Dangerous Mind (2 PM, DBSK, SHINee fanfic) Chapter 4
Classes had just been let out for the weekend, and the little group climbed the stairs towards the entrance. It was an older building, a nice one, but definitely had seen its days. The stragglers dotted the hallways as Onew led them towards the principal’s office, a place he had been to before.
“Taemin was being bullied and his parents couldn’t make it so I volunteered to go in their place,” he shrugged, smiling slightly. “Taemin was more excited for me to be there than he would have been.” His voice dropped and his shoulders sagged slightly. Key kissed his cheek gently and held his hand tightly. Onew squeezed it back as they came to a stop in front of the office. Opening it, they came upon a receptionist who looked as though she was shutting down for the day. She looked openly surprised about their sudden intrusion but composed herself and smiled professionally.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Yes, we’d like to see the principal. We have some questions we’d like to ask him,” Onew said politely, giving her his best smile. In response her cheeks went red-she obviously recognized them-and nodded hurriedly, clearing her throat and picking up the phone.
“Sir there are some young gentlemen here who would like to see you. I believe it’s about Lee Taemin sir. Alright I’ll send them in.” She hung up and motioned to the door with her hand and bowed slightly. “He said to go right in.”
“Thank-you,” Onew smiled, bowing back, and the four entered the office.
Principal Choi was seated speaking on the phone with someone, glasses over his kind eyes. When the four celebrities saw him they bowed respectfully and he motioned for them to sit without a word. “Yes by all means sir, you’re welcome to come by. Alright see you in a bit.” He hung up the phone, and smiled at the young men before him. “So how is Taemin doing? I hear he didn’t show up for class again, due to an illness I believe?”
“Uh…yeah I guess something like that,” Key replied awkwardly, unsure of how to speak. Jaejoong took over for him.
“Sir, we’d like to know about the murders that had happened in this school, and that teacher who was dismissed for beating children,” he said smoothly, “can you tell us what happened?”
“Ah I see.” Principal Choi leaned back in his leather seat and sighed, taking off his glasses. “You mean Pan Min. You see that woman has been teaching in this school for several years. It seemed like there was something strange about her, the children didn’t like her and she never met any of the parents. But we received no complaints about her from the parents or the students except the normal things they say about us. It was just us who had a real problem with her, but that wasn’t enough to dismiss her. She was a strange woman, always kept to herself and doing unusual things. I don’t know all the details but I do know that when she was caught hurting her students it was the perfect excuse we had to get rid of her. That was last year, and now at the start of this year the murders started happening.”
He sighed but continued. “When the first child went missing we thought it was just a coincidence that he was from our school, but then more started to disappear and we were forced to up security. We asked that parents of the children wait outside the doors for their kids to come out rather than in their vehicles. Security guards stood by the entrances onto the grounds and if a parent was unable to come pick them up they’re supposed to call us to tell us the name of the person picking up the child. Then the students teachers would walk the kids out to their parents or guardians to ensure they were completely safe. Nonetheless two more disappearances occurred and that brought us to a total of seven students who were murdered from this school. I don’t know for certain but I’m pretty sure it was Pan Min who did it, but when the police went to investigate, her house had been abandoned and she all but disappeared off the face off the earth.” Then he gasped, and his eyes widened. “Lee Taemin, he didn’t-”
“Sir could we get Pan Min’s address?” Yunho asked, easily avoiding the question, “we’re just curious about this entire murder case that’s all…curiosity killed the cat as they say.”
Principal Choi looked suspicious but he nodded without argument and fetched a document. After flipping through a few pages he pulled one out and scribbled it down quickly. “I really shouldn’t be doing this…worker’s confidentiality, but I don’t seem the harm in giving you a useless address.”
“Thank-you sir,” Onew smiled, taking the note and stuffing it in his pocket. “Now we should be leaving. Thank-you very much for your time and Taemin will be back soon enough after he’s all rested and better.” And the four young men left with a quick bow. Once they were in the hallway, Jaejoong pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call.
“Hello?” came Yoochun’s voice.
“Yoochun it’s me. Can you look up this name? Pan Min, find any information about her and send it to us. We’re going to check her place out now.”
“Alright, will do. And Jaejoong hyung….” Yoochun sounded hesitant. “There’s been a new development. Another video came, and the woman, she’s planning to broadcast the videos of the maknae’s over the internet. She said it probably won’t happen until they’re close to…death, but please hyung we have to find them soon. There’s more at stake than before.”
“Don’t worry Chun we’ll find them,” his hyung assured him, “just go find out what you can about that name and we’ll figure it out.” He hung up and they left the building, Yunho calling Jaebeom to meet them at the address. For once they felt hope bubbling deep down. Maybe they really will save their maknaes in the end.
~*~*~*~
Jaebeom and Taecyeon sped off in their car towards the address Yunho had given them. Thankfully it was close and they arrived earlier than the other four. As they waited in the car, Taecyeon smiled at Jae who smiled back.
“You know, I really can’t believe you’re back,” he said, shaking his head, “I never thought you’d come back, no matter how hard I prayed you would, there was still so much doubt.”
“I know, and I didn’t think I would either, but I guess I knew something bad was going to happen and I needed to be here. The last thing I expected though was to find that Chansung had been kidnapped and is being tortured.” Jae sighed and leaned his head against the head rest. “But I think we’re getting closer, I can feel it. This woman might really be who we’re looking for Taec.”
“You know I really could kiss you right now.” And before Jae could say anything snarky, Taec leaned over and planted his lips firmly over his, his words fleeing quickly. They sat there kissing for a long moment, when Taecyeon suddenly broke away and, cheeks burning, turned his head to face the window. Jae sat stunned in the driver’s seat-which almost cost Taecyeon his life-and then his hand shakily came up to his lips as if he couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Taecyeon cleared his throat and kept his eyes firmly on the scenery outside.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that…I don’t know what I was thinking,” he whispered. He stared as a snow flake drifted down and landed on the passenger window, a sign that winter had finally begun. More snowflakes were quick to follow and Taecyeon shivered despite the heat being on inside the vehicle.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Jae whispered, and Taec turned to him in surprise. “I kind of liked it actually.” He smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips to Taec’s a little more roughly than the younger man.
When they had parted they saw the other vehicle was pulling up behind them and after a quick, shy look passed between them they slid out, pulling on their gloves and hoodies, making sure to keep as inconspicuous as possible. Jaejoong, Yunho, Onew and Key got out of their vehicle as well and greeted the other two and then turned to the house that stood before them.
It looked empty and lifeless, as if no one had lived in it for a long time. Cautiously they crept up the sidewalk and up the stairs, reaching the old, worn and rickety patio. The snow was coming down harder now, and they all huddled close together for more warmth as Yunho jiggled the doorknob. Surprisingly it opened with ease and with one quick glance over their shoulders, they slid inside, closing the door behind them. Once inside, they noticed how dusty and ill-kept everything was. Furniture had been covered with white sheets, and cobwebs lined the nooks and crannies of the building. Dust covered everything like the blanket of snow that was forming outside. As far as they could tell there was no life and hadn’t been any life for at least a year.
Yunho led the group around, searching for anything that could confirm their suspicions. As they walked they passed a little clump of dusty pictures, one of which Onew picked up and brushed off the dust. Then he gasped and stared more closely at the picture.
“Hyungs? Look at this!” he exclaimed, “doesn’t he look familiar to you?”
As the group huddled around Onew and the picture, they were staring down at a family portrait. And the man staring up at them was none other than Detective Lee…. The phone ringing made them all jump sky high and Jaejoong fumbled to get his phone. Shakily he answered it and pressed it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Jaejoong hyung? We found some information on this Pan Min.” It was Junsu, and he sounded anxious. “Apparently there was a girl by her name adopted into a family when she was three years old. It was said that her adopted mother couldn’t have any children so they decided to adopt a child. Three years later the mother got pregnant and she gave birth to a boy. Not much is said about the girl after that, but when the boy turned twelve he mysteriously disappeared and his body was later found washed up along the river, the only known cause of death was he was strangled. At the same time that adopted girl disappeared and was presumed dead as well, and the case went cold when no murderer confessed, nor any evidence was found. And you’ll never guess who’s the adopted father in all this.”
“I think I know exactly who it is,” Jaejoong whispered, staring at the family picture, “and I think that helps a lot. We’ll call you back when we find out more.” He hung up and relayed all the information back to his partners who stared at him wide-eyed.
“Wow…talk about a twist,” Yunho whispered, “so was she jealous of her younger brother? Or did he do something to provoke her?”
“I don’t know but the only person who would know is Detective Lee, and if he ever found out we were digging into this then he’d for sure have us locked in the house with guards at every entrance,” Taecyeon sighed, rubbing his temples. “I say we just find the bitch and get this all done and over with. Then we can deal with what her problem is with Detective Lee.”
“I agree,” Jaebeom nodded.
“The most important thing right now is saving our maknaes, which is exactly what we’re going to do,” Yunho said, and looked at the picture again. “Hold on…what’s that building in the background?”
They all peered closer and shrugged. “Maybe a summer house or something? It doesn’t look like it’s in the city at all…,” Key said, and then gasped with realization. “That could be where she took them!”
Jaejoong nodded and stuffed the picture in his jacket. “It looks like the only person now who can help us is the one man we can’t turn too. What are we going to do?”
There was no answer to that question.
~*~*~*~
Detective Lee stood in Principal Choi’s office, hat in hand. The principal told him to sit and he did so, and plunged straight into business.
“Now, what can I do for you detective? I already gave my statement to the police.”
“I understand, but I just have a few more questions to ask. I believe you have a student here by the name of Lee Taemin.” Principal Choi nodded, suddenly a little nervous. “And do you maybe remember two former students, Hwang Chansung and Shim Changmin?” Again a hesitant nod. “I’m sorry to inform you but the killer has moved on to take those three as victims. They’re still alive but we’ve realized the connection is that they all went to this school. And I believe there was a teacher here who was dismissed due to abusive behaviours? I wasn’t assigned yet but if you could…?”
“Yes, of course. Her name is Pan Min, a very strange woman. She just kind of disappeared after she was fired, the police wanted to ask her a few questions about the missing students.” He continued giving all the information he could about her and when he was done, Detective Lee thanked him and was ready to leave when the principal spoke up again.
“You know, those three are very lucky boys. They’re friends are doing everything they can to help them, I do hope they can find them in time. And then that killer will be locked away for good.”
Detective Lee’s hand paused on the doorknob and he spun around. “What?”
“Oh, four young men dropped in asking some questions about Pan Min not an hour ago. They, if I recall, belong to the same groups that those three belong too. Is something wrong?”
Quickly the detective collected himself and shook his head, forcing down the anger that bubbled fiercely through him. “No I’m alright, take care principal, I’ll call if I need anything else.”
The principal said his good-bye and Detective Lee left, feeling the anger rage more intensely with each step. His partner was waiting outside for him, smoking and shivering in the chilly winter day. When she noticed his expression she snuffed the cigarette and hurried to catch up to him. “Okay so what happened now?”
“Those little bastards,” he growled, flinging open the car door. “After I told them not too, they go and search for their friends anyway!”
“Really? That’s impressive,” she sighed, buckling her seatbelt. Upon seeing his expression she shook her head. “No, I’m not happy with them for disobeying us; it really is a dangerous situation, but they managed to figure this all out before we even could. That’s worth praising, and if they can find that woman before we can than we’ll be able to snag her quicker.”
“Yeah but that’s not the point! They shouldn’t be out searching in the first place! Not only is it dangerous but it’s an open invitation for the media to come and investigate and we don’t need that! Plus, what happens if they die right alongside their friends, then where will we be? Right back to square one, that’s where and that bloody woman will have friggin’ escaped with more dead young men on her bloodied hands. Aish those boys, what the hell do they think they’re doing?”
Detective Kwon remained silent as he sped down the street, heading towards DBSK’s apartment.
~*~*~*~
Taemin worked on both hands at once to make it go quicker. Bite by bite it was getting looser and looser, and whenever the woman came in for more abuse she normally left them seated where they were, so he would twist the cords around so the bitten parts were hidden. She never noticed. But each time she came in, it was as if a little of their lives were taken. Changmin was still lying on the table, his back bloodied and scarred with countless whip marks. Taemin had had his share of lashes as well, and because of the lack of clothing and cold water he now suffered from a fever that didn’t help the pain that came from the electric shock torture. Chansung was suffering from internal injuries, also due to the electric shock torture, but instead of getting whipped like the other two, his chest was covered in knife marks, some deeper than others.
They hadn’t eaten for days, sleep came reluctantly and when it did it was brief and full of nightmares. They were all suffering from colds and dehydration, and the abuse wasn’t helping. Fortunately she did ease up a little more-probably noticing their dwindling lifespan-and it gave Taemin more of an opportunity to escape. He was surprised that the woman hadn’t noticed the bite marks along his wrist every time she came in, but he was glad all the same. At least she wasn’t suspecting anything. But then that all changed.
When she came the next round, she walked over to Changmin and pressed a hand to his damp forehead. Then she tsked and moved over to Chansung, doing the same thing. When she moved over to Taemin, she grabbed his chin and jerked it out, shaking her head.
“What is wrong with you boys? You’re lasting a lot less than the other boys, why is that? I want you alive for as long as I can, it’s my only source of fun.”
Suddenly Taemin remembered where he had heard her voice and he gasped, eyes widening. “I know you! You’re that teacher at my school!” With that her hand came out of nowhere and her nails scratched his cheek. Blood trickled down and he gritted his teeth against the surprising pain.
“Don’t you dare speak you hear me?” She grabbed a pair of pliers and cut his cuffs, and shoved him to the ground. “I don’t want you ever mentioning that pathetic place ever again!” and she stepped on his back with a heeled foot, glaring at the other two. “And that goes the same for you too! I may have been your teacher back then but now I’m just your executioner! Tie him back up, I don’t want to see your faces.” And with that she stormed out of the room as her guard dragged Taemin back to the chair, the boy too tired to do absolutely anything. The only thing he could manage was to stare down at the cuffs that littered the floor. He had been so close to escaping and now he had to start all over again. Chansung and Changmin noticed it too but they remained silent, like they had become hours previously. Nonetheless, as soon as the guard had left Taemin leaned down and began gnawing at the cuffs, refusing to let exhaustion defeat him.
The woman didn’t come back for a long time. As Taemin worked away, he suddenly felt the cuffs give and paused. Chansung looked at him curiously and caught Taemin was smiling. Actually smiling, and glanced down to see that his flex cuffs now laid on the floor next to the other ones. He sat up and whispered to Changmin, who opened his eyes sleepily. Taemin examined his free hands with awe and then stood, shakily at first but then got a better footing and glanced up at the vent over his head. Slowly, wincing in pain, he climbed onto the chair and then had a burst of adrenaline coursing through his body. He was free! He had managed to break through his cuffs and could now escape! Turning to his hyungs he made to speak but instead only a hoarse voice emitted from his throat. He cleared it before speaking again.
“I promise hyungs I’ll save you,” he whispered, lifting his arms to open the vent. Then with a deep breath he grabbed the inside of it and used all the energy he could to hoist himself upwards. And then he was gone, and the vent had been closed as if it had never been opened in the first place. Chansung and Changmin looked at each other. They knew that when the woman found out Taemin had escaped they would be the ones she’d take it out on, but at least he had managed to escape.
As if on cue, the door opened and Changmin and Chansung closed their eyes, preparing for the worst as the woman’s gaze settled on the empty seat.
Her scream of rage reached Taemin’s ears in the vent as he climbed as quietly as he could, inching closer and closer to the exit. He could feel the cool air and paused when he heard her scream, fear for his hyungs washing over him like an icy wave. He knew that he was the only one who could have escaped that way but he hadn’t realized what she would do when she found out. Hesitantly he glanced at the exit and then back to where he had come from. Changmin’s voice echoed in his mind.
“Right now we need to think of a way to get out of here.” Swallowing he crawled onwards, and reached out to open the vent.
And then a cold draft hit him and he stumbled outside, snow freezing his feet with every uneasy step. But he didn’t stop to think about anything else. Adrenaline pumped through his system suddenly, and he was running, running faster than he ever had before. Instinct drove him forward, twisting, jumping, ducking under trees and branches, sliding and slipping over the slippery snow and leaves. In the distance he was aware of a woman shouting and dogs barking and that drove him forward. He should have known that woman would have guard dogs, it makes perfect sense. Since he was already free he wasn’t going back unless he had the police, or even his hyungs with him. His promise to his two hyungs resounded in his mind as he ran, when he suddenly came out onto asphalt. He stood, panting heavily, the adrenaline pumping intensely through his body, and he glanced in both directions, wondering which one to take.
Suddenly something bright came over the bend, and Taemin put his hand up to block out the blinding light. They were car lights, and fear took over him. What if she had found him? It would mean a very bad end if that was the case, but as the car rolled to a stop, he spotted someone unfamiliar in the driver seat, looking at him worriedly.
Just like that the adrenaline dissolved and Taemin felt his knees buckle under him. The car tilted to the side as he felt, the ground rushing up to meet him at a dizzying speed. The last thing he saw was someone leaning over him and then it disappeared, endless blackness taking its place.
~*~*~*~
The woman whirled on her heel and stormed over to Chansung. She grabbed his neck and held it tightly, and he struggled to catch a breath that wouldn’t come.
“Did you really think you’d get away with this?” she hissed, her persona changing drastically. “Now that Taemin has escaped you’ll have to take his share of the fun, even if he returns. If he does he’s dead.” She held his throat until he started seeing black dots lining his vision. Then she let go and turned to Changmin, who barely moved as it was. Slowly she pulled out the knife she had used countless times on Chansung.
“And you, you’re probably the one who encourage all this aren’t you?” she said in the most venomous voice. “I knew you’d be trouble one way or another, why should I be surprised at this? But the punishment this time isn’t being whipped. Now you’re going to witness the death of someone dear.” And whirling around she drove the knife deep into Chansung’s chest, making him cry out in excruciating pain. Changmin sobbed as her hand dropped from the knife, and turned to him.
“If that knife is pulled out he’ll die…but I won’t do that…not yet. You can watch him die slowly. You let that brat escape and this is how you’ll pay.” With that she left, slamming the door shut behind her.
Chansung groaned, every time he moved was like hot burners shooting through his body. Changmin lost the will to speak long ago, so all he could was cry silently as the younger man suffered before him. The only thing he could keep telling himself was that Taemin was safe and hopefully help would come for them soon. Chansung wasn’t going to last much longer if they didn’t.
~*~*~*~
Onew received a call from his manager when they had returned to DBSK’s apartment. SHINee’s manager was at the hospital with stunning-and yet amazing-news. A woman had arrived at the hospital with a boy with severe injuries to his body, matching the description of Taemin. Immediately SM Entertainment was contacted as was their manager.
Onew stared in shock straight ahead of him, unable to comprehend what he was being told. Taemin, was safe. In the hospital, but alive, by the sounds of it. True the manager had said that Taemin was unconscious and suffering from several external as well as internal injuries. At that moment he was in surgery to suppress the internal bleeding found. Immediately hope flared through the other two groups.
“That means that Chansung and Changmin are alive too,” Junsu squeaked, hugging Yoochun tightly.
“We’re going over to see him now,” Jonghyun said, “apparently he’s suffered a lot of injuries and has a dangerously high fever. When he wakes up we’ll call you immediately.”
Yunho nodded, and patted Onew on the shoulder. “Go be with your maknae, and let us take care of the rest. We’ll find the other two soon enough, and hopefully he wakes up soon to help us out a little bit.” Onew nodded and the four left quietly and quickly. They had just left when Detective Lee stormed up to the apartment building.
Pounding on the door, he waited until the door was opened and stared down a startled Junsu, who looked so timid and terrified at the sight.
“You’d better let me in right now, and I want some explanations,” the detective snapped, and Junsu leapt out of the way, letting him storm past the singer in a rage. He stomped all the way to the living room and stopped, crossed his arms and glared at the group. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I specifically told you not to leave this building, let alone go after that madwoman! Do you know how dangerous this is if she were to find out someone was looking for her? She might as well kill all three victims quicker.”
“Actually there are only two captives now sir,” Yunho said calmly, ignoring everything else. “Taemin’s been found alive, he’s in the hospital now. When he wakes up he’ll be able to give you all the information you need.” His eyes glinted with a severity that was rare in DBSK’s leader. “But maybe you can tell us something about your connection with the killer. Her name is Pan Min.”
“Connection, what the hell are you talking about? I have no connection with that bitch,” the detective spat, and Jaejoong raised his eyebrows.
“Then how do you explain this?” he explained, pulling out the picture, “this is you isn’t it? And this was found at the killer’s house.”
Detective Lee snatched the photo from him and glared at it but then paused. And then his face paled. “Where did you say you go this?”
“At Pan Min’s house,” Jaebeom repeated, stepping closer, “you know who she is don’t you? And that means you know where that building is too?”
For once Detective Lee was at a loss for words. He stared at the picture with complete shock, unsure of how to react.
***
okay so it would seem that this will be a rather short story...maybe 1, 2 chapters more, which is good because that means I can actually focus on my studies a little easier :P