Prompt: Clue-inspired short!

Kang Seulgi knew it, but some lump in forbade her from speaking out. Watching the panicked elite unable to sit still this cold, stormy night, under the roof of one of the most luxurious mansions rich with legacy, sheltering from the strong September rain. The rain that pelted down the roof, slid off its steepness, relentlessly hammered against the elongated and strong windows, seemed to clamor for justice the moment the body was found.

In that spacious living room, they all gathered. What they were really doing was shielding their eyes away from the cruelty one of them dared to commit – taking justice and life into their very palm and crushing it without asking questions. What they were doing was waiting for the storm to pass, for the police to get there, to stay away from the stench of blood and death that permeated the library and wafted around the heavy air.

While they all had their suspicions and vague hunches (that they were so blindly certain of), the youngest out of all the rich and elite in that room knew exactly who it was.

Sitting across the room, looking over at the situation with a ferociously still gaze, was Bae Joohyun whose eyebrows were knitted so subtly as if to say that the entire situation bothered her. To others, it seemed like she was bothered by the loss, by the gruesomeness of the situation. Oh, but to Kang Seulgi? It looked like something beyond death bothered her. She knew this woman well, she knew the way the corner of her lips twitched, she could tell her fake smile apart from a genuine one, she could tell when her skin paled aside her already pale, snow-like complexion. It had all the signs, it had all the reasons, it seemed to fit perfectly.

Kang Seulgi stared with glare daggers from her end of the room, seated next to the frantic old lady dressed in fine silk, hearing the way her trembling hand made her cup of tea clash against her plate. Even if her mind was focused so intently on Bae Joohyun, her ears could hear the shatter among the old and young men trying so hard to struggle for power, leadership and – above all – innocence. Chaos, chaos all around, but Seulgi stared and continued to do so.

Once the stare of adulation and admiration gave way to suspicion so bitterly. And once Joohyun turned to face Seulgi, she noticed exactly what it was. The small grimace of her lips, unnoticed by everyone so busy fighting, was a smile of lament. Seulgi understood it, her eyebrows knitting from anger to sadness, her eyes big and unsure how to take the news.

Joohyun knew she could fool anybody in that room, and she had in the past, but she could not fool Seulgi. Maybe it was because her father was such a legendary detective and such skills are perhaps hereditary but… maybe because Joohyun didn’t have the heart to lie to her lover. Joohyun didn’t even have the heart for murder, didn’t have the hand to use her hands for nothing except brandishing a drawing pencil or wrapping her fingers around a thick brush to paint masterpieces. Yes, yes, she could’ve never done it if it wasn’t for a good reason.

And it must’ve been a damned good reason, Seulgi figured. To drive Joohyun, whose kisses were tender love in a simple gesture, whose careful touch was filled with love for life, to this end? It must’ve taken a lot.

The clap of thunder brought a shift in Seulgi’s life. Her first love turned out like this… what a curse the Kang family had, for history seemed to repeat itself. Like father, like daughter.  And it repeated further as Seulgi bowed then to follow her father’s footsteps, just when the rumble of thunder echoed in the night sky.

Perhaps in a foolish attempt to find a reason behind this madness, perhaps to ensure her dearly beloved ended in safe places… but who was to know from this moment on. All Seulgi knew was that this night was a dark one and this storm was not to die soon.