“Come save me, come save me,
Remember, inside your drawer,
Remember, inside your wallet,
The traces that I left behind,
Engrave them without leaving anything out.”

– Back, Infinite

“Have you cast your vote?”

The half-Chinese jerks his head as the raspy voice hits his eardrums. He gets up from the bed, turns to his roommate and gives him a light shake.

“No, I haven’t,” he utters, still surprised of the fact that Jongsuk actually talks to him tonight. They have been staying in the same room for days and yet, this is their first official conversation. “Still haven’t narrowed it down.”

“Why so serious?” Jongsuk continues to awe the dumbstruck Lu Han. “This is just the first voting and we still have much time to change our mind.”

Lu Han takes his so-called advice for granted. “So… have you?” He shoots him an inquiring look. “Have you placed your vote in the box?”

He nods. “An hour ago.” He then takes a glance at the wall clock. “You have like half an hour before it ends. You’d better pull yourself together, Lu Han.”

Lu Han still remembers the moment of the first round and he thinks that he is in the same situation like before. Time is ticking and he still has not made up his mind.

Who is the culprit? He has ruled out three of them and is stuck between two names.

Despite the tardiness, Lu Han still managed to come up with an answer at the very last minute, during the first round. It was because Krystal lent him a hand; she made him realize something he had completely overlooked from the beginning. Hence, he became the winner of the first round.

But, right now, there is no one to help him and even if they did, Lu Han will not believe them. He will not be easily swayed.

Jongdae and Kai.

They are whom Lu Han thinks are the suspicious right now. First of all, he thinks Jongdae as the possible culprit because of his acting. He appears to be very dense when people asked him question. He answered them very vaguely that Lu Han could not help but think the latter is hiding something.

As for Kai, it is merely because of his rocky relationship with Byun Baekhyun. He has a clear motive that one can simply suspect him. However, in all honesty, would not it be too obvious if Kai were the culprit?

That is why Lu Han’s mind is in complete disarray. He cannot figure it out properly.

Instinctively, he turns to Jongsuk, who is calmly lying down on the bed whilst listening to music.

Speaking of him, his mind brings him back to the first day of the game. Everyone was wondering what kind of ‘ability’ he has because the host, preferred to be secretive.

Upon massive criticisms from the other players, Jongsuk, unwillingly, revealed who he actually is.

Suho flicks the ‘off’ button when the presentation has ended. “Well, that’s all and let’s move to the next–”

“What about Jongsuk oppa?” Krystal widens her eyes and everyone’s attention is on the mentioned student. “I suppose you haven’t shown his profile, have you?”

“For this time being, I will keep his profile concealed,” he elucidates through a crack of an unfathomable smile.

“I think we all should know everyone’s ability.” Yoona is kind of discontented upon his decision. “It would be unfair to others, I’d say.”

Suho knows what is inside the girl’s inner thoughts. She wants a clean competition. If one does not reveal his or her ability, the others would feel insecure.

“I’m not in the position to make any decision, Miss Yoona.”

Yoona lets out a snort. “Then why don’t we just ask Jongsuk himself? He must know his own ability, am I right?”

Jongsuk’s face remains calm even after a string of speculation starts hitting him. He does not see any point of revealing his ability would be much a problem to others.

Everyone is drifted into silence as they are looking directly into his eyes – and Suho does the same thing as well.

“Should I tell all of you?” he inquires with a pair of uninterested eyes.

“You should,” Yoona says firmly on their behalf.

Jongsuk heaves a low sigh. “Actually I am the victim of the catastrophic road accident three years ago. They didn’t reveal who I was when the news showed up on TV.”

“Victim?” Yoona sounds confused. “What does that mean?

“Road accident?” Jongdae seems to be in deep thoughts. “What kind of road accident that it related to your ability?”

“A road accident between a large oil truck with a car that you were the only survivor, wasn’t it?” Lu Han opens his mouth. “I read the news, but correct me if I’m wrong. You suddenly possessed an unexpected ability through the accident, am I right?”

Jongsuk nods, still with that stoic expression. “I used to be a big fool when it comes to academic, but… suddenly, after the accident, I literally changed. This is true and I didn’t sugar-coat anything, but… I got 100% marks in every subject in the first exam after the accident. I thought it was surreal because I didn’t do revision at all. However, when I learned about the brain damage due to the accident, I finally understood what’s happening to me. I continued to live my life and be the kid that everyone’s started to fear and jealous.”

The latter stated that everyone around him detested him and said he was a cheater. How can a person be a genius as Albert Einstein all of a sudden? They mocked, picked on him and even threatened him to death to the point Jongsuk changed 360o degree. People’s treatment towards him had made him to become as how he is now. Unapproachable, cold and if he were a werewolf, he would be the omega type. No one wanted to befriend him.

Lu Han never thought people would think he is a cheater just because he suddenly became a genius. It was not a cheat, but rather a God-given gift. In fact, there are strange cases in the world where people became an instant genius, though it was rare.

And also, that is why Jongsuk entered a performing arts high school instead of a normal high school. He had had enough of people’s misjudgments. He wanted to start anew by learning new things.

“I know it’s a secret, but you voted for me, didn’t you?”

Jongsuk flinches. He unplugs the earphones and tilts his head at his direction. “What made you think so?”

“Because… because of your deduction during the 5 minute briefing. You clearly thought that the murder wasn’t because of the wound but using another alternative which was medication and it was made up by me.” He takes a full, deep breath. “Just because… I’m a medical student.” His voice turns low at the last words.

“I… I cannot tell you who I voted for, but to be honest, I had you and another name on mind when I heard Kai’s deduction.”

“You mean Krystal?”

“Yes,” he answers. “Do you not think so?”

“Nope. I don’t think so – at all.” Lu Han seems fervently serious. “In fact, I didn’t believe Kai at all. I kind of think he’s lying and trying to pin it on her.”

“Well… I have no idea, but you may be right.” He his lower lip and straightens his position. “By the way, may I ask you a, uhm, rather sensitive question?”

“Shoot it,” says the top student. “I’m all ears.”

“Do you have feelings for Yoona?”

Lu Han is caught off guard, his cheeks redden furiously and he is terribly flustered. Never has once it come across his mind that ‘sensitive’ question would pop up from his lips.

“You obviously like her,” Jongsuk jeers, sinister. “You don’t need to lie because it’s extremely obvious with your blushing face.”

He coughs, trying to cover his utter embarrassment and ruined image. “Why are you curious, by the way? Do you like her too, eh?”

“So you’re telling the truth, eh?”

Lu Han’s ears sting at his malicious laugh. “Whether I like her or not, it’s none of your concern.”

“I just want to remind you something and it’s out of my concern, I would say.”

He chortles mordantly. “You’re being concerned? Is that a joke?”

“It’s fine if you didn’t want to listen to me, but… I would like to remind you, just because you like her… doesn’t mean you can be swayed. She is a suspect as well. I bet you don’t even bat an eyelash of the possibility of her being the culprit, do you?”

///

The second day of the final round, all the players (or should be called as suspects, for this time being) have gathered in the meeting room at 9:00 am, though Kai reached ten minutes late than others. His manager came here early this morning, asking him to run for a sudden, unplanned schedule, but the idol refused to come along. He will only come back again as an idol when this game comes to its end. For this time being, he wants to focus solely on the final round.

“I believe everyone is all ready, so let’s get straight to the point,” Suho initiates, beaming widely.

“I was wondering about the first voting.” Yoona raises her hand, half-curious and half scared. “Do we get to see who’s got the most votes or will you keep it concealed?”

“If everyone wants to see it–”

The rest of them nod in instant agreement, which colossally amused the host.

“We want!” Jongdae says on their behalf.

Suho emits a rather lively chuckle before nodding. “Alright then.” His smile widened. “Let’s all look at the screen.”

Jongsuk

Lu Han

Jongdae

Kai

Yoona

Krystal

“Let’s see first which ones of the suspects received zero votes from the other suspects,” he hereby announces and clicks the ‘next button’ on the remote controller.

Jongsuk

Lu Han

Jongdae

Kai

Yoona

Krystal

0

0

As if on cue, Lu Han and Yoona gasp in shock, but they cannot hide their immense happiness when they saw the voting result.

“It seems like I’m the least suspected,” Yoona mutters, words somewhat dripped with self-satisfaction. “…and of course, Lu Han as well.”

“Y-you didn’t vote for me, Jongsuk?” Lu Han’s eyes bulged out as he cranes his neck to his seat. “Why didn’t you? I thought you voted for me…”

“I thought Jongsuk hyung voted for you as well, Lu Han hyung,” Jongdae agrees. “He did expose you a lot last night. It just didn’t make sense.”

“Whether it makes sense or not, it’s none of your business,” Jongsuk shrugs their misperceptions off. “If I voted for Lu Han, that means he tops my suspect chart. But if he got zero, that means he didn’t.”

Lu Han does not know how to react, but he breathes out a sigh of relief. Jongsuk does not vote for him and that is a relief. However, he was wondering where did his vote go to?

“By the way, I am absolutely positive that I was voted by Yoona noona.” Jongdae puckers his lip at the older girl’s direction. There is no sight of ‘0’ below his name and that certainly means someone suspected him and he just knows it was Yoona.

“Yeah, I voted for you, Jongdae.” If she did not reveal it, she bets he would know it, sooner or later. She has been suspecting the latter right from the beginning and she supposes it will not change. Kim Jongdae has always suspicious in her eyes, no matter what.

“You voted for me, right?” Kai’s piercing glare is shot to the silent girl. “Just because of my revelation about your scandal last night, wasn’t it?”

Krystal is surely caught off guard, but she manages to stay calm.

“Well, who knows?” She offers him a nonchalant shrug, only to irk the idol.

Suho claps his hand, gesturing them to keep their gazes fixed at the screen. “Last but not least, let’s end this by revealing the rest of the voting result.”

Jongsuk

Lu Han

Jongdae

Kai

Yoona

Krystal

1

0

1

1

0

3

“As expected,” Jongdae says, sighing quite audibly. “I got one vote from…” he lets his voice trail, stealing a cynical glance towards Yoona. “…Yoona noona.”

The mentioned girl smirks. “Can’t help that.”

“Though I got one vote from one of us, I don’t think it matters to me right now after seeing Krystal’s.” He begins to crack up – and yes, with venom. “For the love of God, you freaking got three votes!”

Krystal’s fist tightened upon his malicious comment. “Just shut the hell up! I guess they won’t vote for me if you didn’t reveal those nonsensical pictures!”

“It’s not nonsensical, my dear Jung Soojung.” Kai, who happens to sit next to the same-aged girl, naughtily caresses her porcelain-like cheeks, but Krystal briskly shoves his hand off.

“Don’t touch me, you !” she shrieks at the top of his lungs. “And just to make yourself clear, I didn’t vote for you though you are terribly and disastrously a pain in the .”

“Please… do not use vulgarities,” Suho groans. “This is the fifteenth times I’ve told you the same thing, for heaven’s sake.”

Krystal curtly closes her eyes to the host’s warning.

“Really? You didn’t vote for me?” Kai does not buy her words.

“Your vote went to me, right?” Jongsuk pitches in amidst the fight. He narrows his eyes. “You voted for me, didn’t you, Krystal?”

The younger girl brings her hand over , utterly flabbergasted. “God, how’d you know it, oppa?”

The cold boy shrugs offhandedly. “I… just know it.”

The conversation was abruptly ceased when Suho gives them an announcement.

“Besides the first voting made by all of you, we also received votes from the audience. We posted a poll in the website and they took part to guess one of you whom they thought was the culprit.”

“Seriously?” Yoona is bowled over. “I thought it ended here!”

“No. It hasn’t ended yet.” Suho shoots her a smirk – a devious one.

///

Short interview with the suspects

Q: Who did you vote for?

A:

Lu Han: Kai. I voted for him. To be honest, I also had Jongdae’s name on mind, but Kai had the obvious motive; he detested Baekhyun.

Jongdae: I voted for Krystal. Actually I was kind of guilty to write down her name because she always defends me, but in all honesty, I can’t help thinking the possibility of her being the culprit. Though I still lack some clues, I’ll try to dig more later.

Krystal: It’s Jongsuk oppa. I haven’t narrowed it down completely, but Jongsuk’s oppa actions are suspicious. The way he talks, the way his eyes look at people and yeah, the way he revealed the cause of the murder and pinned it on Lu Han oppa is questionably fishy. So… after much thought, I voted for him.

Jongsuk: I voted for