[Fanfic] In the Dark {Chapter 10: Temptations}
FINALLY!! Yes I know xD
Title: In The Dark {Chpt. 10: Temptations}
Author: Roxy (lady_monochrome)
Pairing(s): MinJae, YunJae, YooSu, HoSu, Yunho x Boa
Length: Chapter 10 of 15
Word Count: 7,355
Genre: AU, Drama, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological
Rating: R
Warning(s): Serial murder, explicit crime scenes, fucked up sociopathic individuals, drug abuse and prostitution.
Summary: Young Detective Shim was awarded in his short successful career with a major crime investigation. A series of murders have been terrorizing the citizens of Seoul and it’s up to him, and his team, to solve the crime before more people could fall victim to the vicious killer.
A/N: I know a lot of you just want to kill me… so I won’t say anything else out here Dx Enjoy the new chapter =D
God on your left, the devil on your right
They whisper the love song in the back of your hand.
Blue Butterfly by Violet UK
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Monday Afternoon
3:11 pm
At Seoul Homicide things were becoming hectic. A triple murder here, a suspicious suicide there, a stabbing over there. The panorama was simply desolate and the detectives were rushing in and out of the building in search of clues, in pursuit of suspects or on their way to another crime scene. Long days and even longer nights characterized their work schedule, some of them going on for more than forty eight hours in which they had to collect the most evidence possible. But among them was detective Shim Changmin, who, like the others, was rushing into the building but unlike the others his case spammed months of murder. Now he finally has a potential suspect, a man that could be hard to catch and convict even with the strong evidence against him. The detective walks into the building with his brow furrowed in thought; his brain moving faster than his feet could carry him to the lab.
“How do you convict a man who has already been adopted by society as a poster child to their government?”
When Changmin entered the lab he was received by the ever perky receptionist at the front desk. “Why hello there Detective Shim!! It’s been forever since I last saw you down here. Forgetting about the poor servitude already?”
Changmin bowed to her and smiled a little. “I’m sorry SoonYa. But come on, admit it, you know you like it when I send Top over so shut up.” The girl only smirked and leaned over her desk.
“Alright, you win. What can I do for you today detective?”
Changmin lifted the bag onto the counter. This time it wasn’t just the shopping bag he had gotten from Boa’s apartment but the evidence bag from the kit he kept in his car with all the necessary tags and labels detailing the first part of the chain of evidence. “These are leather shoes.” He said carefully while smirking slightly. SoonYa’s eyes began widening. “Italian leather shoes, with chunky mud all over them.”
“No way!!” The bag was snatched from the detective’s hands suddenly; the girl began feeling up the contents of the bag.
“Hey! Careful!”
“Oh my. . .” She smiled up at the detective. “Super mega priority comparison analysis with the shoe prints in murder scene number five of the White Lotus case.” She began scribbling on evidence labels, signing the thing, sticking one to the bag and giving a copy for the detective to keep. “Don’t worry Detective Shim. We’ll have these in no time. I’ll personally hand them to Young-sshi.”
“Thank you so much SoonYa. You’re always very diligent with your job. But I have to get back up there with the nobles, you know how it is.” He bowed again and waved goodbye as he smiled and the lady at the desk smiled and waved back. Things were starting to look great for the investigation but either way Changmin felt like there was a big gray cloud still ominously shadowing over it.
As Changmin walked up again he noticed all the chaos going on around and wondered what the hell was in the water to be making people kill each other in mass all of a sudden. A few floors up he finally made it to homicide and went directly into his boss’ office. He barely knocked before he pushed the door open. “Chief I-” All of a sudden his world came to a standstill and he hoped that he had managed to mask his face of disbelief. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Changmin was about to leave when a voice stopped him.
“It’s understandable seeing as you’re all so busy.” Senator Jung Yunho was sitting there in the office with the head of the Homicide Department. His potential suspect was sitting there, with his boss, chatting as if they were old friends.
“Again, I’m sorry.” Changmin bowed and was about to leave when he was stopped for a second time, it was his boss.
“Shim, what about this lead you told me about over the phone.” The twenty year veteran asked from the comfort of his desk.
“As soon as you’re done here I’ll gladly fill you in on it sir.”
Yunho smiled at the detective and turned completely around in his seat to face him. “Detective Shim I think there shouldn’t be a problem if you told him now. Isn’t your case the top priority in this office right now? Shouldn’t important things be discussed immediately?”
“With all due respect Senator Jung, this is a confidential matter and I’m very zealous of my investigations.”
“Alright Shim, we’ll talk about this in a moment.”
“Oh but I insist Chief Seon. As future governor of this city the White Lotus case is of utmost importance to me. I would like to know.”
“Don’t get too cocky senator. You’re not our governor yet.” Changmin couldn’t help it. The words simply splurged out of his mouth.
“Shim!!” The boss banged one of his heavy fists on the desk and stood up all in a single motion. He turned to the senator with apologetic eyes. “I’m so sorry Senator Jung.” He turned again towards his officer, anger in his eyes. “Detective Shim Changmin, you get out of this office right now, we’ll talk about your insubordination later.”
“Gladly.” Changmin turned around and made a show of almost banging the door. He was fuming on the inside; he couldn’t believe the nerve of that guy! The detective walked to his private office and closed himself in it. He paced around for over a minute then grabbed his hair as if he wanted to pull it all off. He wanted to scream, yell, kick something, strangle the bastard sitting only a few feet away from his office. With the urge to vent Changmin picked up his office phone and dialed his closest co-worker. The phone rang twice before there was an answer on the other side. “Top! Where are you?”
“I’m wrapping things up at the scene. What’s up?”
“I think I have him.” Silence followed that statement as if the two detectives were communicating telepathically.
“You have a name?”
“Jung Yunho.”
At the other side of the phone, somewhere in the city of Seoul, Top was standing among the many moving agents in a bloody murder scene. Crime scene specialists were grouping up the evidence bags, the medical examiner was giving the order for the body to be lifted and taken away, police officers were making sure the bystanders wouldn’t interrupt the process and city sanitation was beginning to move in to wash out the blood on the street. But Detective Choi was standing right in the middle of it all, gaping as if he had his partner right in front of him. “Changmin… Are you sure?”
“We only need the lab’s confirmation.”
Another minute of silence passed between the two detectives. “We’ll talk as soon as I get to see you.” Like that Top ended the call to attend to his next duty in the case he was currently investigating. Meanwhile Changmin sat back in his chair, letting the air escape his lungs in a big huff.
“I’m going to need a veeeery long vacation after all this is over.” Changmin thought.
There was a small rap on the door and whoever was on the other side didn’t wait for a reply before welcoming themselves into the office.
It was none other than Yunho himself. “Detective Shim I just wanted to let you know that I have spoken with your superior and I managed to convince him it was no big deal. You know about the earlier incident. And I’d like to apologize for my insistence but I’m a man to be involved in everything at once. It’s hard for me not to inquire.” Although apologies were streaming out of the senator’s mouth his tone was less than apologetic, especially accompanied by that insufferably smug smirk. “May I come in?”
Changmin offered no response but Yunho moved into the office anyway, closing the door behind him. “Shim Changmin…” His steps were short and measured his presence unnerving. “So you’re the infamous detective. Not a single case you haven’t been able to solve.”
“People tend to exaggerate.” Changmin wasn’t so easily threatened by this man’s presence even when he felt anxious on the inside, even if he felt ire on the inside, even if his blood pumped quickly screaming for vengeance.
“I agree. People do exaggerate. I always thought your cases just weren’t that complicated. But the people need a hero and they see a murder slayer in you or a sort of avenger at least.” His slow pacing took him all the way towards the detective’s desk. “Are you ready to take your vengeance detective Shim?”
Changmin was staring up intently at Yunho as the other came closer and closer towards him but stopped only at the other side of his desk. That damned smirk he was sporting as he made his last question gave the detective the urge to sneer but he held it in and only smiled a senile smile. “I don’t take vengeance on anyone senator. I make justice for the victims of murder. Just doing my job.”
Yunho finally sat on top of the detective’s desk, right at the corner on the opposite side of Changmin. With his upper body twisted in the detective’s direction he continued speaking, still that smirk never leaving his chiseled lips. “Victims of murder? You mean like Kim Jikyung?”
At the mention of Jaejoong’s sister’s name Changmin narrowed his eyes to a deep glare. “Yes…. Like Kim Jikyung… One of the many White Lotus victims.”
“Kim Jaejoong’s sister. Such a pity. She must have been a beautiful woman.”
“As if you don’t know.”
“Excuse me?”
“I know hypocrisy when I see it.”
“Oh, do you, now? Of course. One of the many qualities of a detective, to be cunning.”
“Listen Yunho. Don’t try to come here and-”
♪♫ Ring Ring~ ♪♫
“Excuse me detective. I must take this call.” The senator walked out of Changmin’s office to answer the call. He didn’t stray far simply stood outside the door with a smiling face that felt fake as hell, plastic as every other politician in the world. Meanwhile Changmin stood from his desk and went to stand by the window. He was trying to calm his nerves, calm his anxiety and the fiery ire that threatened to boil and overspill at any moment. The more he thought about it, the more Yunho seemed to fit the description of a psychopath. Many politicians in history had psychopathic features the most notable being the Roman emperors of yonder days. Yunho just had the mold. ‘A charismatic psycho for sure.’ Changmin thought. ‘But I can’t be the one to determine that. I have to call Simon.’ To be able to certify his suspicions he had to call one of his favorite people in all of Seoul. Professor Simon Webber. The man had been his Criminology and Psychopathology professor during his detective training. He was a top of the line forensic psychologist well known for mayor cases on violent crimes. This by far is the most violent Changmin had ever faced and with a psycho in the picture he was sure Prof. Webber would help him.
“Alright Detective Shim. Where were we?” Yunho said as he once more welcomed himself into the detective’s office and carefully closed the door shut. Immediately though he dropped the fake politician act and became dead serious. “So you’ve been visiting my wife detective Shim?” The statement took him by surprise. ‘Yunho knows of what happened earlier? That has got to mean he has people surveilling Boa’s apartment. So that means… he knows Jae is there right now!’ Changmin’s thoughts were interrupted as Yunho continued. “What could you possibly be doing in y wife’s apartment Detective Shim?”
“The last time I checked there was no wedding still and I don’t see why Boa and I can’t be friends.”
“Bullshit!” Yunho suddenly said with a harsher tone of voice. “Why don’t we start talking clear here detective? Boa is best friends with the brother of one of your precious victims and he so happens to be the guy whose ass you’re fucking right now. Or am I wrong?” Changmin didn’t answer he glared back at the senator from his corner next to the window. “I thought so. But that’s not the reason why you were there was it? The reason was entirely different and that reason had to do with me.” The direct confession left Changmin with a high up brow in expertly toned down shock. “As I’ve been told you were walking out of the building and into your car with a pair of something that belongs to me.” At this Yunho scuffed and leaned onto the desk both hands on the top while looking directly into Changmin’s eyes. “Well detective, you have me right here. You could just arrest me right now. Interrogate me for hours on end, call the rest of the unit and let them know that you, the Great Detective Shim, have once more solved a heinous crime. Come on detective. I’m right here. I won’t resist at all. In fact-” Yunho walked over to the detective and kneeled on the floor right in front of him as he extended his hands right in front of himself. “You got me.”
“You may think whatever you like of my competence as a detective but I’m certainly not stupid senator. I know what you’re trying to do here.” If he were to arrest the man at the moment the entire investigation, all the months of hard work and impossible investigating would go down the drain. Without any founded or confirmed evidence to direct him to Yunho he would be illegally arresting the man which would make the entire process in court fall apart once the trial begins. Changmin couldn’t do a thing until that test came back from the lab. “Why don’t you just get out of my office and go on with your day. Don’t worry you won’t miss me much.” Changmin was looking down on Yunho who was still kneeling on the floor. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you here soon enough.” He walked around the senator simply to step away from him and went all the way to the door. He opened it and made a gentlemanly gesture as if saying ‘after you sir.’
“Have you ever heard of the three temptations of Christ Detective Shim?” Again Changmin only offered a deep glare in return. “Well let me instruct you on Sunday school material. It’s quite the fascinating story where Jesus proves his powerful faith and that Satan has no power over him. I wonder if your faith is as grand as Christ’s.” Yunho got up from the floor, wiped the light dust from the knees of his pants and elegantly made his way towards the door. The moment he passed beside the tall detective he paused. “How strong is your faith? Think about it detective.” And he made his way out of the office and out of the building. Meanwhile Changmin was left with tumultuous thoughts cooking up a storm inside his brain.
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4:00 pm
“Where had you been?” Yoochun asked Junsu as soon as the man walked into the apartment. “You were just going out to have lunch with Yunho where did you disappear to?” Junsu rolled his eyes and walked past the living room into the kitchen.
“None of your business Chun. Don’t be such a drama queen.”
“Me the drama queen? Are you fucking kidding me?” No one needed to mingle more than an hour around the two of them before they noticed who the true king of drama was. Of course there was no way Junsu would admit to something like that because to him it was just the way he was. “Whatever. Hey Su, while you’re there bring me a beer would you?”
“Fuck you!” The squeaky man walked out of the kitchen and began walking towards his room when two slim arms held him around his waist, successfully halting his moves. “Chunieee, stop.”
“Nope.” Yoochun’s perfectly shaped lips began to leave traces of kisses and saliva down his lover’s neck, all the way down to his shoulder. When the man’s shirt was in the way Yoochun pulled at the flimsy sleeve to move it out of the way of his lips. Junsu was instantly melting into the caresses. There was little he could do when Yoochun took over him. There was little he wanted to do when Yoochun took over him. Junsu was sighing and mewling to every caress the other man laid on his body, especially the ones that the other’s wondering hands were giving him. Yoochun couldn’t stay in one place for long; his hands were trailing all over his lover’s torso. He applied more pressure in key spots and areas where he knew Junsu would melt on contact and melt he did. His man was made putty in his arms and he loved the control. Yoochun then swept Junsu off his feet, literally, carrying him into the latter’s bedroom and laying him not too gently on the king sized bed. An intense make out session began that soon turned into a full out wrestling session. The result was predictable; Junsu ended up writhing underneath a victorious Yoochun.
“Chunnie~~ Fuck me! Please~~”
“Are you going to tell me what you were up to?”
“No!”
“Then I’ll just tie you up here and leave.”
“Nooo~~!”
“Tell me then.”
“Chunnie come on~~”
“Junsu…”
“….”
“Ok.” Yoochun began pulling out the bondage straps from underneath Junsu’s mattress when the man finally gave in.
“Ok ok ok! Just don’t leave me here like this.”
“Spill it baby.”
“I went to see Rain.”
“Rain? I thought you weren’t going to get any from him anymore.”
“Pfft, I would never say that.”
“Well sorry to break it to you baby but you did. You said he was a major asshole the last time you saw him.”
“Well what do you want me to do, he’s a fucking sexy asshole.”
“I don’t want to have sex with you anymore.” Said Yoochun as he made to seriously get out of bed. But Junsu quickly grabbed on to him.
“What?! WHY!?”
“You just had sex with Rain, ew.”
“I didn’t go to have sex with him. What kind of slut do you take me for?” Yoochun stared at him with his ‘are you really asking me this?’ face. “Ok ok, I’m a whore, jeez. But I was actually there on official business.”
“Not Black Dahlia official business I suppose, ‘cause otherwise I’ll castrate you. You know what happened the last time I sent you to negotiate. And why would you be doing deals with Rain for us anyway?”
“Will you shut up and let me explain? Seriously. It’s not Black Dahlia business, it’s Yunho business.” At that Yoochun frowned. He didn’t like what Yunho was doing lately. Ever since the Jaejoong incident he had been thinking a lot about severing ties with the politician, he was becoming too much of a threat to him and all he had worked for.
“What kind of Yunho business. Last time I checked I was your boss, not him.”
“Well last I checked he was fucking me and you aren’t! Come on Chunnie~~”
“Junsu.” The stern look on his lover’s face made the squealing, writhing man stop all together and look away sheepishly. Finally Junsu exhaled and looked up directly at Yoochun’s eyes.
“I’m helping him with a few connections, nothing dangerous or illegal. I’d only do illegal things with my favorite partner in crime baby.” He said while sitting and snuggling up to Yoochun’s chest. The moment was one of those rare yet fucked up sincere Junsu moments but something was definitely off. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know or more like he wasn’t sure it was good for him to know. A very bad feeling began rising up in his stomach.
“Junsu. What-” he hesitated. “What kind of connections? What? Does he want to open a club or something?”
“Nah, you know he’s just as much a slut as I am. He’s just been looking around for good meat to eat. You know what I mean. And since I know so much fine ass all over town he asks me to help him.” That answer did not help him calm down. It was easily believable that Yunho would be looking for pretty ass to tap around the clubs but why did he need such a strict criteria that he would send Junsu out to ‘scout’ for it. As if the people weren’t entirely randomly chosen. After what Yunho had done to Jaejoong and what he knew he had done to some of his other dancers… he could believe anything about Yunho at this point.
“Junsu-ah. If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up in a ditch one of these days.”
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4:30 pm
Boa never went back to work. She excused herself through her personal assistant and after her boss nagged her ear off on the phone she was finally able to calm the foreign woman down and explain the situation. In the end the woman understood and got off her case. After the phone call the executive woman went into her room to check on Jaejoong every other minute. The man slept most of the afternoon and finally she decided to lay down with him. It was various hours until her phone went off and woke her up. “Yeoboseyo?”
“Mrs. Kwon, this is Son Baelhi, Aeyoung’s volleyball coach.”
“Oh yes! Mrs. Son. Is something the matter?”
“We were just worried. It’s already 4:30pm and Aeyoung hasn’t been picked up yet.”
“Oh my god!!" Boa turned to look at the alarm clock on her night stand. It was indeed half past four. "Mrs. Son I am so sorry!! I’ll be there in a minute. I’m heading out right now!” Boa immediately jumped out of the bed, disentangling herself from between Jaejoong’s arms. The whole deal with Yunho and Jaejoong had drained her and she had overslept, almost completely forgetting about time. Monday’s were volleyball club practice days and although the club stayed after hours to practice Boa should’ve been there thirty minutes ago to pick her daughter up. The least she wanted out of all of this was to neglect her daughter.
“Boa…” The woman froze midway across the room and turned to see Jaejoong lazily rubbing his eyes and looking disoriented.
“Don’t worry hun” She ran back to the bed and hugged the fragile looking man. “I’m just going to go pick the princess up from school ok? I’ll be right back. It won’t take long.”
“Changmin…?” The pout that Jaejoong had on his lips made Boa’s heart ache and she hugged him even harder.
“He had a very important lead on the White Lotus case babe. He didn’t want to leave but I told him to go. He promised he’ll be back right after he finished work.” She kissed the man on the forehead. “I have to go look for Aeyoung, it’s already late.” Jaejoong looked over at the clock and sat up.
“Can I come with you?”
“You should rest; it’s been a draining day.”
“Please…” He held her by the hem of her shirt and gave her his best puppy eyes. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” It hurt her to see Jaejoong that way but after five seconds she sighed and nodded her head.
“Ok, Jae. Let’s go. We have to hurry.”
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4:55 pm
“APPAAAAAA~~~~!!!” The little Aeyoung ran over from the bench by the entrance to the gym where she was sitting with her coach Mrs. Son to where her father was weakly smiling at her by the luxury sedan. It was a rare occurrence when Jaejoong picked her up at school during the week. The proud father extended his arms for the little girl to jump in them and lift her into a strong hug. “Appa! Why are you here?”
“What? You don’t want to see your appa?”
“Yes I do!” She hugged him tight around his neck and Jaejoong could feel himself tear up a bit. It would take time for his wounds to heal but knowing he did it for his daughter made things a lot easier to bare. He didn’t want anything to ever happen to her and as long as it was kept that way he could live with the chaos that was his life at the moment. Sincerely when he heard what Changmin had told him he thought he would die from the impression and that he would fall in an instant depression for sure but waking up to having to tend to his daughter made him focus on the fact that his daughter still needed him and that as long as what he did ensured her safety his sister could forgive him for his horrible sins. Not God, he didn’t care about his soul anymore, but if his sister were to hate him for what he did if she were alive then that would be something he wouldn’t be able to live with.
“Did you have fun at practice today?”
“Yeah! What took you guys so long? Everyone went home already. Did you forget about me?”
“No baby, of course not. We’re sorry. Umma and I had to take care of something very important but we didn’t forget about you.” He gave his daughter the biggest smooch on her cheek and put her down, opening the back door of the car for her. “Hop in princess.”
After picking Aeyoung up from school, to apologize for being late they took the princess to get ice cream. Shortly after, they returned to Boa’s apartment where they were settled at the moment. “Umma… What’s wrong with appa?” Aeyoung pulled on her mother’s casual cotton sweat pant to catch her attention and ask about her father who was spacing out while sitting on the window sill of the living room’s huge French windows. Boa turned away from the stove where she was currently making dinner to peer around into the living room. She noticed Jaejoong’s state and turned back to her daughter who had followed her.
“Come over here baby.” She pulled the girl back into the kitchen and kneeled down to be at her eye level. “Listen. Your appa is having a little problem with some people at work. It’s making him very stressed so he’s acting weird. But he’ll be ok. He just needs a little time to get over it and to distract himself.” The little girl nodded although her face was still one of confusion.
“I know! I’ll go distract him myself.” Aeyoung walked over to the living room and stared at her father for a few minutes. The man was still looking out the window at the darkening sky. She sighed and went to sit across from Jaejoong on the windowsill. She leaned back on the fram of the window just like her father was doing and looked solemnly out the window imitating her father’s current state. “It’s kinda cold tonight appa.”
Jaejoong glanced at his daughter and gave her a weak smile. “I kinda like the cold princess.”
“Nobody likes to be cold.”
“Your appa does. Does that make me weird?”
“Yes.” Jaejoong gave his daughter a pitiful pout and the girl couldn’t help but start chuckling. “Appa~~ Come on. Let’s watch tv. We’ll even watch educational tv like you always tell me to.”
“But you never listen. Why should I listen to you now? Huh?”
“Come on!! They might be giving that cool new show in the Discovery Channel. The one with the animals in slow motion.” While she said that Aeyoung made as if she was an animal about to attack in slow motion, with her mouth wide open and her hands in the form of claws. That inevitably made Jaejoong laugh.
“Hahahaha… aaah. My beautiful princess, ok you win.” He hopped off the window sill and grabbed his daughter swinging her around in the air while the girl shrieked and laughed and grabbed on to him until he playfully tossed her onto the sofa to watch some ‘educational tv’. Fortunately they were showing previous episodes of Life in the Discovery Channel and both father and daughter sat to watch in marvel as a female Korean voice narrated what was happening. From the kitchen Boa could hear the ruckus the two in the living room started making as they watched the animals in slow motion and began imitating them. A one thousand watt smile of pride appeared on her face just listening in on her daughter successfully distracting Jaejoong from his dark thoughts.
The sounds of keys jingling outside the door could suddenly be heard and Boa suddenly felt her entire body go cold. She immediately turned the stove off and ran for the door. Just as she was about to reach it the door creaked open and in came Yunho with his usual bright smile. He seemed confused to see her running towards him so Boa thought quickly and jumped into his arms. She hugged him tightly forcing herself to act as normal as possible. “Baby, you didn’t call to tell me you were coming. What a pleasant surprise.”
“I’m sorry Bo-ah, I wanted to bring you these.” The senator produced a small bouquet of calla lilies which Boa adored. She smiled sweetly and received the bouquet with honest surprise.
“Thank you so much. What’s the occasion?” She said with what she hoped sounded like a flirtatious tone.
“That I love my fiancée.” The man leaned in for a kiss and Boa had to give in. ‘Act normal Boa, act normal.’ Apparently it was convincing enough because the man smiled at her after he leaned back. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Oh! Yunho…” She placed the flowers on the decorative receiver counter and gently pushed her fiancé out of the apartment door. “Baby… Um, Jaejoong is here right now.”
“Oh really?” He asked with expertly acted surprise.
“Yes. He’s apparently having some trouble at work and he’s feeling very down right now. And you know… since you two don’t really get along… I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to see you right now.”
Yunho sighed and put his hands inside his pockets then nodded. “Alright. It’s a shame. But it’s ok. I’ll come around when he’s not here. Good night love.” He gave Boa a final kiss good night and left.
When Boa closed the door on Yunho’s back she leaned onto the wooden portal and let out a very long sigh. ‘That was a lot harder than I thought it would be… But I think I did well.’ She took another deep breath. ‘Changmin… get here already!’
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11:37 pm
Finally out of the office Changmin hurried over to Boa’s apartment. He had been texting Boa and Jaejoong all evening to monitor their activities, making sure they were doing ok. Unfortunately after the whole incident with Yunho he had to attend to another case that took him the rest of the day. After having spent hours upon hours of surveying the communities, interrogating witnesses and tracking down potential suspects the case had hit a major lead that finally lead to the arrest of the prime suspect now being charged with two counts of first degree murder. From then on it fell into the District Attorney’s hands. He was having a good day ‘cause it wasn’t often a double murder would be solved by the end of the day. Fortunately they had the support of the community which ultimately was what lead him to the prime suspect. Now he was waiting for Boa to let him in. The detective was impatient; he was tapping his foot repeatedly on the floor until finally he heard the locks of the door clicking. Right after the door was opened, and for the second time that day, he received and arm full of Jaejoong. The man was clinging on to him and snuggling his face into Changmin’s neck.
“Hey, Jae. How are you feeling?” Changmin caressed his back and left soft kisses on his head.
“I’m better… Sort of.” Jaejoong pulled back and leaned up to leave a small peck on the detective’s lips. “I was getting very impatient. Why is your job so demanding?” The statement made Changmin chuckle.
“Because murders are very spontaneous incidents.” Jaejoong stepped back and pulled the detective into the apartment.
“There are leftovers from dinner if you’re hungry.”
“I’m super hungry.”
Leftovers were reheated and Jaejoong sat at the dining table with Changmin, simply watching the tall man eagerly eat his meal. “So… Have you found out anything about… Um, Yunho?”
Changmin stopped eating, sighed and slumped back on his chair. “Well… Yes. Actually, I have some evidence against him. But I couldn’t get the lab analysis today. I might have to wait until Wednesday.”
Jaejoong nodded. “I found this.” The dancer pulled a tiny little envelope, like the ones that come with flower bouquet deliveries, from his pocket and pushed it across the table to the detective. Changmin looked at him with a questioning raise of his eyebrow. “Boa received a bouquet of flowers today.” He pointed to the white lilies on the kitchen counter. “Yunho brought it. There was a regular dedication to Boa obviously perched on top of the bouquet in that fork thingy where they usually come. But in between the flowers I found this one. It had no name so I opened it.”
Changmin took the envelope and pulled out the tiny dedication card that was inside. The card had a white lotus design on a corner, with ribbons coming from underneath it to serve as a frame for the small card. The phrase ‘How strong is your faith?’ was written on it and underneath it an address and a serial number. “What the hell…”
“What does that mean Changmin? What is he up to now?” Jaejoong looked frightened, worried, tired, and drained. It was obvious how much the whole thing was affecting him, but Changmin had to give it to the man. He could tell Jaejoong was doing his best not to break down and feel sorry for himself.
“That bastard. He’s testing me.” Changmin stared at the card so long and hard Jaejoong thought it would burst into flames if the detective glared at it any longer.
“What are you going to do?”
“If he’s challenging me then I have no choice but to show him I'm not afraid of him.”
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Tuesday Morning
5:35 am
A very tired looking but determined detective Shim Changmin made his way into a storage building in the middle of downtown Seoul. He had followed the directions in the dedication card which had led him to that place. Changmin figured then that the serial number on the card was the code for opening one the many electronic lockers in the building. When he found the right one, with the kind help of one of the employees, he stood in front of it simply glaring. ‘Well you won’t develop x-ray powers any time soon Changmin, just open the damn thing.’ He berated himself.
The electronic lock had a keypad where the detective input the serial number that was on the card. The lock clicked and Changmin was able to open the locker. There was a briefcase inside, no lock, no engravings, just a plain black briefcase. Changmin looked to both sides, there was no one roaming around that early in the morning, he looked back at the briefcase and sighed. “Only one way to find out.” He extracted the thing from the locker and set it on the bench that was situated between the two rows of containers. The briefcase easily opened when Changmin pulled at the locks. The first thing he saw was green. Lots and lots and lots of green paper. Money. Probably millions of US dollars in $100 bill notes. He immediately closed the briefcase with a loud noise and took five steps away from it. ‘Wait... I think there was something else.’ Changmin opened the briefcase again and surely enough there was a note right on top of the mounts of dollars. He took the note and closed the case right back.
‘One hundred thousand US dollars. They’re yours. Take it, leave the country and take Jaejoong with you. This is your chance detective. You and your precious whore can simply fly away from here and start a new life somewhere nice. No one would ever have to know.’
Changmin took a deep breath and crumpled the note in his fist. “That man…” The offer was nothing short of tempting. Knowing the way Yunho worked on things he was more than sure the offer wasn’t some sort of booby trap. Changmin could very well take the money and run and Yunho wouldn’t ever do anything to try to find them or give away anything about him ever taking that money. Life could go as it was before the whole thing happened, but in another country. Most of all Jaejoong would be safe. They would be free to love without worries. But Changmin couldn’t just leave. He had his duty; he had to finish the case. He owed it to all the victims and their families; he owed it to Jaejoong and his sister.
“Fuck you Yunho.” He tossed the briefcase back in the locker and hurried out of there without turning once to regret his decision.
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7:00 am
Detective Shim found himself back in the building’s underground where he last left the most important piece of evidence he had ever handled in his career for lab analysis. “Soonya.”
“Detective Shim! Good morning. You’re here early.”
“How’s the analysis for the leather shoes coming along.”
The evidence retainer’s big smile disappeared and she turned an apologetic smile towards the detective. “Young-sshi’s wife had a very unfortunate accident yesterday. He won’t be coming in today. I’m afraid this might have to wait until tomorrow.”
“What?! What the hell happened? This is the most important piece of evidence this lab will have to analyze in a very long time and you’re telling me that it will have to wait?!” Changmin was over himself with ire. At this point he wouldn’t be surprised if the whole accident of the track mark specialist’s wife was all Yunho’s doing.
“I am so sorry detective Shim. I really am, but what can we do?”
Changmin shook his head in disbelief and stomped his way out of the lab reception. In no time he was storming into his Chief’s office. “What the fuck happened to Young’s wife?”
“Woah, what the fuck happened to you Shim? Bursting in here like that.”
“I’m having a bit of a crisis here Chief. What happened to Young’s wife?”
“Young who?”
“Young!! The track mark specialist!”
“Do I look like the head of Crime Lab to you?”
“Fuck!! Chief! We’re this close!! This close to having our first and probably ONLY suspect in this whole fucking fiasco and it lies solely on those motherfucking shoe tracks!! I just went down to the lab to see how the comparison analysis was going and they have the nerve to tell me it’s going to have to wait because the specialist’s wife had an accident last night. What the fuck is going on here?! Don’t we have another specialist?! Whatever happened to sacrifice and commitment to our jobs?!”
“Shim Changmin calm the fuck down ok?! You’re not going to step into my office like that and start cursing up and down plus it’s too early for this bullshit! Listen up. If the damn tracks have to wait then the damn tracks have to wait. I know more than anyone else in this office how important it is to solve this case and solve it soon. But Shim you more than anyone else has to know how shit like this happens in this job all the god dammed time! So stop whining like a bitch and get the fuck out of my office. Come back when you have something productive to tell me!”
Even when he wanted to blow up and lash out at his superior there was just nothing his bitching could accomplish. Things could really suck sometimes and not everything went your way and you had to get used to it in that line of business. So Changmin took a deep breath, turned around and left the office. Not even Top who bumped into him outside of the office managed to cheer him up. The poor detective only managed to get himself shoved to the side and completely ignored. Then when he tried to follow his partner he got a door to the face. “Dude! Call me when you chill out Max.” But that never happened. They day came and went with the detective solely focused on his tasks as if he were on some sort of autopilot mode. No one managed to make human contact with him unless it had to do with his cases. Not even solving one of his ongoing cases had made him feel any less shitty or any friendlier. Fortunately though the day seemed to fly by and he found himself at home sooner than expected. As soon as he made himself comfortable he called Jaejoong. The phone rang a few times before the man answered on the other line.
“Hey Jae.”
“Hey Min.”
“I missed you badly today.”
“You’ve been getting awfully cheesy lately. I like it.” Changmin chuckled and then silence took over. That was until he heard Jaejoong clearing his throat. “So Min, what happened with the card thing.”
For a moment Changmin wasn’t sure what the man was talking about but then it hit him. He hadn’t called Jaejoong to tell him about the briefcase. “Oh right. I’m sorry, I didn’t call you. You must’ve been dying to know.”
“Heck yes I was dying here!”
“Well it’s nothing to worry about. Just another one of Yunho’s tricks to distract me from putting his ass in jail.”
“Changmin…”
“Really Jae. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Jaejoong sighed but being too tired to argue he simply accepted the explanation. “Alright. If you say so then I believe you. But hey, if it’s anything I need to know.”
“Don’t worry about it Jae. I mean it. It’s nothing that will affect any of us. Just trust me ok?”
“. . . . . I trust you Changmin.”
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Wednesday Afternoon
2: 34 pm
“Homicide, Detective Shim speaking how may I help you.” It had been a day as busy as any other and Changmin was still waiting on the track mark specialist to make the analysis but apparently this was another day without the specialist in the lab. He couldn’t believe it but on the very least he was promised that the specialist would be passing by the lab in the evening to make the analysis for him. At least that day Changmin was feeling like a normal human being and he found it in himself to understand the lab specialist and send his wife wishes of good health and a prompt recovery. “Hello?”
“Detective Shim.” The voice on the other end of the receiver was masked he couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female, it seemed more like a robotic monotone sound. “Kim Jaejoong will be dancing in the Black Dahlia tonight. It’s his grand performance after being absent for a few days. You might want to check it out. It’s going to be mind blowing.” After that the line went dead and Changmin was simply left speechless. It had to be another one of Yunho’s tricks but this time it involved Jaejoong and he didn’t want to take any risks.
‘When the hell did my life turn into a nightmare?’
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AN: Wow so after the last chapter I walked into the world of torture. After this trimester was over I felt like I had run an unending marathon. But here it is and I hope you guys liked it. ^__^ I already started the next chapter so hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the week or before.
Take care lovelies!!