LUMINESCENCE | K.NJ ✓

XV - FROM THE EYES OF A WITNESS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN — FROM THE EYES OF A WITNESS

FLASHING LIGHTS and wailing sirens were becoming an eerily familiar occurrence in Nouri's day to day life. It was still unsettling to enter another crime scene—the third she had stepped upon in under one month's time—yet the atmosphere that came along with the swarms of frightened passers-by and frazzled law enforcement surrounded by yellow tape wasn't quite as foreign to her as it had been weeks before.

She knew that probably wasn't a good thing.

With Namjoon in the lead, she held tightly to his hand as they stepped into a world of chaos for what seemed to be the thousandth time. They had caught sight of Yoongi and Hoseok ahead of them after leaving the pizzeria. It was a little bit difficult to keep track of their friends as they weren't in uniform, but they managed to follow them from a distance all the way to where officers and civilians alike were huddled in a giant cluster of worry where apparently, a third abduction had just occurred.

It was only a few blocks away from the pizza place. The area was familiar to Nouri, and she soon realized why—it was the same library she and Namjoon had planned to meet at.

Now that they had arrived on the scene, the two drew closer to where Hoseok and Yoongi stood. The amount of commotion made it difficult to grab the attention of either one, but Nouri gently tapped on Yoongi's shoulder.

He flinched before turning around to catch her eye. Although he was surprised, she could see a faint smile tug the corners of his lips.

"You followed us," he said as his eyes drifted to Namjoon. When he glanced down and caught sight of their intertwined hands, his eyebrows raised. Nouri recognized the look—it was similar to the expression he had right before inquiring about Namjoon's kissing skills.

Although it was definitely not the time to be worried about such trivial things, Nouri quietly slid her hand out of Namjoon's.

She caught his eye right after, and felt her chest ache as she noticed his immediate frown. He quickly masked it with poorly feigned indifference and looked away from her, but the image of his down turned lips and knit brow was pressed into her mind.

If it was possible to turn back time, she would have done so right then. Any teasing from Yoongi would have been better than the hurt she saw on Namjoon's face.

There was no time for her to think on it any longer—she felt guilty for even wasting a few seconds focusing on something so small during such a tragic moment.

Detective Choi—the same one who had earlier interviewed them—approached the group of friends. "Seems to be almost the exact same situation as the past two times," he said as soon as he was within earshot. "A woman was stepping into her vehicle, bright light comes, gunshot, and the girl's gone when the light fades."

"Do you know who the victim is?" Yoongi asked.

"Her driver's license found in her wallet was left in the passenger seat of the car. Her name is Hwang Hyorin."

Hoseok began to speak. "Was she—"

"Connected to the arboretum group?" Choi finished the question for him. "Yeah. She was on the bus that first night as well."

Of course, this bit of information was already expected. However, hearing the detective confirm the suspicion turned Nouri's blood to ice. When the second victim was confirmed to be a part of Seokjin's group, it could've been passed as an unlikely coincidence.

Now, with the three victims all being connected, there was no mistaking it. For some reason, the group was being targeted.

"This doesn't make any sense," Nouri said. "Hardly any of us had any connection to one another before the night we went to the arboretum, so why would we be part of a target list?"