✔ Trust No One - SVT (Halloween Special)

10/13

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Joshua-hyung?"

Minghao shrugged. "Who's to say he's not the killer? I refuse to let my guard down."

"Then who's to say I'm not the killer?" asked Junhui.

"Me." said Minghao. "Like I said, you're the only one I trust."

"Where are we even going?"

"Our bedroom. I want to do something I haven't done yet."

"Xu Minghao, we are not having sex when a killer is on the loose."

Minghao giggled, amused. "That's not what I meant, idiot. God, and I thought I had a dirty mind..."

"We're teenagers, we're professional dirty-minded people." said Junhui. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm making a spreadsheet." said Minghao. "Although I like your idea better, now that you mention it."

Junhui blushed. "Keep it PG-13, alright? What do you mean by a spreadsheet?"

"Um, a spreadsheet? What else could I mean?"

"I suppose that's true." said Junhui. "Where will you get paper?"

"A high schooler must always be prepared." said Minghao. "It's in my bag. Lock the door behind us, will you?"

They had entered the room now. Junhui nodded and hurried to lock the door.

Minghao, meanwhile, had already started his spreadsheet. "So far, Vernon and Dokyeom are dead - the two with the same birthday. Coincidence?"

"Probably." shrugged Junhui. "Why are you asking me? I have no idea who it is."

Minghao rolled his eyes. "Well, it's obviously Joshua-hyung."

"Are you sure?" asked Junhui, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course." said Minghao. "Think about it. Joshua-hyung prepared the food, while Dokyeom got the drinks. Dokyeom's dead, so it's obviously not him. Joshua-hyung must have slipped something in the water when no one was looking. And when Seungkwan started blaming Dokyeom, Joshua-hyung got really defensive. I thought nothing of it at first, since Dokyeom was his boyfriend, after all. But when Dokyeom died, we were all in our rooms. Who could have possibly killed him, besides Joshua-hyung?"

"I don't know, Hao... isn't it a bit early to make assumptions?"

"A bit early? So you're saying we should wait until we're all dead to figure this out?"

Junhui fell silent. Minghao stood up, clearly frustrated.

"You're missing the point. When has anyone ever let a killer do their dirty work until it's all done? I don't know what you're thinking, but I think it's safe to be wary of Joshua-hyung."

"Well actually... I have another suspicion." said Junhui quietly.

Minghao's eyes widened. "Really?"

Junhui nodded. "To be honest... I think it was Dokyeom."

"That doesn't make any sense." frowned Minghao.

"No, hear me out." said Junhui, holding up his hands. "What if Dokyeom felt really guilty and killed himself after Vernon died?"

"So... you believe Joshua-hyung?"

"Yes. Yes, I do."

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Minghao sighed and put his head in his hands.

"This is so confusing. I just don't want to die."

Junhui patted him on the shoulder. "Me either, Hao. Me either."

***

Seungcheol and Jeonghan brought Joshua up to their room once Minghao had finished interrogating him. Joshua was still pale and shaky.

"Do you really think Dokyeom killed himself?" asked Jeonghan.

Joshua nodded miserably. "I just wish I hadn't let him out of my sight... none of this would have happened."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it." said Seungcheol. "To be fair, we're all going to die eventually."

"I- I love you, but you need to shut up." said Jeonghan, lightly hitting his boyfriend in the chest. "Just don't think about Dokyeom right now, okay? What makes you happy?"

"Dokyeom." said Joshua honestly.

"Okay... well, besides Dokyeom?"

"Nothing."

Jeonghan sighed. "This isn't working."

"Well, obviously. You'd do the same for me." said Seungcheol.

"True." said Jeonghan. "I- what was that?"

A sudden loud bang echoed through the hotel. The three of them shot upright, looking at each other.

"That sounded like a gunshot." said Joshua quietly.

"But- how- what-" choked Jeonghan, surprised.

"Let's go check it out." said Seungcheol, grabbing Jeonghan and Joshua by the arms and pulling them out of the room.

The other boys were rushing there too. Mingyu, as the tallest, was easily able to look over all the heads.

"Oh my-"

Jihoon was lying in the middle of the mass of teens, bleeding from the head. He was clearly dead. A gun lay next to him, gunpowder spilling onto the carpet.

"But... how the fuck did the killer get a gun?" asked Mingyu, turning to the rest of the group.

"He must have snuck it in his backpack..." said Soonyoung faintly, on the verge of tears. "But who would do this?"

"The same monster that killed everyone else." said Chan. "And his accomplice, of course."

"Okay, everyone calm down." said Wonwoo, kneeling beside Jihoon's body. "There's a note."

"There's a what now?" cried Seungkwan. "A note?"

"The killer must have left it." frowned Seungcheol. "What does it say?"

"It says..."

Wonwoo trailed off, his face paling.

"'Someone here was very wrong, and you know who you are. You're next.'"