Kim Jongwoon was one happy person. The weather outside was perfect, all the gangs in the area were behaving themselves, and he was able to ditch Kibum long enough to come by Shinee for a cup of his favorite coffee. When he heard the café was open again he was quick to make his way over and get his fix of caffeine. He found a seat by the window and relax and enjoy the cup while watching the people pass by. And the longer he stayed away from Kibum the better for both their sanities.

In the back of his mind he knew he should be more on guard. Just because the gangs were strangely quiet did not mean all was well. In fact it normally meant the complete opposite. That plus the fact Shinee was closed means that TVXQ was involved in a big way. But all Onew told him was they were at a party the last night and that was the reason they were closed. Jongwoon was suspicious of course, but decided to think it over after his coffee.

There was a familiar jingle of someone entering the café causing Jongwoon to look up. He was surprised to see Ryeowook come running inside. The boy barely glanced through the café as he made a beeline straight to the counter. Jongwoon had to strain to hear what they were saying.

"Taemin, where is Onew! I have to talk to him!" He threw out without any other greeting. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Seeing the unamused expression on the man's face he added hastily. "Um, please!"

Taemin smiled brightly at this and went to find the man in question. Jongwoon watched as Ryeowook glanced around the café casually before their eyes met. Ryeowook's eyes widened in surprise while Jongwoon offered him a raised cup and a nod and smile in greeting. The younger man looked as if he wanted to head over any say something but couldn’t. Luckily Onew made his appearance at that time.

"Ryeowook-shi, were you looking for me?"

"Ah, yes Onew-shi. Is there somewhere we can go for privacy?"

Onew nodded and led the M member behind the counter. The pair disappeared behind the door and were gone. Jongwoon took a sip of his coffee before raising his hand for a refill. Jonghyun walked up and filled up his cup.

"Wonder what that was about." He commented, ore for conversational purposes than an actual inquiry. He doubted Jonghyun would tell him anything.

"It probably has to do with EXO." The man surprisingly replied.

"EXO?"

"It is a newer gang than has been causing some waves. I don’t know too much except that they are beginning to cause problems for everyone."

Jongwoon nodded to show his understanding. The other shrugged and walked away. As the detective brought the refilled cup to his lips he allowed his thoughts to wander. It was true that he had not heard of EXO prior to his conversation with the Shinee man. There were a lot of gangs that were forming and then quickly disappearing before they became much of an issue. So Jongwoon never wasted too much time on it. For a gang that is new to be creating quite the fuss means they must be rather dangerous. He made a mental note to look into when he got back to the base. Looking at his watched he winched at the time. He needed to get back if he didn’t want to deal with an irate Kibum. Standing up he went ot the counter where Taemin stood.

"Heading out Jongwoon-shi?" The man asked with a smile.

"Yeah, can't stay hidden forever. Can you top me off before I go?"

"Sure thing." Taemin grabbed the cup and filled it up to the top with his coffee. When he handed it back to the detective the man paid him for the drink.

"Always a joy coming here. Thanks Taemin."

"Of course Jongwoon-shi."

Jongwoon grinned as he took a sip of his cup. With a polite nod to him, he turned and made his way out of the café. A part of him wanted to see Ryeowook again before he left but he knew that could be a problem for both of them. So he decided to leave instead. He could always send a text to the other later if need be. As he drove to the police station he allowed himself to go back on the comment Jonghyun had made. EXO. Something about it seemed odd. Because for Shinee to casually bring it up, or at least tell him about it was not normal. It means someone is pulling the strings. And they want Jongwoon involved. The only question remains is…

What is Yunho exactly planning?

Pulling into the station Jongwoon had less answers than he would like. He shook his head in frustration and made his way inside. He wasn’t surprised to be met at the door by his partner.

"Where were you?" Kibum asked with his arms crossed.

"Where do you think?" Jongwoon replied sarcastically as he took a purpose kiss of his coffee.

"Don’t get snippy with me." Kibum growled back.

Jongwoon rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"My god, you should like a jealous girlfriend. Or at least a over protective mother or something. Back off Kibum. I am a grown man, I can make my own decisions."

Kibum glared at him.

"Maybe I wouldn’t be so worried about what you do off base if it actually amounted to something. For as long as I've been here we haven't made a single arrest against either gang. But you sure have had a fair share of coffee there."

Jongwoon was about to comment back when someone cleared their throat behind them. The pair turned to see a younger police officer standing there watching them with wide eyes. Once he realized he had their attention he held out the manila folder in his hands.

"We got a live one." He explained.

Jongwoon took the folder and looked at it curiously. It was a murder case. The victim's name was Park Sunglee and he was 45 years old. He was found dead at his home earlier that day. The man normally lived by himself but it was reported that his one son was also living with him at the time he was home from college. However when they went to question the son they found him to be missing. They don’t know if the two are related but that was for Jongwoon to find out. When he gather the basic information he raised his head to look back at the officer. The man nodded his head in reply.

"The chief wants you two to go. He thinks M is involved."

"Okay. Let's go Kibum."

"Right."

As the pair got into the car the younger man shot him a look.

"We aren't done with our conversation yet." Kibum said with a dark look.

"We never are." Jongwoon replied with a roll of the eyes.

Kibum shot him another look but did not say anything. The pair were mostly quiet as they drove to Sunglee's home. When they arrived they saw a slew of cop cars. Jongwoon exited the car and made his way over to whom they assumed was the lead cop on the case.  The man was overseeing the crime scene and had a notepad with some notes he has been jotting down. When he saw the detectives he gave a proper bow.

"Officer, what can you tell me?" Jongwoon asked.

"Hello Detective. Our victim is Park Sunglee. Age 45. He has died by apparent gunshot wounds. It looks like he knew the person though, there was no forced entry. We also learned that he lives by himself, divorced for years, but he has one son who was staying with him during semester break. However we have not be able to locate the son for questioning."

"And that is who exactly?" Jongwoon inquired.

"Oh yes, of course, sorry. Park Lin, age 22. He is a student at Seoul University, a junior according to the records. We have contacted the school about talking to him but have not heard anything back from them."

"Keep me posted on that. I was told M may be involved."

The officer nodded at this and pointed to the table by the door. There was a stack of open and un-open letters to one of the evidence tags. Jongwoon stepped over to glance at them.

"There are some letters with M's insignia on them. It looks like Sunglee owed him some money. But I think another party was involved."

"Oh?"

"There is a second group of letters from another gang. However I do not know who they are exactly. I don’t recognize the insignia on them. But they are signed by some person named Kris. Whoever that is."

"Could the two gangs be working together?" Kibum asked.

"Doubt it. But we will learn more when we go through the evidence later."

Jongwoon pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them on. He picked up the top letter and looked at it. Based off of the quick glance he noted it was a basic letter from a gang leader demanding payment back from someone who owed. But Jongwoon didn’t recognize the name or the insignia. However he did note the three simple letters at the top.

EXO.

The same name of the gang that Jonghyun spoke of at Shinee earlier. The same one that was apparently keeping Donghae, and possibly Leeteuk as well, hands full. Now they were becoming something more interesting for the detective. He glanced up when Kibum walked over and handed him the letter. His partner skimmed the letter before his nose scrunched up in disgust.

"EXO huh. Have you heard of them?" He asked the younger.

"Not really. Today is a first for me."

"Same."

Kibum handed the letter back to him and looked around the room again. Jongwoon watched as he wandered off and headed up the stairs where they assumed the bedrooms were. The detective himsef walked through the main room again. It didn’t seem like there was anything there but Jongwoon was curious to find out if there was any connection to EXO and M in the matter. Looking at the carpet by the couch he noticed a piece of paper sticking out. He picked it up and skimmed it.

"Another letter?" He muttered quietly.

This one was from Donghae and it was demanding that Sunglee paid what was owed. He even threatened to take another precious item away from the man if he didn’t do so soon. This peaked Jongwoon's curiosity. He wondered what precious item Donghae was hinting at. It seemed the man did in fact owe money to both gangs but it looked like the cost were different. So they probably were not working together. He turned around and called an officer to him.

"Bag this. I want this and all the other letters on my desk as soon as you are done with forensics on them."

The officer bowed to him.

"Yes sir."

Jongwoon walked away and also went up the stairs where Kibum disappeared to. The man was in a bedroom that at a glance showed it was the son's room. There was a second officer in this room also taking pictures and tagging evidence. Kibum was sitting at the man's desk looking at something.

"What is it?" Jongwoon asked.

"I can at least deduce that his son did not just leave for no reason. This is his course work for college and he was working on it. He clearly cared about his schooling. But you can tell there was a struggle in here not too long ago."

"Oh?"

There is a dent in the door and some dried blood in the carpet. The son was attacked while studying. And I am assuming dragged out of here. I bet Sunglee tried hiding his son disappearance so not to draw attention to himself with us."

"But then he was also attacked. Do you believe the son is alive?"

"Doubt it. If M is involved I don’t think they took him as a hostage. They said Sunglee owed money right?"

"Yes, to both gangs."

"Then I bet the son was collateral to them."

"Do you think its M or EXO that is responsible for this?"

Kibum shrugged.

"No idea right now. There are too many leads and they could easily be bad ones. I think we should look into it more. At least find the connection between EXO and M. Do you think they were working together?"

"No. I found a second letter from Donghae demanding money. But the amount didn’t match what he owed the Kris person in the EXO letter."

"He owed different amounts of money to both? The man doesn’t seem to be poor. Why the loans?"

"The son was in college right? I bet that plays a role."

Kibum frowned at the desk. Jongwoon could tell he was just as confused as he was. Something else was involved. Something they were missing. But the detective knew they wouldn’t get all the answers today. He patted the younger on the shoulder.

"Come on. Let's head back. There is nothing else to learn at the moment. We will let them go through the evidence before talking about it again."

"Fine."

The two met left the house and headed back to the police station again. Jongwoon's mind was going in circles. He knew that everything had a connection but he wasn’t sure where to even start. A part of him wanted to ask Ryeowook what he knew but the pair had agreed to leave work and their budding relationship as two separate things. Kibum also stayed quiet on the drive back. When they did arrive at the station they were greeted by the chief.

"You two were at the Sunglee house right?"

"Yes sir. But nothing we can say about it yet."

"That's fine. But I have someone to introduce to you two."

The two men followed the chief into the station and led to his office. He entered and held the door open for the two men to follow. There was someone already in the room and when he saw them enter. When Jongwoon saw who it was his eyes bugged out in shock.

"Your Jang WooHyuk!" He blurted out in surprise.

"Who?" Kibum asked confused.

The man, WooHyuk, laughed at this. He held out a hand for Kibum to shake.

"Jang WooHyuk. I was a detective here in the early 90's. Retired about six years ago. But got a call from your boss to stop in."

"He's famous!" Jongwoon went on almost like a fan boy. "He was a part of a group of men who went after and took apart H.O.T. A legendary gang from the past. It was big news for years when the gang had disbanded and disappeared. Sadly he retired right after that but he is one of the best out there."

"Well aren't you the flattering type." WooHyuk said with a laugh. "I wasn’t that great. Things just work out that way sometimes. We never caught any of the main men from H.O.T but I am glad to say they never did pop up again."

"H.O.T? I have heard of them…"

"They were the predecessors to TVXQ. Some say they were probably part of the creation but it was never proven."

Kibum noded his head to this.

"But enough reminiscing on the past. I hear you are keeping things busy with your big case. Trying to take down M and T huh. That is pretty impressive. Maybe I can give you some pointers."

"Really!" Jongwoon gushed. Kibum snorted under his breath. If they were in an anime Jongwoon's eyes probably would have sparkling stars in them. Instead he just look like a star struck fan. It amounts to the same thing.

"Sure. I would love to help out if I can."

"Well I guess I will leave you two alone then." Kibum replied with a grin. "I'd feel like a third wheel if I hung around I think."

Jongwoon shot the man a dirty look as he left with a laugh. But WooHyuk led him out of the office as well to a room where they could talk. Once Jongwoon and him were seated the man leaned back casually. It was obviously he was very comfortable in his surroundings.

"Where shall I start?"

"How you got involved with the case!"

"Okay…So here is the story."