a/N: Very fast-paced. 

“Where do we start?” Haechan’s father said, letting out a breath.

“Tell them what happened. From the beginning. From when we were eighteen,” Johnny’s mother answered and we all wondered what happened to make them look like they were terrified.

“Summer break. The end of our senior school year,” Haechan’s father said softly, taking a seat. “We went to a vacation house. There was your mom and I, Doctor Jung, Mr. Suh. Hendery, your father was there, too. Mrs. Park, Mrs. Na, and the Kim’s. We were close and we were ready to go our separate ways after that summer.”

“Stop dragging it,” Mrs. Park snapped and I could see where New York got her snappiness from. “It was a party, a typical party—”

“A party filled with drugs and alcohol.”

“You did drugs?” Haechan gasped. “Then all those lectures about you hating me do drugs was a lie!”

Mr. Lee cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Let your father talk, Haechan. Go on, honey.” Haechan’s mother urged.

“It was a dizzy night, kids. We were intoxicated and high. It was illegal, of course, but we were kids and we didn’t know any better. It was then someone knocked on the door,” Mr. Lee continued. “When Doctor Jung opened it, it was a sixteen-year-old girl. She was two years younger than us and I remembered seeing her around before.”

“We have caught glimpses of her when we got off at school. Sometimes, we would see her walking around but we never paid any attention to her. How she ended up at the doorstep of our vacation house was a wonder but….” Mr. Suh paused, chewing on his bottom lip. “We were all very drunk. She kept smiling, the female walking into the room and sitting down with us.”

“She was weirdly chirpy, but because she wasn’t necessarily a stranger, we simply asked her name.”

“Kim Ara was what she called herself,” Mrs. Park continued, pressing her lips together. “The night went on, more drugs. More alcohol, more drugs. A vicious cycle until she fell onto the floor and began to go into shock.”

There was a murmur and my heart dropped at their words.

“We didn’t know what it was from. Alcohol and drugs, maybe. That was what we thought. We began to panic. Doctor Jung just passed her exam to medical school, all of us had a future and couldn’t risk us going to the hospital—”

“So, you didn’t bring her to the hospital,” I whispered; everyone looking at me as realization hit. “You didn’t bring her to the hospital because you knew they would find drugs and alcohol in her system.”

Silence.

“We did what we had to do. We were young and stupid,” Mr. Lee said. “We were all dazed, all of us wondering what to do when we checked her pulse and it seemed like she was dead. Her body was cold—”

“What does my father have to do with this, then?” Mark demanded from the side when Mark’s father looked down on the ground. “Dad?”

“Son, who do you think brought the truck?” Mr. Lee, Mark’s father asked; everyone letting out a breath of shock.

“What do you mean, truck?”

“We brought the body to bury it,” Mr. Suh finally said. “Hendery, it was your father’s idea. We put flowers on top and told her we were sorry and called it a night.”

“Called it a night?” I found my voice going shrill. “You buried a body and you decided to call it a night?”

“We didn’t know what to do. I repeat that we were young and stupid. We were afraid. We went back later and couldn’t find the body so we have been living in fear but…. That was when the letters started coming.”

“Letters,” Jaemin whispered. “The letters that came when I was in camp, those types of letters?”

“When letters came for me, I sent Jaehyun to Osaka,” Doctor Jung said softly.

“That’s why I was pushed to go to New York,” New York said, rubbing her face.

“Was this why you were okay with me going overseas for three years?” Haechan demanded.

“Son, you know we would never send you alone. Robert and Pete were tailing you. We knew about you and Sunshine the night you both met.” Haechan’s father told him and he threw his hands in the air.

“We all got letters, over and over again but the person said that it wouldn’t be us. It would be our children that would suffer,” Mark’s father, Michael Lee spoke. Mark hung his head with disappointment. “And then your mother got a miscarriage two days after we got the letter. It was so sudden. She apparently drank something and the baby died in her stomach and I couldn’t rush her to the doctor in time.”

Mark’s eyes shifted.

“I lost a brother?”

“The miscarriage was premeditated, Mark,” Michael Lee said; Mark sniffling at the news. “I then got a letter right after, telling me that her revenge was over. That the loss of a baby was enough to fill her soul and it was signed Ara.”

“And Bunny got kidnapped. Two days after we got the letter, Bunny got kidnapped,” Mrs. Kim added. “For three days.”

I looked over at a very pregnant Kim Bunny who was sniffling. “I closed my eyes and was held in a house but there was a little girl there. The girl had an S burn on her wrist. I… I can’t remember.”

“On her left hand?” I asked, Bunny nodding. “The person I saw today had a burned scar on her wrist, too. But she isn’t old enough to be the person you tried to bury years ago. This girl is around our age.”

“Are you all saying that she’s still alive?” Jaehyun asked, his mother saying she didn’t know. “Are you saying that you may have buried a person alive?”

“No one can find out,” A voice suddenly said and I turned to see New York staring at them, my jaw dropping. Really? That was her conclusion? “This happened years ago and it coming to light will not help any of you. The statute of limitations is over and if she really is alive, it’s best you find her and beg for her forgiveness. But no one can find out about this—”

“No one can find out about this? Are you serious?” I asked New York, the female turning to look at me.

“And what do you think people finding out will help with?” she asked back. “Do you think that the world will suddenly be butterflies and rainbows? If the same person has been sending out death threats and finally made someone lose a baby, do you honestly think she’s good enough for us to sacrifice our reputation for something that happened thirty years ago?”

“Your parents tried to bury someone and you’re worried about reputation?” I asked, standing up; New York hissing at me.

“And who do you think you are, standing there to tell us what to do?” New York asked back. “We have a family to protect, KBS. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“You’re trying to sweep it under a rug!”

“Because that’s the only way to protect all of us,” New York told me. “And if you’re not one of us, your opinion is invalid.”

I looked over at Jisung, my partner’s face falling.

“My sister is right, KBS,” he said, softly. “We have a family to protect.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I felt myself tremble with anger.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

How unfair was it that they couldn’t even have the slightest bit of consciousness to try to own up for their mistakes?

I looked up, shielding myself from the sun while I stomped over to the van. I stumbled, almost tripping as I lifted the dress I bought up, pulling the material apart to rip it apart. The material dropped to the ground and I fumed, climbing up into the van before I closed my eyes, feeling the fire in me rise.

the privileged, I thought. I slammed my fist down onto the steering wheel with frustration when I stopped and was reminded of how Jisung’s face fell. While I was defeated, the way Jisung stood up for his sister infuriated me.

I thought he was different.

I my lips, shaking my head when my phone vibrated and I grabbed it, answering it without looking at the caller ID. The voice spoke and my heart dropped when I recognized it—My boss. She spoke so softly; I knew she was trying to tread her words carefully. Just by the way she spoke, I knew it was Lee Haechan’s doing.

“I just wanted to inform you that you were taken off the case. It’s advised that you get some rest. It’ll be like a paid leave—”

“Why would KBS give me a paid leave?”

“It has come to light that you worked hard for the last two months and maybe you should take some time off,” she said so robotically I knew she was being fed on what to say. “You should return the van over to MBC and maybe we can give you a better case—”

“I don’t need your money,” I found myself saying. “I quit.”

And with that, I hung up, throwing my phone over to the passenger’s seat and laying my head on the steering wheel. I knew I was impulsive and emotional but I didn’t actually expect myself to quit like that. Five minutes was all it took until I reached over to grab my phone, whispering to myself.

“. . . Why did I do that? Why did I quit? What am I going to do with just my savings?” I whispered, my fingers stopping over my boss’s number when I let out a frustrated groan, slamming my head back down on the steering wheel, the vehicle giving out a honk. “Oh my god, what did I do?”

I felt fragile and alone.

The image of them all staring at me in the room flashed through my mind, Jisung’s sister telling me that they would do anything for family and that I didn’t understand made my hands tighten into fists. Lee Haechan looking at me like I didn’t belong and despite Johnny Suh’s fuming, he too—seemed like he had come to terms with how things would pan out.

Damage control, that’s all they were going to do. They weren’t going to find out why, who it was and they wouldn’t repent. They would take one step forward with caution to protect their loved ones while I would always wonder why they didn’t try to do find her.

Apologize to her, even.

“Soju,” I said to myself, starting the van. “Drink and then think about it later.”

I sighed.

“Welcome to the life of unemployment,” I told myself, driving down the street towards home.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I sat down by a small restaurant, three bottles of soju in front of me. My vision was beginning to blur and the only reason why I chose this restaurant was because it was close to home. I grabbed the small glass, downing another shot of soju when the alcohol burned my throat. I closed my eyes, struggling to finish the last bottle when I knew I would regret it later.

“Young lady, I hope someone will be able to take you home,” the owner of the restaurant said. She was used to seeing me and she was a familiar face. But I have never reached this level of drunk and the old woman eyed me carefully when she sighed. “Life is like that, okay? Just got to live with it.”

It was funny how she didn’t know anything of what was going on but ended saying something that felt relatable. She must have thought I was heartbroken or something of that sort when there was a clang and when I looked up, I saw her place another bottle on the metal foldable table.

“On the house,” she said and I was about to refuse it when I decided that maybe it was okay to drink my sorrows away to the point of no return. I finished the third bottle, feeling my body sway when a chair was pulled away from the table in front of me and I felt someone sit, his long lanky arms laying on the table.

“KBS.” His voice was deep and I looked up to see Jisung stare at me. Concern was in his eyes and I chuckled. Why was he here? Was I imagining things? “You weren’t answering your phone—”

“Hello,” I greeted, propping my face on my hands. “I am no longer employed.”

“KBS,” he said again and I looked up at him, my bottom lip trembling. Jisung’s eyes softened and I let out a desperate sob, a hand going up to wipe away the tears welling up.

“I thought being brave was enough, you know?” I mumbled, sniffling. A finger went out to trace the rim of the shot glass. The old woman came up to us to place another glass in front of Jisung and he shook his head. The alcohol was making me more vocal. Not like I was never vocal with Jisung, but this was different. “I thought that maybe if I worked hard and if things made sense to me, it would make sense to other people.”

He pressed his lips together and I looked up to stop the tears from falling.

I was frustrated at a world I couldn’t change.

“But the world is a cruel, cruel place, Park Jisung,” I told him. “You have everyone backing you up, people ready to fight for you even if it’s wrong and here I am, trying to fight for what I think is right but I can’t because it’s against those who hold so much power.”

“But you have me,” he said simply, a hand reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’ve put me through so much the past two months, KBS, and I’m still here, aren’t I?”

I scoffed, reaching for the new bottle. Jisung looked like he wanted to stop me but he didn’t. I opened it in one swift motion and poured the liquid into the shot glass.

“You’re one of them,” I answered back, Jisung nodding. “You and I live in different worlds, Park Jisung.”

He didn’t say anything and it may have been because he knew that it was right. I gulped down the alcohol, Jisung reaching out for a tissue to wipe the side of my lip. I burped, my eyes growing heavy at the 40% alcohol I had taken in.

“Why are you here, by the way?” I asked, Jisung telling me he checked my place and I wasn’t home. “Did you tell your sister where you were?”

“I’m sure she won’t be that worried,” he said and I coughed, my head spinning. “Woah, Woah, KBS—”

I almost tipped over, the old woman coming to tell him that I drank on an empty stomach. Everything was spinning when I felt Jisung grab my shoulders and before I knew it, I was being carried on his back. I laid my head down on his shoulder, Jisung struggling to not drop me while I clung to him.

I lived in a rooftop apartment. Small and cheap, a little far from the city but it was a small neighborhood I had taken a liking to. Jisung had stayed over a couple of times when we both worked on the Mad Hatter case. It was a steep slope and Jisung trudged up, his breathing becoming labored.

“So weak, Park Jisung,” I said, Jisung grumbling.

“Never thought the day would come when I would see you this drunk,” he told me when we reached my building. He looked up at the flight of stairs he had to climbed and I was about to drop down but he tightened his grip around my legs. “KBS! Don’t move or we’ll both topple over!”

“I can walk up on my own!” I told him, swaying back and forth from behind him and Jisung let out a squeal trying to balance me. “Let goooooooo!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” he told me, still refusing to let go of my legs. “KBS! Not cool, not cool!”

I don’t know how long it was, but I ended up clutching his back as he lunged me up the stairs. When we reached the rooftop, He fumbled for the keys that were under the flower pot and opened the door, kicking it open before throwing me on the bed. I squinted under the fluorescent lights.

“Ow, bright. Very bright," I mumbled, turning to the side when I felt a rush of nausea. “Oh, it’s coming.”

“Coming? What’s coming?” Jisung asked and I saw three of him. I smiled at him, doubling over towards the side of the bed. “Wait… No, KBS! No, go to the bathroom!”

But it had already come and I emptied the contents of my stomach, Jisung’s voice rambling on in the background as I closed my eyes and rode the wave of drunkenness.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up with a pounding headache, rolling to the side just for my arm to touch a person. My eyes shot wide open and I groaned, turning to the side to see Jisung’s peaceful sleeping beside me. I blinked rapidly, trying to remember what happened last night when all I remembered were blurry cuts of Jisung trying to carry me up to my place.

I found myself studying his features. The curve of his lips and the way he frowned in his sleep. I moved, realizing that I was holding his hand, and wondered how long it had been that way. I moved my fingers away from him, Jisung stirring and I felt another wave of nausea wash over me.

, I thought, sitting up and rushing towards the bathroom to vomit once more. I began to dry heave, gripping the sides of the commode as I tried to get rid of the alcohol from the night before the door of the toilet moved and I felt someone gather my hair behind me, Jisung tying my hair.

He rubbed my back and when I looked up, I saw that he was sleepy, the male with his eyes closed while he tried to make me feel better.

“Water,” I croaked, Jisung still buffering, the male walking towards the kitchen on autopilot. “Oh, I hate this.”

“Who asked you to drink four bottles of soju?” he asked, coming back with warm water. He flushed the toilet and I forced myself up, putting the cover of the toilet down and drinking from the mug. I made a face at the smell of vomit, finally feeling better with water in my system.

It was ten o’clock and reality began to settle in, Jisung not mentioning anything that happened yesterday. I saw him look at his phone before sighing, lifting it up to show me that it had died last night. I was an android user and had no charger for his iPhone, Jisung telling me that it was fine.

I pushed the door open while Jisung got the windows. I saw a blanket in a big basin and Jisung told me I had vomited on the blankets last night so he had to drag them outside and soak them in water. I gave him an apologetic glance, the male laughing to himself when he told me I tried to get off him.

“And you were swinging back and forth, telling me ‘Let goooo!”,” he told me and I turned bright pink from embarrassment. “I almost dropped you.”

“I can’t,” I told him, hiding my face and emptying the water from the bucket to refill it with more water. I finally poured some detergent and bent down to pull my pants up. I went into the water, stepping on the blankets to wash them rhythmically with the soles of my feet.

My feet made squishy noises when a shadow moved and I saw Jisung pulling up the ends of his pants, flashing me a gummy smile before stepping closer. I froze, Jisung’s hands going to my waist as he balanced himself, Jisung pressing the soles of his feet against the blanket over and over again.

The thing about Jisung was how he made everything feel so simple. He chuckled to himself and I saw him staring at the bubbles rising to the surface of the water. I found myself smiling at his facial expression when Jisung let go for a moment and I almost lost my balance, my arms flailing in the air.

“Park Jisung!” I gasped, my hands going around in small circles in the air when Jisung’s eyes widened and he grabbed me with both arms, my face slamming against the crook of his neck as he tightened his arms around me to stop me from falling.

And for a moment there, my heart skipped a beat.

We stood there for a moment, both of us flustered by the sudden action, Jisung’s palms against my back. I couldn’t see his face but had my cheek pressed against his neck, feeling the sudden flare of heat from him.

I cleared my throat. Jisung finally dropped his hands and he stepped out of the basin. He was red, the tips of his ears also bright pink and he scratched the back of his head when I laughed.

“What?” he asked, flustered by my reaction. “What, KBS, what?”

“Just… I don’t know. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I told him, shaking my head and stepping out of the basin to rinse the blanket. “I just—”

“I told you, New York, that Jisung wasn’t with me!” A voice grumbled and both Jisung and I froze. We recognized that voice, Jisung and I running to the edge of the rooftop to peek over. I saw a bunch of people walking up the slope, Lee Haechan complaining very loudly. “Are you sure he wasn’t with your parents?”

“I checked,” Jisung’s sister said; Johnny Suh, butting in that he wasn’t in the precinct either.

“I can’t believe you guys woke me up for this. I told you I didn’t bail him from jail—”

Was that Chenle?

“Maybe he’s kidnapped,” New York said and I saw everyone tell her that she was being worried about nothing. “After yesterday, he was a bit weird, too. Did he run away from home—Hendery, can you….”

“Noona, I asked Kun-ge and he said he wasn’t at WayV Street either,” Hendery Wong said and Jisung and I exchanged looks.

“I didn’t even tell Muffin I was here,” Mark Lee complained and I wondered how many came just to find Jisung.

“Calm down, honey...” Jaehyun was telling his wife as she reached the top of the slope. “Jaemin, are you sure you checked your café?”

“Not in Nana’s Café or Dream Café,” Jaemin replied, Lee Haechan checking his phone. “Is this the place?”

“According to the Winwin Hyung, Park Jisung’s phone number last pinged here. But what would he be doing here?” Haechan asked, lifting the phone to the sky, squinting at it when I saw him look straight at us, Haechan yelling and pointing at Jisung. “OI! PARK JISUNG!”

“Hi, Hyung! Hi, Noona!” Jisung waved and I blinked rapidly.

“Come here, you little trouble maker!” New York’s voice echoed.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was by the door when everyone walked into my apartment. My apartment couldn’t hold three people, how much more nine. I saw Jaehyun sit down on the bed; Haechan, Hendery, Jaemin taking the couch. Jisung stood by the bathroom and New York stopped by the door. She removed her shoes.

“Where is the shoe rack?”

“Don’t have one,” I replied. She removed her coat and she was about to ask me a question so I beat her to it. “Don’t have a coat rack either.”

She ignored me, Jisung’s sister running her eyes over the small area before she spoke softly to herself.

“So, this is where Jisung sleeps all the time. I’m here for my brother. We all are.”

“Don’t have to rub it in my face,” I answered, raising an eyebrow at the older woman. Sometimes I wondered how Jung Jaehyun handled her, but it was obvious that it was because he was very smitten by her.

Not like I could blame him, New York was a beauty.

“Don’t worry, KBS. They all have my back and I got yours,” Jisung told me, giving me a smile when New York opened the refrigerator, peeking into it.

“What are you feeding my brother?” she asked and I rolled my eyes at her.

“He brings his own food. Most of the time it’s just ramen,” I told her and she gasped, whipping her head around to stare at Jisung who gave her a meek smile. “That being said, what are you all doing here? I thought we all agreed that you would do whatever it takes to throw what your parents did under the rug.”

“Please. We only said that to not upset our old men and woman. Besides, we need to find out who the person is.” Haechan scoffed from the couch, crossing his legs. He had his expensive shades on his nose, the male finally lowering it down to stare at me. “I heard you quit your job. They told me you quit even after they offered free pay.”

“That’s not a job, that was bribery,” I shot back and he shrugged, agreeing softly.

“I’m so stressed, every time I close my eyes, I just want to drink some alcohol,” Haechan complained, sniffing the air. He earned a smack from Mark who stood behind him.

“You’re going to relapse like you did before you went to Thailand.”

“Best time to relapse would be now,” Haechan drawled, Jaemin glaring at him and telling him not to even think about it or he would tell Haechan’s wife. “Oh, right. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”

“Our parents just want to bury whatever happened but I think the only useful thing we should do now is to find the person who is blackmailing us.” Johnny began. “This won’t end until we end it ourselves.”

“So, you’re here, not to allow your parents to repent but to find who it is that’s been making them pay for their sins?” I asked; Johnny turning to look at me.

“You have a better idea, KBS? How are you going to progress from that when we don’t even know who has been sending the threats?” Johnny took a step closer and the atmosphere in the room changed. “What makes you think that our families did not suffer enough with Bunny and her kidnapping, Mark’s parents and their miscarriage, and the fact that they lived in fear for the past three decades?”

My jaw tightened, Johnny glaring at me.

“What do you expect us to do? Demand justice, bring it out into the public eye, and then what?” Johnny demanded. “Watch N-CITY burn down and give her what she wants?”

I blinked.

Everyone was waiting for me to speak.

“All I wanted was them to take accountability for their past actions. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but the least they can do is not erase it and pretend it didn’t happen.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Johnny concluded. “To find out who it is. I know you’re quite moral, KBS, but sometimes I feel like you lack vision.”

“What does that mean?” I demanded.

“You live in a world thinking that one must do good,” Johnny replied. “But we live in a world where sometimes making a moral decision does more harm than good, especially for the people they care about.”

I didn’t have anything to counter that, dragging my eyes onto the ground when Na Jaemin spoke up.

“So, where do we start?” he asked; everyone forgetting that he was there in the first place. Na Jaemin was someone with a bright smile but I noticed that he was quiet whenever there was a big crowd. “I didn’t mention it before, but I think I’ve met the girl you talked about.”

“What does that mean?”

“You mentioned before that she had an S burn on her wrist,” Jaemin said before he paused. “And I met someone like that. She worked in Nana’s Café before. She wore a hearing aid but she quit after a while. I know she kept mumbling to herself and wouldn’t tell us her name. But she was good at following orders.”

“Bunny mentioned that before, too,” Mark piped up. “She said the first time, remember? That the young kid who saved her burned herself when she was kidnapped so she could run away.”

Everyone nodded.

“So, you’re saying that the girl that saved Bunny was the same girl that worked for Jaemin and also the same girl that KBS saw?” New York asked, connecting the dots. “This means that she has been in your lives for quite some time.”

“But why would a deaf and timid girl try to blackmail us?” Jaemin asked, shaking his head. “Makes no sense. When that girl worked for us, she was nice and hardly spoke. It seemed like she just wanted to follow instructions.”

“Are you sure they are the same person?” Johnny asked, Jaemin nodding.

“How many people do you think would have an S burn on their wrist? Unless it’s a gang sign—”

“Nah, bro. I know gang signs,” Chenle butted in. “They don’t burn people. They go for tattoos. Cooler, you know.”

“I still have no idea what I’m doing here,” Hendery said from the side, Haechan patting him. “I didn’t even grow up with you guys. My dad kept saying that anyone close to Jung Jaehyun was dangerous.”

“Hey! Wait, are you serious?” Jaehyun demanded and Hendery nodded.

“Yes. I mean, I grew up in Macao but dad’s in some shady business…” He looked at Johnny warily. “Anyway, I then moved to Korea and dad told me explicitly! Do not engage in friendships with the Jung’s or the Lee’s or the Kim’s or…”

“Shut the up,” Johnny snapped.

“… So, I grew up with the Wong’s, the Qian’s, the Leechaiyakun’s and Xiao Dejun and Liu Yangyang.”

“Oh, we all know Yangyang,” Johnny mused; everyone nodding.

“I don’t,” I said and Haechan scoffed.

“You know nothing, KBS.”

“Alright, besides the point, but…” Jaemin sighed. “If we have to find the girl, it’s best we start from SM University. I remember very well that she would go to the library like clockwork, every lunchtime