Title: SM-5 The Perfect Mystery 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Angst, Action 

Ratings: All ages 

Case #01: V o i c e

Part 5

  ~~~

  “How dare you take up such a job?!”

  An arm reached towards him, giving him a stinging slap, causing an impact so big that he toppled backwards, falling upon the ground. Victoria gasped in surprise, Changmin held the man back, whilst Yoona and Kyuhyun dashed to Minho’s aid as he fell to the ground, a red mark evident on his face.

  “Minho…” Yoona asked anxiously as she stared at him. “…are you-“

  “I’m alright.” He assured her quickly.

  The man cleared his throat, fixing his tie as he breathed heavily. “Return home, now.” It was a merciless demand, an order. The man briskly walked towards the exit of the office, as if expecting Minho to pick himself up on his own and to follow.

  “I will not.” Minho’s voice rang loud and clear.

  “What?” The man whirled around.

  “This is my job, and it’s still working hours.” He declared bravely. “I will return home as I usually do each day, wait until then.”

  “Choi Minho.” The man barked.

  “I ask of you to leave immediately, Father.”

  “Follow me now, or you will be disowned.”

  Victoria quickly came to Minho’s side. “Don’t worry, I’ll get Yoona to come by the bistro tomorrow.” She advised him. “Just go back now, don’t cause more ruckus than what has already been caused…” Patting him gently, she backed off.

  “But-“ Minho protested.

  “It’ll be okay.” Changmin offered some reassurance.

  Minho took a deep breath as he turned, his gaze falling upon the bronze haired girl who had been gripping his arm tightly from the moment he had fallen. But as he gazed at her, he saw that her expression was completely blank, as if she had been stunned at the spot, unable to say a single word to him.

  “I’m sorry, Yoona.” He murmured softly, not even knowing why he was apologizing.

  He trembled for a moment, as he looked at her, still frozen at the spot. She didn’t move a muscle, still recovering from the after-effect of it all. He knew she was smart enough to have many thoughts running through her mind, but right there and then, all he felt was the anxiety and worry that it would be the last time he would ever be able to step that close to her again. Sighing heavily, he took her arm off his, and turned towards the exit. Just then, Yoona piped up…

  “…it’s okay.”

~~~

  “We’re sorry, Yoona…”

  “Look Yoona, we really wanted to tell you but-“

  “I swear I wasn’t involved with the secret-keeping!”

  Victoria, Changmin and Kyuhyun’s apologies came all at once, a few minutes after Minho and his father had left. Yoona had stumbled into her chair, sitting down and staring at her palms, the blank expression still upon her face as she stared, deep in thought. Victoria was immensely concerned, with each passing minute she was panicking on how Yoona’s reaction would be.

  “…so, the bistro he said he worked at…he actually owned it?” Yoona tried to come into terms with the truth as she thought over it carefully.

  “Well, technically he doesn’t own it but…” Kyuhyun spoke up. “…yeah, you get the point.”

  She exhaled slowly. “And you all knew…?”

  Changmin nodded sheepishly. “We did.”

  She fell silent the moment she heard his words. She wasn’t upset, she wasn’t angry, she wasn’t disappointed either. Neither was she completely surprised by it. With his red Ferrari, and his branded watch, his elegant manner, she knew he definitely wasn’t a commoner, or rather, she had expected him to be of higher social status than she was. But a rich heir? It was something she just felt stunned at.

  Victoria could take the suspense no longer. “Yoona, I’m so sorry. We wanted to tell you, but really, you and Minho seemed rather close after a short meeting, that we were worried that it would change your impression of him if we told you…” Victoria sighed deeply as she leaned against the table. “…he’ll be back. If he truly wanted to help you, he’ll be back. He won’t just-“

  “I know he will.” Yoona’s soft voice interrupted her.

  “What?” Victoria turned her head to Yoona in surprise.

  She broke into a hopeful smile, much to the awe of the other three in the room. “…His background doesn’t really matter, does it? He isn’t a bad person, just because he’s rich.” She smiled to herself as she thought of the words he had once told her.

  “All I’m trying to say is, as much as you dislike me – put some faith in me, okay? Stop thinking that you’re going to have to solve everything on your own. Because when something really happens in the future, the only one who’s going to be able to save your is none other than me.”

  She felt the heavy weight on her shoulders immediately lifted after she had thought about it. It’s true – no matter who he was or where he came from, the bare fact that he could say such a thing to her, she knew that he had said it sincerely to her. For she was nobody, she was a girl of low status, and he had said such a thing to her. It would be alright. She knew everything was going to be fine.

  He’d come back.

  “Yoona, Minho really liked…he really cared…” Victoria stuttered at her words as she saw the faraway gaze in Yoona’s eyes. “…I know he didn’t treat you as just…a girl. You were…important. So I know…I know he’ll be back. Don’t you dare to stop-“

  She chuckled softly as she looked up at Victoria. “It’s alright, I trust him.”

  All her life, she had nothing she could really put her trust in. If there was true trust, she had only trusted the caretaker in the orphanage, a person who cared for her. But besides that, she was pretty much alone in the world – a father who left her, a mother who had left the world, and worst of all, a brother who was somewhere on the earth, just that she didn’t know where. For the longest time, it was difficult to say that she had truly trusted a person, but for once…

  She knew she trusted the annoying, moronic and irritating Choi Minho.

~~~

  “Quit the job, immediately.”

  Once again, an order was issued from the lips of Minho’s father, Mr. Choi, sitting the chair whilst his son stood in front of him. Minho’s mother, Mrs. Choi, and his brother sat next to his father, but Sulli, Minho’s younger sister, paced about the room in much worry as she looked at her brother.

  “I will not.”

  Mr Choi did not retaliate. “Do you not understand that the job is life-threatening? We have spent so many years raising you, and ensuring your future would be secure, but you take up such a job? Tomorrow, I will file a letter and-“

  “I said I will not quit!” Minho roared in defiance.

  “Why you…!” Mr Choi gritted his teeth as he stood up and raised his arm, just about to hit Minho. Mrs Choi and Siwon quickly held him back, and Sulli gripped her brother’s arm.

  “Oppa, it’s dangerous.” Sulli was concerned. “You could die with it, and what’s going to happen when you do? You can’t, Oppa, you can’t do this.”

  “She’s right, Minho.” Siwon advised carefully. “There is a high rate of police officers being killed in accidents, or being murdered by criminals who wish to avenge being sent into prison, or all those things. It’s better not to get your hands involved with it, Minho-”

  “Talk some sense into him!” Mr Choi interrupted.

  “For the last time, I will not, I will not quit.”

  Minho stood firm by his decision, however he found himself wavering each moment. He was afraid, he was afraid he could never return, but at the same time, he was afraid that Yoona wouldn’t accept the fact that he wasn’t what she thought he was, that in a way, he had practically deceived her. Truthfully, he was more concerned of her opinion, of Victoria’s, of Changmin’s, of Kyuhyun’s than anyone else’s.

  “How dare you!” Mr Choi burst out in rage. “How dare you argue with us? We are your family, and we will decide what you have to do! Playing with girls, spending money and getting bad grades, is that all you are good at? You are a far cry from your brother, you good-for-nothing boy!”

  The whole room was engulfed by tense silence the moment Mr Choi lashed out his harsh words, startling everyone very much. Sulli’s jaw nearly dropped, whilst Siwon stood there, stunned at his spot by his father’s ruthless words.

  Minho was thrown into shock, but he couldn’t say that he didn’t expect such a thing to happen. He had never been much treasured in his family, always the one standing under the shadows of his perfect older brother. But he just never had the bravery to stand up, the bravery, for once, to stand up for himself. He was much too afraid. But just then, his phone buzzed, and a small text popped up on his phone’s screen.

/ Be strong, moron! If you don’t come back in a few days, I will drag you back! Choi Minho, hwaiting! Stupid Minho, hwaiting! /

  Yoona. Despite the fact that he was shaken and very much upset by his father’s words, his heart immediately calmed down the moment he saw the text from her. Though somewhat informal, he knew the exactly what she was trying to tell him.

  He knew it was all going to be alright.

  “Appa…” Sulli murmured as she slacked her grip on her brother. “…that’s not…not…”

  Minho took a deep breath, garnering his inner strength. “Well, I am sorry I have been good-for-nothing, I am sorry I cannot top the class, I am sorry that I have never been in a good relationship, and I am sorry that I use your money!” He trembled with rage. “I’m sorry I can never be as good as a son as Siwon-hyung, however, no matter what you say I will never give up that space in the Seoul Metropolitan Police office.”

  “Why?” Mrs Choi pleaded. “It’s for your own good, Minho-ah…we could find you a better job, don’t…don’t…”

  “Because those four were the only ones who had ever bothered to understand me.” He pushed Sulli’s arm off his. “Over here, it’s always about Siwon-hyung who does better, Sulli who is more charismatic, and every other single person who is better than me! But it’s not like that over there.” He paused for a moment. “Just as they are important to me, I know I’m not simply a good-for-nothing piece of dirt to them.”

  “Oppa…”

  “So four people, who are indirectly after your life by making you want to stay at the force, are more important than your own family?” It was Siwon’s turn to get mad. “Ridiculous, Minho, stop your act!”

  “I’m not. I’ll work at the bistro for a few more days whilst I find a place to stay, and then I’ll leave this house and continue my job.” Minho made a final decision.

 “You’re abandoning us, your family?” Mr Choi’s voice grew raspy.

  Minho let out a bitter chuckle as he shook his head. “It was you that abandoned me.”

~~~

  “Put your moods up, people! We have our number one suspect arriving in ten minutes, stop mooning around!” Changmin clapped his hands to get the attention of the other three members, who had been spacing out. “Come on, come on, come on…”

  Victoria sighed deeply as she settled her cup of morning coffee on the table. “It feels different that Minho’s not coming to do the questioning, or at least, that he’s not going to watch the questioning…”

  “Oh yeah, his old charm tactic that he used on Shin Sekyung.” Kyuhyun laughed softly, stopping abruptly, clearing his throat. “Things will be really different today, won’t it?”

  Changmin sighed as well as he sat himself on one of the sofas. With all the members of the team looking rather downcast, and with the missing presence of one of the members being evidently felt by everyone, he found himself feeling down as well. “Maybe we should wait for Minho…or ask him to come-“

  “What are you talking about?” Yoona tried to sound cheery as she stood up, putting a hopeful smile on her face. “Minho says he’ll be back, and I know he’ll want us to solve the case as fast as possible! We have to continue with the questioning, and we have to make sure justice is served, right?”

  The usually calm Victoria found herself worrying. “I want to think he’ll be back as well, but then…”

  “But then, his family will definitely have a stronghold on him.” Changmin finished the sentence. “He’s from a powerful family, Yoona. They won’t allow him to run off in whichever direction he wants to, it doesn’t work that way.”

  She forced out a smile, gripping her pencil tightly. “That doesn’t matter. Now, we’ve got a case to crack, and we have to see through it until the end.