DECIBEL | Golden Child AU

Call Six

6.30PM
Corridor
Sungun Police Agency

“What did you just say?”

Sungyoon utters out of pure surprise. The mention of the call operator makes his skin itch. He can remember the day of the trial like it was just yesterday, especially at how the call operator rejected the suspect who had concrete evidence, enough to send him to prison.

Corporal Hong Joochan.

Sungyoon remembers his name clearly. After the trial, Sungyoon pledged to hunt that operator down but he was transferred without his knowledge. When the detective found out his new call centre, he was too late as Joochan made his way to the States and further his studies.

The fact that both Ko Dongcheol and Hong Joochan were out of his reach, Sungyoon found it difficult to keep himself sane. He could not fight for his fiancée’s death, like the well-known detective he used to be. The failure of capturing them haunted him good for three years.

Now that Donghyun revealed that the call operator is in the same building as him, the news ignite an enormous flame in him.

Sungyoon is ready to kill him.

Donghyun sighs, watching the news slowly sink in Sungyoon’s mind. The younger one walks to him so he can drag the older one and sit nearby a bench.

Before the older one asks questions, Donghyun speaks first.  “At first, I heard the current Chief Call Manager retired. I thought Seungmin-ssi who is the Assistant Chief now takes over him. He then told me it would be someone else from the States. When I heard him say that bastard’s name, I was as shocked as you are.”

Donghyun sits next to Sungyoon who continues to stare in a daze.

“Yah, I have no idea what he is thinking. I mean, he chose this place on purpose knowing you are here. Isn’t it abit strange?” Donghyun scoffs. “He seriously doesn’t know who you really are.”

Sungyoon smirks devilishly. “Jinjja?”

“Seriously,” Donghyun bites his lower lip. “Very strange, Hyung.”

“What is it?”

“Studying in the States, that sure needs a lot of money. I won’t be surprised if he went there using the bribe money given by Ko Dongcheol.”

That very idea seems enough to agitate Sungyoon as he jumps on his feet and marches the other direction of the corridor.

“Sungyoon-Hyung! Where are you going?!”

6.45PM
Emergency Call Centre
Corridor

Hong Joochan leads the group of high-ranked officers to the call centre. The Commissioner remains at his side, offering his time out of his busy schedule to listen more of the States-groomed officer has to say. While Joochan explains, Chief Lee Daeyeol and Sergeant Bae Seungmin stand at the back.

Sergeant Bae chooses to stay quiet and pretends to be attentive, fixing his gaze on Joochan. Daeyeol however is not buying it.

“Seungmin-ssi,” Daeyeol addresses him, looking pleased to transfer all the junior's attention on him.

Seungmin turns towards the taller man. “Yes, Chief Daeyeol.”

“You were promoted and transferred here two years ago. I was thankful because I heard a lot of good things about you,” Daeyeol grins gently. “I was seriously expecting you to take the Chief’s position.”

“I’m afraid I am not up for the position, sir.”

“So you are okay letting a junior take it from you. I didn’t take you as a pushover.”

“Animida! I am not,” Seungmin reacts defensively at the sudden accusation. “Please give Sergeant Hong a chance to prove himself worthy of that position.”

Daeyeol raises a brow, not responding verbally because he does not feel convinced at all.

Seungmin takes a deep breath, feeling a little embarrassed that he is appearing nervous in front of the Chief of Violent Crimes Unit.

“Sergeant Hong Joochan is more determined and intelligent in areas that I very much lack in. I cannot trust that position to anyone else than the former Chief and him. Furthermore,” Seungmin pauses and looks at Joochan. “He has a very important unfinished business here, definitely enough a reason for him to give you the best of him.”

“Unfinished business here?” Daeyeol ponders, following the line of view from Seungmin to Joochan. “To think about it, his name does sound familiar. Am I really getting forgetful these days?”

The corridor turns quiet as the call centre becomes busy, answering calls of different kinds.

“Lost your puppy? Please provide us more details, how does it look like?”

“Can you speak some Korean? I don’t understand...”

“I see, your neighbour is not separating their trash. Please approach to your landlord or council for a follow-up.”

Commissioner Noh smirks, amused at the nonsensical calls the citizens are making. He begins to wonder what would the operator make the Violent Crime Unit do if they were given control? Clean someone trash, becoming a translator, finding a lost pet? This is utter humiliation to the true purpose of the crime unit.

There are more serious crimes the unit has to deal with, and certainly not these small cases that the operator are handling everyday. Even if it is an emergency, there are rules and procedures in place to attend to them. They do not need an extra group of manpower to always be the operator’s feet and becoming heroes to rescue troubled citizens.

“I think we’ve seen enough. We listened to your presentation and visited the call centre. This is all we can do,” Commissioner Noh states briefly before looking at Chief Daeyeol. “Any progress in capturing the suspect of Gojeong-dong’s murder?”

Chief Daeyeol hurries to the Commissioner’s side. “Yes. I have two officers doing a stakeout at the suspect’s home as we speak.”

“Good. Capture him as soon as possible. He is making my blood pressure pills useless,” the Commissioner huffs and he is about to walk away.

“Sir, you are only here for 15 minutes,” Joochan voices out, facing his full body towards him. “I am surprised you had made your decision.”

Commissioner Noh grumbles under his breath and Chief Daeyeol steps in.

“Sergeant Hong, I am reminding you that you should be careful to whom you are talking to. He has done his part so you shall not waste anymore of his time,” Daeyeol warns Joochan. “Let’s leave, Commissioner Noh.”

Joochan takes one more step forward. “I strongly suggest you to wait longer. It is not fair for you to make a decision after a short time.”

Seungmin gulps seeing Joochan’s persistence. “Joochan, I think we should hold back-”

“HONG JOOCHAN!”

The sound of his name being called reverberates across the call centre. Joochan barely moves but his eyes dart through the blinds of the call centre room. He finds a familiar face on the opposite corridor. The call centre room is in between two disconnected corridors.

“Hong Joochan...”

His name is now masked behind an angry growl. Two pairs of fiercely burning eyes eventually connect in an unwavering trance.

Call Operator Hong Joochan reunites with Detective Choi Sungyoon.

Chief Daeyeol hisses, feeling irritated to watch his subordinate acting shamelessly in front of the high rankers. Then, he recalls the small conversation he had with Seungmin and his gaze is now pinned on Joochan as well.

“Unfinished business?” Daeyeol mutters in his breath. “Now I remembered why he is familiar.”

“What is going on?” Commissioner Noh demands an answer.

Daeyeol bows lowly, whispering to the Commissioner’s ear. “Three years ago, Sergeant Hong Joochan was the operator who last talked to Sungyoon’s late fiance. Because of Sergeant Hong, the murder suspect walked free.”

Commissioner Noh widens his eyes, showing absolute shock and wary. 

“Hong Joochan...” Sungyoon grins a white smile, intending to scare him. “Don’t you dare move an inch. Wait right there.”

Joochan holds his breath, still putting up a tough front. Sungyoon searches for the doors and plans to barge in but the two guards hold him back. The high rankers start to chatter among themselves, the commotion causing Joochan to lose confidence. Seungmin leaves Daeyeol’s side and rushes to Joochan.

“Don’t bother about him,” Seungmin advises his junior. “He won’t get in. Just focus on your task now. Let’s end our meeting somewhere else, okay?”

“Ani,” Joochan stretches a side grin. “Seungmin-sunbae, please make sure all of them stay here until I get back.”

Seungmin knits his brows. “Get back? Where are you going- Wait! Joochan-ah!”

The doors of the call centre bust open, as Joochan marches in and slams the doors close behind him, leaving Seungmin dumbfounded. He quickly turns to the high rankers who are as shocked as him.

Seungmin bows hesitantly. “Jankanman juseyo. Please allow Sergeant Joochan to settle the uninvited guest and return here to dismiss the meeting.”

Commissioner Noh continues to show a disgruntled face. “He better hurries himself.”

Daeyeol does not expect Commissioner Noh to abide. “It will not be a pleasant meeting. We need to leave now.”

Commissioner Noh remains silent and his eyes stay on Joochan who makes it to the other side of the call centre.

“Release him,” Joochan tells the guards who are wrestling arms with Officer Choi Sungyoon.

The guards obey, halting the pushing and struggling but Sungyoon bravely shoves their hands off him in one sharp cut. He adjusts his thick police grey vest and walks up with his chin high.

The smouldering eyes of Sungyoon pierces an angry glare at the young Call Centre Manager Joochan.

“Yah, Hong Joochan.”

Joochan tenses his body, mustering all his energy and courage to not send a single shiver on his bones.

“You are really thick-skinned, jinjja,” Sungyoon chides, marring out his canine teeth deliberately. “After spending your bribe money in the States, you came back here standing tall with a Manager tag on your name. Jinjja, you are a devil in human skin.”

Joochan allows his eyes droop low, not willing to respond to the accusation.

Sungyoon continues, moving his face closely to Joochan’s. “Where are you planning to meet your brother, Ko Dongcheol? Let me come along and give both of you a piece of my mind.”

“Annyeong haseyo, Detective Choi Sungyoon,” Joochan greets him out of the blue, earning a twitch in Sungyoon’s eyes. “I was about to see you after my meeting. It was kind of you to come here yourself.”

“Mwo? What did you just say?”

“I knew you would not be in the best form of yourself. I didn’t expect you to do more worse.”

Sungyoon’s hand shoots to Joochan’s collar, fisting on it and jerking the younger towards himself.

“You are really shameless,” Sungyoon grunts through his gritted teeth.

“It should be you being the one shameless.”

Sungyoon widens his eyes at Joochan, starting to lose confidence in wavering the officer. Whatever he says or does, it does not affect Joochan the slightest. The call operator stands firm with his toughness, showing no ounce of guilt or pity towards Sungyoon. After all, it was still Joochan's fault for not saving Jihye on time.

Why... Why is he able to show no remorse to the victim’s loved one?

Is Joochan that heartless?

“Have you heard the story about the tortoise and the rabbit?” Joochan grins gently, slowly wrapping his hand over the wrist of Sungyoon’s hand that is gripping his collar. “You are not Mad Dog. You are the rabbit.”

Sungyoon is unable to say anything and yet Joochan pulls him closely, having their foreheads pasted on each other. Sungyoon stares into Joochan’s eyes, slowly getting sucked in the emptiness of his soul.

“You ran too fast chasing the wrong person and when you could not find him, you slacked off for the past three years.”

Sungyoon suddenly hears his own heart thumping loudly and painfully behind his chest. He wants to beat Joochan so bad he finds it impossible to hold back.

What triggers him is that Joochan reads him too well. And Joochan smirks.

“Is this all you got?” Joochan furrows his brows at Sungyoon, surprisingly his tone hinting disappointment.

“Sungyoon-Hyung!”

Donghyun shouts from the end of the corridor because Sungyoon’s fist is already up in the air. Donghyun runs into them, trying to break the shackles that they pin on each other.

“Stop it, Hyung! The high rankers, even Chief Daeyeol, they are on the other side! Don’t do it! I-I can’t save you this time if you really hit him!” cries Donghyun, clawing on the hands of the two officers.

“So what...”

Sungyoon manages to mutter despite his mind dwelling in absolute wrath. Joochan ignores Donghyun and focuses his attention on what Sungyoon wants to say.

“So what if I slacked off? If I worked hard, would I bring her back?”

Joochan takes his turn to widen his eyes, finally his tough front crumbling down. The bloodshot eyes of Sungyoon are shining behind the pool of his tears.

“Tell me, Hong Joochan. Is it that easy for you to let someone die in your ears?”

Speechless, Joochan is consumed by the darkness and blistering pain as he stares into Sungyoon’s eyes.

A commotion breaks inside the centre as a lady officer rushes outside, searching for Sergeant Bae Seungmin.

“Sir!” she approaches as soon as her eyes connect with Seungmin. “We have a call saying she is kidnapped. It has potential to turn into a murder.”

Seungmin nods and follows behind her to her cubicle. He gazes at the screen, fast-reading the brief profile of the caller. The lady officer passes him the headphones.

“Not me,” Seungmin holds his hand up to stop her. “The Chief of the Call Centre will take care of all high coded calls from now onwards, araso?”

The lady officer nods hesitantly, looking at the said one, still oblivious to the emergency.

“Continue to keep the caller on the line,” Seungmin orders as he runs off the other side of the corridor and swings open the door abruptly. “Chief Hong! Code One on the line!”

Seungmin’s desperate voice snaps Joochan from his trance. He reacts by turning away and finds Seungmin at the door, who looks terribly anxious. He wants to move but Sungyoon’s strong grip continues to pin him down.

“Release me,” Joochan tells the older one firmly.

“You think I let you escape me-”

“I cannot afford to lose this victim,” Joochan says. “We’ll talk later.”

Donghyun continues to shake his arm off. “Hyung, let go.”

Sungyoon remains persistent. He then notices Joochan’s eyes has changed from being fearful to fearless in a heartbeat.

Reluctantly, the older one releases his grip. Joochan runs into the centre and stands behind the largest table at the back of the room, fixing his own headphones.

“Transfer the line,” orders Chief Hong as he pins his hands at the side.

The lady officer returns to her seat and does what she is instructed to. Seungmin sits by his desk, one row in front of Joochan’s. His fingers move like lightning, typing on the keyboard and clicking the mouse.

Seungmin takes a deep breath and briefs his Chief. “Park Bok-nim. 17 years old. She went to Eunhyeong station to meet a man from a chatting app and got kidnapped five minutes ago.”

“Location?”

“It’s from a redevelopment estate area. All surveillance cameras are very limited.”

Joochan catches Seungmin’s gaze, noticing nothing but worry engulf him. The inability to use cameras and track her exact location render Seungmin as useless. He now relies on Joochan’s ability and leadership to save her.

Joochan speaks once the line is opened and he hears the shuddering breath of the caller from the other side.

“This is Sergeant Hong Joochan. Are you okay, Park Boknim-ssi?”

She sucks in a breath. “He hit my right eye, and my knees are aching.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know but he is outside of the room.”

“Please hang in there as we are sending help to you right away,” Joochan speaks eloquently, the caller starting to calm her breaths. “Can you describe the man?”

“The man... He’s as old as my dad. He promised to give me 100, 000 won for a small talk. I followed him from the station. It was a long walk so I wanted to go home instead. He... He strangled me from behind... Officer, he is... He is insane.”

Joochan notices the rhythm of her heartbeat fluctuate, her breaths getting raspier than before.

“He has knives. Many of them... In a bag. He is going to kill me.”

“Chief Hong,” Seungmin interrupts. “It is within 2 miles radius from the station. Because it is a prepaid phone, it will take longer to retrieve the coordinates.”

Joochan nods at Seungmin and returns his focus on the caller. “What do you see around you?”

Boknim moves her head, and speaks. “I see bricks, wood, sand, cement... It looks like a construction site.”

Bringing a bag full of knives to a place as described by Boknim does not match to any common crime. The possibilities of the man just kidnapping her for rape or robbery are eliminated. He brings her there to solely harm her.

Or worse, kill her.

Joochan suddenly hears something at the background. It sounds like water running from a tap but the trickling sound is very distant that Boknim does not react to it.

It must be the perpetrator. He is at a floor below her.

How many floors are there in the building where she is kept? If she is at somewhere higher than five levels, it will be difficult for her to escape through the window.

“Boknim-ssi, do you see a window?”

“Yes. It’s... It’s too high for me to climb out-”

“I understand. I want to tell you that he is a floor under you. So, I want you distract him. Throw a brick out of the window, as fast as you can.”

Boknim spots a brick near her right away and without thinking twice, she reaches for it. She drags herself as quietly as she can, picking it up and she walks on her knees.

As instructed by Joochan, she tosses the brick out of the window. Joochan hears the brick drop outside, followed by the door slamming downstairs and footsteps rushing down.

Estimating the duration of him running down from the room downstairs and to the ground floor, Joochan believes that Boknim is on the third level.

“Officer, I think... I think he got out of the building,” Boknim says, also hearing the doors and footsteps.

“Good job, Boknim-ssi. You gave us more time to come and save you. Please wait for us,” Joochan says calmly and stands up to press a button on his dashboard.

The call centre room is suddenly alit, alternating blue and red lights revolving around the room. A digital clock expands on a wide screen, starting to count down from 10 minutes.

Switching the line with Boknim to the radio of all officers on the field, Joochan announces.

“Code Zero. A kidnapping has occurred. The abductor has weapons and he is possibly a murder suspect.”

The Commissioner and Chief Daeyeol become uneasy, watching Sergeant Hong Joochan in his glory as he sends out orders to the uniformed men.

“It is within a two-mile radius from 36 Eunhyeong-dong, Youngdong-gu. Nearby patrol divisions should help.”

By the other side of the corridor, Sungyoon leans against the wall and crosses his arms, trying his best to ignore Joochan’s voice which speaks loudly through the radio on his vest.

The next thing Joochan says cannot be ignored at all.

“Sergeant Choi Sungyoon from the Seogu Patrol Division will be dispatched from the Golden Time Team.”

A heated hiss escapes Sungyoon’s lips.

“What?”



+++
A/N: Haha Joochan is savage! So happy for their reunion. Wait till the others join in. So far, Bomin & Jibeom are not here yet. They will come soon!

Thank you for reading!