^{AU. Sequel to chapter 247 ‘In a Matter of Seconds’.}

Baekhyun was completely still. He was sitting in front of a desk at the police station, all bandaged up, but fine overall. The explosion hadn’t gotten him in any worrisome places, he came out of it with just scratches over his body. But he was told that he would experience some trauma over it.

And he was.

The office was busy; phones ringing, officers coming and going, people talking loudly. There was so much going on, and it all registered as chaos in Baekhyun’s brain. It all brought him back to the horrible moment, that rushed escape. Everyone running, so much noise, so much confusion.

It had been over almost a week, but it was all still bright in his eyes. He could see it as if it was happening at that exact moment.

But it wasn’t, and all it took was for a hand to fall on his shoulder, to get him to snap out of it.

The detective passed by him and sat in front of the desk. He had probably greeted him, but Baekhyun didn’t hear it. Now that he was back to reality, he realized how affected he was. His breaths were jagged, his heart was racing. He was sweating cold, and his body was shaking, ever so slightly.

“Are you okay? Do you want a glass of water?”

The detective asked, looking truly concerned. Which Baekhyun didn’t consider to be a very good thing, as he figured the man had seen some pretty bad stuff before, and if he looked worried than Baekhyun probably really looked like a rag.

“Yes please.”

He answered in a small voice, and the man signalized his assistant, who moved instantly.

“So, we found very heavy duty explosives residue in your bedroom, it was definitely no accident. They were rigged to blow once something sunk down into your bed.”

The detective explained, and those words only made Baekhyun feel sicker. Now he actually felt like vomiting, and as he put his thoughts into words of his own, he surely thought he would.

“In this case, Luhan…”

He said, his voice faltering at the last word. His friend was dead.

The detective carefully nodded, and respectfully gave Baekhyun a moment of silence, which initially confused the man, until he realized he had started crying again. It would come and go like that, just spontaneous tears, every day. He felt like that thought would never get better. Luhan died. He exploded in his bedroom.

“We’ve opened an investigation, and as of now, we firmly believe the intended target was you.”

The detective started, and went on about a security detail, and keeping Baekhyun safe, as there could be another attack, and many other details, but the man wasn’t paying much attention.

So much was going through his head, and every time he thought about the incident, he only made it worse in his mind. It was supposed to be him. That bomb was made for him. If he hadn’t taken Luhan to his house that day, it would have been him lying on that bed. It would have been him that got blown to bits.

Blown to bits. That terrified him. The mental imagery of what had happened to his friend was horrible. It made his chest tighten, like his heart was about to implode.

“Baekhyun?”

The detective called, aware that the man wasn’t listening.

Baekhyun looked straight at him, assimilating the real world again, and finding strength to pay attention.

“I just said: I’m going to need the names of people you think would want you dead. Enemies, exes, anything you can think of.”

The man repeated himself, and Baekhyun couldn’t feel more thankful about how patient he was being. But he guessed the detective was trained to do that, so it was a given.

“Ah, sure…”

Baekhyun answered starting to think. But as he talked, and discussed everything the detective needed, only one name, one face, circled his mind the entire time. Luhan’s.

The more time that passed, the guiltier he felt. People told him it would get better with time, that he should give it time, but he just didn’t buy it. It wasn’t feeling better, it would never feel better. Even after it was all over, and whoever did this was caught, Baekhyun knew. He knew he would feel guilty to the end of his days.

_{The End. 728 Words.}