« chapter seventeen »

•••

Lisa felt oddly relieved that Baekhyun and Kyungsoo hadn’t been in the house. She decided that was a better option than blaming them, especially with the way they seemed to be blaming themselves already, particularly Kyungsoo. Baekhyun was to take the update to the station this time, and since no one was home, Kyungsoo had gone along with him unnecessarily. If he had stayed back, perhaps he would have been able to catch Junhwe before Junhwe had caught Jisoo after she arrived home early.

But blaming them felt like saying Lisa would have preferred that they were the victims instead, and while Lisa hated that Jisoo had gotten hurt, she didn’t want to wish that upon either of the officers either. If only to assuage their guilt, though, she did tell them that she was glad Jisoo’s injuries were looking to be only temporary setbacks.

The drive to Jennie’s house was silent and tense, both Lisa and Chanyeol wanting to talk but neither knowing what to say. Of course, while Chanyeol must have mostly been worried about Jisoo’s safety—which was only natural, since she was in the most danger at the moment—Lisa was also worried about what she was walking into. She had no plan, and while Jennie hadn’t sounded like she expected Lisa’s call, her earlier warning for Lisa to not walk home alone kept repeating in her mind.

Had Jennie expected this to happen? But everything about the attack pointed to Junhwe as the perpetrator ... at this point, all Lisa knew was that she had committed to the idea, so she would have to improvise a plan if she wanted to achieve anything.

Before she could continue that line of thought, let alone actually plan anything, Lisa jumped in surprise as her phone rang in her pocket. After checking the caller ID, she threw Chanyeol a quick glance to show that she’d have to take the call, and then she answered. “Seulgi, wh—”

“Where the hell are you?”

“Seulgi? I’m fine, what do you me—”

“I came by your house because you hadn’t called me back and I find it swarmed by cops? And I think the ambulance left when I arrived—you’re not in the ambulance, are you? I tried calling Jisoo first, since she’d probably kno—wait. Where’s Jisoo? Is she okay? Oh god, was she—what happened? Lisa, are you—”

“Seulgi. Breathe.” Lisa waited for the other girl to take an audible breath. “I’m okay. Jisoo ...” She swallowed down the anxiety that bubbled up at the thought of how she found Jisoo. That image would forever be seared into her mind. “Jisoo was hurt. She was the one in the ambulance you saw.” Lisa glanced at Chanyeol; even though he wasn’t directly watching her, she knew he was listening, especially with the way his fingers started to nervously tap on the steering wheel when she mentioned Jisoo. “She’ll be fine, though,” Lisa said, more to Chanyeol and herself than to Seulgi.

Seulgi breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s good ... but where are you? You’re not still here, are you? I couldn’t look around, they kicked me out of the vicinity because it’s a crime scene now.”

“No, I’m not there anymore. I ... need to be somewhere safer, until they finish checking the house and making sure I’m not in any immediate danger.” Lisa stopped talking after that, knowing what the next logical question would be, and knowing that her answer was far from satisfactory.

“Where are you going? , do I have to be home now? I’m almost there, but my parents should be back by n—”

“No, I’m not coming to your house.”

“Then where are you going? You’re always welcome here, by the way, it won’t be a hassle at all.”

Lisa cleared awkwardly. “Yeah,” she said, as if to continue a conversation. That way Chanyeol wouldn’t think anything was wrong.

“... Lisa? That wasn’t a yes or no question.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Lisa could practically see Seulgi frowning, the gears turning in her head. “Lisa, you okay? I know you’ll be fine, you’re going to a safe—oh. My god. Don’t tell me you—” Seulgi took in a sharp breath. “Lisa, I will literally find Director Kim’s address just to find you. That’s not where you’re going, is it?” Lisa stayed silent. “Tell me that’s not where you’re going.”

“It isn’t.”

“I don’t believe you. Oh my god, I can’t believe you wou—”

“Yeah, see you in class, then! Bye, Seulgi,” Lisa said, ignoring the sounds of protest as she ended the call. She proceeded to turn off her phone so that she wouldn’t have to confront Seulgi again.

It was just in time, too, because right then Chanyeol was pulling up in front of what she guessed was Jennie’s house. It seemed ordinary, nothing like the evil lair she tended to imagine in her nightmares. She felt slightly more at ease as she bade Chanyeol good-bye.

“Call if you need anything,” he said.

“Definitely.” Lisa smiled. “Thank you for everything.” She knew he realized that she meant more than just the ride to Jennie’s house.

And then he drove off, to the hospital to check on Jisoo as he had promised. Lisa took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and then strode to the front door with more confidence than she felt. She rang the bell before that confidence could fade.

Her breath hitched when she heard the click of the lock, and then the door opened.

Jennie’s face smiled at her, and the action was very normal, natural.

But that didn’t stop Lisa from feeling the goosebumps raise on her arms.

«•••»

“Do you need anything else?” Jennie asked as they entered the living room area.

As weirded out as Lisa was, she did appreciate the hospitality. The thought that maybe she had been wrong about Jennie this whole time began to creep into the corner of her mind. “No, thank you.”

“The guest bedroom is upstairs, right across from the staircase. You can keep your bag and all there. In the meantime, do you prefer tea or coffee?”

“Tea,” Lisa said without thinking. Seulgi’s message about tea relieving stress must have struck deeper than she thought.

Jennie smiled, and Lisa again had to remember that Jennie was a suspect in her book. Not a friend, a suspect; and at best, the director of the dance school. “Give me ten minutes.” Then she disappeared in a direction that Lisa guessed led to the kitchen.

Lisa grabbed her bag and cautiously headed up the stairs.

«•••»

The room was pristine, untouched, as if it belonged in a model home instead of a real home. Though Jisoo was more involved in clothing design, she had her fair share of experience with interior designing too, and still dabbled in it from time to time, which was why Lisa knew that the furniture was the latest model. In fact, she could vaguely recall having seen it recently—perhaps in the magazine Jisoo had left on the coffee table last week.

The gesture of setting up the guest room might have been intended as a sort of welcome, but it struck Lisa as odd, even though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. The uneasiness was so profound that Lisa found herself turning on her cell phone even though it had only been a few minutes. She needed an emergency plan, and she couldn’t wait for her phone to turn on if she immediately needed to call police.

She placed her bag in the corner of the room next to the bed. She knew she was on edge just being in this house, but that fact was further proven when she jolted at the sensation of her phone vibrating. Giving herself a few seconds to catch her breath, she answered the phone, not even needing to check the caller ID to know who it was.

She barely hit answer before she was bombarded with accusations. “So many messages, all undelivered, so many calls, all unanswered, all because you turned off your phone. I actually walked all the way back to your house, just to talk to some of the officers and get Chanyeol’s number! How dare you—I even—”

“Seulgi,” Lisa said, glancing at the door. “I’m fine, right?”

Seulgi scoffed, but she seemed to be relieved at that. “For now. What are you doing? Are you really ... there?”

Lisa nodded, but remembered that she was on a phone call. “Yeah ... it’s not as evil as we thought. It’s kind of nice, actually,” she admitted.

“Oh no, don’t think like that. Guilty until proven innocent, remember?”

“Isn’t it the other way around?”

“Not with Jennie, it isn’t. Anyways, what’s your plan now?” Lisa took a few seconds too long to answer. “Why do I have a feeling that you don’t really have a plan?”

Seulgi knew her too well.

“Then let’s make one now,” Lisa said, and Seulgi groaned. “Any ideas?”

“You’re really an idiot, you know that right?” Seulgi sighed. “I think you can start by, you know, finding evidence of Chaeyoung? Like, if Jennie’s responsible, she’d probably keep her at her own house, right? Since she lives alone and ...” She paused. “Unless she’s actually evil, like in movies, and she has a secret lair somewhere and the house is just a cover.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “She’d be practical. Her own house would be ideal. And I came here without telling her, right? She sounded surprised, so there’d be no reason for her to have moved Chaeyoung anywhere.”

And then Lisa laughed, the ridiculousness of the situation just dawning on her.

“Um ... you okay? Did you drink something?”

“No it’s just—remember how you said the police would handle it? Look at me now.” Lisa’s smile got wider; the situation was just too ironic.

“You mean look at us now,” Seulgi corrected, and Lisa could hear the smile in her voice. “Honestly, this is the time to be serious, and you choose now to find something funny. Why do I feel like you have a death wish?”

The sudden reminder of the potential danger Lisa was in made them fall quiet for a second. It was Seulgi that spoke first.

“Is she worth it?”

Lisa didn’t have to hesitate. “Of course.”

“You realize ... if you’re right, then this is really big. This is kidnapping ... you’re in a house with a kidnapper. And one that hired others to—”

“You’re not helping.”

Seulgi forced a laugh. “Right. Sorry.”

Then there was the sound of the door slamming, and even though Lisa realized in the next second that it was on Seulgi’s end, not hers, she jerked backward, in the process ramming into the side of the dresser and knocking some of the items off, onto the floor. The dresser itself moved about a quarter meter to the side at the impact. Lisa clutched her side, knowing a nasty bruise would form there soon.

“Whoa, what happened?”

Lisa laughed humorlessly. “I was being overly paranoid and ran into something. What was the noise?”

“Oh, that was my mom. She was asking why I was late, I told her I’d explain later since I was talking to you. I didn’t say anything, don’t wor—”

“Lisa?” Jennie called from downstairs. Lisa stilled, and Seulgi must have heard Jennie through the phone because there was only silence on her end. “Are you okay? What was that?”

Lisa cleared . “I—I’m fine, just tripped over my bag,” she called back.

There was no reply after that, so Lisa took the chance to try to push the dresser back into place. She would think that, since she was able to push it out of the way without trying, she’d be able to push it back when she did try, but that was unfortunately not the case. Letting out huff, she walked around to the other side, the side she had bumped into, to see if there was anything blocking the way.

And that’s how she noticed a strange object on the floor, in the crack behind the dresser. It had been concealed when the dresser had been in place, revealed only when Lisa shoved it out of the way. It was still quite a bit behind the dresser, though ... as if someone had thrown it back there in a rush.

The sounds from her phone made Lisa remember that the call was still connected. She brought her phone to her ear. “Hey, Seulgi, sorry. I was replying to—”

“I heard, don’t worry. Will you call back?”

Lisa frowned. “Just ... hold on. I think I found something.”

But before she could do anything, there was a knock on the door, and Lisa froze. “The tea is ready, but are you hungry? I can order dinner, or we can head out if you feel like it?”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute! I’m just changing, we can—we can head out, if that’s okay,” Lisa said, praying that Jennie wouldn’t open the door. She didn’t know what to expect.

“Sounds good. Come downstairs whenever you’re ready, we can head out after tea.”

As she heard the receding footsteps, Lisa let out a breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding. “She’s gone,” she whispered, and Seulgi seemed to hear her, though her voice was barely audible even to herself.

“I had 119 dialed on another phone. If I heard anything I would’ve hit call.” Seulgi’s voice was slightly shaky, and Lisa felt a small pang of guilt that she was responsible. But that was quickly replaced by gratefulness for having someone like Seulgi to rely on.

“Thanks. Now give me a sec.” Taking a deep breath, Lisa walked back to the dresser. She couldn’t make out what the object was, but in the otherwise immaculate room, it stood out like a sore thumb. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to push the dresser aside in the time it would take for Jennie to come back up to check on her, she pressed her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she blindly stuck her other hand behind the dresser. After feeling around for a few seconds, her hands brushed against the object, and she carefully pulled it out into the light.

Lisa gasped.

“Lisa? Is something wrong?” came Seulgi’s voice in her ear.

“Seulgi,” Lisa finally managed to whisper. “Call the pol—no, call Chanyeol. Tell him to pick me up. Now.”

There was no response on the other end, and Lisa knew Seulgi was dialing his number with another phone. She could only hope he got to Jennie’s house before she was forced to leave for dinner.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the cracked but still recognizable earpiece, tiny and clear, that she was holding in her palm.

•••

Author’s Note:

that was a long wait, and i am so, so sorry for that. but thank you to everyone who waited and is still reading!!

also—HOLY CRAP OVER 10K VIEWS?? HOW EVEN???? oh my god, thank you all so much for all the love you've been showing this story!! it means so much :) love you all!

~ thana