Eleven
Trickling Red
Changmin sat a lunch box in his hands. Pieces of lettuce, carrots, broccoli and tomatoes were in there. With a flick of a fork, he stabbed the lettuce, producing a soft, crunchy soft. Scrunching his nose, he placed the healthy snack into his mouth. He chewed swiftly and swallowed.
Finally, his mouth was itching for food – tidbits to be precised. Yet, the harsh reality had crashed down hard on him that his cholesterol level was rather high... Scarred that he might suffer from diseases much later, he decided—
"Something's up," Junsu said, rubbing his chin.
Changmin arranged his face into that of a wide-eyed innocent look. Casually, he mumbled, "The ceiling, Junsu."
"You're really behaving weird," Junsu continued. "Even your mum couldn't force you to eat your greens and yet, you're eating it at your own will now."
Junsu punctuated his sentence with a doubtful look.
Changmin paused, faced Junsu squarely and snorted.
"I didn't realise there was a code of conduct for people being healthy for once," Changmin managed a sarcastic twist in his words.
Junsu chuckled, "The real Shim Changmin's back!"
Changmin rolled his eyes skywards and stuffed a slice of tomato into his mouth.
The truth was, he was persuaded by his newly-found lover, Kim Kibum, to be more health conscious.
“We’re having a meeting,” informed Jaejoong.
Junsu and Changmin shuffled into the meeting room. Yoochun was already seated at the table.
Immediately after they settled down, Jaejoong jumped straight into the meeting.
"For the past few days, we have collated the whereabouts of those who attempted homicide. Yoochun please," started Jaejoong.
Yoochun nodded and projected a slide on the screen. There were five pictures there. Their respective names below each picture.
"We've searched for those who were convicted for murder in the past 60 years and the results were that they're either dead or servicing lifetime imprisonment, causing us to hit another dead end." Jaejoong said, leaning forward with both palms pressing against the table.
Hovering his laser at the pictures, he continued, "These people have a high chance of committing crime again. They may or may not be linked to our current case but, we're not taking the chance that they aren't."
Jaejoong managed to cross out three people. One was in jail, another had immigrated to the United States and the third one was in a mental hospital. Leaving with only two suspects, they set out to tail them.
Changmin and Jaejoong would follow the first target while Yoochun and Junsu had to keep their eyes on the second target. Each partner rotated turns to watch the target.
Changmin got into the the driver's seat. Jaejoong was at passenger's seat. Changmin started the engine. The car lurched forward, but slowly, like it was barely creeping through the gravel lane. The car whipped drastically to the right and sped up with a screech of the tires after it turned out of the police station.
Changmin veered left, making a u-turn, with more screeching tires and a wobble that made Jaejoong wonder if the whole thing might just flip over. The leader grasped the handles, fearing for his safety. No longer withstanding it, he said, "Changmin. Changmin, pull over."
The car eased over to the side of the road. After switching drivers, they carried on their journey.
~.~.~.~
After switching with Changmin, Jaejoong parked the car. He wanted to take a breather before resting for the night.
It was humid in the city. Dark clouds sat heavily among the roofs of shop houses. There were voices in the air. No matter how quiet it was, they would always just be too far away to hear, but the very atmosphere was buzzing with them.
He strolled around the area. He had never been to this part of the city. Glancing around the area, he noticed the shops — diners, budget hotels, bars and clubs.
He recognised a familiar silhouette. It was his cousin. Feeling that the chances of her being here at such a place were low, he found it weird. Just to make sure, he walked up to the girl.
Gently tapping on her shoulder, he asked, "Soojin?"
The girl spun around on her heels instantly. She gasped when she faced Jaejoong.
"No way..." she muttered.
"Why are you here? It's already half past 12," reasoned Jaejoong.
"I... I was," she stuttered.
"Go home now. I'm calling Auntie to let her know. She must be so worried!"
"Don't call her! She's sleeping... I sneaked out. Please!" she begged.
"All right," Jaejoong sighed. "Better get home now. It's dangerous. Call me when you reach home."
Soojin nodded and scruffied off. As much as Jaejoong wanted to make sure she reached home safely himself, he could not be far away from Changmin just in case Changmin needed him to be there. Jaejoong sighed.
Jaejoong passed through a dark alley. He realised the lack of light. He walked and a door suddenly flew open. Unable to react fast enough, he slammed against it.
"Ow," he muttered, rubbing his forehead.
The door was so rusty that it blended in with the bricked wall. He had not noticed that a door was present.
Quickly, a person emerged and shut the door. The alley was dark again.
"I was careless. I sincerely apologise," said a man, strangely calm after hurting someone.
The man was wearing a suit. Jaejoong could see the contrast in colour. Black and white. Pressing a hand to his forehead, Jaejoong tried to look at the man's face. It was dark and he could not see the man's face properly.
"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," mumbled Jaejoong.
For a moment, he zoned out. Hastily, he snapped back to reality.
"What were you saying?" questioned Jaejoong, he was sure that the man was speaking but he could not quite catch it.
Realising that his hypnotising powers did not work on the man, he replied hastily.
"You're hurting, aren't you?" the man asked, faking his concern.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine," Jaejoong assured.
The man threw a big garbage bag into the trash. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands. Reaching for his wallet next, he took out a name card. He had wanted to erase part of Jaejoong memory so that things would not be troublesome but it failed. He found it rather odd.
"Here. I'm Jung Yunho. If you need medical care, call this number and ask for me. I know a good doctor," the vampire stated, keeping up his act.
Jaejoong accepted the card. He could not decipher the words in the dark. Mindlessly, Jaejoong shrugged and said, "It's nothing to worry about."
Jaejoong left the alley and came to a brightly lit street. The card read: Jung Yunho. Host of Zygous Host club. Below was a telephone number.
*****
A cat meowed when Yunho entered his apartment. It had brown fur with black stripes. It padded towards the occupant and weaved its way around his legs. Gently, it rubbed itself against Yunho and purred.
Yunho gritted his teeth. The cat ceased its movement and took a seat in front of him, big green eyes staring him.
The vampire clucked his tongue, a blood vein threatening to pop. The cat stood and jumped up to the coffin, traipsing around.
"Kibum," the vampire uttered menacingly.
The cat stopped dead in its tracks and mewled. Glancing at Yunho another time, it hopped off the black container. As it pranced its way to Yunho, its form grew blurry. In a flash, the cat turned into Kibum. His hair was in disarray.
"I'm surprised that you ever dare to appear in that form again," said Yunho.
Kibum laughed uneasily. Shivers rippled through him; his teeth chattered. Hands shaking, he fixed his hair.
"Sorry, I did a little ," explained Kibum. “I’m fine with using this form. As for the drinking of blood directly from any human, it’s a little…”
He cringed.
“As a shape shifter, you ought to know that you inherit the characteristics of the form you take. What you did was utter foolishness,” Yunho said sternly.
“I…I just need time,” Kibum said in a whisper – the feeling of being chided was not a nice one.
Kibum’s skin prickled when he recalled the incident ten years ago.
Having excellent night vision, Kibum was prowling around the neighbourhood in the form of a cat, searching for an adventure. When he turned around the corner of a building, he was grabbed by the tail. A sharp pain hit his nerves and he snarled, pawing around fervently. He was caught off guard.
He was in the air, face to face with a boy, about eleven years of age. He was almost feeling that his tail would be ripped off his body. Foul breath was blown into his face, a mixture of something horrible and orange-mint gum.
Fear gnawed at Kibum. He let out ear-piercing shrieks but the boy clamped his muzzle shut, reducing the screams of help to muffled whines. The boy flung him towards the wall. The impact was so hard that air was knocked out of his lungs. The boy swaggered toward the cat, his hand wielding a knife.
Kibum’s body was a numbing pain. He lost his strength and his vision became bad. He was seeing double images of the boy. In a dizzy stupor, he spotted a shiny glimmer. Although unsure of what it was, his six sense told him that it was dangerous.
“I need to change. I have to. I need to,” Kibum thought.
He could die any moment if he was not a vampire. Not being in his own form made him unable to retain his original powers.
He was too late. The boy ran the blade across his abdomen. Blood flowed out, straining his dark fur red. He yelped. Using his last ounce of energy, he bit the boy’s hand hard. The eleven year old cried out in pain and dropped the knife. He backed away and cradled his bleeding hand.
Kibum reverted back to his original form. Bruises faded. The wound healed. The throbbing pain became just a prick on the skin. Kibum spat out the red liquid then repeatedly cleaned his tongue against his sleeve. The boy stood staring with his mouth agape.
“Digusting. Digusting,” Kibum exclaimed, disappearing into the night.
For a cat, blood did not taste like delicacy; rather it tasted like a rotten fruit.
“Time…” said Yunho, bringing Kibum back to the present. “is an eternity for us.”
Kibum grinned, finally going back to his original self. He pushed open the glass door, revealing a small balcony. He threw his leg over the railing and disappeared over the edge.
He yelled, "If I'm a fool, you're the despicable."
_________________________________________________________________
Poor Kibummie...
I'm realising that my vocab is kinda running out. Lol. XD Gosh, Korean law is so hard to find on the internet. So I'm bullting the whole crime sentence stuff. Hope u don't mind. Hehe. 'Mystery' isn't a popular genre in AFF. I'm bored. Sorry. Lol.
Well then, bye.
薔薇色の事件's title is changed to Trickling Red. Pls take note if u see it in ur updated subscription section. Tks!
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