Bookshelf

    Jongdae had one hand on the hand brake and the other pressed against the dash boards as Yixing sped through the streets of Seoul, ready to bring the car to an emergency stop if need be. ‘Can we slow down a bit? You’re a detective for Pete’s sake?’ Jongdae barked as he held on for dear life.

    ‘Who the heck is Pete?’ Yixing yelled back. ‘Can we just focus on Sehun?’

    ‘Can we just focus on staying alive?’ Jongdae pleaded, ‘Red light!’

    Yixing slammed his foot on the break, sending both of them forwards in their seats, ‘Thanks,’ the insane driver breathed as he tapped his fingers against the wheel anxiously. 

    Jongdae sighed in relief and sat back in his seat. ‘I can’t even look at you right now, you’re a mess,’ Jongdae huffed, closing his eyes to block out the view of his partner. ‘Why did the hospital call you anyway?’

    ‘Because Sehun is there,’ Yixing replied bluntly.

    Jongdae face-palmed, ‘Really? I had no idea.’

    ‘Don’t get fresh with me, I’m losing my mind,’ Yixing said as he stomped his foot on the accelerator. ‘Just put up with me for another minute - we’ll be there soon.’

    ‘Yeah, but we’ll be arriving in an ambulance. First class…’

    ‘Sass,’ Yixing scolded. 

    Jongdae pulled out his phone.

    ‘Who are you calling?’ Yixing questioned.

    Jongdae ignored the man as he pressed the phone to his ear; ‘Dad? It’s Jongdae… I just wanted to say that I love you… No, the driver’s an idiot…’

    ‘Yah!’ Yixing reached over and took the phone, his eyes still fixated on the road. ‘Hello Jongdae’s dad, I’m his partner. We aren’t going to die… I’ll tell him, bye.’ He ended the call and threw the phone at the younger detective. 

    ‘What did he say?’ Jongdae asked as he pocketed his phone.

    Yixing pulled the car to a stop, ‘He said don’t bother coming home next Christmas. And you’re adopted.’

    ‘What?’ Jongdae shouted as they jumped out of the car. ‘Tell me what he really said!’

    Yixing shrugged as they entered the hospital, ‘Where is Oh Sehun?’

    A nurse glanced at her clipboard, ‘Are you Zhang Yixing? His guardian?’

    Yixing lied easily, ‘Yes, I’m his guardian.’

    Jongdae held in a scoff.

    ‘And who is this?’ The nurse asked as she pointed to Jongdae. Yixing watched as her cheeks tuned a light shade of pink in reaction to the younger man.

    ‘I’m Kim Jongdae; just a friend,’ he answered.

    ‘Well, follow me,’ the nurse smiled and lead them to a room on the other side of the ward. 

    ‘What happened to him?’ Yixing asked as they walked too slowly towards their destination.

    ‘He inhaled too much smoke during the fire, he should be fine in a few days. Luckily he avoided any serious burns. He’s also malnourished. Zhang Yixing you really can’t be called a guardian if…’

    ‘What fire?’ Yixing almost yelled. ‘Why didn’t anyone call me! I was with him just four hours ago.’

    ‘We think Sehun tried to burn down the house with him inside it, a neighbour saw the smoke before there was too much damage,’ the nurse explained. ‘This is his room, I have t go now,’ she said, giving Jongdae a coy smile before trotting off.

    Yixing didn’t waste any time rushing to Sehun’s side, ‘Sehun-ah what happened?’ he asked as he instantly starting smoothing the boy’s hair. ‘I thought today was going to be a good day…’

    ‘It was,’ Sehun croaked, ‘It was supposed to be.’

    Yixing moved his face closer to Sehun’s, ‘Tell me; did you start the fire?’

    Sehun could feel tears building up in his eyes. He shook his head. No. Sehun hadn’t started the fire, but it was far from being an accident. ‘It was him.’

    ‘Who’s “him”?’ Jongdae asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

    Sehun’s eyes fluttered to the unfamiliar man and then back to Yixing, ‘It’s okay,’ the older man soothed, ‘he’s my new partner. Who started the fire?’

    Again Sehun hesitated, ‘Mask…’ he coughed violently. When he had settled down he tried again; ‘He had a mask on… he… said… Luhan…’ 

    ‘Thats enough,’ Jongdae stopped the boy mid-sentence. ‘Yixing hyung, I’m going to call Baekhyun. He’ll handle this but we need to get the crime scene. Now.’

    Yixing nodded blankly; the EXO Killer had returned to the scene of his last crime. He never returns… which means he either left something behind or he was planting something - a clue? ‘Sehun,’ Yixing said seriously, ‘did the killer take anything from the house? Do you know if he left anything?’ 

    Sehun nodded stiffly, ‘Luhan’s book shelf.’

    ‘He took from Luhan’s Bookshelf?’ Jongdae asked, making sure they had the story straight.

    Sehun nodded again, ‘Yes… I don’t know what…’

    ’Shhh,’ Yixing hushed as he pulled his hand away from Sehun’s hair. ‘A friend of mine will be coming to talk to you, his name is Byun Baekhyun. This is what he looks like,’ Yixing said as he showed a picture he had taken in the conference room. ‘If anyone else tries to see you turn them away, okay?’

    ‘Okay.’ Sehun’s voice was scratchy at best. 

    Jongdae placed a hand on Yixing’s shoulder, ‘I’m driving.’

    ‘And that’s how you drive,’ Jongdae smirked as he turned off the ignition. 

    Yixing smiled briefly, ‘Impressive. I bet you’ve got a license and everything.’

    Jongdae raised an eyebrow, ‘Ah, yeah. Actually I do… Do you?’

    Yixing brushed off the question, ‘It looks like the kitchen’s burnt out.’ Before Jongdae could further inquire about the licence Yixing had already entered the house. From the outside they could see that the kitchen had been burnt - but they couldn’t have guessed just how specific the attack was. 

    ‘Jongdae… It’s just the kitchen,’ Yixing said as he examined the scene from the doorway. ‘This is where he killed Luhan, why would he burn it?’

    Jongdae considered it, ‘How does it make you feel to know that the place where your best friend died is destroyed?’

    ‘Neutral,’ Yixing replied honestly.

    ‘Then this is simply a distraction. He lit the fire to draw attention away from something else in the house,’ Jongdae deducted. ‘Possibly the book…’

    ‘I’m calling the chief,’ Yixing interrupted as he pulled his phone from his pocket. ‘Who do you think we will need?’

    ‘Xiumin hyung… maybe Tao, Jongin and Kyungsoo if they aren’t busy with Chanyeol,’ Jongdae hummed. ‘But we need Xiumin. And gloves and markers.’

    ‘Got it,’ Yixing confirmed as he hit dial. ‘Hello Chief, it’s Detective Yixing.’

    “What’s going on?” Suho questioned.

    ‘There was a fire. They think Sehun started it so they aren’t investigating it but…’

    “In Sehun’s home?” Suho sounded shocked.

    ‘We have good reason to believe that it was the EXO Killer,’ Yixing responded in a hushed voice. 

    “Who should I send? Chanyeol’s still making progress on the jars lead and Baekhyun is at the hospital.”

    Yixing glanced at the ashes of the kitchen, ‘Send anyone from team that can make it. We’ll need to analyse the scene on our own too. No outsiders.’

    “Since you have Xiumin that should be okay. Anything else?”

    ‘Can you please find out the identity of the person that called 119? Ask Chanyeol if you haven’t got the time, Chief.’ Yixing bit his lip.

    “No problem. I’ll follow it up personally and you find something out there to make it worth my time, okay?”

    ‘You’re the best,’ Yixing smiled into the phone.

    “Yeah. Well, be careful. The others are on the way,” Suho hung up before Yixing could thank him.

    ‘All good?’ Jongdae asked as he took a photo of the kitchen. 

    Yixing nodded, ‘All good. Have you got enough photos?’    ‘Yeah, why?’ Jongdae smiled.

    Yixing flashed a dimple before answering, ‘Let’s check the book shelf.’

    ‘Shouldn’t we wait for the others?’ Jongdae hesitated. 

    Yixing shook his head, ‘It’s okay, just follow me.’

    Luhan’s room wasn’t how Yixing had remembered it when he had left that morning. The bed sheets had been ripped off and all of the clothes were pulled from the wardrobe, strewn across the room messily. The books were no longer on the shelf, and worst of all Luhan’s precious Manchester United alarm clock on the floor; broken. That’s when he knew Sehun couldn’t have done this. 

    ‘I thought Luhan would have had an orderly room,’ Jongdae commented as he continued to photograph the scene.

    Yixing sighed, ‘Luhan’s room was always tidy, he was a neat freak. The un-sub must have been looking for something.’

    ‘How do you know it wasn’t Sehun? He could have trashed the place after Luhan died,’ Jongdae reasoned.

    ‘I was here just this morning and the only thing out of place was Sehun in Luhan’s bed and some water on the floor,’ Yixing defended the boy. ‘And you see that alarm clock? It was Luhan’s most treasured object. Sehun would have rather the house burn down before he ever broke that.’

    ‘I see,’ Jongdae nodded. ‘Can you tell if any of the books are missing?’ The two crouched beside the books, careful not to touch anything. 

    ‘I think…’ Yixing bit the inside of his cheek, ‘I think I know whats missing.’

    ‘Really?’ Jongdae asked, impressed by his partner. ‘Maybe you aren’t so crazy.’

    ‘This is really bad,’ Yixing said calmly as he stood. ‘Can I please use your phone? I need to call Baekhyun.’

    ‘Yeah.’ Jongdae dialled Baekhyun and passed the phone over to Yixing, ‘You’re being strangely cool,’ he spectated.

    Yixing stood with one hand in his pocket and waited for the Special Victims worker to answer.

    “Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked.

    ‘No, it’s Yixing. I have a favour,’ Yixing clarified quickly. 

    He heard baekhyun hug the phone closer, “Hyung what is it?”

    ‘I need you to ask Sehun where Luhan kept his self-help journal,’ Yixing said clearly, hoping Sehun would know what he was referring to.

    Baekhyun could be heard questioning the boy, “The book shelf.”

    ‘Is he sure?’ Yixing pressed, the seriousness of the situation dawning upon him. 

    “He’s nodding. I’m pretty sure that he is sure,” Baekhyun confirmed. “What’s wrong?”

    Yixing took a deep breath, ‘I’ll tell you later. Tell Sehun that I’m picking him up tonight, please?’

    “Yes, sir,” Baekhyun promised, “Anything else?”

    ‘No, just keep safe,’ Yixing said.

    “You too,” Baekhyun replied.

    ‘I’m hanging up now.’ Yixing handed the phone back to Jongdae. ‘That book is definitely not here,’ Yixing rushed a hand through his hair.

    Jongdae closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. ‘You’re right; this is really bad. Yixing hyung, you know why people read each other’s diaries right? Kid’s read their sibling’s diaries to…’

    ‘I know why. But Luhan is dead - why does he need to know anything else?’ Yixing’s frown deepened into a scowl.

    Jongdae relaxed his features, ‘This isn’t about Luhan anymore. It’s about you. There has to be another victim we haven’t found, a killer doesn’t break a pattern for the fun of it therefore a body should have turned up about a month ago. Now it’s your turn. He’s looking for information about you wherever he can.’

    In that moment Yixing knew Jongdae was right. The real danger had only just begun.