Chapter Text
🚔
let’s get in the back of your cop car, officer
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Hi, this is the manager from Walmart and there’s a theft in motion in the store right now.”
Donghyuck nervously chews on his nails as he watches Jaehyun talking on the phone with the emergency dispatchers. On the many security monitors propped up on the desk, at which his manager is currently stationed at, there are several frames focusing on the silhouettes of two men moving strangely in different aisles. Although their carts were full with different items, of different price ranges, they were discretely shoving smaller items into the inside of their jackets.
“Are they armed?” Jaehyun repeats the dispatcher’s question, the call not on speaker phone anymore. “I can’t really tell.” He continues slowly, leaning closer to the screen and squinting at the slightly pixelated figures, “They’re jackets look a little bulky from the back, even if they were putting items from the store in them. So, they might be armed. Another store manager is keeping an eye on them from afar on the floor, but we haven’t really sent out any codes throughout the whole store in case it alerts the thieves.”
With one hand at the edge of the desk, Donghyuck leans forward and follows the men on the screen with his eyes.
“I mean, it’s Halloween, and we often have some teenagers coming in and sneaking on-sale candy in their pockets, thinking we won’t notice. But this is the first time I’m seeing something like this—at least in our store, in the two years I’ve worked here.” Jaehyun explains, and turns to Donghyuck, cupping a hand over the phone, “Did you see anything like this before, when I wasn’t here?”
Donghyuck has been working part-time here a few months longer than Jaehyun has, and has recently been promoted to being one of the supervisors. He shakes his head, “Nope, first time.” Noticing some movement on the screen, his eyes flick over to monitor what’s going on, “It looks like they’re almost headed to the cash registers.”
“So, they’re headed to the self-checkout.” Jaehyun returns his attention on the call, and presses the speaker button for Donghyuck to hear the rest of the conversation.
“We’ve alerted nearby officers of the situation, and they’ll be on their way in a bit."
“Alright. Thank you.” Jaehyun ends the call with a sigh, before turning in his swivel chair to look at Donghyuck with an expression reminiscent of a sad wet puppy, “I’m going to lend Fanny a hand. Watch them while I’m gone.”
“Sure.” Donghyuck lets out slowly, sitting down and wincing at how hot the seat is, “For how flat your ass is, it’s so warm.”
Jaehyun shakes his head, unimpressed, sucking in his mouth and making his dimples show, “Just for that, I’ll make sure you’ll be the one dressing up again for next Halloween.” He retorts, gesturing at Donghyuck’s Annabelle attire.
Yeah, no. Donghyuck is not embarrassing himself two Halloweens in a row. Tonight is already a clown show, even if he begged both his managers to hide away for most of his shift in the control rooms. Good thing his expert sense of persuasion paid off—which mostly consists of excessive whining paired with threats of slashing the tires of everyone involved in the decision of making him dress up as Annabelle.
Donghyuck grabs a lone piece of crumbled paper and throws it at his manager, “That is if you don’t die tonight.”
Jaehyun catches the ball of paper before it can hit the floor, and tosses it in the trash can next to Donghyuck with a perfect aim. With a smug look, which earns him an eye-roll from Donghyuck, he opens the door to leave, “Don’t make a mess. Stay put until the officers are here.”
“Fine. Don’t die out there.” Donghyuck pulls himself closer to the edge of the table on the swivel chair.
“I’ll try.” Jaehyun mutters, slipping out of the security control room with a tired huff, “I’m not paid enough for this shit.”
🚨
Donghyuck shouldn’t be on his phone right now, but he couldn’t help but snoop in the group chat that was streaming with text messages coming from some of his off-shift coworkers. It was Hendery that ignited the rapid flow of texts, and Donghyuck has no idea how he even managed to do so while on the floor without getting caught by their other manager.
He’s about to reply to a message from Chenle, who was screaming in all caps about armed robbery, when he catches something from the corner of his eye.
Redirecting his attention to the screens before him, he sees two officers coming through the automatic sliding doors and speaking with Jaehyun near the exits. The flickering of their cruiser’s sirens, stationed outside, faintly reflect against the glass of the entrance doors. One of the officers is way taller than the other—even Jaehyun—, but Donghyuck focuses on the officer with the attractive undercut and broad shoulders.
Don’t get Donghyuck wrong, both officers are attractive. But there’s just something really charming, off the bat, about Officer Undercut in particular. Maybe it was his stance that exuded calm confidence despite its laid-back nature. Or it was the way his hands were gripping the neckline of the geared vest cladding his torso, as he sharply swept his gaze across the store while he attentively listened to Jaehyun explain what the suspects looked like with wild gestures.
Donghyuck needs to get a grip.
And damn, are all the officers from the local precinct this good-looking. Now he’s definitely curious, and wants to see the rest of their team.
Midway of him reaching for another cherry lollipop and caramel toffee in the bowl of candies, a commotion suddenly erupts on the screen.
While Officer Giant has one of the guys successfully detained by the cash registers, Officer Undercut is chasing the other guy through the aisles. Donghyuck follows them through each frame like he’s watching a game being streamed, and feels quite dizzy at the speed they’re running in.
Officer Undercut is not too far behind the suspect’s tail. If anything, he’s closing in on the guy pretty fast. However, the suspect—which Donghyuck decides to call Beard Guy, for obvious reasons—plays dirty, and topples over a whole display of Halloween decorations in his path to slow down Officer Undercut. Though completely unphased by the disruption, Officer Undercut crosses over the rolling items on the floor and continues his chase.
Now, Donghyuck is more intrigued than he already was, and leans impossibly closer to the monitors with his arms crossed atop the desk. If this is what he gets to see whenever there’s any type of crime unfolding in his boring workplace, given that there’s a hot police officer in charge, Donghyuck would gladly keep his ass glued in the control rooms throughout his whole shift.
And this is coming from someone who is always fidgety and needs to get up and just do something to keep himself occupied. There’s just something about this officer that Donghyuck just wants to sit on an uncomfortable chair and stare at him like a fool for ten hours straight.
Maybe Donghyuck is just high on sugar and sleep-deprived because there’s no way he’s thirsting over pixels of a police officer, on Halloween of all days. He should be out having fun with his friends trick-or-treating for shits and giggles, or maybe getting hammered at a party. But instead, he’s at work and at the scene of a potentially dangerous crime.
Who knows if Beard Guy is armed. Or perhaps, his accomplice, Eyebrow Slit Guy, already got any of his concealed weapons retrieved by the other officers who came for backup, shortly after Beard Guy and Officer Undercut’s wild goose chase began.
And yes, Donghyuck noticed the accomplice’s eyebrow slit, and has to admit that he looked way more intimidating than Beard Guy. He wonders how in the world Eyebrow Slit Guy let himself get caught before Beard Guy, as he seemed to be up to no good either. Something was just off about the whole ordeal. Hopefully, the officers at the scene get to the bottom of whatever is going on. So far, though, Donghyuck is just glad no one in the store got hurt.
Just at that exact thought, Beard Guy suddenly collapses onto the floor on his chest. Officer Undercut had tased him, and is now quickly getting behind him, after swiftly putting away his weapon and pulling out a pair of handcuffs from the back of his duty belt.
Resting his cheek against his palm, Donghyuck watches Officer Undercut speak into the radio attached on his left shoulder. A voice in his head mocks him that he might as well kick his feet and giggle like a teenager, which immediately makes him snap out of his stupor. Clearing his throat, Donghyuck sits up straight.
On the monitors, two more officers then come for backup and help to get the guy up on his feet. Beard Guy makes a fuss on their way back. Understandably so, since he’s literally been tased five minutes ago.
A minute later, Donghyuck hears a chorus of voices from the hallways before the door opens and Jaehyun comes in followed by the two culprits and the officers from earlier. Officer Undercut and Officer Giant are accompanied by one other officer alongside them this time.
They all give each other looks of acknowledgement and Donghyuck tries his best not to explode right there when his and Officer Undercut’s eyes meet for more than a few seconds.
In the midst of the two culprits’ complaints about how they didn’t do anything wrong, from where they were instructed to sit on metal chairs at the corner of the room, Officer Undercut politely introduces himself and Officer Giant, “Hi there, I’m Officer Mark Lee, and that’s my sergeant, Johnny Seo.” He gestures to the latter, who throws him a friendly salute before going back to typing away on his data computer.
“Hi, I’m Donghyuck. I’m one of the supervisors here—”
“I said, I wasn’t going to steal anything! You literally saw me pay!” Beard Guy shouts, cutting Donghyuck off.
Mark’s gaze moves from Donghyuck to the guy now, “So, why did you bolt?” He retorts calmly, his hands now back to resting at the neckline of his tactical vest while his foot gently taps against the floor tiles.
“What was I supposed to do?! You were wrongfully arresting my friend, and I thought you were gonna do the same to me!”
“That’s not what innocent people usually do, bud. We also literally got you sneaking store items in your jacket on CCTV.” Johnny says, pausing in his typing, “Now, you have to give me your real name. There’s no Alex Smith.”
Alex Smith? That’s the kind of name Donghyuck would find in an example on how to write citations for his essays. Alex, here, needs to think of a better name to trick the officers because even Donghyuck is not fooled.
“Well your system’s got some issues. That’s my real name, okay? I’m real!” Beard Guy hunches over with his restrained hands, screaming dramatically, and one of his eyes twitching weirdly after being tased.
Donghyuck grimaces, blinking at Alex’s dramatic speech, before he goes back to clicking away on the screen to find the footage of his and his accomplice’s robbery, upon Jaehyun’s request.
“Okay, listen, man. You’ve already got charges for theft, and resisting arrest. We’re about to add failure to comply with a peace officer to the list, if you keep up this charade of yours.” Mark says, seriousness laced in his voice, despite keeping his composure.
Donghyuck really has to give it to Officer Mark for staying put together with patience while dealing with Beard Guy’s idiocy. And hold on, were the men not actually armed? Donghyuck didn’t get a look at the officers patting down and confiscating any weapons. Maybe they did it, when he wasn’t looking, before bringing the men back into the store’s backrooms for a quick questioning.
For some reason, Donghyuck thinks something about one of the guys is familiar, which he can’t quite pinpoint. Was it Eyebrow Slit Guy…? He’s not sure.
“I swear that’s my name! Try Alexander Smith, then.”
“I did, and what I’m seeing on my screen is not you.” Johnny answers with a tight-lipped expression. “This would be easier if you provided me with a form of identification, which you are refusing to do.”
“This is ridiculous! Let me speak to your Lieutenant, or whoever is above you two buffoons!” Beard Guy stomps his feet like a child throwing a temper tantrum, and although Donghyuck is not looking at him doing that, he still wants to barf. They’ve not only got a criminal on their hands, but a Karen on top of that. Please.
Good heavens, could his shift end already. Who was he fooling! He’s probably going to be asked to stay overtime anyway. Fuck Beard Guy and his stupid friend. Couldn’t they have chosen another day to rob the store and terrorize the staff with their annoying personalities. Preferably on a night Donghyuck wasn’t on the clock. Or even better, a day when Chenle was working while Donghyuck wasn’t. That would’ve been good payback for Donghyuck’s current predicament. If it wasn’t for Chenle’s stupid bet, he wouldn’t be dressed as Anabelle and embarrassing himself in front of a hot cop.
Oh my god, Donghyuck almost forgot about that part. Did Mark notice his costume? Of course, he did—it was hard not to! But it’s not like he’s going to be seeing Officer Mark again after tonight, right? Right.
With his index finger, Donghyuck pushes some annoying strands of the bangs of the red pig-tailed wig, sitting on his head, away from poking his damn eyes.
The room has surprisingly gone a lot more quiet, as both Beard Guy and Eyebrow Slit Guy are now talking in hushed voices with the third officer who had previously left for a few minutes and had come back into the security control room.
Subtly, Donghyuck shifts his gaze to see what Mark is doing, and finds the latter nodding along and observing something on his sergeant's data computer. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows now, and Donghyuck notices the intricate lines of a tattoo on the inside of his forearms.
Feeling faint, Donghyuck goes back to staring at his own screen in order to contain the feral scream he almost let out.
“Okay, save this file.” Jaehyun instructs him while leaning closer to the monitor, as Donghyuck downloads some of the footage they were watching earlier before the officers detained the two idiots. They’re going to have to send them as evidence to the precinct to press charges.
From his peripheral, he senses movement before there’s a cool breeze brushing the back of his neck.
“You mind if I take a look at the footage?” Mark asks, stopping next to Donghyuck and leaning a hand against the edge of the desk.
“Sure.” Donghyuck nods and scooches his chair to the left, almost rolling the wheels over Jaehyun’s toes while doing so. He ignores the pointed and knowing look his manager gives him, and focuses on the clicks of his mouse.
He’s definitely not inwardly panicking that Mark is standing close to him to the point that he can smell his cologne. Nope.
Okay, maybe he is. But it’s not Donghyuck’s fault that he already feels intimidated whenever he comes across any law enforcement officer in general—hell, he even slightly panics when he sees a security guard walk in his direction at the mall, even if he knows he did nothing wrong. Imposter Syndrome, or whatever it’s called. It doesn’t really help that this officer in particular is just really handsome and charismatic. Fuck.
“Did they have any weapons on them?” Jaehyun asks simply, and Donghyuck is thankful he’s filling in the silence and voicing out his exact thoughts. Though, if Donghyuck attempts at it, he’s afraid he’ll embarrass himself.
“One of my colleagues checked, and they weren’t armed.” Mark answers, and leans forward to observe the footage Donghyuck had pulled up, bringing in his warmth even closer.
Jaehyun hums in understanding. However, Donghyuck knows the meaning of that specific sound of his hum. It means he’s a little skeptical, but would rather not say that he is. It’s the same one he lets out whenever Hendery swears he organized the toy aisles when he actually didn’t.
“Can you rewind ten seconds back for me here, please?” Mark brings a hand out to gesture at the screen, the watch on his left wrist coming into his sight. Donghyuck almost fumbles with his mouse for a split second as he gets sidetracked while staring at the protruding veins at his forearms.
He knows Mark is doing his job, but if he keeps talking to him that way, Donghyuck thinks he’s going to do other things than just pull up CCTV footage for him.
Jaehyun’s walkie-talkie beeps, before Tiffany’s staticky voice comes through it, asking for his assistance on the floor.
“Hyuck, be a dear and help the officers out, yeah?”
Uh oh, don’t leave me out here alone with Officer Undercut!
Technically, he’s not alone alone with Mark, since sergeant Seo, the other officer, and the two restrained men are still there in the same room. But still. Donghyuck would like a trusted adult next to him—although he’s an adult himself—, making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid like let his intrusive thoughts take over his actions and accidentally pounce on Mark.
“When am I not on my best behavior?” Donghyuck huffs out instead, throwing Jaehyun a very pointed squint because he’s pretty sure his manager noticed him shooting heart eyes at the officer and is having a swell time teasing him for it.
“I’m just saying. You can sometimes be a little shit.” Jaehyun shrugs with a smirk and disappears behind the door.
Donghyuck controls himself from flipping him the bird in annoyance, remembering that he needs to be on his best behavior. He pretends he’s not blushing in embarrassment and turns back to blink at his screen.
“What did you do to make your manager say that?”
Oh, Donghyuck is definitely committing murder tonight. Jaehyun is dead.
Donghyuck lets out a nervous laugh. “Don’t listen to him. He’s being dramatic.”
“Really?” Mark’s voice holds the same amusement as his earlier question.
Fuck, Donghyuck needs to be sedated because why does his brain keep screaming at him about how hot Mark looks right now. That subtle smirk at the corner of his lips emphasizes the chisel of his jaw and cheekbones, making him look both approachable and intimidating. He’s literally being teased by the man and all Donghyuck can do is think how it would feel to be manhandled by him.
Can this night get anymore embarrassing? He probably has one more hour until the end of his shift, and he’s suddenly really tempted to be buried six-feet under. Would he be fired if he just walked out of here right now?
“Yeah,” Donghyuck simply says with a pause while he mindlessly clicks at everything and nothing on his computer screen, and notices the officer tilting his head slightly and giving him a knowing look, “Okay, I might’ve pulled a few pranks on my coworkers. But it’s all in good blood. No one died.”
Crap, why did he say the last part in front of a fucking cop. Officer Mark is going to think he’s some sociopathic serial killer. Unless, he’s the chill type of cop that has a sense of humour.
“I see you’re a prankster.” Mark chuckles, before his gaze shifts on Donghyuck’s attire, “I should’ve figured that out when I saw you in your costume.”
“Hey,” Donghyuck lets out, as if he just personally got scandalised, although the costume was nowhere near his own idea or doing, “You think this was my idea?” He gestures dramatically at his comical-looking wig and dress. It wasn’t even that bad, but Donghyuck has a tradition of making everything a scene to make his shift go faster and to cope. “My friend put me up to this because I lost a bet.”
Just then, the sound of the door opening has him whipping his head around to see who it is.
“Hyuck!” Chenle bursts into the room with a cackle, dressed as fucking Pennywise, “I knew I couldn’t miss this.” He comes up to Donghyuck and wraps his arms around his neck and shoulders into a strangling hug, giggling his ears off.
“Speaking of the devil.” Donghyuck mutters, swatting at his friend in mild exasperation, “This is Chenle. He does not work here today.” He says pointedly, and twists his head around to give the latter an impressed and questioning look. “Why are you here?”
Who in their right minds shows up to work on their off days—especially on Halloween? Apparently, Chenle does.
“Aw come on, Hyuck. I just came here to cheer you up.” At Donghyuck giving him an unconvinced look, he continues, “Okay, I came to see you in your cute Annabelle pigtails. This was my idea, by the way.” He proudly says to Mark, while pointing at Donghyuck’s attire of doom and embarrassment.
Mark, seemingly suppressing a laugh, nods in acknowledgement, “I’m aware.”
With a roll of his eyes, Donghyuck smacks Chenle’s arm before going back to putting his focus on more important things, “If you’re done laughing at my costume, and simultaneously pissing off Annabelle herself, you can go find Hendery and yap his ears off. Jaehyun is also probably wandering around doing nothing.”
“Actually, Jaehyun told me to come see if you need any help while I’m here. I just saw the other officers bringing the two guys outside.” Chenle says, throwing his thumb over his shoulder.
Slightly startled by that information, Donghyuck peers around to see the corner of the room, right behind Mark, and finds it empty. He hadn’t even noticed them leave, while he was speaking with Mark.
“He told you that? So, would you mind taking over my shift, while I nap in my car for a bit?” Donghyuck asks cheekily with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
“No can do.” Chenle sing-songs with a grin, “And stop mopping, you’re done in an hour anyway.” He gently shoves his shoulder.
“Yay for me.” Donghyuck sing-songs humorlessly, sagging back into his chair. “Don’t get me wrong officer, I got a wink of sleep last night and my eyelids are on the verge of shutting close for the next eight hours.” He makes sure to specify to Mark, who’s been standing there the whole time.
“Oh, you don’t wanna be working with grumpy pants, here, with two hours of sleep.” Chenle quips.
Donghyuck blinks up at Chenle, hoping he can telepathically convey his message to him to shut the hell up.
“I won’t be keeping you for long, Donghyuck. We’re actually done here.” Mark gives him an easy smile, his hands now resting at the holster around his waist.
Donghyuck hopes the officer didn’t notice him gulping down the saliva that was threatening to drool out of his mouth.
“Oh.” Donghyuck lets out, with a hint of surprise in his voice.
“As long as you guys send us the footage for evidence, we’re good. And I guess, if there’s anything else we need, we’ll contact the store.”
Strangely, Donghyuck feels sad to hear that. He wouldn’t have minded Mark keeping him company until the end of his shift. But the officer is also on his own shift and probably has his own duties to fulfill.
“Great.” Donghyuck reciprocates the smile, trying not to reflect his feelings of slight disappointment in his expression.
Mark’s radio beeps at his left shoulder, before another officer’s voice follows through saying some sort of code. Mark reaches to press the button with his left hand, and speaks into it to acknowledge the radio signal, his voice going low as he does so.
Before Mark could notice, Donghyuck quickly averts his eyes away from his biceps, after having shamelessly ogled at the way the sleeves of his dark blue uniform tightened around them, as his muscles contracted underneath the fabric with his movements.
“Well, I need to get going. Thank you for your cooperation.” Mark clasps his hands together as a means to signal the end of their interaction, and is already making his way to the door. “It was nice meeting you both.”
“Likewise.” Donghyuck manages to get out without choking on his own saliva, watching Mark’s broad back in a daze. The word police on the back of his vest, in all caps, stares back at him, as the officer reaches for the door knob.
“Have a good night.” Mark turns to give them both a genuine but professional smile, before slipping out.
Donghyuck doesn’t know if he was hallucinating but he’s pretty sure Mark’s eyes met his own for a little longer.
🚨
After Officer Mark left, Chenle made it his mission to pester Donghyuck about why he didn’t ask him for his number. It seems like Donghyuck wasn’t so subtle with his heart eyes after all, to the point that even Chenle noticed in the midst of his endless yapping. Donghyuck had to explain to him like he were to a baby, that he couldn’t do that while both of them were literally on the clock and had to keep things professional. And it wasn’t like the officer felt the same or anything.
It’s just a stupid little crush, Donghyuck had told Chenle, before the latter left the security control room to go bother another one of their coworkers.
Donghyuck had left a post-it with a note, notifying Jaehyun about sending the requested footage, and is now starting to pack his belongings to end his shift. There was only less than ten minutes left, and if he has everything ready, he can sprint out of here on the dot and go plop on his bed in less than thirty minutes. If there’s another crime happening in the moments he has his back turned on the CCTV monitors, it’ll be up to whoever is in charge in the morning shift to complain about it—okay, Donghyuck knows that’s not how it works. He just wants to go home, sue him.
As he’s zipping his bag close, the sound of the door opening has him turning around in curiosity, only to stare in alert at the barrel of a gun being pointed at him. Behind the weapon is a familiar man in a blonde man bun—Eyebrow Slit Guy.
Donghyuck immediately has his hands up in surrender, at a loss for words. How in the world did this man even get out of his cuffs and come all the way here without being noticed by all the cops swarming the area outside the building.
“Quick, I need you to delete CCTV footage from Halloween of last year.” Eyebrow Slit Guy’s raspy voice fills the still silence in the room. He’s not screaming or anything, but he sure does not sound so friendly.
The security control room, being decently sized, although a little on the smaller size, suddenly feels way more cramped than ever. The air feels too hot, thick and heavy, and Donghyuck feels like he’s going to suffocate on it.
“What the fuck, man. Why would I do that?”
“Because I said so.” Eyebrow Slit Guy demands, gesturing at the security monitors with the same hand holding his gun. Amidst his movements, the barrel stays unbudging from its sole target, Donghyuck.
“That’s not a very good reason.” Donghyuck deadpans, with a bit of sass despite himself.
The sound of the gun’s hammer being cocked has him straightening his back immediately. Okay, stalling and distracting the guy wasn’t really working.
Donghyuck also realises that there’s just something really off about the guy, like he had met him prior to this. He tries to think why the guy would be asking him to retrieve CCTV footage from a specific date.
“Hurry.” Eyebrow Slit Guy says curtly, leaving no room for more small talk, and agitatingly takes a few steps towards Donghyuck.
“Okay, okay.” Donghyuck lets out shakily in haste, slowly advancing forward to reach the computer, “Can you just move it a little to the right, and not point it right at my head. You’re making me really nauseous.”
“So that you can play me? I don’t think so.” The guy jeers as he comes closer, and so does his weapon.
“Fine, it’s your fault if I barf on your shoes, Eyebrow Slit.” He huffs, his brain-to-mouth filter failing and making the nickname he’s been addressing the guy with this whole time slip past his tongue.
“That’s not even my name— You know what, never mind.” The guy groans in frustration.
Donghyuck scoffs, “Aw, you almost told me your real name. How sweet.”
“Pick up the pace, pretty boy. No time for chit chat.”
“You’re not really good with conversation anyway.” Donghyuck bites back pettily, palming at the edge of the desk behind him, to keep himself upright with his wobbly footing. “And can you back up a little, I’m extremely claustrophobic. I will seriously puke on your shoes.”
“You’re awfully making this harder than it should be. I can just kill you right now, and find what I need myself.” Eyebrow Slit Guy now walks the last few steps to hold Donghyuck directly at gunpoint. If he turned his back on him to browse on the computer, the barrel would be dauntingly pressing at the back of his head.
Yeah, and alert the whole store with a loud gunshot, pee brain, Donghyuck thinks, wanting to roll his eyes.
“Hurry.” The guy repeats his, apparently, favorite word of the night, but this time with more venom in the annoying rasp of his voice.
Donghyuck flinches slightly, “I’m trying to keep my job, you fucking moron.” He strangles out between gritted teeth, his hands going up instinctively in surrender again.
“Do you think I care?”
Donghyuck lets out a frustrated groan, rolling his eyes in annoyance, “I’d much rather I quit than they fire me.” He turns around and starts typing on the keyboard. “You know how shitty my job record’s gonna look, right?”
“Meh, it doesn’t really matter to me right now.” The guy shrugs.
“Well, it should matter! Because I’m helping you delete evidence or whatever.” Donghyuck snaps, throwing the guy a dirty look over his shoulder for not being a team player, before he goes back to focusing on his urgent demands. As the screen loads, he lets out a sigh, “Where’d you get that gun anyway?”
“In the lost and founds.”
Donghyuck jerks his head at the ridiculous revelation, “You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m being serious.”
Damn. Donghyuck is shocked—given the life or death situation he’s in right now— but he’s also not really surprised that someone had left a spare gun in the lost and found. Is this something that should be addressed to HR or another department?
Or perhaps, the guy was lying about the gun, because Donghyuck is sure one of his coworkers would’ve definitely noticed there had been a weapon laying around in plain sight.
“That’s fucked up.”
Eyebrow Slit Guy shrugs, “I know…” His expression goes stoic again, as he takes another step forward, “And I will have to kill you with it if you keep stalling.”
“What?! It’s not my fault this old ass computer’s server is loading forever and the store wifi is shit, stupid.”
“You got a minute.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you—wait. I can’t die in this costume. Let me think of my last words, first.” Donghyuck scrambles to glance at the monitor again, and starts clicking his mouse in a hurry. In his frantic motions, his hand brushes at something cold and cylindrical, encased into the crevice at the very right edge of the keyboard tray. “You’re the worst robber ever.” He mutters in exasperation.
There’s a pause, before Eyebrow Slit Guy lets out an amused scoff, “Why do you say that?”
Getting a good grip around the metal rod, hidden carefully beneath the desk, Donghyuck swings it at Eyebrow Slit Guy. A loud clank resonates when metal meets skull, before the clatter of the gun hitting the floor and the thump of Eyebrow Slit Guy falling follow right after.
“Just because.” Donghyuck shrugs, kicking the gun to the opposite corner of the room, way out of the culprit’s reach.
Eyebrow Slit Guy is hunched over on the ground, and clutching his head while groaning in pain. “My ears are ringing, you fucking bitch!” He snarls loudly, seething.
“You were literally going to shoot me, asshole!” Donghyuck retorts with a snap, incredulous.
He quickly looks for the discarded dusty walkie-talkie propped up near the computer, and grabs it to alert his coworkers. However, he’s freed from that responsibility when the door slams itself open with officers barging in with their guns pulled out.
“Get down. Get down. Hands on the ground, now!”
Donghyuck lets out a heavy breath, immediately deflating in relief against the edge of the desk. Panting, he watches sergeant Seo approach the culprit from behind and pull his arms behind his back.
“You’re under arrest.” The superior officer says, cuffing the man’s wrists together. Another officer helps pull Eyebrow Slit Guy up on his feet, and they both start walking him out of the room.
“Are you hurt?” Officer Mark asks from the doorway still in a guarded stance, now lowering his gun to his right side, as he takes tentative steps into the room.
Donghyuck shakes his head, feeling the rush of everything that just went down coursing through in his veins and making his sense of hearing feel clouded and staticky, “No, I’m okay.”
The officer approaches slowly, eyeing him carefully before asking, “Where’s the gun?”
“It’s under the table, near the filing cabinet.” Donghyuck supplies helpfully, pointing at the corner right under the windows, while clutching the crown of his head in a self-soothing manner. His head is definitely sweating under the uncomfortable wig.
After sheathing his own gun into the holster at his waist, Mark crouches on the floor, near Donghyuck’s feet, and retrieves the discarded weapon with gloved hands. With one swift motion, he opens the chamber and inspects its content. “One bullet.” He states while looking behind himself, to one of his colleagues who approaches with an evidence bag.
Donghyuck’s heart pangs against his ribcage. One bullet. That’s all it would’ve taken. Whether it was a full chamber of bullets or just one bullet, he could’ve still died tonight.
Mark closes the gun’s chamber and carefully inserts the weapon into the transparent bag, before sealing it close. He reports a code into his radio, and turns to Donghyuck. That’s when Donghyuck remembers he still hasn’t let go of the metal rod he had been clutching at his side, and holds it out for the officer.
“Sorry, I forgot about this.” He says sheepishly, “I think you’re going to need this too.”
Officer Mark takes it and turns it around in his gloved hands to study it. “Can you tell me what happened?” He asks Donghyuck, as he bags up the metal rod separately for evidence as well. Flipping a small notepad open, he waits for Donghyuck to recount the events that occurred before Eyebrow Slit Guy’s arrest.
“Well, Eyebrow Slit—sorry, whatever his name is—came in here with his gun at my head, when I was about to leave, and was forcing me to delete CCTV footage from October thirty-first of last year. I tried to stall him but he kept insisting I hurry, so I swung the metal rod at him before you guys came in.”
Mark’s pen pauses on the paper, eyes creasing, as he throws a wary glance towards his colleague. He looks back at Donghyuck again, “Are you sure you’re not hurt? Did he grab you or press the barrel of the gun into your head?” He asks, gesturing the actions he lists off, as examples, on himself.
“From what I remember, which is honestly all a blur right now, I don’t think I felt anything pressing at the back of my head while I was turned away from him. Other than me almost shitting my pants, I swear I’m fine.” Donghyuck reassures, tittering.
A hint of a smile takes over the corners of Mark’s mouth, the furrow in his brows finally easing up, “Alright, I was just making sure. We’ll still do a little standard procedure check, to make sure you’re okay before we let you go home. Sound good?”
Donghyuck hums with a timid smile, “Sounds good.”
🚨
Once the other officers leave the room with the acquired evidence, Donghyuck and Mark are left alone.
“Is everyone else okay?” Donghyuck asks, from where he’s slumped against the edge of the desk, as he watches Mark dim the lights.
“Yes, your manager and coworkers are all okay. They’re currently outside giving their statements.”
Donghyuck hums quietly, keeping his eyes fixated on his shoes in thought. “That’s good.” He sighs, “I was scared he might’ve hurt them before coming up here.”
Mark stops in front of him, and instructs him in a steady voice, with a gentle tap to his chin with a gloved finger, “Look straight ahead for me, please.”
Donghyuck does as he’s told, and moves the annoying bangs of his wig away from his eyes, to let Mark proceed with his quick test. The officer studies his pupils on their own before shining a small first-aid flashlight in each of them. The whole time, Donghyuck unknowingly holds his breath, feeling the rhythm of his restless heart in his ears. He notices the way the man has to slightly lean down to match his eye level from where Donghyuck is sitting. It’s not like their eyes are at completely different heights. It’s a subtle difference of a few centimeters, but Donghyuck still notices.
He can’t help but focus his own gaze on Mark’s eyes, which are a dark brown like his own. They look so warm and inviting, as they attentively observe his own.
“How did he escape?” His voice comes out much quieter than he had intended it to, in the silence of the room. Was it appropriate for him to even be asking this, as Mark’s body cam is probably still running?
“He broke out of his handcuffs.” Mark answers him, turning his flashlight off. “Took one of the guns from the back of my colleague’s cruiser, somehow busted out of the vehicle without breaking any windows, and went back into the store.”
Donghyuck blinks a few times to adjust his sighting, and lets out a breath, “Woah.”
“You good?” Mark chuckles, and waits for Donghyuck’s response before he could move forward to the next step.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Donghyuck nods, “I’m just surprised the guy managed to do all that. He told me he found the gun in the lost and founds.”
“He did?” Mark sounds just as surprised as Donghyuck was.
“Yup,” Donghyuck’s heel starts fidgeting on the ground, “I believed him for a second, but I then realised he was probably full of shit.”
That’s when a thought occurs in his head. Will he be charged for hurting Eyebrow Slit Guy, even if it was self defence?
As if Mark somehow heard his thoughts, his next words reassure Donghyuck of his worries, “You were brave for taking him, especially when he was armed. There’s speculation that he might be linked to a case from a year ago. The fact that he asked you to tamper with footage from last Halloween can be a potential lead.”
A case from a year ago… Donghyuck remembers seeing on the news about a girl going missing in their town, around this time of the year.
Donghyuck freezes, when it suddenly hits him. “I know where I remember him from! Last year—shit.” He pauses for a second to collect himself, before continuing, “Last year, I remember a guy asking me if we had dark fabric that can’t be seen through.”
Mark listens to him with furrowed brows, and jots down key information of his statement into his notepad.
“I didn’t really think much of it at that time, because we tend to get weird questions from customers all the time.” Donghyuck explains, fidgeting with his fingers on his lap.
Guilt starts to simmer in the pit of his stomach. What happened to the girl? If this guy really had some part in the missing girl’s case—Donghyuck failed to report him when he had the chance to. A small voice in his head keeps telling him that no one would’ve even taken him seriously, because there wasn’t any concrete proof that the guy had anything to do with it at that time. If he did report him, though, would the girl have never gone missing and tonight probably wouldn’t have taken such a sinister turn?
Mark nods, “I understand. Thank you for telling me this, it really might help us for the case. We’ll look into it.” He flips his notepad close and tucks it away in the front pocket of his vest. Still clutching his pen in his right hand, he reaches with the same hand to press the button of his radio and reports another code, “Potential 10-29f.”
Donghyuck nervously chews on the inside of his cheek, as he watches the officer. Was he in trouble? He can’t really tell.
Mark reverts his attention back on Donghyuck, after finishing a short back-to-back radio signal session.
“Am I in trouble?” He can’t help but ask the officer, sheepishness laced in his words.
Mark’s eyes crinkle into crescents as he huffs out a small amused laugh, “Of course not.” He clicks his pen close, and holds it up straight before Donghyuck’s eyes, “But I will be if I don’t complete this routine check with you.”
“There’s more?” Donghyuck asks, perking up in his seat, and lets himself finally relax a little.
“You’re not concussed, which I guess, we both knew already. But,” Mark pauses with a teasing smile, which Donghyuck reciprocates as he waits for him to continue, “We just need to do this one more thing, and then we’ll just test if you’re walking straight on our way back out. Deal?”
“Deal.” Donghyuck agrees.
“Okay,” Mark positions himself with his legs open and slightly bent, to match his eye level, which has Donghyuck almost distracted and wondering how much strength he has in his thighs—which look really strong, by the way—, “Follow my pen with your eyes.”
As Mark slowly moves his pen from the left and to the right, Donghyuck obeys his instructions while trying his best to suppress himself from bursting out into giggles. There’s just something humorous about doing this in complete silence, and alone with a really hot cop, especially with a mind like Donghyuck’s that won’t shut up with suggestive thoughts.
Noticing the subtle dimples in his cheeks, Mark lowers his pen and stands up straight again. “Mind sharing what’s so funny, Donghyuck?”
Donghyuck ignores the little something he feels at the sound of Mark suddenly saying his name, and shakes his head with a giggle. “Nothing.”
Unconvinced, Mark crosses his arms, and looks at him with a slight tilt of his head. His veiny forearms out and all. And his damn tattoo, goodness— Donghyuck definitely needs to be sedated, because there’s no way he’s telling this man whatever is running through his unhinged brain.
Instead, he gives in with something appropriate enough for the sake of professionalism, “I’m just a little awkward with long silences. That’s all.” He shrugs with as much nonchalance as he can muster.
“Promise you weren’t laughing at me in your head or something?”
Donghyuck’s eyes widen in surprise at the officer’s question. If only Mark knew what he was actually thinking, which Donghyuck will never reveal—over his dead body! “I promise.” And just like that, more giggles erupt out of him before he can control himself, urging him to clasp a hand against his mouth.
Mark eyes him suspiciously, “Are you actually Annabelle, this Halloween, or a giggle monster?”
Donghyuck waves a hand in front of him, and lowers his other hand from his mouth, “I swear it’s not you. It’s just that you’re putting so much care into making sure I’m not concussed when I’m actually not even concussed.”
“Well, that’s because it’s my job.” Mark tells him as he inserts his pen back into his pocket, an endearing smile etched at the corner of his mouth, multiplying his attractiveness tenfold that it actually hurts Donghyuck. He feels the sudden urge to reach forward and run his fingers through the strands of his decently length jet black hair and scratch his nails against the shaven part of Mark’s undercut head—Shut up, brain, shut up!
“Right, excuse my poor manners, Officer Lee. Please, proceed.” Donghyuck says, this time, making sure to not let his intrusive thoughts launch his giggles again.
Mark gives him a mirthful look, with something else glinting in his eyes that Donghyuck can’t quite pinpoint, before clasping his hands together, “Well, I just remembered I forgot to take down your personal information with your statement. So, we’re going to do that before we get going.” He pulls out his notepad for the nth time tonight, before listing off, “I need your full name, address, date of birth, and phone number.” At Donghyuck nodding, in silence, he specifies, “This is so we can contact you, if we need additional details for the case.”
Right, it’s just for the case. For professional reasons. Donghyuck knows that.
Argh, though why did his heart just flutter at the idea of giving his number to Mark. Which is something he wouldn’t be giving out so easily to any guy. But Mark is not just any guy—-yes, yes, Donghyuck is aware he’s just a cop doing his job! Oh. My. God. Let him be delusional in peace!
Donghyuck clears his throat. Calm down, heart, calm down.
He finally gives the officer his information, and he might have also observed the latter attentively while he did so. Mark’s lips did a subtle twitch when Donghyuck told him his last name—which is understandably ironic, as they basically shared the same one. Interestingly, they also lifted at the corners when he told him his date of birth. And now, Donghyuck is dying to know the officer’s own.
When they arrive in the parking lot, after Donghyuck collected his belongings from the control room, Jaehyun is the first one to reach him and lift him off the ground in a tight hug before ruffling his hair, before the rest of his coworkers literally jump to swaddle him in their own forms of embraces. Mark leaves him with them to go talk to the other officers in charge, a few feet away by the cruisers with their swirling blue and red muted sirens.
“Are you okay?!” Chenle comes over while borderline screaming, actually looking terrifying in his Pennywise costume, and earns scolding looks from the nearby officers.
“Woah, ladies, ladies…” Donghyuck starts, eliciting exasperated groans in return.
“He’s okay enough to quote brainrot sounds, guys. We were worried for nothing.” Tiffany sighs, with a disappointed shake of her head.
“Did you spite the guy that got arrested?” Jaehyun asks, with a raised eyebrow.
“Why?” Donghyuck trails off, in confusion.
“The guy kept complaining about how you wouldn’t shut up and wasted his time. His ear was literally bleeding, they had to call the paramedics.”
Donghyuck’s jaw drops open, as he blinks in disbelief. “As if he and his gun were a real sweetheart.” He scoffs, puffing out a heavy breath.
“What actually happened in there, Hyuck?” Hendery asks him curiously.
“I wacked the guy with Fanny’s secret metal rod.” Donghyuck shrugs.
At that, Tiffany smacks her hands together, before pointing accusingly at the others, “I told you losers that it would come in handy, and now it saved Hyuck’s life!”
“Know that I never questioned you for stashing it there, Fanny.” Donghyuck cheekily throws finger guns at his other manager.
“I know, Hyuck, that’s why you’re my favorite out of these doofuses.” Tiffany reciprocates his gesture.
Chenle gasps, clutching a hand against his chest, “I thought I was your favorite!”
The bickering of his coworkers gets drowned out in the background, when Donghyuck turns around at the feeling of a gentle tap on his shoulder.
“Officer Lee.” He breathes out, coming face to face with Mark, who stood an inch taller than him. It’s only now that Donghyuck notices the subtle difference in their height as he’s fully standing up straight in front of the latter. Though, it still somehow felt like the officer was much taller, in the way Donghyuck had to look up at him with a slight tilt of his head.
“Hey, I thought I’d offer you a ride home.” Mark says casually, his hands resting at the neckline of his vest again.
Oh? Donghyuck didn’t know police officers could do that.
“I don’t want to hassle you though, and I have my car—” He starts, feeling unsure about the idea.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s to ensure your safety, after what happened tonight. And I’m off duty right now, and heading home anyway.” Mark interjects gently, with an easy smile. Sensing the slight hesitation in his expression, he directs Donghyuck’s gaze over to the far corner of the parking lot, where a tall and handsome officer stood by one of the many other idle police vehicles, “You see that guy over there? That’s my good friend, Lucas. He can drive your car back to your place by tonight.”
Turns out, Donghyuck’s earlier speculations were right, and the whole team was full of good-looking officers. Damn.
“Are you sure it’s not too much for him?” Donghyuck wavers, fidgeting with his sleeves.
Mark lets out a hearty laugh, “Oh, you have no idea! He loves driving people’s cars. That’s like his thing, in our team. And don’t worry, he won’t drive off with your car and sell it, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He adds the last part, with a teasing lilt in his voice.
If Donghyuck wasn’t so on alert about the fact that he’s talking so casually with a police officer, he would’ve playfully shoved or hit Mark’s arm by habit for that comment. “That’s not what I was thinking!” He exclaims, defensively. “Honestly, it’s a pretty old car. So, if he wants to steal it, he can be my guest.” He adds, and realises what it sounds like, even if he meant it as a joke, “Okay, that was not me admitting to car insurance fraud, though!”
“Of course not. I believe you.” Mark assures him with exaggerated wholehearted nods and furrowed brows, playing along.
Phew! Donghyuck really needs to control his mouth from blabbering unserious comments around cops, and get himself to wrongfully end up in jail. It’s really a good thing that Mark gets his shit sense of humour.
“Come on. Let’s give him your keys, and we can hit the road.” Mark starts walking him across the parking lot, and holds out his hand, “You have your car keys?”
Donghyuck pulls out his keys from the pocket of his leather jacket and places them in the officer’s outstretched hand, their fingers brushing briefly.
Mark takes a look at the logo on the key and asks, “Toyota?”
“Yup, it’s the SUV by the lamppost over there.” Donghyuck points to the dark vehicle parked by one of the lampposts, slightly shadowed under the autumn-leaved branches of a tall tree by the curb.
Mark nods in acknowledgement, gently tossing the jangling keys in his hand, as they make their way over to where most of the cruisers were parked like a herd of sheep. When Officer Lucas comes into view, Mark grabs the latter’s attention, “Yo, Toyota SUV. Opposite corner of the parking lot.” He tosses him the keys with laid-back ease. “I’ll text you the location.”
Lucas catches the array of metals, “Cool.”
“Thank you so much!” Donghyuck clasps his hands together, in a gesture of gratitude.
“My pleasure. Have a good night.” The officer smiles, waving at him, after pocketing his keys.
Donghyuck follows Mark through the array of models of Ford Police vehicles, until they come to a stop at Mark’s own patrol SUV, parked a few cars away from Lucas’. He tries his best to not let his intrusive thoughts make another comeback, as he watches the officer insert his own jingling key into the front passenger door’s lock with effortless charisma.
Mark holds the door open for him, with one of his forearms resting along its top frame, “Hope in.” He gestures with a tilt of his head, and an endearing smile grazing his lips. Donghyuck is really having a hard time not falling for his charm.
Once they’re both seated and finally on their way to Donghyuck’s apartment, Mark reaches to click a few buttons on the devices in his patrol vehicle while they wait at a red light. He lowers the volume on the radio, and turns to Donghyuck, “You okay, there? Sleepy?”
Donghyuck pretends he wasn’t just ogling at Mark’s hand on the wheel a few minutes ago before he settled on looking out the window, as he turns his head towards the latter, “You caught me before I succumbed to fifteen hours of slumber.”
Mark chuckles, “Didn’t sleep last night? I remember you said you got a wink of sleep.”
Pause. Mark remembers that? Donghyuck is seriously going to let this man do things to him if he keeps showing such attractive qualities. Attentive? Check. Charming? Check. Kind? Check. Really sexy? Oh, boy… Check.
“Yeah, I was working on an essay for my psychology class. Needless to say, that class is kicking my ass.” Donghyuck huffs, slumping into his seat a little.
“You study Psychology?” It’s just a simple question, and even if it wasn’t so obvious, Donghyuck can’t help but notice the slight intrigue in his voice.
Ugh, if only Donghyuck felt the same level of intrigue studying the damn program.
“Yup, and I’m tempted to book myself a session with a therapist every time I need to write ten pages about Freud or some other guy from the eighteen hundreds.”
“Ouch, it really is kicking your butt, huh?” Mark throws him a glance, before reverting his focus back on the road ahead. The passing trees outside cast him in a shadow, framing his jet black hair and the side of his face in a way that makes Donghyuck’s heart flutter.
“Mhm,” Donghyuck adjusts himself on his seat, throwing a leg over the other, “I’m pretty sure my professor hates me. He never answers his emails, and is always calling my work mid.”
“Wait, did he actually call it mid?” Mark sounds surprised, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at him.
“No, he’s a dinosaur…” Donghyuck quips with a hint of sass, “But he might as well just say it, because he’s always insisting I review the structure of my paragraphs. And mind you, his TA tells me otherwise. So, who here is actually telling the truth?”
Mark hums in thought, taking a left turn at an intersection, “I believe this calls for some detective work. Given that he’s notorious for not answering emails, which takes off points for credibility and reliability…” He trails off, as if he were profiling a suspect, casually lifting a finger up every time he lists something, with his elbow resting on the center console.
Donghyuck crosses his arms loosely, and twists around in his seat to look at Mark, “So, what’s the verdict, Officer?”
Mark readjusts his grip on the steering wheel, his watch glinting under the streetlights, while he taps his fingers against his thigh, “Either your professor is really strict, or really old and bitter.”
“I think all of the above, but especially the last two.” Donghyuck nods, approvingly.
“Well, I’m not your professor, but you seem like a good student to me.” Mark adds casually, glancing his way for a split second.
“What makes you say that?” Donghyuck asks, curiosity laced in his voice.
“I mean, the way you stalled and unarmed Eyebrow Slit with a simple metal rod tonight—which is pretty impressive, and I would have to see for myself when we later review the footage—I’d say that you’re both book smart and street smart. Especially the latter, which I could say with confidence.”
Wait a minute, did Mark just say Eyebrow Slit? How does he keep retaining every silly little thing that escapes Donghyuck’s mouth?
Sigh… can this man get any more perfect. Good listener is another quality Donghyuck is going to have to add to the list of What Makes Officer Undercut The Sexiest Man Ever. This is not looking too good for Donghyuck’s heart.
Pretending to be offended, he retorts, “Okay, I’m going to look past you implying I’m not so academically smart—”
“Hey, hey, stop twisting my words now,” Mark laughs, “You know that’s not what I meant!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Donghyuck says slowly with a teasing smirk, eliciting the officer to throw him an incredulous glance, before he lets out a dramatic sigh, “If only my professor saw what you saw. You didn’t even read one of my essays and you’re gassing me up. Do they teach you that in the academy, to gas up civilians that you give rides to after a hostage situation?”
Mark hums, a small smile taking over his lips, as he thoughtfully taps his pointer finger on the steering wheel, “Only the cute ones.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Donghyuck is going to launch himself out of his seat and crash himself onto the streets. His head is already sweating buckets under his stupid wig, and now with Mark’s words, it’s not helping that his ears are warming up near his ridiculous braided pigtails.
Donghyuck does what he’s best at, and fires back a question to mask his fluster, “Oh, was flirting also part of your training?”
“Actually, no, it’s just an acquired skill once you complete your training and make it into the field.” Mark responds easily with quick wit.
“And how long have you been in the field?”
“About five years now.”
“And I assume you’ve flirted with many in that time.” Never had Donghyuck thought he would be interrogating a police officer, but here he is doing exactly that.
“Not any that I can recall, actually. So, no.” Mark parks them by the curb, right in front of Donghyuck’s apartment building, and leans back in his seat.
“Is this a trick to try to flatter me?" Donghyuck questions, suspicion lacing his voice. He really doesn’t want to get the wrong idea, and embarrass himself—at least, not in his Annabelle costume. Maybe he should’ve begged his coworkers to let him wear a much cuter costume if he had known he’d find himself being potentially hit on by a really handsome cop.
“Is it working?” Mark shoots back, expecting.
“I don’t know, are you being truthful?” He needs to make sure this is not just playful banter, or whatever it is they’re getting themselves into.
“I am. It’s not every day I come across a pretty boy with a sharp tongue while I’m on duty—especially one that is dressed as a haunted doll, on Halloween. It’s a first for me.” Mark says earnestly, making Donghyuck roll his eyes and let out a shy laugh under his breath.
“Is this observation of yours coming from a professional or personal standpoint?”
“Both.” Comes Mark’s firm answer. “Heavy on the personal standpoint. And this is coming from someone who usually keeps everything strictly professional while on the job.” He clarifies, as he expectantly waits for Donghyuck’s response.
“I believe you.” Donghyuck says teasingly, but the timid smile on his lips gives him away. “I also keep things very professional.”
“Is that so?” Mark wonders, slow and teasing, as he leans forward with an elbow pressed on the center console between their bodies.
“Mhm.” Donghyuck agrees cheekily, while finding himself also leaning forward with his hands clenched into loose fists in his lap, subconsciously clutching the fabric of his Annabelle dress.
“I do recall that pulling pranks on your coworkers is not so professional though…” Mark mutters, his eyes quickly flicking down Donghyuck’s lips before going back to his eyes.
The lingering chilly air in the car, from the late October night, is now replaced with something warmer and thicker. They are so dangerously close, to the point that they can feel each other’s breaths on their lips. If one of them moved just a little, things would definitely take a not so professional turn.
“That’s because they’re my coworkers. I take things seriously around cute police officers.” Donghyuck’s eyes, now hooded, flick between Mark’s eyes and lips.
“Good to know.” Mark mutters with a charming wry smile, bringing a hand up to hold Donghyuck’s cheek, as they both finally meet in the middle and close the remaining distance between each other.
It starts with soft brushes and presses of their lips, before they’re going in and kissing like they have all the time in the world. Their lips move against each other with surprising gentleness, even for the evident heat and hunger they’ve been holding back throughout the whole night. Mark cradles his cheek, thumb caressing it so softly like he’s the most precious piece of crystal.
Donghyuck tilts his head and lets out a small breathy sound at the back of his throat, moving a hand to hold onto Mark’s wrist near his face, as the latter bites his bottom lip before slipping his tongue into his mouth.
The feeling of Mark’s warm tongue in his mouth only lasts a few seconds, as a bell goes off in Donghyuck’s head and has him instantly parting away, “Hold on, is your body cam off?”
The worried glint in Mark’s pupils immediately dies out once he processes Donghyuck’s words, and gets replaced with fond amusement, “It’s off. Everything’s been off the whole time.” He reassures him.
“Good,” Donghyuck breathes out in relief, feeling a little lightheaded. “Don’t want to get you fired.” He pants softly, eyes casted down in sheepishness.
“You’re good. Come here.” Mark grabs him by the jaw with one hand, fingers pressed into either side of it, and pulls him back into the kiss.
A small whine escapes his throat when Mark explores his mouth and bites on his already bruised bottom lip again. Donghyuck’s hand slides down from his wrist and rests at his surprisingly thick forearm, just as Mark’s own finds his waist under his jacket. The latter’s fingers press into his side, while his other hand gently pushes one of his braided pigtails behind his shoulder to cradle his head and thumb at the space between his cheek and ear.
Donghyuck is seriously about to combust at how carefully Mark is handling him. Wanting to feel him closer, his other arm climbs up from his own lap and wraps itself around the officer’s neck. Mark obliges by leaning his head closer into his space, past the center console, making the back of Donghyuck’s head almost hit the headrest of his seat.
“Is that cherry?” Mark pulls back for a second, referring to the sugary taste of Donghyuck’s mouth while swiping his thumb across the plump flesh of his glistening lips.
“Cherry lollipop.” Donghyuck answers simply, thinking of the one he had earlier tonight in the control room. The ruffles of his costume’s sleeves, peeking past the cuffs of his jacket, brush against Mark’s nape, as he subconsciously moves his fingers to softly scratch at the prickly shaven hair there.
Mark stares dazedly at his flushed cheeks for a second, “God, you’re the cutest.” He breathes out before capturing Donghyuck’s lips again.
And Donghyuck lets him, giggling softly into his lips.
He forgets for how long they just go at it, but when it feels like they might be there for the whole night, he pulls away with a soft smack, “I need to get going. I have class in the morning.” He mutters under his breath, suddenly feeling a bit too shy to look into Mark’s eyes.
He literally just made out with a police officer for who knows how long, in his patrol car, parked outside of his apartment. What if Officer Lucas drives by with Donghyuck’s car and sees what they’re doing. Oh, God.
Mark’s hand comes up to brush the few strands of the bangs that were poking at his eyebrows to the side. His touch, always so gentle, has Donghyuck’s lashes fluttering for a fleeting second and has him swallowing down the butterfly-inducing feelings that were surging up his chest and throat.
“Okay,” Mark says softly, understanding. He pauses for a second as Donghyuck looks up at him with a timid smile, “I might contact you later this week for on the record and off the record purposes.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Donghyuck’s smile widens, looking down for a brief second as he reaches to brush his fingers against Mark’s wrist in between their laps, before looking up at him again, “Mostly for the off the record one.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Mark smiles, in that endearing way again and Donghyuck feels like he needs to control himself from not jumping into his lap right there and resume their kissing, “I guess I’ll hopefully see you around?”
“I guess you will—preferably not in a wig and a dress, the next time.” Donghyuck adds, leaning forward with one arm balancing his weight on the center control.
“Well, I don’t really have a preference.” Mark murmurs with a teasing smile, tapping the pad of his index finger against the plush of Donghyuck’s bottom lip, eliciting the latter to follow the movement with his eyes. Leaning in, he lays a lingering kiss there, making Donghyuck’s breath hitch.
“I’m flattered.” Donghyuck says, hushed, in between their shared breath.
Mark pulls back slightly, to look properly into his eyes, a thumb brushing at the satin ribbon on one of Donghyuck’s braided pigtails, “Goodnight, Donghyuck.”
“Goodnight, Officer.” Donghyuck reaches for the door handle, but gets stopped when Mark grabs his wrist and pulls him back until his hand is pressed against his chest. Donghyuck mindlessly clenches his fingers into the thick fabric of his geared vest, finding solace there.
“You’re still gonna address me like that after we just kissed?” Mark asks astonishingly, like he’s been greatly wronged.
Oh my fucking god, Donghyuck is trying so hard to control himself from climbing onto his lap right this instance, and this man is making it harder every second.
“You’re the first cop I’ve ever kissed! I don’t know how this is supposed to go. You tell me!” Donghyuck scrambles to say, pouting.
Mark lets out a hearty laugh, eyes crinkling into crescents, before reaching to cup Donghyuck's cheeks, “Call me Mark.” The way some strands of his hair fall messily onto his forehead—from Donghyuck’s doing, of course—, makes him look so—ugh.
Oh, and Donghyuck feels dizzy alright, like he’s concussed, and he realises he doesn’t need to be to find Mark the hottest man ever.
“Alright,” Donghyuck gives in, and leans forward to peck Mark’s cheek, “Goodnight, Mark.”
When he sits back down, the officer is already looking at him with such intensity in his dark brown eyes. Feeling shy under his gaze, Donghyuck gives him one last soft smile and gets out of his car.
Mark’s cruiser never leaves the block even when Donghyuck has entered the front lobby and the elevator to take him up to his apartment.
Later that night, when he’s swaddled in his cotton pajamas and laying under his sheets, his lips still tingling and his mind still hazy with broad police vest-clad shoulders and attractive jet black haired undercuts, he remembers something.
Mark had said he was going to review the footage of Donghyuck’s incident with Eyebrow Slit Guy in the security control room. This means that he’s also going to see everything that happened a few minutes before it, in that same room,—Donghyuck shamelessly shooting him heart eyes and thirsting over him to Chenle. Oh, no.
Donghyuck squeals in horror into his pillow.
🍭