It only took Jimin five minutes until he arrived at the, rather deserted village of Red Hills. The old, rusty-looking wooden sign at the road pointing into the direction of the city was half broken, the village including only a few supermarkets, a police station, a post office, a set of schools, a bank and one single bar. Also, at the end of it, there was something resembling an empty, dull kids playground. Overall, the atmosphere was dead.

As detective Jimin parked his Bentley in front of a small police station after spotting it, he stepped out in his longish coat, and first off took a deep breath. Just by simply being there, his stomach approved of the thought that Red Hills was not your typical holiday resort.

Only a minor amount of people were walking along the streets, eyeing the expensive car and stranger. Solely by his arrival, he was going to be the top headline of news and rumours in this dead, boring, yet fearful village. No one ever visited Red Hills. It was strange.

But the only thing Jimin perceived, was that indeed, people seemed scared. Watching with big eyes. He frowned, not paying too much attention to it. After all, he was here because he had a goal.

It took him only two or three steps of the stairs to reach the tiny terrace of the police station. Then, he grabbed the handle and entered, into a room which resembled some sort of a friendly investigation room. Baby blue walls, a light-brown desk with one officer sitting on a leathery-red kind of revolving chair a Boss would have, a large, decorated pin wand for investigations behind him, and last but not least, some lively, well-cared-for looking green plants were accenting the office.

Jimin nodded shortly in approval as his fascinated eyes roamed around the remarkably pretty office. At some point, they landed onto the sitting policeman, who was currently having a phone call. Now, however, he seemed to rush himself to end it. Before Jimin knew it, he did so, putting the phone aside, a smile causing his dimple to peek. "Hello," he said friendlily. "I am officer Kim Namjoon. How may I help you today?"

Politely, the detective bowed a little, smiling back to return the welcoming gesture. "Hello Officer," he said as he allowed to take the single free seat across of him and in front of the desk, at the same time fishing out his work-badget with the police sign on it. "I'm detective Park Jimin," he introduced himself, showing the piece of evidence about his identity before stuffing it back again. "I'm searching for a boy named Jeon Jeongguk." Saying that, he took out a tiny picture the boy's mother gave to him, showing him the young boy.

Namjoon tilted his head as he examined the picture further. After a moment of silence, he shook his head. "Never saw that one before."

"He has disappeared around four days ago. Left by his own and never returned," Jimin explained. "I'd love to let missing posters spread around this small village. He can't be too far away." Of course, Jimin had much more planned. He wanted to ask the people around if they saw Jeongguk, check out the whole village overall, ect. But he needed to start somewhere, at least.

Namjoon solely stared at him, letting silence take over. When he still wasn't answering, the detective frowned. His frown only intensified when he perceived a small chuckle leaving his lips.

"Mr. Detective," officer Kim finally responded, staring with a look indicating how he was not taking the other serious. "Did you not inform yourself about this village before coming here?"

"No," Jimin replied with honesty, staring him right in the eye. "I have not."

"I see. That explains a lot," Namjoon said, leaning back. "It's okay. I'll get the missing posters printed out," he said, eyes shifting down onto the desk where the picture was. He reached out for it to grab it, but another hand across was faster, placing it harshly onto the face of the missing boy.

The officer furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the detective. To his misfortune, he has sparked the interest of the other, simply judging by the curious look he had. His head tilted slightly.

"What is there that I should know about this village?" he directly asked, remaining in the same position of blocking the photocard, indicating he wants to know it first. The policeman stared at him a little longer.

"My apologies, detective, please forget what I've said earlier. This is something we do not talk about in public," he explained. "Now, do you want me to print them out or not?"

"We're not in public, specifically," Jimin countered, ignoring the last question in fear of having the topic switched, or worse, dropped. "We're in a closed room. No one's eavesdropping." he believed. Namjoon once again held that long stare, it looked like he was debating on whether to actually listen to him and tell him, or to refuse letting anything out.

"Please, officer Kim." He urged sternly, leaving the photocard in peace now, hoping his serious determination was reflective enough in his eyes. "I need to find that boy. And obviously, you chuckling about me wanting to hang out missing posters in here might have valuable information for my investigation. Please do not refuse my call for help."

Once again, the distant policeman said nothing. But Jimin was not going to give up.

"Sir, I really need this. It is crucial. I need. to find. that boy." Jimin retorted, emphasising almost every single word.
Now, both were staring at each other, somewhat tension in the air, a negative one. Or maybe Jimin was just imagining things.

However it seemed as if detective Park finally got through him, the shell breaking as he sighed heavily. "Are you sure? Your life could potentially be in danger, even by simply knowing this."

"I was in danger many times already. It's something I need to cope with as a detective. I have fought fear a long time ago." Jimin reassured, staring at him impatiently.

Again, hesitation was visible by the unresponsive reactions of Namjoon. Eventually, however, he gave in. Again, another deep sigh came from him, as if he has been reconsidering telling him about it multiple times in his head before he leaned back in his seat, staring at Jimin.

"There's this forest nearby. About maybe 5 kilometers north from here. It's large, you cannot miss it." Namjoon finally admitted, quietly, almost indicating as if a stranger might listen to their conversation, someone who shouldn't. Listening, Jimin nodded.

"There's this... serial killer living in there. V. At least that's a myth from Red Hills everyone believes. However, the people living here know about it's credibility."

"A lot of things we've ... found, and collected around the woods hint enough for their existence. Anyone who has ever entered this forest, never left again. Not a single person. No one shall ever pass it, especially not at night." It all sounded like a scary horror movie, as Namjoon was choosing his words carefully.

Not even once did Park Jimin avert his eyes from the police officer, who was visibly having issues with talking about that matter. It made the officer uncomfortable, he could tell by his hesitations, by how he was looking away... He wondered if he lost someone there.

"The last two incidents out of countless ones happened not so long ago," he explained, and turned around with his chair to the big, light blue wall with a large pin board on it. There, the detective was able to trace the development of the investigations, thanks to the many pictures, valuable information materials like newspaper, self-written notes, all of that connected pinned and connected to each other with a red string. Namjoon pointed at a picture of an older man, probably in his mid-thirties, Jimin guessed.

"That was Michael Daves, 36 years old," he explained, while Jimin mentally smiled to himself shortly for his good eye. "He was being all loud in the village about going there on Halloween. People advised him not to. Until this day, he has not returned."

Instead of instantly asking questions, Jimin decided to save them up for later, and listen what the policeman had to say in the first place. Thus, he only nodded once again, thinking about the reckless, vanished man in worry.

Now, he was pointing at another picture, on a young, beautiful woman with long black hair, smiling. She looked awfully young, and it broke Jimin's heart.
"She was called Min Yoona. Just turned 19, Last seen by her brother before she went to school in the morning. Her traces led to the forest. She has been missing since the beginning of December, around 5th."

"Then how did investigating that forest went? How far did you investigate? Did you find anyone?" Jimin asked, frowning. The confusion arose more seeing the simple shrug by the other as he turned back with the chair to him.

"We've stopped investigating it after a certain incident. We're only looking around it now. The guilty one might be there right now or not, we're not risking any more souls to disappear. The forest of that serial killer is out of our hands. He won. He always did."

Hearing that, Jimin froze. Froze before his eye twitched, before he snapped out of it.

Within seconds, he raised himself up from his chair roughly, making it fall backwards, as well as slammed his hands onto the table aggressively. An angered look was plastered on his pale face.

"That is utmost outrageous!" he exclaimed loudly, staring in disbelief at the blinking police officer. "You simply stop the investigation because it led to that damn forest?! Fuck, what if she- what if he-", he said, meaning both last victims, "was still alive when you were there! Ever thought of that?!"

"Detective, please calm down." Namjoon said, behaving strangely tranquil, unruffled by Jimin's indignant behavior. "You have not been living in this village all your life. You got no clue how many people disappeared. You don't know why we stopped. got no clue of anything." he hissed, annoyed by the naivety of the other.

"Is there any valid reason to stop trying to save lives? To just throw them under the bus? Why not put a stop to this? Why hide in a cowardly act, instead of finally facing the criminal? Is that how you imagine them facing responsibility?" Jimin snarked. "If we will just sit here, nothing is ever gonna-"

"There is no we, detective Park. Stay away from this forest. Stay out of—"

"No," Jimin said louder, interrupting him confidently. "I'm not gonna just sit here and listen about people disappearing, most probably dying because another coward is sitting in the woods, and doing what the fuck he wishes to with people's lives. Furthermore, I think this is exactly the place where Jeon Jeongguk could be. And if I don't hurry, I'll lose him."

"What a remarkably heroic personality you have, detective," Mr. Kim acknowledged, nodding, even if it sounded like a quite sarcastic remark. "Sadly it won't bring you to anywhere. Besides the death-contract you'll be signing."

"Why are you opposing catching a criminal this much, Mr. Kim?" he asked, tilting his head. "Is that what you think a policeman does? Sitting in your cozy office, drinking coffee and doing paper work? Is that all?"

"Of course not," Namjoon replied, "I-"

"Well I think that is exactly it, Mr. Kim," Park Jimin led on with the conversation by his own. "If you were serious about saving lives, you would have done something. Actions always speak louder than words."

The police officer sighed, frustration visible in his facial expression. "Detective, you just don't understand, we've lost a lot of our people already. We do not know how many of their people are there. Where exactly they hide. It's their territory. It's V's territory."

"It's not like you're cut off from other policemen and police stations. It is literally possible to call for support to invade that goddamn forest since it's that serious. Why are you looking for excuses, officer Kim?"

His questions kept piercing through the helpless officer like sharp needles, leading their talk aggressively. Jimin just couldn't help himself. He thought the local police of Red Hills is simply too incompetent to think out of the box, to actually work as a policeman. Speaking of, why did he see only one policeman? Where are the others?

However, the thought of that particular policeman being suspicious was also a thought that has crossed Jimin's mind, silently.

"You're acting rude and we are not getting anywhere with this. Is there anything else you need?" Namjoon asked, visibly not wanting to give him any details on this case. He was having enough of Jimin's, in his view, childish bickering. Jimin scoffed as he stuffed Jeongguk's picture back into his pockets.

"No thank you. Excuse me please, while I do your work. I'll get to the end of this, just watch me." was the last thing the red-haired announced with a deadly stare before sassily turning around, adjusting his glasses, and stomping out of the small and tight police office. He had enough.

After the storm was over and the door violently slammed shut, policeman Kim sighed deeply as he leaned back in his seat, throwing his head back in distress. Then, after waiting a little, he picked up his smartphone that was right next to the computer on the desk. He went through his contacts, and scrolled down, tapping once on a certain number.

It took a while before the person answered. When it did, the beeping stopped.

"Hey, it's me," Namjoon said quietly, almost whispering when he turned his seat around again, staring at the organised pin board. His small eyes darkened as he remembered how he just got verbally degraded, disrespected.

"We have a problem."

***

It was evening by now. A quiet, consoling one. The sky was naked, yet embraced by a beautiful blue-ish colour especially around the visible moon, which was shining brightly, and all the stars around it, too.

Jeongguk has been silently watching that mesmerising view from the window upstairs, adoring the sight. Even though there were trees partly in the way, he didn't mind.

He remembers how he was thinking about tricking V into acting fragile, just so he would soften for him. But before, he did not act. In fact, it was pretty... accurate. It scared him. Why was he so composed? He still did not find any answers yet.

Jeongguk stared down, and saw big Bob doing a patrol around the house. Thinking about it, Jeongguk felt a little guilty. After all, Bob was not harmful to him. He tried being nice. He felt bad for just ignoring his kindness and running away, since Bob did not seem like a bad guy. Nonetheless, Jeongguk would still choose his freedom over being captured by a sick psychopath any day.

There was a thought or two about escaping now by climbing over the window. But once again, the reminder of possible failure was twisting Jeongguk's insides. He didn't even want to think of what would happen to him, of what V would do to him. After all, he doesn't know anything about him, and especially not about when his patience would end.

... speaking of him.

It has been only a few hours since the incident. They still didn't speak a word, nor saw each other. And the more time passed, the more... the anger inside of him started boiling up. His first kiss. Stolen, just like that. V's reason? He belongs to him.

......

What bullshit, he thought, the vein in his neck thickening visibly.

All of a sudden, he started throwing every single kind of insult he could think of at V in his mind. His hands were clutched into tight fists, knuckles white, even.

Because right now, V was gradually taking everything he had from him. His freedom, his dreams, his future, his first kiss.

What is next? My virginity? he thought, outraged. However holding onto that thought a little bit longer, made him freeze. He realised, the probability wasn't that low. After all, V did not care. Even one bit.

It was at the time when the strings of composure, strings of clear thinking, started getting torn. So much, they eventually broke. And then, it happened.

Jeongguk snapped.

In an instant, Jeongguk started walking- no, storming into each and every room that was unlocked, smashing it open in search of the psychopath. He was ready to let all of his toxic feelings out, more specifically, he wanted to lash it all out on him, gruesomely, act irrationally. He did most certainly not spare a single thought about the probable consequences. Now, Jeongguk was the one that did not care.

After the second or third, careless slamming of a door open, he has finally spotted the guy, sitting on the side of his bed, the tiny phone held to his ear. The speaker, a deeper, male sounding voice on the other side, was in the middle of talking, yet shut up the moment  he perceived the aggressive sound, as well.

V was already staring at the door with dead, expressionless eyes, body hunched forward. With the blank, yet at the same time deadly, scary look he held, he silently watched Jeongguk panting in his doorway. The latter's face was all red from visible anger, eyebrows furrowed, fists shaking next to him.

The room went fearfully silent, only the boy's panting to be heard.

"I'll call you back later." V spoke, and without looking at the phone, he put it away from his ear, hanging up. All of his attention has been fixated on the other, who, without any allowance whatsoever, has entered his sacred place. His dark-blue themed bedroom, curtains drawn close. There was almost no light, besides the small, weakly yellow-shining lamp on the nightstand on the side where V was sitting. Since Jeongguk was standing in the doorway, the brightness of the corridor's light fell into the room.

Then, as if ready to listen to him, V threw his phone backwards, carelessly onto the bed. Instantly, the tension arose. But Jeongguk was too blinded, too dense to realise. In his perception of view, he would become the controlling one right now, the one who has something to say, the one that matters. Sadly, V wouldn't let him have any of it.

"...You little bitch,"  Jeongguk hissed through gritted teeth, finally calmed down his panting from before and finally having collected a big majority of all the ways he wanted to insult him. V remained unresponsive to that.

"You little fucking asshole, you sick fuck, you monster, you worthless piece of shit," he rambled, staring more and more angrily, grabbing his own head in frustration, groaning out loud. "Why the FUCK did you do that, huh?!" he spat out at the blank face of the other when he looked at him again.

"You think it's alright to just kiss me without my consent you bitch?" he asked, even though, deep inside, he knew very well that he gave consent. But Jeongguk was not going to admit that in anyway, he'd rather push all of the fault on the, strangely, very strangely silent V right now.

"You think it's alright to fuck with my mind like that? You shithead?!" he shouted out, grabbing a nearby object which happened to be a notebook, throwing it at V. Surprisingly, the latter didn't react to it, letting it slam against his face as it fell down. As if nothing got thrown at him. However, the atmosphere darkened momentarily.

"I HATE you, you son of a bitch!! the moment I get out of here I'm gonna tell everyone how sick you are, they're gonna catch you and throw you into your damn cell TO ROTT, and I'm gonna stand there," he continued, grabbing a bigger, unplugged lamp, throwing it with full force at V. "And—"

His breath hitched.

The lamp which he has thrown has been caught in the hand of the other. Then, it broke in his hand. Jeongguk's jaw dropped.

Slowly, V stood up, his hand throwing the broken lamp to the other side of the room, the wall getting slightly damaged as it crashed against it. Now, Jeongguk was becoming all small, the confident, ranting bubble he was in, popping instantly. Uneven breaths were leaving his shaky lips when he saw the psychopath walk towards him, eyes practically red. It was the moment he wanted to flee, the moment a tsunami of regrets overwhelmed him.

Then, before he knew it, he wasn't on his feet anymore, he couldn't breathe. A tight grip around his throat was lifting him up, blocking his respiratory tracks violently.

The strong hand around his throat was choking him, pupils of the hunter turned extremely small. Staring back wide-eyed, choking for air and moving his legs aggressively to free himself, Jeongguk has never seen such a scary image before. His hands were trying to detach the murderous hand from his neck, yet it was no use.

Without any hesitation, the body flew against the wall, too, this time actually making it crack. A pained cry escaped Jeongguk's choked throat as his back hit the extremely hard and tough material behind him. It hurt so much, there was no stopping of his upcoming tears.

"H-hurts-" he choked out, didn't quite perceive V in front of him after a while, standing there, the horrific look still plastered on his face. As he tried standing up in agony, V grabbed his collar roughly, only to take a huge swing with his arm, to punch the shit out of Jeongguk's cheek.

Blood spat out of his mouth, dirtying the place around the room where the droplets landed on. As he screamed out, Jeongguk could see his teeth on the ground.

Roughly did the angered man grab him by the collar anew, yet this time, pulled him up forcefully, his face only a few millimetres away from the other, crying one. Jeongguk's cheek and back were aching, shaking hard as he faced the glowing, tiny eyes.

"Oh, it hurts?" V whispered out softly. Multiple times did Jeongguk nod, hoping he'd put a stop to his suffering. However, Jeongguk turned pale, eyes wavering when seeing a wide smirk spread out on the murderer's lips, dripping with satisfaction like venom.

"I think it doesn't hurt enough," he said, smiling. Jeongguk froze.

Again, that awful pain evolved, this time making him dizzy when his head got grabbed with one hand, and slammed against the wall behind him.

"You love to make me angry, don't you? You adore breaking my rules, right?" the psychopath muttered, ignoring another heavy cry of agony as he pulled the bloody head back, watching the pained, sobbing expression.

Jeongguk wanted to shake his head, his immensely trembling hands trying to touch V's hand on his head, trying to push it away. He grasped onto it softly, his begging expression was enough to say what he wanted. A stop to this. As an answer to that, he received another slam against the wall.

V ignored the terrible cry, letting out an annoyed tsk. "I treated you so well. Even gave you a chance after you tried to escape home. And this is how you thank me?" he growled, pulling his bloody head towards himself, glaring at the whimpering, small boy now.

"N-no— p-please fo-forgi-ive m-m-me-" barely coherent he cried, once again grasping shakily for V, hoping this would prevent him from another, even deadly slam against the wall. He didn't want to die.

"What was that?" the psycho whispered, squatting down while he had a harsh grip on his hair, clutching it. Now, they were on the same eye-level. Jeongguk choked out a sob, messily apologizing multiple times.

"Tell me, Jeongguk-ah," he spoke, completely unaffected by the boys cries. His fragile behaviour, even if it was staged -which it wasn't in this particular situation- was, to his huge misfortune, useless.

"You still don't know your place, am I right? Let me show you."

His head was bleeding immensely, and after just a few more, rough slams, all Jeongguk could perceive before his eyes went shut, was black.

***

Hello!

Over 4K words, is that a good length for a chapter? I managed to update after a week, I'm happy ! Even though I turned really sick, it didn't stop me from writing. However the next week is going to be extremely stressful. I hope I'll manage to update, too! If not, then the week/days after that!

Aaah Namjoon is finally added to the story! Any thoughts on him, and the chapter in general? Pls let me know! I'm open for any criticism! 💜

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this!
See you next week, hopefully.

Love,
Mira 💓