Jinsu looked nervously in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following him. It was already twilight, the sun was falling asleep below the horizon, covering the darkening sky with an orange-pink ribbon. The street he was traversing was empty, but still he felt an inexplicable fear coursing through his veins. For several days, he had been convinced that someone was watching him. He felt it almost everywhere. He kept turning over his shoulder, looking at the reflections in the shop windows as he passed, and in the rearview mirror whenever he got behind the wheel of his now several-year-old Kia Rio.

Even now, with the empty street behind him, he could have sworn he could feel the hostile gaze on him, literally burning his skin, causing his body to ache almost physically. Perhaps because of what had been going on in his life recently, he was starting to become paranoid. As he drove toward the highway leading out of town, his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, and he kept glancing sideways or in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was still following and he and his family were safe.

Feeling a strange nervousness growing by the minute, tightening itself in an invisible loop around his throat, he pressed harder on the accelerator. He wanted to leave Seoul as soon as possible. He knew that the farther he could run, the more secure he would be for himself and his loved ones, and that was the most important thing for him.

He wanted to be honest, tried to do the right thing, but now he regretted ever having done it. If he had known that this decision would put his family in such great danger, he would have taken them out of the city, preferably out of the country, a long time ago. He didn't know why he chose to stay here. It was the worst possible decision. He knew it now, but probably he just wanted to believe until the very end that there were no people in the world who were evil to the core and would be able to take away what was most important to him.

How wrong he was...

He looked around again and flicked on his turn signal to make a left turn. However, he managed to drive only a few meters down a side street when suddenly a car cut him off. He braked sharply, pressing the brake pedal with all his might to force his car to a stop and thus avoid a collision with a black SUV that appeared in front of him literally out of nowhere. A loud curse escaped his parted lips, bouncing off the walls of the silver Kia as his body flew forward, propelled by a strong jolt. Fortunately, almost at the last moment, the seat belt held him in the seat just enough to keep his head from hitting the steering wheel, around which his fingers were clutching.

When the car stopped, he jerked his head up to look straight ahead. It was enough for him to notice a group of three grown men who started to get out of the off-roader that had crossed his path a moment ago. He knew what it meant...

They found them...

Frightened, he looked quickly behind him to find the equally terrified look of Yoonju, who was sitting in the back seat, hugging a six-year-old boy who was sleeping soundly a moment ago, resting his head on her lap. Now he too was awake, probably awakened by his father's violent ride. Wasting no time, Jinsu engaged reverse, trying to get the car moving again. He hoped to back out and turn the car back onto the main road, but the engine refused to obey him, spitting out only a sluggish rattle. Almost panicking, he squeezed the clutch, and finally, releasing it slightly, pressed down on the accelerator, repeating desperate pleas under his breath for it to work this time.

When he somehow managed to start the engine and the car started to move, he looked over his shoulder, trying to back the car as fast as he could out of the street he had turned into less than two minutes ago. However, he managed to drive only a few meters when suddenly the windshield of the car shattered into smithereens. A bullet fired by one of the attackers a moment earlier penetrated into the interior of the car, injuring his right arm. Instinctively, he stopped the car and raised his hands, ducking his head, trying to protect himself from this sudden onslaught.

He wanted to try to restart the car, but several more bullets were fired at them, effectively preventing him from maneuvering. Judging by the sound, each subsequent shot was fired from a shorter distance, which could indicate that the attackers were closing the distance between them by approaching their car. Jinsu wasn't sure where the attackers were now and how many there actually were, so he was forced to keep cowering in the front seat to avoid getting shot. He felt shards of glass tearing the skin of his hands, and a searing pain rippled through his left shoulder. He heard the terrified scream of his wife, who also tried to hide behind the car seats, cringing at the sound of more shots. The petite woman leaned heavily forward, thus protecting not only herself but at the same time also their son, covering him with her own body.

Jinsu knew that if they wanted to get out of this alive, he had to act fast. He looked furtively around, trying to think of an escape plan, but he saw only one way out: they had to split up.

So he turned cautiously towards his beloved and looked her straight in the eye. The woman looked terrified, hugging her son tightly to her chest, trying to cover his ears with her hand, as if thanks to this the boy could not hear the gunshots that echoed dully from the walls of the surrounding buildings. He could easily see that her small body was trembling. It was quite chilly today, but he knew it wasn't the freezing air that was causing her shivers.

"Yoonju," he said tenderly, trying with all his strength for his voice not to break, not to betray his helplessness.

He knew they didn't have much time, but still his voice caressed every vowel in his beloved's name, as if subconsciously he knew that he might be saying her name for the last time. He moistened his stress-chapped lips with his tongue and grabbed her hand, his fingers clasping it tightly.

"Listen to me," he commanded. "You must take Gguk and run away from here..."

"I'm not leaving you here, Jinsu," the woman protested. Her voice visibly trembled, her eyes glistened with the excess of tears gathering in them, and her slender fingers closed tighter on her husband's strong hand. "They will kill you..."

"Yoonju, you have to do this," the man cut her off, forcing her to look him straight in the eye.

But his gaze flickered briefly to the six-year-old boy who was clinging to her chest. He saw the fear in his eyes and it almost broke his heart. He wanted the best for them, and all he had brought was this... Feeling a lump rise in his throat, he returned his gaze to his wife's dark eyes, the same shade of black as his son's.

"If we stay here, they'll kill us all," he said shortly. "There's no other way. I'll try to distract them, and you have to get Jeongguk out of here, understand?" He asked, though he didn't sound like a question at all.

She didn't want to leave her love, but she knew it was the only way out. They were not alone here. They had to think about their child first. Not being able to utter a word, she only reflexively pressed her son tighter to her chest and nodded as a sign that she understood his request. Jinsu also nodded and reached out to open the back door of the car, located next to his still hunched wife. He opened it carefully, slowly enough that none of the attackers would realize that someone was trying to escape that way, then he hastily took his wife's face in his trembling hands and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, kissing her one last time.

"I love you," he confessed, feeling that this might be his last chance to tell her, then ran his hand over his son's head, ruffling his near-black hair with his fingers, and looked straight into his lover's eyes again. "Whatever happens... don't turn around," he begged. "Run as fast as you can," he continued, then paused for a few seconds. "You can't stop running," he added, then opened the door wider.

The woman tightened her hands on her son's body, pressing his silhouette to her chest, and carefully moved towards the ajar door. She was about to get out when someone fired another shot at their car. The bullet whizzed over her head, shattering the glass in the half-open door.

"I'll distract them," Jinsu whispered.

Without waiting any longer, he reached for the dashboard and opened the glove box. As he did so, the brown butt of a .38 Colt revolver came into view. He tightened his fingers around the weapon and, carefully removing it, looked at the contents of the cylinder. The gun didn't belong to him. It lay strangely unnatural in his hand, perhaps because he had only held it twice before. The first time when he was being shown how to use it, and the second time when he left the house in a hurry and threw it in the glove compartment of the car. It was an unmarked copy from a friend's private collection. He got the gun a few days ago in case he had to defend himself or his family. But he never thought it would be necessary. He wasn't even sure he knew how to use it properly, but there was no time to think about it now. He heard the footsteps of people approaching and knew that if he didn't do something, they would kill him and his family.

He was sure of one thing. If he is to die, he will die fighting...

He cursed softly, realizing he had made the biggest rookie mistake. There were only two bullets in the cylinder, and he didn't even think to take another. But having no choice, he cocked the revolver and closed his hand around it. He knew it wasn't enough to defend himself, considering he'd seen at least three assailants. They certainly knew how to change the clip in their pistols, and he barely knew how to hold a gun properly. But he had no choice. He had to take a chance. He took a deep breath of air and opened the driver's side door.

"Run away!" He ordered his beloved, sending her one last quick glance, and got out of the car.

Yoonju didn't want to leave him, but knowing that she had no other choice, she pressed her son's body tighter to hers and carefully got out of the car, being careful not to draw attention to herself. As soon as she set her feet on the sidewalk, still wet from the evening downpour, she began to run as fast as she could, regretting with each step that her feet were shod in low heels. She heard shouts and some scuffling behind her, but she kept running anyway. She couldn't bear the pain and fear that gripped her throat like a vise, almost taking her breath away. She felt the cool air brush against her tear-stained cheeks, and her calf muscles burned with exertion. She heard the sound of her own blood in her ears and her ragged breathing, punctuated by her own sobs, mingled with the sound of the child crying in her arms.

She was almost at the end of the alley when suddenly she heard a few shots and a moan of pain, reminiscent of the wonderful, very familiar voice of Jinsu. In her head, she heard her husband's plea to keep going, no matter what, but something prevented her from just ignoring what she had just heard. So she stopped and looked back, knowing she was probably making the same mistake as the mythical Orpheus.

However, the desire to make sure that her beloved was still alive was stronger than her...

As she looked back, she saw Jinsu, whose body slumped to the ground, and before she knew it, a loud sob escaped her lips, as if the bullet had hit her, not him. This, however, caught the attention of one of the attackers, who shifted his gaze to her, locking his gaze with her.

"Run, Yoonju!" Jinsu called to her with the last of his strength, pressing his hands to the bleeding wound on his chest.

The woman turned quickly and ran towards the street exit, running as fast as her legs could carry her. She heard her son crying and his childish voice shouting "Daddy" over and over as the little boy stretched out his arms towards his father, who had been left behind, but there was no time to stop now. She didn't look back, but she knew someone was following her. She clenched her fingers tightly around her son's thin jacket and ran as fast as possible.

Jeongguk cried in her arms, all the while calling out for his father. He saw over his mother's shoulder as one of the hooded assailants aimed a gun at his head for the final shot, and then a shrill moan escaped his lips, filled with such pain that Yoonju knew what it meant. This time, however, she did not stop, even though her body involuntarily shuddered at the sound of the gunshot, which after a while echoed dully from the surrounding buildings. She didn't need to turn around to know what had just happened. She parted her lips, letting a loud sob escape her mouth as well, and, gripping her son's body tighter, sped up, running as fast as she could.

She was almost at the end of the road when suddenly she tripped over something and nearly lost her balance, losing one of her low heels in the process. She looked down at the ground, but the shoe was far enough away that she knew she didn't have time to go back for it. Pulling off the second one, she tossed it aside and continued on, running barefoot along the rain-soaked pavement. Just when she thought she could escape, something jolted her body, shooting through her with radiant pain.

Then Jeongguk didn't know if the woman tripped again, but suddenly Yoonju slowed down, almost standing still. However, when he realized that behind his mother's back there was a tall man, whose face was hidden by a hood pulled over his face, and his hands held a gun, from the barrel of which a small amount of smoke escaped. Before the woman could turn around, another shot was fired at her, and the fired bullet entered her back, bending her body with the impact of the hit. When the bullet pierced through the tissues, at the same moment, unimaginable pain shot through his body as well, and the woman fell to the ground, still holding him in her arms.

He remembered little of what happened next. He felt the weight of his mother's body pinning him to the wet pavement and watched the rain pool he lay in slowly turning into a river of blood. His mouth was filled with metallic goo, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. He heard one or two more shots, then a loud squeal of tires and the sound of gravel kicking up into the air, and then there was dead silence around him for a long time. He didn't know how long he lay there, unable to move. When he was on the brink of consciousness, he thought he saw red and blue lights flit across his mother's pale face, and voices crept into his ears. Distant at first, then a little closer, but he could barely register them. He couldn't understand the meaning of their words, struggling with the remnants of consciousness. But then he felt someone pick up his mother's body, turning her around to see if she was still alive.

"Oh, Jesus...there's a child here," a man's voice called, and then the same strong hand touched his neck, checking for a pulse. When his fingers felt his still faintly beating heart, a loud cry escaped from his throat: "Call the rescuers! This boy is still alive!"

Jeongguk jumped up from his sleep, sitting up on the bed. He was breathing heavily. He parted his trembling lips, gasping for air. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his pitch-dark hair was sticking to his forehead. It was a nightmare that came back to him almost every night.

"It's only a dream, Gguk. Just a dream..." he whispered to himself, trying to catch his breath, even though he knew it was a lie.

There was nothing made up about this nightmare.

It all really happened...

He raised his hands to brush away the hair that was sticking to his face and saw that his hands were covered in blood. Terrified, he jumped out of bed abruptly. His heart was pounding like crazy. He looked around as if to make sure no one had sneaked into his apartment, but quickly realized he was completely alone. He approached the bed carefully and examined the sheets, but they were completely clean. So he looked down at his outstretched hands, checking them for any wounds.

It was morning outside the window, but he was still clothed. It looked like he must have fallen asleep without even taking off his heavy black ankle-high boots. He wore black, tight leather pants and a slightly worn leather jacket, but his chest was bare. He examined his body carefully, looking for a source of blood on his body. But he found nothing. He quickly realized that the blood on his hands was definitely not his. He looked up at his reflection, expecting to see a chalk-white face with black makeup, but instead of his own reflection, he saw something completely different. He spun around and saw that a black bird was perched on the frame of the bed he had been sleeping on a moment ago. When he met the gaze of its dark eyes, the memory of the night before crept into his mind, and before he knew it, one name was on his tongue.

"Lin..."

***

Taehyung made his way down the narrow corridor with long, springy strides, then without the slightest hesitation, he pushed open the door to the room where Ryuwon's kingdom was located. As he guessed, he only had to cross the threshold to see a petite Korean woman with long fiery mahogany hair and a white coat. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the girl looked up from the microscope, and when her gaze met Kim's dark eyes, a loud sigh escaped her lips. She knew why the brunet was here.

She pushed away from the desk and, still sitting in the swivel chair, rode it to the other desk to reach the previously prepared manila folder from the top. As her slender fingers tightened on the papers, she rose from her seat and approached the young detective, carefully measuring him with her eyes. Kim looked great as always, although he certainly hadn't slept much since they found Lin's body. The man was wearing black cargo pants and heavy ankle boots that showed off his long legs. His chest was covered by a plain white short-sleeved T-shirt, the cuffs of which were slightly rolled up, exposing muscular forearms and sculpted biceps. Dark hair was concealed by a black baseball cap, the visor of which was turned back so that she could easily see the handsome face of the young agent.

However, she did not approach him. Stopping a few paces from him, she leaned her hip against the desk and held out her hand to him. Seeing the documents in her hand, Taehyung entered the lab and quickly closed the distance between them. A gentle smile graced his lips.

"These are the results of the dagger analysis?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, he reached out to grab the manila folder to find out what had been discovered as soon as possible.

Wanting to tease him, though, Ryuwon took the papers before his fingers touched the paper surface and curved her covered with a cherry lipstick lips into a mischievous smile.

"Please," she said, looking him straight in the eye. She liked flirting with him.

"Please," Kim repeated after her, reaching out for the file again. This time, the girl handed him the file, smiling softly. "You're lucky I have a soft spot for you, Kim," she chided him.

Taehyung immediately opened the folder and quickly leafed through its contents. However, when he realized that surely these weren't all the results he was hoping for, he looked up at her.

"It's not everything?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question.

He knew such tests took a long time, but ever since they found Lin, he couldn't stay calm. He had never been so interested in an investigation before. He wanted to determine the identity of the man who attacked the millionaire as soon as possible. This stranger intrigued him.

"I'm a technician, not a magician, Kim. These are the results of the murder weapon and voice recorder. I'm still checking out the other daggers," she explained.

"Did you find anything? Any prints?"

"No success so far. This guy made sure he didn't leave any fingerprints anywhere. He was probably wearing gloves, or he made sure to cover all traces. He is intelligent."

"Eh, I expected that," Taehyung admitted, sighing heavily. "That would be too easy."

"But I did find something rather unusual..." she confessed, though, showing him one of the pages of the report.

Kim moved his gaze to the papers he was holding and followed the girl's finger with his eyes. As they stood there, Ryu was close enough to smell his perfume. Masculine and sensual at the same time.

"You found something?" he asked, trying to understand from the analysis what it was. There was some fiber in the attached picture. It was black and had a slightly odd shape. He looked up at her, waiting for the expert's explanation.

"I found this on the dagger that was stuck in the victim's throat. At first, I thought it might be some fiber from the attacker's glove or clothing. It often happens that when striking, the attacker also applies some particles or fibers from his clothing. After analysis, however, it turned out that it is not any fabric."

"Don't torment me," Kim moaned, feeling his excitement grow. "What is this?"

"Feather," Ryu finally replied, looking him straight in the eye, and Taehyung pulled his eyebrows together.

"A feather?" He repeated. "You mean... a bird's feather?"

"Exactly," she nodded. "I'm not an ornithologist, so I can't say exactly what kind of bird it is. Based on the texture and color, I'd bet it's a common blackbird's feather or..."

"A crow," he finished for her, feeling something odd at the memory of the huge raven that seemed to haunt him. He swallowed hard and found Ryu's gaze, and the girl nodded.

"I don't know how it got there. Maybe when the attacker was throwing the dagger... Maybe he was wearing some kind of feather garment... It's hard to say," she explained. Taehyung nodded and closed the file folder.

"Are you checking the other daggers now?" he asked, shifting his gaze to the desk that held the daggers they had found at the crime scene.

"Yes," Ryuwon replied, and moved towards the swivel chair she had been sitting on a while ago, finally sitting on it again.

Sitting down, she rode over to the microscope and put her eye to it, returning to what she had been interrupted. She stared through it for a moment, and when she realized that the young detective was still watching her, standing exactly where he had been a moment ago, she looked up at him.

"It's going to take a while," she said. "You can go, handsome."

"Don't worry. I can wait," the young detective answered quickly, not moving an inch.

"I have six more daggers to check," Ryu snorted, amused by his determination to stay. "Besides, I don't like people looking at my hands while I'm working, and you're just going to be a distraction for me."

"You can work, I won't watch. It will be as if I'm not here." The brunet gestured for her to continue her work, and Ryuwon only snorted again, shaking her head surrounded by a storm of fiery mahogany hair.

"No wonder you and Jung get along so well," she said after a moment, rising from her seat. "I had to throw him out of here about twenty minutes ago, too," she added as she approached the door. She opened it and looked at Taehyung, who was still standing in the same place where he was a moment ago, holding the file she had prepared for him in his hands. "Get out of here," she said, gesticulating towards the exit, making it clear to him to get out of here.

"But..." he began, but the words stuck in his throat as he met the girl's reproving gaze.

Ryuwon placed her hands on her hips and stared at him expectantly. Finally giving up, Taehyung headed for the door. But before crossing the threshold, he looked at her again.

"But when..."

"I'll let you know as soon as I find anything," she said, guessing what he was going to ask her. "I promise you'll be the first to know about this."

Taehyung watched her for a moment, but seeing that the girl was not going to give up, he finally reluctantly moved towards the corridor. After he crossed the threshold of the lab, he turned to her again, wanting to ask something else, but Ryuwon blew him a kiss and quickly shut the door in his face. Kim instinctively took a step back lest the slamming door hit him in the nose, and a familiar laugh echoed behind him, bouncing off the walls of the narrow corridor.

"I feel much better seeing she kicked you out, too," Jung called, clearly amused by the sight.

Taehyung spun around and saw Hoseok standing a few steps away from him. His partner wore black pants that showed off his slim legs and a navy blue jacket with a blue T-shirt underneath. He was clutching a rather large paper bucket to his chest with his left hand and a chicken wing in his right hand. Biting into the meat sprinkled with red sauce, he moved towards him, while closing the distance between them in several long strides.

"You have no idea how glad I am that I'm not the only one," he continued. "She kicked me out about twenty minutes ago, too," he explained, pointing with a chicken wing to the laboratory door that had slammed shut a moment ago. "I just came to see if she found anything, and she kicked me out in cold blood. A ruthless woman."

Taehyung laughed out loud, throwing his head back. They had known Ryuwon almost from the beginning. She was amazing at what she did, but she had her principles.

"That's why she said we're the same," he said, genuinely amused, then he lifted the manila folder in his hand and added, "At least I got the results of the murder weapon analysis."

"I always knew he liked you better," Jung snorted, pretending to be offended, and he bit into the wing he was still holding in his hand.

"She didn't find any prints," Kim explained quickly, though neither of them really expected to hear any other news.

"This boy is too accurate to leave fingerprints," Hoseok concluded, moving forward.

The younger joined him, and for a brief moment they walked almost arm in arm, in complete silence, down the narrow corridor that led to their office. Finally, Jung pulled the bucket towards his partner, while biting into the meat and shaking it slightly, filling the brunet's nostrils with the smell of chicken.

"Hmm?" He only muttered, trying to ask if the dark-haired man wanted to take a bite.

At first, Kim wanted to deny it, but when he looked towards the bucket and saw the juicy wings in sweet and spicy sauce, his stomach clenched painfully. While investigating, he tended to forget that he should eat something nutritious. He hadn't eaten much today either, and it was already late afternoon. So he reached out and took one of the pieces of chicken from the box. He quickly grabbed the meat with his teeth and bit off a large piece. Taking his first bite, he lifted his fingers to his lips and licked the reddish sauce from them.

Eating chicken from one bucket, they walked the long corridor together, finally going to their office. Taehyung opened the door and, having crossed the threshold, almost immediately approached the desk, which was located at the back of the room. He placed his manila folder on it and turned on his computer. Hoseok closed the door behind him and took several long strides across the office to finally perch on the edge of his partner's desk, while setting the bucket with the rest of the food next to him. He wiped his hands on a napkin and, making sure his hands were clean enough, picked up the folder Kim had brought. He scanned the documents for a moment, scanning the text for the most important information. Inside was an analysis of the murder weapon, and when he read it, he snorted involuntarily, then looked up at his partner.

"So we were right after all. It's a ninja," he said, laughing to himself.

"Analysis showed it was a kunai. Basically, it's an agricultural tool. Only later was it adapted as a weapon."

"Our Batman is probably closer to a ninja than a farmer," Hoseok concluded, then thought for a moment, as if trying to remember something. But then he spoke again. "Remember, Eunhee heard Lin tell that boy that today isn't Halloween... Maybe he's really a secret agent or some mercenary who wears all black and climbs walls and throws knives, killing villains for fun."

Taehyung snorted and shook his head. So far their theories had been ridiculous, but they had no foothold, and the ninja theory was beginning to sound remarkably real.

"Looks like it," he said, laughing softly. "Maybe he's on vacation, and he got bored," he joked, then turned serious. "The manufacturer of this weapon could not be traced," he said finally. "It's definitely not some rookie. I think it's a custom-made kunai. I watched the making of these daggers. It's perfect. The blade is incredibly sharp and has a perfect leaf shape. Even the rope used to wrap the handle is perfectly wound. Whoever made that daggers definitely knew what he was doing."

"Since it's no known manufacturer, let's see if there are any private individuals who do something like this," Jung suggested. "I don't think it's a very popular thing."

"That's what I'm going to do," Taehyung replied, looking at the computer monitor. "I'll try to search around a bit. See if anyone has placed an order for such a weapon. Maybe I can figure something out."

"Good idea," Jung agreed. "But we have a recorder brand. I'll check where such equipment was recently purchased. I doubt he's paying by card, but maybe I'll stumble upon something." So saying, he put down the documents and walked towards his desk, scooping up a bucket of food scraps as he did so. Almost immediately he grabbed one of the wings and, biting into it, sat down in the swivel chair. "I was wondering..." he began after a moment. He was still chewing his food as he spoke, so he waited a while. He swallowed and started talking again. "The boy was asking about our victim... He knew her name... Maybe someone from her entourage?"

"The problem is we don't have a suspect. Her father is too old. He wouldn't have had the agility or strength to do something like that. Did you see how deep those daggers were driven? The striker was incredibly strong. The victim's fiancé might fit. He's young and quite imposing in stature, but he's in the military. There's no way he's getting out of the unit. The victim had no siblings, the oldest of her cousins is fourteen, and her friends were almost all women. There is no man around her who might want to do justice on his own..."

"You're right, actually, but it's strange... He wanted Lin to confess to these crimes. He wanted the police to know that he was behind it. It wasn't just about punishing him for his crimes. He wanted Yihyun's family to know who hurt their daughter. He must be connected to this somehow..." Jung thought further. "Unless it's not about Yihyun at all... Maybe it's someone related to Hyesun, and he found out about Yihyun by accident."

"Lin raped her over two years ago, why wait so long to get him?" Kim answered the question with a question.

"Eh, fuck," Jung cursed, knowing his partner was right. "Then I guess we're left with nothing but old police work. We need to go through all the evidence, maybe we'll come up with something, and eventually we'll get from thread to ball." With that, he fired up the browser window, sighing heavily.

He knew they had another long night ahead of them.

***

Taehyung blinked a few times quickly, feeling his eyes sting with tiredness. He raised his right hand and stroked the bridge of his nose with his fingers, closing his eyes for a moment. Before he lifted them, he knew exactly what he would see. He opened his eyes and, as he guessed, met his partner's gaze.

"You have something?" The elder asked quickly, though his voice lacked the usual liveliness and enthusiasm, as if he knew exactly what answer he would hear before he even opened his mouth.

"Nothing," Kim admitted reluctantly. "I have no idea where he could have gotten those daggers. I found nothing."

"The voice recorder is also a waste of time," Jung added, sighing heavily. "It's probably going to be harder than I thought."

"He's too good," Taehyung commented.

"There's no point in dwelling on it today," Hoseok said after a long moment. "Get out of here."

"Do I have anything better to do?" the younger asked, snorting softly.

They often sat with Jung after hours. They were both lonely and deeply involved in their work. Hoseok, however, certainly led a much more varied social life than he did. Since breaking up with his ex, Taehyung's social life has been limited to occasional outings with Jung and Min. The rest of the time he spent at the shooting range or tiring his body in the pool. He'd rather be in an office working on case files than in an empty apartment, and he certainly didn't want to be alone tonight.

"Go ahead if you want. I think I'll sit on it for a while," he added, returning his gaze to the computer screen again.

Jung was silent, but even though he wasn't looking at him, he could feel the older man's eyes on him and knew what that meant. He knew Hoseok too well not to know something was up. So he shifted his gaze to him, waiting for his partner to finally break through. He remained silent, however, only glaring at him.

"Why are you staring like that?" Kim finally asked, knowing full well that even if he didn't ask, he would soon find out anyway.

"The night we found Lin," Jung began. "You looked very sexy," he finished, and Kim laughed involuntarily at his words.

"Jung, are you trying to hit on me?" he asked, unable to resist teasing him a bit, although he knew full well that his partner was far from such a gamble.

"You were supposed to meet this handsome guy from that... assault, right?"

As soon as the words rolled out of Jung's mouth, Taehyung's lips curved slightly at the word "assault".

Oh yeah, what Jeongguk was doing with him was definitely illegal.

However, he did not answer. He knew very well that Jung was convinced of his point anyway.

"Did you meet him then?" the elder continued, wanting to encourage him to speak.

"I didn't have time," Kim replied.

Even though he hadn't planned on it, there was disappointment in his voice. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to see him. It's been a long time since he felt so good with anyone as with this handsome guitarist. He was attracted to Jeongguk, but he was also damn intriguing, and that turned him on even more than a toned stomach or sculpted thighs.

"He must have been disappointed that you couldn't meet..."

"Actually...I don't know," Taehyung admitted.

He felt the strange bitterness of the spoken words settling on his lips. He instinctively wet his lower lip with his tongue.

"How come you don't know? Haven't you talked to him?" the dark-haired man asked, genuinely surprised by his confession, and the younger one opened his lips to say something, but closed them again. Jung drew his eyebrows together, examining his partner's face intently. "Just don't tell me you didn't even take his number..." he moaned, guessing what could be the reason for his partner's uncertainty.

"Somehow there wasn't a good moment to do that..." Kim replied embarrassed, feeling Jung's reproving gaze on him.

"I guess you're really rusty from not dating. Kim, how much more do I have to teach you..." he moaned again, clutching his head in a theatrical gesture. "What's his name?" he asked, looking at his computer screen. "Come on. We'll run him through the database, get his number, and you can do sexting as much as you want."

"What?" Taehyung replied, shifting a bit nervously in his seat. "I'm not going to check him at the base."

"Oh, well, don't tell me you've never checked any of your partners..."

"Did you check?" The younger answered the question with a question. It would never have occurred to him to check his partner on a police base. Perhaps because he had little dating experience and his ex was a walking perfection. "You'd better not answer," he said quickly.

"Sure, I checked," Jung replied, disregarding his words. There was no hesitation in his voice. Knowing that whatever he said wouldn't convince Kim to check out this stranger at the base, he leaned back in his chair and shifted his gaze to him. "Although I've done it once or twice..." he admitted.

"And did you find anything?"

"The second time it turned out to be some chick who was wanted for several thefts..." he confessed.

"And what did you do?" Kim asked.

Jung shrugged, then turned harder towards him.

"I haven't seen her again," he said. "She was pretty, but not enough to risk everything for her. I decided my career was more important than good sex."

"I've never checked on anyone," the younger admitted, though he knew it was probably more than obvious. "But Soohyun... you know," he added, snorting slightly under his breath at the memory of his former partner.

"You're right. Soohyun probably never even got a parking ticket," Jung agreed.

"Probably not," Kim agreed. "If he hadn't fucked a few of his patients, he'd be perfect," he added, letting a bittersweet laugh escape his lips.

"I never liked him," Jung admitted suddenly, after a moment's silence. "He wasn't good for you."

"Why?" The younger one asked, genuinely interested. "Because he never got a ticket?"

He knew Jung didn't like his former partner, but he'd never asked why. Soohyun was handsome, he came from a good, rich and respected family. From an early age he received the best education, he was smart, well-mannered and hardworking. In the eyes of most, he would be a dream partner for their offspring.

"He was too..." the elder began, but stopped as if searching for the right word. Good enough to convey what he had in mind, but also gentle enough not to offend him too much. "Well-mannered," he finished. "With him by your side at forty, you'd act like an eighty-year-old. You'd burn out. You need someone with passion, someone who will be a challenge for you, a puzzle. You need desire and lust. Fire."

"Fire, you say..." Kim repeated.

He didn't know why, but when Jung mentioned passion and desire, an image of a long-haired musician, smiling mischievously at him, crept into his mind. He didn't say what he was thinking, though, just bit his bottom lip, briefly thinking back to how he felt writhing with the young guitarist in the tattered sheets in the small attic apartment.

"He's like fire, isn't he?" Jung asked suddenly, as if he knew exactly where his thoughts had wandered. Or perhaps he saw a slight blush forming on the younger's cheeks at the memory of his long-haired lover.

"You know that when you play with fire, you get burned easily?" Kim asked in reply.

Oh, yes. Jeongguk was like fire.

Relentless, untamed. He was like an unholly melody. Wild, sensual and damn charming.

"And you're telling me that?" Jung chuckled. "You're the best agent I've ever had the pleasure of working with. You're damn brave, you risk your life every day, so why not take a chance on love? Why choose someone who is organized, safe... Instead of someone who will challenge you, hm?"

"They say it's better to burn out than to fade away..."

"Exactly," Jung agreed, his lips curling into a wide grin. "Especially if you can burn in the arms of some handsome guy," he added, and laughed out loud. "If you don't even have his number, how do you keep in touch?" he asked after a moment.

Taehyung opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should tell anyone exactly how and where he met Jeongguk.

"He..." he began cautiously, summoning up the courage to tell the truth. He felt his friend's watchful eyes on him, waiting for his next move. "He works at Awake," he finally confessed, spitting out the words in one breath to get the confession out before he ran out of courage.

"Awake?" Jung repeated in surprise.

He knew Taehyung met this boy at his friends' bar, but assumed the stranger was there as a customer as well. He certainly didn't think he could be one of the employees. They had been to Awake many times before, but he knew that Kim's friends ran the bar themselves, only recently had new faces appeared there as the clientele grew. He quickly flashed back to that evening, recalling the faces of everyone he met. He saw only one new employee that evening. At that thought, his lips curved into a cocky smile, and his dark irises wandered towards the young policeman.

"Is it that bartender who was devouring you with his eyes?" he asked in a firm voice.

The words came out of his mouth and didn't even sound like a question. He could see the young bartender's eyes following his partner's. He had no doubts that Taehyung caught his eye.

"It's not that bartender," the younger one denied, to his surprise.

Confused, Jung narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to remember if he'd seen any new staff at the bar besides the bartender, but he couldn't remember seeing anyone else.

"But there was no other employee there except the bartender..." he said after a moment, still searching his memory for some new face. "I only saw that sexy guy with dimples at the gate, his husband Seokjin, that new bartender, but you say it's not him... That's it... Unless I missed someone..." he continued. "There were a lot of people because there was this..." he added, but stopped as he realized he had overlooked a certain person.

That long-haired musician.

He looked over at Taehyung. The younger man had had an almost poker face up until now, but when he realized who Jung was thinking, something in his gaze changed.

"Oh, I can't believe it..." Jung said excitedly, straightening up in his seat. "You and that musician? Hell yeah! Now I don't wonder why you overslept to work the next morning," he added, wiggling his eyebrows ambiguously. "I bet that guitar player has amazingly agile hands, huh?"

"Jeongguk is..." Kim began, but fell silent as he searched for the right words to describe the young musician. "You certainly can't get bored with him."

"I have to admit, you're something too, Kim. If you feel like it, you know where to look for him, and this poor boy, what should he do? Watching with longing, will you finally come to the bar?"

"Right," Kim sighed. "Maybe he's not waiting at all? You've seen him and how many people are around him, he's probably already found a replacement."

"The guy took you to his place for the night, let you sleep in his bed, and then gave you a blowjob... I don't know about you, but for me, it means that he probably likes you a bit," Jung joked.

"You think so?"

Jung rolled his eyes before getting up from his seat and closing the distance between them in several long strides. Stopping at the desk, he grabbed Taehyung's hand and pulled it, forcing him to get up from his seat. As they faced each other, Jung had to crane his head a bit to meet his eyes.

"Kim," he said firmly. "You're fucking handsome. I'm sure that long-haired musician can't stop thinking about you, so now... You're going to turn off the computer, go home, do some magic, and go to this bar. You're not going to sit here half the night looking for a dagger some shitty ninja threw around. You have much better things to do tonight..."

"What better things?" Kim asked with a soft laugh. "Chillin' in Itaewon?"

"Sex, Kim," Jung replied, which made Taehyung laugh out loud. "You're supposed to get out of here, take this hottie home and fuck with him until dawn."

"I don't even want to ask why I just heard 'sex' and 'fuck' in the same sentence, and Jung is almost hanging on to you, Kim," a voice suddenly said from behind them, and as they turned around, they saw Yoongi.

Seeing their expressions and how Jung quickly jumped away from his partner, Min laughed under his breath. But without asking any more questions, he entered the office and closed the door behind him.

"If Jung makes you any immoral proposals, I can have him handcuffed to a radiator," he joked, looking from Taehyung to Hoseok.

"Don't worry, if I need to do it someday, I'll handcuff him myself," Taehyung replied, laughing at his superior's words.

"Hey, I'm still here!" Jung protested, pretending to be offended. "I'm just trying to keep our friend's sex life up," he explained with a shrug. "Since he's having trouble with it himself, I wanted to help him a little..."

"I guess I'd rather not even ask what's going on." Min replied before looking at Taehyung.

When their eyes met, both men's faces turned serious. Only now did Taehyung notice that their superior was holding a bundle of documents in his hand.

"I need you," Min said suddenly, breaking the silence.

The young detective moistened his lips with his tongue, feeling his nervousness rise.

"Something happened?" He asked, swallowing hard.

"The analysis results just came back," Min confessed, holding up the papers in his right hand. The corners of his lips turned up in an involuntary smile. "Fiber analyzes from Lin's upholstery are in complete agreement with those found on Yihyun's underwear. We also found her biomarkers and fingerprints in the car, even though he had previously claimed that Yihyun had never been there. Along with the confession from the voice recorder... There's no doubt that Lin raped and killed her..." he explained, then found the young policeman's dark eyes. "You will come with me to inform her parents that the murderer of their child will never hurt anyone again."

***

"Oh, thank you," the woman whimpered, and before the young cop could react, her small body was pressed against his chest, which was still clad in a black jacket.

Feeling a bit awkward and not quite knowing how to behave, Taehyung just stood there, holding his hands a bit clumsily in the air. Finally, however, he lowered them and gently patted the woman's back. The floral scent of her perfume entered his nostrils. It was delicate, quite pleasant, somewhat reminiscent of jasmine.

"There is not much credit to me, really," he said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry it won't bring back your daughter's life..." he added, meeting the woman's gaze as she finally released her grip and carefully pulled away from him.

"You have no idea how much it means to me that we've finally found out who's responsible."

"We're grateful too that it turned out this way and that Lin will never hurt anyone again. Yihyun deserved justice." Min said. "We have to go now," he added, smiling gently at the woman. "We wanted to pass this information on to you personally. Probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, our spokesman will pass the information to the media."

Yihyun's mother turned to him and held out her hand to him. Yoongi took it, while bowing gently in farewell. Taehyung bowed as well, and they walked towards the door together. Without saying anything else, they crossed the threshold and quickly made their way to Min's unmarked car, which the older man had parked on the opposite side of the street. Yoongi slid into the driver's seat and waited for his subordinate to run around the car before finally taking the seat next to him. Even when Taehyung was already sitting in the passenger seat, the older one didn't start the engine. He turned to face him and regarded him silently for a moment.

"How do you feel?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

He knew this case was important to him. For some reason, he took it very personally and was deeply affected by what had happened in the last few weeks. He knew it was probably because this investigation coincided with the anniversary of his parents' deaths, and there wasn't much he could do about it. But he hoped that the fact that they had somehow stopped Lin would make his friend feel a little better.

"Yihyun's relatives deserved to get a closure," the younger one said gently.

"That's true," Min agreed, nodding his head.

"If it wasn't for that boy, we probably never would have gotten to Lin," Taehyung added after a moment of silence. "Do you think we'll ever find him?" he asked, looking up at his friend.

The elder thought for a moment, as if silently analyzing what they already knew about this boy. He worked as a policeman for a long time. He started working in the narcotics division and happened to work as an undercover cop. Over the years, he'd met a lot of different criminals, but he'd never encountered anything quite like it.

"I'm not sure," he admitted honestly. "But... I think we might hear about him again..."

"Do you think it won't end with Lin?"

"Perhaps my intuition is deceiving me, but I feel that this is only the beginning..."

Taehyung exhaled loudly. He felt strange hearing his friend say aloud the words that had been swirling around in his head for a long time.

He didn't know why, but he was convinced that this was only the beginning...

"You know... I always thought it was easy..." Kim began suddenly. "Bad people do bad things, and we're here to stop them. To do justice... But when they called me that night and I saw Lin in that alley..."

"Lin got what he deserved," Min interrupted him. "You don't have to feel guilty for thinking that when you saw him, Tae. We all know very well that if it wasn't for this boy, Lin would have gone free and probably never would have been held accountable for what he did."

Taehyung was silent for a long moment, thinking over his friend's words.

"When you started working at DEA..." he finally said. He had thought about it many times, but until now he had not had the courage to ask. But now he felt it was the right time to finally ask his friend that question. "You went after the one who hurt your sister, didn't you? That night... When you finally found him..."

Taehyung paused for a moment. He knew the story, even though he had never talked to him about it before.

"Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you had caught up with him during that chase?" he finally asked.

He himself thought many times about what he would do if he came face to face with the murderer of his parents. He wanted him to be punished for what he had done to his family. He couldn't accept the fact that most likely the real killer had never been caught.

"Maybe it was a good thing that it wasn't me who got him that night..." Min said after a long moment of silence, finding Taehyung's dark eyes. "If I had found him, I wouldn't be sitting here with you... Because if I had gotten to him first... I would have killed him," he confessed without hesitation, then started the engine of his car and steered the car onto the empty road.

***

Ayashee:

This time a bit more about Jeongguk's story.

Do you think the death of his parents is somehow related to the murder of Taehyung's parents? Or is it just a tragic coincidence and the two things have nothing to do with each other?

Lin has been punished, but is it over? Taehyung feels in his bones that this is just the beginning, what do you think? Will the Crow strike again?

Our young agent is becoming more and more fascinated by Batman, but it looks like he'll have to wait a while before he can unravel this mystery.

xoxo