The Quiet Sin

Up In Flames

As he took his first steps into the station, Jungkook paused to flip on the light and set up for the day. Things were going as they usually did. He would come early to start the coffeemaker and boil some hot water for those who liked tea and oatmeal. As he sat there looking looking about the place, a thought appeared in his mind to check on him again.

Maybe after work, I'll go. He thought, taking a sip of his tea.

Soon, Officer Jin walked in.

"Good morning Officer Jin!" He smiled, but soon it faded away as his eyes came in contact with his. "Is.. everything alright?"

Taking his seat directly across from him, Officer Jin leaned in and just stared at him with a blank faced stare and seriousness in his eyes. Jungkook, uncomfortable, began to cock his head to the side with an inquisitive expression. "Are you al-?"
"It was you.." He began. Confused, Jungkook sat up.
"What?"
"You, at the hospital the other day. Why were you there?"
"I was visiting a friend." he paused. "You saw me? Why didn't you come say hello?" Sighing, Officer Him cast his gaze to the side.

"You seemed too distraught for company.."
"Oh, don't let that stop you next time. I'm fine. I'll be fine, I promise." He smiled. It quickly faded again as Officer Jin kept asking more questions.
"What happened?"
"To..?"
"When you were leaving.. What brought you there and what made you upset?"
"I-.." He paused. It hurt to even think about. Lowering his head a little, he still tried his hardest to remain positive. "He- uh.. He overdosed.. by accident.." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I found him when I went to visit and immediately took him to the hospital." It was very clear how painful it was for him, but he pressed on.

"And that was the reason why you were so distraught when you walked out?"
"I.. um.. Yeah.." He sighed, putting his head down. "Can we please not talk about this? It's just that it really bothers me to think about."

Officer Jin returned his gaze to Jungkook's eyes and that's when he knew that he knew something. An intense stare was shared between the two for a split second before another Officer walked in.

The day flew by and the tension seemed to all but go away. It obviously had faded enough to where no one else could notice, but Jungkook was still suspicious of his fellow Officer that once was his leader at the academy.

Suddenly, the intercom went off and every police officer's walkie talkie started spewing a report of a patient at the hospital. "We're going to need a backup search party. A patient at Bumin Hospital has apparently escaped."
"I'll go!" Jungkook immediately pipped up in fear that it might be him. He was known to do things like that. Officer Jin's eyes stared hard at him as well as everyone else. "I will go for backup."

"Well, you'll need to take some other people with you." Officer June said.

"I'll go." Officer Jeon's eyes locked on Officer Jin's. It was unclear as to why he would go, but he knew it had something to do with him. Still, the matter had already been settled and they took separate cars to go.

Jungkook's mind sailed off in the car as he continued thinking about why Officer Jin had seemed so cold. Before he knew it, he had pulled into the parking deck of the hospital and got out to investigate the situation.

Police cars were everywhere, but it wasn't long before he was able to find a group to give him the details.

"Hey, so what all do you guys know about this situation?"
"There apparently was a patient that resided in room 102 of the hospital and..." the voices faded as Jungkook's realization what happened kicked in. That room was the exact same room that he had been in when he took him there.
"Hey.. Hey!" The Officer said as he shook him. "Pay attention! Were you even listening?" Officer Jeon couldn't answer, but instead just took a step back and apologized before excusing himself from the scene.

Without thinking, he went back to his car, not hearing the voices in the background hollering after him, nor the car that began to follow him.

All Jungkook could think about was saving his friend and seeing about if he was okay.

Upon arrival at the house, Jungkook quickly ran up to the door and just stood there a second before slowly turning the knob. As always, it was unlocked.

The door slowly swung open as Jungkook just stared ahead at the possibility of seeing what he would never want to see again..

Without realizing it, he took in a deep breath and held it as he took his first step inside the house.

Everything was just as it had been when he last came, and yet a chilling feeling came as he looked at the pictures scattered about the floor. Some were missing and others were obviously out of place - very much unlike his preferred obsessively organized self which set off an alarm in Jungkook's head.

Wanting to charge up the stairs, he just stood still because of fear. Because of fate.

Because of something that was bound to happen that he never again wanted to see - yet he had to. He covered his eyes for a moment as he bit his lips before deciding to keep going.

Each step was that of what resembled the sound of his heart breaking as he got closer and closer to the heart-strangling truth.

Breathing heavily, though he couldn't hear it, he turned the knob and opened the door.

Tears already welling up, Jungkook just stood there staring at the frozen body that looked way top relaxed to be sleeping.

His vision became blurry so fast that he couldn't process what was happening before he heard footsteps running up behind him. Trying to wipe the clouds away as fast as he could and reaching for his gun, Jungkook shot aimlessly at the floor as a way to scare whomever was behind him.

"Put your weapon away now, Officer Jeon!" He couldn't even speak, as he had still been crying and couldn't see. Yet, in his mind, he knew that it was all over for him. "So I guess you were friends with the Daegu Killer. My eyes hadn't been mistaken after all." He said as he handcuffed the sad Officer.
"Don't call him that!" He snapped. "He had his reasons, okay? Reasons you wouldn't even understand! And I had to protect him. He saved my life!"

"How could you? I expected more from the both of you."
"He was my best friend. I couldn't.. No.. No.." He kept crying as he was dragged out of the house and into the back of Officer Jin's police car until backup came.

"I'm calling in need of backup. There's been an incident in direct connection to the lost patient at the hospital. He's overdosed."
"Officers Kim, Lee and Kang will be right over to your location in a bit."
"Copy that."

It was painful for the both of them sitting in that car. For Jungkook, the pain came from losing another friend and not knowing at all where Jiu was.

And for Officer Jin came the disappointment of a lifetime. The very boys he had hoped so much for, he watched them throw their lives away.