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baeklination · 4 years

Text

구름 도시 (Cloud City) pt.2

Warnings/Contains: Some cursing, general talks about the crime, specific mentions of injuries (post autopsy)

au: members of the justice system

Characters: Baekhyun + 8 (who could it be..?)

WC: 8900

Date:200625

Masterpost Part 1

¤¤¤

The rain had started to fall on Baek-hyun’s way down to the river. It was only soft droplets as of now, but the skies were looking ominously dark, so he was hoping the pathologist wasn’t too far behind. To his surprise, he found Jong-in standing outside the white tarpaulin they’d put up to protect the body and immediate surrounding from contamination. An officer lifted the police tape for Baek-hyun to go under, and he gave him a nod. When he got closer to Jong-in he could see he was quite shaken, and hoped it wasn’t because they’d confirmed the identity of the woman as Min-young. But then again, if it isn’t her it will still be someone’s daughter, Baek-hyun thought to himself.

“You’re gonna make me look bad, coming in before me, Jong-in”, he said, trying to ease Jong-in out of his shock.

Jong-in seemed to only have realized Baek-hyun was there when he spoke to him. He stuttered for a few moments, collecting his thoughts.

“It’s okay”, Baek-hyun assured him, while putting on his gear; jumpsuit, facemask and gloves. “Do we have an ID yet?”

“No, not yet. But the CSI are up by the road, checking the dumpsters there for a purse or a phone.”

Baek-hyun breathed a sigh of relief “So it’s not Min-young then? You’ve been inside, seen her?” he said nodding towards the tent.

“Yes, I went in there, but I...I couldn’t tell. The forpat just went in” Jong-in exhaled sharply and blinked away the burn in his eyes, hoping Baek-hyun wouldn’t notice. He did of course, but let it pass, and made his way to the tent. When he opened the flap he saw Doh Kyung-soo kneeling next to the body, and his assistant Chunhua was taking pictures.

“Hey Docdo, what have we got?”

Doh turned around and greeted Baek-hyun with a frown “Doctor or Doh, Byun. One or the other” he said, referring to the nickname Baek-hyun had given him. “Female, in her twenties or thirties I’d say. Liver temperature and bruising suggests she’s been dead between twenty and twenty-six hours, but I’ll know more when I get her on my table.”

As Chunhua moved Baek-hyun saw the body and grimaced.

“Yeah, someone really did a number on her”, Kyung-soo sighed “These ones remind me why I do what I do.”

The woman's face was bloody and had swollen so badly that Baek-hyun would barely be able to tell her gender were it not for her unclothed body. She had bruising on her whole body, and what seemed to be ligature marks on her wrists and ankles.

“For fucks sake”, Baek-hyun swore under his breath. “No wonder Jong-in couldn’t tell if it’s our missing girl... When are you leaving?”

“I’m waiting for one of the trace guys to bag her hands and see if there’s anything to collect from the body before we go...thirty minutes, maybe.”

“Sounds good. I’m gonna go talk to the guy that found her. See you in your crypt, Docdo.”

Baek-hyun stepped out and let the cold air fill his lungs. If that wasn’t Min-young, then who was she?

“Baek-hyun”, Jong-in called and gestured towards a man stepping in under the tape. Baek-hyun could smell a cop from a mile away, so he took his gloves off and went to introduce himself - or rather, find out who he was. No detective - including Baek-hyun - wanted another cop to barge in on his crime scene. Especially not a cop that wore a maroon leather jacket, but he swallowed his pride and held out his hand:

“Hi, I’m detective Byun. You are..?”

“Byun,” the man echoed with a firm handshake. “I’m from the special victims unit - Kim Jong-dae.”

“Special victims? How do you know she is one?”, Baek-hyun asked, letting his ego get the best of him for a second.

“Well, isn’t she?”, Jong-dae countered.

Jong-in walked up to see what the reason for the new guy was, and Jong-dae smiled widely and grabbed his hand. Even though he was shaking Jong-in’s hand he spoke to Baek-hyun:

“Who is this - your son, Byun?” Jong-dae turned to Jong-in and chuckled “Hey, did you follow daddy to work today, kiddo?”

Jong-in was so taken aback by the man’s demeanour that he just looked at him. Baek-hyun’s shock wasn’t far from that either, but he managed to compose himself and chastise Jong-dae:

“This is detective Kim Jong-in, and considering he got here before we did he knows more about the scene than both of us. If you ever speak to him, or any of my men, like that again I’ll send you packing - no matter who sent you here,” Baek-hyun said matter of factly with a cold look. Jong-dae realized he’d stepped in it and apologized to them both with a quick bow. Baek-hyun looked at Jong-in, who gave a quick nod of approval; the disagreement was over and done with.

“So, how did you found out about our girl?”, Baek-hyun asked, his voice back to normal.

“Your boss and mine go way back, so he called in a favour.”

Jun-myeon really likes his favours, Baek-hyun thought.

“He said you didn’t have a partner. Not one as ancient as me, I mean”, he added when he saw the eyebrow from Jong-in. “So, is it a sex crime?”

“From the bruising on her thighs I’d say yes”, Baek-hyun conceded. “The forpat hasn’t moved her yet, you can go in”, he gestured towards the tent.

“Is it Doh?” he asked while putting on his gear. “He’s the best one in town on cases like these.”

Baek-hyun was just about to answer when he saw one of the CSI guys approach with something in his hand, a bag.

“I found this behind the dumpster in the alley.” He opened it and took out an ID card “Cho Min-young, twenty-six. Matches your vic.”

Jong-dae being the only one with gloves on took the license and looked at it:

“Hammer Hill. That’s not far from here”, he said.

“I know”, Baek-hyun answered, deflated.

“We met her parents yesterday, they reported her missing”, Jong-in explained.

“Bloody hell. I’m sorry, guys.”

“Yeah...”, Baek-hyun looked down and shook his head “Bloody hell.”

¤¤¤

Talking to the man who found Min-young’s body didn’t yield much information, but that was standard; he had after all only found the body, not witnessed any part of the crime. After a bit of finagling they managed to get an officer to drive Jong-in’s car back to the precinct and they all went in Baek-hyun’s to notify Min-young’s parents. This part of the job was the toughest, but also the most important, save from solving the murder, so Baek-hyun was always on edge, and today even more so since Jong-in had never done a notification. It was a delicate balancing act; being professional but empathic; honest but not divulging too many gruesome details; confident but never promising to “catch the guy who did it”, as they always did in the movies. Jong-in didn’t do much talking, but kept his composure, which counts as passing. What really surprised Baek-hyun was Jong-dae’s demeanour. When Mrs. Cho heard the news she collapsed where she stood, only to be caught by him, both sinking down to the floor. He held her through her wailing that had quickly turned to still crying - shock - until she all but fell asleep in his embrace. With Sehun's help he managed to get her into bed and stayed with her until she was truly sleeping. Normally, this would be what Baek-hyun considered “too involved”, but when he saw how naturally Jong-dae did it he couldn’t help but to admire him. After explaining a bit about the circumstances around Min-young being found and seeing that her parents had all contact information they might need they rounded up the meeting with taking DNA swabs from them, needed in the process of elimination.

When they left Baek-hyun noticed Jong-dae had something on his mind, but he didn’t have to ask. As soon as they got in the car he turned to them and exclaimed:

“Did you feel how sweaty his hands were? It’s him!”

“If you mean Oh Sehun-”, Baek-hyun started.

“Heck yeah I mean Oh Sehun - he almost pissed his pants when he heard I was from Special Victims..!”

“Well, that might’ve been because you’re from Special Victims. That’s his best friend dead, killed, Jong-dae.”

“But we did talk about him yesterday, looked him up”, Jong-in chimed in. “You did think it was strange that he was there you said…”

“Wait, he was here yesterday as well? Come on, Byun, you know I’m right!” Jong-dae seemed to think he’d solved the case, and Jong-in seemed to nudge in the same hazardous direction, so Baek-hyun turned to Jong-in:

“Hey, I said it was unusual, but that’s hardly proof he’s done anything. You need to be careful not to jump to conclusions, it might cloud your judgement. And you...”, he looked at Jong-dae “don’t muddle the mind of my rookie here. You may be right, but we’re doing this by the book, alright?”

“Okay, boss. By the b - speak of the devil and he shall appear”, Jong-dae said with a light in his eyes. Baek-hyun and Jong-in followed his gaze and saw Sehun turning right into the alley just next to Min-young’s building. Wasn’t he leaving the grieving parents a bit quicker than custom dictated?

“Hm...Now where are you going, Sehun?” Baek-hyun said, thinking out loud.

Jong-dae put his hand on the door handle and shot Baek-hyun a mischievous lift of his eyebrows:

“Only one way to find out”, he said, and was out of the car before Baek-hyun could stop him.

“Jong- NO!”, he hissed, but Jong-dae was already jogging in the rain to follow Sehun. Jong-in leaned forward between the seats:

“Wow... daebak..!”

Jong-dae caught up with Sehun in the middle of the alley, about to unlock his car door:

“Oh Sehun!”, he shouted. Sehun turned around with a perplexed look on his face.

“Where are you sneaking off to?”

“I’m not sneaking anywhere. I’m going to work”, Sehun retorted. “I missed my shift yesterday, so I can’t be late.”

“You must have a dragon boss if he won’t let you take the day off.” Jong-dae was pushing Sehun’s buttons to see what reaction he’d get.

“I’m a nurse, so I can’t be off for too long” he said and began to open the car door. Jong-dae moved forward to lean on it:

“I was hoping we could talk some more. You might have some valuable insight, even if you don’t know it.”

“Well, not today. Can you please move, so I can get into my car?” Sehun was clearly agitated.

“Tomorrow?”

“Okay, tomorrow!”

“You’ll come to the station?” Jong-dae pressed.

“Yes! I’ll come to the station.”

With that Jong-dae moved away for Sehun to leave, and shouted an exaggerated “have a great day at work” as he drove off.

Baek-hyun was not pleased when Jong-dae finally got back:

“What the hell are you doing - this is my case.”

“Sorry, boss. But sometimes you have to go with your instinct.”

“Be reckless, you mean”, Baek-hyun shot back and scowled at him.

“To be fair, you didn’t specify what book we’re going by. You can’t tell me you’re not itching to talk to this guy.”

“Of course I am, but I can’t just haul him in without good reason.”

“You won’t have to...” Jongdae smiled widely to appease Baek-hyun “he’s coming in tomorrow.” He turned to look at Jong-in “Here’s a tip, kiddo: if you apply the right kind of pressure people will do a lot of things voluntarily.”

“I’m starting to figure out why you don’t have a partner”, Baek-hyun sighed. “Your methods-”

“...bring results”, Jong-dae filled in.

He couldn’t deny it; he’d wanted Sehun down at the station since yesterday, and now he would. He turned the key in the ignition:

“Just be careful. Alright, let’s go, Docdo called while you were gone; the autopsy’s done.”

¤¤¤

“Have you been down here, Jong-in?”, Baek-hyun asked.

Jong-in shook his head “No. But I’ve seen her already. Is it different?”

“Some people think so, some don’t. Just try to keep calm, and listen to what Docdo says. And ask him anything you’re wondering about, okay?” He put a facemask on but halted Jong-in from doing the same “Here, put this under your nose first” he said, holding out a jar of cream. Jong-in didn’t want to appear more squeamish than his superior so he waved his hand no.

Jong-dae reached inside his jacket pocket and took out a small jar:

“Trust me, kiddo. This is the strongest stuff on or off the market, my wife makes it. Use it.” Jong-dae said emphatically. Seeing as they both insisted, Jong-in thought it wisest to comply, an scooped up a dab from Jong-dae’s jar to spread under his nose. It had a familiar smell...

“Cilantro..?” Jong-in asked, not really believing it.

“That’s right! If I had something nice, say ginger, I’d think of dead people every time I had dinner or tea”, Jong-dae said, managing to mix the crude with fun and logic.

When Jong-in heard Baek-hyun refer to the morgue as “the crypt” he thought it was going to be a dark room, lit with a few fluorescent greenish lights, but this wasn’t the case. It was a spacious, well lit room . A few tables were rolled up alongside a wall, and three ones were standing in the middle of the room. Two of them had sheets over what was the unmistakable silhouettes of bodies. The end of the room was set up like an office, a long desk, filing cabinets and some shelves. Kyung-soo sat with his back against them, doing some paperwork while having a cup coffee, but turned around momentarily:

“Ah, Byun...Breaking down the door for a report, as always.”

“Your message said you were finished with the autopsy. But if you’re not done...” Baek-hyun said, fully aware of the pride Kyung-soo took in his work.

Kyung-soo didn’t bother to answer, fully aware of the pride Baek-hyun took in poking him. “Are you working this together?” He put a pair of glasses on and followed up with gloves. “I see Byun and Kim down here all the time, but you’re a first-timer, right?” he looked at Jong-in “You’ll have to forgive me, I was all work when you introduced yourself this morning…”

“Jong-in. Kim Jong-in.”

“Ah, yes, of course, Kim Jong-in. Well, let’s hope the “in” will save you from becoming as crazy as this one” Kyung-soo said with a nod towards Jong-dae.

“Ah wae..!” Jong-dae whined dramatically “I’m always nice to you, why do say that..!”

Baek-hyun and Jong-in hid their smiles, already understanding what Kyung-soo meant. They gathered around the farthest table, and Kyung-soo carefully removed the sheet that had been covering the body. Working homicide Baek-hyun had seen his fair share of bodies, and even attended some autopsies, but there was a difference between a Jane Doe and someone you knew, or at least knew about. Barely a day ago he’d been with her parents; they were so worried, but he was so sure she was all right. The smiling woman in the videos had been replaced by a cold, battered corpse.

“So, this is Cho Min-young, the dental records confirmed it. I sent for them as soon as I got the name, figured you would advise her parents to wait before seeing her”, Kyung-soo said and when he saw Baek-hyun agreeing, continued:

“Manner of death: homicide, cause of death: asphyxiation-”

“But”, Jong-in interjected cautiously, making everyone look at him. “I can’t see any hand- or ligature marks on her neck.”

Kyung-soo, always patient with new detectives, beckoned Jong-in come closer and stretched out the skin on the neck:

“See here, it’s faint” he traced a reddish purple line with his finger for Jong-in to see. “She wasn’t strangled, she was suffocated. By a plastic bag or something like it, I’d say”. He continued explaining his findings to the whole group:

“And other usual signs. Petechiae..” he opened one eyelid “...even though the other eye is too bloodshot from the beating to actually see it. And as you can see, the nostrils are filled with coagulated blood” he said, angling the head slightly upward.

“Have you been able to narrow her time of death?” Baek-hyun asked.

“I thought the stomach contents would help me, but it looks like she didn’t have dinner prior to death, and she had a smoothie for lunch. When the foods aren’t solid to begin with it’s hard to track the digestion, so I’m gonna stick with my original t.o.d.”

Baek-hyun wasn’t surprised, it would’ve only been a matter of a few hours anyway. The injuries were their safest bet to finding the perpetrator.

“Can you start with the injuries inflicted before she died, Doc?”

“Certainly.” Kyung-soo unfolded the arm of a lamp that was fixed at the head of the table and positioned it directly above the head of the body. “As I mentioned, she has been struck in the face.” He gently turned her head so they could see her right side properly “It was a severe blow - her cheekbone is broken in three places.”

“With one hit, you’re sure?” Jong-dae asked in a cold voice.

“One. I’m sure. That’s also the cause for the blood pooling in her eyelid and eye”, Kyung-soo continued. “This big bruise on her lower abdomen goes all the way round to her back, where there is additional bruising, perhaps from pressure. Chunhua is coming down soon, she’ll help me turn her so you can see for yourself.”

“This”, Baek-hyun said, pointing to a bruise on Min-young’s upper arm “he grabbed her, right?”

“I know you wanna get the guy, Byun, but will you let me finish?” Kyung-soo answered, clearly annoyed with all the interruptions. Baek-hyun put his hands up:

“Sorry, Docdo.”

“Yes, Byun, that is indicative of grabbing. Ligature marks on either wrists as well as ankles, and severe bruising on both inner thighs, consistent with sexual assault. Other than that, minor scrapes and bruises attributed to general manhandling, if I may be so crude”, Kyung-soo excused himself.”And Park was here during the autopsy and collected a few things and took some samples, so you’ll hear from him too, of course.”

The fact that Jong-dae exclusively worked these types of cases didn't mean he was jaded. On the contrary, it made him more angry and determined to put the perpetrator behind bars. And that meant knowing every detail, no matter how gruesome:

“And the assault itself? What’d he do?”

“Well, that-” Kyung-soo began, but he was interrupted by the doors opening. “Good, Chunhua. Help me turn the body around. I’ll do the back first, Kim”.

¤¤¤

After Kyung-soo had finished up the briefing none of them felt like going out for lunch; they wanted to keep working, so they sat down in one of the offices at the precinct with sandwiches and lots of coffee to discuss the case. Jun-myeon hadn’t gotten a report from Baek-hyun yet, so he paid them a visit.

“Here you are - the three musketeers”, he said.

Here he goes again, with his dad jokes, Baek-hyun sighed inwardly. Jong-dae, not having been formally introduced took Jun-myeon’s hand:

“That must make you D’artagnan” he said and put his hand on Jun-myeon’s shoulder. “Come, sit down, have a sandwich.”

Jun-myeon, delighted with Jong-dae’s response smiled widely, turning his eyes to small crescents. Baek-hyun rolled his eyes - who is this guy..!

“Ah, no I can’t, I have a call coming in. I just came in to see where we are, since Byun here”, he stopped to give him a meaning look “never checks in with me.”

“That’s an unfair characterization..! I just don’t have a lot to update you on. We might get some meat on the case when Park comes back with the lab work...Mr. Boss-nim”, Baek-hyun added, with a exaggeratedly slow bow.

“This guy...” Jun-myeon pretended to not be affected, but everyone could see how he fought to kill a smile. “Oh, that reminds me”, he said, turning to Jong-in “Doh said you did well in the Crypt”. It made Jong-in flush:

“Oh... Thank you, boss-nim” he said.

“You asked good questions, and kept your head cool during the whole thing, he said. Good, Jong-in. Byun, Jong-dae”, he nodded, and left the detectives to continue.

“He’s right, you did good. Not all first-timers manages to get through a whole briefing”, Baek-hyun commended.

“And a tough one like that”, Jong-dae agreed. He got a twinkle in his eye and asked Baek-hyun “What about putting him on Sehun tomorrow?”

Jong-in was surprised to say the least:

“Me? But if he’s our best suspect…” his voice faded - then he got the same twinkle as Jong-dae “He’s already scared of you, but he’ll think it’s just a routine hearing if I do it. He’ll be relaxed.”

“Exactly..!”, Jong-dae said banging the table. “What d’you think, boss?”

“Stealth on Sehun..? I like it. You up for it, Jong-in?”, Baek-hyun asked.

Whether he was or not, he wasn’t about to rebuff this show of trust from both Baek-hyun and Jong-dae, so there was only one correct answer:

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Great, then it’s decided”, Baek-hyun clapped his hands together and got up. “And Jong-dae: I am not the boss.”

¤¤¤

“Go by the Traffic office first, see if you can get them to shake a leg. With any luck we’ll get the CCTV by the end of the day. But call the security chief at the Gigamex on your way, so he has the video footage ready when you get there”, Baek-hyun instructed Jong-in and Jong-dae. After they left he sat down with the phone list from Min-young’s cell provider to see if there was anything that stood out, as well as taking a look at her debit card statement, to look for any suspicious activity. The only thing he could find was an unknown number, but there was no answer when he tried it. He gave it to one of the officers and asked him to keep trying.

Being eager for information to work with, he went across the yard of the precinct, to the the forensics lab - not forgetting to stop by their cafe before going in. Chan-yeol was hunched over a microscope when Baek-hyun got there.

“Hey, dorkatron!” he called out, giving Chan-yeol a jolt. He turned around laughing:

“And if it wasn’t for me, hmm?” He eyed the paper mug in Baek-hyun’s hand. “I can smell the hazelnut. That means you didn’t come here because you missed me-”

“I always miss you, Park..!” Baek-hyun exclaimed.

“-but because you want to hassle me about results. I’ll take the coffee, but I don’t have a lot to give you yet, Byun. Come on, give it here ”, Chan-yeol finished.

Baek-hyun sat down on a swivel chair next to him:

“Is this my case” he said pointing to the microscope.

“No, it’s Won-sik’s.”

“Won-sik’s? But he’s a jerk..! Come on, Park, do mine first. At least the DNA comparison on the hair”, Baek-hyun pleaded.

Chan-yeol crossed his arms and got a serious look on his face:

“Here’s the thing, Byun. You have a case, Won-sik has a case, everybody at the station has a case. And these...” he slammed his palm on a big stack of files “...become my cases.” Baek-hyun knew Chan-yeol was right; he wasn’t the only one with a murder to solve, so he softened his tune:

“I know, I’m sorry. I just...You should’ve seen her, Park... But do you have anything?”

“I did, in the Crypt. That’s why I put an ASAP- marker on the DNA as soon as I got it. And also…” he opened a folder and handed Baek-hyun a paper “...there was asbestos and vermillion in her hair. Both have been banned for at least thirty years.”

“Yeah, but there’s gotta be hundreds, if not thousands of buildings left with asbestos in the city.”

“No, Byun. Asbestos and vermillion. On this side of town there are only four neighbourhoods left - and even they have largely been torn down or condemned. So if you know what you’re looking for…”, Chan-yeol said, and saw the fire light up in Baek-hyun’s eyes:

“...I’ll find it.” He grabbed Chan-yeol’s head and planted a victorious kiss on his forehead:

“Park Chan-yeol: you’re a fucking rockstar” he exclaimed and hurried off.

¤¤¤

Baek-hyun walked in to Jun-myeon’s office without bothering to knock:

“You wanted something - I have something. Asbestos,” he said triumphantly.

Jun-myeon looked at Baek-hyun with pursed lips.

“Park found trace in her hair. Apparently it can only have come from four different areas on our side. You have to get some officers to check them out.”

“I don’t have any officers to give you, Byun. Not if this is all you have - or have you gotten a hit on the DNA?” Jun-myeon asked.

“No, but we’re wasting time-”

“You have no DNA, no actual suspect; you don’t know how many building there are; or if it’s even from our part of town, correct?” Jun-myeon didn’t wait for a reply “I’m not sending my officers out to look for something” he said, gesturing bunny ears on the last word. Baek-hyun glared at Jun-myeon.

“Then I’ll go myself. You can’t stop me” he said defiantly.

“Yes I can, I’m your boss.” Jun-myeon rarely pulled rank, but times like these - when Baek-hyun was up to his antics - he would. He walked up and put his arm around his shoulder, and steered him towards the door:

“Byun...You have to give me something more, or at least wait until tomorrow. Look, the Jong’s are back. Go see what they’ve got, alright?”

Baek-hyun clenched his his jaw, not pleased with Jun-myeon’s decision, but did as he was told.

“Wow - who took the last cookie?” Jong-dae exclaimed, referring to the look on Baek-hyun’s face. Baek-hyun quickly went over what had happened, in part hoping they would back him up.

“Your boss is right, Byun. He can’t send out officers on a goose chase like that”, Jong-dae agreed.

“Hey, you’re supposed to back me up here” Baek-hyun retorted.

“Maybe it’s better to wait for the results” Jong-in said tentatively. “We have a lot of video to go through anyway. And what about the phone list?”

Baek-hyun eased-up a bit, there wasn’t anything to do about it anyway.

“I guess you’re right... “ he sighed. “There wasn’t anything noteworthy. Not on the debit card either. Come on, let’s see if there’s anything interesting on the footage.”

There hadn’t been much to see on the footage except for Min-young leaving her apartment around 17.30, which definitely placed her death after that. But they did note that she turned the corner down the alley, just as Sehun had done earlier in the day. Could it have been that he was waiting for her? Jong-dae had almost been in ecstasy by the prospect, and tried to get in on the first interview with him, but Baek-hyun wouldn’t hear it. And rightly so; they still had as little on him as before. They had called it a day at eight thirty, and Jong-in had offered Jong-dae a ride home.

“Hey, I’m sorry for trying to take Sehun from you. I got a bit overheated”, Jong-dae apologized in the car. Jong-in waved his hand:

“Don’t even think about it.”

“It wasn’t fair on my part - you need the experience. But think about it: we don’t know what was said during that call. He could’ve told her he was waiting. Right?”

“I know. But I kinda hope it’s not him. Left turn after the crossing..?”

“Yeah, house at the far end. Why don’t you want it to be him?”

“Because…I don’t want her to have had a friend like that, you know. A friend that would kill her”, Jong-in explained.

“Don’t I know it” Jong-dae sighed “I’m about to give my son the third degree about what he did at daycare today” he laughed.

“You have a son?”

“Yeah, Min-jun. He’s three. You?”

“Daughter, eight months. Yong-sun” Jong-in replied, shining proudly.

“Wow, rookie detective and rookie dad..!” Jong-dae said getting out of the car, but turned around and hunched down to look at Jong-in:

“You don’t mind me calling you kiddo, right?”

Jong-in let out a chuckle, happy that he asked

“No, it’s fine. Too many Kim’s and Jong’s anyway.”

“Okay, kiddo. Great work today, see ya tomorrow.”

After their shaky start things had really taken a turn for the better, which put Jong-in in a very good mood, considering the circumstances. So much so, in fact, that he made a quick stop to pick up a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend - a gesture highly appreciated, if seldom occurring.

“What are these for?” Hye-jin asked surprised when he handed over the flowers.

Jong-in put his blazer over the couch and sat down:

“Love”, he said. “Come here, sit with me awhile, Jin.”

Hye-jin sat down next to him and brushed his hair from his face:

“Good day or bad day?” she asked and leaned into his embrace.

“Bad day and good day.” He kissed her on the forehead “I’m glad to be home.”

They stayed like that for a while, Jong-in finding some comfort in the mundane. But the days events still played in his mind:

“ I want to look in on Yong-sun”, he said and got up.

“Okay, but if you wake it…”

“...you buy it”, he finished. They’d started saying that the moment Yong-sun came home from the hospital, as they both kept going in to the nursery to watch her sleep. “I’ll just be a minute, promise.” He opened the door to her room, tiptoed to her crib and sat down in a lotus position. The night light they had fixed in a socket by the floor gave off just enough light for Jong-in to discern the little girl’s face. He gently held her hand with his index finger and thumb:

“Don’t grow up too fast”, he whispered.

APRIL 19th

Baek-hyun had been too fidgety to have a relaxed morning, so he’d decided to go in early and write down a few notes for Jong-in’s interview with Sehun, just in case. He would’ve liked to visit Chan-yeol in the lab, hoping for a hail Mary, but he knew his routine: in late - out late. As he approached his desk he saw a file lying there with a note “I am a fucking rockstar PS. Second swab pending”. He couldn’t skim through the text fast enough to find what he was looking for; his eyes darted left to right as his mouth moved almost inaudibly:

“Hair sample, donor, degree of certainty... Oh Sehun.” His eyes widened. There it was. Sehun’s DNA was a match for the hair that was found on Min-young’s body. He rushed to Jun-myeon’s office, but was met by a locked door.

“Damn it!” Baek-hyun looked at his watch; Jun-myeon wouldn’t be in for at least another forty-five minutes. He hauled up his phone and called Jong-in.

“Hey, where are you? You picking up Jong-dae?”

“I just did, we’re on our way.”

“Okay, good. Hurry up.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Something big. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

While waiting for Jong-in and Jong-dae Baek-hyun scrolled through his phone list to figure out which judge would be up at this hour, and who was the better option to grant a warrant. He decided on judge Chang. He had a soft spot for Baek-hyun and a cold heart for these types of murders. After roughly explaining the case Chang agreed to sign the warrant when he got to the office two hours later. As he wrapped up the call his partners came in and he signed for them to sit down.

“That was judge Chang. He’s gonna sign a warrant for us in a couple of hours.”

Jong-in and Jong-dae looked puzzled.

“A warrant for what?”, Jong-dae asked.

Baek-hyun put the paper on the desk in front of them:

“Your golden boy, Jong-dae. We’re searching his apartment and his car.”

Jong-dae got up so suddenly that his chair fell over with a loud bang:

“What! What did we mi-”

“His DNA is a match!”, Jong-in burst out, answering Jong-dae’s question.

Jong-dae snagged the paper from Jong-in’s hands and speedily read through it.

“See, I knew it..!”

Seeing Jong-dae so excited reminded Baek-hyun to not get ahead of himself, there was still a lot of investigating to do.

“But now we really need to do this by the book. The police book”, he emphasized. “There are a lot of pieces we need to fit together to make a case.”

To his relief Jong-dae was on the same page:

“Trust me, Baek-hyun, I’m not doing anything to jeopardize it. I always make sure my findings hold up in court.”

“Am I still doing the interview with him?” Jong-in asked, afraid of being pushed aside, but also afraid of being put in such a crucial situation. “‘Cus it’s not an interview anymore - it’s an interrogation.”

“I think you should”, Jong-dae answered and looked to Baek-hyun.

“Me too. The question is how you do it, now that the playing field has changed...”

“Why don’t I do it like we said? Sure, we’re gonna have to tell him about the warrant when it comes in, but up until then...And maybe I make it seem like Jong-dae was the driving force..?”

Jong-dae let out a laugh and agreed:

“Yes, this is how he should do it. And when results for the second swab comes in we’ll nail him to the wall.”

“That could work. Let me mull it over in my head a bit, decide when he gets here. In the meantime, the two of you outline a few routes. I’m gonna see if I can get a hold of geo mapping for Sehun’s phone for these past days.”

Even though time seemed to go exceedingly slow the clock eventually struck nine, and an officer told Baek-hyun that Sehun was waiting in the foyer. He asked her to escort him to one of the interrogation rooms, hoping to gauge his state of mind as he passed by, but it was he who was in for a surprise. Walking beside him, with him, was another man.

“He brought a lawyer?” Jong-in was clearly also surprised.

“And not just any lawyer”, Baek-hyun sighed.

“That’s Kim Min-seok”, Jong-dae filled in. “Where the hell does a nurse get that kind of money?”

“Kim Min-seok - isn’t he the mob lawyer?” Jong-in asked with big eyes.

“Alleged”, Jong-dae scoffed, quoting one of Min-seok’s famous taglines. “Alleged mob lawyer.”

“Someone must’ve leaked the warrant.” Baek-hyun ran his fingers through his hair and sat on the desk.”Fuck… I’m sorry Jong-in, but I’m gonna have to do this one. And I want Dae on second chair. I hate to push you out, but Min-seok doesn’t mess around.”

Jong-in was disappointed, but knew he wasn’t ready to go up against one of Seoul’s most infamous defence lawyers, and focused on what else he could do to help.

“I think it’s better if you guys do it, if even half of what I’ve heard about him is true. What can I do in the meantime?”

“I want you to dig up everything you can on Sehun. His friends, his family, co-workers. Everything. I wanna know how such a “nice guy” knows Kim Min-seok. If you find anything, come tell us.” He turned to Jong-dae “Alright, let’s get ready to rumble.”

Baek-hyun and Jong-dae had barely entered the room before Min-seok started:

“Wow, detective Byun and detective Kim..! Double the hot shots, double the holes in your case?”, he smacked his lips and smirked.

Jong-dae let out a fake laugh and shot back:

“I didn’t expect to see the Tissue Fairy today. I guess we’ve put all your usual clients behind bars.”

The Tissue Fairy was a name he’d earned with the police and district attorneys office for his over-the-top portrayal of his defendants. He would take a stone cold killer and make believe that they were falsely accused, innocent, normal hard working guys; and he was always ready to lend them a tissue when they started tearing up.

Min-seok didn’t acknowledge the comment and proceeded:

“Let’s get started, so we can wrap this up, give Mr. Oh the chance to get home before the mongrels destroy his apartment.”

“Out of curiosity...”, Baek-hyun said, leaning back with folded arms “...how do you know Min-seok?”

“Some of his friends know some of my friends”, Min-seok replied with a smug smile.

“Yeah? Who are your friends, Sehun?”, he asked cooly, trying not to grind his teeth.

“Don’t answer that.”

“Come on, Sehun, it’s a simple question”, Jong-dae chimed in.

“Isn’t everything simple with you, detective Kim? Everyone is a criminal.”

“Criminals are criminals.”

Baek-hyun had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before Jong-dae flew across the table to put Min-seok in a chokehold, so he shifted the focus.

“We wanted you to come down here to tell us what happened the last time you spoke with Min-young.”

“I already told you what happened, that’s what happened, I swear..!” Sehun’s outburst caught him off-guard, but this wasn’t the first time he’d seen a heartfelt performance in this room.

“Mm-hmm, I know. But tell us again, and this time include this part”, he said, sliding a copy of the DNA result over the table.

Min-seok only had to glance at it to see what it was, and where to read the result. He waved the paper in the air, while a bewildered Sehun craned his neck trying to read it.

“A hair? Oh, please, my great grandmother could have this deemed inadmissible from her grave...”

“I didn’t know the Devil’s spawn had great grandmothers.” Jong-dae couldn’t help himself saying.

“You might wanna explain to your client what’s going on”, Baek-hyun nodded in Sehun’s direction.

Min-seok lazily turned his head to Sehun:

“They’ve found your DNA, a hair, on her body.”

Sehun’s brows almost hit the roof as he exclaimed:

“Mine..!?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Min-seok had a strange way of making it seem like it really was nothing. “You were best friends, of course your hair was around her. Her hair is probably all over your apartment too, right?”

Sehun nodded, a bit calmer, but Baek-hyun could tell his mind was still racing. He would never admit to it in front of Min-seok, but the thought had crossed his mind as well - transfer evidence was a tricky thing.

“We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”, Baek-hyun said, referring to the search warrant. “But in the meantime...tell us the story.”

¤¤¤

Jong-in thought he might have found something interesting: Sehun’s older brother had studied law, but never finished. Could it be that he and Min-seok had gone to school together? Jong-in wasn’t sure if he was reaching, and didn’t get the chance to find out. He heard a man loudly complain:

“Why is Byun always on my case about his case, but when I try to say something he pretends I don’t exist?”

Jong-in figured this must be Park Chan-yeol, so he put his hand up:

“He’s in the interrogation room with Jong-dae, but I’m on the case too. Did you... are those the results from the fingernails?” he said hurriedly, pointing to a file in Chan-yeol’s hand.

“Yeah, we got a match...”, Chan-yeol handed the file over “but it’s not Oh Sehun.”

“What? Who, then?”

“I don’t know. The DNA matches an unsolved sexual assault case from five years ago, in the Blue Meadow area.”

“Blue Meadow, Blue Meadow...why do I recognize that..?” he said to himself.

“Byun told you yesterday, no? It’s one of the areas they still have asbestos.”

Jong-in practically threw Chan-yeol on the floor to get to a computer, and started typing and clicking as if possessed. Chan-yeol looked over Jong-in’s shoulder to follow along.

“Here! It’s gotta be, right?” He turned to Chan-yeol.

“He’s definitely worth checking out,” Chan-yeol agreed. “I’d bet on him before Oh Sehun.”

Jong-in tore the paper out of the printer and darted down the hallway towards the interrogation room.

¤¤¤

“You’re a good looking guy, Sehun. Maybe you thought you’d try your luck, maybe things didn’t go your way, got out of hand, may-”

Jong-dae was interrupted by the door being pushed open to reveal a wild-eyed Jong-in urging them to come outside. There was no question about the urgency of his matter, so Baek-hyun halted the interview and they went out to confer in the corridor.

“What’d you find?”

“It’s not him!”

Baek-hyun thought Jong-in would help the case, not turn it on it’s end.

“What do you mean it’s not him, what’d you find..?”

Jong-in had to catch his breath and continued to explain:

“Park came by. The DNA under Min-young’s fingernails matched an old case from Blue Meadow.”

“The Meadow? That’s-”

“The transfer evidence, yeah”, Jong-in cut him off. “A woman reported a man trying to rape her.”

“Did Park run the second test directly against Sehun’s DNA? Couldn’t it be him as well, the old case?”, Jong-dae had to make sure, since he had been so sure.

“He ran it”, Baek-hyun answered. “Park doesn’t miss anything.”

“Maybe there’s two of them, working together..?”

“Can’t be...I’ve done a cursory background check on him, he was enlisted. That’s the one thing we can be sure of: that he has nothing to do with that case. Maybe not this one either.”

“Damn it!”, Jong-dae shouted and kicked the wall.

“Exactly. More than exactly”, Jong-in said, getting curious greedy looks from both Baek-hyun and Jong-dae.

“Well, since a lot of perpetrators commit their crimes close to home I checked out the residents of the old houses; there are only nine of them. Most of them belong to older couples, some are vacant, but one is registered to a elderly couple named Lee -”

“You said that already, old houses and old people”, Baek-hyun interjected.

“- who died seven years ago and was survived by their son.”

Jong-dae perked up immediately when he heard this, like a bloodhound.

“I couldn’t find any other address, nothing online, nothing of anything except for a high-school photo.”

“A ghost”, Baek-hyun said under his breath.“Did you get his full name at least?”

“Yes”, Jong-in nodded. “It’s Soo-man. Lee Soo-man.”

¤¤¤

“Jong-dae, wrap up the interview with Sehun - ask him about Lee - then cut him loose, I need to talk to Jun-myeon and call Chang again. Actually, Jong-in, you can go in as well, see what it’s like.”

Jong-in felt a twang of excitement; he’d get to see the infamous lawyer up-close, yet at a safe distance.

“But we’re still searching his apartment, right?”

“Yeah. Like Jong-dae said, we can’t rule out a pair working together. Give me the print-out, I’ve gotta run now.”

On his was to Jun-myeon’s office Baek-hyun managed to get a hold of Chang.

“You want me to sign another warrant, for another prime suspect in the same case? I know I’m regarded as one of the easy judges, but I can’t give out warrants like it’s free candy, Byun.”

“I know, judge. But aren’t you always going on about the importance of a strong case, substantial evidence? This is it. I need that warrant, I’m begging you.” Baek-hyun waited and said a little prayer to whatever gods might be listening in.

“Okay, Byun, I’ll sign it right away. But I don’t want to see your name on my display again.”

“Yes! Thank you, judge. Thank you.”

By the time he hung up he was in Jun-myeon’s office.

“You wanted something more, it’s not Sehun, it’s Lee Soo-man, he lives there, now give me my guys”, he blurted out to a confused Jun-myeon.

“Slow down, Byun.”

“Park got a hit on the second test, it’s an unknown, but strongly suggests Lee Soo-man. Jong-in found him while going through the areas I wanted to search yesterday” he said and showed Jun-myeon Jong-in’s print-out. “If you don’t give me the guns I’ll go myself. The Jong’s too.”

He scanned through it:

“Solid?”

“We’ve gone in over less, boss.”

“Okay, I’ll call them right away.”

“Tell them to shake a leg, we’re heading over as soon as the Jong’s are done with Sehun.” He headed for the door but stopped and turned around. “And I think I’ll keep Jong-in as my partner. After this, I mean.”

Baek-hyun hadn’t had a real partner since his first one retired eighteen months ago. At first Jun-myeon had tried to match him with other guys, but it had never worked out due to Baek-hyun’s insistence on finding “the one true partner”. So when he now hinted he may have, Jun-myeon didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips in acknowledgement.

As Jong-in and Jong-dae hadn’t finished yet, Baek-hyun read through the reports of Chan-yeol and Doh, taking note of things that might correlate with the house of Soo-man, if that was where he had kept and killed Min-young.

“...yeah, he’s a real prick.”

Baek-hyun looked up to see Jong-dae make a face of disgust while speaking with Jong-in. He couldn’t help but smile, knowing that post-Min-seok feeling all to well. He got up and clapped his hands together:

“Is Sehun done and dusted? Anything about Lee?”

Jong-dae shrugged his shoulders:

“Says he doesn’t know him, and for once I believe the guy.”

“ ‘Key. We’ll see if the search proves otherwise”, Baek-hyun clapped his hands together and continued “Time to BP, Tactical is meeting us in Blue Meadow.”

“BP?”, Jong-in looked bewildered.

“Bulletproof. Put on your vest.”

The energy in the room changed when they brought out the vests, as it always did. It was a solemn sense of seriousness - and it was added on by Jun-myeon who always came out to see his men off.

“Ah, the musketeers” he sighed, trying to keep it light. “Jong-in. This is probably the only time I will say this: do exactly what Byun tells you to do.”

Neither of them could contain their laughter, not even Baek-hyun through his feigned indignation.

“Alright, alright, guys. Just look out for each other so we all get to have dinner tonight.”

“I know. We’ll have dinner, boss”, Baek-hyun replied as usual.

¤¤¤

Driving up to the neighbourhood they saw the police had cordoned off the whole street, and curious neighbours standing just outside or on their balconies trying to see what was going on. On their drive there Baek-hyun thought he’d noticed a shift in Jong-dae’s mood. One more palpable than the usual silence that often came before live action.

“Hey, Jong-dae, you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, sure, I’m fine. Pre bust-down-the-door- jitters is all” he assured Baek-hyun with a smile.

“Jong-in?”

“Honestly, I’m a little nervous.”

“Nervous is good. It means you know it’s a big deal. Just remember what Jun-myeon said; do what I tell you to do.”

They got out of the car and walked to one of the busses parked about thirty meters from the house. The activity in and around it made it clear that this was the makeshift command center, where the man in charge was, as well as the eyes and ears on the Lee house. Baek-hyun caught the attention of one of the men who greeted them with half a smile:

“Long time no see, Byun.”

“If it would only stay that way, ey? Jong-in, this is the group leader, Zhang Yixing. Yixing, my new partner, detective Kim Jong-in.”

Yixing shook Jong-in’s hand with one firm press

“You new decs get younger each time around.”

“Don’t say anything about his age.”

Yixing chuckled:

“Oh, I see. You did, Jong-dae.”

“Shh. Let’s focus on our job, shall we?”

“Let’s”, Baek-hyun agreed. “Any activity? It’s the green one up there, right?”

“Exactly. Here’s the floor plan” Yixing said and zoomed in on a picture on the tablet he was holding. “We haven’t seen or heard anything yet, but we’ve only been here fifteen minutes. Thermal imaging showed up nothing, so I’m pretty certain your guy isn’t there. We’re ready to go in on your cue, Byun.”

“Alright, let’s do it.”

With that Yixing wolf-whistled and made a couple of hand signs, letting his men know it was time to approach the door of Soo-man’s house. Baek-hyun, Jong-in and Jong-dae stood closely behind them with guns drawn, hearts beating fast. Yixing counted down from three with his fingers. When he reached zero one of the men put a hydraulic door ram on the lock and blew it out. The door flew open and Yixing’s nine man crew entered the house, going through all the rooms as they yelled Soo-man’s name. Baek-hyun had stayed back for a couple of seconds but now turned to Jong-in and Jong-dae:

“Okay, let’s go.”

The inside of the house was dark with curtains drawn shut, and flashlights only did so much, but having seen the layout of the house beforehand abled Baek-hyun to move through it with relative speed. As he heard the last “clear” being called out from upstairs he lowered his gun and looked around more closely; the rooms were made up of heavy wooden furniture, chintz and porcelain figurines.

“I doubt Soo-man’s the interior designer.”, Jong-dae smirked “It’s like a time capsule in here..!”

“I wonder if he even lives here…”

“I think so”, they heard Jong-in say from the kitchen. “There are plates in the sink, no more than two days old.” He opened the fridge. “And food in here.”

Baek-hyun joined him in the kitchen to look around, but something else immediately caught his eye: the kitchen window faced the backyard and in it stood a shed.

“Hey, Zhang!” he yelled out, without taking his eyes off the shed. “Yixing!”

Yixing entered with one of his men.

“The shed”, Baek-hyun said and pointed out the window.

Yixing peered out then turned to his man:

“Take Archer and Chow.”

The man nodded and before long Baek-hyun watched from the kitchen as they entered the shed. One of them came out with his thumb up - it was empty. They all breathed a sigh of relief and Baek-hyun was quick to lighten the mood:

“Now, if there aren’t any dog houses you’ve missed-”

“My apologies,” Yixing interrupted him “but you can’t see the back yard from the street, and there wasn’t any structure on the floor plan. You saw-”

“How old is that?” Baek-hyun asked, suddenly on high alert.

“It was updated three years ago.”

“Jong-in, when did his parents die?”

“I don’t remember the exact date, but long before that. More than three years ago.”

“So his parents die and he decides to build a shed?” Baek-hyun mused.

“I’ll tell the handler to bring the cad. dog round back”, Jong-dae said, following Baek-hyun’s train of thought, and went outside.

“Not that I don’t appreciate your team’s work, but...could you maybe get your guys out of here? They’re not exactly delicate when it comes to crime scene preservation…”

Yixing laughed and wolf-whistled again:

“What do you think the real scene investigators say about you?”

“Ya..! Get outta here!”

They said their goodbyes and Yixing followed his men out.

Waiting on the terrace in the backyard Baek-hyun took note of the surroundings; the dilapidated lawn, which matched the house, was surrounded by high trees on two sides and a wooden fence on his left-hand side. Soo-man would’ve had almost complete privacy out here, he thought to himself.

“It’s really dark out here. Especially with these gray clouds.”

“Mhmm, I was thinking that too, Jong-in. Let’s step back, give Toben room to work”, Baek-hyun said gesturing to the dog and his handler coming out with Jong-dae in tow. Jong-dae had already explained the situation with the shed, so Toben’s handler carefully suggested the direction to Toben, and Jong-dae joined Baek-hyun and Jong-in.

“I talked to Park, he’s coming down.”

Not a minute later the handler popped his head out of the door and nodded to Baek-hyun who immediately went over. Toben was sitting in the middle of the room with a bright expression, meaning he’d found something. Or rather, smelled something. Baek-hyun couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary from where he was standing, but he didn’t want to get too close at the risk of contamination:

“What do you think?”, he asked.

“Well, usually when Toben hits on places like these it means someone’s cleaned up good - but not perfect. The floor’s concrete, so it’s porous…”

“Blood might’ve permeated it. So Forensics has to cut out a chunk of it to test it?”

“Yeah, that’s usually what they do.”

“Good odds?”

“Toben hits on blood etcetera. Period. He doesn’t tell me if it’s a drop or a drizzle.”

Baek-hyun chuckled. He knew it’d be the lab’s job to figure that out.

“Okay. But thanks, good job.”

Still not going any closer he looked around after Toben and his handler went outside. For all intents and purposes it was just an ordinary shed; a table, some tools hanging on the wall, a couple of tires in the corner.

“A car…”, Baek-hyun mumbled to himself.

“BYUN..!” It was Jong-dae. “You better come out here!”

Baek-hyun was jolted from his pondering and went out to see both Jong-dae and Jong-in staring at him.

“What?”

They didn’t have to say anything. Scanning the backyard told him precisely what; there in the corner, right up by the trees sat Toben with that bright expression.

#exo fanfic #baekhyun crime story #jongin crime story #jongdae crime story

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alette-stars · 5 years

Text

The giant goes to rest. More than two years, 130 000 words and many screams and tears since its start, Lavender Jade is complete.

Let me start off by thanking you all for supporting this fic! When I started I had no idea it was going to receive the love it has. Before Lavender Jade I was known for more overall lighthearted works (Mint and Poppy in the Monsta X fandom, Stray Romance for ASTRO). All your constant love and support has been a huge help. Thank you so much! Words cannot describe the joy your comments and messages gave me ♡

I’ve made so many amazing friends and spoken to so many beautiful people because of this work, but this fic is dedicated to Monsta X ♡

Okay, enough sappiness! Time to move on to the trivia and extras. This is my 4th trivia post (you can find Mint and Poppy here; Stray Romance here; Wrong (Right) Number here) and longest yet, so it’s in 3 parts:

basic tidbits/extra info

regarding the vei, the card divination system

some personal rambling regarding my character motives (entirely skippable)

If it’s not obvious, there are going to be major spoilers, so if you haven’t read the fic yet but plan to do so, I advise not reading this ^^

If you need, you can always reference the character list here

Okay, so let’s get started! Rest of the post is under the cut

1. Basic Trivia

Most of the extras in the fic were original characters this time, with a few exceptions. Even these exceptions are not exactly based on the idols they’re named after, but I imagined them while writing. These are:

Sojung, Jooheon’s bodyguard - WJSN’s Exy

Sewoon, Kihyun’s manservant - soloist Jeong Sewoon

Seungwoo, another of Kihyun’s servants - soloist Yoo Seungwoo

Dawon, Hyunjung, Jiyeon, Luda, Soobin, Juyeon, the girls mentioned as being part of Jooheon’s people in Eigak - WJSN’s Dawon, Seola, Bona, Luda, Soobin, Eunseo

Along with the ones living, there were those who lived in the past. Mentioned in-text:

Hoseok II, a previous king of Yishin - BTS’ J-Hope

Seokjin, a consort to Hoseok II - BTS’ Jin

Kim Namjoon, prime minister of Hoseok II - BTS’ RM

Hakyeon, the first king of Yishin - VIXX’s N

And those referenced only in the snippets in the chapter summaries:

Jungsoo, a previous king of Yishin - Super Junior’s Leeteuk

Kyuhyun, a historian - Super Junior’s Kyuhyun

Yoongi, a consort to Hoseok II - BTS’ Suga

Taekwoon, high prince to Hakyeon - VIXX’s Leo

For some reason which I still cannot fathom, I’ve been praised for the worldbuilding in this fic. The capital city of Yishin doesn’t even have a name.

The basic geography of the peninsula is Yishin, Eigak to her east, a number of tiny states to her west, the sea to her south. The western side of Yishin is more fertile. The stretch of border between Yishin and Eigak is a rocky wasteland.

Yishin was named as a mix of Wonho’s two surnames: Lee and Shin

The concept of snippets from literature and media from the universe as chapter summaries was inspired by Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen saga. The vei deck (more on it later) was also very heavily inspired by his Deck of Dragons in the same books.

A lot of fics focus on Hyungwon’s looks (something I’m guilty of as well) so I wanted to write a world where he wasn’t considered handsome. I understand why all the shows set in alternate worlds have the same beauty standards as us—it makes for prettier TV—but I decided to set a different one for the world of Lavender Jade. Somewhat arbitrarily, we have:

considered very handsome - Hoseok, Minhyuk, Changkyun

considered somewhat handsome - Kihyun

considered plain/regular - Hyunwoo, Hyungwon, Jooheon

Han Jehan, obviously, also falls in category 1.

Han Jehan was my first time writing a proper villain in my fics, and I don’t know how well I succeeded but I enjoyed it immensely. I went out of my way to add all the traits I like so that I wouldn’t end up hating him, even going so far as to give him the surname of one of my favourite idols (sorry Hyuk).

There are two main things I’d change in the fic if I could turn back time:

tighten up the front end. I’d combine the first couple of chapters

Yeon Hu would be a woman. By the time I realized the awesome power of a badass lady general, it was too late

All court members—Jo Senmi, Yeon Hu, etc—are original characters. They’re both basic archetypes you’ll find in sageuk dramas. I think it’s worth mentioning both of them really do love Yishin, they just had very different, more conservative ideas of what would be best for the country.

I’d thought of using all the proper Korean names for the clothes especially, but decided that would make things difficult to read and binned the idea.

The opening note says the world is inspired by the Joseon dynasty. Regarding the initiatives to improve people’s lives, yes, but the hall/court system is more inspired by (what I know of) the Goryeo dynasty system.

I’ve been asked this before, but I’ll answer it here again: I’d never finished a sageuk drama before Flower Crew (very recently, and only because I was watching it with my sisters), and definitely not while I was planning this fic. Don’t judge me. The one I would recommend is Six Flying Dragons, most like Lavender Jade in tone. The others I’ve made headway into are Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds, Ruler: Master of the Mask, and The King and the Clown.

I’m surprised no one brought up the foreshadowing I did near the end of chapter 16. Seven stars, two possible fates. The final fate of the two lovers (Kihyun and Changkyun) turned out to be a mix of the two stories: there was a fire, and the heavenly king was pulled from heaven (Kihyun from his position) to live the rest of his life with his lover.

Unlike my other secret couple (myungjin in Stray Romance) there are no hints of Hyunwoo and Minhyuk. They never did anything that would show. Minhyuk attempts to fluster Hyunwoo, but he does that with everyone.

Changkyun’s final card from the reading in chapter 8 is the two of Knives. It means a sacrifice.

My favorite parts of the fic to write were Kihyun’s various descriptions of Changkyun’s beauty :)

This is, undoubtedly, the fic that has required the most work from me. I will say the most difficult scenes to write were Minhyuk’s fight with the assassin and Hyunwoo’s with Kim Sungil. Action scenes are not my forte.

If you don’t know, I have written a romantic one-shot set in the same universe, titled Only One

2. The Vei

I don’t know how obvious this was, but the entire vei deck concept was inspired by and based on VIXX. The idea itself came from the Deck of Dragons in Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen saga.

There are 84 cards in the deck: 72 cards in six suits, and 12 Unaligned. The Unaligned can be paired off, where each card is the opposite of its pair (with the exception of the last pair). The Unaligned cards are:

Fountain and Grave - a beginning and an ending

The Open Hand and The Closed Hand - generosity and miserliness

The Lord and The Lady - bad luck and good luck

The Centaur and The Fox - someone proud and someone crafty

Magnolia and Crown of Thorns - misery in success and happiness in failure

Pyramid and Mirror - stability/instability and karmic justice/unfairness

The six suits, along with the member they represent, are:

Stars - N

Rings - Leo

Shells - Ken

Scrolls - Ravi

Flowers - Hongbin

Knives - Hyuk

Each suit, like our playing cards, has a king, queen, and knight (jack). The king of each suit is based on a VIXX member, and has some particular qualities along with being very rare. All visual cues for the kings come from VIXX’s masterpiece MV, Shangri-La.

Stars - King: the Emperor, Queen: Sloth, Knight: the Page. The Emperor is the rarest card in the deck, and is represented by a crowned man with no features, only darkness in place of a face. The Page is the icon of diligence (and was in Minhyuk’s hand in chapter X). The theme of the suit is mystic fates, technically the uncategorized cards. In the natural half of the deck.

Rings - King: Death, Queen: Envy, Knight: the Messenger. Death is a card of finality (like Grave). The theme of the suit is secrets. In the manmade half of the deck.

Shells - King: Life, Queen: Gluttony, Knight: the Fool. Life is a card of possibilities. The Fool denotes absolute luck--essentially the card of negation. The theme of the suit is environment. In the natural half of the deck.

Scrolls - King: the Mage, Queen: Greed, Knight: the Apprentice. The Mage is a figure of knowledge and learning. The theme of the suit is motivations. In the manmade half of the deck.

Flowers - King: the Elf, Queen: Lust, Knight: the Handmaid. The Elf is an elusive, hidden figure with hidden motives. The theme of the suit is happiness. In the natural half of the deck.

Knives - King: War, Queen: Wrath, Knight: the General. War is a decisive figure, one who brings final consequences. The them of the suit is decisions. In the manmade half of the deck.

I’ve been asked about the game played with the vei deck as well. It is a game of my own invention, yes. It’s based on trick-taking games like Hearts, where the object is to win the least cards as possible. It’s played in alternating rounds, one where the Unaligned are not used, the next where they are. I didn’t hash out the details beyond some basic motifs, but it is technically playable. Only if you have a vei deck though. The whole gameplay hinges on the fact that some cards are less likely to appear when picked from the stacked deck.

I’ve heard from more than one person that I got them into tarot as a hobby. That’s great! But the truth is I know next to nothing about tarot haha

3. Rambling

I might suggest skipping this. This adds 0 value to the post and fic aside from giving me a space to ramble and whoa it turned out long

First: King Hoseok. He’s copped a fair share of criticism in this fic regarding his passiveness and his acceptance of the unfair consort system. I will defend my handling of this character to the ends of the Earth. I’m not saying he’s perfect (obviously! the only character that comes close to that is Hyunwoo) but I think he did right by what he had.

A neat indication would be to flip back to chapter 14, the Hyungwon POV chapter. When Hoseok says that the two of them are alone even though the room is filled with servants, Hyungwon forgives it as a result of his upbringing. He’s undoubtedly biased, but he has a point. Hoseok was raised as king. Certain things that are so obvious to others don’t even register to him. The consort system, where they have to swear loyalty to him but he doesn’t to them? He was raised as seeing this as normal. They all were. He never even fathoms a consort would want to leave their position. When Kihyun tells him the truth about the affair, Hoseok is stunned. He doesn’t understand Hyungwon calling his old life of poverty a life of freedom.

Basically, Hoseok is just trying his best after being raised (and still living) in a life of absolute privilege. He expects loyalty, love, because he hasn’t been exposed to anything different. His situation is completely different from Jooheon’s, who’s grown up in a much more volatile situation. Jooheon had to learn early on to really open his eyes, to listen, and he’s much more observant and understanding. By the end of the fic Hoseok’s had a wakeup call, and he’s going to get better.

Second: the consort system. Yes, it’s cruel. It wasn’t what Hakyeon had envisioned when he had his companions instated formally. But in Yishin this is the norm. No one thinks it cruel. It’s a position of huge honor (Kihyun thinks of it a few times).

Even though there’s no homophobia, misogyny etc, Yishin is a conservative society. They haven’t had a change of regime in 23 generations. They’re used to the norm, and consortship is the norm. Also, if you look at most conservative societies, you’ll see romantic love isn’t considered a prerequisite for marriage (which is kind of what consortship is). In many societies (including my own) many people would jump at a chance for consortship, no matter their relationship with the monarch.

Third: the fic had a lot of subversion of typical historical expectations and standards. I still consider myself primarily a fantasy writer. Typical fantasy and historical works have a strong focus on honor, dignity, truth and justice and all those values.

Lavender Jade does not. Kihyun and Changkyun are oathbreakers, they are traitors (by Yishini law). Every insult flung at them is true. The king breaks his country’s laws to help them escape their deserved punishment. Even Hyunwoo, the honorable and admirable commandant, defeats Kim Sungil using an underhanded move, and gets his happy ending with another consort breaking his oath.

At times I seriously considered ending this as a tragedy. It felt fair. Kihyun and Changkyun had broken laws, broken promises. All that happened did as a result of their own actions (even Han Jehan’s targeting of Kihyun was, from what we see, brought about by Kihyun digging into his affairs). A sad ending would be deserved. But then I thought, hmm, why? Why should it be fair? Why should they be miserable because it is deserved?

So we got the ending we got, and I hope you’re all happy. I know I am.

Thank you for reading to the end of this (unnecessarily) long post! It’s almost as long as the fic itself haha If you have any questions or messages you can shoot me an ask or pm here, or on my Twitter or on CuriousCat ^^

So what’s next? I’m writing Wrong (Right) ID, an epistolary fic for ASTRO in the same style as Wrong (Right) Number, and A Match Made in Heaven, my VIXX karma officer fic (it’s an unusual concept! you should try it). Both fics will end soon, maybe even before the end of the year, so you won’t have to bear much waiting ^^;;

I’m also writing Blood, Water, a vampire fic with a strong emphasis on family for ATEEZ, so you can check that out too! This one’s going to be long and angsty and quite self indulgent ^^

I’ve been asked if I’m going to continue writing in this universe. The answer is, yes. I will be writing White Carnation, the book referenced in multiple chapters of this fic, as a novella. I might write a short story on how Hoseok and Hyungwon met, but that’s undecided. I’ve hashed out ideas for side stories involving VIXX (and the founding of Yishin) and ATEEZ (and the change of regimes in Eigak) in this CuriousCat ask and this Twitter thread, but those will probably only remain as threads ^^;;

And in the future? I have Monsta X one shots planned, and perhaps another long fic too. All possibilities are open! I hope you’ll stay with me for them ♡

Again, and as always, thank you. I hope you enjoyed Lavender Jade ♡

#fic #my writing #lavender jade

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