vox diabolus. » bts

TRIGINTA SEX

SEOKJIN : [ checks the clock, taps foot impatiently ] he's late. the ice cream probably melted by now. unless... unless he's really not...

[ after pausing for a moment, SEOKJIN picks up his phone and dials JIMIN'S number. he pulls on a jacket and puts on his shoes, leaving the house. ]

dialing JIMIN!

dialing . . .

dialing . . .

dialing . . .

dialing . . .

dialing . . .

JIMIN : hello? are—are you okay? [ voice shakes ] you just randomly hung up, and i... i...

SEOKJIN : no, i'm... i'm fine. [ takes in a breath of fresh air ] i just need to talk to you in person for a second. do you have the time?

JIMIN : uh... [ a shuffling noise comes from the other end of the line ] alright. if it's for a few minutes and it's close to the police station, i probably could.

SEOKJIN : um, if you're busy, you really don't have to. [ presses the 'down' button on the elevator ]

JIMIN : no, no... it's not just that, it's because we have a missing persons report—i'm sure a couple minutes won't hurt anyone. i'll meet you in front of the station, okay?

SEOKJIN : okay. [ gets on the elevator, making his way to the lobby ]

JIMIN : i'll see you in a few. be safe!

JIMIN : [ CALL ENDED : 02:08 ]

[ SEOKJIN begins walking briskly to the police station, keeping his head down low. when he approaches the station, he meets eyes with JIMIN and smiles gently. ]

SEOKJIN : hey! i hope i'm not taking too much of your time.

JIMIN : hi. not at all. are you feeling okay? [ offers SEOKJIN one of the cups of coffee he had been holding ]

SEOKJIN : [ takes the warm cup of coffee, taking a quick sip ] y-yeah. i was just startled, that's all. [ holds the cup of coffee by the rim up to eye-level, nodding towards it ] thanks, by the way. i needed that.

JIMIN : of course.

SEOKJIN : anyways, uh, the missing persons report? is it serious?

JIMIN : i'd like to think it isn't, but it is. it's the third one this month. this one—the one that was filed today—still has time. technically, you're supposed to wait twenty-four hours, but it seemed urgent. the most recent one didn't show up to her sister's wedding without notifying anyone. something serious had to be involved.

SEOKJIN : ...can you talk about it so openly? it's not classified or anything?

JIMIN : [ chuckles, takes a sip of his coffee ] what are we, the fbi? i think it's smart to talk about a missing person, if you ask me. anyways, my team thinks it's all connected. their backgrounds are all similar. they're all low-risk victims, female, upper middle class. we don't know what the abductor does with them, though. there hasn't been any ransom demands or bodies. [ takes a long, drawn-out sip of his coffee ] although i'd like to find them alive, i'm placing my bets on murder or trafficking. [ shivers ] you never get used to stuff like this. anyways, i feel like i'm talking a lot. did you want to see me for anything in particular?

SEOKJIN : um... well, first of all, those women, it's really unfortunate. i hope your case goes well. and, uh, secondly... [ fiddles with his cup of coffee ] so, when we were talking on the phone earlier, jeongguk interrupted me. and i hung up. you remember, right?

JIMIN : [ nods ] yeah. what happened?

SEOKJIN : so... i guess i fainted. or something. i'm really not sure. i had a dream—it's too vivid for it to have been a dream. i don't know. i'm really confused, but in the dream, jeongguk was there. he—he was holding a blade to my neck, and he was... he was acting so crazy. i asked for his name, and he said his name was aiden. we... we talked, and in the end, he killed me. i... i can still feel where he stabbed his blade into me. i tried to scream, but my voice—it just didn't work. and then, i woke up; jeongguk had been watching me, and he said i fainted when i saw him. he went to the convenience store after to pick up some things for the both of us. i told him to buy ice cream, because he would come home early if that's what he was doing, right? it's been hours. also, when he left... i saw a pocketknife on the floor. it was just... there. i don't even own pocketknives. and even if i did, i wouldn't have them just laying around, you know? isn't that crazy?

JIMIN : w...wow, that's a lot to absorb. [ inhales deeply ] i don't know what to tell you. hey, uh, if it makes you feel safer... you could come stay at my place. it's not grand, but i think anything is better than sharing a roof with a possible serial killer. [ chuckles, but stops when he sees SEOKJIN'S unresponsive expression ] sorry. [ clears his throat ] but what do you say?

SEOKJIN : [ hesitates ] that's... that's really nice of you. but... uh, don't you think that it'll raise suspicions? i don't want to, um, agitate him.

JIMIN : we can take care of it. i'll be there with you. we can start moving your things tomorrow morning.

SEOKJIN : alright. thank you so much. i don't—i don't even know how to make it up to you. i'm forever indebted.

JIMIN : don't worry about that. don't worry about anything, actually. i'm just helping a friend out. [ smiles softly ]

SEOKJIN : [ smiles back ]

···

[ a / n ]
we are almost done guysss ! way more than halfway through ! i'm still debating how i'm going to end the book but hhh i'm so excited ! also i've been reading y'all's lil theories in the comments and some of y'all are so creative and smart :') and there's the ones who are really hecking confused (don't worry! an end to a book bears an explanation). but nevertheless, i love my readers, every single one of y'all <3 also !!! doppelganger reached over 30K votes with 253K reads !!! also, thank you for getting me nearly halfway to 9K ! i'm elated. i literally love you guys so much. thank you ! <3