Some battles are fought in silence and stealth.

I couldn’t sleep at night. Sungjong had shown his silent refusal to come to bed with me; he’d instead opted for the rocking chair in Sunggyu hyung’s room.

He was mad at me; in fact he was mad at everyone except for hyung at this moment. Somehow, he thought that it was my fault that hyung was being pursued as a possible muder suspect. I tried to explain to him how I had nothing to do with it, that it was all his brother’s doing, but he wouldn’t listen. Right now, he was impossible to reason with.

How could Sungjong, who was usually so considerate, be so unreasonable? It wasn’t like I was at peace with how things were – Sunggyu hyung was my brother after all. It reflected badly on me, but I couldn’t tell him that; it would only make him even more furious.

Lying in bed wasn’t helping, so I got up as soon as I could hear birds chirping outside. It was still dark, but I was restless. I had cleared my mind of all thoughts at night, in order to try and get some sleep, but now they all came back, like a frightening storm.

Motive, means, alibi – the complete trap; Sunggyu hyung seemed to have fallen badly in it. Someone was definitely trying to frame him. It had to be, because there were so many things hyung was capable of, but murder was not one of them. He wouldn’t just knowingly murder someone, he couldn’t, no matter what the doctor said. Hyung was a horrible brother, not a horrible person.

Woohyun had called me yesterday late at night, telling me what conclusion they had come to about the STR Headquarters, throwing me off. How had hyung known? Maybe he knew it subconsciously. After all, he had given everything to his work; deduction was in his blood. Being a detective was not just his occupation, it was who he was. Because he had given everything toward being Detective Kim Sunggyu, he had forgotten what it was like to be just a regular person, with family, with friends.

At first when I had heard about Sunggyu hyung and Woohyun, and it was a good seven months after they started going out, I couldn’t believe it. I thought maybe Woohyun was just like hyung, a workaholic, a mysoginist, but he turned out to be warmer than I had imagined him to be. He was everything hyung wasn’t and I wondered what a guy like that was doing with hyung, other than making himself miserable. It was laughable and I had predicted they wouldn’t last a year. But it was love, and as strange and impossible it might have seemed, it happened between the two most unlikely people.

Hyung even proposed! It was like hyung was driving on a straight road and suddenly he took a right turn – I didn’t see it coming. But when it did, I was confused. That was when I gave up trying to understand hyung, to be closer to him. It was a lost cause.

I got dressed slowly, then went into the kitchen to make myself breakfast. I was looking for the jam when Sungjong passed it to me. He was still in the clothes he had been wearing yesterday. There were dark circles under his eyes which meant he hadn’t gotten any sleep. His lips were chapped.

“I’m sorry,” I told him again, but he didn’t reply.

“You’ll try won’t you, to get him out of this mess?” Sungjong’s voice was quiet and not as harsh as it was yesterday. There was no accusing beat to it, but rather it was sincerely pleading.

I pulled him closer to me.

“Of course I will. I’ll try my best. Don’t worry.”

Once I got to the office however, any hopes of helping hyung were deflated. It seemed that everyone had been talking about the case and all the other detectives, apart from Woohyun, were convinced that hyung was guilty. Hana and Sungyeol had been swayed by Youngjae’s bold proclamations and reasoning, Minji had sided with Youngjae since the beginning. As for the Captain, he refused to hear me out.

“What are we going to do?” I asked Woohyun. He didn’t look like he had gotten much sleep last night either. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed deeply.

“I don’t know, Myungsoo, I just don’t know. All I know is it’s not Sunggyu.”

His voice was trembling. I thought about what he had said. But with the situation at the precinct, maybe it was time for me to arrange a lawyer for hyung.

My greatest fear however went without being confronted.

What if hyung was what they were claiming him to be? What if hyung was…Blood Lily, or anyhow involved with him?

I broke away from that thought. Now was not the time to question, to waver.

And why not? A nasty voice said in my head.

I was afraid of this voice. It had kept me company while I was growing up. It had filled my head with poisonous thoughts, fuelled my anger. It had occupied me, my existence, until Sungjong had come along. He had gotten rid of it. But now it was coming back.

You know your hyung, it continued, he is tailored for this kind of a life. He knows no kindness, he doesn’t care about family, surely, he’s the very man for the job.

“No!” I tried to dispel the voice in my hand but I had no idea I had screamed out loud until Woohyun took me by the shoulders, asking me if I was alright.

“I just -” I could try and explain it to him but I didn’t feel like it. He, of all people, would have understood but I didn’t want to upset him more, or shake his faith in hyung. “We have to get the murderer, we have to get Blood Lily, that’s the only way to save hyung from this.”

Woohyun shoved his hands inside his pockets, watching me anxiously.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s just…Myungsoo I know you and your brother didn’t have the best of relationships-”

“You don’t think he’s guilty, do you?”

“God, no! I just want you to – are you serious about helping Sunggyu?”

I nodded vehemently.

“I’m going to fight for him. I’m going to find Blood Lily, and I could use the help.”

He smiled, his gentle smile. It made me feel better. Once I got to know Woohyun, I had always thought that hyung didn’t deserve him. But maybe he did, because Woohyun was too good to put his trust in a cold heartless person.

“Okay, where we do we start?”

“We have to get Sunggyu’s files of course, and this time for longer,” Woohyun said thoughtfully. “And also-”

There was a loud beeping. Excusing myself, I pulled out my phone from my pocket. I had a text message. I tapped the screen.

You have meddled in something you shouldn’t have, so I have taken the liberty of kidnapping Sungjong. You know the HQ, come and get him.

PS: It’s better not to bring too many people. I don’t like meeting a lot of people, you know.

From your beloved hyung.

I couldn’t speak for a whole minute. Noticing my shock, Woohyun pulled the phone out of my grip and checked the text. Instantly, his face was drained of colour.

“No!” he said out loud. That was all I was chanting in my head from the moment I understood the meaning behind the text.

When the initial shock was over, I called Sungjong. By breath stopped while the phone rang. I was praying.

“Hello?”

“Sungjong, are you – where are you?”

“Home of course, why?”

Exhaling with relief, I nodded at Woohyun. I was so happy I could cry.

“Just – where’s hyung?”

“In his room? What’s this about, Myungsoo?”

My voice was trembling badly.

“Can you please check?”

Sungjong grunted as he put me on hold. I waited nervously, chewing my bottom lip.

“Myungsoo, he’s gone!” There was panic in Sungjong’s voice. Calming him down, I asked him when he’d seen him last. Sungjong said that he had been working in his room since breakfast and he had last checked up on him two hours ago.

“I have to go. Please don’t go anywhere, love,” I said, before disconnecting the call. I told Woohyun what had happened. He stared at me, unable to believe the news.

Sungjong was calling me continuously, but I ignored the calls. He’d have to wait. I felt sorry for him, he was definitely freaking out but we didn’t have time to waste.

In this situation, we had to inform the Captain. He was furious when he heard this.

“We should have arrested him when we could!” he roared, slamming his hands down on his mahogany table. Some of the papers went flying.

“Sir, with all due respect, he could have been kidnapped -”

He stopped Woohyun and told us to immediately go to Star Destiny.

“Find him and arrest him,” he ordered, glaring at us.

“Yes, Sir,” I said meekly.

We gathered the team, briefed them on the situation, then headed out. The others seemed surprised by the turn of events, but they followed their orders promptly. Minji was the only one who looked hesitating, but I didn’t have time to ask her what was wrong.

“What do you think he wants?” Woohyun asked me in the car.

“I don’t know. Do you really think hyung has been kidnapped by Blood Lily?”

Woohyun said nothing, only drove faster. We were cutting through the traffic like we were gliding through air. I had never seen Woohyun drive so recklessly, but desperate times call for desperate measures.