Welp, I said the more you vote, follow, and comment, the faster updates come out. In the first twelve hours of TCFB being out, it got over 100 reads, 50+ votes, and more comments than reads. In the first twelve hours. Twelve.

Thank you for such an overwhelmingly positive response to this story, it warms my heart to know you guys are enjoying it so far. If this keeps up, I'll probably end up giving this story daily updates 💀

☂ Chapter 3 ☂

Blood.

Jimin recoiled as soon as the putrid scent infected his nostrils. The flashing red and blue lights corrupted his vision as he approached the broken home before him. Police tape blocked off the entrance, but Jimin ducked under it without waiting for his "partner." The one-story house before him was cloaked by the gray sky. The clouds made the afternoon appear as night, and rain covered his skin.

His muddy sneakers stepped on shards of broken glass that came from the destroyed windows. There were wooden boards thrown around the dead grass, and the concrete steps leading to the half-missing door had cracks on them.

Jimin entered the scene and saw white chalk outlines near the center of the cramped space. There was an overturned couch that had a vomit-like color. Other than the couch, the room was barren. The wallpaper was peeled off and showed the wooden support beams making up the wall behind it. A scarlet liquid waltzed across the bare wooden floor. The floorboards squeaked as Jimin went to the officer investigating the scene.

"Twenty-eight stab wounds," Lieutenant Kasper said as a cigarette hung out of his mouth. It made his voice sound garbled. "He pissed off the wrong people."

"You think multiple people did this?"

Lieutenant Kasper was one of the oldest in NYPD. He had an out of control beard that was graying like the receding hairline he hid under a police cap. No matter how many hats the man wore, Jimin could still see the wrinkles sinking the skin on his forehead.

The Lieutenant eyed Jimin. "Where are you from?"

"South Korea, sir."

Kasper snorted. "Come on, dog-eater. You should have the brains to figure this out."

He was also the most racist in the department.

Jimin straightened his shoulders and knelt in front of the corpse, ignoring the piercing eyes of the Lieutenant behind him. The victim appeared to be a man in his forties. The stab wounds weren't fresh, but they weren't old either. Jimin guessed the time of death was six hours ago at most. Seeing as there were no other officers in the area, Jimin understood why Jungkook assigned him to the case: no one wanted it except for the one desperate for a promotion. It didn't help that no one wanted to work with Kasper.

"You're a doctor, right? Patch him up," Kasper said.

Upon closer inspection, Jimin realized each wound had a different size. It was as if the victim had been stabbed by multiple weapons. Almost like more than one person had done the deed.

"Sir." Jimin stood and ignored the second racist remark of the night. "We should get this to forensics as soon as possible-"

"Jimin," a female voice said. It was his partner, Cadet L/n. She was out of breath with her eyes wide.

"It's Officer Park-"

"Scold me later. I found something outside."

Although he disliked her, he disliked Kasper more. He took the excuse to leave the home and let the fresh air hit him. Well, it was as fresh as he could get in NYC. It smelled of pollution. When Jimin had first arrived in NYC, he had coughed for ten minutes before his lungs adjusted to the air quality.

"What's the matter?" he asked, and she stopped him by one of the broken windows. With her gloved hands, she picked up a folded note with a stain on it. He recognized the stain anywhere; it was the same crimson he saw too often in New York.

He didn't have gloves on him, so she opened it and showed what it said. As soon as his eyes scanned over the words, his body ceased its movements.

'Tony,

Get rid of the boy. You have 24 hours.

Hurry'

"The fuck does that mean?" he asked.

"It looks like it was lodged in the window, like whoever put it there was trying to hide it."

Jimin clicked his tongue. "You're not as useless as I was expecting. Go get evidence bags and put it in one. Get me some gloves while you're at it."

"Would manners kill you?"

Jimin grinned. "Probably."

He went back inside with Lieutenant Dickface and observed the corpse once again. If Jimin had to guess, he would say this was the case Jungkook had been searching for: a man somehow connected to the bigger crimes happening around the City. It lined up. A victim with outrageous wounds, a note left as if to warn the police or whoever else picked it up, and a dark home near the outskirts of the City. It was a miracle they found it.

"Did someone call this in?" Jimin asked.

A puff of smoke hit the back of Jimin's head. "Some old lady called and said the house was making her feel unsafe. Door was open when the first-responder got here, and this was what he saw."

"Where is the first-responder?"

"Deemed it out of his hands and made Captain Jeon aware of the case."

"Why are you here?"

"Do all chinks ask this many questions, or is it just you?" Kasper asked. He flicked the cigarette, and it bounced off the back of Jimin's neck.

"Do I want to know what that means?" Y/n's voice said from the doorway.

Jimin never thought he'd be grateful for her presence, but there he was. He stood and adjusted his uniform, giving Kasper a tight smile as he strolled by and took the gloves from Y/n.

He dropped his voice to a mutter. "Listen Cadet, if you're gonna survive here, you should avoid working with Kasper. He's an old, racist bastard, but he has a high enough position to get you fired. Don't fight back, got it?"

"Anything to keep the job."

He accepted her words and went back to work. With the gloves, he was able to inspect the body more carefully. Ten minutes passed by the time Jimin realized it was a dead end. The forensics team was investigating the rest of the house. Jimin had lost track of his partner the second he laid his hands on the corpse.

However, he was snapped back to reality when he heard a 'crash!' that shook the house. Kasper didn't move, which meant Jimin had to deal with it. He groaned and took off the gloves, tossing them on the ground and going in the direction of the crash. When he heard no voices or further movement, his instinct told him to whip out his pistol and hold it in a ready position.

"NYPD!" Jimin shouted as he turned the corner.

The hallway was tiny with no decorations or furniture. The walls were as bare as the floors and ceiling, and there were no lights around. The few windows were broken or boarded up, and the end of the hall led to an attic that had the door already pulled down.

Jimin saw the ladder and sighed. He had seen this horror movie before. A young, handsome man goes into an attic by himself. Totally not a death sentence. Nope, not at all.

With a grunt, Jimin hoisted himself up the ladder, got his flashlight, and held both it and the pistol in front of him. The attic had more clutter than Jimin had ever seen. It looked like a hoarder lived there, and the sight made Jimin feel ill.

There were cardboard boxes thrown around, clothes varying from pink tutus to leather jackets, and broken paintings of historic figures. Jimin knit his brows as he continued. Sweat clung to his hands and stuck to the objects he held. His lungs expanded and sucked in the dying air around him. In the corner, he heard a shuffle and a soft curse. That was when he identified who it was.

"Cadet," he said as he lowered his weapon. "Come out. Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

Cadet L/n appeared, holding a tiny wooden box in her hands. Unlike the rest of the home, the box was clean. Dusted, even. There were letters on it, but the writing was in cursive.

"Found evidence? Yeah, while you two stood around with your dicks out, I did my job."

Jimin holstered his gun. "Which could have gotten you killed. I don't care if you go around searching for evidence, but tell me first. I could have shot you. Do you think I want to go to jail because of you?"

"It doesn't matter now-"

"It does matter," he interrupted. "You're new here. You're learning from me, not the other way around. I'm not a rookie like you, I'm a prestigious officer all the way from Busan. If you want to stay alive, listen to me. Got it?"

She puffed out her cheeks before shoving the box in his hands. "Fine. Now read it."

He stared at the cursive and frowned. "I can't."

"You can't read? That's a bit embarrassing, I didn't even go to school but I can."

"No, I can't read cursive. English isn't my native language, asshole. How am I supposed to- wait a second, you've never gone to school? How are you in the force? We require a high school-"

"Education," she said with a dismissive hand wave. "I got my GED and academy training. That was enough for them. You do know your department is desperate, right? You'll hire anything with a pulse."

Jimin went to protest, but he knew she was right. He'd never admit that out loud, though. Instead, he turned his attention to the box and did his best to read it. It was like staring at an alien language.

"It says 'To My Beloved'," she said.

Jimin huffed. "짜증나 (an expression to show annoyance)."

"That's Korean, right?"

Jimin opened the box as he hummed. "Hopefully you'll pick up some words from me. English is hard, I don't feel like speaking it all the time."

"Hopefully not. No offensive, but your alphabet thing looks like a bunch of squiggly lines."

"That's just a tad bit racist," Jimin said with a snort. "But okay. You're telling me cursive isn't the same way?"

She shut her mouth. Jimin took it as permission to search the contents of the box, and he found a tiny sock and a small piece of paper. The sock seemed to fit a toddler, and Jimin's hands shook as he held onto it.

"Officer Park?" she asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"

He put the sock down and picked up the note instead. "It's..." He broke off for a second longer than needed. "The note. It's written in cursive."

"Jimin," she said in a soft tone. It was delicate. Sweet, almost. It felt like a hug. Like a hug he hadn't gotten in years. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"Then tell me how a series of numbers are written in cursive."

Jimin glanced at the note. She was right. The note consisted of numbers, but he hadn't checked due to his distress. He gazed at the sock and longed to hold it between his tiny fingers again. It looked identical to...

"I know you don't like me," Y/n said, interrupting his thoughts. "But if our partnership is going to work, we should try not to lie to each other, especially if it'll help the case."

He gave her the note and shut the box with a smile. "It won't. Don't pry into my past, 'kay?"

"Ah, I see. You left Busan because of a personal tragedy. Let me guess: nephew? Oh, or maybe a younger brother-"

He grabbed the collar of her uniform and pressed her against the wall. It wasn't a harsh shove, but it was enough to get her to stay quiet. Guilt infested his body the second he did the act, but it didn't outmatch the rage stumbling around his veins.

"Say one more word," he whispered, tightening his grip on her collar. "I dare you."

She didn't.

Jimin released her and pressed the box against her chest. "Listen to me and listen to me very carefully: shut up and take this to the cruiser. We're leaving, we got what we need. You will never ask me a personal question again, do you understand me?"

She hung her head. "I understand."

"Good. Now let's go."

"Wait, what's on the paper?" she asked before he could walk away. He had the clue in his hand, and he waved it back and forth. It was the next piece. Whoever the victim was died for that box. Jimin would make sure it didn't go to waste.

"Coordinates."

☂☂☂

A/N: There's something so attractive about Jimin being a police officer, holding a pistol, and shouting NYPD. I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm barking-

Fun fact, that part about coughing when you get to the City is true. When I visited the City a couple months ago, I coughed out a lung because I was adjusting to the pollution and air quality. New York is a giant state; I live in the middle of the woods in NY, so going to NYC was a major adjustment. Fun facts with Raven!

It's not a Raven story if Jimin doesn't have a traumatic past 💀 Yeah there's a very specific reason why he left Busan, and don't worry, it will be fleshed out in painful detail later!!!