Chapter Text
In the time of working in Seoul's famous public library, Jake can tell you he's heard pretty much everything. From daily meet ups and interesting gossip about asshole boyfriends to breakups, kissing, and other gross things you should not be doing in a public library.
Almost all those things would be forgotten about after a day or two but there's one very popular gossip going around that Jake just couldn't seem to forget, Lee Heeseung.
This boy seemed to really be the talk of the town, a twenty three year old boy who lives in a house just three blocks away from the library he works at now. A psychopathic druggie who only comes out during the night to raise all hell in Seoul.
Jake moved to Seoul last month from Australia and he's already heard so much about him on the news already. Innocent civilians dying every night with gunshot or stab wounds yet none of them could ever identify his face.
Heeseung was clever at that, wearing a hood and mask over his face in the dark nights that made it almost impossible to make out any facial feature. Jake carries a taser on him every night just for extra safety precautions.
Jake went through each isle of the library, putting returned books back on their shelves from the cart. It was the last thing he had to do today before closing the library. It was around nine at night, the days are getting warmer as spring was going and summer was coming.
Putting the last book on the shelf, he pushed the cart back to the side of the wooden desk. "Alright, just gotta pack up and I'll be on my way to the comfort of my home." Jake mumbled as he packed up all his papers and threw them away. He took his keys, opening the library doors and turned the lights off.
Humming to himself as he stepped outside and shut the doors, locking them and jiggled the doors just to make sure. "Oh wait, I have to get Layla food..." Jake said to himself, "I guess a trip to the store won't hurt..." He said as he started walking down the street.
It was quiet, not a voice from anyone but chirps of the crickets in the bushes. Dare Jake say it was peaceful when he was almost always anxious somewhere in his chest at these nights. It's not even Midnight and he's already looking behind him.
"Stop being paranoid, Jake. You're fine." He told himself which did calm the anxiety just a bit. He turned onto another street before opening the door to the store. The familiar jingle signaling a customer sent him back to the little convenience stores in Australia.
Jake walked through every isle and stopped at the dog food, crouching down to read the labels and grabbed some hard food for the dog. "Perfect." He said with a smile and stood back up. The store jingled again and a boy walked in. He seemed close to Jake's age, if not older.
In his neck almost behind his ear was a tattoo of a pitbull. Unless it was supposed to mean something, Jake assumed it was just his dog. He walked over to the coolers and took a diet Pepsi, calculating the price in his head and walked over to the counter.
Setting his things down, he cleared his throat to wake up the cashier sleeping behind the counter. She was an old lady, in her late sixties, "good to see you again, dear." She said in her frail voice. "Good to see you, Grannie. How's Poco doing?" Poco was her cat, old in age just like her but the two were best friends.
Sometimes she brought Poco to the store with her which really attracted the kids. "Poco? Poco passed away last night, honey." She said and Jake frowned. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Grannie. You know where to find me if you need anything." He said as he took the bag of dog food and the drink.
"Ahh, it's fine it's fine. As long as you keep coming here after work, I look forward to the next day again." She said and Jake smiled at that, "bye!" He waved as he left the store. A smile on his face, at least the cat won't be in pain anymore. Poor thing was blind.
As Jake headed back home, he couldn't help but divert his attention to the block that psycho's house was in. He wanted to go so badly, just to see how scary it was, but that was for another day. Jake punched in his house code and opened the door, the sound of a barking dog got closer and closer Layla ran to the door.
"Hi girl! I got you some food~ did the babysitter feed you?" Jungwon said as he took his shoes off, putting on slippers instead. "Yes I did!! But she didn't want to eat anything, you know how she is." His best friend Sunghoon said with mittens on his hands.
"Go eat, Layla. I'm home now." Jake said as he stepped further into the house. He headed to the pantry closet, putting the food on the shelf and opened the Pepsi. "It smells amazing, what are you cooking?"
"Just finished up some spaghetti, I hope youre hungry." Sunghoon said with a grin and headed back to the kitchen. "I just finished it, so please sit down." He said, carrying the boy over. Jake walked to the dining table and sat down, stomach growling.
"I appreciate you so much, Hoon. You really don't have to but you always do this and I'm really grateful." Jake said and the blonde shook his head. "Don't thank me, it's the least I could do for someone paying me to watch his dog." Sunghoon said, sitting at the table.
They both carefully put some food on their plates and began eating, "Hey, have you ever went to the fifth block ??" Jake said after some minutes of munching on the amazing food. "Me? No. My parents put tracking on my phone because of that guy. Anytime I'm near that block, they call me freaking out." Sunghoon said and shrugged.
"Hm..." Jake hummed, shrugging as he ate more of his food, even having seconds which only happens on days he works late. Jake works seven to four Sunday through Wednesday and six to nine Thursday through Saturday. Sunghoon volunteered to cook the late days in the week and Jake would take him out to eat earlier in the week.
It's their little dynamic and it works for them. The two of them finished up and Sunghoon helped Jake clean up before making his way to the door. "I appreciate you again, Hoon. Only got tomorrow late again and I'll hopefully make up for this Sunday evening." Jake said and Sunghoon smiled, "ice cream?" He suggested and he smiled.
"Chocolate?" He added, wiggling his eyebrows. "Yes! I'm looking forward to it, bye won!" He waved as he opened the door. "Bye Hoon! Be careful!" He said as the door shut behind him. Jake sighed with a smile and looked at Layla. "Time for bed." He said quietly and turned off the kitchen and living room lights.
Layla joined him as he walked down the hall to his bedroom, letting the dog jump onto his bed. Jake laughed and took off his clothes, "you really missed me, did you?" He asked, grabbing some PJs from the closet. Layla indulged in the small talk, barking in response.
Jake laughed, his phone vibrating. He out the shirt on, turned on his phone and smiled seeing a message from Sunghoon that he made it home. Jake threw his phone onto the bed, putting on some pants before walking back to his bed.
"It's getting warmer, I have to invest in an AC soon" he said, grabbing his charger and plugged his phone in. He got under the covers, pulling Layla close. "Goodnight, girl~" he said softly and soon fell asleep.
The unflattering sound of his alarm clock woke him up at seven in the morning, he lazily turned it off and the much happier sound of birds chirping added to the day.
Jake got up out of bed which became a lot easier after a month of doing so and headed to the closet. He took out a long sleeved button up and some black jean shorts, putting them on the bed with half open eyes and shrugged his clothes off.
Putting on the new clothes he had, he walked into the kitchen and put some cereal bars into his pocket, "Layla ! Come eat your food!" Jake shouted, the dog came running right over to her bowl and started eating. Jake took a cereal bar from his pocket and munched on it as he waited for Sunghoon.
It only took him five minutes to get there but the door opened. "Hi Jake, good morning. You look rough." Sunghoon laughed and he rolled his eyes. "Gee thanks. I gotta get going. I'll see you at nine." He mumbled, he hugged his friend and walked out the door.
The sun was just finishing it's rise, the sky decorated in oranges and pinks as he neared the cross walk, hitting the walk button as the cars slowed to a stop. He bowed to them and jogged across the street to the doors of the library. Opening the doors and flicked the lights on.
The place was cold, too cold for the morning as he settled on 68° for now. A nice lukewarm setting as he closed the doors while stepping in. He walked to his desk, turning the computer on and sat at his seat. Putting up a new sign in sheet to start the day.
He hoped it wouldn't be as slow as it was yesterday, so close to closing early but he feared someone would come right as he did.
When it hit eleven in the morning, that's when the place started getting people. His sign in sheet half filled with checked out books when the door opened again. "Hello and welcome!" Jake said with a puppy-like smile, the boy looked at him and bowed with a small smile, walking to the isles and skimmed for a book.
Jake watched him, the boy was familiar but he really couldn't place a finger on it. Then the boy turned and Jake caught a glimpse of the tattoo on the guy's neck and immediately it clicked. He grinned as that same boy walked to the desk. "Can I check this out and read it here??" The boy asked quietly and Jake nodded. "Of course! Just put your name, date, and the barcode number on the sheet and youre good to go." He said softly.
"Also.." he started as the boy wrote what he was asked to. "I can't help but notice the tattoo on your neck...is that your dog? I'm sorry for my rudeness." He said softly and the boy smiled a little. "Yeah it is, her name's Ruby." The boy said and Jake repeated the name quietly.
"That's a cute name for a cute dog. Enjoy your book!" He said with a smile, "do you by any chance have a private room I could read this??" Jake got up, and walked to the door just to the left of the library. "I don't really let people come here unless they have mental disabilities that makes it hard for them to concentrate but since you are new, I'll allow it." He said and unlocked the door.
"Thank you" the boy mumbled and walked in, shutting the door. Jake walked to the sign in sheet, Evan ...so that's what his name was? Jake smiled and sat back at his desk and rested his head in his hand as the day ticked by.
Nothing much happened after that, nothing interesting and the bright sky was soon getting darker. Jake looked at the time, four in the evening, he still had five more hours.
Evan stepped out of the room and smiled at Jake, "I'd like to borrow this for a few days. What should I do?" He asked and Jake hummed, "nothing! You can take it home just come back when you wanna return it and we'll take it from there."
"Great, thanks." Evan said and stepped out of the library, Jake following his move until he left. He sighed after, feeling a little bummed out. He felt there was so much more to talk about but Evan didn't seem like chatting.
Jake called up Sunghoon, waiting a ring or two until he answered. "hey, how's my baby doing?" He said softly and heard a little laugh, "awe sweetheart, im doing great!" Sunghoon said, seemingly happy. "Not you, dumbass. The dog."
"Oh." Sunghoon grumbled, "she's fine I guess. Sleeping on the floor in front of me. How does left overs sound? I'm not in the mood to cook." Sunghoon said softly and Jake hummed. "Sounds good to me. I have four or five more hours so I'll see you then??"
"Sure, see you then." Jake smiled and hung up.
Jake jiggled the doors once more, yawning as he headed to the store. He had no plans of buying unlike yesterday but he wanted to see grannie. Opening the doors to the store, he turned to see a young girl working.
"Where's Grannie??" Jake frowned, "The lady? She fell sick yesterday night so her caregiver's taking care of her." She said and he nodded slowly, "alright.. well the next time she comes in for work, tell her Jake visited." He said and left.
He felt kind of bummed out but the cat was old anyway, bound to get sick or injured. He doesn't know what he'd do if she passes away, hoping it won't happen for another some years.
Jake went to head home but curiosity got the best of him. He looked at the time, ten-thirty. He shrugged and headed down the street "one...two..three..." He mumbled, "five." He said and walked down the side walk. "A peek won't hurt.." he said and walked around, finding a house that looked really out of place. It was black, a fence going around with barbed wire at the top and a sign saying 'BEWARE of Dog.'
Something about the house really seemed to draw him in, he wasn't quite sure what It was but he didn't have the time to find out. He turned and left to go back home.
Inside that house stood Heeseung, peeking through the blinds as he watched that boy turn and leave. He didn't know what it was about him but Heeseung found himself slowly becoming infatuated with him. The puppy boy only continued to spark his interest since the convenience store.
He sat on his couch when the boy disappeared, chewing on his lip as he rolled the blunt, licking the stray edge and sealed it. Taking his lighter, he lit it up and inhaled, allowing the drug to fill his lungs and veins.
Heeseung closed his eyes and blew out the smoke through his nose, the faint sound of his TV playing in the background as he inhaled once again for a minute too long and ended up in a coughing fit. He looked at the time seeing it was twelve-twenty in the morning and inhaled the blunt on last time before putting it out using his wall. Where other burn marks remained.
Heeseung got up off his couch, now having a job to do. Throwing on his hoodie and as soon as his hand touched that gun it was like a switch that flicked off in his head. He picked it up, admiring the light that gleamed on the metal and immediately smiled so wide, it hurt his cheeks.
He headed out to his front door, throwing on a mask and put his hood up before stepping out, slamming his door shut that had ruby barking in his backyard.
Heeseung kept his head down, walking across the street to the fourth block, shooting some teen on his porch once or twice when he saw him staring in fear, letting the sight of blood splatter out the craze I'm his wide kill hungry eyes. He walked down the street, hitting any lone person closest to him without any thought or hesitance.
He stopped at a flower shop another block over, aiming at the cashier with his head lowered and sent a bullet straight through her head. He hopped over the counter, taking four white roses and walked to the girl who laid limp and bleeding out in her own pool of blood.
He hummed a creepy tune and let the roses soak in the deep red blood. "Perfect." He mumbled, smiling widely again. "I hope he likes it" he said while snapping off a brown part of the stems and walked to the front of the store, taking a card and headed back to the counter. He tied the flowers up with a ribbon, puncturing a hole in the card to attach the ribbon to and wrote something down.
When he deemed it perfect he had just the person to give it to. Shooting the girl in the chest one more time for good measure before leaving the store. He began to stalk the streets, looking at an old lady on the porch of her house and shot her right then and there in the chest and the caregiver after that who left the house in worry.
Heeseung laughed loudly, throwing his back against the side of a house, just two houses down and reached into his pocket to pull out a cigarette and lighter. Holding the cig to his lips, he lit the cigarette and walked to that same house he shot the granny at and lit it on fire using his lighter. The house was old anyway so it didn't take much time.
Heeseung walked away shortly after, house going up in flames as soon as his back was turned. He walked down the street in slow strides. A house stood just down the road of the Library, standing out to him the most. It was lit on the inside and if Heeseung squinted, he can see that boy and some blonde one chatting. He inhaled the cigarette one more time and dropped it to the ground, stepping on it to put it out.
He placed the flowers at the doorstep with a splat, the blood soaked petals making contact with the concrete. He banged harshly on the door and hid on the side of the house. The puppy boy, walked out seeming afraid at the noise, bending down to the roses, then at the blood that dripped on his hand. The boy looked horrified for a second, opening the letter.
Jake read the note attached to the ribbon, the penmanship was a little bad but he really didn't care much since he could read it anyway,
"white roses painted red for the prettiest boy I've seen. I hope you like them, Puppy. -LHS"
Jake didn't know who this LHS person was but he assumed a secret admirer therefore feeling guilty to just throw it away or leave it. That's when he smelled something burning and took his phone out to call the fire department, heading back inside.
Heeseung heard the door shut and creeped up back to the window and peeked through the blind view to see the boy walk to his room with those flowers, on the phone with someone. He came back out the room empty handed and joined the blonde at the door who seemed to be getting ready to leave. Heeseung took his own leave then. Walking back home, feeling satisfied with what he did today.
When he made it back home, he smoked another blunt the rest of the night, letting it seep through his entire body and laughed out loud. High as a kite in his own home, Ruby out back in her dog house. He smoked until it was done, leaving it to simmer out in the ash tray and went to bed.
