The Devil's Carnation | An ATEEZ Short Crime Novel

Chapter Three - The Lonely Violinist

It was around 7:00 am and Yunho and Mingi were waiting patiently. Yunho was leaning against their car and Mingi was watching the morning fog gradually dissipate with his hands in his warm pockets. They were parked in front of a gate that was at least twice the height of the car. The walls that surrounded the place were made out of red bricks. The neighborhood was indistinguishable, the fog was so thick, it gave them the feeling of being the only ones in the world. The air was freezing and not a cat nor a bird would come to liven up the place a little, just absolute silence.

They heard the engine of a car in the distance when it bursts out of the curtain of mist like a ghost. It parked next to them. They heard the door slam and Kiara appeared in front of them.

"There you are." Yunho whispered. He couldn't help but whisper as if he was going to disturb the sleep of a gigantic creature.

They both approached the woman who was putting her keys in her bag. She grabbed them on her way, taking them by the arms leading them behind their car.

"I told Mister Kang that we were going to see his son, I told him we were health professionals so you be careful with what you say!" Said Kiara also whispering.

"Wait-wait... What ?! But-" Mingi shouted.

"How could we have meet his son otherwise huh ?? Hi we are buffons who lost their jobs and we are coming to interrogate your son so he can give us information about you because we think that you might be this murderer that everyone is talking about. "

She walked towards the gate, she wondered how to get through, she looked to the right then to the left and found an intercom on one side of the wall. They walked towards this wall, Yunho and Mingi stayed in the back to let Kiara do it since she was the author of this operation. She rang on the intercom then gave the two friends a warning look to remind them of their roles.

Hello, may I know your identity ?

"Hello! Mr. Kang? It's Mrs. Jun! I'm here with my colleagues for the rendez-vous with your son!" She said with a big forced smile.

This is not Mr Kang. Please show me your business cards.

A cold sweat ran down Kiara's temple, she pretended to search her bag when another voice stood out inside the intercom.

Hey- Wha - .. zzz ... Dear god move ! My- Miss Jun ? Come in come in !

A ting sounded and the doors opened by themselves.

Kiara winked at her "co-workers" and they entered the huge enclosure. The mist had dissipated a lot, they could now imagine the grandeur of the space and distinguish the elements of the garden. Many carefully trimmed bushes and various flowers surrounded their path. The fresh grass was cut to the perfect millimeter. They were walking along a gray flagstone path, they could hear water flowing quietly. The sound grew clearer and clearer as they passed by a fountain with a violin sculpture in its center.

While they were advancing blindly in the fog, Mingi still with his hands in his pockets, trotted over to Kiara.

"Psst! Kiara! This is madness! You promised you wouldn't do anything illegal !" He internally screamed.

"HE promised, I didn't promise shit."

"But-" Mingi didn't got the time to finish his sentence as he bumped into Kiara who had suddenly stopped.

The mist that remained disappeared to make way for a gigantic castle. Yunho felt like he had stepped back in time to the 17th century. He was exaggerating a lot, but it gave him a lot of chills. It was probably not a castle, but the building was so huge and the architecture so special that his imagination kept wandering in reveries.