Chapter Text
“A sleepover?” Seungmin repeats, trying to keep the skepticism in the back of his head, out of his voice. “With someone you’ve only known for four months?”
“His dad is a police officer,” Jeongin says, rolling his eyes. “His mom is a college professor who actively works with the Red Cross. You can’t get any cleaner than that.”
Seungmin turns away from his little brother, going back to washing dinner plates. “We’ll see.”
Jeongin huffs. “Just because you’re three years older than me-”
“When halmeoni’s not here, I’m in charge,” Seungmin says, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You know the rules, Iyen-ah.”
“I’m fourteen!” Jeongin protests, irritation creeping into his words. “Don’t call me that! And, it’s a stupid rule!”
“If you don’t like it, you can talk to halmeoni-”
“Ugh, I’m going to my room!”
Seungmin stands silent, the sound of Jeongin’s footsteps running down the hallway and thundering up the stairs echoing in his ears instead of the soapy rush of water down the sink. He looks down at the plate in his hands, wiped squeaky clean, and sighs, turning off the tap as he does.
His phone, placed on a bunch of paper towels on the kitchen table, begins to ring.
Sliding off his gloves, he picks it up.
“Hello?”
“Yo, Seungmin, my boy!” Jisung’s cheerful voice greets him over the receiver. “A bunch of us are meeting at the movie theatre tomorrow afternoon! You coming?”
A laugh escapes him, Jisung’s exuberant tone improving his mood considerably. “And, you couldn’t have asked me this during class tomorrow?”
“You know me, I got excited! So, what do you say?”
“I’ll have to take a raincheck, sorry,” Seungmin answers, wincing. “I have to meet someone tomorrow.”
“Like… a date?”
“No!” Seungmin exclaims. “Where do you even get these ideas from?”
“That’s a bummer, dude. Ow- ow, what the hell, hyung? What-”
“Jisung?” Seungmin says, confused.
“No, i’m not gonna give you my phone- ow-”
“Jisung, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good, bye Seungmin! no- Minho hyung-”
Seungmin goes still and the call cuts off.
An angry cacophony of music notes makes its way downstairs. Seungmin stands in the kitchen for a few more minutes, listening to Jeongin rip at the keys with murderous skill, clearly venting his frustration on his poor piano. Then, he leaves.
“Dude, that so proves it,” Felix says, shaking his head decisively as he bites into a piece of Sour Patch candy. “They’re so dating.”
“You think so?” Seungmin asks, rhetorically, clutching Felix’s snack bag in his arms. The bench they’re sitting on is old, paint peeling off the iron in long strips, moisture and proximity to the lake nearby having damaged its exterior.
Despite having turned seventeen a month ago, Seungmin feels like he can relate.
“Look at the evidence!” Felix says, loudly as if he’s offended that Seungmin doesn’t believe him. “Jisung calls you up and then it seems like he’s struggling with his phone and then, he says Minho hyung’s name and hangs up! They were obviously making out and then Jisung called you and Minho hyung wanted his kissy time back and hence, the result!”
“Okay, Colleen Hoover,” Seungmin says, chuckling. “How did you even end up in this town?”
Felix shrugs. “I think my mom wanted to return to her roots or something, I don’t exactly remember what she said when she moved us here.”
“And, now?” Seungmin asks, holding out the bag for Felix to retrieve a handful of chips from.
“Now, she’s been hankering after dad to get us on the first plane out of here, to Sydney,” Felix answers, his mouth full. “It’s a pity. Dad actually likes it here. He doesn’t wanna go back until I go off to college, and mom’s real mad at him, for that.”
“What about you?” he says, hesitantly.
“I don’t really care,” Felix says. “All my friends are here. I miss Sydney but I’ll miss you guys if I leave, now.”
Seungmin ducks his head, to hide a smile. A year ago, when Seungmin was the new kid in town, Felix had been the first person to approach him with the intent of latching on to him and never leaving. Now, he can safely say that if he ever gets the need to hide a body, Felix would help him out, no questions asked, and even lie to the police, if it came down to it.
“It’s late,” Felix says, checking his watch. “We should really be heading home. You wanna spend the night at my place?”
“No, it’s fine,” Seungmin refuses, getting up. Moonlight descending from the sky hits the still waters of the lake, reflecting off the surface to cast a soft shine over his clothes. “Iyen-ie’s alone at home.”
“You came here to get away from him, didn’t you?” Felix says, paradoxically blunt and sharp, as ever. “Or, to make sure that he gets away from you. You’re going to be okay, going back now?”
“Yeah,” Seungmin says, huffing out a laugh. “All in a day’s work, right? What were you doing here so late, anyway?”
He turns to face Felix as he asks that, and catches the moonlight glittering in the Australian’s eyes as Felix tilts his head at just the right angle, sending him a smirk.
“You know me. I’m always wandering.”
For all intents and purposes, Damyang isn’t as much of a small town, as it is a community.
Here, everyone knows everyone and news travels faster than a bullet train, courtesy of the neighborhood aunties and the teenage gossip brigade housed in Damyang high school. If not for Seungmin changing his last name to his grandmother’s, from Kim to Yang, then he’s sure that his private life would have been public as soon as he arrived in town, after what happened back in Seoul.
As if to prove his hunch, he’s besieged with whispers and talk, the moment he steps foot inside the school building, the next morning, after dropping Jeongin off at the middle school, two streets away.
“Hey!” Hyunjin pops up next to him, manic excitement evident on his face, as he’s walking down the corridor, heading towards homeroom. “Did you hear?”
“About?” Seungmin questions, wondering who slept with whom to cause such a ruckus.
“Ji-min and Min-jeong were stabbed to death, last night! Ji-min’s parents found their bodies when they returned home-”
Seungmin freezes in place. “What?”
“Crazy, right?!” Hyunjin says, running a jittery hand through his shoulder-length hair. “Ee-mo said that she couldn’t find out much, because Ji-hyo noona got there first, but it was apparently some crazy psycho. It was real messy, from the looks of it.”
Seungmin feels the nauseatingly acidic sensation of bile creeping up his throat. “Do- do they have any suspects, yet?”
Hyunjin shakes his head, regretfully. “Nah, not yet. But, you know the gruesome part? Min-jeong was tied to a chair, in the middle of the Yu’s bamboo garden when she was killed, and Ji-min was hung from the tree in front of the Yu’s front door, with half of her- ow!”
Yeji, Hyunjin’s twin sister, appears on his other side, and sends Seungmin an angelic smile as if she hasn’t just smacked her brother upside his head. “Hi, Seungmin. Don’t listen to this idiot. He’s all tough when the sun is up and then, comes crying to me, after midnight, wailing about monsters under his bed.”
Seungmin manages a small smile, back at her. “Hi, Yeji noona.”
“Hey-” Hyunjin protests. “That’s not true! I haven’t been to your room in weeks!”
“And, something tells me that you’ll start visiting me more often, from today,” Yeji says, rolling her eyes. “Get to class before I tell mom on you.”
Hyunjin waves him goodbye, all sulky and dramatic as usual, even though Seungmin knows that they’re going to see each other during lunch, again, and walks off, with Yeji needling him about his homework.
He closes his eyes for a brief moment, and takes a deep breath, even as kids brush past him, chattering on about murder and interrogation and curfew, like that’s all they’ve got to talk about, now.
“Seungmin.”
He whips around, his eyes blown wide.
“Hey,” Lee Minho says, book bag slung over one shoulder and blazer hanging from his other arm. His shirt is untucked, trousers fashionably creased, and when Seungmin meets his gaze, it’s as intense and dark as ever, as it always is when he’s looking at something he considers prey. “Can we talk?”
Seungmin swallows, hard. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, a familiar ringing sound has everyone around them, scrambling for cover.
How cliché. Saved by the bell.
“I need to get going,” he says, wrenching his eyes away from Minho’s. “Bye.”
And, like all the other times he turned the opposite way after happening upon the older boy at school, he doesn’t look back.
He’s called out of AP Maths, twenty minutes before the period ends, when it’s his turn in the interrogation chair.
“Yang Seungmin, is it?” Detective Kang says, as Seungmin enters the principal’s office. “Records say you were formerly of the Kim family.”
Seungmin blinks. “Yes,” he replies, blandly, dropping into the seat opposite Detective Kang. “I was.”
“I’m sorry,” Principal Choi cuts in, crossing her arms. “Is that relevant to the investigation?”
“Kim Seungmin-ssi here, stumbled upon his step-father after the man had knifed his mother to death,” Detective Kang says nonchalantly, leaning back to fix pale grey eyes on Principal Choi. “Now, we’ve got two students from his own school murdered with a particularly sharp implement- most probably, a knife. You can imagine why this might be relevant.”
“Yang Seungmin moved to this town to get away from the horrible things that happened to him,” Principal Choi asserts, stepping forward to glare at Detective Kang. She’s a fairly short woman, more motherly in appearance than one would expect a woman in her position to look like, but at that moment, she manages to look considerably threatening. “He’s a minor and a student of my school too, and I won’t allow you to harass him on the mere suspicion that he’s the killer you’re looking for.”
Detective Kang raises his hands in surrender. “No one’s harassing anyone, Choi-ssi. I’m just here to do my job.”
“If you want to ask where I was yesterday night,” Seungmin speaks up, his fists clenched under the table, “Then, I was home with my little brother. I went out for a walk around eleven, and met one of my friends near the town lake. We talked for a bit, and I was in bed by twelve.”
“Do you typically go for walks that late?” Detective Kang demands, scribbling something down on his notepad. “And, who was the friend?”
“No, I was just upset because of an argument I had with my brother,” Seungmin answers, feeling his nails dig into the skin of his palms. “I needed some air, so I went out, and I met Felix and we sat down on a bench near the lake.”
“Felix? There’s no student by that name here.”
“Oh, his birth name is Lee Yongbok, but everyone calls him Felix.” A stinging pain shoots down his arms, and Seungmin glances down, his fists loosening. Crescent-shaped cuts line his palms in twin rows, blood welling up in miniscule bubbles.
“Do you have any witnesses to corroborate your story?” Detective Kang asks, impassively. Now that Seungmin’s properly looking at him, he’s rather handsome. For some reason, this pokes at his brain, something familiar telling him that he’s seen the man elsewhere, before he arrived at Damyang a year ago.
“My phone records,” he says, clasping his hands together, to hide the blood trickling down his palms. “Another friend of mine, Han Jisung- he called me at around eleven. I went out after talking to him. after I returned, I checked in on my brother and asked him if he had finished his homework. We’ve bars on all our windows and security cams on the front and back door, along with an alarm system. So, anyone going in or out is always recorded, anyway.”
Detective Kang looks up, sharply. “That is… very well-detailed. You seem to have this all thought out.”
Seungmin shrugs. “After what happened last year, I’m very cautious now-a-days. And, with my grandmother out of the house, I’m responsible for my brother’s safety.”
“Fair enough. You’re free to leave.”
Seungmin gets up, nodding in response to the bright smile Principal Choi sends him. “Um- I know this is strange- but, have we met before, Kang-ssi?”
Detective Kang tilts his head. “I was one of the escorts sent to shuffle your step-father to and from court, during the trials. You must have seen me, then.”
It’s nearly time for school to be let out, when he exits Principal Choi’s office, but he doesn’t head back to the maths classroom to fetch his bag. Instead, he makes a beeline for the restrooms.
While he’s halfway through washing the congealed cuts on his palms, the door opens again.
He waits for the sound of footsteps, leading to either the cubicles or one of the basins, but there’s none. Turning the tap off, he grabs some tissue from beside the hand sanitizer dispenser and wheels around, making for the door.
The sight of Lee Minho in the doorway makes him stop short.
Seungmin sighs, and shakes his head. He doesn’t have time for this. “Can you move, sunbae? You’re in the way.”
Minho’s jaw clenches. “You used to call me hyung.”
“That was before I learnt that you were just using me to get back at my step-dad,” Seungmin says, calmly. “Smart move, by the way. He doesn’t care what happens to me, because if he did, he wouldn’t be in prison, right now.”
“I get it, I was stupid, that was a monumental fuckup on my part-”
“Okay, now that that’s cleared up, can you please move?”
“No, Seungminnie, just listen to me!” Minho pleads, striding forward as he reaches out to grasp his hand. Seungmin startles, trying to pull away but Minho simply tightens his hold. “Listen to me just once, please.”
“Fine, but make it quick,” he relents, looking away. Even after everything that’s happened, Minho’s gaze still has the ability to make his heart stutter. “I have to pick Iyen-ie up from school.”
“I was stupid,” Minho says, leaning down a little, trying to meet Seungmin’s eyes. “Because I was angry. I was just so angry at everything. The world, my mom, your step-dad- and, when I saw you- I was enraged. I remembered you from the trial. I had seen you in the witness box, and I knew that you had lost someone too, but I couldn’t help thinking that- that maybe if you’d been a little more observant- a little more cautious, maybe you’d have caught him sooner and my mom would still be alive.”
“I’m sorry about your mom,” he says, his voice stilted. “I really am.”
“I know,” Minho says, his tone softer. “I know, Seungminnie. Do you think you could ever forgive me?”
(“Do you think you could ever let me kiss you?” Minho asks, tilting Seungmin’s head up with a steady hand on his cheek. “Just once?”
The sun is on the verge of setting, oranges and reds and yellows lighting up the horizon and sky like a fireworks display. The pair of binoculars Seungmin had brought along for bird-watching is lying abandoned on a pile of dry leaves, but he can’t bring himself to care when Minho has him backed up against the trunk of a bamboo tree, taking advantage of the lack of people at the end of the forest trail to do what they can’t, at school.
“Yes,” he says, breathlessly. “Yes.”)
“I don’t know,” he replies, a lump in his throat making it hard for him to speak. “I don’t know, Minho hyung. I’m sorry.”
In the winter of Seungmin’s sophomore year, he happened upon his step-father hunched over his mother’s lifeless body, holding a knife covered in her blood and guts.
It wasn’t a good time for him.
Before he knew it, the court case had been adjourned, his step-father had been sentenced to life in prison, and after a hasty surname-change, he and Jeongin had been sent to live with their grandmother, in the sleepy bamboo forested town of Damyang.
It had been a big change from the always busy streets of Seoul. Being shifted from private schools to public ones, having to get used to being called Yang, trying to keep their heads down after getting involved in a nationally televised serial killing case, where one of the victims had actually been a divorce lawyer, a person on the right side of the law- it had been overwhelming, to say the least.
On top of that, his mandatory therapy sessions with Damyang high school’s grief counsellor had left much to be desired.
Then, he had found Lee Minho.
(Or, more accurately, Lee Minho had found him.)
The senior had been a breath of fresh air, a straw Seungmin could clutch at when he felt like he was drowning. Minho had known everything about him and hadn’t seemed to care. They had talked for hours about their past lives in Seoul, ribbing each other about their favorite ice-cream flavors and anime, and one day, Minho had taken his hand in his and told him that he found him adorable.
(Seungmin’s heart had skipped a beat, because of a boy, for the first time in his life.)
And then, of course, like every good thing in his life, he hadn’t been able to keep Minho with him, either.
“Iyen-ah,” Seungmin says, drifting closer to Jeongin’s side as they walk back home together, “Are you still mad at me?”
Jeongin sniffles, refusing to look at him. “No.”
He places a tentative arm around Jeongin’s shoulders and when the younger boy makes no move to shake him off, he hides his relieved smile in Jeongin’s fluffy black hair, tugging him closer for a hug. “Aw, you can’t stay angry at your hyung for long, can you?”
“’M sorry,” Jeongin mumbles, pressing closer into Seungmin’s side. “I know you’re just trying to look out for me.”
“It’s fine,” he says, grinning. “How about you and me watch a movie together, tonight? After I pick up dad from the bus terminal?”
“I’d like that,” Jeongin says, nodding, sending him a shy smile. “Thanks, hyung.”
Kim Baek-hyun looks the same as he did, last year, when he’d arrived at Seoul to pick Seungmin and Jeongin up from the police station, the day after his ex-wife’s murder. His height was the only thing Seungmin had inherited, and he had often been told that he was more his mom’s image than his dad’s, but Kim Baek-hyun doesn’t seem like he cares that his eldest son is a spitting reminder of everything he’s lost.
“Seungmin-ah,” he says, happily, drawing the teenager into his arms in a warm hug. “You’ve grown.”
“Have you been waiting long?” Seungmin asks, taking his overnight bag. “Come on, we can take a taxi back to the house.”
“No, I just arrived ten minutes ago,” his father says, his fox-like eyes that Jeongin had got, crinkling as he grins. “How’s Iyen-ie? Is he still obsessed with those magic trading cards?”
Seungmin laughs. “Yeah, he’s got ten separate packs of them stashed in his room. It’s an impressive collection.”
There is a brief silence.
“I heard about the murders,” his father finally says.
Seungmin slows down. “Yeah.”
“Are you okay, Seungmin-ah? Do you- do you and Iyen-ie want to get out of town for a bit? We could go to Jeju- it’s nearly time for snow but it will be nice there-”
“Dad,” he says firmly, coming to a halt. “We’re fine.”
He turns to look at his father, who’s staring at him sadly. “I’m sorry, Seungmin-ah. I’m sorry I wasn’t around much.”
“Yes, well.” Seungmin blinks a bit, to chase away the burning behind his eyes, “We can’t change what’s already happened, can we?”
“No,” his father agrees, quietly. “We can’t.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Seungmin says, nudging the older man’s arm. “The police are going to catch the guy soon, don’t worry. It’s a small town. Someone is bound to have seen or heard something.”
“You’re right. Has a curfew been announced, yet?”
“Yeah, come on, we need to hurry.”
After dinner and a movie, Seungmin is ready to call it quits and go to bed.
On the contrary, Jeongin seems to be more awake than ever.
“No, come on!” the orange-haired boy whines. “It’s not even eleven, yet! We can watch one more movie, can’t we?”
“I’m game,” their father says, cheerfully. “What about you, Seungmin-ah?”
“I think I’ll go to bed,” he answers, stifling a yawn behind his hand. “Don’t look at me like that, Iyen-ie. We still have school tomorrow, in case you forgot.”
“I just want all of us to spend more time together!” Jeongin protests. “Dad’s gonna go away, in like three days; he never stays long!”
“Ah, no, Jeonginnie,” their father laughs, “I’m staying longer this time, until your grandmother gets back at least, so- let Seungminnie go to bed, he looks like he’s had a long day.”
“Good night,” Seungmin says, yawning again, “Night, dad. Night, Iyen-ie.” He waves a sleepy hand and turns around, trudging up the stairs to get to his room.
It’s a cloudless night, the moon shining clear and bright in the sky. The stars are more visible around here, as compared to the city, and Seungmin only hesitates for a bit before throwing the balcony doors open, so that soft light spills into his room along with fresh air, cold and clean and sharp in his lungs.
Switching off the lights, he begins to change his clothes. As he pulls on a t-shirt, there’s a loud clunk.
He stills, his hand halfway through the t-shirt’s sleeve.
For a moment, nothing happens.
He allows himself to relax, and slips on a pair of sweatpants, before turning away from the open balcony doors to open his closet. As he’s retrieving a fresh set of clothes to wear to school tomorrow, there’s another sound. A low thud, like someone’s climbing something. Someone heavy, someone male. Someone adult, or close to.
Seungmin whips around, and his eyes fall on a tall, dark figure, swinging themselves over the balcony railing, holding something long and shiny and sharp in their hand. The tip of the implement gleams under the moonlight, its sharp edges reflecting starshine in equal measures.
His heart almost stops.
Right before his mouth opens to let out the scream building up in his throat, the figure steps out of the shadows, into the pool of moonlight, and says, “Hi.”
“Minho!!??” he whispers loudly, his breath leaving his body almost explosively. “Hyung!! What the fuck?!!”
He strides forward, and delivers a punch to the older boy’s shoulder. It barely has any force, relief taking out most of the bite from the hit. “You scared me!”
Minho’s cat-like eyes gleam in the semi-darkness as the corner of his mouth curls up into a devastating half-smile. “It occurred to me that I have never climbed into your room through your windows, so this was the next best option.”
“Why would you even climb anything to get into my room?” he demands, his voice low. “This is crazy! My dad is downstairs!”
“He’s the one you were meeting today?” Minho asks, ignoring his question.
“Yes, but that’s not-” Seungmin sighs, running a hand over his face. “What are you doing here?”
“I found your lucky fountain pen on the music room’s floor,” Minho says, holding out his hand to reveal the sharp object, sitting pretty and innocent on his palm. “The one you use to write your diary entries with.”
“When?” he questions, narrowing his eyes.
Minho’s ears take on a slow creeping shade of red. “During break.”
“And you couldn’t give it to me when we were talking in the restroom?”
“What excuse would I have used to visit you so late at night, then?” Minho retorts, his ears almost glowing crimson.
Seungmin shakes his head, turning away to deposit his fountain pen into the pencil holder on his desk. “What do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come off it, hyung,” he says, dismissively. “You came all the way from your house, just to climb into my room so late at night, when you know that there might be a murderer running around. There must be something you want.”
“I- I just wanted to see you,” comes Minho’s answer, sincerity lacing every word. “I’ve missed you, Seungmin. I’ve missed… us.”
Seungmin goes rigid, his back stiffening. “You don’t get to say that, anymore.”
“I know, and I’m incredibly sorry, and I’ll keep saying that for the rest of our lives, Seungminnie. As long as you need to believe that I really mean it.” Minho’s steps sound muffled as he walks over the wood-paneled floors of Seungmin’s bedroom, drawing closer to the younger boy. Seungmin can feel the intensity of Minho’s gaze between his shoulder blades, like an ant trapped under a magnifying glass in the light of the mid-afternoon sun.
“You’re not making this easy for me,” he whispers, his fingers spasming in their hold on the edge of his desk as Minho comes to a stop behind him, his heated breath brushing the back of Seungmin’s neck and raising a line of goosebumps down his arms.
“Just one chance,” Minho whispers back, his voice velvet smooth as always. “Just one more chance, Kim Seungmin. That’s all I ask.”
Something on the balcony flashes in the corner of Seungmin’s eyes. A swish of fabric, a glint of metal.
“Seungmin?”
There’s a sudden knock on his door. In the silence of his room, it’s deafening, echoing around the space like a sound of doom.
“Hyung? I need some help with my homework!”
“Fuck!” he exclaims under his breath, whirling around to stare at his door. “Fuck, you need to get out of here. Now!”
As he shepherds Minho towards the balcony doors, Jeongin’s knocking continues, growing more impatient. “Please, hyung? I promise not to leave it for later, again, but we really have this due tomorrow, and I have no idea how electromagnets work!”
“I’m coming, Iyen-ie!” he calls, supporting Minho as the older boy swings one leg over the railings. “Hold your horses!”
“Okay, I’ll be in my room! Thanks, hyung!” Jeongin’s footsteps are loud as he retreats, and Seungmin breathes a sigh of relief as Minho makes it all the way down one rung, a few steps away from the sturdy iron trellis he used to climb up there.
“I’m not giving up,” Minho huffs, the planes of his face reflecting determination even as exertion strains his knuckles white. “I’ll show you, Seungminnie. I want you in my life, and I’ll do anything to show you that I do.”
“Oh, god,” Seungmin says, flustered beyond belief. he swipes a hand through his faded white bangs, pushing them out of his eyes. “I’ll- I’ll see you at school, tomorrow, hyung. Just please don’t do anything like this again-”
“Seungmin hyung!”
“I told you I’m coming, Iyen-ie!” he calls over his shoulder, his cheeks burning hot in the cool night air. He turns back to Minho who’s smirking up at him, his feline eyes glinting with something that makes his heart gallop within his chest. “Get home safe, you idiot. And, be careful. Good night.”
It’s only after Minho has made it down the trellis, and disappeared down the street in the direction of his own house, does Seungmin lock his balcony doors and head out of his room to help his little brother with his homework.
Felix greets him at his door, the next morning, as soon as Seungmin steps out, ready with schoolbag on one shoulder and Jeongin over the other.
“Dude, there’s been another murder.”
Seungmin almost decks him in the face. “What is it with you people popping up out of nowhere?!” he demands hysterically, pulling back at the last moment.
Hyunjin steps out from behind Felix, grimacing apologetically. “Sorry, Seungmin, but we thought you should know before you get to school. You’re always the last to get news about stuff like this.”
“Hi, guys,” Jeongin says, disgruntled. “Who’s the victim, this time?”
As Felix coos over the younger boy, trying to trap him in a bear hug, Yeji shuffles out from behind Hyunjin. “Choi Seon. It was… not pretty.”
“I can handle it!” Jeongin protests, struggling with Felix’s athletic frame. “Go on!”
“Okay, you asked for it,” Yeji sighs. “There was evidence that he was chased. A hunt, if you will. They found his body at the end of the bamboo trail. It seems that he was sneaking around the forest perimeter last night, doing whatever.”
“What kind of moron roams around at night alone, with a murderer around?” Jeongin demands, yelping as he loses the fight against the blond boy’s affections.
“The kind that’s got something else to entice him outside,” Hyunjin says, shrugging. “Man, am I glad mom’s away on work. She would have smothered us if she had been around. And then, bye-bye social life.”
“What social life?” Yeji demands. “You’re a gremlin, that’s what you are, Hwang Hyunjin.”
“Hey! Stop bullying me-”
Seungmin is already descending the steps, tuning out the raucous sounds of the twins’ argument. He fumbles with his phone in his haste, his fingers slipping twice before he manages to dial Minho’s number.
It barely has time to ring once before it’s picked up. “Seungmin?” Minho’s voice is hesitant, nearly incredulous in a way as if he can’t believe that it’s Seungmin calling him.
He melts in deep-seated relief. “Hyung- you- you’re okay.”
“Yeah?” Minho says, faint confusion evident in his tone. “Why- why wouldn’t I be?”
“There was- another murder last night,” he says, nearly hiccupping. “You- I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have called-”
“Seungminnie, it’s fine,” Minho assures him, understanding lacing his words. “Everything’s fine. Just breathe, okay? You were worried about me, huh? I got home fine. Didn’t come across a single soul, in fact, let alone a maniac wielding a knife, haha.”
“Is that Minho hyung?” Felix asks, startling Seungmin. “Yo, hyung, did you hear about Choi Seon yet?”
Seungmin puts the call on speaker, relinquishing it to Hyunjin as the rest crowd around, talking over each other, doing their best to make Seungmin deaf.
The front door creaks open, his father’s face peeking out. Kim Baek-hyun squints against the bright sunshine, blinking at the pile of teenagers gathered on his former mother-in-law’s front porch. “Is everything okay?” he asks Seungmin, gesturing towards Yeji who has Hyunjin in a headlock while the younger twin shouts expletives into the phone.
“Yeah,” Seungmin says, hoping the smile stretched over his face doesn’t look as fake as it feels. “Go back to sleep, dad. Everything’s fine.”
“This is it, my dudes,” Jisung announces as he sits down at their lunch table. “We’ve got a serial killer on our hands.”
“You really don’t know how to keep your mouth shut, do you?” Minho comments, shoving him aside to make some space for himself.
Hyunjin, Felix and Yeji stare at the duo as one.
“What’s going on?” Hyunjin demands. “You guys never sit with us.”
“Well, that’s because Minho hyung and I have different lunch periods. And yeah okay, we could skip- but, that’s just bad form,” Jisung says, grinning. He winks at Hyunjin, leaning forward to shoot him a finger heart. “Maybe, if you’d asked me nicely, Hyunjinnie-”
“Ew,” Hyunjin spits, disgusted. “Put that away; coming from you, it’s just gross.”
“It’s just a finger heart,” Seungmin says, nonchalantly. “Be nice, Hyunjin. Jisung-ie’s not the worst you can do.”
“Thank you!” Jisung exclaims, biting into a fried chicken leg. “Seungmin, you’re my star! Wait, what do you mean ‘not the worst’-”
“This is stupid,” Yeji interrupts Jisung, and everyone turns to her, collectively ignoring the squirrel-like boy who starts to splutter. “There’s already been three murders. And yet, the police have no suspects?”
“I mean, they’re trying-” Hyunjin begins, but Felix cuts him off.
“Forget that, do you guys see what the killer’s been doing?”
“What are you talking about?”
Felix makes a face. “You guys really don’t see it? Jisung, you’re a slasher movie buff. You must have realized it.”
“That’s what I was saying!” Jisung states, eagerly. “This guy, whoever he- or she- is, has officially become a serial killer. I bet you ten thousand won, that we’re gonna have another murder today, after the sun goes down.”
There’s a short silence.
“And, what makes you so sure of that?”
“Dude, look at their victims! We’ve got Ji-min, the cheerleader, and Min-jeong, her soccer star girlfriend. Everybody knows couples in slashers never survive. Then, we got Seon, the playboy. He’s too promiscuous- the perfect target for a high school-focused serial killer. And, if I’m right- which I know I am, we’re gonna get another non-virgin knifed.”
“Why non-virgin?” Hyunjin demands.
Jisung grins. “It’s the first rule of a slasher, baby. Only virgins get to live.”
Seungmin blinks. “But, all of us are virgins.”
There’s another short silence.
“Um,” Yeji raises her hand, sheepishly. “I’m not.”
“What?!!” Hyunjin exclaims. “Who the fuck- does mom know-?”
“Shut up,” Yeji hisses, hiding her flaming face behind her hands. “You’ve got no room to talk- I heard you and Jisung going at it like rabbits, last week-”
Jisung chokes, descending into a violent coughing fit as Hyunjin stammers, his voice going shrill in a bid to defend himself.
Seungmin turns to Felix, raising an eyebrow.
“She was in my cousin’s tennis club,” Felix says, awkwardly. “She was very experienced.”
“I’m not a virgin, either,” Minho says, quietly, bringing all conversation to a stop.
“Ooh, this I’ve got to hear,” Yeji says, grinning. “Lee Minho, the ice prince, was brought to his knees by-?”
“Ex-girlfriend,” Minho answers, rolling his eyes. “Back in Seoul.”
“So,” Jisung claps his hands briskly. “Seungmin, tell us. How does it feel, being the last virgin in the magnificent town of Damyang?”
Seungmin stares at Jisung, deadpan. “Alive, because apparently the rest of you are going to end up as serial killer food tonight.”
“Aw, shit.”
“So, you and Minho hyung are talking again?” Felix says, casually, as they exit last period Korean History, Yoon seonsaengnim shouting after the departing students to keep obeying the newly-placed curfew.
Seungmin almost chokes on his own spit. “We- when did you even-”
“Hey, I was just joking about him and Jisung, that day,” Felix says, chuckling. “I saw you guys heading down the forest trail, once. Like three months ago. I figured you’d tell us when you were ready. But then, you started avoiding hyung everywhere, so I thought you must have fought, or something.”
“Wow. You’re such a sneak, Lix.”
“I’m not that much of a sneak, to be honest. I had no idea how down bad Minho hyung was for you, until today.”
“Felix!”
“What? He obviously skipped class today to see you- whoa- what the fuck-”
Seungmin’s almost blinded as he and Felix step out the front entrance of Damyang high school, and instantly get surrounded by camera lights flashing every which way, like they’re celebrities, walking down the red carpet at a nationally televised award festival.
“Holy fuck-” Felix curses. “What the hell are news vans doing here? Is this even legal?”
“Who are they even here for-”
Seungmin’s mouth snaps shut as a mic is shoved into his face. “Kim Seungmin-ssi,” the hauntingly familiar voice of Park Ji-hyo, investigative journalist and Pulitzer nominee, rings out loudly, amidst the near-constant snaps of cameras and crowd chatter. “How do you feel about finding yourself in the thick of another serial killing case, after having wrongfully subjected your step-father to a life in prison?”