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Sudden noise wakes up Hongjoong from his sleep at two in the morning. His room is pitch black, just like the rest of his apartment and the surrounding area. No one should be awake at this time of day. Other than a few selected people and the one calling him right now, apparently.
"What?" he mumbles raspily into the speaker after slapping his hand around his night stand and grasping the vibrating phone into his hand.
"HONGJOONG!" Said person winces from the volume. "DID YOU HEAR THE NEWS?"
This wakes the groggy man up immedietely. Eden isn't the type of person to be calling him unnecessarily and to lose his cool. This must be important.
"What do you mean? You just woke me up."
"HONGJOONG I HAVE AMAZING NEWS. You know the Golden State Killer, right?" Now that Eden isn't screaming anymore, his voice seems to be shaking, Hongjoong notes.
"Of course I know the Golden State Killer. What about him?"
"They caught him. They fucking caught the Golden State Killer. They solved it!" A laugh escapes Eden's lips because of the state of euphoria that he is currently in. His voice shakes from the overwhelming amount of joy.
Hongjoong cannot believe it at first. Finally, after decades, it was solved. The man who terrorized America for many years is caught. And Hongjoong has to be the first one to write about it. As an up-and-coming journalist that's all Hongjoong can think of in that moment. This story is a sure way for him to get his name out there and start his journey as an investigative journalist.
"Who? How? When?" The questions shoot out of him while his body stumbles through the darkness of his bedroom, in search of his laptop to look up every last detail available.
He needs to contact the police station right now to get an interview, before everyone goes crazy and gets a slot before him. Hongjoong needs authentic answers from the people at the case not online amature sleuths like tabloids like to report. He didn't get his degree in journalism for nothing.
"I don't know many details, just that his name is Joseph DeAngelo and the agent talking to the media might be someone named Choi Jongho, I'm not sure, though. It could also be Park Seonghwa. Those names keep popping up on the forums," Eden answers him calmly after his initial freak out, "they're from the FBI, if you can contact them." It's time for business now.
Thank god Eden is also a journalist that knows to time the calm before the storm perfectly. Hongjoong knows his elder is going to freak out some more after they hang up, but Eden does not want to hinder Hongjoong's investigation. He knows how crucial time can be in situations like these, Eden would be one of the first on the scene if he was not a permanant employee, who does not have that kind of freedom.
"Oh, you know I can."
-
And Hongjoong did. Just a few days after the arrest of DeAngelo he is sitting on a plane to the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.. He was able to find out that Park Seonghwa, an agent that was brought onto the taskforce after it had been revived a few years ago, is the one assigned to talking to the media and giving information.
Even though Hongjoong would have liked someone who was on the case longer, he isn't going to pass up such an opportunity.
He already didn't sleep most nights leading up to this to make sure that he went over the case hundreds of times and wrote perfect questions. This interview could make or break his career, according to Hongjoong.
Finally it is time to conduct the interview. Hongjoong keeps whiping his hands on his slacks that he chose to wear in hopes to appear more professional (even though some might say that his bright red hair suggests the opposite). He doesn't even know what this agent looks like. The people he had contact with just told him to come to a room, set up his equipment and wait. Without a team, it took Hongjoong some time to adjust the camera, make sure the audio is recording properly and read over his questions again. He is ready.
No, he is not ready. The man that just walked into the room must be an angel. Tall, dark and handsome. Some of the words that immediately surface in Hongjoongs mind (alongside sexy, wow and ohmygodhowcansomeonelookthisgoodinasuititshouldbeillegal). This can't be the agent he's supposed to talk to, right?
"Good afternoon, Mr. Kim. My name is Agent Park, I am here to answer your questions regarding the case of Joseph DeAngelo."
Of course he is the one Hongjoong has to talk to.
Alright. Stay calm, Joong. You can do this.
"Good afternoon. Yes, please sit down. I've already set up everything, you just need to put on the mic." Good. Play it cool. You're a professional, not a crazy fan. You're here for business.
After Hongjoong redeems himself the interview flies by perfectly. He asks his questions and Agent Park answers them as well as he can. Some jokes and laughs slip in between the serious atmosphere and the taller man seems to get more and more comfortable the more time passes. Small smiles are thrown in Hongjoongs direction from time to time when the Agent answers questions. Other times it is almost cute how excited he gets when answering a question (it most definitally is cute in Hongjoong's opinion, but remember! business only!). It's almost a shame how quickly they finish everything. Hongjoong even tries to come up with questions off the top of his head, but comes up empty after five of them. He has no other option, but to end the interview after an hour; the time he got to talk to the agent.
"Thank you so much for everything, Agent Park. It was an honor to talk to you. The article will probably be published later this week along with the video. Maybe I'll be able to finish everything by tomorrow night and publish it." Hongjoong stands up and starts packing up his equipment. He knows one has to be fast to get far in this industry.
"I should also be thanking you. Making the effort to first get the information from a verified source before publishing nonsense."
"No need to worry about that," Hongjoong laughs. He knows the feeling of frustration when he reads yet another article with poorly conducted research. 'A source said' well what kind of source? He wants to scream at the article every time he reads that. Might as well be a random man on the street.
"And don't overwork yourself, Mr. Kim. This may be breaking news, but not worth your health," Agent Park playfully scolds him. Hongjoong's heart is fluttering when he hears that. They have gotten close enough over the course of the interview to even talk this comfortably with each other. Hongjoong takes all the courage he has and puts it into his next sentence.
"Says the one that didn't sleep two days straight for this case." It leaves Hongjoong's mouth with a cheeky grin, which hopefully shows he's only joking.
Relief washes over Hongjoong when the agent answeres "touché" and smiles down at the fully packed smaller man.
"Do you maybe have a business card, so I can send you the finished product for approval, before publishing it?"
"Shit. I mean, shoot," the agent blushes slightly, "no, I don't. We're about to change our numbers because of someone giving them to the wrong people and we didn't have time to print the cards yet." He scratches his black hair, looking around, as if the solution is going to pop up in front of him. For a second he looks a little unsure and furrows his prominent eyebrows. With a quiet sigh he mumbles out: "I can give you my private number, with the condition that you don't leak it anywhere." With a second of thought he adds, looking directly into Hongjoong's surprised eyes, "If you do decide to give others my number, just remember that I am an FBI agent."
Nodding, stunned, Hongjoong hands over his phone and lets him type in his number.
"Write me when you have everything ready," the dark haired man tells him with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, sure, I- I'll do that." Hongjoong is still stunned. Did the man really voluntarily give him his number, without Hongjoong having to beg for it? (not that he would've done that; he is a professional (he tells himself...))
And just like Hongjoong promised the good looking man, he fishes writing the article and editing the video in a little more than a full day with minimal sleep.
What takes him more effort than writing and editing, is actually building up the courage to send everything to the number that is saved as 'Agent Seonghwa'.
After Hongjoong saw the contact name the agent gave himself, he was baffled. Does the agent want Hongjoong to call him by his first name? Was it a force of habit that made him type his first name instead of his surname? Should Hongjoong call him Agent Seonghwa? Agent Park? Or just Seonghwa? So many questions and no answers for Hongjoong.
An hour or two passes with Hongjoong typing a message and deleting it yet again, thrashing around his bed like a little schoolboy. He tries to just send the finished document, but it does not look right. He also tries to type a message, but it sounds too stuck up. He writes one that is supposed to be more 'chill', but that sounds like he tried too hard.
In the end he decides a simple "Hello! I'm Kim Hongjoong, the interviewer a few days ago. Here are the finished products of our interview! Hope you like them :) Please send me some feedback, whether it's good or bad." should be enough. A little laid back with the smiley, but also not too much. Before he thinks about it too hard again, Hongjoong just presses send and throws the phone on the table. It's time to take a quick nap.
Before he can even close his eyes, his phone pings loudly and startles Hongjoong. Normally he would never have 'do not disturb' off, but he does not want to miss anything Seonghwa sends him. And he is lucky. Not even ten minutes after Hongjoong sent his message, Seonghwa already answers: "That was even faster than I thought! Thank you very much! I'll be sure to tell you what I thought of everything." Directly after he finishes reading another message arrives: "I'm already dreading the video... I never liked seeing myself in videos or pictures hahaha"
"As if! You're really handsome and you know that, you can't fool me." His fingers press down and send the text too soon, Hongjoong does not even have time to realize it. The journalist bangs his head on his table repeatedly. What the hell is he doing? Did he just shoot his indirect shot without even having any control over it? What. Bang. The. Bang. Hell. Bang. He just keeps banging his head on the table. Maybe he will lose his last braincells and he won't be able to text anything ever again.
His phone bings.
Hongjoong whips his head up as fast as he can, nearly pulling a muscle.
"Thank you ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ You're really handsome, too." And right after, "Ignore that, I'm supposed to be a cool and collected agent, not some shy college student using kaomojis."
What should he answer? What should he answer?
"Well, our business together is already over, the article written, the video edited. You can be as unprofessional as you want."
"That sounds great"
"It does. It would be a shame if we never saw each other again. I had the feeling that we got along well together :)"
"I had that feeling too ٩(^ᴗ^)۶"
How can someone be this cute?? A few minutes pass and Hongjoong has to control himself not to write anything back to let Seonghwa read and watch everything in peace. Basically, he tries not to be clingy only days after meeting the agent.
While waiting Hongjoong must have fallen asleep, because the next time he opens his eyes again the sun shines into them and his phone bears more messages from Seonghwa.
His cheeks match his red hair from all the compliments the dark haired agent sent him and finally publishes everything. He will think about an answer later. Now it is time for some proper sleep in his bed and maybe some food afterwards.
By the time Hongjoong opens his website to look at the feedback, many comments welcome him immediately. Among the ones cursing out the culprit there are some directed towards the interviewer and interviewee.
"it looks like the man and the interviewer are really close or sth"
- "right! that's what I thought too!"
"I'd love to see them work together again."
"Love their chemistry!"
"Those two should really team up and do some things together again. I really enjoyed this interview and I can tell they did as well"
Hongjoong blushes. Was he really that obvious with his attraction? At least the commentators also mentioned Seonghwa looking like he enjoyed the time they spent together, but those are just friendly feelings... Right?
But Seonghwa did say Hongjoong is handsome... That could mean he is interested in him.
Hongjoong does not allow himself to dream. He does not even know if the other man likes guys at all in that light. He still allows himself to send the other a suggestion to 'meet up' (Hongjoong secretly hopes that he will get that it is supposed to be a date (maybe?)). An hour later Seonghwa agrees and they meet again, face-to-face, on Saturday. Thank goodness, Hongjoong is still in D.C..
That is how Hongjoong and Seonghwa's friendship began over a year ago. They even found out that they live in the same city. Their friendship is filled with researching and investigating cases. They become inseperable.
Unfortunately, that is it. They are really good friends. Best friends. Just that. Over a year has passed and Hongjoong still didn't have the balls to confess his feelings for Seonghwa. A few months ago he decided that it was too late for that. Their friendship is too precious for him to ruin it by confessing his stupid feelings.
"I'll be fine, Hwa, don't worry," Hongjoong smiles up at the now blond male.
"I don't know, Joong," Seonghwa frowns and looks at Hongjoong with a doubtful look, "it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that you're going into the territory of an active serial killer whose type is delicate men. And I know how much you hate being called small, but you are, Joongie." His look turns from doubtful to complete worry the more he thinks about the possibility of Hongjoong getting hurt.
"I'll be fine," Hongjoong repeats with a laugh and takes Seonghwa into his arms to calm him a little bit, "my flight is soon, so I have to go." He unravels himself from the tight hug, now feeling warm and fuzzy with a soft smile, "You have to take care of yourself, too, you know? You're the one investigating the same killer. And your job is constantly putting you in danger, if I may remind you."
"Yeah, but I have to go to the HQ before I come to you. And I'm trained for any situation. That's still a few days of you all alone in a city with a murderer that looks for men just like you."
"I have to go now, Hwa. I'll call you when I land," Hongjoong announces, deeming it fruitless, trying to convince an agent that the world doesn't have to be dangerous for everyone. Hongjoong can't really blame him, Seonghwa's job makes him see the worst in people up close.
"And call me every night, too!"
"I'll try." With that Hongjoong goes to grab his bags but is surprised by Seonghwa tugging him back to his chest and hugging him back to the tight embrace they were in before.
"Be safe," Seonghwa whispers into his ear before letting him go, leaving a stunned and shuddering Hongjoong to collect his bags and leave Seonghwa's apartment with a face as red as his vibrant hair.
The journey to his destination is surprisingly comfortable. That must be a good sign for the article he wants to write about the active serial killer. The best kind of reasearch is visiting the sights where it all happened.
The first day of his research is spent walking around the city, from crime scene to crime scene, until Hongjoong decides that he also has to go to the place where it all persumibly started. The gay club at the edge of the town. Dressing up as best as he can in his dark jeans and a blue satin blouse, he styles his bright red hair and puts on some light make up. If he wants any authenic information, he has to be able to blend in with the crowd. And maybe he'll even find someone to make out with at the end of the night. He has to get over Seonghwa and his unrequited feelings somehow.
Booming music greets him once he gets into the club. And a slight vibration in his pants? Right! He forgot to call Seonghwa for the night!
Deciding to just refuse the call for now, because of the loud music, he opts to send him a message. 'Sorry', sent, 'can't come to the phone rn', sent, 'am at the club from the case', sent.
Hongjoong doesn't keep his phone on long enough to see Seonghwa's scolding messages that he knows would be coming. He decides to just mingle in the crowd for the night to get the atmosphere of the gay community in this city. Espacially after the first victims were found.
Skipping the drinks to stay concious and aware the whole night, Hongjoong makes his way through the mass, onto the dance floor. He can have fun even without the intoxication.
While dancing, Hongjoong feels a pair of hands settle on his hips and swaying them from side to side. Smiling, he follows the directions of the stranger behind him. One moment they are dancing at the next Hongjoong is pushed against a wall outside with lips pushed against his simultanously.
"Your place or mine?" the man against him pants and tries to grind his crotch against Hongjoong's.
"How about we just make out tonight, huh?" This time it's Hongjoong panting, out of breath from the passionate kiss, and chasing the other male's lips when he pulls away.
"Come on, baby. Let's go to mine then," he grabs Hongjoong's wrist and pulls him further away from the bustling club.
Hongjoong resists the grip and tries to get away from the insistant other, "Let me go, man, I said I don't want to go anywhere."
This seems to flip a switch when the stranger suddenly shoves Hongjoong against the wall hard, not in a sexual way this time, but hard enough that pain seers through Hongjoong’s back, "why can't you little bitches just listen to me? It's always the same with you" he spits into Hongjoong's face.
That's when Hongjoong realizes that he's fucked. Not the good kind. He's fucked in the worst kind of way possible. He's going to get murdered. Out of all the men he could have found to make out with he had to find the killer. Who'd have known that he would come back to the club he started at? Even after the police started suspecting it and even patroling it from time to time?
Before Hongjoong can run, a cloth is pressed harshly against his face and the last thing he feels before completely passing out is getting picked up and thrown into a small space.
Just a few hours after spamming Hongjoong with messages, it's time for Seonghwa to board the plane to the city where his friend is waiting. Hectic police officers running around is what greets his team of FBI Agents.
"Agents, we don't have time to show you around. Another man has been kidnapped last night," an officer pants as he runs towards a briefing room. Catching the severety of the situation Seonghwa's team picks up the pace as well. It hasn't been 24 hours yet, so their chances of catching the perpetrator are higher than normal. The evidence is still flaming hot.
Quickly they get to settting up their equipment while the officer addresses them and his team of police officers in the room, "Last night at the gay club 'Burning Night' the victim Kim Hongjoong-" the second that name comes out of his lips, a crash sounds through the briefing room. Seonghwa stares at the other man, his hands still in the shape of the headphones lying on the ground, "Did you just say Kim Hongjoong?" he whispers, body still stuck in a stupor.
"Yes, Agent," the pot bellied officer confims, looking at him confused, before he continues, "Kim Hongjoong was seen last outside the club with a man around a head taller than him. The victim is 5'7'' (171 cm) and has bright red hair. His blouse was found in a trash can near the club with traces of chlorine."
Now Seonghwa is sure that the victim is his Hongjoong, his Joongie.
"No blood at the crime scene and the patrolling officers didn't see anything suspicious. We're still waiting for the CCTV footage of the club. The perpetrator once again drew a smiley on the wall, where we can presume the victim was taken. What do you suggest we do, agents?" the officer asks, knowing they might be more experienced in dilemmas like this. Everyone's eyes shift towards the small group at the back of the room.
Suddenly Seonghwa's legs can't seem to hold him up anymore and he sinks down onto a chair and bows his head down into his hands.
"Hey, Seonghwa. Is everything alright?" his fellow agent, Jongho, asks.
"Hongjoong is my friend," is the only thing that he can mumble in this moment.
"Do you want to get replaced in the case?" his head agent asks Seonghwa sympathetically but with a hint of authority in her voice. They don't have time for Seonghwa's feelings, there is a man in the hands of a murderer. Their operation has to be as fast as possible.
The underlying implications in her question make Seonghwa try to come to his senses, "No," he shakes his head, "no, I have to help him." And with that the team works tiredlessly together with the officers, while Hongjoong stays locked up in a basement.
Hours feel like days to Hongjoong. There is no light shining into the basement where he is locked to thick chains. Not even a lightbulb hangs from the low ceiling. Hongjoong can't even make out a door or a light line of light. Complete darkness surrounds him. The shackles burn his wrists, he already lost the feeling in his arms and his legs hurt. What did the man do to him while he was passed out? His body feels like he was thrown down onto the concrete. The pain shows him that the kidnapper didn't care about not hurting Hongjoong.
Without warning blinding light filters in making Hongjoong shuts his eyes on reflex immediately.
"Wake up, bitch." A slap sounds through the bare room. Hongjoong feels a burn on the left side of his face. "We still have a lot to talk about," the murderer smiles down angrily at the kneeling man at the ground. "So you don't want to have sex with me, huh? Is that what you said last night?" he questions. The hand comes down hard onto Hongjoong's face. This time it's punch that makes him fly back against the wall behind him, hitting his head forcefully. He feels nausea approaching.
"Let me ask you again, you little shit." Slap. "You didn't want me to fuck you yesterday?"
Hongjoong whimpers out a meek, "yes."
Even though he answered like the killer wanted, a punch still meets his bruising face combined with a kick to his stomach. His head slams against the concrete wall behind him again.
"How dare you?" Slap. "I was gracious enough to offer you my dick and you bitch want to say 'no'. You should be grateful for my offer, bitch." Kick. "Now you're out of luck. I'm not the mood anymore. I'll have to keep you until I'm in the mood again. I have to teach you a lesson." Kick. Kick. Spit. And the man leaves Hongjoong cowering against the wall. The cowering doesn't last long as Hongjoong's vision gets blurrier and blurrier until the perpetrator's silhouette completely disappears into the darkness. Not just because of the door slamming shut, but because of his eyes closing and him slipping into unconsciousness against his will once again.
That's the time when harsh knocks sound through the house that Hongjoong is held in. The man whipes his bloody hands on a tissue in the kitchen before slowly making his way to the door.
"Jeffrey Dalton (fictional name)! This is the FBI, open the door!" Seonghwa's voice shouts through the door. Before reaching the shaking door, from the angry pounding of the agent outside, Jeffrey turns around and runs towards his backdoor. How stupid. Of course the police officers were waiting for him to do that and are stationed around his complete home. He is surrounded. It's useless trying to escape.
The second Dalton bursts through the backdoor an officer takles him onto the ground and the rest storm into the house in search of the missing man, Hongjoong.
"You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right-" the sounds of the officer listing Daltons Miranda Rights fade into the background as a troop of men open the door to the basement. There they see the small man they were searching for, lying on the ground, curled into himself, bleeding from multiple wounds, unconcious.
Before they can stop the FBI agent, Seonghwa storms through and to his friend lying on the ground, checking for a pulse.
"What are you waiting for?" he screams, "call an ambulance!"
Relief washes over him when he feels a faint puls coming from Hongjoongs neck. Quickly he puts him into the recovery position. Now he can only wait.
And wait, he did. Days passed with Seonghwa sitting next to Hongjoong, next to his hospital bed, before he finally woke up.
A groan leaves Hongjoong as he tries to open his heavy lids, thankfully the lights are off and he isn't blinded again. Wait. It's still dark. Is he still in the basement? How much time has passed?
Panicked, he sits up apruptly and looks around frantically, startling Seonghwa who sits at the table across the bed.
"Seonghwa!" he shouts, surprised to see him. Immediately after his outburst he winces from the dryness of his throat.
A wide, beaming smile graces Seonghwa's face. "You're finally awake! Let me get a doctor for you!"
That's not necessary because the door opens just then and in come a bunch of nurses and a doctor, hecticly. They saw the heartrate spike up suddenly and were worried. Seonghwa leaves for a moment to give the professionals space to check up on his Hongjoong.
After the check up Seonghwa enters the room again, this time with a bottle of water in his hands.
He watches Hongjoong gulp down the whole bottle. His hand comes up automatically and brushes through his friends red hair.
"Didn't I tell you to stay safe?" he asks and continues combing through the mess of Hongjoong's hair.
Hongjoong looks up at Seonghwa, perplexed, and is startled by the faster beeping of the heartrate monitor, showing how his heart started beating faster and stronger. A blush takes over Hongjoong's face and he looks away from Seonghwa's piercing gaze. Seonghwa, on the other hand, starts smiling more at the smaller man.
"I was really worried for you, Joongie. I had to listen to all the things that sick bastard did to his victims, while knowing that you were one of the victims, too." The hand brushing his hair strokes its way down to his cheeks and caresses his red cheeks now.
"Sorry," Hongjoong chokes out shakily. He still can't believe what happened. And what is happening. Is he still unconscious and dreaming Seonghwa cupping his face?
"It's not your fault, love." The petname slips out before Seonghwa can stop it. Hongjoong's heartrate picks up on speed again.
"Love?"
"Sorry! I didn't mean to say that!" Seonghwa blurts out with wide eyes, "I understand if you don't want to hear anything about romance the next few months, or hell, even years. I'm sorry! Oh goodness! You just got out of that house. How could I-" He is interrupted by Hongjoong.
"No," Hongjoong looks at Seonghwa, who is the one looking away now, his arm now dropped back to his own side. "I don't not like it. Maybe romance and a little bit of loving support is exactly what I need after the shit I went through." Both their cheeks are flaming by now. "I like you, too, if that's what you wanted to say."
Shocked, Seonghwa looks back at Hongjoong. All this time he tried to surpress his own feelings just to save their friendship, to find out he likes him back?
"That's exactly what I wanted to say. I like you, a lot."
"I like you a lot, too."
They look each other in the eyes. Now might not be the best time to confess, but when else if not after one of them had a near death experience.