Title: SM-5 The Perfect Mystery 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Angst, Action 

Ratings: All ages 

Case #01: V o i c e

Part 6

  ~~~

  “No way…”

  Her voice came out as a bare murmur as she looked at the figure standing at the doorway. Those angular features, the tousled blonde-bronze hair, that carefree smile, that boy who had helped her enter the building. She could not believe her eyes, rubbing it carefully to make sure that her eyes weren’t the ones deceiving her. But still, she was in complete doubt as she stood up slowly, even forgetting to try and defend herself.

  “Lee Joon-shi…” She uttered the name softly.

  But the boy just chuckled. “Im Yoona-shi, I was just going on my rounds.” His laugh was gentle as he stepped over the yellow barriers, switching on all the lights in the room since not all had been on. Staring at her stunned expression for a while, he chuckled once more. “You think it’s me?”

  “But…it’s late and…why are you here?” She accused, quickly stepping back.

  His voice remained neutral. “I told you, I’m doing my rounds.” Seeing that she had relaxed a bit more, he glanced around the room. “So what are you doing, examining the scene once more?” He asked casually.

  So it’s not him. She sighed in relief as she began to look around once more. “I guess I am.”

  “Looking for something, aren’t you?” He chortled.

  “Yeah…” She nodded. “…you’re always doing rounds?”

  “I suppose so, since Hyomin’s busy a lot.” He shrugged slightly.

  She let out a small chuckle. “Isn’t it tiring, Joon-shi, as the boyfriend of your boss’s daughter?” Her question was casual, coming out naturally. “…I’m not trying to offend you or anything-“

  “I don’t mind if you ask.” His voice was light. “She’s often busy now and then, and I’d have to help her, that’s all. I can’t be perfect, but I don’t really mind much of that. I have dreams I want to fulfill. ” Then he glanced at her. “How about you, Yoona-shi? As a police officer, don’t you get tired of chasing something you might or might not find out?”

  “It’s tiring, but I don’t mind it either.” She said, as she squatted down and continued to look through all the little gaps between the tables. “I have dreams I want to fulfill as well…and I suppose everyone does.”

  “I see…” He nodded slowly as he headed towards the door. “Good luck finding the murder weapon then.”

  She froze the moment he said those words. There and then, she heard it. The words she didn’t expect to hear, the words that would end the case, the words that came unexpectedly from a slip of mouth, and one unwary moment that would decide the fate of the person who said it. She rose to her feet, slowly; trembling like she had just did a moment ago.

  “Wait.”

  He stopped at the door. “Hmm…?”

  “We…” She took a deep breath, trying her best to steady herself. “…we never mentioned that the murder weapon wasn’t the rope…at least to the public, we haven’t…” She bit her lip. “…how would you know…?”

  He was stunned, standing stock-still by the door, not moving a muscle, finally noticing what he had accidentally slipped out. He couldn’t even turn around to face her, for he stood rooted at his spot, numbed by the shock of it all.

  She was shaking with fear, but she clenched her fists, to try and gather all the bravery and strength she had inside her. Her heart was racing as she tried to stop her knees from knocking. She knew she was alone, and she knew she could rely on no one else but herself. She chided herself mentally for being overconfident, and not asking for help, believing she could do everything on her own. But she knew there was nothing she could do, for she knew she was in danger, and there was nothing she could do except to defend herself on her own.

  “…You’re the one…you killed…” She drew in her breath, trying to sound firm. “You killed Kim Jonghyun, didn’t you?”

  No answer.

  “You had access to the master keys, because of Hyomin.” She said, confident that it was the truth. “You had access to the security cameras as well…you used wire to kill Jonghyun, because he had seen you bringing in the rope when he let you in, didn’t he? He was being careful…but then you killed him, and used Hyomin’s keys to lock the door, without even touching the knob at all…”

  Once again, there was no answer.

  She stood rooted at her spot, but though she was afraid, she tried her best not to sound like she was. “Why…? Why did you have to do such a thing…? And just when we didn’t suspect you at all either…why would you even have to kill him when he was on good terms with you and Jessica-“

  “You don’t understand anything!” He turned around and yelled at her, his eyes livid with anger. “He was an , really! Acted like he was the king of the world, acted like he could treat anyone the way he pleased, acted as if everything was at his fingertips just because Hyomin scouted him, and Sekyung was dating him!”

  “But…why…I thought you cared for Jessica-shi! Why would you-“

  “Jessica loved the out of him!” His fists were balled up, his words coming out through his gritted teeth. “If there wasn’t Jessica, I would’ve killed him sooner! But then, even though Jessica loved him so much, he dared…he dared to say that he would toy with her feelings.” He laughed deliriously. “…And that effing song? It was all a fake, it was all a damned fake so he could toy with her, use her, like the same way he used Sekyung for fame, and Hyomin for his position.”

  Then it dawned on her – Sekyung had said that Jonghyun had told her he would toy with Jessica’s feelings…but then, he was lying to her, cos’ he was fed up with Sekyung, right? But as much as Yoona remembered, she knew, she just knew, that possibly, Joon had only heard the first part of the conversation and then jumped into a conclusion…he hadn’t heard Jonghyun’s sincerity to Jessica, not at all.

  “It wasn’t a fake…” She was firm. “He truly loved her-“

  “What do you know?!” He shouted at her. “You know nothing of the crap that Jessica had felt! She loved him truly, sincerely, but he just gave her nothing but heartbreak in return. As if it wasn’t enough that everything about him was just a fake, and he had to hurt Jessica so, so much! Any moment longer and she would be the one who would commit suicide!”

  “No!” Yoona tried to stop him. “You’re her friend, you would’ve supported her, you shouldn’t have-“

  “Stop telling me what to do.” He breathed slowly as he edged towards her. “You know nothing, you will never know anything, and you’re just a hindrance…” He edged closer and closer to her, a delirious look in his eyes.

She stepped backwards in fear, yet trying to remain calm. “What are you- step away, I’ve…I’ve…I’ve…”

  “You’ve got nothing to defend yourself, right?” He chuckled maddeningly. “Well then, don’t…Give up now, and you’ll be able to rest safely and soundly in the sky, and no one’s going to find out what happened to you…” From his pocket, emerged a knife. Gripping it in his hands and pointing it directly towards her, he continued to step closer towards her.

  Her heart was beating fast. “What are you- stay away from me!”

  “…You’ve got no one to protect you now, don’t you?” He let out a deranged laugh. “It’ll be fast and quick if you don’t struggle, Im Yoona-shi…”

  “Get away!” She yelled at him as she backed away.

  “…Goodbye, Im Yoona.”

  She continued to move backwards, not knowing where she could go, or how she could escape. She saw the faint glint of the lights of the corridor outside, but besides the sound of their footsteps, she could hear nothing more. For a moment there, she thought she was doomed, or at least, even struggling could not help, for she had no weapon, no way to defend herself. She closed her eyes, and she knew, that no one was going to-

  “Don’t get any closer to her!”

  A deep, loud shout broke the silence, and her eyelids flew open in surprise as she looked in front of her. A tall, muscular man stood at the doorway, his deep eyes glinting under the soft light of the studio, a very much angered expression on his face, breathing deeply as he shot Joon a dangerous glare. She gasped, not believing her eyes.

  “Minho…!”

~~~

  Victoria’s heart was racing as she sat in the front seat, next to Changmin, who sped through the highway at the fastest speed he could go at. Kyuhyun was at the back, typing away to alert every force he could, to arrive at the office. The atmosphere in the car was completely tense for the one fact that was evident – they were all in a panicked state.

  “What if Yoona’s killed…?” Victoria murmured in worry as she wrung her hands together. “What if Minho doesn’t arrive in time…? What if…what if…what if-”

  Changmin did not flinch, keeping his eyes focused on the street. “She will be fine, we’re going to save her, Minho will arrive on time, and maybe, just maybe, she hasn’t encountered Joon yet, and she might be wandering somewhere in the office…”

  “But what if she’s not?!” She was getting more and more anxious each moment, fidgeting restlessly in her seat. “What if she’s being held captive by Joon-“

  “Victoria!” Kyuhyun roared from the back. “Will you freaking calm down?” Though he had yelled, his fingers were still furiously typing on his laptop. “We’re all worried, okay?! But you’re driving us even more insane each moment! Yoona’s strong, she’s not going to back off so easily, she’s going to be fine!”

  “But what if she won’t be?” Victoria did not calm down, not one bit.

  “She will be…” Changmin tried to reassure her, though fear and panic had overwhelmed his heart as well. “We’ll save her, and she’ll be fine, Kyuhyun’s right, she’ll be-“

  “It’s all my fault!” Victoria burst into tears, bawling loudly. “I shouldn’t have let her run off on her own! We should’ve have went with her! I shouldn’t have just agreed to let her go so easily…! It’s all my fault that now she’s in danger…it’s all my fault…!”

  Changmin shook his head as he drew in his breath. “Don’t blame it on yourself, Victoria…everything’s going to be fine…” He tried to provide her with some sort of assurance, any sort he could. “Everything’s going to be just fine…”

  “Faster, Changmin.” Kyuhyun ordered.

“Going as fast as I can.”

  Kyuhyun placed a hand on Victoria’s shoulder. “Heard what Changmin said? Everything’s going to be fine, and we’re going to bring back Yoona in one piece, and she’s going to be smiling and being all energetic like she usually is…”

  “We can’t lose Yoona…” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “We can’t lose her, we can’t…we just can’t…”

  “We won’t…” Changmin said gently. “We won’t…”

  But as much as he wanted to believe his own words, he couldn’t help but feel completely frantic himself. He knew that Kyuhyun was feeling the same way as well. He didn’t want to lose Yoona either, not now, not ever. All three were worried about their youngest member, and he knew, or at least, he hoped, with all his heart, that everything, that everything…

  Was going to be truly fine.

~~~

  “Don’t even move!”

  Joon had a fast reaction to it all, grabbing Yoona and locking her in an elbow lock, pointing the knife at her as he threatened Minho. Yoona tried her best to struggle, but at the same time, was aware of the fact that the person who was holding her, was in possession of a weapon. Minho, who did not have any sort of weapon either, was stunned by it all, not knowing what to do.

  “Don’t you dare lay a finger on her!” Minho yelled at him, though he knew he could do nothing about it at all. “Don’t you dare-“

  “You’re not in the position to make threats, Minho-shi!” Joon said menacingly as he gripped Yoona. “Get the heck out of here, or else, the girl will die!” His threat was convincing, in a sense.

  Minho raised his hands, trying to stop Joon. “Don’t…don’t hurt her.”

  He could no longer yell or scream, for he was terrified that Joon might actually stab Yoona, or something more. He didn’t want her to get hurt, no, not at all. It was the last thing he wanted, it was the last thing he wanted to happen to her. Rooted to his spot, he didn’t move a muscle, for her, for her sake, knowing how much…how much he needed her, and he couldn’t lose her.

  “Yoona, you’re okay?” It was all he could manage to say as he stood here.

  “Mmphhh…” A muffled sound came out of Yoona’s lips, with Joon’s arm over her neck. “I’m…mphhhh…fine….mmphh!”

  A rush of adrenaline ran through him, and he grew more and more anxious by each passing second. He needed to help her, he needed to save her, yet he knew if he did anything to Joon, Yoona would get hurt as well. He was at a loss of what to do, how to save her, how to get out of the situation without anyone getting hurt.

  “Yoona-“ He was about to say once more.

  “Don’t move!”

  A thundering of footsteps startled Minho, Yoona and Joon, as three figures appeared by the doorway. The timely arrival of Victoria, Changmin and Kyuhyun caught the three in the room by surprise, allowing Yoona to breath in relief for a moment, for she knew there was hope…there was hope that she could survive…there was hope.

  Changmin, the only one in possessi