His Obsession ➸ Taekook ✓

- Fifty-ninth -

Seokjin watched the flat being invaded by a whole team of police officers, without moving. He just stood there, in the middle of the living room, staring into space, deep in thought, while everyone around him was scrambling to find more information about the killer.

The killer. Jeon Jeongguk. Jin had always found it hard to accept. But today, the evidence was mounting. The detective could no longer deny it. Jungkook wasn't Jungkook. Jungkook was Jeongguk, a murderer. He had tried to contact him. He'd called him twenty times. But the call didn't even ring. Jeongguk had probably blocked him. That meant everything. He now saw Jin as a threat.

Jin felt like an idiot. Stupid for not seeing. He had talked to him about the murders. He had shared his doubts and his hypotheses with him. When in truth, the killer was right in front of him. He was still struggling to understand how all this could have happened. How he could have missed something like this, and why Jeongguk had played along with him? Why had the young man never confided in him about his past? Did he think Seokjin was so untrustworthy? He wasn't completely wrong, on the other hand. Because right now, Jin didn't know what to make of the situation. He didn't know whether to help Jeongguk or stop him. He didn't know what to choose between being a friend and being a detective and a former policeman.

"Jin?"

The young man snapped out of his thoughts, feeling a hand on his shoulder, and turned quickly to come face to face with a worried Namjoon. Seokjin quickly regained his composure and automatically stepped aside, preferring to keep some distance from his ex-lover.

"Y-Yes?"

"Is everything all right?" the policeman asked hastily, retracting his hand in disappointment at Jin's reaction.

Was he all right? Certainly not. He felt trapped, like when his brother had been arrested. He hated it. That feeling of powerlessness. Thinking that maybe he could do something, but at the same time feeling like his hands were tied.

"I want to get out of here." he finally replied, preferring to avoid the question Namjoon had just asked him.

He didn't wait for Namjoon to nod, and headed for the exit, leaving this flat in which he felt like he was suffocating. The policeman followed immediately, and they soon found themselves sitting at the end of the corridor, in a corner out of sight, with a view of all the flat doors that covered the long corridor. They remained silent for a long time, an uncomfortable silence, but neither of them really felt like talking at the moment. Or rather, one of them didn't want to, while the other just didn't know what to say. Namjoon hadn't been able to understand Jin for a long time. And this simple fact broke his heart.

After almost ten minutes, Namjoon sighed and decided to break the silence.

"I've tried to contact Kang Minho, as we're assuming he'll be the next victim, but he's not answering."

Seokjin frowned, deciding to focus on this information rather than on Jeongguk's fate. He needed to distract his mind.

"What about his house? His work?"

Namjoon shook his head.

"I sent Soobin to his house, but no one was there. And as for his work, his secretary told me he didn't show up this morning."

"Could... Jeongguk have done it already?"

Honestly, it was the most plausible possibility. After all, Jeongguk was now aware that the police were after him, that was for sure. So he knew he had to hurry if he wanted to complete his revenge. If Kang went under police protection and they started hunting him down, then it was all over. For the moment, the search was not yet organised. For Jeongguk, it was the best time to strike.

"It's not impossible. At the same time, I've heard that Kang's company is doing badly lately, so it could also have something to do with his disappearance..."

"Hm, that doesn't seem very convincing to me." Seokjin replied. "I'd have liked to say the opposite, but there's a good chance it has something to do with Jeongguk."

Namjoon nodded, then silence fell between the two men. They didn't dare say anything more, because they both knew they wouldn't be able to agree. They wouldn't be able to agree on what should happen next: how to stop Jeongguk. Because Namjoon knew that no matter what he might say to him, Jin would remain Jin: he would try to save Jeongguk, at all costs.

For Jeongguk and for himself. Like some kind of redemption.

"Jin, listen... I know this is difficult for you, but we don't have a choice. Think rationally, Jeongguk is dangerous, and he's even more dangerous now that he knows he's being hunted. We really can't let him get away with it. Whether you like it or not, he's a criminal."

Jin couldn't contain his mocking laughter.

"A criminal? Who's the real criminal, Joon? Kang, or the poor boy he trapped in a toilet and raped? Jeongguk's choices may not have been the right ones, but I refuse to call him a criminal. I refuse to reduce his pain, his trauma, to that."

"Jin..."

"STOP!" Seokjin suddenly shouted, taking Namjoon's breath away.

The policeman fell silent immediately, turning wide eyes of surprise on the detective. Jin didn't often shout, so when he did, it meant he'd reached his limit. And at times like that, it was best to keep quiet and listen.

"IT WAS THE SAME WITH HYUNNIE! HE WAS A VICTIM WHO NO-ONE WANTED TO HELP! NO ONE HELPED HIM, NO ONE BELIEVED HIM! HE DIED ALONE! SCARED, AND RIGHT UP TO THE END, HE WAS CONVINCED THAT EVERYONE WAS AGAINST HIM!"

He paused, his eyes red with anger and tears, catching his breath.

"Even his own big brother..." he finally whispered, his voice breaking in his throat. "He died thinking that I too had betrayed him, that I too thought he was guilty. And that pain, that guilt, will never go away."

Namjoon listened attentively, looking grave. You could see the same guilt in his eyes. He too blamed himself terribly for what had happened to Hyunnie. He had nightmares about it almost every night. So he understood perfectly how Jin felt. Much more than the detective wanted to admit to himself.

"I can't give up on Jeongguk. I can't make that mistake again, Joon. If you still have any love left for Hyunnie and me, please don't make me do this..."

The two men stared at each other for a long time, Jin silently pleading with his eyes. Namjoon finally turned away, letting out a long sigh.

"Do you have any idea where he might be hiding?" he asked softly, as if he wanted to be sure that Jin would be the only one to hear.

Jin nodded. It was only a hypothesis, but it was the most plausible.

"If Kang's disappearance had something to do with Jeongguk, then he'd want to finish it on a high note. He's reached the end of his revenge, so there's only one place he can be now. Where it all began."