A Criminal Romance | Vkook

The mall

"Malls are scary at night...", whispered Jimin as he and Jungkook headed towards their destination. The air was completely silent, and Jimin was the type to overreact to every small sound. 

*Crunch*

"What was THAT?!", he cried, clinging to Jungkook for dear life. 

"You stepped on a leaf, hyung", replied Jungkook, exasperated. He'd been dealing with Jimin's overdramatic-ness for years. 

 "Oh...". Jimin breathed a sigh of relief. 

They arrived at the mall entrance, and Jungkook shined his flashlight through the glass door. He scanned the area, looking for a sign of the officer. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, "There's no one here", he said, puzzled. 

"Check again", replied Jimin, "Chief Min said he'd be waiting...". Jungkook obliged, shining the light as far as he could see. 

Suddenly, a face appeared behind the glass. 

"AAAAHHHH!!!", they both screamed, and jumped back, knocking into each other. 

The handle turned, and the door slowly opened with a small squeak. A figure stepped out of the building. "Hello?", a deep voice called.

Jungkook scrambled to pick up the flashlight he'd dropped in the collision. He shined it at the figure. He was met with squinting eyes, and a hand covering most of the face. 

"Ahh! Don't shine it at me!", yelled the man, turning away. 

Jungkook almost dropped the flashlight again, but managed to hold onto it, as he moved it down slightly. 

"Sorry", he said, slightly embarrassed. "We're from the police station", he started explaining, "Chief Min Yoongi sent us". 

"I guessed as much", replied the man, regaining composure. "I'm officer Kim Namjoon", he held out his hand. 

Jungkook shook the officer's hand relieved, "I'm Jungkook, this is Jimin", he replied, shining the flashlight towards his friend, making sure to not blind him like he had Namjoon. 

Jimin smiled brightly, and took his turn shaking Namjoon's hand. Namjoon smiled back, and Jimin could've sworn he saw him looking him up and down. 

"Come, I'll give you two a tour of the place", said the elder, and lead them inside. 

"The ground floor is the biggest", he said, shining his own light around. "All the food courts and restaurants are down here. There are also some storage spaces at the far right of the building, but we probably won't need to monitor those". 

Namjoon lead the two boys to one of 4 escalators near an ice cream shop. "The two on the right go up, and the two on the left go down", he said, and switched on one leading to the second floor. 

"How many floors are there?", asked Jimin, carefully stepping onto the escalator. Jungkook followed behind the two, mumbling something about his shoe almost getting stuck.

"Three", answered Joon, "And another storage space up top, but that's been locked since before I worked here". 

They reached the top and all stepped off onto the floor. "Up here are the clothes and shoe stores", said Namjoon, again shining the light. 

The light hit a mannequin standing in a shop window, modelling a summer dress. Jimin jumped slightly, startled at the figure. 

Namjoon eyed him and chuckled softly. "This floor is a bit smaller, I think one person could handle 2 and 3 alone". 

Jungkook and Jimin both looked at each other, slightly scared at the thought of spending the night in a dark mall alone. 

Sensing their fear, the elder reassured them, "Don't worry, not much happens on this floor, it's mainly floor three that we're worried about. A few of the lights are on up there at night anyway". 

"What's on third floor?", asked Jungkook, now very curious. 

"We have a few stores that sell more expensive things. Antiques, designer pieces that we keep separate from the stores down here, jewellery...".

"And these two burglars are the only threat you've experienced here?", asked Jungkook. 

"Yes, so far", replied Namjoon. "But this mall is relatively new. Anything could happen".

Jungkook swallowed. 

"Don't be scared", said Namjoon, "With the three of us, I'm sure we'll be fine". 

"I'm not-", started Jungkook, but immediately cut himself off, not wanting to lie on his first day helping the officer. 

"Alright", said Namjoon, breaking the now rather awkward silence. "You'll have to decide who'll take the top floors. I could sure use some help downstairs", he said, turning to Jimin during the last part. 

"I'll do it", said Jungkook.

"Are you sure, Kookie?", asked Jimin, "I can do it if you want...". 

"I'm sure", said Jungkook, hoping he wouldn't regret his decision. 

Suddenly a loud crash came from the first floor. 

"We'd better go", said Namjoon, turning to Jimin. 

"They're here".