“You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air I’m breathing.”

Sehun’s eyes shot open, panting, sweating. The same nightmare plaguing his mind. He glanced at the window and noticed how the night has yet to end. Mind exhausted and body trembling, recalling memories that he had barely let go of.

It wasn’t always like this. He had stopped receiving nightmares of his ‘mistake’ years ago yet somehow it found itself lodged back into his mind, clawing itself out of that chest he buried it in. Sehun let out a frustrated sigh, slipping out of his blankets and into the cold tiled floor of his bathroom he went. Staring at his reflection on the mirror, he noticed the dark circles that rounded his eyes, the sunken cheeks and the dry lips. He felt lost again, as if crawling around in the darkness and trying to find his way out.

And it was all because of that new hire.

“Hello everyone! I’m Byun, Baekhyun!”

Sehun felt his heart hammer inside his chest the moment he set eyes on the new hire. He could feel his body trembling, remembering a skeleton in his closet that was pulled open for the world to see. With his heart thumping at an abnormal rate, Sehun could barely breathe when their eyes crossed. There was life in them that clamoured at his conscience, reminding him of something else that he should’ve forgotten.

“And this is Detective Oh Sehun. He’ll be your partner for the mafia organization case.”

Those words echoed in his head but somehow, they didn’t seem to register. He saw a hand reaching out to him and he looked up to see lifeless eyes that made him flinch.

“What’s wrong Detective Oh?” Their Captain asked, furrowed brows that seemingly showed his disapproval of Sehun’s actions.

Sehun immediately shook his head, trying to compose himself as he looked back at the smaller man in front of him who’s hands were still outstretched and eyes filled with life. “Sorry, I had a rough night.” He said, more like a mumble, as he reached out to shake the other’s hand.

“It happens to the best of us. I’m looking forward to working with you Detective Oh!” Baekhyun, the new hire, smiled yet it brought about feelings of uncertainty within Sehun.

The guilt continuously gnawed at Sehun. Guilt of his past mistakes that he knew he’d never be able to erase.

That boy they made fun of, bullied, beaten until he lost all hope of breathing. Sehun realized too late that the severity of their bullying had pushed the boy over the edge when lifeless eyes looked at him, blood flowing down his cheeks after he and his circle of friends cut his face from cheek to cheek. They were having fun, but when a guttural sound escaped the boy and the call for help stopped, their laughter dwindled as they ran away leaving the body to die.

Those lifeless eyes continued to appear in Sehun’s mind after that. Guilt etched into his mind and heart, pushing him to change. Meanwhile the boy’s death didn’t surprise the people in their class, because many knew what was happening but couldn’t say anything due to fear.

“Today, we mourn the death of Byun, Seunghyun. He was a bright student but he was taken too early…” The teacher’s voice trailed along but everyone knew they’ve also failed the boy. They’ve all turned a blind eye on him when he repeatedly asked for help.

“Detective Oh?”

Sehun looked up to see Baekhyun looking at him with a tilted head, eyes glimmering. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

“Are you sure it’s alright? The files on the mafia syndicate shows no more leads and it’s going to be a lot of work for us. Do you think we’d be able to solve this?”

Sehun absentmindedly nodded while staring at the smaller. There was no doubt that Baekhyun resembled the boy that died in his middle school, but he couldn’t possibly ask why. Theories in his mind formed, but only one was plausible.

“Me? Oh, yeah… I… I actually had a twin brother but… he died, b-because he was mugged. That’s why I became a detective. I don’t want the same thing to happen to anyone. If I can protect them, or if I can at least find the culprit then it’d help the family of the deceased.”

Baekhyun let out one day while Sehun drove toward their new case. Somehow, the road looked narrower than he remembered. The other just asked him why he became a detective and he gave a lie, but he didn’t think Baekhyun would outright say his reason.

“I see…”

It was then, Sehun thought, that this was his chance to compensate for the sins that he committed.