"Kim Kibum."

Kibum flinched at the sound of his own name. He hasn't heard it being said by others for a long time. Kibum could feel his heart racing in his chest, fearing the others could hear its beats too. Before he could decide what to do, Onew continued.

"That's the missing person."

Kibum breathed out, realizing Onew wasn't calling to him, and still, his body didn't stop shaking. As Onew started to talk about "Kim Kibum", with every fact about "him" Kibum felt the embracement increasing. This feeling was so uneasy he couldn't describe it, listening to all those information and details about "him". Yet, to be honest, he wasn't listening very carefully. His mind was set on power mood. Too many things were going on in his head.

First, the young man in the picture was Lee Taemin. Kibum recognized him at first sight. That was undoubtedly the young man he had met at the airport, the one who gave him the red cap that led him to Jonghyun. But, how did Lee Taemin become Kim Kibum? Why was he with Minho?

Second, who knew what? Did Onew really think the young male in the picture was Kim Kibum? Or was he playing dumb as well?

Third, even though Kibum understood this wasn't a situation for sentimentality, still... Was Jonghyun aware he was staring at a picture of the man he was supposed to marry? The real Lee Taemin. What would Jonghyun think, if he knew? Would he prefer this Lee Taemin over Kibum?

"Ok, let's get to work. Xiumin, check the security cameras and try to reconstruct Kibum's route. Start with this restaurant." Onew said, handing the hacker a business card.

"Lay, ask around in the underworld. Maybe someone got wind of the kidnapping. Take D.O. with you, just in case." Lay nodded and dragged D.O. along. Kibum hasn't figured out that D.O. guy yet. For such a harmless looking guy, D.O. got an intense glare and a dark aura. In addition, the man hasn't said a word since he arrived.

"Kris, shadow Minho. I don't think he's involved but it's still not certain. And it'll be good to know what he's doing." And with that, only Jonghyun and Kibum were left.

"Jonghyun, check the hospitals and police stations until Xiumin finds the actual crime scene."

"Key," Kibum almost jumped as the oldest man called his nickname. Something about Onew was intimidating, even though he looked nice and even smiled despite the circumstances. Maybe it was because Onew was the leader? Kibum has always had a problem with authority. Thank to his father.

"Can you help Xiumin with the videos? It's better to have two people checking them." Onew asked.

"Of course," Kibum managed to answer calmly.

Kris, D.O. and Lay had left as soon as they got their tasks from Onew. Jonghyun disappeared to make one phone call after another, but not before he convinced himself that Kibum was ok with being alone.

Kibum rubbed his eyes. He has been watching the videos for over an hour, looking for Taemin to appear again. It wasn't difficult to track Taemin as he came out of the restaurant. But after he turned into a side street, they couldn't find him again.

"Here," Xiumin said, giving Kibum the eyedrops. "That's the job. The hacking is fun, but the observation isn't."

"Thank you," Kibum replied.

"Did you send Onew hyung and Jonghyun the address?" Kibum asked.

"Yeah, they should be there soon," Xiumin answered, laying his hands under his chin as he looked at Kibum with narrowed eyes.

"So, Key...Who are you?" He asked and for the x-times that night, Kibum's heart skipped a beat.

"I have never seen Jonghyun being so close to someone. You must be someone special." Xiumin teased.

"Ah, I would love to go online and find out everything about you right now." The "baby faced" man growled. Yet, as he noticed Kibum's concerned expression, he added.

"Just kidding. It's our codex. We don't sniff in other's private life."

"Thank God, because I have so much to hide," Kibum confessed with humor and Xiumin laughed out loud, taking Kibum's statement as a joke.

-------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Jonghyun and Onew headed to the address Xiumin gave them, the side street where Taemin was last seen.

"Hyung," Jonghyun asked carefully, trying not to sound rude. "are you sure Kim Kibum is kidnapped and not... just ran away or even just having fun somewhere, forgetting to call you?"

"What do you want to say, Jonghyun?" Onew asked back.

"I mean it's not like you to overact only after an hour. You assumed him to be kidnapped without considering other options." Jonghyun explained.

"I know him very well and he would never disappear without telling me. Trust me, ok? Can we treat this as a missing case until the evidence proves us wrong?" Onew argued, and Jonghyun nodded. If this person who Jonghyun respected more than his father asked him for a favor than he'd do it. Period.

The two men barely arrived at the "crime scene" for a minute as Jonghyun corrected himself.

"Shit," he said. "You're right. Something is fishy here."

"I'd rather be wrong," Onew sighed.

"I'm sorry." Jonghyun laid his hand on Onew's shoulder to comfort the leader. "A fight happened here... definitely."

Onew nodded silently in agreement. That was what he saw too. There was no doubt Taemin was taken at this place. While Jonghyun was busy taking pictures of the crime scene, Onew scanned the place, paying attention to every detail. He has been undercover for too long, he missed the classical work as a detective. Xiumin hadn't gotten far with the videos since there was no camera in this alley. But maybe they'd find something else. They must find something.

"Is that blood?" Onew worried as Jonghyun kneed down to take a sample of the dark liquid on the ground.

"I need to test it but... yeah pretty much." Jonghyun answered.

"Fuck," Onew snapped. "What happened here?"

Followed the blood trail, Jonghyun found a small object behind the garbage sacks.

"Does that Kim Kibum guy smoke?" He asked, taking a picture of the object before packing it in an evidence bag.

"No," Onew answered, looking over Jonghyun's shoulder. "Is that a tooth?" He asked.

"Yeah, and judged by its condition, its owner must be a chain-smoker."

"You didn't tell us he's a fighter," Jonghyun stated with amusingly.

"He is," Onew confirmed proudly. "Being the peaceful person he is, he prefers Aikido. But I did teach boxing. Just in case."

"Seems like it was the case," Jonghyun replied.

"I hope he is ok."

"We'll find him. And until then he will be fine. As you said, he's a fighter, right?" Jonghyun encouraged his friend.

"Yeah," Onew said.

Getting back to work, Onew checked the area. The alley was placed next to Hongdae's shopping street, so there were security cameras running everywhere, except for this side street. That just frustrated Onew more. Yet, his eyes lightened up, as he noticed something on the opposite building.

"Jonghyun, look. There is a mirror," he called, pointing at the object.

"Let me see," Jonghyun rushed to his friend. Seeing the mirror, he turned around, checking all the shops on the other side.

"Maybe the mirror reflected something. Its position is perfect." Jonghyun stated.

"Which camera points at that building?" Onew thought out loud.

"Must be this one," he pointed at a French restaurant.

At times like this, he was more than glad to have Xiumin in their team. The younger could just hack the video system while the police would still be waiting for permission. It didn't take them 30 minutes to come back to the university and Xiumin had already gotten the video they needed. The man even made it to improve the image quality, so that the little mirror was clearly recognizable.

Onew's heart sunk as he saw the picture on the huge screen. It showed Taemin being dragged away by two men whose faces were hidden.

"Fuck," Onew shouted. The other men couldn't miss his anger.

"Do we have something else?" He asked in frustration.

"I'm not sure. There is something on his neck. Looks like a tattoo, but we only have a part of it." Kibum informed the leader.

"Let's have a look," Jonghyun said and Xiumin zoomed in.

"That's a gang tattoo. What gang is that?" Onew asked, not expecting an answer from the younger men.

"Send Lay the picture. He might recognize it." Onew suggested and Xiumin did as he was told. Second later, Lay called back.

"Don't you have a better picture?"

"No," Xiumin answered.

"Sorry guys, I haven't seen this tattoo before. If that's really a gang tattoo, then he's in a small gang... I'll ask around. Maybe someone has seen it before."

After that phone call, everyone went back to work. They tried their best, but still, the atmosphere had changed. They seemed to realize that they were stuck.

"Xiumin, can you rotate the picture by 90 degrees?" After the hacker granted his request, Kibum kept staring at the picture. By this angle, the tattoo seemed familiar to him. He got this odd feeling he had seen it somewhere long ago. But where was it?

Kibum decided to get a breath of fresh air as he felt his head threatening to explode. Being on the campus in the middle of the night was creepy as hell. It was like he was part of a horror movie and any moment there would be a jump scare. Kibum immediately regretted going out alone as he heard footsteps behind him.

"This is how bitches get killed in horror movies," he thought and speeded up. Not paying attention to where he went, Kibum tripped on the curb. He whined in pain. But the pain was nothing compared to the heart attack he almost got as he heard a voice out of nowhere.

"Stand up, Kim Kibum," it said.

Kibum literally screamed as he turned around, recognizing the voice. Ghost, psychopath or serial killer? He would fight them all, but this voice belonged to a worse creature. His father.

Kibum thanked God the voice was just in his head. Still, his hands were trembling. He wasn't hallucinating. It was only a part of the memory that suddenly came to his mind.

"Stand up, Kim Kibum," his father yelled at the twelve years old Kibum and the little boy wiped away his tears, standing up. The next moment a wooden ruler hit his skinny calves so hard, he fell on the floor again.

"Stand up," his father demanded with clenched teeth. The boy did as he was told. And everything repeated until the man decided it was enough.

"Will you remember this next time?" asked his father, throwing a book at him.

"Yes," the boy whispered, trying to hold back his crying as the book hit his chest and fell to his feet, opened. It was a handmade book that contained every information about all known gangs. His father was an old-fashioned man who believed knowing your enemies was the key to success. Kibum had been taught about all those gangs even before his first day of school. He had learned about their leaders, their territories, their businesses and ... their tattoos.

"I just can't remember a Seoul gang with that tattoo," Kibum mumbled, trying his best to recalls all the lessons he had.

"Remember, you always have to update your information, since gangs come and go," his "uncle" used to tell him.

"What if it wasn't a northern gang?" Kibum asked himself. After a moment, he finally remembered a southern gang with a tattoo that could fit the picture. Immediately he called his "uncle" for help. After being scolded for waking the old man up at this late time, he finally got the confirmation. He found the gang. He found them.

Just as he thought he needed to tell the others the news, Kibum spotted Onew coming out of the building. Taking this as a chance to talk to Onew alone, Kibum decided to talk straightforward. He had been thinking about this since the moment he recognized Lee Taemin on those pictures. The last hours, he was having an uneasy feeling, struggling between telling them the truth and exposing himself or keeping his secret. Yet, despite not knowing that boy, Lee Taemin was still his half-brother. Despite the fact he lost his mother because of that boy, Kibum knew Taemin needed his help. And even if he didn't care about his half-brother, he cared about his mother. She'd cry a river if something happened to her golden boy. Therefore, Kibum knew the others needed to know who they were searching for.

Onew walked in the opposite direction and had his back on Kibum. Thus, he hadn't notice Kibum coming nearer and continued his phone call.

"Mrs. Lee," he said, "I promise I'll bring Taemin home. The best experts are on his case."

"..."

"I'm sorry."

"Taemin will be fine. I'll find him."

"Again, he said Taemin." Kibum thought. This man knew Taemin's real identity and he knew their mom. Who was this Onew?

"Don't you think the others should know that this boy is not Kim Kibum?" Kibum interrupted the phone call as he couldn't hold back anymore. Saying his own name in such a way was weird.

"I'll call you as soon as I got something," Onew told Mrs. Lee and hang up.

"What are you talking about?" He remained his poker face.

"Onew, let's not play this game. We both play dumb while we're aware the other person knows the truth. I'm telling you straightforward that I know this man isn't Kim Kibum. That's my credit of trust. Can we have a straight talk now?"

"Ok, I appreciate that. But tell me, how did you know this isn't the real Kim Kibum?"

"I just know it." Kibum held back the truth. He wasn't ready to expose everything. Not yet.

"You just said you want a straight talk. Tell me the truth or this is getting nowhere."

"I know the real Kim Kibum, ok? And this is not him. You need to tell the others who this man is, or they won't be able to work effectively." Kibum demanded.

"And who is this man?" Onew pushed his luck.

"Onew, I just heard you on the phone. As a detective, you should know best that it's a huge difference who is missing."

"Who are you, Key?" O questioned.

"That's not important right now."

"There are barely people who know how Kim Kibum looks like and now you tell me you know Kim Kibum, the heir of the Black Lotus. No way you are an ordinary man." Kibum kept silent and the older man continued.

"You're speaking of trust but how can I trust you when you're having such a secret? Listen, I'd entrust Jonghyun with my life, so if he says I can trust you, I will. But can he trust you, Key?" Onew targeted Kibum's conscience. That was a classical interrogation technique which Kibum noticed without thinking twice. And yet, he chose to give in.

"I know he's not Kim Kibum because I am Kim Kibum, ok?" The younger man confessed.

I hope you guys still like this chapter despite no fluff. I didn't plan it to turn out so crime-like.
And sorry for the late update, I was working on my first short story, since I wanted to try something new.
I'd appreciate it if you guys can give it a try too. (If there is any Chanbaek shipper here too.) 

Link below