20

      Cameras were flashing from everywhere, the shouted questions and assaulting presence of the journalists jumping at his throat like starving predators something making Minwoo panic greatly. He did not know what to do or think, and following his manager with a blank mind, he allowed himself to breath only once in the van parked outside Eric's building.

" !" Cursed Eric when he managed to get inside the car before slamming the door shut.

Minwoo barely heard him and just lost himself in his panicked thoughts.

His nightmare had just came to life on this morning when he had woken up; and he had no idea how all this had got out of hand so quickly.

A week ago he was enjoying his time with Junjin being on a break and Eric spending most of his free time with him.

Seven days ago the leader was promising him he would be alright and he did not have to worry.

Seven days ago he was trying to forget about his irrational thoughts to resume his life as it should.

Seven days ago he had no idea today would be the one destroying everything he had gained and worked so hard for.

It was a living nightmare.

"How the did they hear about it ?" Snapped Eric when the car eventually drove away from the crazy journalists.

"I've no idea." Panicked back the manager. "It looks like some information leaked out."

"And how the did this happen ?" The leader was losing his tempter and Young Hee who had nothing to do in the story could only endure the man's wrath.

"I… I don't know…"

" !" Shouted again Eric, hitting the seat in front of his before leaning in his to try to think and calm down.

Beside him, Minwoo did no react at all and just kept staring in front of him with a blank expression on his face.

"Minwoo !" The hand squeezing the dancer's shoulder startled him back to earth and almost gave him a heart attack. "You okay ?" The concern on Eric's face barely got to Minwoo who stared at the older man with wide eyes. "Minwoo ?" Worried the leader before snapping his fingers in front of the youger man's eyes.

Minwoo tried to talk but no sound came out of his mouth, the words in his mind mixing together and leaving him no chance to form a coherent sentence or thought.

"Minwoo !" Shook him Eric, but the sounds around the dancer slowly faded out as his vision swung and made him nauseous. "Minwoo !" There was panic in the leader's voice, but the shorter man did not hear it. "Young Hee !" Stressed Eric. "Go to the hospital !"

"Wha…" The manager just had to glance over his shoulder briefly to see Minwoo was unconscious against Eric, his face as pale as a ghost.

      It was nothing new to wake up in an hospital bed, and Minwoo suddenly felt it was happening too often lately. What was he doing here this time ? What happened ? Was he hurt somewhere ?

Wondering, he felt his body slowly, and when no pain assaulted him he concluded he must be alright.

Turning his head on the side in hope to see someone, he was not surprised at all to find Eric on the seat beside the bed. The leader was apparently resting his eyes, because Eric's body looked too stiff for the man to be sleeping for real.

"Hey…" He called out softly before eyeing the older man opening his eyes. "What happened ?" His voice was raw and his mouth dry, which made him circle the room with his eyes in hope to find something to drink.

"You fainted." Answered Eric before pushing himself up to step closer to the bed. "Here." He added, handing a water bottle to Minwoo.

The dancer did not even wonder how his friend could know he was thirsty and just grabbed the bottle he gulped down eagerly. It hurts his throat a bit, but he did not care; he was too freaking thirsty for that.

"I was out for long ?" He asked once done with the water, and checking his watch the leader shook his head softly.

"Just thirty minutes. The doctor said it must be due to too much stress."

Minwoo scoffed at the information, because this doctor was ing clever. Was it the sudden scandal of him using drugs or the journalists following him and harassing him that had made him presume such thing ? Certainly.

"Are they there ?" He asked then, real worry shining in his eyes.

Eric swallowed at the sight of his friend's state before glancing over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure. The doctor made his possible to restrain the access to your room. Young Hee's even keeping watch at your door. You're safe here."

"Great." Minwoo was sarcastic, and Eric could not blame him.

"We're gonna take care of this Minwoo, I promise."

"Stop making promises all the ing time." He snapped back in sudden annoyance. "Look how ed up everything's now. You can't do anything about it and I told you. I freaking told you we were powerless against this man !" Minwoo was now out of bed and standing in front of Eric with burning rage and fear emanating from him.

"Nothing tell us it's this ma…"

"Of course it's him ! Who made me addicted to drugs ? Who kidnapped me and tortured me for a week ? Who tried to kill my friends and made my life a living hell ? It's him ! It was always him and it'll never stop."

The dancer was almost hysterical, and the leader could not remember seeing the shorter man in such state before in his life.

Eric was not sure how to react to Minwoo's sudden out burst, and the look in his eyes was one hurting horribly. Because Minwoo looked so lost and terrified, so hurt and powerless. The leader hated to see his friend like this and swore to himself he would make this man pay for doing this to Minwoo.

"I can't take it anymore… I want it to stop." Minwoo's voice was low and tired as he lost the strength in his legs and sat on the bed. "What am I gonna do now ? Everything's screwed up… I'm over, we're over. He destroyed us."

"Don't say that !" Shot back Eric now crouching in front of the shorter man with his hand squeezing Minwoo's wrists. "We're not gonna give up so easily. We'll find a way out of this, like we always do. I don't know how long it'll take, but we'll get through this all together. We're Shinhwa, remember ?"

There was a small smile gracing the leader's lips when Minwoo looked up, and staring in the older man's eyes for a moment, the dancer could not help believe him.

Dropping his head, the younger man nodded softly and let a small smile appear on his lips, suddenly reassured to know Eric was there with him.

"I need a drink." He confessed all of a sudden, and grinning, Eric nodded in agreement.

"You'll get drunk as much as you want after the interview with the police." Minwoo tensed up when he heard that. "We can't avoid it or it won't be good for you." The dancer simply nodded and waited another moment before standing up.

"I'm ing scared man." He admitted in a small, nervous chuckle, and Eric squeezed the shorter man's shoulder as support.

"I know. But it'll be alright."

***

      "State your name, age and status."

Minwoo stared at the expressionless detective sitting in front of him and wondered if he was that used to such procedure to look so bored about it. A glance at Oh sitting beside the man making him tense up in apprehension.

Trying to keep his focus, the dancer did as told before waiting for what would happen next.

"Okay. It says here you're suspected of using and buying illegal drugs on several accounts."

Minwoo swallowed thickly when he heard that but tried to stay calm. Panicking now would not help his case.

"Do you admit of the crime ?"

Minwoo was not sure he would be able to speak with the monstrous lump in his throat, but the impatience he felt from Oh quickly reminded him he had to answer.

"It's not what it looks like…"

"Just answer the question." Cut him off the detective he could not remember the name of.

Maybe Kwon or Kang, he was not sure nor cared.

The dancer shut his mouth immediately and could not help glare at the man then Oh having this smug look on her freaking face. He hated her so much at the right moment.

"Yesterday, we arrested mister Jung TaeShik who admitted selling drugs to you. Do you recognize this man ?"

A picture was slid on the table in front of him, and staring at his dealer's face Minwoo thought he did not even know the guy's name until today. It made him feel so angry at the unfairness of all this. He had never asked for anything and here he was, being accused of a crime.

He was praying it was just a nightmare.

"My client have no obligation to answer you." Interfered Minwoo's lawyer, which appeased said man greatly.

"It'll be in his own interest to answer to our questions and not hide anything from us." Shot back Oh.

"As if you cared." Scoffed back Minwoo before shutting up immediately, because being sarcastic at the right moment was not the smartest move.

The dancer felt the detectives gazes on him as the disapproving one of his lawyer. It made him feel uncomfortable and stupid, but instead of saying anything he just shut up and waited.

"If we're here today is to clear this accusation my client's victim of. You let the information out in the media when we had an agreement to keep it low until everything was clear. The case's still ongoing, and if I remember well you still have nothing on this man who's behind all this."

"Perhaps because he never existed." Shot back Oh with disdain, and Minwoo needed a lot of self control to not jump at . "My partner's currently wasting time on a fictive person, and your client's blood test results showed clearly he was using illegal drugs. It's our duty to investigate him."

"Is it your duty to smears my client's name through the media ? I don't think so, and we could sue you for such allegations."

Detective Oh shifted a bit on her seat, a sign she was uncomfortable "We didn't leak anything out in the medias. It just happened."

"It just happened ?" Snapped back Minwoo with a slap of the table. "You ed me up ! But that's what you wanted, didn't you ?" The look in the dancer's eyes was dark and dangerous, which made Oh swallow thickly.

"Minwoo…" Tried to calm him down his lawyer with a hand on his wrist, but Minwoo was too enraged to shut up.

"You've never liked me from the start. You started this investigation thinking I was just a ing junkie trying to save his . You've no ing idea what happened and you just want to pin me for drug. Just because of your personal issues !" He accused and Oh's expression suddenly darkened.

"I advise you to shut your mouth !" Snapped back the woman with a slap of the table with both hands, which startled the three men in the room. "You think you'll get out of this because of your name ? Law's for everyone and you're no exception. We asked you to come here today because we know you bought and used illegal drugs several times. And it's forbidden in our country."

"I already told you what happened." He shot back in growing distress.

"Your fairytale will get you nowhere. Even if detective Lee believes your words, he's still clueless and it won't be long before everyone knows what a liar and criminal you are. I'm even wondering if your band members aren't involved in this too. It wouldn't be surprising."

"You leave them alone !" Snapped back Minwoo at the verge of hysteria. "They've nothing to do with this, so you better stay the away from them." His tone and the finger he pointed at the woman were threatening, and the dancer's lawyer had to put a hand on the shorter man's wrist to calm him down.

"Threatening a detective could get you into serious troubles." Informed Oh, and the lawyer had to squeeze Minwoo's wrist to keep his mouth shut.

"He didn't mean it like that. He's very stressed because of everything happening, so please, forgive him."

Minwoo and Oh glared at each other, when the other detective eventually answered. "We'll let it slide this once, but don't do it again."

The lawyer glanced at the dancer before nodding. "He won't."

"Fine, let's continue then."

Here we go.

How was it ? Do you feel like burning Detective Oh after tearing her apart ?

I know some of you hated her and were frustrated by her behavior. So I hope this chapter only worsened the feeling xD

Maybe some technical terms or procedure are wrong, and I apologize for any mistakes. But I tried to be as "realistic" as possible ^^

Anyway, thank you to everyone for the support.

To next time !