"Are you checking kidnappings all over the country, or just in the area?" Yoongi asked.

Sehun and Kibum could noticeably feel that Yoongi and Taehyung had had a break. They both seemed less tired and they obviously had cleared their minds while spending time with their friends.

"We've been checking here and in neighboring cities." Kibum spoke up.

"We should check all around." Taehyung stated and started typing on his laptop.

Yoongi moved to Taehyung's side, watching the screen intently while Taehyung typed and clicked around. Sehun was engrossed in the Red Rose killer's casefile and Kibum was looking through several databases, hoping to find some sort of file on the boy, now man, Lu Han, who was a suspect in both the Korean and Chinese killings. It turned out to be a hard task, besides the orphanage and the Chinese casefiles, there was no trace that Lu Han even existed.

"What are you two exactly hoping to find?" Kibum asked, looking at the Daegu boys.

"Anything that can help, really." Taehyung said. "If we find some patterns in professional kidnappings, it might help us."

"We could get an idea as to what kind of location we're looking for, other than what we know from Jimin." Yoongi looked up to meet Kibum's gaze, "how's it going with that Han guy?"

"Bad."

"Why bad?"

"There's nothing on him, that's why." Kibum asked.

"Nothing? Really?" Yoongi got up and walked to sit beside Kibum.

Taking a look at the screen, Yoongi frowned. There really wasn't anything. Only his name, birthday and a couple of interviews regarding the murders of his parents.

"Who's Huan?" Yoongi asked, looking over Han's early living conditions.  

"A cousin." Kibum said, "apparently her parents died in a car crash and she went to live with Han and his parents."

"Doesn't she remind you of someone?" Yoongi looked at Kibum expectantly.

"What? Who?" A look of confusion crossed Kibum's face.

"Wait-" Yoongi reached across the table and pulled the White Rose killer casefile closer.

Kibum watched as Yoongi flipped through the files before pulling out a photograph. He held up the picture, it was of Minseok, beside the picture of Huan on the screen. Realization seemed to punch Kibum in the face and his eyes went wide.

"No ing way…" Kibum and Yoongi exchanged a look, "you think that's why…?"

"It could be why."

"Sehun! Taehyung! Get over here!" Kibum quickly called the two other detectives over and they were both there in a flash.

Sehun and Taehyung both looked at the discovery that had been made. Taehyung stood up straight, with a frown, but said nothing. Sehun, on the other hand, did.

"They look like they could be ing twins, what the hell?!" Sehun leaned closer and swore again, "you think he had some ed up infatuation with his cousin?"

"I don't know." Kibum shrugged, "he may have gotten interested in Minseok because of the similarity, but I don't think he had romantic feeling for his cousin. But, as I said, I don't know."

"She died, too?" Taehyung asked.

"Yeah, but she wasn't stabbed." Kibum opened Huan's casefile, "she died due to taking a hard hit to the head. They didn't look into it, because the detectives on the case were pretty sure the father was behind it."

"The father?" Taehyung questioned while Yoongi and Sehun listened.

"Han's father. They believe there was physical and verbal abuse in the household, but since three of the four residents died and the last one went missing, they couldn't exactly prove it."

"Maybe that's why he's so messed up." Yoongi said.

"Probably." Sehun agreed, "but that still doesn’t explain why he went for Minseok in the first place, not considering the way he did it, at least. He may have loved his cousin, but he acts in love with Minseok."

"Something must have happened." Taehyung said.

Yoongi hesitated before asking, "are you sure he wanted to kill Minseok back when he was a kid?"

"Why else would he give him a rose? That's what he does." Kibum spoke.

"You know, Yoongi might have a point." Sehun said, suddenly considering different possibilities.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, everyone was surprised to see him targeting a little boy, but maybe he didn't. Kiwoon just brushed it off as attention seeking, but he could have done that differently. That bloody mess he made out of the druggies? He could have done that with people with families and it would have been all over the news, too. He could get away with it, too. Not a trace on the crime scene, right?"

Kibum thought about it for a moment before nodding, "yeah, I see what you mean."

"And he hasn't targeted a kid after. He doesn't want to kill kids for some reason."

"Because they haven't hurt anyone." All three turned to Taehyung, who looked deep in thought.

"You mean, they're-"

"innocent." Taehyung finished Yoongi's sentence. "Yeah."

"Just like Huan." Kibum turned back to the picture of the smiling girl on the screen. "The two adults in his life, who was supposed to love him, hurt him, as well as the person he held dear."

Sehun looked down at the floor and sighed, "I hate to admit it, but I feel sort of bad for that psycho. It doesn't excuse what he has done, but damn, it must to be him."

"So he kidnapped Minseok, so he could save him? Or keep him innocent?" Kibum thought aloud.

"I think that's a good theory." Taehyung said.

Yoongi and Sehun both hummed in agreement. The case was now in a completely different lighting and that might be just what they needed.

---

 

"Luhan?" Minseok walked into the kitchen, where the man was preparing their dinner.

"Yes, Minnie?"

"The other day, I was thinking…" Minseok trailed off.

"What is it?"

"You know how you said this was my house, too?" Minseok asked.

"Yes, of course." Luhan turned back shortly to smile at the teenager.

"And, you know a lot about me, right? Like, where I'm from and my family and stuff, right?"

"Of course." Luhan sounded confused now, "what about it?"

"W-well…" Minseok hesitated, "I just thought… I want to know about you, too."

"Oh." Luhan's response was short and Minseok feared he had said something wrong.

"You don't have to tell me! I just wanted to ask." Minseok quickly said.

"No, no, you're right; you have a right to know." Luhan said. "After dinner, we can sit down and you can ask away, okay?"

"O-okay…" Minseok smiled a little, satisfied with the outcome of his request.

"But, Minnie?" Luhan spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"I only answer what I feel like and later I think we should have some fun."

Minseok swallowed at Luhan's words, but uttered a soft 'okay' nonetheless.

---

 

"Once again, the police are asking people to keep a lookout for anyone resembling the sketch of the suspected White Rose killer. The suspect is wanted for at least thirteen murders as well as the kidnapping of 16-year-old, Kim Minseok, who has now been gone for 51 days."

"It's ing scary, man." Kris commented.

"Yeah, what kind of psycho does that kind of ?" Chanyeol agreed.

Jongin rubbed Kyungsoo's arm, felling him tense at the thought of the murderer. He kissed the boy's temple, hoping to calm him down.

"I hope Minseok's okay…" Baekhyun said sadly.

Agreements came from the five other guys. Even if none of them were as involved as Sehun, the case was still taking a toll on them. Especially Kyungsoo, who worried a lot about his slightly older schoolmate, even if they hadn't been the closest of friends. He still thought highly of Minseok, the boy did well in school and was respected for being very kind and considerate, and he never seemed to gossip despite being friends with Kim Jongdae, the biggest gossiper in their school. He used to be the biggest gossiper at least.

Kyungsoo frowned. He knew Minseok and Jongdae were close. Not only had Minseok lost his freedom, he had lost his best friend.

"Kyungsoo…?" Jongin said suddenly, concerned, "why are you crying?"

The dark-haired teenager blinked. He was crying. Jongin cupped his face and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. Kyungsoo wasn't even sure where the tears had come from or when they had started, but he couldn't stop them. Jongin pulled him into a hug, while tears fell from his eyes, seemingly unstoppable. Kyungsoo tried to hold back sobbing, but soon following the tears, his breath became shaky with hiccups and he clung unto Jongin. Kris, Tao, Baekhyun and Chanyeol all sent looks of sympathy towards the boy crying in Jongin's arms. Jongin sighed sadly and hugged Kyungsoo tight.

---

 

"So, Minnie, what do you want to know?" Luhan asked when they were both seated in the living room.

"I-I don't know where to start…" Minseok mumbled.

"Take your time." Luhan smiled sweetly.

"I- well… you're Chinese, right?" Minseok asked.

"I am."

"What was it like for you to grow up?"

Luhan looked down and Minseok frowned at the sight. Luhan looked… sad. So very sad.

"It wasn't too great."

"Oh?" Minseok hoped his questioning tone would make Luhan elaborate.

"My father was abusive."

Minseok's eyes widened and he suddenly felt terrible for bringing it up, "I'm sorry, Luhan, if you don't want to talk about it-"

"It's fine, Minnie. I don't mind." Luhan smiled, but his eyes were sad, "my mother, too. Though, it was more verbally. It didn't hurt as much as getting punched and kicked for bad grades."

Luhan still wasn't looking at Minseok, his eyes stayed down. Without thinking, Minseok reached over and grabbed Luhan's hand. The man looked up, slightly surprised, but then he smiled again.

"I lived alone with them until I was eleven. My cousin's parents passed away in a car accident, so she came and lived with us. Her name was Huan." Minseok could hear obvious adoration in Luhan's voice. The man continued, "They were abusive to her, as well, my parents, but I tried to take as many of her beatings as I could. I just wanted her to be happy, she was the only one who mattered to me, and I never wanted to see her smile disappear."

Minseok squeezed Luhan's hand. He had never seen Luhan sad like this. He had looked scared and disappointed in himself when he had hurt Minseok, but he had never looked like he did then. His voice reminiscent as he spoke of his cousin, with such disheartened adoration and love.

"I did everything, you know. Cleaned, cooked and since my mother didn't have a job, I had to get one when I was thirteen. I used the money on whatever my father didn't buy. He used his salary up quickly. I tried to save up, and whenever I had enough, I'd buy toys for Huan. I wanted her to have what I didn't."

"You didn't have any toys or anything?" Minseok asked.

"No, not really."

Minseok's frown deepened and he looked away from Luhan. His eyes fell on the red toy truck, still standing on the table. He realized then, where he'd seen it before.

"I gave you that…" Luhan followed Minseok's gaze and he smiled when he saw what the boy was looking at.

"Yes, you did."

"Because you never had any toys…"

"Yeah."

Minseok looked up and met Luhan's eyes. Luhan tugged Minseok closer by the hand. The boy let himself be pulled into Luhan's arms and he even hugged back. His emotions were a jumbled mess and he suddenly saw Luhan so differently, despite everything. Luhan hurt, he probably hurt every day. Minseok hugged the man tighter, feeling sad for him. Luhan was surprised, but welcomed Minseok's action by hugging him tighter, as well.

"Luhan…?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanted to… you know…?" Minseok looked up at the man.

"What?" Luhan tilted his head.

"You said you wanted to have… fun." Minseok muttered, cheeks flushing.

"Oh, that, Minnie, if you don't want to-"

"I do." Minseok interrupted, "I want you to not be sad, please."

"Minnie-"

"I'll dress up for you, if you want me to."

Luhan pushed Minseok off, but grabbed his hands and intertwined their fingers. He looked at their hands shortly, before looking the teenager in the eyes again.

"I'm happy just being with you, Minnie; you don't need to do this if you don't want to."

Minseok pouted and Luhan forced a sad smile. He let go of Minseok's hands to ruffle his hair.

"I'll go do the dishes, Minnie. Maybe we can do it later, yeah?" Luhan got up and went to the kitchen.

The teenager felt sort of dumbfounded at Luhan's rejection. He wanted to cheer up Luhan, get him to think about something else, but the man wouldn't let him. Minseok looked down at his hands. Maybe Luhan didn't actually like him that much. He was a serial killer after all; he could just have been playing with Minseok all this time. The boy furrowed his eyebrows. That thought seemed strangely worse than anything Minseok had considered before.

Luhan wanted what was best for Minseok, that's what he kept saying, so why wouldn't he let Minseok cheer him up? Minseok got up and walked to his room. He threw himself on the bed and groaned in frustration. Why did Luhan have to be so complicated? Minseok looked towards the closet. He knew Luhan liked all those outfits, so maybe…?

Minseok sat up and considered the idea. He could tell Luhan had been sad talking about his childhood. Maybe it wasn't the best way to cheer him up, but Minseok didn't know what else to do. He hesitantly got up and walked to the closet. He went through his choices, grimacing at certain outfits. The Lolita-styled dress he had worn, Minseok felt sort of comfortable in, so he looked for something similar.

After a while, he did find something. It was a dark blue dress with a narrow waist and a wide skirt. It showed of collarbones with its off-shoulder neckline. It had two white stripes at the bottom and a bow, in the same dark blue as the rest of the dress, on the waist. Minseok decided the dress would do, and he quickly changed into it. He didn't bother with finding shoes or other accessories and simply walked bare-footed downstairs.

In the kitchen Luhan was putting away the dishes and Minseok stood in the doorway watching. Minseok knew that Luhan knew he was there, it was probably impossible to sneak up on the man. Luhan started to turn around then.

"Minnie, listen, you don't-" Mid-sentence Luhan stopped talking.

Minseok shifted under Luhan's stare. The man put down the plate in his hands calmly and then he crossed the space between Minseok and him with long determined steps. He grabbed Minseok by the shoulders and pushed him against the nearest wall, pushing one leg between Minseok's.

"Ah, you're too irresistible…" Luhan mumbled, looking Minseok over, "I try to control myself and then you go and do this. Really, Minnie, you're testing me."

"I-I just want you to not be sad…" Minseok spoke softly, repeating his earlier words.

"I'm definitely not sad anymore." Luhan growled and captured Minseok's lips in a bruising kiss.

Luhan's hands roamed, feeling Minseok's skin and the curves of his waist and hips under the dress. He gave Minseok's lower lip a gentle bite and the teenager obediently parted his lips, letting in Luhan's tongue, so he could explore the boy's mouth. Minseok still found kissing Luhan overwhelming. He could feel Luhan's love for him clearly, when they kissed and the teenager still couldn't keep up. He still thought of Sehun's hesitant actions, afraid he'd take it too far, but Luhan gave in to his desires easily. He could stop himself if Minseok told him to, but it was obvious that the man got lost in his wants quickly.

"Slow down…!" Minseok broke the kiss to breathe out his request.

"What?"

"Can we do this slower…?" Minseok rephrased his request.

Luhan's confused face turned into a smile and he picked up Minseok bridal styles, as if he weighed nothing. He carried Minseok upstairs and the teenager was the one confused then, as Luhan didn't walk to Minseok's room, but his own. Luhan elbowed the door open and carried Minseok inside. The room was quite different from Minseok's.

The floor was wooden, but a fluffy tan carpet filled up a big part of it. A king-size wooden bed in a light color stood against the right wall, it had white bedsheets, but pillows in brown, beige and creamy colors and a light brown blanket brought life to the otherwise boring color. On both sides of the bed stood mahogany nightstands with lamps on. There was a closet and a dresser against the opposite wall, both were wooden, but painted partially white. The room had large windows, similar to the ones in Minseok's room, but his couldn't open and Luhan's could, Minseok could tell since one of them was ajar. The walls were all white, except the one the bed stood against; it was painted lemon yellow, bringing color to the room.

"Your room is really nice…" Minseok spoke while looking around, taking in the mature yet homey feel of the bedroom.

"Thank you, Minnie." Luhan kissed his cheek and placed him gently on the bed, "if you want, you can sleep here tonight… with me."

Minseok met Luhan's gaze as he moved them up the bed. When Luhan hovered over him, smiling softly down at him, Minseok nodded.

"Yeah…" He spoke quietly, "yeah, I'd like that."

Luhan grinned at him and leaned down to kiss him. Their lips moved slowly together and Luhan caressed Minseok's thigh carefully. He tried to keep it slow and gentle, but he really just wanted to take Minseok then and there, but he couldn't. Minseok wouldn't like that.

When they parted, Luhan kept his eyes on Minseok's face, taking in his soft features. He reached up and ran his hand down the side of Minseok's face, down to his neck. His fingers lightly traced the skin there and he frowned, remembering when his hands had been around Minseok's neck, slowly stealing his breath. He met Minseok's eyes, they looked dazed now with a hint of confusion, but Luhan could still recall all the times the boy had looked terrified at him, fearing for his young life.

"You know I love you, right…?"

Minseok tilted his head, "Yeah, of course, you tell me every day…"

"I don't want to hurt you, Minnie, but sometimes I can't help it…" Luhan didn't look at Minseok's eyes anymore, "I can't control myself sometimes… I'm sorry…"

The boy swallowed. He wasn't sure how to react. Luhan's words made him remember what he tried to forget. Yixing and Jongdae. And whoever else Luhan had hurt. Minseok knew Luhan had killed many people and he hated thinking about it.

"I've changed my mind…" Minseok muttered.

Luhan looked at him with those sad eyes, making him look like nothing more than what Minseok was. A boy.

"I don't want to sleep here…" Minseok placed a hand on Luhan's chest and he was positively surprised when Luhan let him push him away.

He gave Luhan a single apologetic look before getting up and leaving the room. He walked down the hall to his own bedroom, where he put on his normal clothes. He glared at the dress now thrown carelessly on the floor. He wasn't angry at the dress, but it was easier turning his anger towards that, than turning it on Luhan or himself.

---

 

I'm updating from the Netherlands, bro, thank god for hotel internet. Even if it's kinda bad. Still, it works, you know (✿◡‿◡)