lock me up (in your heart) - [3/?]
title: lock me up (in your heart) - [3/?]
genre: romance, angst, detective and serial killer au, smut
warnings: not for the weak stomached, slight gore, eventual frick frack
description: studies show that patients who receive heart transplants experience a change in personality and Do Kyungsoo has a serial killer's heart.
a/n: this took awhile to write because of finals. wish me luck for exams? i hope you enjoy this. also, this is unbetad so i'm sorry if there are any typos or whatever
Every individual follows a pattern. The man to his right is a habitual smoker and a porn addict, possibly divorced and living alone. The woman sitting across him is ill, takes five to six pills of medicine every day and tries to live a healthy lifestyle but can’t help the attractive fizz of soft drinks and soda. To her left, a high school student sits, a dreamer and dancer, possibly, a trainee from some company.
Every individual follows a pattern, and if one looked close enough, it shows through the placement of fingers when a hand is relaxed, through the pallor of wrinkling skin and the scent of rotting teeth, through dreamy eyes and music blasted through earphones.
Jongin has known this ever since he was a child.
He knew from the very beginning, that he was a little different. While Sehun and Junmyeon played with other children, Jongin had always been contented in sitting back to watch and observe. He liked knowing people without having to talk to them, liked that he could tell what their story was with just one brief run of his eyes over what they wore, the dirt on their clothes, their habits and mannerisms.
His cousin and his brother had tried to bring him out of what they supposed was his ‘shell’ (even though the former had become some sort of a recluse later on), but when it was apparent that their schemes to integrate him into their little friendship circle wouldn’t work (Hyoyeon had cried when Jongin had outed her pickpocketing habits) Jongin had diverted his efforts and focus on other more important things.
He developed an interest in solving puzzles and had no trouble in remembering even the most trivial of things. Jongin became engrossed in almost everything he came across, was often praised for his outstanding performance in school and his unparalleled analytical skills, often scoring the best results in exams when all he did in class was sleep or skip it to learn more relevant things.
His brilliance though, had made him an outcast.
Other kids wanted to befriend him, to soften the cold prick that was Kim Jongin and bask in his little triumphs and glories whenever he won competitions and started solving crimes when he was only fourteen.
But that was it. None of them were actually interested in what he had to say, and truthfully, Jongin liked it that way.
He wanted nothing to do with anyone that went beyond being acquaintances. He only needed one friend and that could either be Sehun or his brother, and romance?
Romance was-and still is, tragically boring.
He had never had any romantic inclination towards someone, and although he’s never tried it, Jongin’s certain that it could never compare to the feeling of adrenaline running through his veins, the elevated beating of his heart whenever he was in a crime scene, the crazed look in his eyes when he was about to crack a case.
Romance is boring and love is just a disadvantage.
A woman’s voice makes him look up at the intercom. The train jolts to a halt, and Jongin stands up, flattening palms over the creases on the jeans Sehun had reluctantly let him borrow before he gets off the car and steps unto the platform.
He fishes out the worn map Junmyeon had given him, a tongue poking out to wet his lower lip as he traces the paper with a finger and stops at the nearest bookstore marked with a quirky looking legend. He smiles and puts it back in his pocket, sighing in content as he mutters.
“Okay D.O. Time to catch you.”
*
The scent of paper and ink dissipates in the air with an overwhelming sense of familiarity and comfort, plastic machinery under soft fingertips as polite thank you’s are exchanged with small smiles stretched over faces, cash gripped in one hand.
Kyungsoo says his goodbyes to the elderly Mrs. Lee with a soft wave and a genuine smile this time because he actually likes Mrs. Lee.
She doesn’t break off his routine.
Every day, he can expect her to drop by their little bookshop at nine o’clock in the morning, sharp. She’d always go over Isle 3 and pore over books on romance and love but she’d still end up buying another one of those encoding books for her online adult toy store. She’ll always greet Kyungsoo with a pleasant smile whenever she arrives at the counter, will linger for a small chitchat and blush when Kyungsoo compliments her new haircut or whatever the hell she did to make herself look pretty.
When she’s off to God knows where, Kyungsoo resumes reading his books and stops when the clock hits twelve noon. He’ll go out for lunch in the restaurant right across their shop that Minseok owns and order a salad that doesn’t really fill him up before he heads back to their shop to man the cash register again.
They shut down early, five o’clock at most, and he leaves for his Spartan-like home just two blocks away to do as he pleases.
Kyungsoo likes routine. It’s one of the things he’s had a high regard for ever since he became what he was.
The shop’s bell tinkles.
Kyungsoo looks up when an arm settles on the counter, a little startled when he sees to whom the arm is attached to. He has dark skin and hair, eyes sharp and lips plump, a grin stretched across his face to show off pearly white teeth and what Baekhyun would have called ‘a charming eye smile’, glasses neatly perched on a straight nose.
“May I help you?” he asks, putting aside his book.
A strange sort of tension fills the air and it leaves Kyungsoo discombobulated. He doesn’t know what to make of the man’s eyes roving every inch of his body, as if nitpicking his clothes, his hair, his hands. It is unsettling.
He doesn’t like it.
“I’d like to apply for a job.” The man says matter of factly, still grinning. Kyungsoo thinks that his smile is too forced, too stiff.
He should know.
“We’re not open for applications.” He replies.
It doesn’t deter the man though. If anything, his expression morphs into something like determination, licking his lips and leaning forward even further so that his face is a breath’s distance from Kyungsoo’s over the counter. “I saw an opening just yesterday night. A slot for someone familiar with codes.” Eyes narrow. “I think you’ll find my expertise…quite useful.”
“You don’t need to be familiar with codes to be able to sell them.” Kyungsoo manages to answer before Baekhyun emerges from his study, a grin on his face as his eyes bounce from Kyungsoo and this…stranger.
“Oh good, you applying?”
“Yes.” The man straightens up and offers his cousin a hand. “Kim Jongin.” He finishes it off with a disarming smile, straightening the creases off his cardigan and sliding the glasses up his nose. “Codes, ciphers. I’m good with anything.”
Baekhyun takes one sweeping look at Jongin before he turns to Kyungsoo with his signature bright smile. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think…” Kyungsoo hisses, eyes narrowed at Jongin before he proceeds to shoot his cousin a nasty glare. “That you should’ve told me about the job opening?”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “I knew you’d be like this.” He mutters before turning to Jongin. “Don’t mind the grumpy old man. You can start anytime tomorrow. Maybe, sort out that pile of new arrivals?” Baekhyun points at the boxes stacked neatly against a corner, courtesy of Kyungsoo.
“I can start today if you like.” Jongin offers and Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, mouth an ‘O’ before he breaks into a grin and side eyes Kyungsoo suggestively. “Very well. Kyungsoo will handle you.”
Kyungsoo grits his teeth and has to close his eyes and take a deep breath to make sure he doesn’t choke his stupid cousin with his stupid attemps at matchmaking to death.
“You’ll do it, right Soo?” Baekhyun says and doesn’t wait for answer before he returns to his study.
Kyungsoo frowns at Jongin, who surveys the bookshop with curious eyes before he meets Kyungsoo’s gaze and gives him a soft smirk that makes his stomach lurch.
He doesn’t like this…at all.
an hour ago
“Hello?” Chanyeol’s gruff voice greets him through the phone and Jongin winces, pulling the cap over his head a little lower to hide his frown.
“Stop sleeping at work. Junmyeon might be my brother but I won’t stop him from firing your ass if he catches you again.”
“I wasn’t-“
“Don’t lie. Your voice is already more than enough to tell me you’ve been sleeping, not to mention, you eat a heavy breakfast at around seven o’clock and have developed the pig’s disease of sleeping after eating. ” Jongin checks his watch and clucks his tongue. “It’s eight o’clock. You’ve been sleeping. Have you cracked the code yet?”
He hears Chanyeol sigh resolutely and groan, probably stretching.
“Nope.” Chanyeol says, emphasizing the P. “I tried checking even the most ancient of ciphers for reference but it seems to me like D.O invented his own. This is hard.”
Jongin nods. “Very well. Just tell me if you’re close to cracking it.”
“Is this the only reason why you called? Where are you by the way? We haven’t heard from you for days. Junmyeon’s about to shit his pants from worrying.”
Jongin pursed his lips and pulled the map neatly tucked in his cardigan. It has been three days of visiting bookshops and libraries and this small settlement in the quiet neighborhood just a few kilometers from the scene of the D.O’s last crime is his last stop.
“I’m across a bookshop that might lead us to our killer.”
“Wait, what? How did you figure that out?”
“God. I sometimes envy how mundane you people could get.” Jongin rolls his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious Chanyeol?” he hisses when the latter doesn’t answer him. “You said so yourself. D.O invented his own. This means our killer is well versed with codes!”
“Then why look for him in bookshops for god’s sake. He could be an IT agent, an encoder, I don’t know-“
“The messages.”
“The what?” Chanyeol says in an exasperated tone and Jongin can picture him with his eyebrows knitted, expression clearly showing his frustration.
It makes him crack a smile.
“How wonderful it would be if I could visit your funny little brains.” Jongin snarks. “The messages Park Chanyeol! Almost all of which are taken from ancient texts, words from the Rosetta stone, runes from the Vikings. God, he even took pains to paint hieroglyphics when he killed the prostitute in Seungso-dong. This means that our little killer is not only well versed in codes and ciphers, he is also an avid fan of history. And this bookshop is one of the few that specializes on historical books and codes. I just took the precaution of looking somewhere else. Took a while visiting libraries, comparing purchases to see if someone has been interested in both ciphers and history, but so far none. And here I am.”
“Are you sure this bookshop won’t waste our time?”
Jongin raises a brow. “Have I ever been wrong?”
When Chanyeol doesn’t answer, Jongin grins in triumph and crumples the map, tossing it to the nearest trash bin. “I’m going undercover which is why I called. Tell me everything there is to know about codes and ciphers.”
ii - iv
genre: romance, angst, detective and serial killer au, smut
warnings: not for the weak stomached, slight gore, eventual frick frack
description: studies show that patients who receive heart transplants experience a change in personality and Do Kyungsoo has a serial killer's heart.
a/n: this took awhile to write because of finals. wish me luck for exams? i hope you enjoy this. also, this is unbetad so i'm sorry if there are any typos or whatever
Every individual follows a pattern. The man to his right is a habitual smoker and a porn addict, possibly divorced and living alone. The woman sitting across him is ill, takes five to six pills of medicine every day and tries to live a healthy lifestyle but can’t help the attractive fizz of soft drinks and soda. To her left, a high school student sits, a dreamer and dancer, possibly, a trainee from some company.
Every individual follows a pattern, and if one looked close enough, it shows through the placement of fingers when a hand is relaxed, through the pallor of wrinkling skin and the scent of rotting teeth, through dreamy eyes and music blasted through earphones.
Jongin has known this ever since he was a child.
He knew from the very beginning, that he was a little different. While Sehun and Junmyeon played with other children, Jongin had always been contented in sitting back to watch and observe. He liked knowing people without having to talk to them, liked that he could tell what their story was with just one brief run of his eyes over what they wore, the dirt on their clothes, their habits and mannerisms.
His cousin and his brother had tried to bring him out of what they supposed was his ‘shell’ (even though the former had become some sort of a recluse later on), but when it was apparent that their schemes to integrate him into their little friendship circle wouldn’t work (Hyoyeon had cried when Jongin had outed her pickpocketing habits) Jongin had diverted his efforts and focus on other more important things.
He developed an interest in solving puzzles and had no trouble in remembering even the most trivial of things. Jongin became engrossed in almost everything he came across, was often praised for his outstanding performance in school and his unparalleled analytical skills, often scoring the best results in exams when all he did in class was sleep or skip it to learn more relevant things.
His brilliance though, had made him an outcast.
Other kids wanted to befriend him, to soften the cold prick that was Kim Jongin and bask in his little triumphs and glories whenever he won competitions and started solving crimes when he was only fourteen.
But that was it. None of them were actually interested in what he had to say, and truthfully, Jongin liked it that way.
He wanted nothing to do with anyone that went beyond being acquaintances. He only needed one friend and that could either be Sehun or his brother, and romance?
Romance was-and still is, tragically boring.
He had never had any romantic inclination towards someone, and although he’s never tried it, Jongin’s certain that it could never compare to the feeling of adrenaline running through his veins, the elevated beating of his heart whenever he was in a crime scene, the crazed look in his eyes when he was about to crack a case.
Romance is boring and love is just a disadvantage.
A woman’s voice makes him look up at the intercom. The train jolts to a halt, and Jongin stands up, flattening palms over the creases on the jeans Sehun had reluctantly let him borrow before he gets off the car and steps unto the platform.
He fishes out the worn map Junmyeon had given him, a tongue poking out to wet his lower lip as he traces the paper with a finger and stops at the nearest bookstore marked with a quirky looking legend. He smiles and puts it back in his pocket, sighing in content as he mutters.
“Okay D.O. Time to catch you.”
*
The scent of paper and ink dissipates in the air with an overwhelming sense of familiarity and comfort, plastic machinery under soft fingertips as polite thank you’s are exchanged with small smiles stretched over faces, cash gripped in one hand.
Kyungsoo says his goodbyes to the elderly Mrs. Lee with a soft wave and a genuine smile this time because he actually likes Mrs. Lee.
She doesn’t break off his routine.
Every day, he can expect her to drop by their little bookshop at nine o’clock in the morning, sharp. She’d always go over Isle 3 and pore over books on romance and love but she’d still end up buying another one of those encoding books for her online adult toy store. She’ll always greet Kyungsoo with a pleasant smile whenever she arrives at the counter, will linger for a small chitchat and blush when Kyungsoo compliments her new haircut or whatever the hell she did to make herself look pretty.
When she’s off to God knows where, Kyungsoo resumes reading his books and stops when the clock hits twelve noon. He’ll go out for lunch in the restaurant right across their shop that Minseok owns and order a salad that doesn’t really fill him up before he heads back to their shop to man the cash register again.
They shut down early, five o’clock at most, and he leaves for his Spartan-like home just two blocks away to do as he pleases.
Kyungsoo likes routine. It’s one of the things he’s had a high regard for ever since he became what he was.
The shop’s bell tinkles.
Kyungsoo looks up when an arm settles on the counter, a little startled when he sees to whom the arm is attached to. He has dark skin and hair, eyes sharp and lips plump, a grin stretched across his face to show off pearly white teeth and what Baekhyun would have called ‘a charming eye smile’, glasses neatly perched on a straight nose.
“May I help you?” he asks, putting aside his book.
A strange sort of tension fills the air and it leaves Kyungsoo discombobulated. He doesn’t know what to make of the man’s eyes roving every inch of his body, as if nitpicking his clothes, his hair, his hands. It is unsettling.
He doesn’t like it.
“I’d like to apply for a job.” The man says matter of factly, still grinning. Kyungsoo thinks that his smile is too forced, too stiff.
He should know.
“We’re not open for applications.” He replies.
It doesn’t deter the man though. If anything, his expression morphs into something like determination, licking his lips and leaning forward even further so that his face is a breath’s distance from Kyungsoo’s over the counter. “I saw an opening just yesterday night. A slot for someone familiar with codes.” Eyes narrow. “I think you’ll find my expertise…quite useful.”
“You don’t need to be familiar with codes to be able to sell them.” Kyungsoo manages to answer before Baekhyun emerges from his study, a grin on his face as his eyes bounce from Kyungsoo and this…stranger.
“Oh good, you applying?”
“Yes.” The man straightens up and offers his cousin a hand. “Kim Jongin.” He finishes it off with a disarming smile, straightening the creases off his cardigan and sliding the glasses up his nose. “Codes, ciphers. I’m good with anything.”
Baekhyun takes one sweeping look at Jongin before he turns to Kyungsoo with his signature bright smile. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think…” Kyungsoo hisses, eyes narrowed at Jongin before he proceeds to shoot his cousin a nasty glare. “That you should’ve told me about the job opening?”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “I knew you’d be like this.” He mutters before turning to Jongin. “Don’t mind the grumpy old man. You can start anytime tomorrow. Maybe, sort out that pile of new arrivals?” Baekhyun points at the boxes stacked neatly against a corner, courtesy of Kyungsoo.
“I can start today if you like.” Jongin offers and Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, mouth an ‘O’ before he breaks into a grin and side eyes Kyungsoo suggestively. “Very well. Kyungsoo will handle you.”
Kyungsoo grits his teeth and has to close his eyes and take a deep breath to make sure he doesn’t choke his stupid cousin with his stupid attemps at matchmaking to death.
“You’ll do it, right Soo?” Baekhyun says and doesn’t wait for answer before he returns to his study.
Kyungsoo frowns at Jongin, who surveys the bookshop with curious eyes before he meets Kyungsoo’s gaze and gives him a soft smirk that makes his stomach lurch.
He doesn’t like this…at all.
an hour ago
“Hello?” Chanyeol’s gruff voice greets him through the phone and Jongin winces, pulling the cap over his head a little lower to hide his frown.
“Stop sleeping at work. Junmyeon might be my brother but I won’t stop him from firing your ass if he catches you again.”
“I wasn’t-“
“Don’t lie. Your voice is already more than enough to tell me you’ve been sleeping, not to mention, you eat a heavy breakfast at around seven o’clock and have developed the pig’s disease of sleeping after eating. ” Jongin checks his watch and clucks his tongue. “It’s eight o’clock. You’ve been sleeping. Have you cracked the code yet?”
He hears Chanyeol sigh resolutely and groan, probably stretching.
“Nope.” Chanyeol says, emphasizing the P. “I tried checking even the most ancient of ciphers for reference but it seems to me like D.O invented his own. This is hard.”
Jongin nods. “Very well. Just tell me if you’re close to cracking it.”
“Is this the only reason why you called? Where are you by the way? We haven’t heard from you for days. Junmyeon’s about to shit his pants from worrying.”
Jongin pursed his lips and pulled the map neatly tucked in his cardigan. It has been three days of visiting bookshops and libraries and this small settlement in the quiet neighborhood just a few kilometers from the scene of the D.O’s last crime is his last stop.
“I’m across a bookshop that might lead us to our killer.”
“Wait, what? How did you figure that out?”
“God. I sometimes envy how mundane you people could get.” Jongin rolls his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious Chanyeol?” he hisses when the latter doesn’t answer him. “You said so yourself. D.O invented his own. This means our killer is well versed with codes!”
“Then why look for him in bookshops for god’s sake. He could be an IT agent, an encoder, I don’t know-“
“The messages.”
“The what?” Chanyeol says in an exasperated tone and Jongin can picture him with his eyebrows knitted, expression clearly showing his frustration.
It makes him crack a smile.
“How wonderful it would be if I could visit your funny little brains.” Jongin snarks. “The messages Park Chanyeol! Almost all of which are taken from ancient texts, words from the Rosetta stone, runes from the Vikings. God, he even took pains to paint hieroglyphics when he killed the prostitute in Seungso-dong. This means that our little killer is not only well versed in codes and ciphers, he is also an avid fan of history. And this bookshop is one of the few that specializes on historical books and codes. I just took the precaution of looking somewhere else. Took a while visiting libraries, comparing purchases to see if someone has been interested in both ciphers and history, but so far none. And here I am.”
“Are you sure this bookshop won’t waste our time?”
Jongin raises a brow. “Have I ever been wrong?”
When Chanyeol doesn’t answer, Jongin grins in triumph and crumples the map, tossing it to the nearest trash bin. “I’m going undercover which is why I called. Tell me everything there is to know about codes and ciphers.”
ii - iv