billet-doux.
BILLET-DOUX.
⇾ tvxq | yunho/changmin
⇾ 1,644 words
⇾ PG-13
✳ continuation of operation pierrot.
they hit the ground amidst a shower of glass.
taking cover under the table, they wait for more bullets to be fired - but there were no more.
"are you hurt? are you okay?" changmin asks, reaching out to grasp yunho's arm.
"i'm fine, are you hurt?"
"no, no i'm not hurt…" changmin replies, voice trailing off as he catches sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
as yunho pulls out his phone to call his team, changmin takes advantage of yunho being distracted to crawl out towards where the lone bullet casing lay.
grabbing a napkin, changmin picks up the casing gingerly. as the patrons of the restaurant recover from the shock, changmin experiences a whole new level of fear. the bullet lying in the middle of his palm is carbon black - and right on the base, there's something etched in gold: ♅
changmin's breath stills in trepidation.
"min?" yunho says, placing a hand on changmin's shoulder.
changmin jumps a meter into the air.
"what's wrong?" yunho asks, immediately alert.
"um," changmin says hurriedly. pulling yunho back under the table, changmin drops the bullet and grasps yunho's hands in his.
"yunho you need to promise me something," changmin whispers.
"what is it?"
"you need to promise me that whatever happens, you don't come looking for me."
"what's going to happen? where're you going?" yunho presses, goosebumps rising on his arms.
"i can't tell you," changmin says, frazzled.
"why? because i might get hurt?" yunho asks, suddenly angry. "you're my partner and my boyfriend - i have the right -"
"i know you do, yunho, i know, but this is different," changmin says, his grip tightening. "you have to trust me, please?"
"what does this mean? does this mean that you're going to deal with this yourself? alone?"
"i don't know," changmin mutters, glancing away, eyes flickering back and forth. "all i know is that i have to leave, i have to go away. it's too dangerous for you if i stay here."
"leave?" yunho asks, incredulous. "okay i know you mentioned leaving a minute ago, but it's just hitting me now - you want to leave when there's someone apparently out to kill you?"
"i'll find you when it's safe, okay? promise me you won't do anything stupid - like come find me."
"i can't -"
"promise me."
yunho's jaw tightens and he nods stiffly.
with a lingering touch to yunho's cheek and a chaste kiss, changmin's out the door.
yunho picks up the napkin with the bullet in it and follows, by instinct, but by the time he steps outside the restaurant, changmin's gone.
♕
yunho's a man that keeps his word; but this time, he doesn't need to think twice before breaking his promise to changmin.
the first thing he does while waiting for his team to arrive is tape off the "crime scene". the second thing he does is call kyuhyun.
"kyu, changmin's gone."
"gone? where? what?"
"someone took a shot at him and changmin left. i'm guessing he knows who's after him and why, but i need you to find that out for me."
"what do you need? tell me and i'll get it for you." kyuhyun says after a moment of shock.
"i need his history. go back ten years. anything remotely suspicious, mark it."
"got it," kyuhyun says, and yunho hears a pen scribbling. "anything else?"
"yes, crosscheck black .338 lapua magnum bullets with a gold, etched crown symbol on the base. if any cases come up, i want those too."
"you got it," kyuhyun repeats, and they disconnect.
just then, their team vehicle pulls up to the curb and yunho pockets his phone.
his team piles out of the car; jaejoong switches the engine off and tosses the keys to yunho.
"what happened here?"
"sniper shot; hit changmin's cup. bullet's here, i need one of you to send it over to ballistics. push it. i need results as soon as possible."
no one asks about changmin's whereabouts. tiffany bags the bullet into an evidence bag and leaves.
"i need a couple of you to work with the tech team to retrace the trajectory of the bullet - i want to know where the shooter was when he took the shot."
jaejoong and junsu nod before turning around.
"you two process the scene; there shouldn't be any evidence pertaining to our case, but just in case."
"yes sir," yoochun says, and ushers sooyoung into the restaurant.
watching his team members separate, yunho stands on the street corner, hands in pockets. his heart's palpitating fast in his chest cavity, but his face doesn't show it.
his phone rings.
his fingers are steady as he answers the call; it's kyuhyun.
"there're a few things that you should know," kyuhyun starts. "first, there's a three year gap in changmin's history. age 19-22. there's nothing on him during those three years. no credit card bills, no parking tickets, nothing. second, the search on the bullet brought up lot of unsolved cases."
"how many?" yunho asks, voice cracking.
"two hundred and seventeen."
yunho nearly drops his phone.
"anything else?"
"…yeah," kyuhyun exhales. "the etching on the bullet is a known mark for the russian mob."
"…the russian mob," yunho repeats slowly. "you're telling me changmin's involved with the russian mob?"
"it… seems that way," kyuhyun replies, unsure of what to say.
yunho takes a deep breath.
"okay, i want everything you can get on that russian mob. set up a trace on changmin's mobile and all his credit cards, and send his picture over to customs; i don't want him leaving the city."
"yes, okay," kyuhyun says, and before he can say anything else, yunho hangs up.
running his hand over his face, yunho paces the block.
jaejoong and junsu return then.
"we got the trajectory; the shooter was on the roof of the building. we went up there to look around, and there were marks that appeared to be those of a rifle tripod."
"anything else?"
"no, unfortunately."
yoochun and sooyoung exit the restaurant, pulling off their gloves.
"there's absolutely nothing in there," yoochun says, tossing his gloves into the trashcan.
"let's head back then, we'll leave it up to the others to finish processing the crime scene," yunho says brusquely, and turns towards the car.
the other four exchange looks behind his back.
♕
yunho's asleep, face down in his arms, back bent awkwardly over the desk.
"should we wake him up and send him home?" tiffany whispers, hand on the door handle.
"he hasn't left the office in days," junsu adds, sounding worried.
"you all know him," jaejoong says, ushering the others out of yunho's office and closing the door. "he's not gonna go home until we find out what the hell happened to changmin."
"yeah, he's right," yoochun mutters, and collapses onto his desk chair.
"well i guess we'd better get back to work," tiffany says, and turns towards her computer.
"i'll call kyuhyun and see if he has any new leads," jaejoong adds, and proceeds to dial.
a minute later, he's springing up from his seat and sprinting to yunho's office.
"yunho, wake up!" jaejoong yells, making sure the door slams in its frame when he enters.
"what?" yunho garbles, head snapping up.
"you're gonna want to know this," jaejoong says, and plunks a file down on yunho's table. yunho flips it open, rubs at his eyes, and peers at the pages.
jaejoong nearly pees his pants when yunho jumps up from his chair and stalks out the room.
"conference room!" he bellows down to his team, and walks as fast as his legs will take him to the aforementioned room.
yunho's in the middle of brewing a big mug of coffee when the rest of the team enters the room and takes their seats.
"okay," yunho says, sipping at his coffee. "so kyuhyun just found information that's probably gonna help us a lot."
yunho places his mug down. jaejoong notices his hand shaking.
"changmin was an Interpol agent a few years back. he was assigned on a case to get close to a man suspected to be behind cases of genocide in remote areas of russia."
"genocide?"
"russia?"
"interpol?"
"shut up and let me talk," yunho snaps. he runs his hand over his face and feels stubble beginning to grow.
"according to the interpol file, he managed to get close enough to the leader of the russian mob in order to obtain hard evidence against the man in question for genocide. as the mission wrapped up, the russian mob, of course, started tracking him down. they lost him near mongolia.
"ever since then, according to protocol, changmin's gotten a new identity, a new life. but i guess there's only so much that can hide you from the fucking russian mob."
yunho sinks into a seat.
"the carving on the casing is a well known mark of the mob. but no government agency has ever been able to take the entire mob down, because whenever a hit has occurred, there's either no evidence, or evidence that points to one sole person."
"didn't changmin manage to take down the boss?"
"you don't think they elect new ones?" yunho asks, eyebrow crooked.
"right."
"how the bloody fuck are we going to get him back?" jaejoong demands.
"i wish i knew," yunho replies, voice suddenly that much weaker. "i wish i knew."
♕
"garrett," changmin hisses into the receiver. "i need the intel."
"it's not easy to retrieve, max, i need more time."
"more time and i'm dead," changmin deadpans, fingers gripping the receiver so tight they turn translucent.
"24 hours. i'll get it to you in 24 hours."
"if you don't, you have my death on your hands," changmin whispers, and hangs up.
stepping out of the phone booth, he tugs a hat on and turns the corner, disappearing into the shadows off a street in paris.
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⇾ tvxq | yunho/changmin
⇾ 1,644 words
⇾ PG-13
✳ continuation of operation pierrot.
they hit the ground amidst a shower of glass.
taking cover under the table, they wait for more bullets to be fired - but there were no more.
"are you hurt? are you okay?" changmin asks, reaching out to grasp yunho's arm.
"i'm fine, are you hurt?"
"no, no i'm not hurt…" changmin replies, voice trailing off as he catches sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
as yunho pulls out his phone to call his team, changmin takes advantage of yunho being distracted to crawl out towards where the lone bullet casing lay.
grabbing a napkin, changmin picks up the casing gingerly. as the patrons of the restaurant recover from the shock, changmin experiences a whole new level of fear. the bullet lying in the middle of his palm is carbon black - and right on the base, there's something etched in gold: ♅
changmin's breath stills in trepidation.
"min?" yunho says, placing a hand on changmin's shoulder.
changmin jumps a meter into the air.
"what's wrong?" yunho asks, immediately alert.
"um," changmin says hurriedly. pulling yunho back under the table, changmin drops the bullet and grasps yunho's hands in his.
"yunho you need to promise me something," changmin whispers.
"what is it?"
"you need to promise me that whatever happens, you don't come looking for me."
"what's going to happen? where're you going?" yunho presses, goosebumps rising on his arms.
"i can't tell you," changmin says, frazzled.
"why? because i might get hurt?" yunho asks, suddenly angry. "you're my partner and my boyfriend - i have the right -"
"i know you do, yunho, i know, but this is different," changmin says, his grip tightening. "you have to trust me, please?"
"what does this mean? does this mean that you're going to deal with this yourself? alone?"
"i don't know," changmin mutters, glancing away, eyes flickering back and forth. "all i know is that i have to leave, i have to go away. it's too dangerous for you if i stay here."
"leave?" yunho asks, incredulous. "okay i know you mentioned leaving a minute ago, but it's just hitting me now - you want to leave when there's someone apparently out to kill you?"
"i'll find you when it's safe, okay? promise me you won't do anything stupid - like come find me."
"i can't -"
"promise me."
yunho's jaw tightens and he nods stiffly.
with a lingering touch to yunho's cheek and a chaste kiss, changmin's out the door.
yunho picks up the napkin with the bullet in it and follows, by instinct, but by the time he steps outside the restaurant, changmin's gone.
♕
yunho's a man that keeps his word; but this time, he doesn't need to think twice before breaking his promise to changmin.
the first thing he does while waiting for his team to arrive is tape off the "crime scene". the second thing he does is call kyuhyun.
"kyu, changmin's gone."
"gone? where? what?"
"someone took a shot at him and changmin left. i'm guessing he knows who's after him and why, but i need you to find that out for me."
"what do you need? tell me and i'll get it for you." kyuhyun says after a moment of shock.
"i need his history. go back ten years. anything remotely suspicious, mark it."
"got it," kyuhyun says, and yunho hears a pen scribbling. "anything else?"
"yes, crosscheck black .338 lapua magnum bullets with a gold, etched crown symbol on the base. if any cases come up, i want those too."
"you got it," kyuhyun repeats, and they disconnect.
just then, their team vehicle pulls up to the curb and yunho pockets his phone.
his team piles out of the car; jaejoong switches the engine off and tosses the keys to yunho.
"what happened here?"
"sniper shot; hit changmin's cup. bullet's here, i need one of you to send it over to ballistics. push it. i need results as soon as possible."
no one asks about changmin's whereabouts. tiffany bags the bullet into an evidence bag and leaves.
"i need a couple of you to work with the tech team to retrace the trajectory of the bullet - i want to know where the shooter was when he took the shot."
jaejoong and junsu nod before turning around.
"you two process the scene; there shouldn't be any evidence pertaining to our case, but just in case."
"yes sir," yoochun says, and ushers sooyoung into the restaurant.
watching his team members separate, yunho stands on the street corner, hands in pockets. his heart's palpitating fast in his chest cavity, but his face doesn't show it.
his phone rings.
his fingers are steady as he answers the call; it's kyuhyun.
"there're a few things that you should know," kyuhyun starts. "first, there's a three year gap in changmin's history. age 19-22. there's nothing on him during those three years. no credit card bills, no parking tickets, nothing. second, the search on the bullet brought up lot of unsolved cases."
"how many?" yunho asks, voice cracking.
"two hundred and seventeen."
yunho nearly drops his phone.
"anything else?"
"…yeah," kyuhyun exhales. "the etching on the bullet is a known mark for the russian mob."
"…the russian mob," yunho repeats slowly. "you're telling me changmin's involved with the russian mob?"
"it… seems that way," kyuhyun replies, unsure of what to say.
yunho takes a deep breath.
"okay, i want everything you can get on that russian mob. set up a trace on changmin's mobile and all his credit cards, and send his picture over to customs; i don't want him leaving the city."
"yes, okay," kyuhyun says, and before he can say anything else, yunho hangs up.
running his hand over his face, yunho paces the block.
jaejoong and junsu return then.
"we got the trajectory; the shooter was on the roof of the building. we went up there to look around, and there were marks that appeared to be those of a rifle tripod."
"anything else?"
"no, unfortunately."
yoochun and sooyoung exit the restaurant, pulling off their gloves.
"there's absolutely nothing in there," yoochun says, tossing his gloves into the trashcan.
"let's head back then, we'll leave it up to the others to finish processing the crime scene," yunho says brusquely, and turns towards the car.
the other four exchange looks behind his back.
♕
yunho's asleep, face down in his arms, back bent awkwardly over the desk.
"should we wake him up and send him home?" tiffany whispers, hand on the door handle.
"he hasn't left the office in days," junsu adds, sounding worried.
"you all know him," jaejoong says, ushering the others out of yunho's office and closing the door. "he's not gonna go home until we find out what the hell happened to changmin."
"yeah, he's right," yoochun mutters, and collapses onto his desk chair.
"well i guess we'd better get back to work," tiffany says, and turns towards her computer.
"i'll call kyuhyun and see if he has any new leads," jaejoong adds, and proceeds to dial.
a minute later, he's springing up from his seat and sprinting to yunho's office.
"yunho, wake up!" jaejoong yells, making sure the door slams in its frame when he enters.
"what?" yunho garbles, head snapping up.
"you're gonna want to know this," jaejoong says, and plunks a file down on yunho's table. yunho flips it open, rubs at his eyes, and peers at the pages.
jaejoong nearly pees his pants when yunho jumps up from his chair and stalks out the room.
"conference room!" he bellows down to his team, and walks as fast as his legs will take him to the aforementioned room.
yunho's in the middle of brewing a big mug of coffee when the rest of the team enters the room and takes their seats.
"okay," yunho says, sipping at his coffee. "so kyuhyun just found information that's probably gonna help us a lot."
yunho places his mug down. jaejoong notices his hand shaking.
"changmin was an Interpol agent a few years back. he was assigned on a case to get close to a man suspected to be behind cases of genocide in remote areas of russia."
"genocide?"
"russia?"
"interpol?"
"shut up and let me talk," yunho snaps. he runs his hand over his face and feels stubble beginning to grow.
"according to the interpol file, he managed to get close enough to the leader of the russian mob in order to obtain hard evidence against the man in question for genocide. as the mission wrapped up, the russian mob, of course, started tracking him down. they lost him near mongolia.
"ever since then, according to protocol, changmin's gotten a new identity, a new life. but i guess there's only so much that can hide you from the fucking russian mob."
yunho sinks into a seat.
"the carving on the casing is a well known mark of the mob. but no government agency has ever been able to take the entire mob down, because whenever a hit has occurred, there's either no evidence, or evidence that points to one sole person."
"didn't changmin manage to take down the boss?"
"you don't think they elect new ones?" yunho asks, eyebrow crooked.
"right."
"how the bloody fuck are we going to get him back?" jaejoong demands.
"i wish i knew," yunho replies, voice suddenly that much weaker. "i wish i knew."
♕
"garrett," changmin hisses into the receiver. "i need the intel."
"it's not easy to retrieve, max, i need more time."
"more time and i'm dead," changmin deadpans, fingers gripping the receiver so tight they turn translucent.
"24 hours. i'll get it to you in 24 hours."
"if you don't, you have my death on your hands," changmin whispers, and hangs up.
stepping out of the phone booth, he tugs a hat on and turns the corner, disappearing into the shadows off a street in paris.
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