Chapter Text
Music blared through the headphones that were concealed by Ji-Woon's black jacket. It was his music of course. Music besides his own was almost grating on his ears. He had to grab his hood every few minutes to adjust it from falling from the harsher than normal wind. It was night, so concealing his light hair wasn't of too much concern. The streets in this part of Seoul weren't as lit up as the more touristy areas and saw next to no people. Perfect for the plans he had in mind.
He grabbed the door handle to the slightly isolated abandoned building. He hadn't worried about locking it. He never did. The police rarely even touched this area, let alone no one had reason to even be near here. He entered in, flicking the slightly broken light switch. The lights all turned on at an almost blinding brightness.
They were all focused on the main event of the night. A girl who he picked out for her lovely voice at her college's choir. Her voice was rich and mellow, perfect for his newest piece in his opinion. He walked up to her and ripped out the cloth gag. She took in a deep breath and coughed a few times. Olive eyes looking up at him, her light blonde brows pulled up. He gave a small chuckle, his favorite part would begin soon, Act 1.
"Why me?" Her voice was so very hoarse. There was always some form of pleading and that was almost always the beginning of it. A question asking why them? He gave a small chuckle, and she flinched as he got in her face. "Please," Her voice was no more than a mere murmur. He took a step back and turned on the camera. The recording began. When he turned back to she was already full-on ugly crying.
Ji-Woon rolled his eyes as he grabbed his knife, running his index finger down it in an almost affectionate way. As he approached her she tried to pull against the rope restraints, her fruitless attempts only giving her burns on his wrists and ankles. The knife was placed on her throat, its cold metal making her once again flinch away. She gave tiny cries of different pleas and he paid them no mind. Her cry's only made the music more complete in the end.
He gave a quick slit on the wrist, the blood practically sprayed out. There was a grin on his face, blood adding to his already eerie aesthetic. Her eyes were practically glued shut, blood tickled out of her mouth. Ji-Woon grabbed the hair on her head and gave a deep growl as he pried her mouth open. She had bitten her tongue, denying him of his prized scream. He took a step away for a moment, to get his anger under control. He couldn't finish her off, not yet.
After what was a minute, he dramatically turned around to her and whispered close to her ear, "Don't do that. It'll only worsen it in the end," Her eyes widened, understanding written clear as day on her paling face. The mascara and eyeliner were running down her cheeks, she looked so pitiful. He dabbed the makeup off her face, not wanting her to look disgraceful when they found her. Well, not in that way at least.
Ji-Woon continued, already knowing what exactly wanted to hear. A cut hitting a specific artery or the reaction to very sensitive skin being sliced. He was looking for a very specific sound, but it had to wait till he had enough extra bits to work with later. After a few minutes, the screams already started to make music. A melody forming in his head, lyrics coming to mind to match the oh so rich sound that was bleeding out of the girl.
Eventually, she fell silent. Unconscious from blood loss, he assumed at first, but it seemed she grew apathetic, her throat too hoarse to emit any more sound. He gently lifted her head, her eyes were open, and her lip quivered. He let her head fall back down to her chest. He huffed and grabbed a glass of water he prepared just for this. He forced open her jaw and poured the liquid down. She gulped it down almost immediately, water filling her mouth almost faster she could swallow and start to leak out. He took a step back before the water could get on his jacket. The glass fell onto her lap and rolled off onto the floor where it shattered.
Choking around a few coughs, she squeezed her eyes closed and frantically shook her head and tried to struggle against the restraints once again. He watched till she tired herself out and laid limply. Figuring she couldn't last too much longer he grabbed his knife. With an extravagant little twirl he slashed her throat clean through. She gave such a beautiful, choked scream. His pupils dilated with fascination and his smile widened to where his mouth was gaping. Blood sprayed in a magnificent fountain that splashed up onto his face like the dusting of red stagehands reapplied underneath his eyes between sets. They always used such a glittery shade that brought out the gold of his eyes, brought attention to them. And just like his performances, this came to grand closure as she choked on her final scream. Beautiful.
As soon as the show started, it had ended with such a satisfying ending. He turned to where the camera was recording the audio and turned it off. Now it was time for the less fun part, cleaning up after himself and moving the girl off the set to make way for the next actor and performance.
He put on a change of clothes and used one of his makeup wipes to remove the blood from his face and hands. Fastening up his transparent jacket tightly, he grabbed his makeup kit and set to work. He had planned this one the moment he laid his eyes on her. Starting with foundation, he covered her paling skin and followed with a cool toned contour. Her eyeshadow was a light, barely visible pink; her lipstick was a similarly colored gloss to match. This was his makeup look from a few weeks ago, and leaving these small hints was so much pleasure. He finished the look with a light blush, giving her the illusion of being alive. She looked beautiful enough to be the main star in this show, of course, she was only an extra in the grand scheme.
Ji-Woon grabbed the trash bag and gently laid her in it, making sure his work would not rub off her face. He had already planned to put her somewhere isolated. Though, the pride in his work was already influencing him. His plan shifted to something more public, perhaps the park. The park a few miles from his apartment would suffice.
Once he got to his car that was parked a block away, he threw her in the truck, cliché, he knows. He drove there within thirty minutes, the smell of death already filling his car. He plugged in one of those scented diffusers to cover it.
Upon arriving at the park, he double checked to make sure there was no one still there. The park was close, but it wasn't like it was exactly being guarded to make sure no one trespassed after hours. Popping the trunk he fixed up the finishing touches. He brushed her blonde hair back and loosened the restraints. Carefully picking her up, he carried her over to a scenic bench that overlooked a pond with a fountain in the center. Ji-Woon propped her up and tied her up not wanting his work to go to waste. She faced the pond, her expression staring so peacefully. Her hair flowed almost movie-like in the wind that was bothering him earlier, adding to her life-likeness. He had reopened her eye's with a small piece of tape to the eyelids so they wouldn't reclose. He took a few steps away to admire his work and concluded he did a flawless job at recreating her in his vision.
When he got back to the car he finally took his gloves off. His hoodie had gotten red splotches from the small trip and he groaned. Getting blood out was not an easy feat and buying the materials to remove said blood was enough to ward anyone’s suspicion. The cops were dense enough to not realize the murders are linked, so the fact it's a serial killer is unknown to the public, or at least those who did suspect were dumb enough to not suspect him. Maybe he was safe replenishing his supply just this once.
He looked in the back of his car for another hoodie to replace his current one. There were already at least four spares in case he needed to either quickly hide his identity from the paparazzi or change out of bloodied clothing. The new one was white with a little black cat on the front.
After his few trips to some stores, he was finally at his apartment. He quickly relocated to his laptop and started uploading the recording to it. This was the more difficult part, putting the melodies in his head into an audible form for his audience. Something that held its emotional sincereness, but did not scare them off too much. A balance he had been finding harder to keep as time continued.
Ji-Woon yawned, stretching his arms up and leaning backward in his chair. He had an interview tomorrow so he needed to get some shut-eye. He got up and changed into his sleeping garments and took his contacts out. He laid down on the bed and rested his head on his red patterned pillow. The black covers, of course, were his choice, for nights he did not feel like washing before sleeping. Those nights haven't happened, for how much he'd hate to admit it but the feeling of dried blood against his skin was almost repulsive. Bundling himself under the covers and gave a glance at the clock that rested on his wooden nightstand, 2:00 am. Four hours till the park opened, Five hours till it would be on the news, Six hours before his interview. Perfect.
The plane landed right on time. He entered the airport that was buzzing with life and noise. He wasn't exactly foreign to the language, it's what he took in high school. There's just a huge leap from being able to fall back to English as a crutch then having to be fluent in all his sentences. He was thankful he managed to find a map that was in full English of the city.
Sitting on the Subway, he plugs in his headphones and lets the first song playing on the local radio blast just for some white noise. The Subway didn't take long to reach his destination. He got off and started walking for what seemed to be a solid hour.
His legs were well past sore when he reached the building. He was practically hunched over as he climbed the final few flights of stairs and jammed the key into its hole and turned it with such force it probably shouldn't have worked. Opening the door he found his way to the bed and collapsed onto it, giving himself a few moments of rest before the tedious unpacking and whatnot had to take place. The vacation was not off to a fun start.
He grabbed the remote and flicked the channel to his favorite podcast. It was another one of those true crime podcasts where the two hosts discuss a case, but Beomjoeja was entirely in Korean. He had been listening to it for a few months to refresh his knowledge of the language before coming to the country. Undoing the zippers and clasps of his luggage, he took up the tedious tasks of putting everything where it ought to go. It was, thankfully, a fully furnished room.
"Oh no! I hope Ji-Woon Hyung is okay! It seems he has a stalker. Once again there's been another murder of a fan of his, and just a gruesome as the past ones. I...I can't even begin to describe it," His eyes widened and flicked quickly to the main news in Seoul. There in its full glory, was what seemed to be a girl, and to the untrained eye would seem to be perfectly normal besides for the bloodstains littering her pink and yellow gown and nude-colored tights. The way her arms laid in such positions that would be awkward for someone alive, and how her arms were shades fairer than her face. How her lips started to show a slight tint of blue. The makeup was doing little to hide how dead her face was.
It didn't exactly take a genius to figure this out. He'd take a few guesses if he were to look up whoever this "Ji-Woon Hyung" was that it would confirm his suspicion. So, he did just that. He pulled out his phone and quickly looked up the idol in a Google search, and clicked the first article that wasn't about the recent murder. He scanned through the article and observed that his music was considered "fucked up" more or less.
Opening one of his songs he doesn't have to listen very long to decide the "fucked up" descriptor wasn't a stretch.. It was...eccentric to say the least. He already started writing down multiple notes, of something similar to a profile of the man. From just a news report, an article, and a listen to just one of his songs, he could without a doubt say this man was the killer. Or at least involved. Perhaps that's the perk of having fans, no one would suspect them of this. His notes were simply only a few words, sadistic, considers murder his art, incorporates his victims into his songs. These were fairly easy deductions, though the last one was more of a guess.
He looked up at the tv, as he once again forced himself back into sorting through his clothes. The scene was of two people talking in a newsroom about something else entirely and he lost interest and flicked it to some soap opera. He gave one last glance at the news article on his phone, the picture of Ji-Woon "mourning" taking up half the short article. A grin spread across his face, and he couldn't help the giggle that escaped him. This trip was going to be far more interesting than he originally thought. Now, how would the city react to two serial killers?
Ji-Woon's alarm clock shrieked with familiar beeping. He slammed his hand down on the top to stop it. He groaned as he pushed himself up, muscles protesting the movement. Pushing his covers off, he slips from bed gracefully.
He got himself dressed in casual wear, knowing full well his producer would force him to change when he got there. He washed his face, keeping up his glass skin was essential to his career according to his survey. He combed his hair back and threw a jacket on. The makeup artists and outfit designers at the studio would probably manhandle him into something more glam when he got there anyway. No use putting on anything more extravagant until then.
"The cosmetics person is this way," A woman spoke, leading him towards a room to his right. There was a vanity set up and on top of that many beauty products. He sat down in the chair. A makeup artist spun it around so he was facing her and started working. They wanted a natural look today, like most days for interviews. Something more inviting looking and less bold and off putting than what his usual stage makeup gave off.
He walked onto the stage and sat down on the red loveseat that was angled slightly away from the host. Straightening his back and shifted to his friendly interview persona he rehearsed so many times. The host stepped out with a sheet of paper in her hands. She sat down and the lights flicked on them. She looked young and new to the profession, her hair pulled into a neat braid that couldn’t hide her slightly antsy expression.
"Annyeong hasimnikka, Ji-Woon Hyung. We have some questions from your fans. I'm sure you are just as excited to answer them as your fans are to hear you answer them," She spoke, her eye's barely drifting off the paper. It was always a gratifying feeling when someone was too intimidated- too in awe of him to look him in the eye.
"Of course I am, I'm happy to hear the first one whenever you're ready," He leaned forward and the girl quickly turned away and gave a small forced cough.
"Ahem. First question, What are your thoughts on the rumors of someone stalking you?"
"I really hope that it's false. I haven't gotten any confirmation that this is true. It would be really...unfavorable if that was the case," He spoke slowly as if he was thinking out the words. Being cryptic was almost turning into his trademark at his point, that with his enthusiasm.
"Yeah, it would be really bad if it was true. Next question, something really basic, what’s your favorite flower?"
"Oleanders sure are beautiful, it's a shame they don't grow in the parks anymore. They're such a lovely shade of pink and white." Ji-Woon grinned, showing his pearly white teeth.
"Okay next question..."
The interview ended after the bombardment of questions he’s swore he’s answered multiple times in interviews before. It was more routine work at this point, making sure he didn't accidentally say something that conflicted with a past interview, which there were so many of at this point.
Yun-Jin stopped him at the doors to leave, "Remember, you need to get your public opinion up. Your last few songs… have not helped at all," She sounded almost desperate,"Volunteer, donate to a charity, adopt a cat for all I care. Remember, that it's not only your life that's riding on your popularity." She got down on his knees, her head almost touching the floor, her blue-tinted hair spreading out against the tiles of the floor.
"I...I'll try," Ji-Woon spoke slowly, taken back by the women's sudden actions. He knew Yun-Jin would ask soon, and not in a hint kind of way. She was always straight to the point, but a polite kind of girl. He always liked her, but his opinion of her was kind of tainted by the pathetic sight in front of him. Putting on a kind smile and offered her a hand, "Come on, get off the floor," She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. As soon as she was steady she pushed her hair out of her face, a sheepish look on her face, and her under eyes were slightly red from where tears must've fallen recently.
"I-...I'll get going," Yun-Jin said, her forced smile looking unnatural. She quickly turned around and left. Ji-Woon frowned and started his walk home, taking the same route he took so many times before.