Department Zero | NCT Dream

File 9: Nine Scratch Marks

[Date: November 1, 2020]

[Weather: Cold, light jacket or heavy sweater weather]

|Drink of the Day: Hot chocolate |

{Cases: 1}

- P. JS
.......

A single raindrop trickled down the artificial glass, collecting into a small grouping of other droplets before trailing down the rest of the car window. Jaemin's forehead pressed against the cool window pane, the uneven roads leading his head to bump lightly against it. He let out a sigh.

The sky was draped in a shadowy grey and, almost like a plastic tarp, it was monotone, shifting endlessly with the winds. The cityscape whirled by them as Mark drove carefully through the crowded and dreary streets of Incheon, several honks going out as a result of near collisions in the downpour.

A murmur of voices filtered softly in the background, Jaemin's inattentive focus allowing him to catch only snippets of the conversation. It was Chenle's voice that he heard first.

"If I'm going back to what Jaemin had relayed to us, the growling of a sort of dog could be a big indicator of what we're dealing with." The mythology expert rambled on in a sort of drawling mumble, Renjun voicing his agreement.

"I'm just happy we were able to trace the call so quickly," Mark added in, his fingers sliding down the wheel to click the turn signal in the downwards direction, drifting into the right line, "Remind me to ask you how exactly you did that Ji."

"Stop calling me that," the youngest member of the team grumbled, his head turning to the side from where he sat in front of Jaemin, "and I will most definitely not be telling you how I did that. I have to keep some secrets to myse..."

Jaemin's ears tuned out, his eyes drifting closed so that they blocked out what little light the day had to bestow upon the human populous. It was cool in the dark cave that he had made for himself, his nerves calmed by the darkness and the cool glass.

An elbow nudged his arm slightly, catching his attention. Jaemin slowly opened his eyes back open and turned his gaze, meeting Donghyuck's milky brown eyes. The leader frowned slightly, slowly mouthing the next words: "What's wrong?"

Jaemin didn't have the effort to pull his face into a faux smile, his mouth and eyes turned into a blank visage. He thought for a moment...what should he say?

What should I say? What should I say?

Jaemin knew that he should be completely honest with the leader of the group, for purposes obvious and not entirely obvious. For one, he was terrified and nerve-wrecked from the phone call he had received at 8 the previous night. He had heard someone die from...something unknown to him...and he was never one to make good, split-second decisions.

This had led him to shakily place the phone back on the receiver, fingers struggling to bend and press the right buttons on the dial that would lead Donghyuck to curiously pick up, a television softly crackling in the background.

The young chemist trusted the leader. He knew that his socially awkward and absent demeaner led the other team members to approach him more carefully. But Donghyuck hadn't been like that from the beginning of their relationship -- he had always been open and frank and easy. Jaemin was sure the leader had read his applicative file, was sure that he knew that he was observed by the higher ups to be secluded and awkward to normal social cues.

Jaemin tugged at the blouse covering his torso, nodding his head slightly in response as he averted his eyes. "I'm a bit scared."

"Scared?" Donghyuck echoed in a hushed manner, not wanting to draw attention to their small conversation, something Jaemin greatly appreciated.