16^thof November, 2011 – 8:52pm

Kim Hyuna:

• Jealous of Sunggyu – hate, anger, etc.
  • Sunggyu was the favourite in family
• Wanted to be an only child?
• Wanted to run company? Would have been married off to Kwon family
• Impressive actress

Infinite:

• They know something about Yuri (suspicious)
• Possible motives: girls? Sunggyu = player
• Yuri? Angry at cheating…

16^thof November, 2011 – 9:39pm

The individual notes on each member of Infinite were small – everything they said added up, and none of them seemed the type to be murderers.

I flipped open to a new page in my notebook and leant back in my chair, fiddling with my pen. “Teen Top.” It was a statement, nothing more. “You’re the rivals of Infinite. Do you have anything to do with Sunggyu’s murder?”

My instincts told me no, but I could never be sure. All of them were slightly pale and sweaty – understandable, of course. Chunji, Ricky and L.Joe were like the majority of SU students – rich, pampered and in some cases, brats; the ones that led sheltered lives, where death was always kept at bay. They were spoiled in the sense that they didn’t know the dangers of the real world.

Even so, death wasn’t an everyday occurrence for anyone, and it was a shock to everyone at the party that someone – that someone being a rich, young person like everyone else – was dead.

All of them shook their heads no, even Niel. “We may be rivals, but we are still friends,” Minsoo said. “We don’t hate each other, it’s just a competition between us.”

“A competition of what?”

“Mostly marks and popularity – who could do the best in this,” L. Joe explained. “But sometimes it was about girls.”

“Did any of this competition get very serious?” I asked, studying their faces and body language. One by one they shook their heads. “Let me rephrase that,” I said carefully. “Ahn Daniel. Did any of this competition get serious…to you?”

He clenched his hands into fists, glaring maliciously at me. “It’s none of your business,” Niel spat.

“I’d say it is.” I leant forward, keeping a bland expression on my face in contrast to his fury. “But that can come later.” As usual, I began with the oldest. “It’s time for private interviews, Bang Minsoo.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So. Why do people call you CAP?” I asked, curious.

He shrugged. “Just a stage name. Sounds cooler than Bang Minsoo.”

 “Tell me about Teen Top.”

Minsoo thought about it. “We met when we came here to SU,” he said finally. “We’re doing the artistic courses here – we can dance, sing and rap. We want to be famous.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, if it isn’t the girl who pushed me off my chair,” L. Joe smirked. “Maybe I should return the favour.”

“Maybe you can act serious for once because someone just died,” I shot back. “Why and how did you guys turn into Infinite’s rivals?”

“They’re competition – we both want to be idols, we can sing, dance and rap – we’re obviously better,” he added quickly. “I think it first started during a talent quest. We were both performing, and we both tied for 1^stplace in our division.”

“And you guys wanted to win, not tie,” I said, understanding.

~~~~~~~

“So how serious is this rivalry between Infinite and Teen Top?” I asked Chunji.

“It’s not very serious, like hyung said,” he said, shrugging. “We just like to outdo each other, because it’s fun beating them and we get to show off.” He grinned.

“Has it gotten serious for any members in particular?” I hinted.

“Well, Niel hyung has always hated Sunggyu since we first met,” the boy said thoughtfully. “But he would never go as far as killing. Our rivalry is just for fun.”

~~~~~~~~~

Changjo smiled warmly at me. “Hello, noona,” he said sweetly.

I glared. “If you’re going to call me noona, do it properly,” I admonished. He pouted.

“Fine. Hello, Soomin-noona.”

“Care to tell me about Niel?” I said, getting straight to the point.

“He likes Fany-noona,” Changjo said instantly. “He used to stare at her at lot when we first started, but now it’s hard to catch him.” He frowned.

“Did you guys a lot?” I raised an eyebrow.

“At first we did, because he was watching her half the time,” the 22-year-old said. “But after a while we gave up because he watched her all the time. Like a stalker.”

~~~~~~~~

“Hi, noona!” Ricky chirped.

“It’s Soomin-noona to you,” I corrected. “Have you, or anyone in Teen Top, dated someone?”

He shook his head brightly, still strangely happy. “Changjo and I haven’t – no one on campus is interesting enough. I think CAP hyung is seeing someone…Chunji’s engaged to a family friend…L. Joe is just weird…and I don’t think Niel has.”

“I know this sounds strange, but can you tell me about Daniel’s…ah, romantic history?” I tried to keep myself from face-palming at the awkwardness.

“Like I said, he hasn’t dated anyone in the time that I’ve known him.” Ricky shrugged. “But I didn’t know him in high school.”

“Ok, then.” I jotted down more notes. “What about Hwang Tiffany?”

Ricky shook his head again. “He doesn’t like to talk about it, but I know he loves her,” he said, his voice serious. “Something happened to them in high school, I think. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like him back.”

~~~~~~~

I saved the ‘best’ for last – Ahn Daniel. He glowered at me, crossing his arms defiantly.

 “Short and sweet,” I warned. “Tell me about Tiffany. Hwang Tiffany.”

“Fany?” he repeated, blinking in shock. “How do you know – why do you want to know?”

“I need to know because your rival is dead, and you have feelings for his ex-girlfriend,” I said sharply. “Everyone is a suspect, and I won’t let you go until I know the truth.”

The poor boy spluttered for a few more seconds before relenting. “This stays here, arasso? You can’t tell anyone.”

I nodded solemnly. “Of course.”

Daniel sighed. “I’ve been in love with Fany ever since first saw her,” he said at last. “I confessed after a while, and she said she’d think about it – everyone was certain she returned my feelings, but then Sunggyu asked her out.” His face twisted with anger.

“So that’s when you started hating him?” I clarified.

“I…disapproved of the way he toyed around with girls,” Niel continued. “But when he asked Fany out, that was the last straw. I knew what he would do to her. I tried to stop her. I begged,” he added with that same bitter smile all the others had. “We argued and yelled, and it ended badly.” His voice trailed off.

3^rdSeptember, 2005 – Ahn Daniel

“Fany, please!” I grabbed her wrist and tugged her around to face me. “You and I know what Kim Sunggyu is like!”

“No, you don’t!” Tiffany snatched her arm away. “I really liked you, Niel” – my heart cracked at the use of past tense – “But Sunggyu…he’s amazing. He really likes me, and I really like him. I want to give him a shot. Maybe I can change him.”

“Do you know how many girls have said that?” I said incredulously. “Fany, I loveyou. Not loved. Love. I still love you, and I will. Believe me when I say I can treat you better than that jerk. Give me a chance. Please.”

“Niel, you’re only 16,” she said gently. “You’re too young to know what love is.”

“You’re 16 as well!” I shot back. “I know what love is. Every time I think or speak of you, my heart beats faster and I can’t stop smiling. Every time I see you laugh or smile, I do too. When you cry, my heart breaks. If I had to think of myself 5 or 10 years from now, I see myself with you.”

The words were sincere, torn straight from my heart. She was silent. “I’m sorry, Niel,” Tiffany whispered. “I’m sorry that you love me so much, and I’m sorry that I don’t love you back. Please…if you really want to see me happy – let me go. Please.”

They say that love and hate are almost identical. I understood why. “Why are you giving me up, Fany?” I blurted. “I would give you anything you wanted. What can Sunggyu give that I can’t? What does he have that I don’t?”

Tiffany gave a small, shaky laugh. “He has my heart, Niel.”

“Your heart? You have mine! You’ve had mine since the moment I saw you! And now you’ve thrown it away and stomped on it like it was nothing,” I snarled.  “I gave you everything, and it meant nothing to you. You’re giving me up for Sunggyu. Honestly, couldn’t you do better?”

She bristled angrily. “Niel, I know you’re angry at me and I can understand why,” she said in annoyed tone. “But that gives you know right to insult me, or Sunggyu.”

“I’m not insulting you, I’m stating the obvious! Why choose Sunggyu? Is it because he’s rich? Hot? Because everyone else wants him?” I taunted. “How many girls have been his girlfriend or toys? How many have had their hearts broken by him? How many girls have we seen crying in the hallways? How many girls have you seen sobbing in the bathrooms? You have no chance with him, and we both know that!”

“Shut up!” Tiffany screamed, slapping my arm viciously.

“He’ll leave like trash! You’ll have your heart broken, just like you broke mine,” I hissed venomously. “When you break up, I won’t be there to comfort you. Instead, I’ll be laughing in your face! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”  

Enraged, she slapped me on my cheek, whipping my head to the side and leaving a sensitive red handprint. “Leave me alone!”

 “We never spoke again after that. For a while I hated her, so passionately. I hated that she was so happy with him, happier than she’d been with me. After a while, though, I realised that she was truly happy. I saw her smile and laugh more than anything, and I hoped that they wouldn’t break up, because I didn’t want her to stop smiling.”

“But they did break up,” I said, feeling sorry for Niel’s heartbreak. He bowed his head again.

“They did. 5 months after being the golden couple, he dumped her. On Valentine’s day, by kissing a girl in front of her,” he growled. “She should’ve listened to me, like I did her. I let her go, to be with Sunggyu, because she asked me. And then he dumped her like trash, just like she did to me.”

“Do you still love her?” I asked cautiously. There was so much bitterness in his words, it almost scared me.

“If I hadn’t yelled at her, we would still be friends, at least. I might have even had a chance with her, after they broke up,” he said wistfully. “I regret it. I regret everything. I should have been there, to comfort and help her. But I wasn’t. Before Sunggyu, she was so happy, laughing and smiling at everything – now she’s broken and bitter…just like me.”

He had such strange feelings towards her – a combination of love, hate, bitterness, anger and even hope. Niel had loved Tiffany, and lost her to Sunggyu, who had used her.

“Do you blame Sunggyu for all this?”

There was a slight hesitation, before he nodded. “I do. He plays all the girls, treating them like…things and nothing else. He’s selfish and bratty, and if he hadn’t asked Fany out, we’d be together now and she’d be happy.”

“Do you hate him enough to kill?” I asked carefully.

Niel shook his head immediately. “I hate Sunggyu. Everyone knows that. But I would never kill anyone, not even him.”

I stared at him suspiciously. “Niel, you will be in serious trouble if you lie,” I told him. “You’ll be expelled. Humiliated. Maybe even disowned by your parents. And you could get arrested.”

He blanched. After asking around with his friends, I knew that his parents weren’t as well off as Sunggyu’s or even mine – he was here on a scholarship and expulsion would be his worst nightmare.

“I swear, I didn’t kill him!” he pleaded. “Yes, I hate Sunggyu, but no, I didn’t kill him!”

“And why should I believe you?” I said coldly.

“If I killed Sunggyu, Fany would kill me,” he said flatly. “Even though she hates him, she still loves him, just like I love her. And I don’t want her to hate me more, and like you said, I’d get expelled or suspended, and I’d never see her again.”

I kept my gaze on him for a while longer until he looked away. Even though I had never experienced love myself, his heartfelt words had me convinced. “Very well, then,” I said slowly. “Send in SNSD, please.”