort his hyung, before he spoke.

“They’ll be back soon.” At that very moment, the doors to the station opened. Everyone looked to see who had come in the doors. As Myungsoo expected, a group of detectives came through the door, Yongguk and Himchan being the first in. They looked tired; almost helping each other get through the short walk to their office.

“You’re back!” Daehyun gleefully ran over to the two Detective Superintendents.

“Yeah, we’re back.” Himchan smiled and patted Daehyun on the head. Myungsoo stood up from his seat and walked to them.

“Good work!” He bowed. The greeting was parroted by the tired ones with a small encouraging shoulder pat from the elder to Myungsoo. Without a moment to spare, the other detectives made their way to their cubical and collapsed on their chair. Myungsoo and Daehyun followed Himchan who was leaning on Yongguk to his office. They had separate offices which were right next to each other. Out of the two, Himchan was the most tired as he was the one doing most       of the driving. Yongguk was able to rest his eyes during the semi long car journey. It took them about 10-15 minutes to drive from the station to the Han River. The rest of the time was spent driving around the crime scene looking for clues and possible witnesses. Everything had been a long ordeal.

Yongguk carefully place Himchan on his chair before making himself comfortable on top of the small cupboard just behind him. He looked at the other two detectives who stood side by side in front of Himchan’s desk and sighed.

“It’s a murder alright.” Being in this business for the last 5 years meant Yongguk has had a fair share of dead bodies. After a while, he had gotten use to looking at them. Many a times, he didn’t even bat an eye. However, there was something about this case that made him shiver. The body was mutated so badly to the point it was beyond recognition. Thankfully the victim’s belonging were with her body which made it a lot easier to identify who it was.

“How bad was it?” Daehyun spoke. The leader sighed again and leaned back.

“Bad.” Eyes closed and arms folded, Himchan spoke for Yongguk who was too tired to continue. Myungsoo lean forward with anticipation, hoping to know the details before the report was filed in.

“It’s almost lunch. Why don’t the two of you go and take a break. We’ll continue this after.” Myungsoo almost showed his disappointment by tutting under his breath. Daehyun had to agree with Himchan because he was afraid nothing would go into his mouth after hearing the horrors the two had been through last night. Unfortunately for him, he had a weak stomach.

“I agree. Let’s go Myungsoo.” The two of them bowed and left the office without another word. Himchan let out a small smile, his fatigue soon overpowering his body. He felt his eyeslids drop slowly as he watched the two leave his office.

“, I’m tired.” He cursed, running his hand through his hair. Yongguk came over and gently caressed his lover’s cheek.

“Go to sleep babe. I’ll do the rest.” The brunet wanted to protest but his body didn’t let him. Soon, he let sleep over come him. Yongguk watched his sleeping lover for a bit, smiling over the other’s perfection. It took everything he had in him to look away and start working on the mountain of paperwork which was left for him to fill. He sighed, knowing it would be another all-nighter. Once they far enough from Himchan’s office, Myungsoo let out his frustration in an annoyed fashion that mimicked that of a 5 year old who didn’t get any cookies.

“I wanted to know.” Myungsoo whined, fiddling with his fingers with a pout plastered on his face. Daehyun laughed at his cute dongsaeng, knowing that the usually smart and stoic Myungsoo had this side to him only made Daehyun favour him more. It was rare to see him like that and he usually did it when no one was around.

“I know you did. That’s why I had to stop him before he went into detail. Whenever you’re eager to know something that means it’s bad news.” Words had never been truer. Whenever Myungsoo was excited after hearing about a case that means trouble was just around the corner.

The dark brunette was always more attracted to the cases which were full of dark secrets and seemed to never end. There was something about it that made Myungsoo’s eyes glisten in the top corner. Daehyun was always quick to spot it. After all, he had been the same. One thing would lead to another and end up in something even the police can’t handle. Their station was an independent faculty which specialised in murder and kidnappings. They were funded by the government to solve cases that the police can’t solve. They didn’t have as much power as the police when it came to group arrests and would normally have to go through special procedures to obtain personal files if they were not given to them. Other than their limitations, they had a lot of freedom in terms of using back alley methods to obtain whatever they wanted. That was one reason Myungsoo had chosen this station in particular.

“Whatever. They’ll tell me sooner or later. It’s just a matter of time.” He mumbled, trying to make himself feel better and lessen his thirst for knowledge.

“So, what do you want for lunch? I heard there’s a new café that opened up recently down the street. It’s been getting very good reviews!” Myungsoo was not picky with what he ate. Other than somethings he wasn’t particularly fond of, he was willing to eat almost everything. Daehyun on the other hand was the totally opposite. He would only be willing to eat at a place if it had good reviews and served near to the best quality food.

“Your choice.” He wondered why Daehyun bothered to even ask him. They had worked together for almost 2 years. Every time Myungsoo and Daehyun ate together, the latter would always ask him, knowing his answer would always be the same.

“Let’s go!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The café was small but not in a claustrophobic way. It read classic when first going into the glass double doors with a long wooden handle. Myungsoo found nothing particularly out of place and decided that it was a place he didn’t mind going to again. It was quiet for a busy place. Many seats were taken up by people who were on their lunch break and wanted to spend some quiet time alone. They would take out their books or electronics and immerse themselves in a world of wonder.

Daehyun chose to sit by the window, tucked away in the corner. The café’s furniture was consisted of wooden circular tables and matching single sofas. Tables in the middle were paired with single wooden chairs of a spiral design which complemented the tables perfectly. Modern Victorian would be what Myungsoo would associate when looking at the café.

“Hello. Welcome to Libera. My name is Sungjong and I’ll be your waiter today. May I take your order?”