THE8 | Junhao

FORTY - EIGHT

| CHAPTER FORTY - EIGHT |

"I never should've suggested for the station to dig into old cases," He shook his head, "I was being a menace. We should've just stayed focused on the recent ones..."

Jun was going insane.

He was back in his office now, almost falling on his ass with how fast he landed in his office chair.

His computer is immediately on, and he's logging into it faster than he ever has in his life. His fingers hurt from typing so hard, and his heart clenched at the mere thought of what he was doing.

"No," Jun shook his head, leaning close, "You were so thoughtful... so correct to bring up the old cases again. The people need justice, their families need answers," Jun sighed, "We have people missing, we have unsolved murders...."

"People missing?" Minghao stared at the floor.

Everything was making sense now.

All the small hints over time, everything starting from when he met Minghao in that stupid club what feels like years ago.

The small hints were so obvious now that it hurt.

Minghao being so close minded, the way he asked to stay back on some missions, the way he tried to abort from Seungcheol's case the day they were heading out, the way he showed up to the chief's house and shot him cold, the way he ran away with that criminal, the way Jun found him almost dead in his apartment....

Everything was coming to Jun's mind so fast, it didn't make sense. The memories weren't in order, and jun found it even harder to comprehend.

He clicks away on the computer, finger cramping up with how hard he presses the mouse, clicking on a specific file after taking some time to scroll. It was a bit far down, and Jun now understood how Minghao hid it so well.

He fucking pinned it as the last case on the chart, just so nobody would ever just randomly stumble onto it.

Jun clicks on it almost immediately, eyes wide.

"I remember this one case with a man that got killed in an apartment complex a while back... his son went missing a couple days after," Jun shook his head, astonished, "It was the weirdest thing. He just... disappeared. We never found him."

Minghao tries to stay calm, looking down.

Jun stares at the case file in front of him, eyes widened beyond belief.

| CASE FILE : XU SHUCHANG |

• [ 48, male ]
• cause of death: identified as homicide
• son, ( xu minghao ), went missing day after victim's funeral. hasn't been seen since
[date] november 9, 2020
• no weapon was found at crime scene

[ STATUS : unsolved ]

Jun scrolls down even more, feeling his breath waver. He's shaking a little, the red haired boy he's called The8 for months finally stroked of his phoniness, his real identity finally revealed.

His name was Xu Minghao, and he was a missing person Jun and his unit had been looking for.

Why hadn't they come to their senses earlier? They knew how he looked. Jun thinks it was maybe the hair, maybe the extra weight the boy had lost. Either or, they should've recognized him.

Jun scrolls.

Victim XU SHUCHANG was a former officer at Seoul City Police Department.

XU SHUCHANG went missing [march 18, 2020], and was found 9 months later, dead on the floor of his former apartment.

Son, XU MINGHAO was brought in for questioning on the day of the murder. The victim's son seemed to be shocked, and didn't answer much, leading him to be the most likely suspect
(as of now).

No other leads.

Jun doesn't even remember Minghao being questioned in the station 2 years ago. He thinks it's because Minghao wasn't all the way there. He was heartbroken and shocked, leading him to be the main suspect, just as it said.

But even with all the shit Minghao had done, Jun still didn't see him as a villian.... no.

Instead, he saw him as a bright person, one who was bubbly as soon as you brought up his favorite music and sandwiches, a person who gagged when you shoved a tomato in his face, a person who needed to have someone by his side to fall asleep, a person who was beautiful and caring, not a person who was capable of murder.

Yes, he shot Seungkwan, but he didn't kill him.

Minghao could've finished off Seungkwan then and there if he wanted to, then he wouldn't be in a shit of a mess as he was now... getting tracked down and hunted by the authorities.

He didn't though. He walked away, and Jun can almost see the gloss in Minghao's eyes when he met him at the door that night. Of course, Jun wasn't sure who it was at first, staring into a masked figure's eyes, wondering.

But when their eyes met for the second time that night, Jun had felt his heart burst.

He remembers recognizing Minghao with just one lock of their eyes, and that thought alone makes him shiver. He was practically in love with a runway, a possible murder suspect, he was practically in love with a person who faked an identity just to get the information that was needed.

Jun was in love.

Leaning back in his seat, he stares at the computer in disbelief at that realization, eyes gawking. His jaw was fallen open a bit in a fit of shock, small yet deep breaths escaping his lips, his eyes burning from the lack of blinking.

Jun stares at the picture of Minghao on the screen, eyes raking along his once brunette locks, look softening at the beautiful smile Minghao had on his face. He looked so happy in his missing person photo, so happy Jun wondered if it were the same Minghao he had actually met.

Jun feels his eyes welt, and his skin tingles.

"What was his name?"

Jun furrowed his brows at that, turning his head to think. He scratched his chin, "I'm not sure... I'd have to pull it up. But I at least know he was Chinese.... God, I've looked at that case so long I've memorized everything." He frowned, "Everything but his name, it seems like."

Minghao cracked a soft smile, sighing.

"What?" Jun asked.

"Just," Minghao clicked his tongue, "Sometimes being an officer sucks."

So he was chinese. Another lie.

Minghao had been giving him hints since day one, and Jun wanted to slap himself right smack in the fucking face for being such an idiot.

He hated the way he still felt a flare of infatuation for Minghao, he hated the flicker of what anyone would call love that blew firecrackers in his heart, he hated the way his ears and cheeks blushed red at the mere thought of seeing this exact smile again.

He longed for Minghao, and he wished for his return. He wanted to see him again, he'd do anything for just one glance, just one embrace and promise that he'd never leave again.

Jun missed Minghao.

And as much as he hated to admit it, he was also in love with him. So painfully in love.