It started raining when they were half way up the mountain. Large droplets fell from the sky and splattered against the windscreen one by one until a steady reservoir was cascading down the glass and flying off each wing mirror. It would take much more than this to melt the snow piled up on either side of the road, Jongup knew, but it was enough to melt smaller clumps into dirty mud that stripped the grey city of its winter brightness to lace it instead with brown. Growing up in Seoul Himchan was used to the monotone and instead looked to the bright lights of Neon signs to enrich the winter, but Jongup yearned for green. A plane passed overhead, the lights on its wings glowing between the low hanging clouds as it moved in and out of sight. It was like a giant appearing through mist and roaring all the way, and Jongup couldn't help the way he tipped his head to the side until his crown pressed to the cold window so he could watch it on its slow descent to Gimpo's glowing runways.

When the car rounded a bend, a hind wheel dipped into a snow covered pot hole making it rock like a boat on the waves and sending slush flying behind them. Jongup braced his palm against the door and watched as the row of large apartment blocks came into view up ahead, grey and unassuming but still surrounded by uniformed officers, and decorated in sashes of police tape marking it off for trespassers. A man wearing high-vis green stepped up to the window and Himchan slowed and rolled it down just enough for the man's cold-flushed face to peer in.

“Identification?” He said gruffly with his breath billowing out in a fog.

“Kim Himchan, and this is my colleague, Moon Jongup.” Himchan drew his badge from the inside of his coat and flipped it open, while Jongup leant half across the console to flash his own.

“Go ahead.” The officer said while gesturing with his head towards a few empty spaces lined up in front of the building. Himchan dipped his head and wound the window back up before any more raindrops could spit their way in.

“Lots of uniform.” Jongup noted and tucked his badge away.

“They doubled security after this morning.”

“For show, I'm guessing.”

Himchan pulled the keys from the ignition once the car was stopped and quirked his brows, “Keeps the locals feeling like everything is under control.”

Jongup drew his hood up and over his head while his boots sunk into mud and followed Himchan and one uniform officer towards the building, turning this way and that to take in the sight of the grey buildings lined up beside one another like soldiers at the front. Small cracks were showing between concrete bricks with dead and drying grass hanging limp from where they had miraculously managed to take root and the heavy falling rain was washing the stone with patterns of grey and charcoal between the wet and dry. Tall pine trees lined the road and surrounded the buildings, smothering what little light peered through the rain clouds rolling in from the east. They wrapped their way around the solid blocks of grey and spread into a thick wood that carried on up the side of the mountain where it was becoming too steep to build and concealed narrow walking tracks with their thick trunks and evergreen needles. Even there on the outer stretches of Seoul, Jongup couldn't help but find it a conspicuous place to leave behind a body. He lifted his head again up and towards the sky and grazed his eyes over the windows that reflected flashing red and blue. Rain spat at his face and he squinted to keep it from his eyes as he noticed a woman standing in the window of a fifth floor apartment, watching him back.

“You coming?” Himchan said, he'd paused a few metres ahead with his face still twisted into an expression that seemed less than impressed. Jongup pulled his eyes away from the woman and stepped up and followed, and the door swung closed behind him.

“Where are the kids who found her?” He asked, while wiping his fingers across rain-wet face.

“One of mine dropped them off to school a couple hours ago.” The uniform said. His big hands were wiping at the raindrops on his coat, he wore the same vibrant green the others did, standard issue rain gear.

“How old are they?”

Uniform shrugged one shoulder and shook his head, “Fourteen and fifteen.”

“Too young to see that.” Himchan said, Uniform nodded. They fit uncomfortably tight in the elevator, and it creaked and rocked as it carried them up the levels to the crime scene. Doors opened with an emphatic Ding and Jongup followed Himchan out again, all while his eyes scanned the walls and the doors of passing apartments. Fifty-one. Fifty-two. Fifty-three. Finally, they came to a stop outside apartment number Fifty-four, pulled on caps over the tread of their boots and went inside.

“You can leave us here, I'm sure there's a lot of other things you need to be doing. We won't disturb you anymore.” Himchan said with a charming smile to the uniformed officer. Full lips stretched wide to reveal a row of almost-straight, white teeth and his face softened into well-worn creases around his mouth and eyes. Jongup had never seen a smile suit someone quite as much as it suited Himchan, but then the officer left the room, and Himchan wasn't smiling anymore.

His brows furrowed and lips twisted in such a way that Jongup wasn't sure he'd ever see Himchan do anything but scowl again, since his face seemed to have forgotten how to do anything else in the moments since the cop left. The elder man strode across the room and gestured with his head to the corner of the room, where a small yellow sign marked with a number one was placed, “This is where she was found.” He snapped on a pair of latex gloves as he spoke, and Jongup began fishing around in his pocket for his own pair. They were the kind of thing he always had on him.

“Was the window open?” Jongup knelt down and observed the old carpet, there was no blood or hair or anything else that could have indicated a woman lay there only a few hours before under the billowing curtains from the open window.

“Not when Daehyun first saw her, but when I came in it was. I assumed whoever took her went out that way.” Himchan stepped over, the small caps he wore over his boots rustling in a way that would be comical if it weren't so serious. He peered out of the window and Jongup raised an eyebrow.

“From the fifth floor? Someone would have noticed that.”

“Well you'd think a crowd of twenty cops would notice a body being stolen from a crime scene no matter how it happened but clearly they didn't.” Himchan bit back and turned to look down at Jongup, irritated.

“So what, it's uniform's fault the body went missing? Detective Jung was leading the crime scene, she disappeared under his supervision.” Jongup pushed himself up to stand again. He didn't quite meet Himchan's height, but he could wear just as impressive a scowl.

“Daehyun is-” Himchan began, but Jongup cut him off.

“-A good cop, I know. I've heard.” He turned his head towards the door as footsteps approached down the hallway. Uniform appeared in the doorway again, looking somewhat uncertainly between them. Jongup guessed their voices carried.

“Found anything?” He tried as his meaty palms rubbed together.

“Not in here, but I wouldn't mind taking a look outside. They had to have left a trace somewhere.” It would be getting dark again soon, there wasn't an infinite amount of time left.

“This is a waste of time,” Himchan pinched the bridge of his nose, Jongup turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. “We already looked through those woods for hours.” Himchan elaborated and waved his hand through the air to vent his frustration, “There's nothing here.”

“I haven't looked.” Jongup said back to him. His voice was infuriatingly steady, and his expression perfectly schooled, which only proved to get further and further under Himchan's skin.

“Fine, you look. I'm leaving.”

“Fine, I'll have one of the uniform drive me back.” Jongup agreed steadily with a glance towards Uniform, still watching them nervously from the doorway. Though when his eyes met Jongup's, he readily nodded his head.

A bark of frustrated laughter left Himchan and he shook his head, “Enjoy wasting your time, Moon. I'm going to go do my job.” He said and pushed past the officer and trudged back out towards the entrance of the apartment. For a moment, Jongup listened to the sound of his retreating footsteps until they had faded, and all he could hear was the winter air whistling its way around the building, and the soft fluffing sound of the billowing curtain, then he turned back towards Uniform with a half smile.

“Lead the way.”

*

When the sun set, it looked like the sky was bleeding. Waves of orange and red refracted off the clouds and crashed down onto the trees sending sharp shadows spilling eerily over the rounded snow and Jongup knew when it was time to admit defeat. Uniformed officers retreated back through the trees to where their cars were parked in a neat line, ready to hand over to the new officers coming on shift, and by the time Jongup made it back through the building's front door, cars were already peeling back from the curb and disappearing over the side of the mountain. Only a handful of uniform would stay to watch the crime scene through the night, but Jongup figured that wasn't an issue. Wasn't like there was anything left to steal.

When Jongup climbed into the squad car, he welcomed the blast of hot air shooting from the air-conditioning vents and thawing out his frozen face, even if the rapid defrost started to sting. Snow had began to seep through the toes of his shoes and into his socks, and the tips of his hair were frozen. Thankfully the rain had paused just long enough for his search through the forest, but soon the slushy snow would freeze, and it would be perilous in the morning.

“They say it's going to snow tonight.” Uniform said to break the silence. They were half way down the mountain, and his meaty fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel at ten and two, while static voices echoed from the vehicle's radio. Jongup had never been in a Police car before, and after silent consideration, he decidedly realised it was what he would classify as cool. “It'll cover any last footstep we'd be hoping to find.”

“Whatever was left would have been washed away in the rain anyway.” Jongup grimaced. There wasn't much use focusing on the crime scene, he thought. Once back at the office he would search through missing persons, or try and determine any other plausible dump sites. Something had to give them a clue, he just had to find it.

It was completely dark when the car pulled up out front, and Uniform leant forward to look up at it, unimpressed, “You sure you're right to be dropped here? It's late, I can take you home.”

Jongup shook his head, “Here is perfect.”

The front doors slid open, security checked him, and the elevator down into the gut of Unit 12's headquarters rattled and rocked until its doors opened up with a dysphoric ding! And Jongup stepped out.

“There you are!” Junhong said brightly as he made it up and onto the mezzanine, both Daehyun and Himchan following not far behind, “I was wondering where you'd got to.”

Jongup spared a glance between the three agents, “I decided to stay back after Detective Kim left to take another look around, until it got too dark.”

“Find anything?” Yongguk reached the top of the stairs a moment later. He looked more relaxed in a deep charcoal overcoat, and a cozy scarf hanging loosely around his neck. Jongup shook his head, and Yongguk grimaced.

Daehyun slipped his arms into the heavy indigo coat that had been slung over his arms and smiled, “We're heading to the bar round the corner, if you'd like to come.” His voice was warm.

“I was going to stay a while.” Jongup replied, but he didn't move. Yongguk shook his head.

“Join us, just for an hour or two. It's been a long day, and you won't be use to anyone tomorrow if you've worked through the night without a break.”

“A little rich coming from you, Bbang.” Himchan provided and walked past them and into the waiting elevator. The director just smiled and Jongup liked the way it softened him around the edges when his pink gums and teeth showed, and he didn't argue anymore. Instead, he followed the doctor and three agents into the lift, and waited for it to carry them back above ground.

The bar wasn't far from Unit 12's headquarters, and when they got there it was already bustling with life. Suits sat lined up along the bar with their ties loosened, and top buttons popped while the tender served them drinks in the low, orange light. Round tables were arranged across the open space, while broader booths were built against the walls, all filled with friends chatting and laughing amongst themselves. By the time Jongup's arms had slipped from his overcoat, Junhong was crossing the room towards a booth only taken by one man, not much older than him with dark hair that shone rust red when it caught the light. He was dressed comfortably in an oversized sweater, with dark rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and when Junhong got close enough he rose to pull the doctor into a hug, while the others followed him over.

“Thanks for minding the table, Hyung.” Junhong gladly dropped down into the booth beside the brunette, while Daehyun slid in opposite. With a gesture from Yongguk, Jongup sat beside Daehyun, and the brunette observed him with curiosity.

“Detective Moon Jongup, meet Doctor Yoo Youngjae.” Daehyun said, gesturing between them. Dr. Yoo extended his hand for Jongup to shake, which he did.

“Another doctor?” Jongup asked.

“Not really.” Junhong replied, only to be rewarded with a smack to his shoulder from Youngjae.

“Different kind of doctor.” He provided, “I'm a criminal psychologist.”

“And a very valued member of our team.” Junhong said in a voice filled with faux seriousness. Another smack landed against his shoulder, Junhong grinned.

“Shut up, you .” Youngjae said it affectionately. It was nice to see colleagues so close to one another, and Jongup was sure they had seen enough in their time together that only brought them closer. As Youngjae ruffled Junhong's hair, and the maknae thrashed back against him, Daehyun turned to Yongguk who was yet to remove his coat and scarf.

“Where's Himchan?” he asked, Yongguk gestured with his head towards the bar and Jongup turned. Through the dim, he could see that a cluster of suits had parted ways, and Himchan was leaning between them. His elbows were against the bar as he chatted to the tender mixing his drink, while his overcoat hung open at the front.

“I'll get the first round.” Yongguk said, and the others chimed in their orders. Jongup met Yongguk's even gaze with a steady one of his own.

“Just a beer, thanks.” He said, and the director pulled away.

“So tell us about you then.” Youngjae smiled warmly, though his eyes were assessing, “You a cop?”

“A lawyer.” Jongup replied.

“We haven't had one of those before.” Daehyun commented and tapped at his lower lip with the tip of his index finger, “We've got a child genius, a brain guy and a self-proclaimed computer nerd, but Lawyer is new.”

“You know about computers?” Jongup glanced to Daehyun. He had an accent, something sharpening the edge of his words and dragging at his vowels and making every sentence sound ridged and valleyed like a mountain range. Southern.

“I dabble.” He said.

“What about them, what are their things?” Jongup glanced over towards the bar. Yongguk had found a space beside Himchan and the two of them were deep in conversation. Himchan's brows were furrowed seriously as he said something, and Yongguk responded with a full bellied laugh that had his head thrown back as his palm found a warm spot between his Detective's shoulder blades. Seeing them like this was nothing like they had behaved back at HQ.

“Their thing is just... Being them. They go way back.” Youngjae provided while watching Jongup's expression, “They did their service together.”

“And they've been in the Unit a long time?” Jongup's brow quirked when Junhong and Youngjae exchanged a conspiratorial look, then leant in closer in perfect unison. He figured they were going for dramatic, but they shot right past it and landed smack bang on cheesy.

“They were the Unit,” Youngjae said in a tone as hushed as it could be while they sat together in a decently crowded bar, “Before Dae was brought in to shake things up, that is. The unit wasn't originally created to utilise the talents of people the government saw potential in, the unit was created to utilise them.”

“Then later more people started appearing on the government radars, so they started getting others involved. Rumour has it that a bunch of governments were so desperate for our Baby-Junnie to be theirs that World War Three almost started.” Daehyun added, and Junhong rolled his eyes.

“And yet I got stuck with you.” He sighed.

Youngjae managed to ignore the other two, something Jongup suspected he'd become quite good at, “Anyway, when Daehyun came in and Himchan took him under his wing, the Unit was set to expand. I was brought in not long after Jun, and Yongguk-Hyung was made director, since they figured the best person to lead us would be one of us, and we were becoming too many to go on without some kind of organisation.”

“What about Agent Jin?” The question silenced the bickering Jongup had tried to ignore.

“Shinyoung-noona? Well... No one really knows about her. Yongguk-hyung does, but he's not one for sharing information without good reason, it's really annoying.” Daehyun made a face, as though he had experience in trying to weasel information from the stoic director. “She doesn't come to this kinda thing though. Team bonding isn't really her preferred past-time.”

“That, and her and Himchan hate each other.” Youngjae said. Jongup's brow quirked and he shifted forward, a question on the tip of his tongue when a frosted glass was set down in front of him. He glanced up and into Himchan's face.

Yongguk slid easily into the seat beside Junhong, leaving Jongup to shift closer to Daehyun so that Himchan could fit on their side of the table.

“So, Jae, what have you got?” Himchan leant both elbows on the table and wrapped both his palms around his sweating class. Droplets of condensation were already sliding over it and slipping through his fingers and onto the table.

Youngjae straightened up and pursed his lips in thought, “Stealing a body isn't really common practice, and it could mean any number of things. Maybe your murderer left it there-”

“Her.” Himchan cut him off.

Youngjae nodded his head, “Yes, sorry, left her there for someone to find but she was found by the wrong person. Though it was a pretty secluded place, it's not like anyone is going to regularly visit an abandoned apartment.” He pursed his lips in thought while the pad of his thumb rubbed slowly along the lip of his glass. It was some kind of mixed drink, clear and carbonated with a maraschino cherry decorating it with a garish flash of red.

“Do we know who owns the place?” Junhong asked from around a bent pink straw.

“No one.” Himchan sighed, “The owner died a year and a half ago, but there was no family so it just went to the state. All the furnishings and belongings were sold off, but the apartment was left as is.”

“Why would somebody purposely leave the body to be discovered there of all places? Is it worth the risk? The crime scene was crawling with cops by the time she went missing.” Daehyun pointed out and Youngjae nodded again.

“It's always possible she was bait. Classic show of power, they dangle something in front of our noses, and then take it away before we can get to it. Whoever they are wanted us to know she was dead, wanted us to know they were out there and they had the skill to steal a body from a crowded crime scene.” He tipped his head to the side and pursed his lips.

“But bait for what?” Daehyun spoke again.

“I guess that's what we need to figure out.” Junhong sighed. While the team fell into discussion, out of the corner of Jongup's eye, he saw Himchan and Yongguk exchange a look.

Eventually it was Daehyun who stripped their conversation of the missing woman, and rejuvenated it with smiles and laughter again. Drinks lowered, then emptied, and Himchan announced he was heading to the bar to get everyone another. Youngjae cheered, Daehyun declared his love, and Jongup smiled squished between them, warmed by the sensation of brotherhood, then cooled with his awareness that he wasn't part of it. At some point during the evening, Yongguk's spine had relaxed, and his smile had eased, and now his arm was stretched out along the back of the booth behind Junhong's broad shoulders as the boy waved his hands animatedly through every story he told. Youngjae's laughter was getting louder, Daehyun's smile wider until their Maknae waved his hands just that little bit wilder and slammed into the side of a glass. Himchan's hand shot forward, and he caught it easily in his palm before it could go crashing to the ground but it was enough to have Yongguk's slender fingers brushing over Junhong's shoulders.

“I think it's about time I get you home.” He smiled warmly. His voice was even, his tone normal, Jongup had noticed the way he was still nursing his second drink while the others were nearing their fourth, or in some cases fifth.

“We should probably all get home.” Himchan provided, he'd made it to three, he'd had a long day. Daehyun voiced his complaint, but he didn't hesitate before rising from the booth with the others, and following closely behind Himchan towards the door. Yongguk's arm slipped low around Junhong's waist while the boy beamed with pink flushed cheeks and tripped over his own feet on the way out. Jongup didn't think he was anything more than a little tipsy, but then again if he had legs like that, he'd be tripping over them every time he tried to walk in a straight line, adding alcohol to the equation could be a disaster.

They all spilled out onto the pavement one by one. Yongguk and Junhong made it first, followed by Daehyun, then Himchan, with Jongup and Youngjae last.

“I'll grab you a taxi.” Himchan said while Yongguk helped Junhong into his coat.

“My car isn't far.” Yongguk didn't have to remind them that he was below the limit, Himchan had seen how little he'd drank.

“Moon Jongup?” The six of them all turned their heads. Jongup watched a man push off from where he leant against the bar's external wall, mid height with messy hair and a cigarette smouldering between his fingers.

“Ha Jooho.” Jongup replied with a tight smile, “Been a while.”

Jooho chuckled and took in another deep drag of his cigarette. He glanced at the others, and Jongup noticed his eyes meeting Yongguk's own, before he returned his gaze to Jongup's and his lips spread into his best charming grin, “I'm glad I bumped into you, you're looking good.” He said, then added with a wink, “You haven't been answering my calls.”

“I've been busy.” Jongup responded flatly.

“Aah yeah... Sorry you're out with your friends, I'll leave you alone. When you have time... Call me, yeah?” Jooho flashed his white teeth in a crooked grin and flicked his cigarette onto the wet ground. It landed in a puddle and its red tip glowed a moment before it was extinguished by the surrounding damp, and by then the bar door was already swinging closed.

“A friend of yours?” Youngjae asked. He'd stepped closer, and his assessing gaze was focused on Jongup's face.

“We went to University together.” Jongup said. They didn't linger there in the cold, but as they turned to head their seperate ways, Jongup couldn't help but notice the way Himchan watched him go.

*

Heavy footsteps fell into half melted snow and droplets of mud went flying. The first glow of sunlight was only just starting to the horizon when Shim Sangjin left home to walk his dog along the rugged paths that twisted along the side of the mountain. He had always liked that he could walk for miles without meeting another person, and still make it home with enough time to cook his wife and their three growing children a breakfast to keep their bellies warm. Sometimes, when it was clear, he followed the paths down behind the old Kwon farm and under the railway bridge to the western side of the mountain, where he could just make out the golden glow of Seoul lingering in the distance. It wasn't so far away as the crow flies, he knew, but something about it seemed so magical as it glittered between dew slicked branches, never sleeping, always thriving.

“Huchu, c'mere boy!” He called out to the loping mass of honey fur, already matted with mud as the dog's wagging tail disappeared into the shrubbery. Huchu barked and panted and scratched his front paws against the ground as he chased scents through the air and his breaths creating billowing clouds. “What have you found, you silly boy.” Sangjin chuckled warmly and ducked under a branch before Huchu's strength could pull him into it. Originally, he hadn't been fond at the idea of a dog, but the kids put forward a persuasive argument, and he crumbled under their pleading eyes like sand against the sea. His son had pleaded for it to be a Pomeranian, something small and cute, while his girls both agreed a Retriever was perfect for a home with kids, but there was something about Poodles that made Sangjin feel warm inside, with their long and clumsy legs, and soft curled fur. They were friendly, too, or at least Huchu was.

Huchu barked again, but this time it wasn't playful, it was frantic, scared, “Huchu, boy what's wrong-” Sangjin ducked down again and followed Huchu's trail a little way further off the path.

“Oh my god...”

There, laying on the frozen ground before him was the body of a woman, her burned fingers folded neatly together over her chest, and with sewn shut.