Mingi nibbled at the end of his pen and stared blankly at his theory book while sitting at the bar of the cafe. The little coffee shop was rather slow this morning and the lanky brunette figured that it would be a good change of pace to study there instead of the library. The only problem is that he found he still couldn't concentrate.

Every so often, out of the corner of his eye, he would glance up at the blonde working. Yunho appeared to be oblivious to the other's gaze as he happily hummed while cleaning some glasses and wiping down various things. It seemed like nothing was out of the ordinary with the other despite what the brunette overheard yesterday.

Finally, Mingi couldn't take it anymore and threw his pen down onto his book. He wasn't getting any work done any way. "When you finish up your shift, do you want to grab lunch?"

"Can't," the other responded back almost immediately. He didn't even look up from his task. "I have dance rehearsal this afternoon and the instructor is really rough. Best not to eat before or risk it getting all over the floor."

The brunette had to resist the urge to gag at the mental image. The two had been working on a slow day in the cafe together when Mingi found out that Yunho, like the brunette, was also a junior in college but attended school a subway stop away. He was majoring in dance performance and had a minor in business with hopes to own his own studio one day. The music student had yet to see his friend dance but knew he was quite dedicated to the work.

Mingi didn't like his answer, however, and pouted at his friend. "Ah, come on! Something small?"

Yunho bit his lip as he made the mistake of looking up into the puppy dog face of his friend. 'Damn, he really thought he had a solid excuse to get out of this one.' He sighed.

"Fine, but something small. I really don't want to risk a shot at the winter showcase because I blew it in rehearsal." The double innuendo wasn't lost on the brunette.

Mingi perked up at the answer and did a small happy dance and wiggle in his chair. The sound of the bell went off, signaling the arrival of a customer but neither of the boys seemed to notice. "Perfect! I've been craving kimbap so we can just grab a roll or two on the way to school."

"Ah, kimbap, that sounds amazing right now." The brunette turned his head at the sound of a voice to spot a man with bright blonde hair leaned up against the counter. He had his elbow on the bar and his chin in his hand with a mischievous expression as he met Mingi's eye.

"Wooyoung," Yunho spoke before anything else could be said. "You're early. My shift doesn't end for another half-hour."

The new blonde, now identified as Wooyoung, shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. "Class ended early and it was a waste to go home so I figured I would just come here. By the sounds of it, you haven't eaten yet. I could take over and you could skive off early."

"Wait, you work here?" Mingi asked cluelessly. "I've never seen you around."

Wooyoung looked back at his counter companion and gave a bright smile full of teeth. "Had to take a break for a few weeks for school but I'm back now. Yunho told me they hired a new guy to help in my place. You must be Mingi." The brunette just nodded before shaking hands with the other.

"You could have gone to San's shop for a bit." Yunho pointed out after the two had dropped hands.

"Ah, but San gets so many weirdos that come in. There is only so much I can take before I start to question humanity."

"So you're letting me go early?" Yunho asked with a raised eyebrow. Wooyoung nodded. "Fine, you don't have to tell me twice. But don't ask me to return the favor when you work next weekend." He said mischievously.

"Hyung!" The blonde protested a little too loudly, garnering stares from the few patrons that were still in the cafe. His protests landed on deaf ears however as Yunho was already taking off his apron.

"Come on Mingi, let's go grab that kimbap." The brunette just watched incredulously as the blonde beckoned him over while grabbing his jacket and throwing a smirk at the still protesting newcomer. Finally, he gave one last glance to the other before shrugging and stuffing his books and supplies back into his bag and running after the other who was already out of the cafe.

One last cry of "Hyung!" was cut off by the sound of the door closing.

Mingi looked over to the snickering blonde. "Are you sure he is going to be alright?"

Yunho shrugged, "Wooyoungie will be fine. We have been friends forever, he knows I'm only joking."

The brunette stuffs his hands into his pockets as the two started walking. "How long have you two been friends?"

Yunho hums as he looks up to the sky with a tap to his chin. "Maybe about eight years? I was at the cafe when he and his family came in. We have been friends ever since."

"Eight years?" the brunette did some quick math in his head. "You were working at the cafe at thirteen?!"

The blonde threw his head back and laughed at the other's shocked outburst. "No, I wasn't working there yet. I was playing games at the bar counter."

"Oh," at the admission, the other shrunk in on himself, a little embarrassed, but it didn't last long. "So he goes to the same school as you?"

The other nodded. "Yeah, but don't ask me what he's studying. The boy changes majors more often than we change coffee filters. The only thing he has stayed consistent with is a few dance or vocal electives here and there."

Mingi just nodded absently at the others words. He didn't have anything to say after that and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they walked. It was a calm day but the sky was growing dark with the potential for rain. The brunette paused in his admiration of the sky when he heard a soft curse. Turning his head, the other spotted Yunho holding his phone up, presumably looking at a text.

"I was too focused on teasing Woo that I left without my dance things. Looks like I'm going to have to take a rain check on kimbap. By the time I run back and grab it, it will be time to head to class."

Mingi nodded in understanding. While he was a bit disappointed he didn't make sure that the other had eaten, there was nothing he could do about school obligations. "Did you want me to walk you back?"

The blonde shook his head. "Not necessary but thanks for the offer. Why don't you text Hongjoong to grab some food with you? I gotta run."

"But-" Yunho didn't give the other a chance to reply as he turned on his heel to head back in the direction of the cafe, leaving his friend dumbfounded at the speedy turn of events. The blonde shoved his phone quickly back into his pocket, not a single new notification in sight.

XXXXXX

Yeosang swiveled lazily in his chair as he played catch with a paper ball he had made from a scrap sheet. The office was mostly silent as Ravn and his team were out collecting some last minute supplies from their home office across Seoul. The only sound seemed to be the slight clacking of Jongho typing on his computer keyboard and the rustling of paper.

Seonghwa stood at the head of the office staring at the map littered with pins that they had up and had been doing so for the past thirty minutes. Taking pity on their suffering leader, Yeosang sighed and put down his makeshift toy before joining the other.

"If you are trying to light it on fire, I don't think staring at it will do anything, Hyung." Seonghwa shifted his eyes to the younger at the honorific but quickly moved them back to their original position.

"Look at this," the leader gestured to the map of Seoul full of pins. Each one was a location of a previous crime scene. "These are the sites where the Butcher has struck." He pointed to the blue pins on the board.

"These are the sites where Lady Red has been spotted." Seonghwa then moved his hand over to gesture to the red pins on the board. "Do you see it?"

"Didn't the director tell us not to concern ourselves with Lady Red?" Yeosang questioned with a shrug. He didn't know what his leader was trying to say. "Why would you bother marking her sightings if it has nothing to do with our assignment?"

"But it does!" Seonghwa said suddenly and a bit loudly. The outburst caught Jongho's attention who took a brief pause in his work to look over at his teammates. "Since we couldn't find any indicators of where the Butcher would strike next, I decided to put up other Ghoul attacks to see if I could get some kind of pattern and I think I finally found it."

Yeosang didn't seem convinced and quirked an eyebrow. The whole room had been staring at that board for a few days now with no ideas. Maybe his leader had finally cracked. "So? What did you supposedly find?"

Seonghwa ignored the sarcastic tone of his subordinate. "The Butcher hasn't struck in an area twice and recently his activity has gone up from once every two or three weeks to nearly every week."

Jongho, now intrigued by his leaders words, stood from his desk and joined the others. He took a quick glance at the board. There were about eight pins spread out in different areas. They were almost equidistant to each other with how many there were. However, the pins were all placed at varying times and dates making it hard to predict what district would be hit next.

"So far, the Butcher has struck eight of the twenty-five districts. That is assuming he is going by district and not neighborhood. If that is the case, then we are in trouble. However," Seonghwa paused and poked at a red pin. There were currently seven of them on the board. "Lady Red has been striking in the same area about two weeks after the Butcher attacks in that same area."

"Isn't that risky?" The youngest chimes in. "The area would be crawling with agents investigating, wouldn't it?"

Seonghwa shakes his head. "Not necessarily. The first week after an attack, there is usually an increased patrol around the area while the techs search for evidence. Afterwards, the area is pretty cleared out besides one or two patrol men to canvas the area."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because after an investigation, Ghoul activity significantly lowers for a period of about a month." Yeosang was the one to reply this time. "They want to keep a low profile to reduce the risk of being discovered. Having another attack so close together becomes suspicious and gives us more reason to have more field agents in the area."

"Precisely." Seonghwa nodded.

"But why attack the same area so close to the last attack?" Jongho asked.

"Either she is trying to taunt us or communicate something." The eldest replied. "We can't say for sure but now we at least have some sort of established pattern."

"How does this help us exactly?" Yeosang raised a brow. "We still don't know when the Butcher is going to strike, we can only sort of predict a time frame to catch Lady Red."

"What if they are communicating?" Jongho theorized. "It's kind of a stretch but maybe each time she strikes, she picks up a message?"

Seonghwa bit his lip in thought. "It would make sense why she is striking so close to the area a known Ghoul was last seen."

"We catch her, we get a lead on the Butcher." Yeosang concluded. "But her attacks could also just be a taunt and has nothing to do with the Butcher himself."

"We should go talk to the director," the youngest proposed. "We should get his input in the matter."

"He should be in his office now," Seonghwa had already turned on his heel to make his way towards the door. "I'll go talk to him."

"Wait!" Jogho called out before the other could leave the room. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too," Yeosang chimed in. "Might as well talk to him all together."

"Fine," the eldest confirmed without slowing his pace. Together the group made their way down the hall towards their superior's office. They only made it about halfway there when a voice stopped them.

"Well, look who it is, Seonghwa and his academy brats." the leader paused with a sigh and tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Eden," the eldest said with a forced smile on his face as he turned around to face the man who addressed him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

In front of the group stood a man roughly the same height as Seonghwa. He was older, probably in his very early thirties, with dark hair and a cocky smirk on his face as he tapped a binder on his shoulder absently. He radiated an aura of confidence and superiority. "Ah, don't be like that. I was just checking how my little underling was doing."

"I'm not your underling anymore," Seonghwa grumbled. Neither Yeosang nor Jongho knew who this Eden guy was but it was odd to see their charismatic leader that always carried himself in high regard suddenly look so....small?

"You'll always be my subordinate to me," the other man replied. "If I had a say in it, you would still be pushing papers on my team."

"But you didn't," Seonghwa cut in. "The director pulled me because he saw leadership potential, unlike you."

Eden scoffed as if he had heard something ridiculous. "You and your little academy team don't stand a chance out in the real world. First mission I guarantee one of you will get themselves killed."

"Like how you let Maddox die?"

There was an audible click of Eden's jaw and the sudden inhale of air from Jongho. Yeosang had to fight to keep in a startled cough. Everyone, including academy recruits, were taught about the tragedy of last year.

It was a raid. The CCG was hunting down an infamous Ghoul when things had gone wrong. Many agents had lost their lives that day but Maddox's hit the hardest. Everyone knew his name. He was a new graduate and fresh to the field, like Yeosang and Jongho. His passing was used as a warning to all and was still a bit fresh in the CCG's minds. It was a rather low blow from Seonghwa to bring something like that up.

Eden's brows dropped as low as they could go and the others could almost see the hell fire sparking in his eyes. "How dare you place the blame on me. You were there, you know what happened."

Seonghwa just shrugged one shoulder casually. "You were the leader on that mission. Isn't it the leader's job to accept responsibility for the success or failure of an operation?"

The fire suddenly left the eyes of the older man. Defeat seemed to take its place and his shoulder's dropped. "I'm disappointed in you Seonghwa. I expected better from you."

The young agent mirrored the look. "And I expected my squad leader to keep my brother safe. I guess we are both disappointed."

The hallway was silent as the two eldest agents stared each other down. No one dared to make a move or breath. Finally, Eden just shook his head and turned around to head back in the direction he had come from but not without calling a final message over his shoulder.

"When you are ready to acknowledge what really happened, I'll be here to talk." The quiet of the hallway made the whispered confession especially poignant. Not a sound was made as the trio watched Eden walk away. The only sound was the light tap, tapping of his shoes on the linoleum floor.

"Hyung," Jongho was the first one to pipe up. His throat was dry and his voice cracked lightly as he tried to overcome his shock at the situation. "That was Eden right? He is one of the tops in the agency."

Seonghwa didn't answer and instead nodded while pressing his lips together. Everyone in the whole CCG knew who Eden was. It was the closest they had to their own celebrity. He was one of the most established and respected agents in the whole company. He hasn't always been well known though. His notoriety didn't solidify until the mission one year ago.

The mission where Maddox had died.

"What exactly happened between you two?" Yeosang asked. He tilted his head slightly and had his hands shoved in the pockets of his trousers to keep them occupied.

"Doesn't matter," the leader's dismissive tone made no room for arguments. Instead, he turned and continued his trek to the Director's office. The two younger agents shared a look before running to follow their superior.

XXXXX

Hongjoong looked up from his book as another body collapsed into the chair in front of him. Glancing up, he spotted Mingi sprawled out in the chair as if he were exhausted. His bag crashed to the floor with a thud and the red-head had to suppress a wince, knowing his laptop was probably in there.

"Rough day?" Hongjoong questioned his friend with a raised eyebrow.

The brunette ignored the question. "Have you ever seen Yunho eat?"

The other student was a little surprised by the sudden question. "W-what? Of course he eats. Is this one of your conspiracy theories that cyborgs live among us?"

Mingi leaned up in his chair and placed his crossed arms on the table. "Hyung, I'm serious. I've hardly ever seen the guy eat and when I asked him out to lunch earlier, he totally ditched."

"Are you sure he wasn't busy or just wasn't hungry?" In the past, Hongjoong would have thought nothing about Mingi's overt concern but since his "accident", Mingi's prying could result in a disaster. He could feel sweat start to bead on the back of his neck from nerves.

The other shook his head. "No, he agreed at first to get out of the cafe but as soon as we started to walk to the kimbap place, he bailed."

"So you're mad he used you as an excuse to escape?" the elder theorized.

"No, I'm worried!" The other exclaimed a little louder than necessary. He received a few scathing looks from other patrons in the library. "I hardly see the guy eat. He isn't a small guy and you see how much I eat."

"That's because you have a hollow leg." Hongjoong rolled his eyes. "Not everyone shovels food down like it's their last meal."

"I just want to make sure he is eating enough. I know he works a lot and I know that when you get caught up in everything, you forget to eat." The red-head's eyes softened at the taller's small pout. It was sweet he was so concerned. Mingi's height and energetic demenor can be an offset sometimes but he really was just a big softy.

"I'm sure he is fine, but he probably appreciates the concern." Hongjoong said while reaching out and rubbing the other's arm in reassurance.

"I guess." Mingi didn't seem fully convince and still had a small frown on his face but he quickly shrugged it off. "Come on, since Yunho ditched, I haven't eaten yet and I'm starving."

Hongjoong froze. Oh. He hadn't thought about this. "Uh, I actually ate not that long ago so I'm not really that hungry."

"Awh, come on!" Mingi whined. "Everyone has room for kimbap and I don't want to eat alone right now."

The red head didn't know how to get out of this. How did Ghouls normally do this? Could he bring himself to force down something that he used to love but now tastes so vile that it makes him physically sick?

"I-" If Hongjoong was skeptical about higher powers before, he might have to reconsider as his phone started to buzz loudly on the table. A few of the people looked up and scowled and he offered them a sheepish grin as he glanced down at who was calling. It was Wooyoung, thank god.

"Hang on, it's Wooyoung." the student held up a finger to excuse himself.

"Wooyoung? You've met him?"

"So you met him too, huh?" Hongjoong was mildly surprised that he knew the other's name. He wasn't aware they had met.

"Yeah, he was the one who took over for Yunho so he could go to class."

"Then I really better take this," the red-head sighed. "He might need some help."

Mingi rolled his eyes, "As if you're any help. I've had your coffee when Yunho isn't around to help you."

"Yah!" the other chastised quietly with a light smack to the other's arm. He ignored the giant's snickering as he pressed the answer button on his phone. "Hello?"

Hongjoong waited for a moment but there wasn't any answering response. The only thing he could hear on the other end of the phone was a bunch of screaming and some clattering glasses. The student didn't know if this was a genuine call or a butt dial, but either way he was grateful for the excuse to escape.

He didn't bother listening to anymore and hung up. "I think I'm needed at the cafe."

"But hyuuunggg," Mingi whined while laying on the table. Hongjoong rolled his eyes while packing his things up.

"Guess you are just going to have to suck it up and eat by yourself."

The taller of the duo huffed at being denied what he wanted but didn't protest any farther. "Fine, but you owe me."

"Yeah, yeah," Hongjoong waved his hand dismissively as he finally zipped up all of his belongings into his bag. He slipped his backpack over his shoulders and bid a final wave to his friend who decided to bring out his study materials for once.

Once outside the library, the red-head breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one. He wasn't sure how he could have gotten out of that without that phone call. He knew he couldn't avoid this forever though. He and Mingi used to eat lunch together all the time. He would have to ask Yunho what Ghouls usually did to fake eating.

XXXXXX

"And you're certain this plan of yours will grant results?" The director questioned the three standing before his desk.

"Well," Seonghwa started. "No mission is without the possibility of failure, but it is the only solution we have found thus far to try and discover the Butcher's patterns."

"And how long would you need to prepare for this?"

"Lady Red strikes about a week or two after the Butcher does. Hopefully, we can get everything ready before the next time the Butcher strikes. If we do that, we won't have to scramble during that window of time."

Director Kim stared silently at the others in front of him with crossed hands. The three didn't buckle under the intense star. Finally, the director sighed and placed his hands on the table while leaning back in his chair. "If you think this is the only way you feel you can get a lead, then I will approve your proposal."

Seonghwa felt the tension release from his shoulders and tried to suppress a smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Yes, well, don't make me regret my decision." The elder man picked up a pen and reached into his desk for a form. "I also expect you to discuss this plan with the other half of your team. If any of them object to the plan, I'm pulling the plug on the whole operation."

"Of course, sir." The director wrote a few things here and there on the slip before signing his name with a flourish at the bottom of the paper. Once finished, he stood from his desk and handed over the signed form.

"Give this to the head of the weapons department. He will start gathering the necessary equipment for you."

Seonghwa took the form with a nod of his head. "Thank you again, sir. We won't let you down."

The director didn't even acknowledge the other's reassuring words and instead sat back down gruffly. "You better not. I don't want to lose any more good agents because of stupid mistakes."

The leader didn't say anything as he gave a final nod and turned on his heel but his subordinates could see how his jaw tightened. They bowed to the head of the CCG who didn't even look up from his paper and turned to follow Seonghwa out of the door.

Once outside, the two had to rush to keep up with the elder's long strides. "Wait up!"

Seonghwa didn't pause in his pace until he was outside the elevator waiting for the doors to open. Once the two were beside him, he held up the paper between his index and middle finger. He didn't even spare a glance to his subordinates beside him. The whole day's interactions seemed to be getting to him.

"Could you take this to the weapons department for me? They should know what to do with it." Yeosang, who was on his right side, took the paper.

"And what are you going to do?" The brunette asked.

"I'm getting a cup of coffee."