Chief
*Earlier*
Captain Sejin and I stood in front of the apartment building. I had received the call early in the morning and the address had instantly made me think. A few clicks later, I found out it was Natalie’s apartment – Natalie the same quiet, lovely girl our Taehyung-ah was dating.
I sighed, not knowing how we got to this. ‘We probably should go in to confirm it’s her,’ Captain Sejin said, sounding absolutely heartbroken.
‘Any case is hard, but it’s always so heartbreaking when it’s someone we know,’ I said as the two of us started walking into the apartment where a team was already securing the area.
I had not wanted to call our Bangtan team just yet. I wanted to be sure before I roped them in and besides, I had to break it down easy for them. God, this sucked so bad.
We walked inside, only to be welcomed by the stench of blood. I gulped as I saw the living room with blood splattered everywhere.
‘Chief, I…I wasn’t expecting you to come here yourself,’ the officer in charge said, sounding a bit nervous.
‘It might be someone who we know,’ Captain Sejin said. ‘Has the body been identified?’ he asked.
The officer nodded and sighed. ‘Our victim is Park Natalie,’ he replied. I frowned as I looked down and pinched my nose. It was her. It was our Natalie.
‘How are we supposed to tell Taehyung? This is going to break him,’ I murmured to Sejin.
‘Wait… you mean Taehyung from Bangtan? He knows her?’ the officer asked, eyes wide. He clearly was surprised…but that was not just it. No, something was bothering him, something which scared him.
‘He’s her boyfriend,’ Sejin replied and instantly the officer’s face seemed to lose colour. ‘There’s more, isn’t there?’ he asked as the officer gulped.
‘She wasn’t just murdered. She was tortured before,’ he said. I gasped, unsure how to handle this information.
I looked around me and for the first time took in the bloody wooden chair in the middle of the room. The wheelchair was on the other side of the room. On the once white carpet, were huge drops of blood along with a bloody rope. There was also a knife and some other things I didn’t want to see.
Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. I felt it churn as if the acid in my stomach was working overtime. I had forgotten the last time I had felt physically ill at a crime scene and I had not even seen it completely.
‘Who would want to hurt Natalie? It doesn’t make sense,’ Sejin commented.
‘I think someone might have wanted something from her, maybe some information,’ the officer said.
‘We’ll figure it out. We have to, we owe it to her and Taehyung. We probably should go tell them ourselves,’ I said and Sejin nodded.
‘Secure the place. Sweep it as many times as possible. Leave nothing unturned,’ Sejin said.
‘Bangtan will most likely be taking this case so give them as much information as you can,’ I said.
‘Leave it to me. Sir,’ he said with a soft voice, ‘send my condolences to the team,’ he added and I just gave a single nod.
Sejin drove in silence as the two of us tried to wrap our heads around what we had just found out. Taehyung’s girlfriend who already had challenges with her mobility was tied down, tortured and then killed. It just didn’t make sense at all.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Sejin asked, but I shrugged.
‘I don’t know what to say. I mean – it’s just so surreal. I still can’t believe it happened,’ I said while he nodded.
‘I know,’ he replied. ‘I just…I hope we solve this quickly, but I don’t get it. There are so many questions and so few answers,’ he said.
‘The best thing is to treat it like any other case, otherwise, it’s going to get us muddled in the process. Our judgement will be clouded,’ I said.
‘Easier said than done, especially for the others, but I get it. You and I, we have to at least do our best to for now detach ourselves so we can focus on the work,’ Sejin replied and I nodded.
We arrived at the precinct and hurried towards where the others were. I could hear the laughter and loud chatter and I took a deep breath before entering.
All eyes turned towards me and Sejin and instantly they seemed to notice something was wrong. ‘Is everything okay? Do we have another case?’ Misun asked. I looked at Sejin as we both exchanged a look before the captain nodded.
‘We do have a…an importance case, but um,’ Sejin said, struggling for the words. I took another deep breath, bracing myself.
‘First, I need to talk to Taehyung though. Detective Kim, please follow me,’ I said, trying to sound neutral for now. I watched them look at each other with worry for one of the younger members as I turned around and left them in the very capable hands of Sejin.
I heard Taehyung following right behind me, his footsteps hurried to match mine. Was I walking faster than him?
‘Is everything okay sir?’ he asked. His voice was low but filled with worry he was trying to disguise.
‘Not really,’ I said just as we arrived in my office. I opened the door and walked in. I gestured to Taehyung to sit down and he gulped as he did so.
‘You’re kind of worrying me chief. I don’t remember ever seeing you so agitated. Did something happen to my family or Natalie?’ he asked. * – how was I supposed to tell him.
‘Taehyung…’ I said as I turned to him. I gulped, my throat suddenly feeling very dry. I took a step closer to him as I squatted down to be at his level.
‘Sir…what’s going on. Just tell me, please,’ Taehyung said, his voice cracking a little. His eyes seemed to flicker with worry.
‘Taehyung…I’m so, so sorry but—’ I stopped and licked my lips that seemed to have gone dry. I placed my hand on his jittering knee. ‘I’m sorry, but Natalie…she’s…she’s no longer with us,’ I said, my own voice cracking under the pressure and grief.
‘No…no, this …this is some cruel joke. No, you’re lying…I…I talked to her last night…no…no,’ he said as he pushed me away from him and stood up. He paced around the room, shaking his head while I also stood up.
‘Taehyung, do you think I would joke or lie about this?’ I asked. He looked at me, his eyes instantly getting teary.
‘No…but… but it can’t make sense, no,’ he said and I sighed.
‘Taehyung, I’m so sorry. I know it’s hard to accept and believe, but Natalie…she…she was,’ I said, stuttering on my words.
‘What? She what? Please tell me!’ he sobbed out as he grabbed my hands. I gulped once more as I looked down. I shook my head slightly and took a sharp breath. How was I supposed to tell him the love of his life was tortured and murdered?
‘Taehyung, earlier today, we received the call. I realised the address and name were familiar so I checked. Natalie…she was murdered Taehyung,’ I said.
His eyes went wide as he stared at me. He stood staring at me, his eyes growing bigger. It was almost as if he stopped breathing while his grip on my hand grew tighter.
Then it seemed to hit him all at once. Like all the realization and emotion hitting him altogether. I could see him crumbling and falling apart right in front of me.
‘NOOOO!’ he screamed as he fell to his knees with a thud.
‘TAEHYUNG!’ I yelled, unable to stop myself as I also fell to my knees. I grabbed him and quickly pulled him into my arms. He resisted as he sobbed loudly but I just hugged him tighter.
‘NOOOO!!! PLEASE NO!!’ he screamed. I rocked him back and forth, hoping the motion could calm him down, but I knew better than that. ‘No…no… no, it can’t be true,’ he sobbed as he grabbed onto my shirt, fisting his hand against the material.
‘I’m sorry…I’m so *ing sorry Taehyung,’ I said as I rubbed his back and squeezed him, trying to will the pain away.
The door suddenly opened and I looked up to see the others rushing inside. I looked at Sejin who nodded. They knew what happened. Maybe not everything yet, but they knew Natalie had been murdered.
Jimin instantly rushed to our side and I let go of Taehyung slightly, knowing Jimin would be better supporting.
‘Taehyungie…’ Jimin called softly. Taehyung looked up with his red and swollen eyes. They showed so much pain.
‘Ch—chim…Nat…Nat…she’s…go—gone…she’s gone…someone took her from me…’ he cried out.
‘Oh Tae,’ Jimin said as he quickly wrapped him in his arms. He hugged him tightly while Taehyung simply sobbed and sobbed.
Each sob grew louder and each sob seemed to chip away from my very own heart and soul. I stood up and walked towards Misun who looked at me. Her bottom lip quivered but her eyes seemed to glare, even though there were tears in them.
‘We…we need to…to find out who,’ she paused as she seemed to catch her breath. Jungkook put his hand on her shoulder but she flinched at the touch, almost as if his touch burnt her. Jungkook recoiled backwards but then moved back to her.
‘Misun-ah…what’s going through your mind? Don’t do this alone,’ Jungkook said lowly.
‘He’s right Misun. Trust me, we haven’t even begun to tell you the little we know,’ I said.
‘There’s more?’ Yoongi whispered, coming from behind me. He made sure that he kept his voice was low so as not to be heard, but I doubted Taehyung was hearing anything as he sobbed loudly in Jimin’s shirt.
He was too distraught – too lost in his grief and emotions. I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling right now and I was not going to pretend I did.
‘Chief? What else is there?’ Misun asked, seemingly having gotten some control back into her voice…actually…she sounded cold and distant.
‘Not a lot, just some preliminary obvious observations,’ I said. Jungkook, Misun and Yoongi all looked at me expectantly. ‘She was…she was tortured before she was killed,’ I whispered.
‘Wh—what?’ Misun said as she looked at me with big eyes. I saw Jungkook become pale as he held on to his stomach as if he was about to be sick.
‘Taehyung, you need to breathe… you need to breathe, please,’ Jimin said, loudly, attracting all of our attention.
My heart ached as I saw the younger boy begin to hyperventilate. He was breathing quick and shallow and clutching at his chest.
‘I…I can’t…hurts…it hurts,’ Taehyung chocked out while Namjoon and Hoseok both knelt too.
‘Try to take a deep breath from your nose,’ Namjoon said but Taehyung shook his head as he squeezed his eyes tight. His breathing got worse with every second.
‘He’s going into a panic attack,’ Yoongi said as Taehyung grabbed at his shirt and hair. He rocked back and forth and shook his head. He hiccupped before he closed his eyes. His body seemed to suddenly lose all of its energy as he began to fall, luckily into Jimin’s arms.
‘TAEHYUNG!!’ Jimin shouted, clearly alarmed.
‘*,’ Namjoon cursed as helped Jimin. ‘He fainted. Could be the lack of breathing and the shock. We should take him to the hospital. I can have my wife look after him for now. He might… he might need some medicine to help calm him down,’ Namjoon said.
‘You’re right, but Namjoon I need you. Take him to the hospital. Jin, Jimin, you two stay with him. The rest of us need to start immediately,’ Misun said, taking charge.
I looked at her and I could not help but feel worried. She was pushing away her emotions – her sadness, her anger, her grief all while trying to focus on the work that needs to be done. I admired her but I also worried about her. I worried she was focusing on the logical part, but ignoring one's emotions can only be done for so long before mistakes are made.
‘Tell us what you need us to do so we can catch the *, son of a * who did this to her,’ Hoseok said, his eyes flaring with an anger I had never seen.
Maybe I had made a mistake assigning this case to them. They are my best team but there is a reason why work shouldn’t be mixed with personal. I wondered whether I was asking too much out of them.
‘Hoseok, take your team and go through the scene again and then compare notes with the team that already went through the scene,’ Misun said.
‘On it,’ Hoseok replied as he already took his phone out, probably ready to contact the younger ones.
‘Yoongi, I need you to contact your aids and go through any CCTV from the area and I know this feels invasive of our friend, but go through her accounts,’ Misun said with a sigh.
‘Don’t worry, I can handle that,’ Yoongi said as she nodded.
‘Namjoon, as soon as you admit Taehyung, I need you to do the autopsy and do me a full report. I know it’s not easy, but I need all the details,’ she said as Namjoon nodded.
‘What about us?’ Jungkook asked and she sighed.
‘We’ll start with Hoseok at the crime scene. We’ll go from there,’ she said as he nodded.
‘We’re here for you. Tell us whatever you need, even if it’s just to cry it out,’ Captain Sejin said but Misun shook her head.
‘There’s no time for tears for us, not right now,' she said as she looked at Taehyung. She felt suddenly so far away, but I could not deny the look of care and tenderness in her eyes as she looked at Taehyung who laid passed out in Jimin's arms. She turned back to face us and it was almost like skin being shed off as the tenderness disappeared. Instead, there was white, burning rage. 'We need to focus to get justice for Natalie and help Taehyung heal,’ she said. I felt myself shiver at her words.
