#the detective;seokju

[mythvoiced]

@melloreturn​ | “is that seriously your password?” ( nell for…seok-ju maybe?? but also feel free to skip any if all of these lena!! 🥰🥰🥰 ) more random dialogue prompts 

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Two could be their reactions: one, he was so utterly relieved their laptop was working again at least well enough to even request a password; two, they’d be completely and utterly mortified by having to explain himself as he is about to.

With a sheepish smile and vaguely embarrassed gesticulating at nothing but perhaps air and the words he’s gathering in their mind, anything that might be slightly useful to properly explaining themself.

There are none.

He feels as though he can still see the imprints of their shame hovering over the keys Nell had to press to insert his password.

Their gesticulating comes to halt at the loss of hope now instead exhibited by their sinking arms. The keys typing out the syllables for ‘Jung Ji-hoon Rain Oppa’ seem to glow faintly, mocking them for his faith.

He buries their face in his hands. “Please believe me when I say it was my niece. I know it sounds like I’m making up excuses but it was her please believe me.”

[hclfmoon]

seokju  hasn’t  said  much  as  he  sits  across  from  the  other  in  the  interrogation  room,  eyes  scanning  his  notes  and  giving  the  other  plenty  of  time  to  think.  at  the  very  least  the  detective  knew  the  subject  was  withholding  information.  information  that  could  potentially  solve  his  case.  witnesses  and  those  not  inherently  involved  but  are  told  key  facts  were  usually  the  most  difficult  for  seokju  to  interpret,  as  he  was  not  good  at  playing  the  ‘good - cop’.  sure  he  was  professional,  and  at  times  thoughtful,  but  he  was  moreso  trained  in  the  art  of  interrogation  and  not  in  colloquial  conversation.  finally,  after  another  few,  painfully  quiet  moments  of  the  detective  flipping  pages,  he  asks,    ‘    how  is  your  memory,  korain    ?    would  you  say  there  are  certain  things  that  come  crystal  clear  to  you    ?    ’    @sxnguinarixn

[mythvoiced]

@jeoseungsaja | ♥

An appreciative nod, the quick retrieval of the offered napkins: Seok-ju is not by any means clumsy. On the contrary, what with the occasional handicap he tries to hide to the best of his abilities and his propensity for observing first and asking questions later, being clumsy, spilling things, stumbling over himself, a lot more trouble than they're worth, and as such preferably avoided.

But truly, can they be blamed?

It's not every day he gets to sit down and exchange drinks and mindless talks with a detective from a different precinct solely for the sake of... well, drinks and mindless talks? Sure, one might argue, hey, if it weren't for their cities cooperating, and if it weren't for this bizarre sense of necessity attributed to getting along well enough to drink together, who knows if someone like him would have sat down with someone like them.

But they'll take it.

Because it's not every day.

And neither is it every-day they can sit there, wiping at the liquid he'd spilled, glancing upwards at his conversation partner with a knowing smile and the sinking realization that what knowledge is being exchanged here is very much intimately gained: there's no way and alas, there is a way.

Seok-ju wasn't lying: nothing wrong with enjoying the idol industry even from a certain age upward. There are idols, solo artists, as the detective put it as well, that are their age. Hell, most solo artists are.

This would be such an easy topic to prod at, seemingly. Seok-ju drops the used napkins back onto the table, in plain sight to be later tossed away, and takes another sip of what he hadn't spilled.

They try to hide their smile behind a click of their tongue as the taste coats it. That should do it for tonight.

The drinking, not the amusement.

Quite a defensive stance you got there, Lee Hyuk.

Then again... could just be a regular stance to uphold for someone as sunshine-y as the man sitting across from them.

"There are! Definitely," they relax back into their side of the table, slumped shoulders more as a sign of increasing dissent towards the idea of appearing any more proper than he feels, than any indication the alcohol is having an effect on him.

"Rain is one, Boa too if you count first-gen big names. My niece may allow me to know more than I thought ever possible about recent groups, but... nah," a bright smile, one intended to coax the man out of his shell, embrace the life of an uncle fan.

What is there to lose?

Other than his reputation, maybe.

"I like my fair share of groups and solo artists. Ever heard anything by Lee Hi? Her voice is incredible. Though... maybe she's less of an idol and more of... a singer without the usual shebang."

[mythvoiced]

@jeoseungsaja | the GBEP

---

Seok-ju isn't even religious, but there was a brief moment just a few seconds ago, when the caffeine and its associated warmth had first sloshed happily down his throat, coating tongue and palate on its way down with the sugary mixture of an unstirred multi-layered coffee, where Seok-ju had found, perhaps, they had achieved absolution in spite of their lack of faith.

That thought isn't even an exaggeration.

Kindness isn't taken for granted. Sure, Seok-ju meets kindness with a nonchalant air, but that's generated from a casual way of presenting themselves to the world, just an officer, a detective, trying to make things a little easier, a little better in the world.

Or generated from the intense self-awareness of there being something entirely far too wrong with him.

Jae-hwan seems to have a similar air about himself. The mention of Seok-ju's sister, even, is categorized as an act of such kindness, enough that Seok-ju's eyes widen minutely, keeping their gaze trained on Jae-hwan's features as if he'd just delivered a line worthy of a historical record of high importance.

The kindness of remembering Seok-ju even has a niece.

Seok-ju mellows out into a pleased chuckle, settling back, arm outstretched with fingers still wrapped around the offered sugar and caffeine bomb. He's spinning the cup slightly, as if that would somehow create enough momentum inside to stir and mix its contents.

"Your wish has been fulfilled," Seok-ju lowers his head in the mock intensity of his dramatics. They sit upright again, blinking in the pretense of overwhelming gratitude. They are grateful, just not genuinely at anime moe level.

"How can I ever repay you?" they can't keep the act up for too long, though. Still an adult, still trying to appear responsible and sensible and normal, kind of like Jae-hwan himself. A bit of a mystery to Seok-ju, who'd never gotten an opportunity to dig through the surface of that pleasant demeanour, a smile worthy of a role model, a standard to live by, in terms of being approachable.

"Seriously, my niece might have my head on a stick if I dedicate everything to you, but let me repay you. As exaggerated as this may sound, I was this close," Seok-ju's free forefinger touches his free thumb, "to losing a few teeth with how hard I was clenching my jaw. This seriously helped."

[mythvoiced]

@theimpalpable | the GBEP

Another glance at his front. He can't help it. They hadn't exactly signed up as extra aid to keep watch to this area with the idea they'd be getting fashion tips from random strangers he'd almost threatened to apprehend. To stutter a little through their thought process and reactions seems sensible enough.

Also because he's somewhat starting to doubt he's talking to an actual person. Or... a living one, at least. Which opens the door to a completely different set of problems, which he'd truly rather not step through today.

Or tonight, rather.

Or at any point in time, actually.

Calloused hand flattens the front of his clothes until his fingers curl around the hem of the bland shirt he's wearing under his jacket, lifting it up to stare down at it as though the fabric could materialise a visual representation of the colours just described.

They look up.

What an odd fella. Stiff, somewhat, but not really. Stiff in a way gentlemen are in Western shows, controlled like people of the elite, intellectuals, and superior to the smaller ones who don't have fine shoes, nor can they afford them. At the same time, though, he doesn't... seem... particulary arrogant? That small extra weight to self-importance that would have made assessing him easier.

His tone of voice, too, conversational, if, again, a little... stiff.

Though Seok-ju feels that's not quite the right word.

He blinks, tilts their head. "I'm... I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure what 'burgundy' and 'hazelwood' look like," a smile breaks out on their lips, like the sun through hazy, stern clouds. Not quite sheepish. Humorous, almost. "I like my fashion and my style, but... not an expert on the finer details like the actual proper names of colours."

"So," Seok-ju clears their throat, a casual little human error, tick, more than the actual need for it, "when you say replicate... You're a tailor? Or someone from that industry?"

Well, that would explain... wait, that would explain a lot actually. Fine suit, fine demeanour, fine everything. Seok-ju shoves his hands into his back pockets and relaxes with his elbows jutted out, like moments from replicating a mother scolding a silly child.

Although, the naturalism makes him wonder if 'industry' is the right word to apply here.

"Some sort of patrol, yeah," they concede, shifting their weight to rotate the stiffening joints of one of their ankle. Fine manner of speech and apparently very dedicated to his craft, which could both make him terribly innocent or... well... be a very good cover.

"It's nothing too serious, though, you don't have to worry. Nothing dangerous at least," a shrug. A kid missing is always a serious thing, even though too many in the precinct would argue that 19 years don't make a guy a kid, and he's a guy anyway, whatever could possibly happen to him.

Maybe that's why they'd had to volunteer. South Korea and its oh so inclusive laws for missing people. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen a young male-presenting adult most likely wearing a Doosan Bears baseball shirt, beige school uniform trousers, white running shoes and a sports bag?" A tilt of his head to the side again and tragically for himself, the face he makes is doubtful enough that he can't help recognise that some of his fellow officer's thoughts might have begun slipping into their head. "About this height," lifts his hand to hover, flattened palm facing the ground, an arm width over his head. "Potentially in distress, appearing lost, or unapproachable. Maybe in the company of someone else?"

[mythvoiced]

-. The Detective

Yoon Seok-ju | 30 | He/they

He's dead. Except he isn't. A case handled as a rookie, joined in the team as one of those nameless officers with a uniform and Law & Order likelihood of survival, and way too much zeal at the idea of finding the culprit and putting an end to the suffering of victims and survivors both, they crawl up the mountain and never quite make it back down. We know that he hasn't been the same ever since. Yes, still as determined, still kind, but not... frivolous in their care anymore, gone is the lack of maturity laced into his louder speeches. Quieter, now, stern the way a protective parent might be, settled, with a limp they hide every now and then, phantom aches that plague his nights, and all the ghosts they can see out of the corner of his eye. Quite literally. Because what had come down from the mountain is both Seok-ju and Seok-ju if he was an empty vessel for spirits to claim and talk to. Makes solving cases both much more difficult... and sorta easier?

TW: death, ghosts/spirits, he's a medium, possessions, occult, supernatural, old injuries never quite healed, phantom sensations, trauma Tags below ♥

[mythvoiced]

@guttersniper | the great beta editor pilgrimage

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Some might say that, given whatever you work in, there's a clear, visual distinction between who you are when you're in that field, in that situation, in that mindset, and who you are when you get to disrobe from the metaphorical (or not) uniform and return to your private life.

Personal v business, for example, the difference between how a therapist treats you out in public depending on whether you're a patient or not.

Seok-ju has never stopped to entertain the possibility that he has something similar, too. That there's a difference, a clear-cut one at that, between who they are when making idle conversation or when performing the easier, more routine-adjacent aspects of being a person working in law enforcement, and who he is when things get serious.

When he sees or hears of something that reminds him of why exactly he's a police officer in the first place.

Distracted tapping of the back of their pen against the paper beneath it comes to a near-instant halt. He's a careful speaker, when he needs to be. They entertained Mutt's standoffish attitude because what else does a kid have to offer to a figure of authority and because they've learnt stopping to scold someone for their tone of voice won't make them more likely to offer useful info.

But now his attempt at a non-chalant, albeit consequential, disposition falls off kilter, tumbles off their features like a walk broken in by sledgehammer. Gone is the 'come on now, that wasn't nice' adult.

This is the Seok-ju who nearly died out on a mountain just because they wanted to do the right thing.

He leans forward slightly, weight shifts on his elbows, they look as though Mutt had exactly said what he'd just said and Seok-ju is regretting not having sliced that man's throat.

"Could you elaborate a little on that."

[mythvoiced]

@vignnoire​ | ♥

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“I mean there’s worse things, right, imagine turning a corner and next time you open your eyes it’s 14 hours later and you have no idea where you are, imagine how crazy that would be, huh?”

[mythvoiced]

@repetiita | ♥

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“This is an interrogation room, I- you can’t do that in here.”

[mythvoiced]

@kamipyre​ | ♥

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“I dated someone from forensic once, when we broke up they put shoe covers inside all of my mugs and you seem nice so I need to ask you whether that’s a common thing for you guys to do or if I seriously dodged a bullet there.”

[mythvoiced]

@tewwor​ | ♥ | Seojun & Seokju

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“I hate working on cold cases, that’s the problem, just... look at this, it’s just unearthing old wounds with no new leads, it’s frustrating and disheartening.”

[mythvoiced]

@seekesotsibteadmist | ♥

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“Silly you’d mention that because huh, well, I did actually steal that one; before I became a police officer, though, I promise.”

[mythvoiced]

@theimpalpable​ | ♥

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“Well, comes with the job, I guess; before you know it, you start picking out details of someone else’s appearance others wouldn’t even think to seek out, and then, wham, you become paranoid, smaller jump than some might think, so, forgive me if I ask again, but what brings you here at this hour?”

[mythvoiced]

@jeoseungsaja​ | ♥

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“Hey, I’ve been through some tough shit in my life, alright, my niece once tried to sell me in exchange for idol merch, stuff like that leaves scars.”

[mythvoiced]

@guttersniper​ | ♥

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“Alright, how about I put it this way: you can hang out with me and convince me you bit that guy out of self-defence and face no further repercussions, or I can call a social worker and have them handle your case.”

[mythvoiced]

@ofgentleresolve​ | ♥

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“No, it’s more along the lines of: I suck at speaking to young people because they literally screw me over each time.”