Chapter 15

"Jongin, Mr. Kang is here," Jongin heard his mom call. Jongin made his way downstaris to greet his parents' business partner. He politely greeted the man in front of him. The man smiled back, the smile not really reaching his eyes. He sat there while his parents had small talk with the man. Jongin could not stop thinking about Taemin, especially after he was kidnapped.

He wanted to go back to his room to grab his phone and call Jonghyun to see if he had any updates on the situation, but he could not do that as they had a guest. He honestly could not say that he enjoyed the man’s presence, but he had to act polite so he tried his best to focus on the man who seemed to have charmed his parents. Their maid brought out some snacks and tea to serve Mr. Kang. The maid gave a small smile to Jongin when she placed his cup in front of him. Jongin looked at her gratefully when he saw that she placed his phone between the cup of tea and the small plate with a slice of cake. It was carefully placed so that his parents and Mr.Kang would not notice it. Jongin quickly grabbed his phone and saw that he had five missed calls from Jonghyun and 2 messages popped up on his notifications.

“Jongin, are you alright?” His mom asked, “You seem out of it.”

“I'm quite alright,” Jongin responded. He held the urge to phone back or read the messages and quickly slipped his phone into his pocket and pretended to be interested in the conversation in front of him. He was not supposed to have his phone and he had a guest to entertain so he could not simply rush out.

He continued to sit there, his mouth moving in response to Mr. Kang’s question even though his mind was elsewhere, it's almost like a skill Jongin had developed over the years. The question goes in the one ear, answer out his mouth and the question goes out the other ear. His answers were quite generic, but it seemed to please his parents and the guest.

Jongin sighed as the door closed; Mr. Kang on the other side, finally about to leave. He quickly sent a message to Jonghyun telling him he would head over in a bit after reading through the messages. It seemed that they finally got some hints. Jongin was a bit excited at the prospect of getting closer to the mystery that is Taemin.

Jonghyun hung up after calling for the fifth time. He quickly typed a message telling Jongin that they had a clue to finding Taemin and a second one telling him to come over.

“Jongin isn't answering his phone, maybe he’s busy” Jonghyun explained to the people in the room, “He’ll probably come as soon as he sees the message.”

The others in the room nodded, but looked at the ‘stranger’ in the room.

“So what are you doing here?” Seungri asked. The others which included Jin, Junmyoon, Suga and Jonghyun were also meaning to ask the same question.

“You guys offered your help,” Key shrugged, “It would be easier for you guys with informant connections to find him.”

Key made himself comfortable on the couch as Jonghyun looked at the picture he had in his hand. His eyes widened, he knew who it was. It would be strange to be an investigator without knowing a single informant. Suga also seemed to know him. They both looked at each other. How could they have been so dumb? If they wanted information, they could have gone to an informant. Jonghyun quickly phoned the number saved on his phone, under the name Zico. Hopefully, they would be able to get some information.

“Hello, Zico speaking,” the voice emitting from the Jonghyun’s device.

“Hey,” Jonghyun responded, “I need some information.”

“Sure, tell me what you're looking for,” he responded.

“I don't know what he’s name is, but I'll send you a picture,” Jonghyun stated, “Tell me what you know about him and what his connection is to Taemin and Jiyong.”

“Cool, I'll see what I can find and send you the info after you make the payment.”

After hanging up, Jonghyun let out a sigh of relief. Finally things were going somewhere. Hopefully everything would fall into place soon.

Seungri and the others left after asking Jonghyun to keep them updated.

Jonghyun looked back at Key and he could see the worry in his eyes despite the guy trying to hide it by acting casual and confident.

“You okay?” Jonghyun asked carefully.

Key looked up. “Yeah, why wouldn't I be?”

But Jonghyun could hear the wobble in his voice. Hesitantly, Jonghyun sat down next to Key.

“It's going to be okay,” Jonghyun reassured him.

Key let his facade fall and his uncertainty show.

“Will it really be?” Key questioned no one in particular and he let out a hollow chuckle. “We might be known as the ‘strongest gang’, but we’re all fighting our own battle, them especially. And I wish I could help more so that they don't have to suffer so much.”

Jonghyun could only stay silent, unable to think of anything to say. He denied it all this time, but deep down he knew the truth. The Zutters they encountered were different. They were vastly different from the police files, they strayed from the image of the people that he had originally wanted to arrest.

The Zutters that they met acted threatening, but still bandaged Joingin’s arm. They pretended that they wanted them dead, but they would still call the ambulance for them. The Zutters they knew would risk their own lives to help the other members. They acted like they did not care about anything, but they cared the most. The Zutters he had come to know followed them around so that other gangs would not attack them. It was ironic. It was supposed to be Jongin’s school project, but now Jonghyun was the one that learnt the most.

He has learnt that he was too ignorant. He judged too quickly. He had easily assumed that they needed to be thrown into prison, but the person sitting next to him believed otherwise. Logically speaking, the Zutters barely committed enough crime, at least not enough to warrant them in jail while more heinous criminals ran around freely.

The stories that he heard of some of the members before they joined the gang proved that they were decent people. So the question was “Why?”

Key stared at Jonghyun trying to comprehend what he just said. Immediately he became defensive. “What do you mean why? Why do I want to help?Why don't they have to suffer? Is that what you're asking?” He asked, a bit irritated.

“That's not what I meant,” Jonghyun answered. “Why did you run away from home to join the Zutters?”

“I didn't run away,” Key replied heatedly, “I was kicked out.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened in surprise and shock was evident on his face.

“Why?” Jonghyun could not help but ask even though he could feel that it was not going to be pleasant.

Key hesitated a bit and swallowed thickly before he spoke up again.

“I got kicked out for being gay.”

Jonghyun blinked a few times.

“That's it?!”

Key could not help but laugh at Jonghyun’s reaction.

“Since you said your family would describe you as something sent by the devil, I was expecting something more dramatic,” Jonghyun grumbled, sounding a bit upset, “How can someone kick out their own child just because of something like that?”

Key gave a small smile, “Not everyone thinks like you do.”

Jongin arrived at Jonghyun’s place slightly out of breath. “Did you run all the way here?” Jonghyun asked.

“No,” replied Jongin while trying to act casual, “What info did you get?”

Jonghyun laughed at Jongin’s eagerness. “Nothing yet, but the informant is going to send something later.”

Jonghyun’s cell phone suddenly lit up together with a message tone. He grabbed his phone and quickly opened the message to scan through it quickly.

“Looks like we have a hit,” Jonghyun informed Jongin.

“Jung Heon Chul, 33 years old, his family background is not very significant. The strange thing is that his gang suddenly emerged about 5 years ago with over a hundred members overnight,” Jonghyun frowned, “It seems that this happened after he made contact with with Kang Dongchul.”

“Kang?”

“Yes, Kang Dongchul, one of the many rich businessmen associated with our community,” Jonghyun explained, “It seems that most people who have done business with him have met an unfortunate loss.”

“Kang?!”  Jongin suddenly stood up. “I met him today, he’s my parent’s new business partner.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened in shock.

“What did you mean earlier when you said that his business partners met an unfortunate loss?” asked Jongin.

Jonghyun hesitated, but ultimately decided to tell the truth. “Well I only know of two specific cases. A few years ago, it seems that he did business with the Kwon family. They owned a famous electronic company and it seems that they also had a few well known record label under them. I heard that they were looking to expand into the food industry with Kang Dongchul, but they met an unfortunate fate. Their whole family died in a fire. The other case was with Lee Sumin and Lee Chanwoon. I’m also not too sure what happened, but I heard that they were friends with Kang as well. This one was quite tragic. Apparently robbers broke into their house and they were murdered. There are a few other cases where people met severe financial losses after partnering up with Kang. It seems quite suspicious that Kang is always involved when such things happen, but we don’t have any proof.”

The image of the man he met earlier flashed in his mind. Dread started filling him, he knew something bad was about to happen. The fact that his parents are associated with this man makes him worried. He already did not have a good feeling when he met the man, but now he realises that his instincts were accurate.

My family is in danger.

A/N: I'm really sorry OTL It's been years. Literally.

I had a very bad writer's block. And no motivation. I had already typed like more than half of this chapter more than a year ago and I didn't know how to continue with it. 

I basically gave up on this fic and even now I'm hesitant to post this. Jonghyun is basically one of the main characters in this fic and he plays the most vital role in terms of the plot development and I don't know if I will be able to continue typing this fic without a heavy feeling in my heart. The truth is that after the news of Jonghyun's death, I was quite devastated. SHINee is a group that is close to my heart and it is quite difficult for me to explain how I felt. SHINee is the first kpop group that I followed since debut and is one of the groups I admire the most. 

It's so difficult. I've been struggling so much to come to terms with it. I've cried, I've drawn sketches of him, I've re-watched so many old videos.  Now, I think I have come to accept the truth of what has happened. His letter was so heart wrenching yet it felt so relatable. How alone he must have felt when nobody understood him, how tiring it is to keep fighting with yourself to keep living for one more day. I'm exauhsted. I can't even imagine how much he must have suffered. Jonghyun is one of the most talented singers and it is very sad that he did not see how amazing he was. It is sad that we couldn't show him how much he shined, how amazing he was to able to comfort so many people with his music. 

"People who died from suicide don't want to end their life, they want to end their pain" - Jonghyun.

This is one of the quotes that stood out to me the most. I hope that he is no longer in pain. You did well, Jonghyun. Thank you for all the hard work.

I don't know if anyone even reads this fic anymore, but I would like to say thank you so much for supporting me and I'm sorry.

I will try my best to complete this fic.