Title: SM-5 The Perfect Mystery 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Angst, Action 

Ratings: All ages 

Case #03: L o v e

Part 4

  ~~~

  “Details.”

  It was Minho who said the first word, the first word which had been said after half an hour of total silence. All five members sat in the meeting room, the atmosphere around them had been tense. He said the word in such a way, as if it was a demand, not particularly directed to anyone, but all in all, a forceful, commanding demand, something that strayed far from the norm of what he would usually say.

  “We can’t proceed without-“ Yoona was about to say.

  “Details!” Minho raised his voice, startling all the other four by his harsh intonation. He did not give anyone else any space to say anything else, as he stood up, slamming his hands on the table. “I hope you all realize how much time we’ve wasted. I hope you all realized that if we all co-operated properly from the very first investigation, two attempted murders would not have taken place.”

  His words were serious, and he was being extremely focused, which was unlike the usual, playful and light-hearted Minho all five knew. But of course, they all knew exactly what he was referring to. Yoona and Kyuhyun, of course, they agreed with him, and they weren’t able to admit to that fact, at first. It was Minho who stomped down, and tried, with his seriousness, to put an end to the little childish game they had been playing for a long time.

  He had always stood at the back and taken a step back when it came to such internal conflicts. He didn’t fight for what he what he thought was right unless it was absolutely necessary. Even after overcoming many difficulties along the path he had chosen, he still, still stubbornly stuck to his own ways. What surprised Yoona the most, was the fact that both leaders did not say a single word against him. Minho made a stand, firmly and clearly, effectively putting it across to the leaders.

  It was no longer a game – he had to make that point clear.

  “We’ve been dilly-dallying around too much.” Minho said solemnly. “…Too much, way too much. We’ve used up too much time unnecessarily, and look where it’s gotten us. This has been a childish game and because of the childish game, two lives were on the brink of being taken away – it’s fortunate that Hyorin was rushed to the hospital in time.”

  Changmin and Victoria were lost in their own thoughts, looking at their palms, feeling so ashamed that they couldn’t even reply him. They were ashamed, so ashamed, ashamed that as themselves, they should have done something proper to end their argument, instead of letting it last to such a stage.

  But then again, neither of them was going to admit defeat.

  Minho was using brute force to make them realize the harsh consequence of their actions, whilst Kyuhyun was stalling time with his silence, though his words could’ve pierced Changmin and Victoria even deeper than Minho’s words did. Kyuhyun’s silence, it was this guilty silence of which he just didn’t say anything, or reacts to anything, until what he expected would be fulfilled. But Yoona knew, she knew both methods were not going to work out.

  She didn’t pride herself for understanding Victoria and Changmin. They were two very complex people who she knew she couldn’t try to comprehend. They were bipolar and dishonest, they wouldn’t tell the truth unless they felt like it. She couldn’t force out a truth, and she couldn’t force herself to understand, but she knew the problem had to be solved. There was only one method for it to work out, she was sure – to let them deal it on their own. The past few days, they had been evading, beating around the bush and not coming to a conclusion. Brute force, silent treatment, was not going to get them anywhere.

  She knew that sometimes, as dangerous as it was, one of the ways to solve a problem was to set it on fire to see the underlying outcomes.

  “Minho, Kyuhyun, we’ll handle the details outside.” Yoona announced, as she stood up.

  Minho looked at her in disbelief. “What? But we’ve got an attempted murder to solve, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this before more murders start popping up! Yoona this is serious, we’ve got to stop-“

  Placing a hand on his shoulder, she shot a serious gaze into his eyes. “…It’s the only way to solve this, Minho.”

  With that, his expression softened for a moment, and she slowly led him out. Kyuhyun gave a sharp nod to the remaining two in the room, before he left as well. He’d gotten Yoona’s cue, he did, and to him it was amusing, and rather regrettable, that he wouldn’t watch it all unfold. He knew what Yoona had thought was best, but he knew he couldn’t be involved with it all. It was between Changmin and Victoria, and for the moment, no one else.

  An unpleasant silence settled upon the duo sitting in the room, making them even more tensed up and uncomfortable. None of them was willing to step forward and make the first move, or rather, they were unsure of what to say even if either of them did make the first move. It was like chess, only worse, there was no exact spot for them to land on when they made a move. There was no army to back them up, there was no knight, no castle, no pawns, nothing. There were just them and that horrid pride that lay between a possible reconciliation.

  “…This is your fault, Victoria.” Changmin began, his beginning sentence rather different from the usual movie apologies, no, he wasn’t even apologizing. “You started this childish game with your whining, look where it’s gotten us to.”

  “Me?!” Victoria was immediately fired up. “Excuse me?! You’re the team leader who played biased, illegally, and you’re blaming the attempted murders on me? You’re not going to take any responsibility for what you’ve done?!” She let out a bitter, angered laugh. “…Some leader you are, actually.”

  “Not like you’d be a better leader, Victoria.” Changmin growled back. “You were the one who forced the other three to take sides after that, and you and your stupid confidence; you thought you could be the leader with such leadership skills? Right, right.” His words were dripping with sarcasm.

  “Well, at least there was a benefit of taking sides.” Victoria took a shot at him, very harshly. “At least I could bother to respect the person who took my side, and at least they saw the importance of having me on the team.” Tears sprang to her eyes, as she became more and more affected by his words. “…Minho’s a billion times of the man you are.”

  He snorted, letting out a frustrated laugh, trying to mock her and at the same time, trying to suppress his anger. “Minho? That guy’s a wimp, can’t even take care of his own little sister and just now he was trying to order us around, as if he’s so righteous. You call that sort of a person a man? Some sort of standard you’ve got there.”

  “You’re wrong! He’s a billion times more capable of taking care of the team than you are!” Victoria saw how the conversation was beginning to get more and more childish, and how they had made such a big digression from what they were supposed to be talking about.

  “Oh yeah, why?” Changmin did not retaliate, not one bit. “Because he can whisper sweet words to you and make you feel better? Because he can be your support when you’re feeling all weak? Because he’s rich and good-looking, and he’s this charming and gentle-“

  “At least he tried!” Victoria screeched at him.

  That was the blow. “…What?”

  “He isn’t that handsome, actually. He isn’t that charming either. He’s not that good with words if you know him well enough.” Victoria sank back to her seat, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You’re much more eloquent, much more charming, much more handsome… A lot more talented than he is, in every way… To me, at least.” She bit her lip as she looked up at him. “But he was the one who could try to make me feel better when I’m down. He’s not the best advice-giver but he tried. And to me that’s more meaningful than what you’ve been doing… Not trying at all.”

  With her words, Changmin was in utter shock, stunned to the bone. It was one of rare times when Victoria complimented him, not only that, when she spoke the truth and she discarded the fact that she was supposed to be a quick-thinking and undefeatable profiler. Doubtless to say, at that moment, disregarding everything else that she had been putting up, she had said the truth, she had said how she felt and she had let down her pride.

  She was the first to admit defeat.

  Right there and then, it was the point that Changmin finally felt guilt. He felt guilt for being biased. He felt guilt for treating Yoona and Kyuhyun so harshly, without even thinking twice. He felt guilt for insulting Minho, though he knew Minho was more right than he was, at that point of time. He felt guilt for not realizing and properly thinking of his own actions, how he didn’t even bother to take anyone else into consideration, and it was all for a reason even he didn’t know. Most importantly, he felt guilt for shoving Victoria away… when it was her he needed most.

  “Victoria… I’m sorry.” He slumped back to his seat as well, wringing his hands together as he gazed into her eyes. “…This is all my fault, I swear… It’s all been escalating to this point, and I didn’t even…” He was at a loss for words.

  She rubbed her eyes roughly, trying to wipe away her tears. “…This is so childish, just so childish. I…I…I’m really sorry Changmin, I wasn’t… I was being horrible to you as well…”

  “No, no.” He brushed that off. “It was my fault, Victoria.” He said earnestly. “I was being a jerk, I shouldn’t have said all that stuff to you… Most of that stuff, I didn’t even mean… Gosh Victoria, I’m just so… so…sorry.”

  “Me too.” And she could smile, genuinely.

  Just when the atmosphere was beginning to brighten up, just a little bit, the meeting room door was slammed open, with the other three standing at the doorway. Kyuhyun was shaking his head, cringing as if the conversation he heard was just too yucky for his ears; Minho was still recovering from the fact that he had actually been a huge topic being brought up in the conversation; and Yoona, Yoona had her hands clasped together, with a wide smile upon her face.

  “You guys were listening?” Victoria gaped in surprise.

  “…Goodness, a turtle’s romance story would probably be more interesting than yours.” Kyuhyun shook his head, mocking the two leaders. “What the heck – you guys could’ve skipped straight to the apology-kiss scene.”

  Minho clutched at his heart comically. “I’m still wounded by your words…”

  Changmin couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re all big idiots.”

  Yoona smirked. “And you’re the biggest idiot of all.”

  And this time, it was Victoria who took the lead, Changmin, he didn’t say a word against it.

  “Alright everyone, let’s crack this case.”

~~~

  “Now that you guys have solved your little break up, why on earth am I still with you?” Minho’s tone was incredulous as he sat at the driver’s seat is his sleek red sports car, after being paired with Victoria to do one part of the investigation. They had stayed in the office to arrange the reports, and Minho, the only one who didn’t get a proper rest, was rather grumpy.

  Victoria snorted, sounding rather cheerful as though there had been no argument that took place at all. “…Well, if you’re unhappy, you could go to Changmin, complain to him, and see what he’ll do with you. I’d bet he’d turn you into pulp.”

  Minho rolled his eyes. “First, you insult me by saying that I’m not good looking, not suave and not talented, and now you insult me even further by comparing my strength to Changmin’s.” Minho’s words were heavily tinted with sarcasm. “Wonderful Victoria, just wonderful, and now I hope you see why I’m not really biased to you.”

  “Hey, I complimented you.” Victoria said defensively. “I said you tried.”

  “And when you said tried, you probably meant I had a failed attempt.” Minho pointed out ever so quickly, as if he could read Victoria’s mind right away. “…The next time we choose teams, I’m sticking to Yoona and Kyuhyun.”

  “Not that they’d like you butting into their business…”

  Minho’s eyes widened. “And what do you mean?”

  “Oh come on, Choi Minho, isn’t it obvious?” Victoria was exasperated, as if what she was trying to imply was already so obvious that she didn’t need to state it to him once more. “Yoona’s not into you, she’s got a whole lot on her back. She’s got Gunwoo who’s still taking care of her, and she’s got Kyuhyun who suits her a lot more than you do.”

  “…Kyuhyun’s your admirer, Victoria.”

  “Nu-uh, think twice.” Victoria said carelessly, but at the same time, she tried to sound sure. “He took Yoona’s side and not ours, so obviously, he’s helping her out. And pl