Junhong stared at Hana with a sad expression. The latter on the other hand was shaking.

“Are you okay Junhong? Did you—“

“I’m fine noona. It’s just a scratch…” he shrugged off a bit of dirt on his pants and smiled at the elder. As he stared back at her, he noticed her shaking hands and eyes that are ready to spill tears of fear.

“Are you… okay noona?” he asked back.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine of course. I’m not the one who almost got hit…” she chuckled lightly then whispered. “I’m just the one who almost got you killed…”

“What?” he asked as he didn’t hear the last part.

“N-nothing. What were you doing in the middle of the road anyway!?” she asked as she eyes the tall teenager that changed his expression back to sadness.

“I was just checking my phone that’s all…” he answered casually. “Why are you driving the police car noona?”

“Oh right!” she snapped. “I’m on duty. I’m on my way to the—“

“Hana noona!” Sungjong’s voice came from the radio in the car. “Where are—“

“Officer Jung!” another voice came from it.

“Dad!?” junhong’s eyes grew wide at the sound of his father. Hana stared at him for a moment, noticing the soft expression the boy was showing caused by the voice of his father.

“Officer Jung!” it called again and Hana snapped back. She approached the car with Junhong right behind her without her knowing.

“S-sir?” she answered the radio with a nervous voice.

“Where are you!? You should be there before we can! That Hyosung’s house is just a few minutes away from the station!” the detective yelled and the younger officer flinched at this.

“Y-yes sir. I’ll be there in a few minutes…” she informed and before she could put down the radio, “DAD!” Junhong called from right behind her and she jumped at the action.

“Junhong?” a soft voice coming from the other line was heard but the line was cut from there.

The two stared at the radio for a while until Hana shifted her gaze to Junhong.

She softened at the sight of the boy’s sad expression. She didn’t know what to do so instead, she pats him in the shoulder.

“Hey Junhong… I gotta go.” She said then sighed. The boy just stared at her blankly.

Hana paused for awhile the smiled genuinely. “Don’t worry…”

Junhong just nodded his head without even recognizing the elder’s words. He starts to walks off until Hana says something.

“Don’t worry kiddo. He misses you too…” she smiled again and got into the car.

She left him with a small smile on his lips, looking down at the ground with an indescribable feeling in his chest.

~*~

Youngjae stepped into the convenient store and was greeted by a bright smiling store crew.

“Good evening sir,” the guy greeted and Youngjae bowed politely.

He looked at the stalls as he noticed he’s the only costumer around. To think that it’s the kind of time where the store is usually full.

He looked back at the counter and found the cashier isn’t the same guy that greets him the last time he was here. ‘Jaebum hyung must be sent to another shift… Too bad. Hyomin loved it when he says hi to her…’

“May I know what you’re looking for, sir?” the guy from the cashier asked. Youngjae scratched his head and shyly replied, “I was wondering maybe you guys have cherries?”

The guy tilted his head at the side and thought for a moment. “I don’t think we have those today sir.”

Youngjae sighed. “Alright. I’ll just have something else.”

The guy smiled at Youngjae before the latter turned back to the stalls of snacks. The cashier’s smile fell immediately and he glared down.

“Keep quiet, you head.” He mouthed at the guy struggling on his knees with his hands and feet tied up and a masking tape plastered on his mouth.

Youngjae came out of the stalls and was again greeted by the smiling cashier. He placed some snacks and can of drinks on the counter and dialled on his phone.

As he waited for Hyomin to answer, he took in a glimpse of the cashier.

The guy looked pretty much ordinary except for that creepy smile he keeps giving Youngjae. As he eyes the guy’s actions, he noticed something.

‘Are employees allowed to where baseball caps during working hours? Weird… He looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing… I wonder where Jaebum hyung is…’ he thought as he thinks about the same guy he always see every time he goes by here. That guy was as friendly as this one, only Jaebum hyung doesn’t give out a creepy aura.

He keeps his eye on the cashier until a sudden thud was heard from under the counter.

Youngjae flinched at the sound while the cashier froze for a moment then looked down. His hands suddenly curled up into a ball and Youngjae gulped. ‘Something isn’t right here…’

Youngjae was about to look down under the counter but the other line finally answered.

“Oppa?”

“Hey there aren’t any cherries here…” he said immediately as his heart start to beat in an unusually fast pace. Cold sweats are starting to form on his forehead and his trying hard not to stutter those words out. Something told him not to look back on the cashier as he starts to get uncomfortable at his spot.

“Really? Are you sure? Maybe you didn’t ask Jaebum oppa! Don’t worry, I’ll go there instead—“

“NO! I mean… don’t bother. I’m on my way there anyway…” he hung up on her and faced the cashier.

Strangely, the guy was smiling. “Here is your snacks sir…”

“T-thanks,” Youngjae grabbed the plastic bag but the cashier wouldn’t let it go.

“I suggest you buy cherries at the store 7 blocks from here. That way you can have it fresh and you don’t have to stand in other people’s business…” he gave out that creepy smile again but this time, it was worse. The way he said it sounded like a threat or a warning. Whatever he said didn’t sink in to Youngjae’s head until he reached the end of the street.

‘Stand in other people’s business?’ he stopped running at the thought. ‘What’s that suppose to mean!?’

“HYOMIN!” he remembered his cousin and he came running back the other way around. The route would take long, but who cares? There’s no way he’s walking passed that store with that creepy guy inside.

“P-please…” the guy said as soon as the other removed the masking tape from his mouth.

The other tilted his head. “Please what?”

His face was innocent as if he didn’t do anything wrong.

“Don’t hurt me…” he begged but this just made the other grin.

“I wasn’t planning to hurt you…” he eyed the nametag he stole from the struggling guy, “… Jaebum-ssi.”

A little relief washed over Jaebum as those words came out. The latter noticed this then his grin dropped. A frown formed on his lips and his eyes were menacing.

“You know I planned everything for 5 years… so I wanted everything to be perfect. To be honest, I only have 5 people in mind that I should kill… but this had to happen…” his voice was cold and angry at the same time.

He pulled out something shiny from behind him. “Now I have to change my plan. Instead of 5 people…

“I’m going for 7 people. And you’re one of them…” with no second thought, he stabbed Jaebum at the stomach with a knife. The weapon was small but it was enough to kill Jaebum.

Blood came out of the wound and from the mouth, not letting Jaebum talk but groan in pain instead. The guy waited for a couple of seconds but Jaebum wasn’t losing his breath yet. He got impatient and took out the knife from his stomach.

“Why won’t you die already!?” he said as he stabbed him again. This time, at the chest.

And this time, it didn’t took long for Jaebum to lose his breath… and his life.

“Don’t blame me. Blame that Youngjae kid…” he said as he got up, taking the knife with him without a second glance at Jaebum’s poor tide up body.

He kept his head down, not letting the camera see his face. Only that baseball cap was obvious and everything else about him seemed so practical and ordinary…

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Comment-jusaeyo~ :D