Ten days had passed since Minseok started living with Sehun, and each day felt like a small victory for the older of the two. Even if they had yet to catch the White Rose killer, Sehun could still say that Minseok was safe. Making sure that Minseok was just that, safe, seemed more and more important for each passing day. Sehun had grown fond of the teenager and thus protective.

Minseok could be quite talkative at times, word after word spilling from his lips. Sometimes it was pure rambling that made little to no sense, but other times he needed to unload. Sehun listened no matter what, whether Minseok was talking about silly antics from when he was younger or if he was in need of emotional support. Sehun liked talking to Minseok. Their conversations could be anything from plain stupid to remarkably deep. It was surprising how much seriousness a person as young as Minseok could talk with. It was refreshing to say the least, as Sehun’s other friends weren’t exactly the most grown up adults.

Speaking of Sehun’s friends.

“Minseok?” Said boy looked up from the book he was reading. One of the many novels Sehun owned.

“Yes?”

“I’m going out later to meet Jongin; do you want to come with me?” Minseok smiled.

A light pling was heard when Sehun and Minseok entered the coffee shop where they were going to meet Jongin. There was many people, but it wasn’t stuffed. Still, Minseok couldn’t spot Jongin, but Sehun was, thanks to his height, able to look over the other costumers and see Jongin sitting by a table in the corner. Sehun grabbed Minseok’s hand and pulled him towards the table. When they got closer, he noticed Jongin wasn’t alone. A boy with dark hair was sitting with him, but he had his back turned, making Minseok unable to see his face.

“Jongin!” Sehun greeted his friend. Jongin looked up and immediately smiled.

“Sehun!” Jongin got up and the two shared a hug. Jongin looked at Minseok when they pulled away. Minseok smiled awkwardly.

“Jongin, this is Minseok.” Sehun said and Jongin’s eyes widened slightly.

“Minseok? You mean ‘little kid named Minseok Tao died over some years ago’ Minseok?”

“Yes, exactly.” Jongin grinned and pulled Minseok into a hug.

“Hey, long time no see!” Minseok hesitantly hugged back.

“Uh, yeah…”

“Oh! By the way,” Jongin pulled away and turned towards the boy he was sitting with. “this is Kyungsoo.”

Minseok looked surprised at the big-eyed boy and he got the same surprised look back.

“Minseok?” Kyungsoo blinked. “Aren’t we in the same math class?”

“We are.” Minseok said. They both stared at each other.

“Here you go, darlings~!” The cheery waitress cooed, as she put down the boys’ orders on the table. Sehun thanked her politely. She flashed a smile and left them to eat.

Minseok picked up his dessert fork and took a bite out of his strawberry cake. Kyungsoo followed, tasting his chocolate cake. Both of the boys could feel the awkwardness that lingered. Opposite them, Sehun and Jongin was catching up, apparently it had been a while since they last saw each other. They seemed completely oblivious to Minseok and Kyungsoo’s lack of conversation.

“So, uh…” Minseok started, in a quiet voice. “You and Jongin… are you..?”

Kyungsoo blushed a little and bit his lower lip. He nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, we are…” Minseok couldn’t help but notice the small smile on Kyungsoo’s lips.

“What about you..?” Kyungsoo asked shyly. Minseok cocked his head to the side with a huh?

“You and Sehun?” Kyungsoo elaborated and gestured towards the older man. Minseok felt his cheeks heat up embarrassingly fast. He shook his head.

“No, no, no..! It’s not like that..!”

“Oh..?” Kyungsoo looked genuinely surprised. “Could have fooled me.”

They both turned back to their cakes. Minseok tried to calm down, but he couldn’t make the thought of him and Sehun together go away, no matter how much he wanted to. He cursed at himself for being a stupid teenager with even more stupid hormones. Because surely they were behind the sudden thoughts of Sehun and his lips. Were his lips always so irresistible-looking? They looked so soft and kissable, did he use lip balm? His cheekbones were perfect, how did Minseok not notice that before? His eyes were so-

“Minseok?” Snapping out of it, Minseok met Sehun’s eyes. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Ah, no, no..!” Minseok stuttered out, his face heating up. “I was just, uhm, spacing out, I guess…”

“Okay, then.” Sehun said with a small smile. He turned back to Jongin and continued whatever conversation they were having.

Minseok looked to Kyungsoo on his left. The other boy looked at him, smiling a little, trying to suppress a giggle.

“Shut up…” Minseok muttered as his cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

When Sehun and Minseok returned to Sehun’s home, Minseok went straight to the guestroom he was occupying while living with the older man. His thoughts had been going crazy ever since Kyungsoo had questioned whether him and Sehun were a couple or not. The fact that Sehun was right there the whole time didn’t help at all.

Sehun looked towards Minseok and a worried expression crossed his face when Minseok went into his room without a word. Sehun figured that leaving the teenager alone would be best. After all, Minseok was still mourning.

Instead of disturbing the boy, Sehun started to look through the files of the still unknown White Rose killer. He had looked them through god knows how many times, yet he couldn’t seem to find the reason behind his obsession with Minseok. There was a reason he turned up and went straight for Minseok. He didn’t want him dead, that much Sehun was sure of. He would have killed him already. The killer had instead gone after Minseok’s closest friends, but why?

Sehun’s main theory was that the killer saw them as a threat. They meant something to Minseok; they could get between Minseok and him, whoever he was. It was sickening to think of, but if Sehun was right, and damn did he feel like he was, the killer felt ownership of Minseok. Like the teenager was his property.

It was disturbing and downright creepy, yet possible. An excessive stalker.

Sehun sighed in frustration. Frustration over Minseok being the person to go through this. What had the poor kid ever done to end in such a situation? He was so sweet, and still so young. Why do such horrible things happen to good people? A question many people has probably pondered over. And yet still no answer.

Sehun threw the case file on the coffee table. He sat back on his couch with a sound of annoyance. He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried figuring out what kind of profile he was looking for. Who was the killer? What did he look like? Was he even male? All these questions and not a single answer.

Rubbing his temples, Sehun leant forward, elbows on his knees. There was barely any leads on who was behind the deaths of Minseok’s friends and the victims seven years ago.

But Sehun swore to himself that he was going to find him.

Even if it was the last thing he did.