case 143 | minsung

24

it has already been months since minho has started courting jisung. during the weeks when jisung was confined to his apartment due to injuries, minho stayed by his side.

minho would pay daily visits to jisung, often bringing food or even cooking meals as per jisung's requests. they would also enjoy cuddling on the couch while watching movies together.

currently, jisung has fully recovered and returned to work. reflecting on minho's consistent care and gestures over these recent months, jisung noticed his feelings for minho deepening. he has now reached a decision.

"i'll give him an answer by the end of this day."

a knock echoed through jisung's room, prompting the blonde to swiftly open the door, revealing minho.

"hi," minho greeted, handing jisung a paper bag.

the younger grabbed the paper bag, rummaging through its contents, and asked, "what's this?"

"i thought you hadn't had breakfast again today, so i decided to stop by a drive-thru and get you breakfast on my way here," minho explained, his voice tinged with happiness.

jisung was touched by minho's considerate actions. it was true, though-jisung usually skipped breakfast before heading to work, opting for an iced americano and occasionally a cheesecake in the morning.

jisung placed the paper bag on the kitchen counter, urging minho to come inside his apartment.

it was still early in the morning, and they had a few hours left before they needed to go to work.

jisung got the food out from the bag, took a seat, and motioned for minho to join him.

as minho settled next to him, jisung scooped a portion of his food and brought it closer to the older's mouth.

"say ahh," the younger teased, his voice playful.

minho rolled his eyes at the younger but nevertheless complied.

this gave jisung a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of the early days of their relationship. jisung couldn't believe that many months had passed since minho began courting him, and today, he would finally give minho the answer he deserved.

minho noticed jisung spacing out, so he gently tapped him on the arm.

"are you okay, sung?" the older asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

jisung snapped out of his thoughts, nodding to reassure minho.

"are you free after work, min? no meetings or anything?" he asked.

"i am. i mean, even if i do have meetings, i can ditch them for you," the older replied playfully, giving jisung a wink.

jisung playfully smacked minho's arm before saying, "good, meet me at the parking area after work."

minho felt a bit puzzled as to why jisung wanted to meet him after work when they usually saw each other after, but he nodded nonetheless.

-----

the two went to work together, and as usual, they entered their workplace separately to avoid arousing suspicions.

jisung went in first, making his way to his department office. chan and seungmin greeted him as they always did, and felix came running over to him... just as usual.

on the one day felix acted strangely he didn't come to work after, he was back the following day, cheerful as ever. it was as though nothing had happened.

jisung attempted to asked about what had happened during felix's off day, but felix simply stated he hadn't been feeling well. suspicion lingered in jisung's mind regarding his answer, but he refrained from pushing the topic any further, not wishing to overstep any boundaries.

"why do you always greet me like this, felix?" jisung, who was just a day older, asked.

felix remained in hugging his torso, while jisung tried to push him away. "i've already told you, jiji. i like skinships."

jisung rolled his eyes at felix's explanation and proceeded to his desk.

he scanned the files on his table, all related to the SKZ mafia.

over the past several months, the SKZ mafia had been particularly active in their operations. their leader, lee know, had also been bugging jisung.

the chief would come to their office, assigning him cases committed by lee know and even sending him to various crime scenes.

all of them were the same: people being brutally murdered in the most gruesome ways possible, with flowers and pink envelopes containing riddles and poems found at each crime scene.

every scene he went to carried the same ominous threat: if he wasn't the one investigating, bombs placed inside the corpses would detonate, just like the last time.

other people had begun referring to lee know's crimes as "case 143," speculating that the leader held some kind of feelings for detective han jisung.

it didn't take long for this to reach the office, with some agents teasingly suggesting that a criminal had fallen in love with jisung.

jisung didn't believe that lee know was truly in love with him; instead, he believed that the criminal was fucking with his mind.

-----

as jisung examined some case files, chan approached him, carrying many folders in his hand.

"ji, remember the thing you asked me back then? about investigating all the victims of the SKZ mafia? well, what i found was very shocking," chan said, grabbing a chair and taking a seat next to the younger. he proceeded to show jisung his findings.

jisung read through the numerous papers compiled by chan. "surprise" wasn't even enough to describe the expression he was currently wearing.

"it appears that the victims of the SKZ mafia are individuals who have committed acts against the law but managed to evade capture. some of them have been declared innocent of the crimes they committed, while others are from rival mafia groups," chan explained.

suddenly, everything fell into place for jisung. 'so that's why that old man died...'

"it took me a while to complete this, as i needed to thoroughly investigate the victims' backgrounds, since some of them have concealed their crimes quite effectively," chan added.

seungmin leaned onto chan's shoulder, causing the oldest to startle at his sudden appearance.

"so, they're good guys?" seungmin asked, examining one of the folders chan held.

"they're not good guys, seungmin," jisung began.

"yes, they get rid of criminals that we failed to catch, but that doesn't exactly make them good guys. they eliminate those people in the most brutal ways imaginable, even putting their bodies on display in public for everyone to see," he added, leaning back in his seat and taking a deep breath before continuing.

"it is only right to get rid of criminals, but it's not their job to do, it's ours. if they truly want to assist, they could provide us with information about these criminals. now, it's also our duty to put an end to their operations," he concluded.

chan nodded in agreement with jisung's statement, gathering the folders. "jisung's right. it's not the mafia's role to eliminate criminals, it's ours. i'll send these folders to the higher-ups so they can determine the necessary actions," he said, before leaving the room.

seungmin eventually agree with his friends' statements, then returned to his desk. meanwhile, felix was lost in thought, processing all the new information he had just heard.

jisung noticed this and attempted to grab the younger's attention. "are you alright, lix?" he asked.

felix snapped out of his thoughts and gave jisung a nod. "i'm fine, just struggling to process all this new information."

"me too, lix, me too," jisung replied, patting felix's back.