"Minseok's father is dead?!" Sehun looked at Mr. Park in disbelief.

"Sadly, yes. Mrs. Kim wasn't at home when it happened, which is probably why she's still alive."

"I thought his parents were under protection?" Taehyung said.

"They were. What do you think happened to the officers protecting them?"

"Oh god no…" Kibum muttered.

"Mr. Kim and three officers in the span of three hours and not a trace of him."

"Just a white rose, I'm guessing." Sehun said, bitterness obvious in his voice. "That bastard."

"I do have some good news, as well," Mr. Park said, "sort of good news, that is."

"Sort of good news? That's the best news we've had in a while." Kibum said with a dry laugh.

"What did you find out?" Sehun asked.

"It took some time, but we've come in contact with some Chinese crime investigators, who has dealt with a case almost too similar to ours."

"How so?"

"Clean kills, victims were close to their families and the most disturbing part; red roses sent to the victims some days before they were found dead."

"Red roses? So our killer is a copycat?" Taehyung asked.

"I don't think so. The killings from seven years ago started before the ones in China. But when the White Rose killer disappeared from Korean crime investigation and the killings stopped, Chinese investigators got a case about a girl murdered a few days after receiving a red rose. It happened again and again, just like here. They low-key named him the Red Rose killer, but the whole case was very hush-hush, which is why we didn't know about it. It's practically impossible to find anything about it online."

"And you think it might be the same person." Kibum spoke.

"Exactly."

"Do we have a casefile for the Red Rose killer?" Sehun asked.

"Of course." Mr. Park said and got up. "I'll get it to you as soon as it's been translated from Chinese. Apparently, they even had a suspect until the killings stopped suddenly. I'm getting his casefile translated, too."

"Great, hopefully we'll find something useful." Sehun said.

"With this knowledge, it seems our murderer really did leave the country." Kibum said.

"It certainly seems so." Taehyung agreed with a nod.

"Should we call Yoongi? I mean this is quite a lot of new information." Kibum said.

"No, let's just update him tomorrow. He needs to clear his head." Taehyung said matter-of-factly.

Kibum just nodded, trusting Taehyung to know best.

---

 

Minseok was sitting in silence, watching the dark night sky when he heard footsteps. Luhan had come home from whatever errands he had. Minseok sighed, knowing Luhan was coming to his room. He was utterly confused by everything going on with Luhan and him, his feelings and his life in general.

"I just want to go home…" Minseok muttered.

He felt tears prickling at his eyes, so he blinked trying to keep them at bay. Luhan would be angry if he knew Minseok still thought about his family and about Sehun. And Jongdae and Yixing.

"Oh my god…" Minseok brought his hands to his face as his tears welled up in his eyes.

Minseok bit his lower lip, trying to think about something else. Images of his friends' lifeless eyes suddenly filled his mind. Their expressions pulled into ones of horror, their bodies unmoving and their clothes soaked in blood. Minseok sobbed and a drop of blood trickled down his chin, his front teeth having pricked a whole in his lip.

When Minseok heard the door to his room open, he wiped away his tears and the blood on his chin. He turned to the door, and froze in place. Luhan's expression was unreadable, but that wasn't what was scaring Minseok. Luhan's hands and the bottom of his sleeves were covered in blood.

"L-Luhan…?" Minseok stuttered out.

Luhan walked over to where Minseok was sitting and crouched down. He cupped Minseok's cheeks, and the teenager felt like he was going to throw up. The blood from an unknown person was on his face. The blood from a person with friends and family. The blood from a person with loved ones. Someone like Jongdae or Yixing.

"Don't cry, Minnie…" Luhan sighed. "I promise we'll be together just the two of us soon. I won't have to leave you anymore. We can just live happily together."

Luhan started to pepper kisses all over Minseok's face, when the teenager started sobbing. He mumbled words of comfort against the fair skin. His hands went to Minseok's sides and crawled under his shirt. He started rubbing soothing circles unto his skin.

As much as he hated it, Minseok tried to imagine the touches and the words were Sehun's. He was completely aware of the differences, though, and that made it hard to imagine. Luhan's touches were so gentle, yet eager, in contrary to Sehun's, which were hesitant and unsure in a way that reminded Minseok of his own feelings for the detective.

Minseok felt like all his feelings were crushing him. His heart hurt, the thoughts of everything that had happened was more painful than any hit from Luhan. Minseok just wanted to feel happy again. If he could just stop thinking about Sehun, Jongdae, Yixing and his dear parents, maybe, just maybe he could be happy. Even if it was with Luhan. He could ignore the blood on Luhan's hands, both figuratively and literally speaking, and smile and laugh again.  

"Luhan…" Minseok mumbled, tears still falling from his eyes.

Luhan pulled away to look at Minseok. He caressed his cheek, looking expectantly at the teenager. Minseok wrapped his arms loosely around Luhan's shoulders. The action surprised the man, but he went with it and placed his hands on Minseok's hips.

"What is it, Minnie?" Luhan asked softly.

"Luhan… Can you make me forget…?" Minseok asked, and a look of confusion crossed the older man's face.

"What do you mean?"

"I want to forget everything from before…" Minseok cried, a hint of desperation in his gentle voice. "It hurts, Luhan…"

"You want to forget everything… before us?" Luhan asked hopefully.

Minseok nodded, and a small smile appeared on Luhan's beautiful face. Happiness was evident on his face, as he saw the object of his affection finally accept what they were to him.

"I don't want to hurt anymore… please, Luhan, make it go away…" Minseok mumbled as he leaned into Luhan, who wrapped his arms around him.

"You really want to? You'll accept me? Us? And forget everything?" Luhan was happy, but hesitant to trust the teenager. He had tried to run from him, after all.

"Yes, just make the pain disappear…" Minseok said and placed a kiss on Luhan's cheek.

Minseok felt the older man stiffen, and the he pushed Minseok off. The teenager looked confused at his captor.

"You're lying." Luhan stated. "You're trying to trick me. You'll try to run away again."

"No… No!" Minseok said. "I won't, Luhan, please…!"

Minseok crawled into Luhan's lap and wrapped his arms around the man. He started to kiss along Luhan's jawline, then his cheeks and then Minseok cupped Luhan's face to press his lips against Luhan's.

"I won't try to leave. I promise. I just want to not hurt." Minseok muttered against Luhan's lips.

Minseok felt Luhan grab his hips harshly, and he yelped at the pain. Luhan pushed him off again, this time violently, and Minseok cried out when his back collided with the floor. Luhan stood up quickly, and he was towering over Minseok, who stared up at him with big confused eyes.

"Why do you do this?" Luhan asked. "What are you trying to do?"

"I just want to forget…" Minseok whispered.

"Why?! Why? You're always so cautious, you're always scared, I can tell! I can recognize fear in two seconds, Minseok. You're scared of me!" Luhan yelled at him.

"I am! I am scared of you!" Minseok cried. "I'm terrified! And I'm hurting because you've killed my friends! And you'll kill Sehun, I know you will! And I've never been so scared in my life! But I don't want to be!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Luhan asked franticly.

"I don't want to be scared! I don't want to hurt!" Minseok shouted. "I don't want to forget my friends, but if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes! I want to forget Jongdae and Yixing and Jongin and Kyungsoo! I want to forget my parents! I want to forget Sehun! I just don't want to be scared anymore!"

Luhan was still standing above Minseok, who had turned into a sobbing mess on the floor. He looked away from the boy and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. Luhan bit his lower lip. His eyes returned to Minseok, and he sunk to his knees, having one leg on each side of the crying teenager.

"Minseok." Luhan said his name, and Minseok opened his eyes to look up at him, still crying.

Luhan paused for a moment, and then continued. "I'll make you forget, if you let me."

Minseok sniffled, and lifted a hand to dry his eyes. He nodded and Luhan smiled down at him. He leaned down to kiss Minseok, and he was pleased when Minseok, almost desperately, returned his kiss.

---

 

"Jongin, I'm home!" Sehun called out, feeling immensely tired.

The new information they had received was helpful as it was, but it had been an evening of many theories, while he, Taehyung and Kibum had waited for the files to be translated.

But in the end they all went home with no more information than what Mr. Park had given them. The translators made it clear after an hour or so, that it would first be completely translated the following day.

"Sehunnie!" Sehun froze in the hallway when a well-known voice called out his nickname.

"Tao-" Sehun was engulfed in a hug, and he found himself hugging the Chinese man back immediately.

When Tao pulled away, Sehun became aware that Tao wasn't the only visitor. Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kris was there as well, Jongin standing beside them.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" Sehun asked.

"We just wanted to visit!" Chanyeol said with a shrug and a big smile.

Sehun couldn't help himself from smiling back.

"Hey, I made dinner. How about we sit down and catch up?" Jongin asked, with a smile.

There were sounds of agreement all around, and soon the six boys were gathered in Sehun's living room. They were catching up, and it became clear to Sehun quite quickly that his friends hadn't changed at all, not personality wise at least. Baekhyun had talked both Tao and Chanyeol into dyeing their hair, but that was about it.

Sehun told them about what he had been up to as well, leaving out details about his current case. As much as he loved his friends, he didn't need them involved. Jongin's help was more than what he felt he deserved, and he didn't want to put them in danger by giving them too much information about a crazy murderer and his psycho-crush on his poor Minseok.

---

 

Minseok gasped out Luhan's name, and Luhan smiled down at him, eyes full of adoration. He leaned down and caught Minseok's lips in a kiss. The teenager wrapped his arms around Luhan's neck to pull him closer. Their tongues met and Luhan's hands ran up Minseok's sides, feeling the boy's soft warm skin beneath his fingertips.

Minseok broke the kiss to let Luhan's name fall from his lips again, this time in the form of a moan. Luhan was ing into him, and it felt so good. Minseok's mind was clouded and his vision blurred. The only thing that made sense to him was Luhan. Minseok could see him and he could feel him. He was still crying, but he couldn't tell why anymore. So many feelings seemed to mix in his mind.

"Luhan…" Minseok whispered.

Luhan looked at him. Looked into his eyes. He was still pushing in and out of the boy, but his eyes and mind seemed completely focused on the boy's words.

"Luhan… I love you…"

Luhan smiled happily at him. He replied in an almost thankful voice.

"I love you, too."

---

 

"Hey, Yoongi! You're back." Kibum smiled when Yoongi and Taehyung entered.

"Yeah, I took a day off, I didn't travel to Mexico." Yoongi said with an amused smile. "Anyway, Taehyung told me you got some casefiles from China?"

Yoongi and Taehyung took a seat opposite Kibum, who nodded.

"Yeah, Sehun's getting them from Mr. Park."

Yoongi nodded. "Red Rose killer, huh?"

"Seems that way."

"He has a thing for roses." Yoongi said. "Love and a new start."

"Excuse me?" Kibum looked confused.

"Symbolism of red and white roses; love and a new start, respectively." Taehyung said.

"I see." Kibum said. "You think he's into symbolism?"

"I think he's into mocking it." Yoongi said.

"I'm back." The three men looked up when Sehun entered. "And I got the translated files."

"What do we got?" Yoongi asked, sitting up straight.

"Well, we have a pretty vague casefile about the Red Rose killer with basically the same information as we have in our files." Sehun said and threw the casefile on the table.

"What else?"

"Files on some Chinese kid. It's pretty old, so he'd be around 29 now. His name is Lu Han. He was involved in a case when he was a teenager."

"What kind of case?" Kibum asked.

"His parents were murdered."

"Did he…?"

"They never found out, but he was the number one suspect before he disappeared. He was sent to some foster home while the case was being investigated. The crime investigators went to talk to him at some point, but when they got there they found a caretaker and two orphaned children dead in the room he was staying in. And then he was gone."

Taehyung, Yoongi and Kibum all sat in silence when Sehun finished. The story was like something out of a movie.

"Holy …" Yoongi muttered.

"You think he might actually be the one behind this?" Taehyung asked, looking at the three other men.

"He seems crazy enough to be able to do it. So maybe." Kibum said

"It's our best shot." Sehun said.

"But how are we going to figure out what he looks like today?" Taehyung asked. "I doubt there's anything but teenage pictures in those files."

"You're absolutely right." Sehun sighed.

"We should talk to Mr. Park, I'm sure he can get someone to create a picture of what he sort of looks like today." Kibum suggested.

"Good idea." Sehun nodded. "I'll go do that. Here."

Sehun handed the casefile to Yoongi, after taking out one of the pictures of the Chinese male.

"I hope it gets us closer to finding that psycho, I can't stand the thought of him possibly hurting Minseok." Sehun mumbled as he left the room.