Thoughts
Alice Turns Into Little Red Riding Hood [REVAMPED]Chapter 14
“Come on, don’t sound too sad, Alice. I can tell by Sehun’s face that he’s already plotting a hundred different ways to torture you for it,”
“Ugh, don’t even remind me…”
“Haha, sorry I couldn’t be of much help,”
“No, you helped a lot! I probably would’ve got him if I weren’t distracted though,”
“Distracted?”
“It’s nothing. I think it was just the janitor or maintenance man walking out of the gym hall,”
Jongin’s heart stopped beating for a moment the second he heard those words coming out of your mouth.
“Well, at least you gave it your best shot,” he chuckled, trying to hide the panic bubbling up inside of his system.
“Yeah. It was… a lot of fun. I haven’t felt so thrilled in a long time,”
You’re not the only one.
Jongin moved his gaze away from you and locked eyes with Sehun who was standing just distance away. Just from seeing his eyes, Sehun understood that something was wrong. Jongin subtly glanced at you before staring back at Sehun, wordlessly telling him to stay with you. With a silent nod, Sehun put down his water bottle and walked towards you, cautiously looking around as he did so. Once he finally reached you, Sehun effortlessly put on his façade, growing a thin smile on his face. Even in the situation they’re in, Jongin nearly laughed upon seeing how quick Sehun could switch his disposition for you.
“I guess this is out cue to leave,” Jaehyun clicked his tongue as soon as he took noticed of Sehun’s presence. “Come on,” he reached his hand out for Seung Wan.
“Sit on our table during lunch sometimes, Alice.” Seung Hwan told you before leaving.
Sehun snorted after hearing the invitation, subtly glaring at the girl’s back for a moment. “Get in line,” he muttered under his breath before taking a seat beside you.
The three of you continued to chat and banter, mostly Sehun doing the work. While he kept you busy, Jongin scanned the area. Was there anybody else in the gym hall? He didn’t notice anything suspicious, and since Sehun didn’t say anything, he must be on the same page. He did notice Chanyeol coming in the hall, but he more or less dismissed it, thinking that the older was just patrolling.
Unfortunately, after hearing your statement, that might not be the case. Chanyeol must’ve come here for more than just for a simple patrol.
“I’m going to the restroom,” Jongin stood up, making up an excuse to scour the area himself. “Keep your eyes open.” he warned Sehun in a small voice.
“You don’t have to remind me.” Sehun replied in a mutter, but he could tell his tone sounded a bit nervous.
With that being taken care of, Jongin finally made his move. He quietly made his way to where Chanyeol was as he kept his eyes alert from any suspicious figures, walking stealthily to the boiler room. Chanyeol seemed to be expecting him, based on his calmness when Jongin approached him.
“Catch anything here?” Jongin asked in a soft voice.
“Do you?” Chanyeol asked back, looking indifferently at the interior of the room. Jongin shook his head, earning a sigh from the taller. “Yeah, neither do I. I guess I just followed your friend’s trail by mistake. There’s nobody here,”
“Yeah, about that,” Jongin cleared his throat, “We got a problem,”
Chanyeol immediately snapped his head to his brother. “What problem?”
“Alice said that she was distracted by someone during the game walking out of the hall, possibly a janitor or maintenance staff. Judging from her words, whoever it was must’ve been pretty tall to be seen standing behind a group of students,” Jongin told him. “I just wanted to make sure if you were the one she saw,”
“What? No. I was literally crawling under the bleachers,” Chanyeol scowled. “And there couldn’t be a janitor or maintenance man, otherwise I would’ve seen him,”
Jongin felt a pang on his chest. “I know,”
Heaving a heavy sigh, Chanyeol massaged his forehead as the two stood still in the silence, not knowing what to do. “Did she give any more details?” the taller asked, confusion clear in his voice.
“No, she wasn’t sure who she saw,” Jongin shook his head solemnly.
“Fine. I’ll talk about this with the others,” Chanyeol heaved his third and last sigh, patting Jongin on his shoulder. “It’s probably nothing, don’t worry about it.”
Unfortunately, what would follow in the next few days are anything but reassuring.
You woke up in the morning to receive a sudden news that school was suddenly cancelled for the day. You could barely believe your eyes when you saw the message from Sehun, telling you not to come to school. At first you thought that Sehun was trying to trick you so that you both wouldn’t have to do your biology presentation today, but then you saw the announcement from your class teacher in the class’s group chatroom.
When the school’s official email made its way to your inbox, you were assured that it wasn’t a joke. Apparently, the school email said that the school had to go through an unexpected inspection due to an unknown breach through the school’s security last night. There have been news of dangerous figures lurking around town lately with the sudden spike of criminality for the past few weeks, so the school took some precautions.
“So much for staying up late to do that homework I forgot…” you sighed as you glanced bitterly at the finished homework on your desk. “More time to sleep, I guess.”
It wasn’t one minute since you’ve closed your eyes when you hear a knock on your door.
“Alice, are you awake? Come and have breakfast once you’re ready for school.”
Although sleeping again sounds nice, this is a disturbance that you wouldn’t mind at all.
After a long wait and many delays, your mother is finally back home. Kicking the covers off you with your feet, you rushed out of your bed with a bright smile. It’s not often for you to spend mornings with your mom due to her busy schedule. In fact, it’s not often for you to spend any time together since she as the habit of biting more than she can chew when it comes to her workload. Thankfully, today is one of her rare day offs, and breakfast was proof of that.
As soon as you opened your bedroom door, you could hear the sound of the television, pangs and thuds from the kitchen, footsteps, a soft hum, and you could smell the delicious scent of homemade food. It felt like it’s been forever since the house was this lively.
“Mom, I got news,” you hollered as you walked across the hall. “School got cancelled!”
“Cancelled?” you could hear your mom’s surprised voice from the kitchen. “Why? Did something happen?”
“Apparently there was an attempted break-in into the school last night…” you squinted your eyes a bit as you reread the message from your class teacher, “So they’re taking some precautions and cancelled school for today so they can safely inspect the school,”
“That sounds dreadful,” your mother commented, her voice laced with worry. “Well then, do you want to go back to bed?”
“Oh, no, it’s alright. I don’t mind staying up. I’m already out of bed, anyway,” you shook your head, watching your mom cook swiftly in the kitchen.
“You don’t have to force yourself to stay up, Alice. It’s my day off, we have the whole day to relax together,” she glanced at you, and you could catch the look of concern on her face.
“Really, mom, I’m alright,” you chuckled, trying to hide the leftover sleepiness you’re feeling. “Do you need any help?” you offered, looking around the counter to see if anything needs work.
“Just sit down, I’m almost done,” your mother looked away from her pot to smile at you.
“Alright then.”
Rubbing the drowsiness out of your eyes, you walked into the living room to see what’s on the television. You plopped yourself down the sofa and grabbed the remote to change the channel. You’re not much of a television watcher, so you would normally use the television whenever your mom is home. It’s a great excuse to spend time together with your mother.
“… and two bodies were discovered around the local park. Police suspect the death of these two individuals are linked to the murder case of twenty nine year old Park Sun Hee, thirteen year old Cho Jae Rim, and nineteen year old Lee Jun, who were discovered on the third, fifteen, and seventeen of this month respectively. This would mean that there have been a total of four—“
“Alice, breakfast is ready.”
“Yes, mom.”
You turned off the television as you heaved a sigh, your heart feeling heavy after watching the news. The neighborhood had been restless ever since the first two cases had been brought to public attention since everything happened within close vicinity. Schools became alert and prompted students and teachers to be careful on their way home, making sure that everybody immediately goes straight back home as soon as school ended. With the current situation, you can only imagine how the recent news affected everybody in school.
“Why did you turn off the TV?” your mom frowned at you.
“It’s depressing,” you mumbled, walking groggily towards the dining table.
“What did the news say?” she asked as she placed your meal on the table.
You heaved a soft sigh as you answered, “Two more bodies were found this morning,”
Heaving a similar sigh, your mother shook her head as she took a seat across you, “I’m not surprised if it’s Seoul, but around these parts? It’s almost ridiculous,”
“Mom, let’s not talk about it early in the morning…” you suggested sluggishly.
A warm chuckle escaped from your mother’s lips as she watched you massage your temple. It seems that you’re no exception when it comes to worrying about the news. “Alright, eat your food before it gets cold,” she pushed the plate of foods closer to you.
“Thank you,” you smiled, trying your best to contain your grin. You stared at the meal displayed on the table, a warm, fuzzy
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