Chapter Text
25.02.2025
10:42 pm
•
Sometimes, Wooyoung really loathes his job.
He steps gingerly around the pool of blood at his feet, pointedly ignoring the sharp stench that disturbs his sensitive nose, and pulls his phone from his pocket, dialing a number he knows by-heart, without even having to look at his phone.
“Hello, this is the NIS Headquarters in Seoul. How may I-”
“Yeonjun-ah, I need an M.E. And pickup.”
He's said these words far too many times, but that still doesn't mean he's embraced having to utter them. Usually, dead people means that someone in power messed up, and it always leaves Wooyoung with the responsibility of having to pick up after them. Being an Agent for the government isn't all that glamorous when so much of the job can be brought down to scavenging the remnants left behind by sloppy rich people, who have more money than they know what to do with.
“O- oh, right on it, boss. You're in Hongdae?” The answering voice enquires.
“Yes. Be quick about it, because I don't want people snooping around here,” Wooyoung confirms sharply, narrowly avoiding stepping on a pile of food waste. “I called you instead of the hospital for a reason.”
“Got it. Give me….twelve minutes.”
Wooyoung hums in affirmation, and resigns himself to the fact that he's going to have to spend the next twelve minutes or so with a dead body in the vicinity. The smell of garbage and blood and death is horrifically strong, and his alpha isn't too happy about it, every cell in his body begging him to flee the scene.
He can't really see the body, but he knows it's there. Buried somewhere in the trash. Why some people think it's prudent to stash a body in the garbage, he will never be able to understand. There's far better places to hide corpses, but he digresses.
It's twelve minutes. Deal with it, he tells himself, albeit a little reluctantly.
He sighs to himself, leaning back against the brick wall and carefully avoiding making any sort of contact with the huge garbage can at his side. He taps his foot idly against the ground while he scrolls through his unread messages, having nothing better to do while he waits.
Help arrives in about ten minutes, thankfully, and Wooyoung lingers while the M.E.- a forty-something year old guy named Kim Hyunmin- and the rest of the pickup team work on clearing the trash on the surface, slowly extracting the body that had been stuffed quite haphazardly in the trash can. They place the body down on the ground, and Wooyoung barely gets nauseous at the sight of corpses anymore, but this one makes him a little squeamish anyway, considering the fact that the cause of death is more than obvious, from this sight alone.
It's the body of a man, dressed fully in the Seoul Police Uniform, and he's got a knife right through his throat, still-red blood staining his clothes and soaking through the thick material. His face, indicating that he's surely not older than thirty-five, is twisted into a pained expression, eyes still open, and there's a nasty bruise on his face, like he's been slapped across the cheek. His lip is cut too, and one of his legs is twisted into an abnormal angle. Wooyoung notices that his holster is empty.
“Is there anything to ID him with?” Wooyoung asks the M.E., who's carefully examining the body.
“Can't confirm his sub-gender just yet. Scent is totally gone. But he seems like a legit policeman,” the M.E. replies, “He's got his badge on him…Choi Minseok?” He reads, from the ID card he carefully extracts from his pocket with tweezers.
Wooyoung sighs, “I should call the police, then? And get someone to come and ID this guy.”
“Call the closest precinct.”
Wooyoung hates the police.
That's a well-established fact. They're pompous idiots with egos too big to fit their bodies. He's kind of a policeman himself, in a very loose sense of the term, but he refuses to be placed within that category of public officers. He's far above that, with less of a moral obligation towards anyone other than himself. He follows his own moral code, staying just barely within the professional boundaries that the NIS sets for him. An unfortunate side-effect of his otherwise entertaining profession is the fact that he has to deal with people like the police on a daily basis.
Two policemen show up as if on cue, their large, heavy strides and whispered conversation making Wooyoung feel the immediate need to shush them. But he holds himself back, aware of the consequences his loose tongue could bring him, especially when he wants to stay on their good side for the time being. He knows to pick his battles wisely.
“Officer Choi Jongho,” the shorter of them bows in greeting as he appears in front of them, bringing along with him the citrusy scent of lemongrass and mint. It's pleasant, but stronger than average, for an omega.
Wooyoung’s own scent is a mix of sandalwood with slightly musky undertones- the kind of scent you'd find bottled in stores as deodorant for alphas. It's not very unique, and very often blends into the background, which makes it perfect for his line of work.
“Officer Choi San,” the second one introduces himself with a full bow, straightening his spine and locking eyes with Wooyoung, as if he knows that Wooyoung's the one in charge, here. Wooyoung's alpha preens at the acknowledgement of his authority, and is chuffed at the sight of the beta’s defined features, sharp cheekbones, and the inviting, warm scent of pastries that follows him around. He's wonderfully attractive, even in the dark. Certain people are just blessed like that, he supposes.
Wooyoung feigns disinterest, and cocks his head at the two policemen with an acknowledging hum, before getting straight to the point “We found a body,” he doesn't introduce himself, because really, pleasantries are of no use to them right now. They have a job to do.
“We heard,” Officer Choi San nods, “We're here to ID the- oh,” his eyes widen in shock when Wooyoung moves out of the way, revealing the sight behind him.
“The smell of garbage kind of throws you off from the smell of a rotting corpse, huh?” Wooyoung comments rhetorically, shoving one hand into his pocket and waiting as the two policemen make their way over to the body, looking it up and down with the kind of nauseated fascination that Wooyoung probably would've displayed in his first few months as a Junior Agent. “Well?” he prompts, after almost a minute of silence, while the M.E. continues to work, “You know him or not?”
“S- sorry,” Officer Choi San turns around to face Wooyoung, nodding hurriedly. Cute. “Yeah, we know him. Not well, but he's an Inspector that some of our fellow officers report to. Inspector Choi Minseok, I think.”
The M.E. looks up at Wooyoung and nods, confirming that the policeman was right.
“Okay, good,” Wooyoung states, turning to San, “We're gonna need a written confirmation that you recognize this guy, and then we'll take it from here. We-”
“No,” San declines, “We’re not going to give you this case. You're the NIS, right? This is local police jurisdiction, and you have no right to impose, here. Maybe you guys should leave, and we'll call in our own M.E.”
Wooyoung kind of foresaw this. It's perhaps one of the most irritating things about the police- their persistent denial when it comes to accepting the superiority of the NIS. However, Wooyoung finds his insistence to be more akin to an indignant pup than a sophisticated officer of the law. It makes his lip quirk into a half-smile, and his eyebrows raise, as he regards San carefully, “What makes you think the NIS is bound by local rules? We have government sanction to do what we like, Officer Choi,” it's more mocking than anything, and Wooyoung takes immense pride in the way it makes the beta’s jaw clench angrily.
“Listen here, the police have all rights to take over what's within their-”
“Hold on, darling. I'm getting a call,” Wooyoung cuts him off, making him all the more riled up. He answers the phone, pressing it to his ear, “Yeonjun-ah?...Yes, we've got the police here, and they identified the guy….No, not yet…Yeah, I'll be there soon.” He hangs up, and looks back at San, “You were saying?”
San's eyebrow twitches, and Wooyoung has the urge to burst into laughter. He doesn't, though, and stays watching the beta silently, waiting for him to succumb. San does nothing of the sort, instead staring back at Wooyoung with equal intensity, “I don't even know your name, but I kind of hate you already,” San states with conviction, “And if you want me to prove to you fair and square that my local jurisdiction trumps yours, we can go straight to your precious NIS Headquarters, and we can negotiate there.”
Wooyoung is mildly impressed by his tenacity, “Why are you so insistent on making this case yours?”
“Why are you?” San retorts.
Wooyoung shrugs, “It's fun. Dead bodies in a dumpster turn me on,” he adds as an afterthought, smirking as he watches San’s face contort into an expression of disgust.
“Well, I apologize if my intentions are not to satiate my sexual desires by trying to solve a murder,” San quips, “But I actually do respect my job, and my responsibility to take up cases that happen in my area.”
Wooyoung actually chuckles this time, “That's cute. And are you looking for a medal to validate your pure heart when you finally find the killer? Or are you looking to forgive him so he can live out his peaceful life on a farm, guilt-free?”
“You know something, you're such a-”
“What the fuck?” They're interrupted by Hyunmin, the M.E., who's just flinched away from the body he's examining. “Agent, you might want to take a look at this…”
Wooyoung steps past Jongho, who's got a hand over his mouth as he stares at the body of the dead guy- Choi Minseok. Wooyoung looks down at the body in fascination, and his heart races at the prospect of a case this exciting.
He's been castrated. And there's dark, almost black patches of skin on his inner thighs, exposed now because of the M.E.’s careful hands. It's not a clean, surgical procedure by any means. It looks messy, and the wound is dressed roughly. The dark skin looks suspiciously like the early stages of necrosis.
“Don't touch or disturb anything else,” Wooyoung instructs, “We have to do the rest of this in a lab. Let's mark the area as a crime scene, and transport him to HQ right away.”
San pipes up, instantly perturbed, “You're just trying to take over th-”
“Shut up, and take a look at this before you accuse me of anything,” Wooyoung lets San perceive the gruesome sight, and waits for his expression to turn sour, before he continues, “Meet us at HQ tomorrow morning at eight. Ask for Jeong Yunho at the desk. He’ll lead you to wherever I am. We can talk there.”
San agrees without further argument, thankfully, proving that he's not that big of an idiot.
*****
26.02.2025
7:24 am
•
While at the NIS Headquarters the next morning, they find out that the dark patches are in fact not early-stage necrosis. Instead, they're simply an effect of heavy-dosage hormonal treatments. The patches were found in at least three other places on the body of the deceased, where his scent would have been the strongest, prior to his death. And the castration makes things even stranger.
“I want this case. Solo,” Wooyoung demands, slapping the M.E. report onto the Deputy Director’s desk, less than subtly conveying his intentions.
“Agent Jung,” Deputy Director Min greets him, “You shouldn't be demanding things from your superior, you know.”
Wooyoung just gives him a knowing look, “It's me or the local police. You can pick whom you want to be investigating this.”
“You make a fair point,” the Deputy Director affirms, “But I can't give this to you solo.”
“You know sure as hell that I work best on my own. Give me backup onsite when I need it, and leave me alone, otherwise,” Wooyoung says firmly, “I'll have the perpetrator at your feet within the next month.”
“That's quite a far-reaching claim,” the Deputy responds, “Regardless of your ability, in which I have no doubt, this isn't the only reported murder today, with the same details. There's been four others since Monday, so they're connected. Do you propose to take them all?”
Wooyoung lets out a disgruntled huff, “Stop dissuading me. I'll do this one, because it's the one I found. I sniffed it out using my own contacts, and you can't take this away from me. Assign the others to whomever you want.”
“I'm putting the cases together. It's a joint assignment, but you can work individually,” the Deputy offers, “Does that suit your preference?”
Wooyoung nods, “It'll do…” he then adds, “Local police are trying to get their teeth into this, by the way. Some Officer named Choi San has been real annoying about it. He'll probably come in to see me soon. Could you put in a word with the Superintendent and get this transferred to the NIS by this afternoon?”
The Deputy Director sighs, “I knew you weren't telling me something. You mean to say this case is rightfully under local police jurisdiction, and you're trying to steal it from them?”
“You know I'll do a better job,” Wooyoung defends.
“It’s unethical. It makes more sense for you to take up an advisory role in the police investigation. Maybe we could-”
“I don't do advisory roles,” Wooyoung snaps, “I'm either doing this under your authority, or I'm doing it on my own under the radar.”
“You really won't give me any room to negotiate, will you?”
Wooyoung holds his gaze with a glare so intense, that his alpha just about forces a growl out of him. He knows that will get him nowhere, so he forces it down and keeps looking at his superior, waiting for the permission that he knows he will get.
“Fine. Ask this police officer to meet me when he comes here. I'll take care of the rest. You can wait for the case files to be sent to your office.”
Wooyoung smirks victoriously, “Great. See you in the evening. I'll bring a plan with me.”
Deputy Director Min looks at Wooyoung with an irritated frown, “Don't do anything stupid.”
“Wouldn't dream of it,” Wooyoung throws over his shoulder, already halfway out the door, on his way to his office, so he can work out a plan that will definitely not get him into trouble.
“At least say thank you!” The Deputy calls after him, but Wooyoung pays no heed to it, letting the door fall shut behind him as he beelines it to his office.
He has work to do.
*****
9:44am
•
“You'll be partnering up for this-”
“No.”
“Agent Jung, please listen to reason. This is a-”
“No,” Wooyoung cuts off the Superintendent- who's on video call- again, turning to Deputy Director Min with blazing eyes, “You said you'd take care of it. What is this about?”
The Deputy leans forward with his elbows on his desk, his expression serious, “This isn't a matter to be taken lightly. Your childish stubbornness will do us no good here. We need all hands on deck, Agent. And if the Super says that Officer Choi is good at his job, you must trust his opinion. It's a mutual compromise.”
Wooyoung clenches both hands into tight fists, “I’m not working with a-”
“Is it because I'm just a beta?”
The voice that interrupts his impending tirade startles Wooyoung, making him turn his gaze towards the police officer standing behind him, who just spoke out of turn, sounding more innocently curious than offended by Wooyoung's firm refusal to work with him.
“What?” Wooyoung snaps, as if challenging him to repeat his question.
“I mean, you're an NIS Agent, and that's fine. But honestly, you have no reason to hate me this much before we've even spoken properly. The only reason I can think of for your attitude towards me is the fact that you're an alpha and I'm a beta,” San says nonchalantly, “If that's the case, it wouldn't be the first time someone thought of me as incapable. And if you do think of me that way, honestly, I have no desire to work with you either.”
Wooyoung is annoyingly impressed by San’s stance on this, but he's also slightly amused that this was the conclusion that San has automatically jumped to. “I don't give a crap what you are,” he states dismissively, “Let's say I'm somewhat of a…lone wolf, when it comes to these things. I just don't work with other people- no betas, no alphas, no omegas. Which is why-” he turns back to the Deputy Director, “-it irritates me that you would force this upon me.”
“Think about someone other than yourself for once, Agent,” the Deputy chides, “This is bigger than you. Your comfort zone isn't anywhere in our priority list. If we ask you to work with someone, just take the stick out of your ass and do it. Officer Choi is just fine with this.”
Wooyoung scowls, “So you're not giving me any leeway, then?”
Deputy Director Min sighs, and simply slides a folder across the desk, towards Wooyoung, “Sign this, please,” he says, indirectly answering Wooyoung’s question, “I'll have the rest of the files mailed to you. Your vehicle will be ready by this evening. You can discuss with your partner-” he glances at San, “-and give me a proposal as to how you both plan to crack this case, by EOD. Got it?”
Wooyoung grabs the folder, gives the Super- who's still on video call- a scathing look, before he turns around, brushing past San and walking right out the door without another word. The beta’s sweet, pleasant scent as he pushes past him does barely anything to calm Wooyoung's mind.
He's fuming.
Barely a minute after he walks into his office and sits at his desk with a heavy huff, there's a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“San,” the voice replies, “Uh…Officer Choi?” He tries again, when he's met by silence the first time.
“Come in,” Wooyoung says gruffly, and the door clicks open, revealing the very person Wooyoung has been internally cursing out for the past few minutes. San lets himself in, door shutting behind him, and takes a seat opposite to Wooyoung without being asked to.
“We have to investigate the club.”
San’s casual conversational trigger perturbs Wooyoung immensely. “We?” He echoes.
San shrugs, annoyingly unaffected by Wooyoung's obvious derision, “They want us to work together. I don't care if you want to be a baby about this. This is my job, and as long as your reservations against me aren't professional, we'll be fine. Personal feelings can take a backseat until this case is solved “
Wooyoung scoffs, “Mature.”
San ignores him, and places his phone on the table in front of Wooyoung, “Put your number in. I'll be needing it.”
Wooyoung raises his eyebrows at San, “Your phone is locked.” It's a simple observation, but it makes San smirk like he's said something brilliant.
“I know. Figure it out.”
Wooyoung feels a laugh bubble up, and his alpha wants to jump over the table and assert his dominance by grabbing San by the collar. That's not who he is, though, so he restrains himself, and cocks his head to the side, “Do you think I'm some sort of amateur? Are you testing me or something? I outrank you by-”
“Then this should be easy for you,” San smiles, and fuck, he has the prettiest dimples.
Don't notice that now, what the heck.
Wooyoung simply grabs the phone, and turns his chair, facing his monitor. He powers it on, connects San's phone to it via USB, and opens the software application he usually uses for hacking phones. He runs the code, and turns around to face San again, “Give me three minutes. I'll find your password.”
San crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair, “Be my guest.”
His cockiness is making Wooyoung all the more infuriated, but it's something that he's sure will subside, when he sees that Wooyoung isn't the amateur he's trying to portray him as.
“In the meantime, why don't you tell me something,” Wooyoung prompts, “How much has your Super told you about this case?”
San repeats whatever he's already learnt, which is pretty much just what Wooyoung knows. He also tells Wooyoung that he's aware of the other similar murders that occurred, and that other officers and agents are being assigned to those cases.
Three minutes just about go by, and Wooyoung stops San halfway through his sentence to complete the process of hacking into his phone. He turns to the monitor, about to type in something more, when San reaches forward and smoothly pulls his phone off the cord, immediately making the screen turn blue and beep. ‘NO RESULTS’, it reads now.
“Ya!” Wooyoung complains, turning around indignantly, “What was that for? I was just about to-”
“Watch,” San says, placing the phone on the table, so it's facing Wooyoung, and puts in the numbers slowly, saying them out loud as he does:
“One….two….three….four.”
The phone unlocks.
Wooyoung feels like throwing himself off a cliff.
“Sometimes, the simplest solution is the right one. And that's why you need a simpleton like me working with you,” San justifies, opening his contacts app and nudging the phone towards Wooyoung, “Go on. Put your number in.”
“You're a real pain in the ass,” Wooyoung grumbles, but he does it anyway, “If that's your idea of technological security, you must be a dream to work with in a criminal investigation, right?” He raises his eyebrows, as if he's impressed. He isn't.
“It doesn't matter how much you wanna mock me, alpha,” San says casually, “Ball’s in your court now anyway.”
“We'll see about that,” Wooyoung rests his chin on his palm, elbow on the table in front of him, “They want a plan by EOD. Do you have time now, or do you have to chase after cats that are stuck in trees, or whatever it is that you do?”
San ignores his comment, yet again, “Do we have any leads, or contacts?” he asks instead.
Wooyoung pushes his chair back, and stands up, both palms firmly on the table as he leans forward to hold San's gaze, “Let's go find some.”
“Aren't we supposed to plan things out before we-”
Wooyoung cuts him off, “Not the way I work, Officer,” he steps around the table, now in front of San, “Come on. We can draft a written plan after we snoop around the scene a bit more. I'll be in my car.”
He's already halfway out the door before San catches up to him.
*****
11:00am
•
The place still smells foul.
Of course it does, because how else would a dumpster behind a nightclub smell at this time of day?
Wooyoung's glad, in a way, that he's got San with him, because the beta’s scent- almost overwhelmingly sweet- does enough to just about make the stench of garbage bearable.
“What are we supposed to be doing here?”
“Our jobs,” Wooyoung answers, walking ahead confidently and stepping over the yellow tape marking the area as a crime scene, “This is the bin used by that club, right?” He peers into the almost overflowing trash can, seeing food leftovers, alcohol bottles and big black covers of other trash, none of it sorted properly.
“Yeah,” San answers, carefully following Wooyoung into the marked area, “Are we even allowed to be here without orders? It's been marked as a crime scene.”
Wooyoung looks at San in confusion, “We marked it, San. We can be here whenever we want.” He shrugs, as he backs away from the trash can, shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling out a pair of gloves that he slips on smoothly, snapping the elastic against his skin, “Besides, those procedures are just formalities before we get the permission, anyway. Why waste time on that?”
“If I get fired over this-”
“Can you grow a pair and come help me, already?” Wooyoung rolls his eyes, holding up a pair of gloves for San, “You ever done one of these before?”
“Crime scene investigation? Yeah, of course.”
“Then come. Put these on, poke around, and take notes. You any good at sketching?”
San hesitates, “Um…”
“Fine. I'll take care of that part. Just look around.”
San takes the gloves, pulling them on, and steps forward to peer at whatever Wooyoung's got his attention fixated on, with an almost disapproving glare on his face. “What are we looking for, exactly?”
“People who are careless enough to stuff a dead body in a dumpster are also usually careless enough to leave their traces everywhere. But yesterday, we didn't find any prints on the knife. Nor did we find any other bloodstains or prints that weren't from the dead guy,” Wooyoung observes, “So does that mean whoever killed him wanted him to be found?”
“Isn't that kind of a long shot? Maybe we missed-”
“Woah,” Wooyoung reaches out and tugs at something, carefully pulling out pieces of fabric from the dumpster. “This certainly wasn't here yesterday,” he says, brandishing the red, lacy lingerie he's just pulled out of the bin, in front of San. “You smell that?”
San grimaces, “This whole place smells disgusting. Why are we bothered about some dirty underwear?”
“Because, Sannie darling-” he takes great pride in the way San seems more irritated by his choice of nickname than anything else- “Fancy-looking women's underwear thrown away doesn't mean it's trash. This isn't torn or anything. Looks to be in good condition. And, it smells like an omega in heat. Reeks of it, really. So this was probably taken off of someone for specific reasons, and thrown here for even more specific reasons.”
“I don't smell-” Wooyoung shoves the fabric closer to San, who flinches instinctively, but then his eyes widen as he leans closer, still not brave enough to touch, but brave enough to sniff. He nods when he smells the strong, cloyingly sweet scent, and takes a step back, “Ugh. Can't believe I just sniffed some omega’s underwear.”
“Get used to this job, it's messy,” Wooyoung chuckles, pulling a ziplock bag from his pocket and shoving the fabric inside, sealing it carefully, “Well get this tested in the lab. At least just to find out who it is that was brave enough to throw it away in a marked crime scene.”
The rest of their search is pretty routine and inconclusive, with Wooyoung doing the sketch of the scene and San poking around to find very regular-looking trash- nothing else that they hadn't found the previous day.
“We won't find anything else here,” Wooyoung says, after it's been about half an hour, “Let's go talk to someone and get some info.”
“What? We don't have any auhtorised witnesses to talk to,” San protests.
Wooyoung shrugs, “We’re behind a club. Anyone who's here at noon has to be a worker. We can talk to them, can't we?” He looks San up and down, and then sighs, “You look like a walking red siren. Take off your police badge, and maybe hide your gun. We don't want to draw attention. This isn't a police investigation, just two guys who are new to the city and want to know about the hot spots in Hongdae. Okay?”
San stares at Wooyoung blankly, “That's the worst cover story I've ever heard.”
Wooyoung raises an eyebrow, “Let's see you come up with something, then.”
“We’re unemployed college graduates looking for jobs,” San suggests, without missing a beat, “I saw a ‘We’re Hiring’ sign when we passed the front door of the club.”
Wooyoung huffs, “Didn't expect you to actually have a decent idea,” he shoves past San, starting to walk towards the end of the alley, “Ditch the police accessories and get over here.”
San is quick to hide his badge, and tucks the gun within his jacket, buttoning it over his chest so it's not visible. He follows Wooyoung to the edge of the alleyway, catching up to him as he rounds the corner.
Wooyoung stops abruptly, raising his hand to block San's way, “Wait,” he turns to San, “On second thought, I'm not coming. You go alone. Get whatever information you can, and come tell me after.”
San cocks his head to the side, “What? Why?”
“It's better this way. I won't be a familiar face to them. You never know what you might find out,” Wooyoung points out shrewdly. “So give me your badge and gun. I'll wait here.” Really, this is just Wooyoung's way of testing him, but he isn't going to tell him that. All he's doing is pushing San into doing something that would hopefully give them some answers, and depending on how he does- Wooyoung would consider giving him just a little bit more leeway in this case.
San obliges without protest, blissfully unaware of Wooyoung's true intentions, not looking back as he walks confidently towards the doors of the club. ‘Elixir’, the board above the door frame reads, the lights around the letters not in use during the day. And sure enough, there's a board hanging on the door handle that reads- ‘We Are Hiring! (Walk in for enquiries)’
Wooyoung watches San push the door open, and walk inside, letting it shut behind him as he disappears into the club.
For the next twenty minutes, Wooyoung is left to his own devices. He stays leaning against the wall of the alleyway, scrolling mindlessly through his social media, humming under his breath, until San arrives, a triumphant smile on his face as he makes his way to Wooyoung, his scent automatically making Wooyoung's alpha perk up.
“I got the job!” He exclaims.
Wait…what.?
Wooyoung deadpans, “I'm sorry, you did what now?”
“I got. The job,” San repeats, dimpled smile not leaving his face.
“Why would you do that? Are you insane?!” Wooyoung hisses, taking a step forward and glaring at San, “You went there for information, not a fucking job! How the fuck did you manage to mess this up?”
That's it.
Wooyoung is definitely not going to let him get his teeth into this case. There's no way he's going to let this- this clumsy pup mess up his careful and reputed work. How could he possibly-
San scoffs, interrupting Wooyoung's thoughts, “Why would you think I messed up? I've got more than enough information for us to dig into,” he pulls a card out of his pocket, “Business card of the manager. Who also happens to own a line of hotels in the heart of Seoul. Oh, and did I mention, Choi Minseok was a regular here? He had a membership and everything.”
Wooyoung rolls his eyes, “You idiot. Getting a job there helps no one. You could've gotten this information with or without a job interview. I swear to god, you police officers are just-”
“Just what?” San challenges, “I went in there, pretended I was looking for a bartending gig, and did such a good job of it that I got it. What could I have possibly messed up?”
“Did you give them your real name? Phone number? Address? Those things are necessary if you work somewhere, you know.”
San shrugs, “All fake. And they like the fact that I'm a beta. I don't know why, but that seemed to appeal to them.”
“That's…” Wooyoung trails off, “Okay, fine. At least it gives us an easy way back into this place. Come on, I think we've got all that we can get for now. Let's go get the fabric lab-tested, and then you can write up a report for the NIS about today.”
San blinks, “Don't you have to be the one to do the report? You're the NIS Agent.”
Wooyoung glares at him, “I hate paperwork. If you want me to be amicable and work with you, you gotta deal with me pawning off some lame stuff to you.”
San lets out a chuckle, “You're incredibly irritating, did you know that?” He says, bluntly.
“You flatter me, Mr. Choi,” Wooyoung bows mockingly, “Now, let's get going. When do they want you to start working here?”
“Tomorrow night. They want me here for training in the afternoon.”
“Fine. That gives me time to come up with a plan to fix…whatever this is.”
“You mean it gives us time,” San corrects.
Wooyoung turns away pointedly, “No. I mean me. You have paperwork to do, sweetheart. Come on now, let's go.”
San follows begrudgingly, “You know I'm going to break you, right?”
Wooyoung laughs, “You can try as hard as you want.”
If San grumbles out a curse word under his breath in retaliation, Wooyoung pretends he didn't hear it.
He's got bigger things to focus on.
*****
27.02.2025
2:14pm
•
“Do I look okay?”
“Charming. Now go, for heaven's sake,” Wooyoung shoves San by the shoulder, “I was nice enough to drive you here. I'm not going to wait around and watch you learn bartending. I have a lead I wanna get behind.” Wooyoung decided that it might not be the worst thing in the world to let San poke around the club by posing as a worker, if it'll give him time to follow his own leads as well. Two birds, he supposes.
“Aren't you supposed to keep me updated about what you're up to while we work together?”
“Different case. Not your problem,” Wooyoung lies smoothly, “Now go. Make daddy proud.”
San rolls his eyes at the tone, but doesn't argue, climbing out of the car and straightening his white shirt. It's tucked into his pants, but the top few buttons are undone, making it just messy enough to pass off as casual. He doesn't glance back at Wooyoung as he pushes the door shut behind him and walks to the doors of the club, disappearing into the establishment.
Wooyoung doesn't waste any time before he starts the car and drives off, turning on his navigation to take him to Prestige Hotel, one of the fanciest hotels in all of Seoul. It's owned by Jang Geonhee, who's also on the Board at Elixir.
He gets there in twenty minutes, checking his appearance in the mirror before he even pulls into the parking lot, fully aware of the fact that he's probably already surrounded by about twenty CCTV cameras, all sensitive enough to monitor his every move.
He's wearing his most expensive navy dress shirt and black pants, to suit the image he's going for. His blazer is in the backseat, and he grabs it to pull on over his shoulders, before wearing a mask as well. Just for good measure. He then reaches under his own seat to get the briefcase that he had placed there earlier without San's knowledge, and checks if his phone is in his pocket before getting out of the car and locking it, standing up straight and letting out a heavy sigh.
Here goes nothing.
He walks confidently up the stairs to the extravagantly decorated lobby, heading straight to the hotel’s reception desk. The place smells heavily of floral perfumes and artificial room fresheners. It's clear that there are scent dampening chemicals at play too, considering the fact that Wooyoung can't pick up a single strong sub-gender scent among all the muted ones in the room- even when there are only a few occupants.
The receptionist bows to him, dressed in a spotless white and beige suit- a perfectly practised smile on his face, “Good day, sir. Welcome to Prestige Hotel. Have you booked a room with us?”
Wooyoung returns the man’s polite bow with an acknowledging nod, “Good afternoon. I'm just looking for the owner. I heard that he welcomes walk-in meetings with angel investors?”
Wooyoung did do some poking around last night, and discovered that the owner, Jang Geonhee, was exploring the angel investor market, to fund his own establishments- even while being a bigshot investor himself. Quite an interesting thing to do, which is what made Wooyoung come up with his idea as to whom he is about to portray himself as. An angel investor looking to siphon off his money into the hotel industry, and hopefully pick up some useful contacts in the process.
The receptionist seems taken aback by Wooyoung's intentions, although they shouldn't have seemed all that strange, “Your name, sir? And your-”
Wooyoung's phone rings promptly, and he holds up a hand to silence the receptionist, “Please excuse me,” he takes a step back, pulling his phone out of his pocket and answering it, “Hello?”
“Wooyoung, I need you to get here, quick.”
“I just left you there, how do you need help already?” Wooyoung sighs in exasperation, because San really needs to learn to fight his own battles. This is kind of pathetic, honestly.
“There's something wrong. I can't say more on the phone. Just trust me, please.”
“You know, you really should grow up and learn to handle things on your own,” Wooyoung chides.
“Just come,” San actually sounds a little pleading. It strokes Wooyoung's ego, if anything, the fact that he's finally realised that Wooyoung's far more experienced than he is, and he's looking to him for help.
“Ugh, fine. I was just about to get something done.” Wooyoung rolls his eyes, and hangs up the phone. He barely spares a glance at the receptionist before tightening his grip on his briefcase and walking right out of the lobby. He probably won't be missed, anyway.
He gets to Elixir in record time, and calls San once again, “Hey, I'm here,” he says simply.
“Come to the nearest bus stop. Don't bring the car. Just park it somewhere and meet me at the stop. I'll ask for a bathroom break and come there.”
Wooyoung doesn't care enough to reply, so he simply hangs up and follows San's instructions, walking down the same road for the third time this past week, except this time, it isn't for evidentiary purposes- as far as he knows. Crime scene evidence, at least, has all been cleared. The evidence they found the previous day has been tested already, and didn't yield anything surprising- just revealing to them that indeed, the underwear was worn by an omega in heat, and probably thrown away in a hurry for obvious reasons. They don't know whose it is, because the scents obtained from the fabric didn't reveal any known samples possessed by the NIS. The crime scene was declared to be thoroughly investigated, and the tapes were removed this morning by a different NIS team.
Wooyoung spots San at the bus stop, far enough away not to be seen from the club itself, picking at his own nails and following the alpha with his eyes as he draws closer.
“Took you long enough,” San huffs.
“You're wasting my time, here. Tell me why you called,” Wooyoung demands, hands in his pockets and a furrow in his brow. He's clearly impatient, and irritated by this unwelcome interruption of his work.
“Take a look at this,” San pulls a paper out of his pocket. It looks like a printed list of something. “They gave me this the moment I got in, asking me to memorise these names. There's about forty on here. I was told they're the top-secret patrons, and should be treated well, so I should learn who they are on my first day there.”
“Okay…so?” Wooyoung is slightly more than irked by the fact that San called him all the way to show him this. How underwhelming.
“Read the names, Agent,” San puts the paper in his hand, and Wooyoung’s eyes flit across the page, widening slowly. “You see what I mean?”
“Holy shit,” Wooyoung breathes in disbelief, going back and forth just to check if he's seeing things right.
San nods, “Yeah, exactly. We know almost all these names. They're celebrities. Politicians. Chaebols. Look here-” San points at one, “Officer Choi Minseok,” he reads, “Clearly, he wasn't just a member.”
Wooyoung frowns, taking his phone out to take a picture of the list and paste the photo into his current work document, “This place has never had the celebrity reputation, has it?” He asks San, not being too familiar with many nightclubs in town.
“It hasn't,” San confirms, “Which means this is far more shady than we thought. Why would the club hide the fact that its patrons are South Korea’s biggest names?” San wonders aloud, “Shouldn't that be their entire marketing strategy?”
Wooyoung shrugs, “I mean, maybe the club is just doing well because celebrities know that their names will remain confidential as the patrons. That's a possibility.”
“True, but it's a slim chance,” San says, “Anyway, there's more that I need to show you.”
Wooyoung's suspicions are confirmed, so he nods, “I figured there was. This could have waited until later. Why the urgent call?”
“Is this place a strip club?”
Wooyoung blinks at him, “Not that I know of. Seems to just be a rich people's hangout. Why?”
“Well, the staff entrance has a few rooms. For…you know, stuff,” San gestures vaguely, but he gets the point across.
“Alright. But can't you get in there and check? Most shady clubs will have rooms for sex work,” Wooyoung says dismissively, “What's weird about that?”
“The labels are what's weird.”
Wooyoung tilts his head, “Labels?” He echoes.
“Yeah, I was only able to look at two or three, because I'm technically not allowed back there, beyond the first hallway, but one said- Female Omega, young- and another said- Male Omega, young- and the last one I saw was- Male Omega, Restrained,” San finishes with a grimace, “And I called you right after seeing that, because there's no way I can go back there while being an employee, but you could fake being a patron, or a potential patron, and get conveniently lost in the club or something. What do you think?”
Wooyoung lets out a heavy sigh, shaking his head, and blatantly ignoring San's suggestion, “Good job on calling me. Don't go down that hallway again. It'll be far too suspicious,” he warns instead, “Just go do your job. Don't try to gather any new information right now. When does your training end?”
“I can leave at six. I'll have to be back here by nine.”
“That works. I'll meet you at my office at seven. Plans have changed.” Wooyoung is kind of thankful that he never got to meet Jang Geonhee, because now he has a completely new outlook on things, and he's about to execute what may be his most insane idea yet.
Those always work. If there's anything he's learned in his years of experience, it's that higher risk begets a higher reward.
San stares at him, “You've already thought of a p-”
Wooyoung cuts him off, “Bye. See you at seven. I hope you can find your way back on your own.”
“I'm not a child,” San argues, but Wooyoung’s already turned around to leave, taking large strides as he walks away from him, “See you at seven!” He calls behind Wooyoung's receding form.
Wooyoung doesn't answer.
He now has bigger things to worry about.
For one, he really hopes this doesn't get him fired.
*****