Photographs; Noren NCT

♱•Sixteen•♱

"What the heck is that?" Renjun asks, his eyes scanning the bundle of black leather hanging from Donghyuck's hand.

"It's a mask, it was handed in this morning, the person said they found it on oak avenue" the redhead explains, grimacing at the mask and dropping it down onto the table.

"Oak avenue? Isn't that the street next to Jeno's?" Renjun pulls out his camera and begins to click pictures of the mask from different angles. It was covered in small splatters of dry blood and the leather was fraying at the edges.

"Yup, Jaehyun is checking the camera footage now but it looks like the criminal spotted them and cut the wires" he sighs, carefully picking the mask back up, ready to place it back into the box to send to the lab. Renjun assumed they would use it for DNA testing.

"W-what is that?"
Both boys freeze slightly, Donghyuck still held the mask in the air and Renjun slowly turns to give Jeno a smile.
"T-that, it...I-" his shaky hand paints at the mask, the tears forming in his eyes were visible.

With a loud sigh the redhead turns back to Renjun "take him out, I'm taking this to the lab" with that Donghyuck drops the leather into the box and removes the medical gloves he had been wearing.

Renjun bit the inside of his cheek before moving forward and taking Jeno's arm. He pulls him from the office and into the reception, carefully lowering the younger boy into a seat.

"Jeno are you okay?" The brunette asks, rubbing his arm comfortingly. This is exactly why Donghyuck didn't want Jeno joining the case, Renjun knew for sure that the investigation would only get worse from this point on.

Jeno slowly nods and gives Renjun a weak smile. "I'm fine, it just shocked me a little"

The older boys eyes linger on Jeno's face for a heartbeat too long until he blinks back to reality "you know you don't have to carry on,right? You can quit the case at any point you like". Renjun didn't want Jeno to quit, but he also didn't want Jeno to be constantly reminded of that awful night.

"I'm not quitting, I'm seeing this through till the end...thank you though" Jeno gives Renjun another smile, not the same happy one that he saw last night, but more forced.

"O-okay" he mutters, dragging his eyes down to his hands to stop them from staring too much.

Thankfully the sound of footsteps echoes through the room and both boys glance up. "Your needed in Jaehyun's office" Donghyuck says before leaving the station, box in hand.

The two boys look at one another before standing and making their way to the office. Renjun knocks once before heading in, Jeno following close behind.

Jaehyun sat at his desk, his face illuminated by the bright screen of his laptop. He wore glasses that he pushes up his nose slightly when seeing the two boys had entered. "Take a seat" his voice held no hint as to what was about to be discussed.
Jeno and Renjun glance at each other, both looking a little nervous before they pull out a seat and sit down in front of the desk.

Jaehyun leans back in his chair, removing his glasses and rubbing at his tired eyes. "Renjun, it always pains me to say this as you know, but I need you to go to the morgue to take a few photographs" he links his fingers together and rests them on the wooden surface in front of him "the suspect found the cameras, he cut the wires and took the memory chips meaning we have no footage of him. There was a murder last night..."

At this Jeno took a deep breath, he shifted his gaze over to Renjun although he looked so casual, he looked almost bored as if he were waiting for a bus. This then made him question how many times Renjun had been told this, was he just use to being told that someone had been killed and it was his responsibility to take photos?

"...the victim was male, early twenties and his house was broken into at approximately ten fifteen last night..." now it was Renjun's turn to glance over at Jeno. That was the around the same time they had gotten back from the movies, what if it were one of them that had been attacked? They needed to be more careful.
The thought of being told to take photos of Jeno's dead body sent shivers down Renjun's back and he quickly shook the thought from his mind.

"...the only witness was his wife, we've been advised to wait a while before requesting for a statement as she obviously won't be in a good state right now. We have come to the conclusion that the suspect accidentally dropped his mask as he was fleeing the scene" Jaehyun finished explaining and examined the faces of the boys sat opposite him.

Jeno's face was pale and he swallowed hard although his mouth was as dry as paper. He knew he would have to hear things like this when he offered to help out on the case, he just never expected it to be so difficult to listen to.

Renjun however kept his expression neutral and professional. His breath was slow and his voice didn't so much as waver as he spoke "I'll head to the morgue now"
He stands and heads for the door, giving Jeno one last encouraging smile before leaving the room.

Jeno's eyes stay on the door his mind constantly asking the question 'is Renjun okay?' He didn't know why but he felt the need to run out there and stop Renjun form having to see something so horrific, even if this wasn't the first time.

"He'll be fine, he's done it plenty of times before" Jaehyun's voice causes Jeno to whip around in his seat, his eyes wide. Had he been thinking out loud?
"Why don't you head home, this must be a lot for you to process right now. Get an early night and come back tomorrow morning, we'll talk more then".

Jeno nods slowly before standing from his seat "thanks" he says quietly before reaching for the handle and leaving.
He didn't want to go home yet, he wanted to talk to someone. He had acted so strong lately but listening to everything Jaehyun had just said brought back the memory of the sharp knife being plunged into his sisters stomach.

He closes his eyes tightly, trying to send the thoughts and memories away. Quickly he jumps into his car and races to the hospital, wanting nothing more than to see his sister in that moment.