Chapter 15
Chasing RainbowsThe ringing in their ears couldn't stop.
Ever since they were put into the back of the police cruiser, all they could hear was the ringing in their ears. Silence filled the car and Detective Lee even had to check in the rear view mirror to make sure the both of them were still in the car. They were both staring out the window soullessly as
The severity of being arrested and dragged to interrogation was lost on them both as they were pulled to their feet and separated into two different rooms.
Yugyeom leant his arms against the metal table and snapped his fingers in front of Mira's dazed eyes. "Are you listening Ms.Kang?"
"W-What?" She mumbled while frowning up at him."I-I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Yugyeom closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "Ms. Kang do you understand why we had to bring you and Mr. Wang in?"
"I don't--I don't really understand anything right now." She slurred weakly.
Yugyeom opened his file and put out two pictures on the table in front of her. Mira's eyes widened at the sight of Mark's lifeless body laying out on the ground of the motel, blood pooling around his head. "You trespassed the scene of a crime that is currently open and very much active."
Mira squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, "No."
"Your little friend has been in a string of robberies for the last three years and we've been trying to track him down for the last two. So then, my partner sees you and your friend pretending to be related to the family of Yi En's latest target and he's starting to think, oh this must be the Daisy and Poseidon who keeps texting Yi En's phone."
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Jackson stared at the picture, unable to tear his eyes away no matter how nauseous it made him, "That doesn't make sense. He was texting us up until yesterday."
"Yeah, I have to admit, that surprised us. His phone was taken into evidence after we found his body and it was left . It connected to our wifi here and started sending out messages to you."
Jackson made a face as his hands started to shake. "H-How is that possible?"
"Why don't you tell me your theory first?" Detective Lee mused.
Jackson shook his head, "I have no ing clue. Did you pretend to be him or something?"
"Yi En is a pretty smart guy, I'll give him credit." He said with a laugh, "He installed a third party app on his phone that queues up text messages and sends them out every time someone texts him. When we found out we almost shut his phone off until we decided to see who exactly Daisy and Poseidon were and why they were so important that he had to keep contact with them from beyond the grave."
Jackson looked away at his eyes started to water, "I don't know anything, I swear. We just let his texts lead us on."
"We followed you guys around ever since you ended up at the Jungs. The money you gave them was the exact same from what Mark and his friends took from him. Had a feeling you two had something to do with it." He pursued.
Jackson closed his eyes in frustration, "No. He hid the money and made us find it before giving us the address of the Jungs. We didn't know who they were or even that they were robbed until you told us."
"So, you're just his vigilantes?"
Jackson rested his elbows on the table and pulled at his hair, "No! We don't know any of this about Mark. That's not the guy we knew. That isn't our Mark."
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"No, you don't understand, he's just a university student. Mark's not a thief." Mira said while banging her fist against the table.
"Two things." Yugyeom said while pacing back and forth, "First of all, Mark Tuan? Doesn't exist. It's an alias. His real name is Yi En Tuan, he's 24 not 23 and he's not enrolled in your university."
Her eyes widened as she gripped the edge of the desk, "What are you tal--"
"He's a drifter. Dropped out of school in high school, made enough to move to Korea and decided the only way someone without even a high school degree could make money was if he stole it."
Mira shook her head, "He visits his parents and little sister all the time. He missed classes for it."
Yugyeom paused, his face softening a fraction, "Yi En's family was killed when their house was burned down about 6 years ago. He was at school when it happened. That's why we believe he dropped out and ran away."
"Oh my god."
He nodded,"I can imagine it was hard on him, no family to take him in, he'd be a victim of the foster care system if he hadn't run. It was a brutal fire, he was lucky he wasn't there but I bet the survivor's guilt kicked in fast."
"S-So when he said that he was visiting his family?" She croaked out.
Yugyeom laced his fingers together behind his back, "He was probably hitting another one of his marks and needed an excuse to leave until he left and couldn't come back."
She sat in silence before slowly reaching for the picture of Mark and lifted it up, "H-H-How did he die?"
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The detective looked at Jackson, a flash of surprise washing over his face before he schooled his expression into his poker face, "Your friend must have had a change of heart. Stole the 10 grand from his guys that he had stolen from the Jungs. They were supposed to split it equally but suddenly it all went missing. He must've hid it for you two to find. His friends figured out that he crossed them and wanted revenge."
"How do you know all of that?" Jackson gaped.
The detective leant back in his seat, "We caught his crew fleeing the scene with the weapon. They're arrested and have pled guilty."
Jackson's lip quivered as he pressed his fist against his eyes, "So he's been doing this since his family died? And now he's gone too?"
The detective's demeanour suddenly changed, "Listen, you clearly care about Yi En and you and Mira seem like nice kids with your lives ahead of you, so why don't you just cooperate with us and tell us what you'll know so we can release you."
"I told you everything. We just thought this was a scavenger hunt. We followed the clues, they seemed harmless, go to a bookstore, go to an ice cream parlour, go to a toy store. After the Jungs, things got weird. Our rooms were ransacked, there was a strange man on the phone, we thought it was his dad and that motel owner pulled his gun on us."
Detective Lee gave him a smile, "I have to thank you, though. We followed you to the phone booth and redialled the last number you hit. You helped us track down one of Yi En's men that wasn't at the scene."
"We just hit redial. We had no clue who he is." Jackson said in exasperation.
The Detective nodded, "You're lucky because he had no idea who you two were. So I'll take your word."
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"That necklace. Where'd you get it?"
Mira's hand immediately wrapped around the bullet hanging around her neck, "Why?"
"That bullet is the exact same used to kill Yi En." Yugyeom said while taking a seat across from her. "Did he give you that?"
Mira her dry lips, "Y-Yeah. It was a gift."
"He was shot by his own gun." Yugyeom said pitifully. "He didn't have a chance and he knew it."
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"What I don't understand is why two people who don't know anything about each other would trust and agree to get into a car together and follow another friend to god knows where." Detective pondered.
Jackson's shoulder was throbbing and he could barely sit up straight, "I don't know. It's Mark. We just trusted him, figured whatever he was planning would have a worthwhile pay off even though he asked for the both of us. I didn't even know they were friends. And I didn't want to go with her anyways at first, we barely got along but she agreed to come just to piss me off. We just ended up together I don't even know how it happened, to be honest."
"So you and Mira were just a coincidence?" The detective asked as he pulled a small tape recorder out.
Jackson frowned and nodded, "Yeah, why?"
"Was this your plan all along?"
Jackson's eyes widened at the sound of Mira's voice.
"Why him? Why did you think he'd be good for me? Why would he be any better than Jaebum?
Detective Lee skipped through the recording to another clip.
"Why am I getting those feelings again? , Mark. I hate you. I hate you so much for this. I hate myself. I hate that after 3 years of building myself up, he's making me feel like--"
"The message cut off here. You two don't sound like a coincidental pairing."
Jackson leant back in his seat and ran his hand over his face, "Who knows what goes through Mark's mind. We hardly keep up with him. He was just a nice person to be around. He wasn't judgemental, he didn't pressure us to be something we weren't. He actually cared about us…about me."
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"You piece of ."
Mira sat up at the sound of Jackson's voice.
"Of all people to make me do this stupid wild goose chase with, her? There is something seriously wrong with her head. I can't believe you're sticking me in a car with her for who knows how long. I swear to god when we find you, we won't be laughing, . I'm going to whoop your Cali an--"
"You two don't sound like the closest friends. Hard to believe you both agreed to this little trip of yours." Yugyeom mused.
Mira swallowed the lump down and looked away, "People don't really like me. That's not surprising."
"She makes me feel on edge as if I can't slack off with her around or she'll attack. I hate you. This was part of your grand plan, wasn't it?"
Yugyeom pursed his lips, "He almost sounds afraid of you."
"That's not the whole message." She muttered, "But he's not afraid of me. I'm not dangerous."
"She sort of latches on and grows on you. I mean, it's not that I like her and I'm not her number one fan or anything…but she's alright. She's just broken."
Mira's jaw clenched and she looked away as Yugyeom watched her every move, "He makes you sound unstable, but I have to admit, he gets smitten really quickly with you. Says that he likes you a few days later. It was a surprising jump, you know how to play people well."
"I don't know what you want me to say." She whispered. "I have nothing to do with Mark's robberies and you know that I don't or you would've charged me for something."
Yugyeom raised a brow, "If all you were doing were going on a road trip then explain this."
M
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