SSS 2010: for nakchi
For: nakchi
From: Your Secret Santa
Title: Section S
Pairing: Taemin/Minho
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,000
Summary: They're the bane of the Seoul Police Department - Section S.
Report: Seoul Special Units, Division Three, Section S
The Chief of Police lets his head fall into his hands. What's happened this time?
“Jonghyun, get your fat ass up and make ramen.”
Fingers pausing over the keyboard, the man glances up with a stern expression. “Kibum, I'm busy.”
“You're playing Starcraft,” Kibum replies flippantly, tugging at his uniform collar. “Ugh, why is it so hot?”
The door to the cramped office, piled high with stacks of papers and Playboy magazines, is opened to admit the three other section members. Crisp, starch white uniform shirts are unbuttoned, soaked in sweat, and black ties are slung around their necks. Kibum lets his clear disdain for their lack of ethical presentation show in his blatantly scrunched nose and frowning lips.
“It's hot,” Jinki says lamely, embarrassed.
Kibum shakes his head. “And you're the section leader.”
“I didn't see you out there in the garden,” shoots the tallest member, hovering high above all of their heads.
“Shut up, Minho.” Kibum scoffs. “How are the vegetables coming along? Since this section seems to be good for nothing other than for providing the rest of the station with fresh produce.”
Ignoring his negative comment, the youngest and brightest, Taemin, replies cheerfully, “The tomatoes look great! And the cucumbers are really coming along! We've got a line practically wrapped around the building, wanting our veggies!”
“That's amazing, that's really fantastic.” Kibum tosses the documents in his hands roughly onto his desktop. “Everyone thinks we're a fucking joke! Section S, so special they sit in this closet sized office doing jack shit.”
Coming back, after having left without notice, Jonghyun drops a bowl of instant noodles in front of Kibum. “Eat and stop your bitching, please.”
Kibum quickly forgets his grievances and takes the offered noodles, smiling contently to himself. Jonghyun rolls his eyes, but resumes his seat beside the telephone without a word. Happy slurps of noddles serve as a much better alternative to Kibum's whines and complaints.
Feeling guilty, Jinki fixes his uniform until he's prim and proper once more - or as prim and proper as a person who's been working in a garden can get - before taking a seat behind the largest of the cheap desks in the room. Once comfortable, he sets his glasses on the bridge of his nose and begins pecking at his computer's keys.
Minho follows suit, getting comfortable for the all-nighter in store for them. Their section is on call for the entire night. Taemin eases himself onto a clear spot on the older man's desk - the cleanest in the office - and clears his throat.
Large almond eyes peer up at him. “Yes?”
“About last night … “
Minho's eyes dart around the room and its occupants. “Taemin!” he hisses, “We can't talk about that here.”
Taemin flips his blond bangs from his eyes. “Oh, please, they all know we're doing it - “
“Taemin!”
“Fine, fine,” Taemin rolls his eyes, then lets a soft smile play at his plump lips.
“What are you thinking about now?”
“Just, we're going to have so much free time, being on call and all .. “
Eying the finger Taemin is swirling 'innocently' along the fabric on his arm, Minho shivers. His boyfriend will definitely be the death of him. If he could only work up the nerve to say 'no.' Right, as if that will ever happen. Taemin not only has him by the balls, but by every single fiber of his being. Minho would be ashamed of himself if he wasn't too caught up in his blissful love.
“Let's try thinking with our upstairs brains tonight, huh?” Jonghyun cuts in, shooting them a look. “We don't need a repeat of last week when you answered that call while sexing each other up. The owner of the shrine sent quite a few complaints to the boss and he got pissed.”
Jinki nods fervently, peeking above his computer screen. “I was stuck in his office for the whole day afterward! He gave me a work over because of it!”
“Oh, ew! No one wants to hear about your sex life, Jinki,” Kibum says around a mouthful of noodles.
“W-what?!” Jinki flounders, arms flailing. “That's not what I meant!”
Taemin snickers at the section leader. “Wow, I didn't know you went for older men!”
“I don't - Guys, no, don't believe Kibum! That's not what I meant - Guys!”
By midnight, all the laughter has died down and the five are practically sprawled across their desks, mouths gaping in boredom. Taemin has fallen asleep twice, only to be slapped awake by an ever observant Jonghyun. Kibum has been on the phone with friends in the States, talking their ears off,while Minho just continues to stare blankly at the wall opposite him. Jinki pecks away at his keyboard. Thus was the monotony of night shifts.
“Minho, we should - “
“No.”
Taemin frowns at Kibum, who's just hung up the phone. “What? You don't even know what I was going to say!” he protests, bottom lip sticking out in a pout.
“I know you well enough to know that - “
The station's phone begins to ring. Kibum jumps over his empty noddle bowl to scoop up the communication device. There hasn't been a single call all night - a chance to get out!
“Hello?” Kibum answers quickly while snapping up the receiver to his mouth. “Yes, this is the police station. You … what? Is this a joke?”
The rest of the section blinks, caught off guard by the offended tone in their unofficial receptionist's voice. Kibum wrinkles his nose while his mouth hangs open in disbelief, silent, listening to the speaker on the other line.
Taemin leans forward, chin resting on the palm of his hand, intent.
“Fine. If this ends up to be a hoax, you will be hearing back from us.” Kibum puts the phone back on its hook while letting out a puff of air.
“What is it?” Jinki asks, adjusting his dark rimmed glasses.
“There's been a break in .. at the doughnut shop.”
Taemin and Minho draw the two longest pencils and get the privilege of answering the call. The former is so excited he even adds in a cartwheel as he bounds out of the dark and drab police station on his way to their vehicle. Minho watches, eyes crinkled in second hand glee.
“I'm driving!” Taemin announces as they reach the cruiser.
Minho purses his lips. “Not if I have the keys you don't - Oh.”
Taemin snickers, dangling the keys in front of Minho's face for a moment before prancing to the driver's side door.
“I thought I … “ Minho pats his pockets, brow furrowed. He had them just a minute ago, how had he … ?
“Don't worry about it, just get in!”
Minho does as he's told, defeated. No use putting up a fight against a face like that. Beaming smile in place, Taemin barely leaves enough time for Minho to shut his door before he drops his foot on the gas. With a jolt, they speed out of the lot and onto the street. Minho braces himself by clutching the door handle, already large eyes widening further.
“Tae, maybe you should - “
“Whoo! This is great!”
“... Oh, god, I'm going to die … “
Minho gulps, Adam's apple bobbing, just as the cruiser flies through a red light, sirens flipped on and blaring.
“Wow! That was great!” Taemin exclaims, springing out of the car with a burst of adrenaline.
Minho, legs shaky, tries to clear his mind - he's about to go to a possible crime scene, he needs to be on his game - but his stomach is churning like crazy from the drive over. He straightens up to his full height, takes a deep, calming breath. Already taking off towards the doughnut shop they were called down to check on, Taemin doesn't take notice of his boyfriend's dilemma.
He takes his time reaching the store, but just as Minho is rounding the corner to front, a blood curdling scream rips through the night. No thought needed, Minho takes off at break neck speed, at the same time drawing his weapon.
“Taemin?” he calls, kicking the only partially opened door fully out of his way.
The shop is dark, a single light casting a long line of yellow across the floor. Following the trail of light to it's source, Minho finds himself in the back of the shop, in what appears to be the storage room. Gun pointed towards the ground, both hands clasped around the hilt and finger ready, just above the trigger, Minho's analyzing gaze scans the room for any immediate danger.
Right away he spots a body, fallen beneath a stack of boxes. Eyebrows pinched in concentration, he peers to his left only to find Taemin hiding behind the door, face only half peeking out.
“Tae, what happened?” Minho demands, keeping his weapon out just in case it's still needed.
Taemin tilts his head, eyes watching Minho's lips move quizzically. Adorable, but not helpful.
“Taemin - “
“That's not me!”
Minho directs his attention to the pile of boxes just as the person begins to rise from underneath them. Tossing the heavy packages to side, Taemin emerges, red faced and steaming with anger. Minho blinks. Who … ?
“Shit!” Minho nearly drops his gun as he takes in a mirror image of himself where Taemin used to be behind the door. “What the fuck?!”
Brushing himself off, the Taemin who was under the boxes glares at the figure. “That guy stole my looks and now yours? Make up your mind, you bastard.”
The once Taemin, now Minho starts to shake, cowering even further into the corner behind the door.
“What's going on here?” Minho asks, pointing his gun at 'himself', but his serious gaze is pointed at his partner.
“How the hell should I know? I walked in on this guy tearing through the boxes and when I tried to pull my gun on him, he turned into me then knocked me into the shelf!” Taemin raves, motioning widely at the cowering figure.
Minho lets out a short breath from his nose. “Okay, then. How about you explain?” he asks, following the path that his gun is pointed to stare into his copied eyes. He's not even going to begin to think about how freaking bat shit crazy this whole situation is.
The copy Minho just shakes his head in fear.
“Who are you?” Taemin questions harshly.
Right before their eyes, the thing transforms back into the original form Taemin had discovered him in - a small, lithe teen with long jet black bangs falling in his oddly purple tinted eyes.
“Maybe that was the wrong question, “ Taemin says, losing the bite to his words, “How about what are you?”
Seemingly relaxing at the friendlier tone, the boy vigorously points up. Both officer's eyes immediately go to the ceiling. He's an .. ? Taemin shakes his head, of course not, that's stupid. No, ridiculous!
“Look, don't lie to us,” Taemin returns his gun to it's holster, “Just tell us where you're from and we'll get you back. What, are you a science experiment or something? Did you escape the lab?”
The boy makes a confused face, shakes his head and points up again. Not nearly as trusting, Minho keeps his gun out, but he lowers it to allow one of his hands the freedom to scratch the back of his head.
“What should we do?” he asks under his breath, just loud enough for Taemin to hear.
“Like hell I'm getting myself involved with some government experiment,” Taemin returns in a whisper, because that's what he's deduced this guy has to be. Some government creation, technology gone horribly wrong. “We'll just call up … someone, and have him taken back to wherever he came from.”
Minho purses his lips in thought. “Tae, I don't think … “
“Minho,” Taemin says in warning, narrowing his eyes at his partner, “What are you getting at? You aren't seriously suggesting - “
From Minho's hip, the radio crackles and pops to life, beeping to let them know a call is trying to be patched through. Wearily, Minho draws the radio up and holds down the talk button.
“Minho here.”
“Did you reach the shop yet?”
“Yeah, we did. Look, Kibum, this isn't a regular call.”
“Do you need back up?”
Minho looks at the shivering boy, strange eyes wide and watching while tears build up. “No. We'll handle this.”
Kibum 'tsk's. “Fine. Keep us updated.”
“Right.” Minho reattaches the radio to it's rightful spot on his belt.
“Can you talk or not?” Taemin asks, stepping closer to the boy.
“He can't.”
Both police officers are startled by the unexpected voice, Minho immediately spinning on his heels to point his weapon at the entrance to the storage room. A Korean couple appear there, perfectly normal aside from their purple tinted eyes. Taemin places a hand to his chest, where his heart is pounding out a congo beat.
“I'm sorry, we're his parents,” the man speaks, putting his hands up, palms facing forward, “We don't mean any harm. Our son, he's just special - “
“You can say that again.” Taemin snorts.
“We'll pay for any damage he may have caused if you'll only let him come back home without making an issue out of this,” the man finishes, polite smile in place.
Minho shakes his head. “We already know.”
“Already … know?”
“He changed forms,” he informs simply.
Both adults take sharp breaths in. The woman seems to break out into sweat right away, and she's pressing a hankerchief to her temple while her husband rubs his chin in thought. The boy scrambles to his feet and into his mother's arms, but neither Minho nor Taemin make a move to stop him. They aren't heartless.
“Is that so? So you've already seen him shift .. “ the purple eyed man thinks out loud.
Minho narrows his gaze on the man. “What are you people?”
“Are you the scientist?” Taemin cuts in, far too chipper for such a dire situation.
The man leans back, a bark of laughter escaping from his lips. “Scientist? No, of course not! We are the boy's parents, I wasn't lying!”
Downcast, Taemin mutters a soft 'oh.' Out goes his only hopes for a sane evening.
Clearing his throat, the man returns to all seriousness. “I don't believe explaining to you our origins will improve this situation any. If you could just let us pay off the damages … “
“We can't do that.” says Minho, voice businesslike but eyes softening at the sight of the family.
“He was just hungry and he doesn't know how to control himself yet.” The man's forehead creases into frown lines. “Please.”
The walls crumbling down around Minho's heart are practically audible. A sigh, a shuffling as he puts his gun away, and then Minho is stepping forward to exam just what exactly the boy got into in the storage room.
“The damage is minimal.” Minho crosses his arms over his stomach as he faces the family once again.
“Go now and we'll call the owners. As far as we're concerned, the store was empty when we showed up,” Taemin says, because he can see the war raging inside his partner.
Pushing past her husband, the woman bows, forcing her son to do the same. “Thank you so much, sir!”
Taemin pats the woman on the shoulder, eyes crescent moons. “Just go home.”
The purple eyed family doesn't waste their time before rushing from the scene of the crime. Minho stands in the middle of the storage room, hands on his hips as he blows a long breath of air from his lips. With the quietness of a cat, Taemin slinks to his side before winding his arms around Minho's fit waist.
“You okay, babe?”
“I don't know what just happened here … “
Taemin steps onto his toes to plant a light, comforting kiss on his boyfriend's full lips. “Don't worry about it, I handled it.”
Minho's stern expression cracks, eyes wrinkling into a smile. “Don't you always?”
“Of course,” he says, shrugging nonchalantly. “C'mon, babe, we need to call this in to Kibum and tell him our story.”
“You think he'll put up a fight?”
Taemin winks. “How about if he does, I just deal with him?”
“So, what you're trying to tell me, is that, despite what witnesses saw, there was no one in the doughnut shop when the two officers arrived?”
Jinki keeps his eyes glued to the floor, hands in tight fists on his lap. His palms are sweaty and lips chapped as he tries to control his fear. “That's … um, right, sir.”
The division leader tosses the case file on his desk with a loud slap. “Jinki, this isn't acceptable.”
“I know sir … “
“The Chief is already breathing down my neck about you guys at Section S!”
“I know sir ... “
The man sighs, massages his temples. “Just, go. Section S has clean up duty for the week.”
“Again?”
“Again.”
From: Your Secret Santa
Title: Section S
Pairing: Taemin/Minho
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,000
Summary: They're the bane of the Seoul Police Department - Section S.
Report: Seoul Special Units, Division Three, Section S
The Chief of Police lets his head fall into his hands. What's happened this time?
“Jonghyun, get your fat ass up and make ramen.”
Fingers pausing over the keyboard, the man glances up with a stern expression. “Kibum, I'm busy.”
“You're playing Starcraft,” Kibum replies flippantly, tugging at his uniform collar. “Ugh, why is it so hot?”
The door to the cramped office, piled high with stacks of papers and Playboy magazines, is opened to admit the three other section members. Crisp, starch white uniform shirts are unbuttoned, soaked in sweat, and black ties are slung around their necks. Kibum lets his clear disdain for their lack of ethical presentation show in his blatantly scrunched nose and frowning lips.
“It's hot,” Jinki says lamely, embarrassed.
Kibum shakes his head. “And you're the section leader.”
“I didn't see you out there in the garden,” shoots the tallest member, hovering high above all of their heads.
“Shut up, Minho.” Kibum scoffs. “How are the vegetables coming along? Since this section seems to be good for nothing other than for providing the rest of the station with fresh produce.”
Ignoring his negative comment, the youngest and brightest, Taemin, replies cheerfully, “The tomatoes look great! And the cucumbers are really coming along! We've got a line practically wrapped around the building, wanting our veggies!”
“That's amazing, that's really fantastic.” Kibum tosses the documents in his hands roughly onto his desktop. “Everyone thinks we're a fucking joke! Section S, so special they sit in this closet sized office doing jack shit.”
Coming back, after having left without notice, Jonghyun drops a bowl of instant noodles in front of Kibum. “Eat and stop your bitching, please.”
Kibum quickly forgets his grievances and takes the offered noodles, smiling contently to himself. Jonghyun rolls his eyes, but resumes his seat beside the telephone without a word. Happy slurps of noddles serve as a much better alternative to Kibum's whines and complaints.
Feeling guilty, Jinki fixes his uniform until he's prim and proper once more - or as prim and proper as a person who's been working in a garden can get - before taking a seat behind the largest of the cheap desks in the room. Once comfortable, he sets his glasses on the bridge of his nose and begins pecking at his computer's keys.
Minho follows suit, getting comfortable for the all-nighter in store for them. Their section is on call for the entire night. Taemin eases himself onto a clear spot on the older man's desk - the cleanest in the office - and clears his throat.
Large almond eyes peer up at him. “Yes?”
“About last night … “
Minho's eyes dart around the room and its occupants. “Taemin!” he hisses, “We can't talk about that here.”
Taemin flips his blond bangs from his eyes. “Oh, please, they all know we're doing it - “
“Taemin!”
“Fine, fine,” Taemin rolls his eyes, then lets a soft smile play at his plump lips.
“What are you thinking about now?”
“Just, we're going to have so much free time, being on call and all .. “
Eying the finger Taemin is swirling 'innocently' along the fabric on his arm, Minho shivers. His boyfriend will definitely be the death of him. If he could only work up the nerve to say 'no.' Right, as if that will ever happen. Taemin not only has him by the balls, but by every single fiber of his being. Minho would be ashamed of himself if he wasn't too caught up in his blissful love.
“Let's try thinking with our upstairs brains tonight, huh?” Jonghyun cuts in, shooting them a look. “We don't need a repeat of last week when you answered that call while sexing each other up. The owner of the shrine sent quite a few complaints to the boss and he got pissed.”
Jinki nods fervently, peeking above his computer screen. “I was stuck in his office for the whole day afterward! He gave me a work over because of it!”
“Oh, ew! No one wants to hear about your sex life, Jinki,” Kibum says around a mouthful of noodles.
“W-what?!” Jinki flounders, arms flailing. “That's not what I meant!”
Taemin snickers at the section leader. “Wow, I didn't know you went for older men!”
“I don't - Guys, no, don't believe Kibum! That's not what I meant - Guys!”
By midnight, all the laughter has died down and the five are practically sprawled across their desks, mouths gaping in boredom. Taemin has fallen asleep twice, only to be slapped awake by an ever observant Jonghyun. Kibum has been on the phone with friends in the States, talking their ears off,while Minho just continues to stare blankly at the wall opposite him. Jinki pecks away at his keyboard. Thus was the monotony of night shifts.
“Minho, we should - “
“No.”
Taemin frowns at Kibum, who's just hung up the phone. “What? You don't even know what I was going to say!” he protests, bottom lip sticking out in a pout.
“I know you well enough to know that - “
The station's phone begins to ring. Kibum jumps over his empty noddle bowl to scoop up the communication device. There hasn't been a single call all night - a chance to get out!
“Hello?” Kibum answers quickly while snapping up the receiver to his mouth. “Yes, this is the police station. You … what? Is this a joke?”
The rest of the section blinks, caught off guard by the offended tone in their unofficial receptionist's voice. Kibum wrinkles his nose while his mouth hangs open in disbelief, silent, listening to the speaker on the other line.
Taemin leans forward, chin resting on the palm of his hand, intent.
“Fine. If this ends up to be a hoax, you will be hearing back from us.” Kibum puts the phone back on its hook while letting out a puff of air.
“What is it?” Jinki asks, adjusting his dark rimmed glasses.
“There's been a break in .. at the doughnut shop.”
Taemin and Minho draw the two longest pencils and get the privilege of answering the call. The former is so excited he even adds in a cartwheel as he bounds out of the dark and drab police station on his way to their vehicle. Minho watches, eyes crinkled in second hand glee.
“I'm driving!” Taemin announces as they reach the cruiser.
Minho purses his lips. “Not if I have the keys you don't - Oh.”
Taemin snickers, dangling the keys in front of Minho's face for a moment before prancing to the driver's side door.
“I thought I … “ Minho pats his pockets, brow furrowed. He had them just a minute ago, how had he … ?
“Don't worry about it, just get in!”
Minho does as he's told, defeated. No use putting up a fight against a face like that. Beaming smile in place, Taemin barely leaves enough time for Minho to shut his door before he drops his foot on the gas. With a jolt, they speed out of the lot and onto the street. Minho braces himself by clutching the door handle, already large eyes widening further.
“Tae, maybe you should - “
“Whoo! This is great!”
“... Oh, god, I'm going to die … “
Minho gulps, Adam's apple bobbing, just as the cruiser flies through a red light, sirens flipped on and blaring.
“Wow! That was great!” Taemin exclaims, springing out of the car with a burst of adrenaline.
Minho, legs shaky, tries to clear his mind - he's about to go to a possible crime scene, he needs to be on his game - but his stomach is churning like crazy from the drive over. He straightens up to his full height, takes a deep, calming breath. Already taking off towards the doughnut shop they were called down to check on, Taemin doesn't take notice of his boyfriend's dilemma.
He takes his time reaching the store, but just as Minho is rounding the corner to front, a blood curdling scream rips through the night. No thought needed, Minho takes off at break neck speed, at the same time drawing his weapon.
“Taemin?” he calls, kicking the only partially opened door fully out of his way.
The shop is dark, a single light casting a long line of yellow across the floor. Following the trail of light to it's source, Minho finds himself in the back of the shop, in what appears to be the storage room. Gun pointed towards the ground, both hands clasped around the hilt and finger ready, just above the trigger, Minho's analyzing gaze scans the room for any immediate danger.
Right away he spots a body, fallen beneath a stack of boxes. Eyebrows pinched in concentration, he peers to his left only to find Taemin hiding behind the door, face only half peeking out.
“Tae, what happened?” Minho demands, keeping his weapon out just in case it's still needed.
Taemin tilts his head, eyes watching Minho's lips move quizzically. Adorable, but not helpful.
“Taemin - “
“That's not me!”
Minho directs his attention to the pile of boxes just as the person begins to rise from underneath them. Tossing the heavy packages to side, Taemin emerges, red faced and steaming with anger. Minho blinks. Who … ?
“Shit!” Minho nearly drops his gun as he takes in a mirror image of himself where Taemin used to be behind the door. “What the fuck?!”
Brushing himself off, the Taemin who was under the boxes glares at the figure. “That guy stole my looks and now yours? Make up your mind, you bastard.”
The once Taemin, now Minho starts to shake, cowering even further into the corner behind the door.
“What's going on here?” Minho asks, pointing his gun at 'himself', but his serious gaze is pointed at his partner.
“How the hell should I know? I walked in on this guy tearing through the boxes and when I tried to pull my gun on him, he turned into me then knocked me into the shelf!” Taemin raves, motioning widely at the cowering figure.
Minho lets out a short breath from his nose. “Okay, then. How about you explain?” he asks, following the path that his gun is pointed to stare into his copied eyes. He's not even going to begin to think about how freaking bat shit crazy this whole situation is.
The copy Minho just shakes his head in fear.
“Who are you?” Taemin questions harshly.
Right before their eyes, the thing transforms back into the original form Taemin had discovered him in - a small, lithe teen with long jet black bangs falling in his oddly purple tinted eyes.
“Maybe that was the wrong question, “ Taemin says, losing the bite to his words, “How about what are you?”
Seemingly relaxing at the friendlier tone, the boy vigorously points up. Both officer's eyes immediately go to the ceiling. He's an .. ? Taemin shakes his head, of course not, that's stupid. No, ridiculous!
“Look, don't lie to us,” Taemin returns his gun to it's holster, “Just tell us where you're from and we'll get you back. What, are you a science experiment or something? Did you escape the lab?”
The boy makes a confused face, shakes his head and points up again. Not nearly as trusting, Minho keeps his gun out, but he lowers it to allow one of his hands the freedom to scratch the back of his head.
“What should we do?” he asks under his breath, just loud enough for Taemin to hear.
“Like hell I'm getting myself involved with some government experiment,” Taemin returns in a whisper, because that's what he's deduced this guy has to be. Some government creation, technology gone horribly wrong. “We'll just call up … someone, and have him taken back to wherever he came from.”
Minho purses his lips in thought. “Tae, I don't think … “
“Minho,” Taemin says in warning, narrowing his eyes at his partner, “What are you getting at? You aren't seriously suggesting - “
From Minho's hip, the radio crackles and pops to life, beeping to let them know a call is trying to be patched through. Wearily, Minho draws the radio up and holds down the talk button.
“Minho here.”
“Did you reach the shop yet?”
“Yeah, we did. Look, Kibum, this isn't a regular call.”
“Do you need back up?”
Minho looks at the shivering boy, strange eyes wide and watching while tears build up. “No. We'll handle this.”
Kibum 'tsk's. “Fine. Keep us updated.”
“Right.” Minho reattaches the radio to it's rightful spot on his belt.
“Can you talk or not?” Taemin asks, stepping closer to the boy.
“He can't.”
Both police officers are startled by the unexpected voice, Minho immediately spinning on his heels to point his weapon at the entrance to the storage room. A Korean couple appear there, perfectly normal aside from their purple tinted eyes. Taemin places a hand to his chest, where his heart is pounding out a congo beat.
“I'm sorry, we're his parents,” the man speaks, putting his hands up, palms facing forward, “We don't mean any harm. Our son, he's just special - “
“You can say that again.” Taemin snorts.
“We'll pay for any damage he may have caused if you'll only let him come back home without making an issue out of this,” the man finishes, polite smile in place.
Minho shakes his head. “We already know.”
“Already … know?”
“He changed forms,” he informs simply.
Both adults take sharp breaths in. The woman seems to break out into sweat right away, and she's pressing a hankerchief to her temple while her husband rubs his chin in thought. The boy scrambles to his feet and into his mother's arms, but neither Minho nor Taemin make a move to stop him. They aren't heartless.
“Is that so? So you've already seen him shift .. “ the purple eyed man thinks out loud.
Minho narrows his gaze on the man. “What are you people?”
“Are you the scientist?” Taemin cuts in, far too chipper for such a dire situation.
The man leans back, a bark of laughter escaping from his lips. “Scientist? No, of course not! We are the boy's parents, I wasn't lying!”
Downcast, Taemin mutters a soft 'oh.' Out goes his only hopes for a sane evening.
Clearing his throat, the man returns to all seriousness. “I don't believe explaining to you our origins will improve this situation any. If you could just let us pay off the damages … “
“We can't do that.” says Minho, voice businesslike but eyes softening at the sight of the family.
“He was just hungry and he doesn't know how to control himself yet.” The man's forehead creases into frown lines. “Please.”
The walls crumbling down around Minho's heart are practically audible. A sigh, a shuffling as he puts his gun away, and then Minho is stepping forward to exam just what exactly the boy got into in the storage room.
“The damage is minimal.” Minho crosses his arms over his stomach as he faces the family once again.
“Go now and we'll call the owners. As far as we're concerned, the store was empty when we showed up,” Taemin says, because he can see the war raging inside his partner.
Pushing past her husband, the woman bows, forcing her son to do the same. “Thank you so much, sir!”
Taemin pats the woman on the shoulder, eyes crescent moons. “Just go home.”
The purple eyed family doesn't waste their time before rushing from the scene of the crime. Minho stands in the middle of the storage room, hands on his hips as he blows a long breath of air from his lips. With the quietness of a cat, Taemin slinks to his side before winding his arms around Minho's fit waist.
“You okay, babe?”
“I don't know what just happened here … “
Taemin steps onto his toes to plant a light, comforting kiss on his boyfriend's full lips. “Don't worry about it, I handled it.”
Minho's stern expression cracks, eyes wrinkling into a smile. “Don't you always?”
“Of course,” he says, shrugging nonchalantly. “C'mon, babe, we need to call this in to Kibum and tell him our story.”
“You think he'll put up a fight?”
Taemin winks. “How about if he does, I just deal with him?”
“So, what you're trying to tell me, is that, despite what witnesses saw, there was no one in the doughnut shop when the two officers arrived?”
Jinki keeps his eyes glued to the floor, hands in tight fists on his lap. His palms are sweaty and lips chapped as he tries to control his fear. “That's … um, right, sir.”
The division leader tosses the case file on his desk with a loud slap. “Jinki, this isn't acceptable.”
“I know sir … “
“The Chief is already breathing down my neck about you guys at Section S!”
“I know sir ... “
The man sighs, massages his temples. “Just, go. Section S has clean up duty for the week.”
“Again?”
“Again.”