secret tape - penthouse

xiii

after the incident at the golf club, the little hera club had decided to continue the rest of their vacation at home. though they had tried ti hold out for the rest of the trip, they were all on edge, and no one was really in the mood for a shopping trip or a day at the beach. yebin tried to have a conversation with eunbyul about what she had said about being cursed, but anytime she brought it up eunbyul just said she didn't want to think about it. not wanting to upset her more, she decided to drop it, even if she couldn't stop thinking about it.

☁︎

"hurry hurry !! jenny and minhyuk are already waiting for us at the pool!" eunbyul said, pulling back the curtains in yebin's room. yebin responded with a groan, pulling the blankets up over her head to stop the sun from getting in her eyes. but before yebin could get the chance to get back to sleep, the comforter was yanked out of her grasp. "seriously how do u even sleep in this late."

"leave me alone, i didn't get to go to bed until like 11 a.m" yebin grumbled, finally sitting up now that she realized eunbyul wasn't going to let her get out of this. sometimes when they had plans and yebin didn't want to get out of bed, eunbyul would simply give up and crawl in to bed to nap next to her. unfortunately for yebin, eunbyul had managed to get a good nights rest.

"what were u doing last night anyways?" eunbyul asked, watching as yebin rubbed at her tired eyes.

"i was playing online games with seokhoon." she replied, not thinking much of it.

"seokhoon? that late? why?" eunbyul asked, voice suddenly getting higher in pitch.

yebin nodded tiredly, "he usually plays with minhyuk but minhyuk got scolded by his mom for not going to bed early. so we played for a little bit."

"all night doesn't seem like a little bit. i didn't know u two were close." yebin only shrugged in response, finally getting up so she could get ready to meet her friends.

☁︎

"can't believe u made me wait an extra ten minutes for u to find ur sunscreen." eunbyul grumbled, holding a pink towel in her crossed arm.

"i need to protect my skin!" yebin argued, matching her stance.

"it's an indoor pool!" the light classical music that played in the background of the hera palace elevator contrasted the energy of the bickering girls. they waited in silence for the rest of the way, their moods lifting as the elevator descended. their flip flops hit the back of their heels with a soft smack, both of them rushing out of the elevator as soon as it opened.

but their route was cut short when they looked up at the hera statue in the lobby. there was something draped over it's open arms, and in red ink it read 'min seola was murdered in hera palace.'

"unnie..." eunbyul whined, grabbing her friend and pulling her close. despite her shaky voice, the grip she had on yebin's arm was firm.

"let's go tell my dad." yebin said, tugging eunbyul back towards the elevator.

"unnie, i'm scared." eunbyul said, tears welling up in her eyes. it was obvious to her that eunbyul was going back into a more panicked state, and yebin did her best to get her friend to budge so that she could have a chance to calm down. but eunbyul didn't move, and she seemed almost frozen as she looked up at the banner.

"why are u scared?" yebin asked, still trying to pull eunbyul away.

"im scared someone knows." though it was only a whisper, the sentence still managed to reach yebin's ears. eunbyul's eyes finally met hers, and a chill ran down yebin's spine. "i'm scared someone knows what i did."

"let's go tell my dad. he'll get someone to take it down, okay?"

"okay."

☁︎

it wasn't long before a crowd of residents had formed in the hera palace lobby, whispering amongst themselves as the staff pulled the banner down. the little hera club was gathered together as well, their pool trip cut short before it could even really start.

"why would anyone put such a horrible sign up. god, it sends chills down my spine." jeni said, everyone immediately mumbling in agreement.

"what if she actually was killed here, do u guys think her ghost is lurking these halls?" minhyuk asked, the small smile on his face making it obvious that he was only saying it to scare them.

"don't say things like that! we're creeped out enough as it is." jeni exclaimed, lightly slapping his arm as he laughed.

"unnie, i don't feel so good." eunbyul mumbled quietly, tugging on yebin's sleeve to get her attention.

their conversation was interrupted by their parents in front of them, tone suddenly growing loud as they talked amongst themselves. "this person is trying to scare us into reopening this closed case, so it's definitely a scheme to decrease our property values!" jeni's mom said, bringing the whole lobby's attention to her.

"i'll never let anyone get away with this! anyone who tries to mess with hera palace, no matter who it might be, won't be dealt with nicely!" joo dantae said, now clearly addressing everyone there.

"of course! we'll find them as soon as possible!" jeni's mom exclaimed once more, the whispers of the crowd growing louder.

"you kids, did any of u see any one? someone suspicious maybe?" ha yooncheol asked, now standing next to the group of teens.

"no sir, we didn't see anyone. it was just me and eunbyul." yebin responded, glancing over at her friend, right as she rolled her eyes back and collapsed onto the floor.

"eunbyul-ah! ha eunbyul!" her father exclaimed, bending down next to his now limp daughter.

yebin watched the scene unfold with wide eyes, staggering back as yooncheol exclaimed that she needed space. that didn't stop people around her from crowding around, worried cried coming from eunbyul's mom as her husband tried to wake eunbyul up.

what did eunbyul do?