It wasn’t a long drive and Donghae recognized his surroundings; it was close to where they’d use to live in the apartment complex. As they drove into a neighborhood, Donghae turned his body to look out the window, completely curious to know where Kibum had grown up. He was a little surprised to see a bunch of abandoned houses that looked ragged and broken down, lawns that were overgrown and full of garbage; everything just looked so…shabby. He frowned slightly as they drove by. All this time he’d always been under the impression that Kibum had come from some kind of fancy, high class home, but this neighborhood completely made him rethink everything.

Turning in his seat again, Donghae looked at Heechul with confusion etched into his face.

“Hyung, why is – I mean, I thought…” He began, but trailed off at the end. He didn’t know how to put his thoughts into words. But Heechul seemed to understand what he was trying to say because he sighed softly.

“I know; it’s a shock, right? This used to be a really nice middle-class neighborhood but you would never know with the way it looks now,” Heechul commented as he slowly drove down the street.

“What do you mean?” Donghae asked him, not understanding.

“Everyone left, Donghae. It was a high-strung bunch of people who cared about image. A little girl was murdered just down the street; it gave a bad image to this neighborhood so they all left. It’s completely abandoned now,” Heechul explained to him. Donghae frowned and looked out the window again and could only wonder how something like that could actually happen; it was completely absurd and you’d think that a scandalous story like a murder would attract people.

Seconds later, the car pulled to a stop in front of the most broken looking house in the neighborhood. Donghae stared at it with wide eyes and they got out of the car and once again, he had to rethink everything he’d thought up until then. For some reason, he had imagined a fairytale life for Kibum before he’d come to live with them. Donghae had always seen a happy man and wife with two beautiful children living in a pretty white house and everything was perfect. But now…now it just looked like something out of a scary movie. Windows were broken, there was glass everywhere, the door was halfway open…it was really horrific to think that Kibum had been living there.

As he followed Heechul up the sidewalk to the front porch, Heechul tutted softly. This was nothing how it was a few months ago when he’d come to take Kibum with him. Apparently people had driven by and throw things at the house thinking Kibum was still living there. Even after all this time, nearly a year later, they are still blaming him for her death. I seriously hope we can find something today that can help Inspector Donghee catch the real culprit, he thought silently as he led the way to the front door. 

“Hyung, are we allowed to be here?” Donghae asked, hesitantly following Heechul into the house. He looked around with a grimace; everything was covered in dusts and webs. This place had completely gone to the dumps; he didn’t believe that it had once been a nice place.

“Sure we are. I’m legally Kibum’s guardian,” Heechul said smugly. “Stay with me, I don’t want you wondering around here, okay?”

“ ‘Kay,” Donghae replied, looking all around as he walked. Heechul lead the way down the hall, which the walls had several picture frames on them that were so dusty that you couldn’t even see the picture. Donghae stopped in front of one and used his sleeve to wipe it off. What he was was a family picture, only the corner was ripped off, leaving only a very happy looking Kibum and his parents.

“All the pictures of Dayeun are gone. I think Kibum might have thrown them away,” Heechul said, glancing back behind at Donghae. As he walked into a room, the parent’s room, Donghae continued on walking down the hall. There was a doorway at the end that was opened. Donghae glanced back to the room where Heechul had gone, but decided to continue on his way.

Walking through the door, he saw that it was a boy’s room, which he presumed to be Kibum’s. Stepping inside, Donghae took in his surroundings. This was Kibum’s old life in there, his old personality, his memories, everything. Donghae shivered slightly as he looked around; sometimes he forgot that remember that Kibum was someone before, he was someone’s brother, he was somebody’s son; he hadn’t always been the drug addicted kid that Heechul had taken in with a million problems.

He’d been a happy kid before.

And he was reminded of himself.

He’d once had a happy, loving family. He’d had a life before, back in Mokpo with his parents. But then they died and everything had changed. He was kicked to the street with no one to care for him anymore, spending six months alone in that crappy apartment with only the land lady as his source of human interaction. And all the while he was alone, each day he missed his parents so much and wished that they’d never died, that he could go back to his happy life living with them. But here he was getting angry with Kibum for feeling the exact same way he had.

Donghae sighed softly as his eyes watered up slightly. He didn’t want to be in this room, it made him feel really sad. He felt that he shouldn’t be there, that this was a dark place full of haunting memories. Quickly leaving, he shut the door behind him and decided to go back to Heechul. However, before he did so, something caught Donghae’s attention on the door next to Kibum’s. It was a little kid’s drawing of a family. Instantly know that this was Dayeun’s room, Donghae couldn’t help but push the door open to take a peek inside.

He reached for the doorknob and slowly twisted it, pushing the door open and-

“Don’t go in there, Donghae,” Heechul said, appearing behind him suddenly. Donghae gasped in surprise but quickly shut the door. He tilted his head up and looked at Heechul in wonderment. “That’s Dayeun’s room, stay out. Kibum wouldn’t want us to be in there.”

“What are you looking for anyways, hyung?” Donghae asked as he followed Heechul through the house. This time they entered what seemed to be the living room, and Heechul went over to inspect a bookshelf.

“I don’t know, Donghae. The inspector said that whoever killed his parents and Dayeun was probably someone close to the family before,” Heechul said absentmindedly.

“What? I though