Department Zero | NCT Dream

File 4: Four Minutes Underwater

[Date: August 17, 2020]

[Weather: still humid]

[Drink of the Day: Water with Lemon]

{Cases: 1}

- P. JS

.......

"How long can he hold his breath for?" Donghyuck cursed, shrugging off his suit jacket and beginning to unbutton his white shirt, glancing nervously at the stilled water. Only seconds earlier bubbles and splashes had been disturbing the surface. Now? Nothing.

"Four minutes and 23 seconds, we had a contest once," Mark responded, nervously biting at his bottom lip. Jeno watched as Donghyuck cursed again, shrugging his shirt off to expose his smooth torso, bending down to tug off his shoes.

Jeno watched as Donghyuck finished pulling off his shoes. His eyes then trailed back to the unmoving water, his heart thudding nervously against his chest. Renjun had been down there for too long, every second that passed by was another percentage point decreasing for the boy's survival.

Then the water bubbled.

_______________________________

[Three hours previous]

Jeno rubbed his temples in a futile effort to soothe his stress. Papers and several books of varying size were spread out across the table in front of him, mixing slightly with the materials that Chenle had printed out, the younger boy sitting directly across from him.

The room was silent other than for the steady hum of the AC, which was settled on top of the windowsill, and the continuous rustled of pages being flipped and turned. The quiet scratch scratch of Chenle's pen or the click click of his laptop keys joined into the small array of noises that created a peaceful atmosphere.

Or would have been peaceful had the shattering of glass not sounded from the kitchen of Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Jisung's hotel room. Everyone's heads perked up -- Jeno and Chenle from the table, Donghyuck and Jisung from where they sat on one of the beds going over files, and Renjun from where he was sprawled out on the floor.

Jaemin and Mark's heads poked around the corner, smiling apologetically. "Sorry," Mark started, "We got hung up talking about some science stuff. Dropped a mug."

"It's fine," Donghyuck muttered, rolling out his neck, "How about we re-group? Remind me what we have so far."

Mark disappeared back into the kitchen to clean up the mess and Jaemin stepped forward, looking around for a moment before grabbing a piece of large paper that Chenle had bought at the local store. They had to make due with supplies and space since they didn't have much funding.

"Well I barely found out anything from the clothing, it was too old to declare if any liquids or substances were on it. It was just torn in a jagged manner at the bottom, looking a bit like something sharp grabbed and pulled." Jaemin started, reciting exactly what he had told the group earlier as he hung the large paper from the door frame so everyone could see what they had come up with.

"And then our descriptions-," Donghyuck added, looking at Jeno, "-which matched up with the size of a 10-year-old, lumbering movements, and giving off a reflective coat." Jeno nodded to confirm the statement, looking down at the papers in his hands.