Chapter Text
The first thing anyone does when they hear their phone ring in the dead of dawn is toss it against the wall.
At least that was what Lee Taeyong wanted to do. The police captain groaned as he lifted his head. He reached for the nightstand, almost knocking over his rum bottle before reaching for his phone.
“Hello?”
“Captain? It’s me.”
“This better be important Mingyu or I’ll fire you tomorrow.” Taeyong’s sleep-laden voice broke through.
“Does a dead girl washed up by the shore of Paradise River count?”
“Fuck.” Taeyong cursed. “Give me 15 minutes.”
“Right on sir.”
Taeyong tossed his phone aside and dragged his body up. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck.” He dressed as quickly as he could, never forgetting his gun and his police badge as he ran down the stairs and jumped in his car.
“Good morning sir, or night or whatever it is.” Officer Kim Mingyu saluted and Taeyong tipped back lazily. He wasn’t dressed in his uniform but he knows full well no one would give a shit. As captain of Silent Man’s police force he could do pretty much whatever he wants. The headquarters back at N-City had more pressing issues to deal with than a small town of less than 3,000 people.
“Who called in?” Taeyong asked, getting out of his car and walking towards the river.
“Old man Jung. He was coming out to fish in the river.” Mingyu pointed to Yunho, the town’s resident fisherman and one of it’s oldest patrons. He looked unfazed at finding a dead body as he just sat there watching the policemen fuss over the body.
“Fuck.” Taeyong winced at the sight of the dead body. It wasn’t the gruesomeness that shocked him but rather the identity of the girl. He knew her.
“Kim Yerim, daughter of Irene Bae Joohyun, the town’s laundry owner. She’s 16 years old, goes to…”
“Angel High, I know I know.” Taeyong cut him off. “She’s in the same class as my son.”
“Oh.” Mingyu bit his lip. “Well this is uncomfortable.”
“She’s dead. It’s not supposed to be comfortable.”
“Sorry sir.”
“They say she has been dead for at least 3 hours.” Officer Kang Seulgi said, removing her rubber gloves. “She was in her underwear, so my guess is she snuck out for a midnight swim, got caught and drowned.”
“Drowned? Are you sure?” Taeyong asked.
“She has all the signs of a drowned victim.” Seulgi handed over her clipboard, which detailed the observations she made on the body.
“Find out where she could have fallen in or started swimming. Check for signs of another person, could be foul play. Mingyu, call her mother.”
“Why do I have to call her mother?” Officer Mingyu whined a little. “Her mama scares me. Every time I bring my laundry in she’s always staring at me with those laser eyes of hers.”
“She’s judging you because you still sleep in that ridiculous unicorn onesie.” Taeyong rolled his eyes. “Shut up and do what you’re supposed to do. I have to file a report on this.”
“Right sir.”
“And when you come back to the office, bring coffee.”
“With cream this time sir?”
“Forget it. Bring it black.” Taeyong groaned as he got into his car. “It’s going to be one of those days.”
*****************
“So then I walked up to her and said ‘bitch I’ll give you 100 and that’s that’ so she couldn’t argue and she just dropped down and sucked me off anyways.”
“Didn’t I tell you she’s got a great tongue?” Jaebum grinned at Namjoon, giving a fist bump as the steam from the men’s bathroom coated the metal lockers. The symbol of the N-City police forced was engraved on each one of them. “She gives better blowjobs than Lisa, but that bitch has the tighter pussy.”
“Last time I went into the BlackPink house Jennie offered me a lap dance for free. It was my birthday so she threw in a bucket of beer as well.” Yoongi smirked, drying his hair with a towel.
“Hey Johnny,” Jackson called Johnny who just exited the shower, dressed in casual boxers with a towel loosely hanging around his waist. “Want to hang out with us tonight?”
“Yeah. Jungkook broke up and now we’re taking him to the strip club.” Yugyeom grinned, the young police officer straightening his tie.
“Frankly I would rather suck my own cock than go with you.” Johnny rolled his eyes, taking out his shirt from the locker. He checked his reflection in a nearby mirror, his shoulder tattoo moving as he flexed his muscles. He was taller and bigger than his fellow police colleagues. Jackson may have the biggest chest muscles, but because of Johnny’s height the latter practically towered over everyone.
“Oh come on.” Yoongi sighed. “Don’t be a party pooper, unless pussy is not what you’re into. It’s fine though, there are lots of male strippers.”
“It’s not where we are going, it’s who I am going with.” Johnny buttoned his shirt.
“Tsk, Detective Johnny Seo Youngho doesn’t want to hang out with us lowly officers.” Namjoon rolled his eyes. “Ever since you got promoted you’ve been high and mighty.”
“Bold of you to assume I liked you guys before I got the job.” Johnny grinned, slipping on his boots. “Maybe if you stopped acting like horny pre-teen boys you could be all high and mighty like me too.”
“Fuck you Johnny.”
Johnny raised two middle fingers at them as he walked out of the locker room. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked up the stairs to the main office on top. He passed by the ladies at the reception and greeted them. As he arrived, he saw Lieutenant Park Jungsoo coming out of his office.
“Sir.”
“Cut the crap.” The lieutenant smiled. “Like you actually greet me on a regular basis.”
“Give me credit for trying.” Johnny grinned. He and Jungsoo, widely known as Leeteuk, were old friends at the police academy. Leeteuk was quick to rise in the police force due to his diligence and bravery. Johnny actually broke out of the police force after 6 months to be a private investigator. He only came back because Leeteuk pleaded him to.
“I have some news for you.” The lieutenant beckoned him into his office and handed him a report. “There was a dead girl washed up on the shores of Paradise River in Silent Man. That is the second dead girl to have shown up in that town in under two months.”
“You think there is a connection?”
“They don’t think so, but it’s a small town. Everything is connected.” Leeteuk shrugged. “I need you to go down there and check out the situation.”
“Silent Man huh?” Johnny checked the report. “That’s two hours from here.”
“And it’ll take three if you don’t head over right now.” Leeteuk said. “Head to the station and look for Captain Lee Taeyong. He’s in charge over there.”
“Gotcha.”
“Oh, one more thing.” Leeteuk stopped Johnny before he left. “Ease up a little around him. Taeyong’s a good man but he’s quite a character.”
“Oh come on, you know me.” Johnny smirked. “I’m good with characters.”
“This is a small-town Johnny, and I mean small like really small. These people grew up knowing one another. They might not take an outsider kindly, especially one who is investigating dead girls.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to being a stranger, even in my own office.” Johnny shrugged and left the office.
*****************
“It is with deep sadness and regret to share with you this terrible news.” Principal Moon Taeil cleared his throat as he spoke to the Angel High student body, which was probably a little more than 100 students, as everyone, students and staff, gathered in the school gym. He didn’t really need to make the announcement. Everyone was talking about it before class began that morning.
“Kim Yerim, student from Class 206, was found dead this morning at 4.05 am. This is extremely distressing as she was a smart, kind student who has been a friend to everyone in this school.”
“Tsk.” Chaeyoung, a fellow student turned around to whisper to her best friend Tzuyu. “I didn’t even know her.”
“She sits behind you in science class you asshole.” Tzuyu rolled her eyes.
“Gosh how long is this going to take?” Chaeyong groaned. “This is so cutting into our rest period.”
“I heard she was found in her underwear.”
“Holy shit.” Chaeyoung giggled. “Think she snuck out to meet men?” the two girls giggled. A flying paper ball struck Chaeyong’s face and the teenager reeled back in shock.
“What the fuck Donghyuck?”
“What? I was aiming for bullshit.” Lee Donghyuck, a snarky male in a Guns and Roses t-shirt stuck out his tongue childishly. Chaeyoung threw the paper ball back at him, startling students around them.
“Psst!” Mark Lee turned around to Chaeyong and Donghyuck fighting each other. “Stop doing that!”
“LEE DONGHYUCK, SON CHAEYOUNG.” Principal Moon roared into the microphone, turning the entire gym into a standstill as everyone stared at them. “Meet me in my office later.”
“Now look at what you have done!” Chaeyoung snapped at Donghyuck.
“Relax. It’s not like you haven’t been in there before.” Donghyuck grinned. “Aren’t you the professional at sneaking into men’s offices?”
“Donghyuck please.” Mark turned around to grab his arm. “Not now.”
The other male sighed as he faced forward. Principal Moon continued with his speech about how tragic Kim Yerim’s death was and what the school community could do in her memory.
They know this by heart. They went through it just 70 days ago.
*****************
“Why is everyone staring at Jeno?” Park Jisung asked his best friend Zhong Chenle as they sat down at the cafeteria table with their trays. They watched their fellow friend Lee Jeno wait in line for his turn at the cafeteria. Everyone seemed to look at him and whisper. Some pointed at him and some even went up to him to say a few words.
“I think they are trying to comfort him.” Chenle said, taking a bite out of his noodles. “Yerim was his ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah.” Jisung hit his head. “I forgot.”
Jeno nodded politely at those who came up to him to say a few words. He thanked them for their comfort and moved on. Truth be told he didn’t know what to do or say to them. He made his way to Jisung and Chenle’s lunch table and set his tray down.
“You feeling okay?”
“I guess.” Jeno sighed. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Dude your ex-girlfriend was found in a river.”
“It’s not like I had anything to do with it.”
“You don’t feel anything at all?” Jisung raised an eyebrow. “I thought you two were close.”
“I don’t know, it’s just…” Jeno scratched his head. “I just found out this morning and now all of this. It’s too much to handle.”
“Sup bitches.” Huang Renjun and Na Jaemin greeted, setting their trays on the same table as they entered hand in hand. “I think the school is being nicer to us now that one of us is dead. At least the meatloaf looks edible.”
“Hyung.” Chenle slapped Jaemin’s arm, pointing at Jeno with his chin.
“Oh, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.” Jeno shook his head. “I haven’t quite settled on how to feel about all of this.”
“Donghyuck!” Renjun waved at Donghyuck and Mark, who sat down together with them. “What did the principal say?”
“The usual.” Donghyuck chuckled. “He wanted to give us detention but then he remembered that Yerim’s funeral might be on so he scratched the idea.”
“There’s not going to be a funeral.” Mark said.
“What?” the whole table stared at him.
“Well if the police are still investigating they will hold onto her body until it’s over. Like Sooyoung’s. We never attended her funeral.”
“Did your dad tell you about that?” Chenle asked.
“Yeah, do they have any suspects?”
“No, just guessing.” Mark answered. “He wasn’t at home when I woke up. Probably at the station or at the scene of the crime.”
“Can you imagine if Yerim was actually murdered?” Jisung said, chewing his sandwich. “We have a serial killer in our midst!”
“But who would want to kill Yerim? Sooyoung I get because she’s a bitch and half of us can’t stand her but Yerim can’t even kill a fly. Plus she’s so quiet and always alone. If she doesn’t shout ‘yes’ during roll call you wouldn’t even know she existed.” Donghyuck said.
“Guys, I don’t think we should talk about her like this.” Mark said. He glanced at Jeno who just shook his head.
“It’s fine guys. Seriously.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I mean it’s a terrible thing but Yerim and I broke up two years ago. There is hardly anything left between us.” Jeno looked to his side as Jaemin snuck his hand underneath to hold his.
“Still, we can’t be too excited over this.” Mark said. “You can’t be looking like a member of the party rock gang while your ex was found dead. What would other people say?”
“Fuck other people.” Renjun sighed. His ‘fuck’ was uttered a little too loudly as the kids in the other tables turned to stare at him. Renjun looked around and ducked his head. “I fucking hate this small town.”
“It’s weird.” Chenle agreed. “Did you see that shrine they made for her in the hallway? Hardly anyone in this school even noticed her and now all of a sudden because she’s dead everyone is leaving flowers and ‘I miss you’ notes?”
“It’s death. People are afraid of it.” Donghyuck said. “They think it’s like God. If you show some respect and pray it won’t come to you.”
“That’s not fear, that’s guilt.” Jeno said.
“Guys guys, let’s stop it.” Mark said. “Should we cancel our meeting tonight?”
“No.” Jeno shook his head. “I need this. When my parents find out they are going to be all over the school, the PTA and me.”
“Fine then.” Mark nodded. “Same place?”
The gang nodded and proceeded to eat their lunch in peace. After lunch, the gang walked down the hallway to their next classes, coming up onto a hallway shrine made for Yerim. Her high school yearbook photo was blown up in the centre with flowers all around her. One of the students was approaching the shrine with a daisy but Jeno stopped her.
“Don’t. She’s allergic to daisies.”
“But I…”
“Find another way to deliver your pity.” He snapped. The student stared at him in shock, but she backed off anyways. Jeno took a chocolate bar from his bag and placed it next to a bouquet of flowers.
“Here. Heaven is full of candy bars. Especially Kit-Kats.”
Jeno turned around to face his friends. “She liked them the most.”
No one said anything. Jeno felt tears springing in his eyes, before he knew it he started bursting into tears. His friends pulled him into a tight circle hug, letting Jeno finally feel that his friend was no longer coming back to him.
*****************
Johnny’s first impression of Silent Man wasn’t bad. It was a tiny town, cute looking place with small houses, really old, antique looking buildings and more trees than road signs. His first impression of Lee Taeyong however wasn’t exactly as positive.
“You must be Detective Johnny Seo.” Taeyong greeted him when he first arrived the station. His dark hair framed his cold, stoic face and his eyes held an unfriendly tint. “The bigshot N-City said they were sending.”
“Nice to meet you too.” I think.
“First time here?”
“I was here several years ago. Just cruising through the town, I never actually stopped here.”
“Hmph.” Taeyong made a noise that sounded like a response but who knows if it actually was.
“What can you tell me about the case?”
“Whatever you read on your case file.” Taeyong answered, taking a seat in his office. He didn’t offer Johnny a chair and Johnny was pretty sure he didn’t want to. Taeyong’s office was small but it was very organized and neat. The billboard he hung across his desk was largely empty except for a few notices about town events or something. It seems like Silent Man was the type of place where nothing happened. At all.
Until now at least.
“Sir?” a younger officer knocked on the door, stunned momentarily by Johnny’s appearance but he shook it off. “We found Yerim’s clothes at Eve Creek.”
“Eve Creek?” Johnny raised an eyebrow.
“You should change your shoes.” Taeyong said, standing up and glancing at Johnny’s leather shoes. “Your shoes wouldn’t stand a chance against the mud near the creek.”
“I didn’t bring any shoes.”
“Mingyu, see if you can get the detective an extra pair, then drive him over to the creek.” Taeyong pushed past the two of them as he went out of his office and to his car. Johnny just sighed heavily.
“Oh! You must be that detective from the city!” Mingyu bowed politely. “Officer Kim Mingyu at your service sir.”
“Is he usually like this?”
“Who?”
“Your captain.”
“Oh no sir.” Mingyu shook his head. “He could be worse.”
“I can tell I’m going to enjoy it here.” Johnny rolled his eyes.
“I’m sure you will sir! We have beautiful mountains and charming restaurants…”
“You don’t do sarcasm do you?” Johnny eyed him.
“No but I can make a mean bowl of ramen if that interests you.”
“Maybe later.” Johnny laughed. “I am kind of hungry.”
Mingyu found him a pair of boots from the station store room and he drove Johnny to Eve Creek. It took about 15 minutes and when they arrived, Taeyong was there inspecting the area with a female officer in tow. She was cute and had a nice figure. If Johnny was straight he would hand over his number and ask her to meet him at his hotel room later.
“The body was found by the shore, about 15 kilometres from here.” Mingyu explained. “These were the clothes she left behind.” He pointed to a long white dress and a pair of slippers.
“So she took it off before she went swimming.” Officer Kang Seulgi (according to her tag) said.
“She should be wearing a swimming suit. The report said she was in her underwear.”
“Not all of us wear swimming suits to swim.” Seulgi said. “Until I was 15 I swam in my underwear too.”
“You guys don’t have swimsuits?” Johnny raised an eyebrow.
“We do but they are expensive.” Mingyu answered. “Plus we don’t care. The kids here are raised to swim naked.”
“Naked?” Johnny went. “Isn’t that…”
“Not everything done in the city is right Detective.” Taeyong spat out. He didn’t even glance at Johnny as he continued walking around the creek. “There was no sign of struggle here. My guess is she took a swim and drowned.”
“There’s a man’s footprint here.” Johnny pointed to a patch in the ground. “Unless you think Yerim had a thing for wearing men’s shoes?”
Taeyong said nothing as Seulgi photographed the evidence. “Make a plaster cast of it. If she came here with a man or then he was probably the last person she saw alive.” Johnny said. “When’s the autopsy results due?”
“Autopsy?” Mingyu asked. “What autopsy?”
“You found a dead body and you don’t conduct autopsies?”
“This girl died in an accident. There is no need to cut her up like that.” Taeyong shuddered. “The poor thing. She’s only a child.”
“All the more reason to find out why she died. To avenge the child.” Johnny said. “What about Park Sooyoung?”
“What about her?”
“You didn’t conduct an autopsy on her either?”
“She died by suicide. What’s your point?”
“Sir,” Mingyu asked Johnny. “Do you think these two could be connected?”
“This town has had two dead bodies in under two months. You don’t think it’s a little suspicious?” Johnny said. “Where’s the body?”
“In the morgue. Sooyoung’s parents are out of town and have yet to claim the body.” Seulgi answered.
“Good. Conduct an autopsy on both bodies to determine cause of death.”
“This is ridiculous.” Taeyong rolled his eyes. “These deaths were accidental. There is no serial killer here. This isn’t some stupid Agatha Christie novel.”
“No, it’s much worse.” Johnny said. “This is real life.”
Taeyong mumbled something under his breath but Johnny would rather not find out what it was. He knew Taeyong didn’t have a kind word to say about him at all.
“Sir? It’s the Mayor.” Mingyu said, a hand pressed against his phone. “He wants to see you two.”
“Who’s the mayor?” Johnny asked.
“Oh you’ll love him!” Seulgi smiled, her eyes creasing into crescents. “He’s young, friendly and super smart! He’ll make you feel right at home.”
“What do you think he wants to do with us?” Johnny asked as he followed Taeyong in his car.
“Who knows? Must be something to do with Yerim.”
“No shit.”
“He’s a guardian to all of us. He and his family have done a lot to protect our town.” Taeyong said. “Whatever you do don’t do anything that would embarrass us.”
Johnny shook his head. Embarrassing himself was the very least of his concerns.
*****************
“Hey Donghyuck!” Mark got on his skateboard and skated around to Donghyuck’s side. School was finally over and that meant one thing, either going home to do your homework or hang out with your friends in a small café with only three things on the menu.
Mark’s a teenager. It’s the latter.
“Wanna hang out? We could head over to Jaemin’s place and watch a movie.”
“I can’t. I’m working today remember?” Donghyuck had a part-time job in Chenle’s father’s Chinese medicine shop/restaurant. He dumped his books into his backpack and threw them into the basket in front of his bicycle.
“Is your dad feeling okay?”
“Same old same old.” Donghyuck sighed. “He walks better now and he can help himself to the bathroom, so I guess that’s something.” Donghyuck’s father Lee Donghae was bedridden with cancer. His mother died at a young age, leaving Donghyuck to be raised by a poor, sick man. Thankfully, through charitable organizations held by Silent Man church and a friendly neighbour’s goodwill, Donghyuck never went to bed hungry and was treated like any other child. Now that he was older, he had taken it upon him to look after his father, which is why he started working after school. Kun couldn’t afford to give him a generous pay, but he provided food which meant meals were covered and some extra pocket money for something as small as a lightbulb always came in handy.
“Come on Hyuck!” Chenle waved, smiling brightly. “Dad’s making kung pao chicken today!”
“Race you to the store!” Donghyuck grinned. He leaned forward to kiss Mark on the lips before racing off. “Bye Mark!”
“Bye!” Mark waved, smiling as his boyfriend sped off in the distance. He turned and saw Jeno walking with his bag slung across his shoulder. “Bye Jeno!”
“Bye Mark!” Jeno waved goodbye as he entered a small, black sedan. Jeno’s family was among the wealthiest and most influential in town, so unlike other kids he had his own chauffeur to pick him up. Jeno’s parents were ridiculously over-protective of their only son. If you wanted to invite Jeno out for lunch, you needed to call him 5 business days ahead so that he could ask his parents for permission. Which is why the teen resorted to sneaking out instead of asking.
“Hey Jaemin, Renjun!” Mark gave them a fist bump. “Wanna hang?”
“Sure. Let’s head back to my place.” Jaemin suggested.
“I’m cool with it.” Renjun replied, chewing his gum.
“Sounds great. Jisung, you coming?”
“In an hour or so.” Jisung sighed. “I’m waiting for my sisters to come pick me up.”
“Cool.”Renjun shrugged. “Say hi to Jihyo and Jimin for me!!”
“I have nothing to do since my dad is not home.” Mark sighed.
“It’s cool. Hey, maybe we should make some of the stuff for tonight.” Renjun wiggled his eyebrow.
“Is your dad home?” Mark asked Jaemin.
“There’s a school staff meeting later in the afternoon. He gave me the key and told me to go home by myself.”
“Great.” Renjun climbed on his bicycle and waited for his friends. “Let’s go.”
*****************
“What’s up with that?” Johnny asked Taeyong as they entered the town hall. There was a huge mural of the Mayor, which due to its size, was the first thing anyone would noticed upon entering the town hall.
“He had it commissioned for his 35th birthday last year.”
“The Mayor is only 35 years old?” Johnny dropped his jaw.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.” A man’s voice came from an office further down the hall. The Mayor smiled handsomely as he shook Johnny’s hand. “Next time I’ll put on a white beard to greet you.”
“Mayor Choi, this is Detective Johnny Seo from N-City.” Taeyong said.
“Ah yes, the big detective.” The Mayor smiled. “My name is Choi Siwon, you can call me Siwon, almost everyone here does it. Except Taeyong of course, still hung up on honorifics.” The mayor teased the captain, who just smiled politely and bowed his head.
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. May…I mean Siwon.”
“So tell me, have you gotten to visiting some of the sights in our little town?” Siwon smiled.
“I’m here to investigate a potential murder.” Johnny smiled back. “But I’ll be sure to sneak in some of the sights on my schedule.”
“Gosh it’s so horrifying to think that anyone could be out there hunting our children.” Siwon shuddered. “Do you think there is a killer amongst us?”
“I don’t know anything until I have collected enough evidence.”
“Taeyong, make sure you assist Johnny to the fullest extend.” Siwon said. “It’s not everyday that a big man from N-City comes down to Silent Man, even if it is for a crime.”
“With all due respect I’m just a detective.”
“Nonsense!” Siwon laughed. “My mother used to say there are no small roles in society, only small men. But then again my mother was 5’11” and her legs were so long the kids used them as a totem pole so what does she know about small anyways?”
Johnny and Taeyong laughed at his joke as Siwon handed Johnny a card. It had the words The Love Hotel and a phone number underneath. “You’ll be needing a place to stay won’t you? Why don’t you put up a room here at one of our best hotels? My treat.”
“Oh no Siwon I couldn’t…”
“You are a guest in our town!” Siwon smiled. “And a guest must be treated kindly.”
“I’m guessing you don’t get many guests.”
“Population has been dropping steadily for the past few years.” Siwon sighed. “What’s left of us are basically the people who were born and raised here originally. Many of them have left for the big cities. It’s no matter though, we’ll find our ways to survive. You know a small town, in many ways, can be just as charming as a big city.”
“I’m sure.” Johnny looked at Taeyong. Charming huh?
“I wish you the best of luck in your investigation.” Siwon patted his back. “You’re welcomed in my office anytime if you have questions.”
“Thank you sir.” They bid the Mayor farewell and walked back to the car. “What a nice man.” Johnny commented. “I can see why he’s the mascot of the town.”
“That’s Choi Siwon for you.” Taeyong said. “He’s handsome and friendly. He represents what’s good and wholesome of Silent Man”
“So what do you do? Represent the bad side?” Johnny quipped.
“Knock it off. You may be some fancy detective from the big city but you’re still on my turf. This is my town, my home and my family. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Johnny and Taeyong drove back in icy silence. The detective looked out of his window at the rolling streets as they strolled past. He saw a group of kids outside a store, drinking sodas and munching on dumplings. One of the kids stared at him as they rode past and Johnny felt a shiver down his spine. The way that kid stared at him, as if he was an alien outsider. What’s worse is he felt like the kid had something to say, but chose to hide it because he was a stranger. The whole town felt like that, like it was trying to scream but restraint itself.
Maybe what Leeteuk said was right. Small towns have big secrets.