"I...I..."

Lucas couldn't find the guts to spill out the truth to Haeun. Haeun, being the supportive friend she was, didn't urge him to spill out his words. Instead, she waited patiently - nodding her head understanding way. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," she reached out to hold his hand. 

"Haeun..."

He bit his bottom lip, nearly chewing it. 

"I'm under suspicion for murder and kidnapping." 

The look of pure shock was obvious on Haeun's face. Still, she held onto his hand. 

"I...I don't know how it all started but... The police... They called me one day after class and just put me in handcuffs. They started asking all these questions and I was so scared, I didn't even realise why I was there," he swallowed down his saliva. "They started telling me how these girls claimed I kidnapped them and murdered another girl." Tears began to build up in his eyes as the memories began to playback. "The victims identified me as their kidnapper... Haeun, they said they saw me murdering another girl."

He held onto Haeun's hand tighter as his breathing became shaky. 

"They asked me where I was doing the night the murder happened and I told them the truth - I didn't remember most of the night because I was dead drunk. They started accusing me, saying I could have murdered one of the girls under the influence of alcohol. I said I couldn't have done that - I wasn't like that! I wasn't a killer...

"They couldn't hold me under arrest for long since they didn't have enough evidence. My life just went down the drain after that. Word got out somehow and... My boss fired me and my roommate kicked me out," he looked down to his lap. "You should've seen how scared my roommate was - how scared he was to know that a possible murderer could be living under one roof as him. I tried to call my parents but none of them would talk to me. All those people I thought were my friends just turned me away when they saw my face, acted like they didn't even know who I was." 

He felt the tears piling up and finally fell down one by one, wetting his cheek. 

"I had no one, Haeun - absolutely no one. I wondered around the streets without a home to come back to. Everyone around me seemed to want nothing to do with me. Suddenly, I thought about you, Haeun. I thought about how we used to be and I hoped... I hoped maybe you would listen to me first. I didn't have anywhere else to go, I didn't have anyone else to turn to and I felt so hopeless and alone..." 

Lucas sniffed and wiped his nose. He looked up to meet Haeun's face. The girl showed no kind of reaction to his story. She wasn't even looking at him anym