003 Unfathomable        The man didn’t reply or say anything for that matter. His eyes had been buried with grief and deep agony, Baekhyun could see it in the ends of his lips and the dip of his eyelids. “How?” He whispered, though it came out without the effort, as if that was all the power his voice could carry. The balls of his eyes had been astray until they looked down at Baekhyun, questioning him even before he could open his mouth. “Did you… see who it was?”      Baekhyun had tried to remember where the name sounded familiar, and as he attempted to recollect his frantic thoughts, it hit him like a bolt of lightning.      He looked back at the taller man with something lost in his eyes. “His daughter,” it came out as a gasp, and it was more of a response to his inner dialogue than anyone else. But nothing made sense anymore.      “What?” He blinked, “B-But that’s impossible.”      Baekhyun shook his head as the hairs on his neck and arms stood, his shoulders shuddering. The police infiltrated the station right the next second, and they both fidgeted towards the door as if it had been one of the cops.      Baekhyun looked back over at the other man, who took a moment before coming forward to lay his hand on the knob. He returned the look to Baekhyun and then turned it with utmost uncertainty. Their legs started working again, albeit with a tremble in their movement, as they showed themselves with their hands in the air. The chief, Mr. Kim, appeared with his gun pointed right at them, but he lowered it when he recognized them, or at least one of them.      “Chanyeol? What the hell are you doing here?” The other officers went to the holding cells area, where they inspected Filib’s and the guard's bodies.      Chanyeol put his hands down, “I came to bring Filib some clothes… but I only heard the gunshot. I was too late.” The remorse weighed his tone down to the core, the gloom diverging and infecting everyone around him. Baekhyun felt it, the pensive and immense sadness that hung in the space around him, emerging to plague his own system. But he could only sense a treacherous pit in his stomach that grew bit by bit, bound to consume him.        The chief looked over at the bodies on the other side of the room and gave Chanyeol a hard squeeze on his shoulder. “At least you’re safe, there wouldn’t have been much you could have done if you were earlier.” He looked over at Baekhyun, “And you? I’ve never seen you two together. What brought you here after hours?”      Baekhyun swallowed the lump in his throat and began to rub his forefinger with his thumb until it reddened. “I, um, came around the same time as C-Chanyeol… for my phone.” Chanyeol looked over at him as soon as he spoke his lie, and Baekhyun avoided his eyes.      Mr. Kim shoved the gun into his holster and kept his hands on his belt, “You two should go home, this is a crime scene as of now.” He passed through them and left Baekhyun hot under Chanyeol’s stare.      When Mr. Kim was at a distance, Baekhyun returned the gesture. “Stop staring,” he said beneath his breath, then began to walk towards the door. Chanyeol followed him as he walked down the street and when Baekhyun didn’t show a sign of slowing down, he grabbed his shoulder to stop him.      “Are you really going to pretend like that didn’t happen?” He sounded like he expected Baekhyun to run back to the station and speak the truth of the whole ordeal. And it irked Baekhyun to no end.      “No. I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see any of it happening.” The coat of vexation had been apparent, but the fear could be seen in his shaking eyes.      “Look, I... get that you’re afraid, but lying to the cops will make things worse. If you don’t say anything then you’ve played a part in this murder.” Chanyeol was all seriousness bundled in furrowed brows and tight nostrils.      Baekhyun pressed his teeth together, lines growing on the base of his forehead. “That man said his daughter was held hostage, then the next thing you know she shows up and kills him. I’m not going to put myself in the middle of whatever the hell this is, and I don’t care what you have to say about it.” Turning around, he continued walking until he got as far away from that accursed area as possible, his knees wobbling as they struggled to hold him up.      When he spotted a taxi in the dead of the night, he made no hesitation to get in and get the heck out of there. He told the driver the address of the apartment and with the chaos taking over in his mind, it felt like it had only been a minute when the car pulled over in front of his door.      The eerie cool of the night couldn’t break through the shield of denial that wrapped itself around him, and when he jiggled the handle open, he sulked to his room and crashed into his bed like never before.      He wasn’t going to get an ounce of sleep, he was very well aware of that, so he laid on his back and focused on the vast spaciousness of the ceiling. It seemed to have become a screen, one that played the events of the day and night over and over again on a loop. And he knew it was all he was going to watch for a long time.


       Baekhyun had watched the moon fall below the ocean to have the sun take its place in what was a vast painting of the starry night. He closed his crust filled eyes for a moment and they watered up, for he hadn’t done much of the latter that night. He stared at the ceiling as he had done the night prior, and washed his hands over his face. With his chest rising high and falling back down, he forced himself into the shower.      The cool drops of water stung his skin, doing their job of waking him up even though he hadn’t slept a wink. They damped his hair with each drip and used his body as a waterfall while cascading down his body. He turned the handle towards the reddened side and tilted his head up, allowing each splash to strike him until he lost his breath and had to jerk away.      Crossing his arm over the wall, he laid his head down on the limb as the heat consumed his body, but no matter how deep the water had gotten, it could not cleanse the filth that had fermented below his skin. It was like tar, forever glued and staining all parts of him. He stayed that way until the steam rose and wrapped itself around his neck, attempting to suffocate him. It was then that he turned the shower head off and stepped out of the tub.      After wiping himself dry without actual effort, Baekhyun slugged through another wrinkle-free, white button down and blazer that he had set up a week prior. His hand reached for the cologne without thinking much of it and doused himself in a spray or two. He has been blank the entire time, not giving much of a care about his appearance.      When he left the room to go to the kitchen, he was met by an angry Jennie, who had been standing there with her arms enclosed around her chest, as if she sensed him coming.      “What the hell Baekhyun? I thought you died!” She had her teeth gritted and a spatula folded in her hand, and with the dirty look she gave him, he thought she would use it on him.      “I’m sorry, I wanted to call you and tell you that everything was alright... but I lost my phone.” It wasn