Department Zero | NCT Dream

File 6: Six Days Dead

[Date: August 31, 2020]

[Weather: a damp, post-thunderstorm heat]

[Drink of the Day: Diet Ginger Ale]

{Cases: 1}

- P. JS
.......

It was close to 3am, around eight hours since the couple had been killed and Mark had examined the crime scene. Now, Jeno was stationed on a park bench near the ghost town of the crime scene. Jaemin was on the bench a couple of feet from Jeno's own. Chenle and Jisung were back at the department for any last minute research emergencies and Donghyuck was sitting in the department's van around the corner.

As for Mark and Renjun, they were posed a bit closer to the crime scene, two cups of coffee in their hands.

They would be bait. The initial confrontation.

"You'd really think they'd think we were a couple huh?" Mark teased the shorter, his arm resting around the young adult's shoulders with an easy familiarity. The younger's well-known cologne of amber and moss relaxed Mark, the older of the duo a bit nervous about dealing with the dwisin.

"Uh huh, yeah, don't get too comfortable Lee," Renjun huffed, taking a careful sip of his coffee. Mark let out a small laugh, occasionally glancing to the area where Donghyuck was sitting in their van. They were just waiting for a text -- waiting for Donghyuck to tell them to go ahead and walk down the alley to try and attract the ghost.

Smooth jazz flited out of the restaurant they were standing by and Mark gestured towards it with his half-filled cup of coffee. The damp coolness of the stone pressed against his back through his shirt, refreshing his sweaty skin. "You know, it'd be really fun if we went and had dinner there sometime. They've got a great taste in music."

"Hey, you know it's my turn to chose date night next, don't try and sway me," Renjun retorted and furrowed his eyebrows, giving Mark a stink eye to which Mark just let out a low whistle tune and looked away. Renjun's arm carefully moved to wrap around his waist, Mark biting back a petty remark about 'being too obvious'. 

"I'm not trying to sway anything, I'm just saying it would be a good pla-"

Their phones let out soft 'dings' and Mark pulled Renjun off of the wall they were leaning against, the two walking in the direction of the alleyway as if they had always been. "-ce to eat, don't you think?"

"Yeah? Well then save it for when it's your turn to choose what we do," Renjun argued back, the duo calmly turning down the alleyway. There was a tense stillness in the air, a cool breeze brushing through Mark's hair. "I want a movie night, you know I've been wanting to watch that new movie with Robert Pattinson in it."

Mark frowned and they continued their deliberately slow stroll down the back alley. Cold wisps of strangling air currents ghosted across Mark's legs, the hair standing up just as the goosebumps did. Not because he was scared, although he could feel some of the nerves settle in his stomach, but rather because of that undeniable eerie and off-putting feeling. A feeling that only appeared when you knew something unnatural was watching you -- standing behind you and waiting for you to let your guard down.

"The Tennent?" Mark questioned in response to Renjun's statement. There seemed to be a build up and as the duo walked further into the alley, Mark's chest tightened. Any second now.

"Yeah that's the ONE-" Renjun grit out, yelling at the end as something came flying towards them, his hand gripping Mark's shirt collar and pulling him to the ground. The sound a sharp crack echoed through the concrete way, wood shattering behind them as a crate smashed against the disgustingly dirty pavement.