The Eighth One - BTS AU (Mystery/Thriller) | Complete

Chapter 48

Empty. No other living soul could be seen. The road was covered with dust and leaves. The only sound that could be heard was that of their footsteps.

Just a few shops were open from which a few curious heads peeked to the see the guests. Some smiled on their own, recognizing the faces.

The boys couldn’t decide where to look. It felt fascinating to walk down this road again. They wanted to permanently imprint each and every detail in their brain.

Hoseok lead the group, his arm around the shoulders of a very happy Jimin. Jimin on the other hand had his clutches on Jin, who occasionally smiled at something Hoseok would say.
While Jimin thought of a witty response, Hoseok turned his head and sneaked a glanced at Tae.

Behind them Yoongi walked alone, looking around, feeling nostalgic. His hands in his pocket, he listened to Hoseok talk while keeping his eye on Jin.
He then took out his phone, glanced at the screen for a few seconds, before shutting it off and placing it back in his pocket.

He turned around and saw Joon, whom he felt was exceptionally silent these days, but smiled when he saw Tae and Kookie, walking hand in hand. Tae himself smiled looking at the ground when he remembered their childhood.

How he had to walk Kookie to his class every morning and pick him up after class as well. The entire time, he had to hold the younger one’s hand.
Just like those times, even today, Kookie had held his hand so tight, as if he never wanted to let go.

Kookie had missed his touch. Tae’s large hand wrapped around his own, like the blanket he had once given him. He looked down at it and his face gave way to a beautiful smile. They hadn’t talked out anything yet. Their issues remained undiscussed.

But he knew that Tae loved him, maybe not exactly the way he loved Tae. When he looked up he saw Tae smile at him. With the raise of his eyebrows Tae ‘asked’,
Why are you smiling?

Kookie shrugged in response. He broke into a smile revealing his teeth when Tae ruffled his hair. When Kookie looked ahead, he saw Jin turn his head away from them, a smile on his lips.

Joon was alone at the back. His hands hidden in the pockets of his over coat. He walked looking down. Occasionally he would look up at the other boys.

Hoseok had now shifted to be by Yoongi. They were laughing about something the former had said. Jimin, who now led, had his arm around Jin’s who on the other hand stumbled for about the third ttime
Tae and Kookie seemed to be in their own world as they walked holding hands.

The decision of visiting the Bowl seemed to have turned back time somehow. Everyone had returned to how they were years ago.

Or maybe the realisation that this might be the last time they’d visit the Bowl transformed them into their old selves, wanting to feel the old togetherness again.

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As they neared the Bowl, their brows furrowed. There was a distant rumbling. It grew louder as they walked past the curve that led to the Bowl bringing everything into view.

There were two vehicles parked outside the Bowl. A few uniformed men walked around.

The boys started to feel a little uneasy. They thought of the last time they were near cops. Jimin tightened his grip on Jin, while the others glanced at him with worry.

A cop eyed them suspiciously from the police car before he resumed talking on the phone. They looked at each other bewildered as they approached the entrance.

As they walked in and saw the scene, their confusion grew. There were more cops in here. While few walked around looking for something, majority stuck to a region.

The boys made their way to find what was going on,
“Hey!”

A call made them stop. When they turned their heads to the direction of the sound, they saw a cop run towards them. Even though they did nothing wrong, they felt like criminals about to be caught.

As he got near, he asked them,
“You boys come here often?”

Kookie glanced at Tae while he saw Joon look at Yoongi. It was Jimin who spoke though.

“No sir. We haven’t been here in years.”

“Then why are you here today?”

Yoongi rubbed the back of his neck before he answered, “We used to come as kids. We just wanted to visit.”

“For the sake of nostalgia,” Joon added his hands still in his pockets.

“Hmm.”

“So what’s going on?” Jimin tried to act brave as he pointed towards the region where more cops stood.

“We found a body in the early hours.”

The boys watched everything that was happening in silence. They stood by a side, out of the way of the cops walking around.

Jin stood rooted to his spot like a statue while the other boys felt seriously worried. Worried about both the situation in hand and for Jin.

Kookie had come to Jimin’s aid as he placed a hand on Jin’s arm. The touch brought Jin out of his trance. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt and took a deep breath.

Yoongi suddenly turned to them to talk when he saw everyone look at the same direction. The cop from before was walking towards them.

“I need to ask you a few questions.”

The boys sat in two rows in the steps before the cop. Yoongi and Kookie sat in the front row flanked by Tae and Joon, while Jimin and Hoseok sat with Jin at the back.

The cop pulled out a purse from the plastic bag in his hand and showed them the ID placed inside it.

“Do you recognise this boy?”

Joon squinted as he couldn’t see it clearly from where he was sitting. He looked at Kookie and saw his eyes widen a little. It was immediately brought to normal size when Tae subtly squeezed his hand.

Scanning the rest of them, he noticed that the others had a poker face on, like Tae. Well, all except Jin who kept his eyes down, and not at the ID.

Watching Joon struggling to see, the cop moved the ID closer to his side. He had prepared himself for the worst after seeing Kookie’s reaction.

Even though it was just for a few minutes, the interaction had left quite an impact in their memory. Just a little thinner around the jaw and a faint stubble. Nothing else was different.
None of them had failed to recognise the face in the ID even though it had been three years.

The photo in the ID was of one of Juan’s friends from the day of the accident.