The smell of smoke mixed with flames was slightly in the air, like it couldn't let go of the moment.
YoungJae threw a glare facing the situation, a house was burned to the ground and somehow, he had a quick vision of the destruction in Sana's house passing through his thoughts. Other town, same case, same mystery, it didn't take long to discover the connection between Mina and Chaeyoung, since the latter's house was clearly destroyed, luckily it didn't spread but the intentional fire consumed all of Chaeyoung's house, Yugyeom did that before leaving but, little does YoungJae knows. A good amount of suspicious was raised and like that, the local police decided to call him to fix that mess. Well, at least it allowed him to have permission and search for Jeongyeon in other places, maybe that was one of her doings, surely it all connected together.
He soon entered the perimeter, it didn't have much of a house left there or many things to see, it was even useless to look for any clues in the place, deranged pieces of metal lied in the front door and the firemen were still to find out how that happened. YoungJae felt his cellphone buzzing and got out of the place for a while, it was work related. He was surprised when one of the police officers of the town informed him about an arrest they made earlier and that it was related to him, or better, the case, in a not so direct way, finally, he was instructed to go to the hospital to see what they meant.
.
YoungJae was fast to get there, he headed to a room were police officers guarded the door of the special patient. He came in without thinking twice.
"Detective" The guy laid on the bed said, not even surprised.
"Kim Yugyeom" YoungJae replied, he sat on a near chair beside the guy, although Yugyeom didn't seem to be in too much of a bad health situation, he was still being kept there.
"What brings you here?" Yugyeom asked, yes, they had already met before, and previous to all of that.
"They told me about the car crash and about Son Chaeyoung's car near one of yours obviously. And her house was found burned down"
"So?"
"Maybe you could explain me better about how that happened and how do you know her." YoungJae suggested. In fact, they only knew each other from previous arrests, or attempts of arrest, Yugyeom was known for being deeply involved with the black market so the detective was looking for a way to imprison him for a while now. The opportunity finally came and since the car crash resulted in one death, they were able to keep Yugyeom watched as a suspect, even being in the hospital.
"I can't tell anything right now." Yugyeom said, landing his gaze in the TV that showed some uninteresting comedy show.
"We have enough to keep you arrested" YoungJae said expecting to be some kind of a threat. Yugyeom sighed.
"I know." He said not looking at the guy.
"We can make it easier for you if you talk about how you know Yoo Jeongyeon." YoungJae said for much that he doesn't like making that kind of proposal. Yugyeom looked at him and dryly chuckled.
"I'll be fine." He said.
"What do you mean with that?"
"There is so much you don't know Detective." Yugyeom said, emphasizing the last word.
YoungJae looked confused at him.
"That's right, your little mind can't handle it yet, but you'll soon be enlightened." Yugyeom said playfully.
YoungJae was making mental notes about that, the situation and the connections, it couldn't be a coincidence. He looked down thinking and let a loud breath, he sank on the chair he was sitting and rubbed his temples. Yugyeom was staring at him, like he knew what was going on.
"Can I drop the formalities for a minute Yugyeom?" YoungJae asked, he also hated to pass through this kind of situations but he had to be honest with the other guy. Yugyeom nodded and instantly regretted because he just remembered the pain around his neck.
"She kidnapped two girls, probably innocent, and this Chaeyoung is also missing, you're the only person here that may know anything about it" YoungJae was sincere. The other guy tried to laugh but it was suppressed by his bruised neck.
"Fine, I'll tell you something" Yugyeom said, he was always the soft one of the gang.
"I'm not in this alone, maybe you can accidentally find one of my associates and maybe they could lead you to the person you're looking for"
"So, maybe you can tell me now how to find your... Associates"
"I think I can try" Yugyeom said, he wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble with his actions, but he was positively moved by the thought of YoungJae getting into more trouble than he already is.
>>>>>
It was raining outside. A storm was coming closer.
Mina immediately woke up to feel a strong smell of alcohol near her, her sight was a little off but she could see the looks of the place and assumed she was in a hospital. The thought startled her because a known hospital would still be dangerous for them, more dangerous than staying in the streets. She rapidly sat up and felt a piercing pain through her head, she also noticed that her leg was casted when she tried to move it, it broke from the car crash, bruises covered her once pale skin, from small ones on her face to bigger on near her arms, and she also had a bruised lip.
"Calm down" A woman softly said beside her and that was when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Mina laid down again and looked at the source of the voice. A tall doctor wearing a lab coat was sat not so far and looking at her with expressionless eyes.
"Who are you?" Mina asked with her small voice and dry throat.
"Your doctor" Tzuyu said not bothering to explain further.
"Where am I?" Mina asked making an effort to distinguish the place she was, analyzing the room.
"You should rest" Tzuyu simply said.
Mina seemed fragile laying in the bed. She looked around more attentively and noticed that the place didn't really looked like a hospital, more like a laboratory. Tzuyu kept looking at her until Mina threw a glare at her, then she turned around on her chair to proceed what she was doing there, actually working, Tzuyu put her earphones and shook her head, the other didn't seem to be a problem so she didn't mind her presence.
Mina saw a table with medical supplies and thought of a plan, she just didn't trust the person near her and wanted to escape from there since the other didn't give her answers. Maybe it was a dangerous place, she wasn't sure, but it was better not to take the risk. Mina unplugged the IV without making any noises and bit her lip sitting up, the pain on her leg made her breathe sharply but she was strong enough to bear it and get up slowly, it was enough to walk at least, all weight in her almost good leg. Tzuyu wasn't far, just three steps away from her, or else she wouldn't be able to do that. She held tightly to the fabric of her clothes to suppress the pain while biting her lip. Mina didn't make much noises and Tzuyu was really distracted. With her free hand, she took her loosen black hair out of her face and silently was able to grab a scalpel of the table near her bed.
Tzuyu wasn't aware enough, she was scrambling between papers and clicking her pen distractedly, because of the earphones, she wasn't able to hear Mina getting closer even thought she was practically dragging her leg through the way, she made a quickly move and put the sharp scalpel near her neck. Tzuyu froze and gulped down surprised.
"Calm down" She said, it sounded calm coming from a person being threatened.
"Where am I?" Mina asked again, she also sounded oddly calm.
"In my lab, that's in my house" Tzuyu answered. Mina still didn't let her go.
"Who are you?" She asked again since she never saw that person before. Tzuyu grinned unconcerned.
"Your doctor" She said, Mina clenched the scalpel more further on her neck.
"I'm serious. What's your name?"
"I can see that you're serious but killing me wouldn't give you answers." Tzuyu said pointing at the sharp object. Mina slowly took the object off and she turned around on her chair.
"My name is Chou Tzuyu. I'm friends with Chaeyoung" Tzuyu clarified, getting up, Mina just realized that her presence can really outstand and stepped back, the woman still didn't let her face show an expression through that time, just a small grin that didn't say much.
"Why should I believe in you?" Mina asked narrowing her eyes.
"You probably shouldn't" Tzuyu said.
"But I won't hurt you. I actually saved your life. Ask Chaeyoung if you want to, she is upstairs" Tzuyu said seeming uninterested.
Mina struggled to walk away back to the bed, Tzuyu didn't help her, she got up alone and she was going to get back alone.
"Why didn't you just say so?" She said placin