I Hate Myself For Loving You (Jikook)

The Disappearance

After driving through the night for about an hour, his phone rang. It was his mother, as the caller ID notified him. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to her now. He was tired and still feeling a little raw emotionally, he even considered ignoring her, acting as if he was asleep, but he heavily doubted that she would believe him.

"Hey Mom, any reason you called?"

"Took you long enough, son. I've got a case for you near Gyeongju. Six bodies were found, all without a single drop of blood left in them. I want you to check it out. Something seems wrong."

"What do you mean weird? Sounds like a typical bloodsucking asshole." While it wasn't weird for his mother to call him about cases, it definitely wasn't usual. Jimin liked to find his own cases, and his parents did the same. He figures that they are maybe getting old.

The other end of the line was silent for a few moments, and Jimin wasn't sure his mother would answer him at all. "It's complicated, Jimin-ah." She says, at last, as Jimin listened closely, his mother sounded exhausted, nothing like the strict woman he knew. "I sent a hunter there a few weeks ago when your father and I were hunting a poltergeist in Chuncheon, but I haven't heard back from him for the past two weeks. He's one of the best, and it's not like him to not update regularly."

Jimin stiffens in his seat, holding the steering wheel hard enough for his knuckles to pop out harshly. There were only a handful of hunters in Korea, and even fewer were any good. To narrow it down even further, there was only one person his parents could be worried about enough to call Jimin. The sinking realization made breathing harder by the second, and he knew that stopping at the side of the road would be safer, considering his current condition.

"It's Jeongguk, right?" it was more of a statement than a question, and the lack of an answer confirmed it for him. He turned his car quickly, driving off in the opposite direction, back south towards Gyeongju. "Send me everything you have about this case. I should arrive there in about 4 hours." He hung up everything said that needed to be said.

Jimin's heart was pounding against his ribs, adrenaline rushing through his body, making him feel lightheaded. Jimin never had a friend, but Jeongguk had been once closest to what could have become a friend.

They met for the first time when Jimin was 14, hunting with his parents in Busan. A demon had killed a couple while their son had survived. The boy, who was 12 then, didn't have any other relatives, so Jimin's parents decided to take him in. After the demon was dead, Jeongguk begged Jimin's parents to train him, too, to which his parents agreed. From then on, the two grew up together, training together and spending every minute of the day with each other. Back then, they had promised each other to stay together, hunting monsters as a team as soon as they were old enough.

Now Jimin rarely thinks about Jeongguk anymore, only a fleeting memory of his childhood. His mother and father also tried to avoid the topic of Jeongguk whenever they talked to their son. The fact that his mother called him specifically because of Jeongguk and even wanted him to look for the younger could only mean one thing. The chance of finding Jeongguk alive was slim.

After a little more than three and a half hours of nonstop driving, Jimin finally arrived at the motel Jeongguk had supposedly stayed at for the past weeks. It looked like the typical motel a hunter would choose. Sparsely visited and right on the outskirts of the city.

After securing his gun under his jacket, Jimin stepped out of his car walking to the reception, where a young girl was lazily scrolling through her phone, radio music playing from somewhere in the room. Only after Jimin walked right up to her did she glance at him. "Hey, could you give me some information about one of your guests? His name is Kim Himchan. He must've checked in about four weeks ago." In moments like these, Jimin was thankful for his looks, which seemed to attract women and men alike. While the girl was hesitating for a second, one look at Jimin's most charming smile, and she nodded with red cheeks.