Chapter 1

August 21, 2019, 7:00 am

From: Mark

To: My Love

Hyunwoo, where are you? Please hurry up. My parents will start looking for me soon.

Love, are you having second thoughts about this?

I’ll wait here.

You know you’re going to regret if you stood me up, right? I am going to make you.

‘Just 20 more minutes.’ Jinyoung breathed heavily from jogging. The coming school year will be his last year in high school, which also means it’s his last year as a basketball varsity. He needs to be in shape since their coach told him before school ended last year that he was eyeing Jinyoung and another member as next year’s new captain. He was ecstatic hearing the news. And so, started his morning routine of jogging around Sunset river.

Nothing unusual this morning. It’s the same old scenery he sees every time he goes for a run there. Everything was normal until…

BANG!

Jinyoung pulled his earphones abruptly.

“What the ? Was that a gunshot?” he spoke to himself while looking around. But he realized that the song he was listening to has gunshots as effects. “Huh. Maybe it was the song.” he thought and continued his activity. And that was probably on of the biggest mistakes he ever made.

September 2, 2019

It’s the first day of school and unlike the previous start of the year assemblies, this time, everyone has their heads down. Mourning for a lost soul of a brother, a lover, and a strong member of a team. Found by the Sunset River in the morning of 22^nd of August with a hole right in the middle of his forehead created by a bullet, and a gun in his hand.

“We are honoring Im Hyunwoo’s death by dedicating a whole school year for him. In everything we do, we will do it not only for the school but also for him.” Principal Lee said through the microphone while standing up behind a podium. “Now let’s hear Mr. Im Jaebeom for the final speech of this assembly.” He continued.

A black-haired man whose eyes, sharp as knives, can’t be seen with any emotions. His whole aura was quite intimidating. He was actually known as one of the social butterflies among the students during the past years. But this year was just different. Although he still smiles to people he knows. But it was quite poisonous.

“As you all know, I am very close to my twin. Though we have differences, we still get along really well. To say his death is heartbreaking is an understatement.” He looked around slowly like he’s scanning the whole crowd. “It was and still is to this day, believed that my lovely brother committed a suicide. But no one can fool me. He doesn’t have any reason to do that. So, whoever’s responsible for his death, I won’t stop until I find you. And you will pay for it.” He paused for a millisecond before giving everyone a sweet smile. “That’s all. Enjoy the first day, everyone. Thank you.”

A lot of people went and hugged Mark before leaving the gym. Trying to console him and give a little comfort to his broken heart. He was bawling his eyes out. It was too soon and too painful.

Jinyoung just watches everything from where he is seated at in the top row of bleachers. Although he is known as the player who made the team win for three consecutive seasons, he was also an intellectual.

“Something’s not right.” He says to himself. He squinted his eyes. He only believed in Jaebeom’s theory of Hyunwoo’s death not being suicide. But everyone was a suspect in his eyes now. Not excluding the brother or the boyfriend.

The small town of Arzenville used to be a peaceful place. But Hyunwoo’s death disturbed everyone’s serenity.

2:30 pm, History Class

Right in the middle of the class, Mr. Kwon’s discussion came to a halt when Sheriff Kim knocked on the door. And what he said next startled everyone. “Mr. Park Jinyoung, you are requested to be brought in for questioning in relation to Im Hyunwoo’s death.” And what surprised everyone even more was that Jinyoung didn’t look shocked or scared. It was as if he saw this coming. He simply sighed and complied, walking with the sheriff along the hallway of Arzenville High.

Upon arriving in the Sheriff’s station, Jinyoung was immediately put in the interrogation room. Sheriff Kim went inside and sat in front of him.

“Hey Jinyoung” he said as he looked at the younger’s eyes. “Sheriff.” Jinyoung nodded as a form of greeting. “I know you’re my son’s friend but that wouldn’t excuse you from everything. You understand that, right?” Sheriff Kim asked him and Jinyoung answers, “Yes, sir. Crystal clear.”

“Good. You’re a smart kid. I’m sure you already know that it would be best if you just give us all information you got.” And the student hummed as form of confirmation. “Okay. So, let’s start.”

“So, I heard you were one of the candidates for this year’s school captain for the basketball team.” The sheriff asked as he began the interrogation.

“Yes, sir.” He answered as he looked at the other who is writing something on the paper. Probably for report.

“And, so was Hyunwoo?”

“Yes. The coach told me so. But I can assure you that there wasn’t any bad blood that formed because of it.” He answered confidently.

“Well, I can’t be too sure about that now, can I? I asked around town to know where everyone was on 21^st of August. Your parents told me you weren’t home exactly the time Hyunwoo was shot. Care to tell me where you were?”

“I was at the Orange Grove. Having my usual morning routine run. Wanted to keep myself in shape for this year’s game season. Now I did hear a gunshot but I never reported it.” And to that, the sheriff raised his right eyebrow. “You know how this sounds, right?”

“Yes. But first you have to listen to this.” Jinyoung brought out his phone and played the music he was listening to at the time he was jogging. After listening to it, Sheriff Kim raised his eyebrow once again and was about to ask the younger what he was supposed to do with it. But as soon as he opened his mouth, Jinyoung started speaking. “Sheriff, I was listening to this while I was running. I thought I heard a gunshot but I didn’t report it because I assumed it came from the song. I understand it still sounds a bit suspicious but I’ll tell you this. If I’m just going to kill Hyunwoo to be the captain, I wouldn’t have trained so hard the whole summer just to end up having no competition. Hyunwoo and I are teammates. Also, more than that, we’re friends. I have no reason to take his life from him.”

Sheriff Kim stared at him but Jinyoung did not falter. His eyes were full of confidence. The sheriff sighed, “Okay. I will let you go for now. But you are not free from my list, kid. I might take you in for questioning in the future.”

Jinyoung stood up as he said an okay to the sheriff. Before leaving though, Sheriff Kim called him once again. “Oh, and Jinyoung?” the younger looked back waiting for the older to continue.

“If you happen to see or bump into Yugyeom on your way home, please tell him not to come home too late. He’s been coming home way past 12am these past few weeks. I’m just worried. You know, with a killer on the loose, we can’t be too relaxed.”

“Oh? He used to always go home before 7pm.” Jinyoung wondered. “He used to. But he’s growing up, I guess.” Sheriff Kim replied.

Jinyoung was silent for a second before he finally answered, “I’ll make sure to get your message to him, sir.”

“Thanks, son.” And Jinyoung left the station.

While he was walking along the streets to his house, the gear in Jinyoung’s brain can’t seem to stop working.

’That’s weird. Yugyeom never liked coming home late. He said it scares him.’