[Written in third person]

~~

It was already hard that he had lost Hanna, a best friend of his, but to see that one other person was harder. He sat on the chair, coffee in hand as he stared at the table across him. There was Yongguk with a smug look on his face, directed towards Sehun. The tip of the elder's mouth curved into a sneer, unnerving him.

“Who is that?” The boy opposite to Yongguk asked, turning back round once he had seen Sehun staring at Yongguk, “hyung?”

“Just a friend.” Yongguk replied, leaning back on his chair as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Speaking of friends, Baekhyun’s here, Daehyun.” He said, eyes averted towards the entrance of the café.

The said boy stood, dusting off his uniform before winking at Yongguk, “see you at home then.” Then he was gone, laughing.

Sehun got off his chair, now settling opposite the older man at lightning speed, “why send me this bloody parcel?” He asked, voice lowered down, hissing at Yongguk, “what kind of game are you trying to play?”

Yongguk wrinkled his nose in disgust, sipping his latte as he looked towards Sehun, “I don’t like games, I find them useless in life.” He said, now planting the mug onto the table, smile reappearing on his face as the latter as gave him a scornful look, “look here, boy,” Yongguk started, “I have my ways of hinting every single detail that I can give you, don’t take this the other way round–”

“You think I’m stupid, Yongguk?” Sehun snapped at him, remembering to keep the noise down so that he wouldn’t grab people’s attention, “you? Hinting clues as to Hanna’s death? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sehun said, a growl now set in his throat, “you bloody wrote me a letter in her handwriting, and in her voice, do you know how pissed off I am?”

Yongguk said nothing in response; he only sipped his latte as he looked out of the window. Breaking Sehun was harder than he thought, Sehun was no longer the boy who had witnessed his mother’s accident nearly ten years ago. He really needed a new strategy. “Drugs killed Hanna, am I right?” The male asked, all the while not looking at the latter. Guessing that the silence was a yes, he continued, “do you know why she took them?”

“I was hoping you did.” Sehun stated, his narrowed towards the older male, slightly shocked at the change of character.

The older male now gave Sehun a side look, a smirk on his face, “she died for many reasons, and you aren’t worthy of hearing any of them” Yongguk said, standing up, “if you want to know more, go and bloody open up that parcel.” Then without waiting for Sehun’s response, he left, hands shoved into his pockets.

Sehun did was he was told, returning back to his table, hands now holding the red parcel. Why was everything red? It was like the colour was here to haunt him… maybe of what had happened – not daring to have another thought, Sehun ripped it open again, not looking at his name written over the white paper. But his eyes glanced down into the box, and he found a little fold in the corner, telling him to lift it up and so he did, suddenly he took a deep breath, his eyes catching tears as he looked away, trying to hold them in. It was a ring, a ring made of platinum, covered in diamonds, but it was painted with blood – most likely that the bearer had bled with it on. He recognized the ring almost instantly, heart cringing at all the confusion and depression which was now making to his face.

It was Hanna’s.
But how did Hanna’s love life tie in with her death? She was only a teenager back then.

~~

Sehun was in front of a house, standing right at the door. His hand balled into a fist as his jaw tightened. His eyes were casted straight ahead, as if he was face to face with someone, and he was. The door swung open and his fist snapped forward, colliding into the bone that made the older male’s cheek. The latter staggered back in time with the door’s slam. The male held his cheek, fury seen in his eyes, “that’s a very nice way to treat a friend of yours.” Yongguk snarled.

“What the hell is this?” Sehun asked, bringing the ring up to Yongguk’s view, “did you give her this?”

“Even if I had given her that, I wouldn’t bloody give you that.” The latter answered, spitting out.

The younger male let loose a growl, head snapping away from Yongguk, “if you didn’t give her this–”

“She was forced to get married, or so I’ve heard.” Yongguk said, making his way to the sofa that was next to him, that guy could really pack a punch.

“What?” Sehun asked, eyebrows rose in alarm.

The latter rolled his eyes, finally looking at Sehun, “even if she was only what, 16?”

“18.”

“Even if she was only 18, her father wanted to carry on his ‘legacy’ and all that stupid , so he hooked her up with a tycoon’s son, heard he’s called Jongin, or something like that, goes around by Kai, whoever gave him that name has issues.” Yongguk said, rubbing the heel of his palm on his bruise that started to show on his cheek.

“A Kim?” Sehun asked, settling in opposite Yongguk, who nodded, “no , they own this city like as if it’s their own.”

“That’s the point, look, I gave you that ring because that blood cannot be hers – doctors found her body to be clean when they took a look at her.” Yongguk added, pointing at the platinum in Sehun’s hand, “I’m guessing it’s another person’s.” He paused, grabbing a notebook and pen on his left. “Here’s the address.” He said as he scribbled down the said note, he ripped it out and passed it to Sehun, “go ask him and he’ll tell you, he might not tell you what you are looking for, but it has to be something.” Sehun took it and read it over, he realized that the male, Jongin, was living in the city, the exact place as to where his mother’s accident had occurred. “Seems familiar?” Yongguk asked, watching the boy nod, “I bet everything’s not matching up.”

“What’s the blood on this ring got to do with Hanna’s death?”

“That’s for you to find out.” Yongguk said, smirking again. “And please, don’t go in and suddenly punch the guy in the bloody face, he’s got heavy security.”

~~

Kim Jongin, a male short in height had stood out on the patio, hands slipped into his pockets as he tried to warm them. It had been raining again, he never did like the rain: the grey clouds, the lowered temperature. But he did like the sound it made when it fell onto the roofs; it always calmed him. “Sir.” A man called out from behind him, making him turn, “there’s a man named Oh Sehun at the door – he requests to meet with you.”

“Send him in, and bring him to the living room, no one should hear the conversation – it must be only between myself and him.”

The bodyguard bowed, turning back and making his way into the house. Oh Sehun. Why did the name sound so familiar? Did Hanna tell him anything about the boy? He couldn’t remember – he didn’t want to remember; it would always make his heart twinge. With a sigh, he walked back in, making his way to the said room, opening the door to find a man staring right him.

“Kim Jongin.”

“Oh Sehun.” The said male nodded, waiting for Jongin to sit down, and as the older man did, he followed him, settling onto the soft sofa. “What brings you here?” Jongin asked; his eyes stayed affixed on Sehun. The latter pulled out a small box, which was red in colour, and he tossed it to Jongin, who caught it effortlessly. He heard a soft: “open it”, and he did, pulling at the fold and he saw something he didn’t want to see. It was Hanna’s ring, covered in a blood that was all too familiar. He snapped his eyes to a close, whipping his head away from the thing, “where did you get this?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Sehun replied, his voice was dangerously calm, “whose blood is that?”

“Why do you want to know?” Jongin asked, snapping slightly as he looked towards the boy.

Sehun gave the now millionaire a hard stare before speaking, “Hanna died for many reasons, all of which I am not worthy to hear.” He stated, mimicking the words used by Yongguk, “but I am worthy of hearing whose blood that is.”

“It’s mine.” Jongin said with difficulty, swallowing dry air, “the reason why it is on this ring is not of your business – it is of mine.” He continued, suddenly going quiet.

“What did he say?” Yongguk asked, his cheek now blackened with a bruise.

Sehun gave an amused look towards the said man before speaking, “it’s his.” He paused, biting into the chocolate biscuit, “the reason why it is there is his own business. I didn’t ask, he looked too depressed to say anything.”

“He did love Hanna.” Yongguk said, “but she didn’t love him in return.”

The younger male nodded in agreement, Hanna didn’t really love Jongin. She admired the guy, but she never found love in him. “We’re at a dead end, and I don’t have the want to continue reading her story, not after today.”

“You should.” Yongguk said, reaching for the biscuit, “it might give you a heads up.” He continued to say before eating the last biscuit.

“I don’t think I should, not yet.” The latter added, mouthing a: “can I have one more?” while pointing at the empty as he looked at the waiter, who nodded at him.

“Read page 12.” The male paused, “I heard it’s directed to you.”

“How do you know?” Sehun asked, his head tilting to his left in curiosity.

“I am Hanna’s friend, too, she told me to tell you.” Yongguk uttered, rolling his eyes.

Sehun didn’t say anything at first, eyes drifting off and his mind did as well. It took the ping of the plate planting onto the table in front of him to shake him out of his reverie, now thanking the waiter, “I’ll read it when I get home.”

That is… if I do get home after this round.

written by IceBloodRose  (18.01.2015)

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