bad chemistry

twenty - one

"Where are you guys off to?"

Donghyuck stares at the two males who were now getting ready to leave. Jeno turns over to Minhyung to give him a look that they shouldn't reveal where they are planning to go. Turning to Donghyuck and Jaemin, Jeno replies, "I'll be going to see my cousin and Minhyung is going to drop me off."

"Right now? On our shift?"

Jeno can clearly hear the unexpected response from Jaemin, who is confused to why Jeno and Minhyung are not revealing where they are heading off to. Minhyung nods along with what Jeno is saying, as he responds quickly after, "Yeah, I'm going to also see someone for lunch so don't wait up on us. We'll probably be back after two hours."

Donghyuck watches the two intensely as the two of them exit the office without another word or even a smile. Jaemin crosses his arms and mutters, "That's so weird. Maybe they're doing a mission on their own."

Donghyuck does the same as Jaemin quietly stares at his feet, as Donghyuck scans the room to see a sticky note crumbled up on Jeno's desk. He makes his way towards the desk, and reopens the note that was written. Jaemin follows pursuit and rests his head on the other's shoulder to peer over and read along with it as well. Donghyuck cranes his neck to the side, to see the camera fully turned off.

"I think, it's something related to Jeno's situation yesterday."

Jaemin snatches the note out of Donghyuck's hand and keeps it within his hands as he replies back with an annoyed tone, "Then why wouldn't they tell us?"

Donghyuck shrugs his shoulders in response, as Jaemin rips the note and throws it away towards the trashcan before Donghyuck can stop him. Donghyuck hits the other's shoulder as he exclaims, "Why would you throw that away?!"

Jaemin makes his way towards his own desk and logs onto his computer before deciding not to turn on the camera. He looks back up at the other after not responding for a few seconds, as he then replies back quietly, "Because I'm sure it's something that they don't us to worry with. And they found the key to answering the question as to why Minju's fan might have attacked Jeno last night."

Jeno and Minhyung soon exit the older's convertible as they park at the parking structure of Minju's residence. He remembers that his actual cousin lives here, but he doesn't want to visit the other at all right now. Minhyung enters into the building first, as Jeno follows after him quietly. He hasn't actually entered into Minju's place like this; he hopes himself that there isn't any cameras at Minju's place. That it was all inside Minhyung's head.

Getting onto the elevator, he enters along with the older as he presses the elevator floor that Minju lives on. Minhyung's eyes follow Jeno's hand and is taken aback to how his friend would actually know she lives. "Is this why you didn't ask the guard for where she lives?"

Jeno clears his throat in response as he mentally scolded himself for not thinking about the consequence of it. He replies with a nervous tone, "I have been here before and I met her in the elevator."

Minhyung raises his eyebrows as Jeno knows that Mark is suspecting him right now. But he doesn't ask more of it, which makes Jeno glad so that he doesn't need to think of sudden lies at the moment. After arriving to the destinated floor, the elevator door opens and Minju jumps back in surprise after seeing the two men. Her hair is tied up into a ponytail, as she is wearing some comfortable light orange leggings with a black tanktop. Jeno suspects that she is probably going to work out, and the idea of coming to her apartment is a dumb thing in the first place. She smiles at them softly before realizing that she shouldn't ask about the incident where Jeno almost got hurt, so she greets, "Hello officers. I don't think it's a coincidence that you guys came to my floor."

Minhyung nods before nudging his arm against Jeno's elbow, as he smiles back with a forced grin, "Yes, we actually wanted to ask you something."

Minju watches as the two men bicker for quite a while with their elbows before Jeno drags Minhyung out of the elevator as the door keeps closing on them. He rests his back against the wall and laughs awkwardly as he tries to figure out how to talk about the unnecessary talks about the damn camera joke. Minju taps her fingers nervously against her side thigh as the awkward laughter from her lips made it even more difficult for Jeno to bring up the topic.

Minhyung gives up after seeing the awkward interaction as he blurts out, "We just need to check your apartment for any suspicious items."

Jeno looks over at Minhyung with his eyebrows furrowed as Minju's eyes blink quickly in confusion, "Excuse me?"

Jeno sighs to himself as he runs his hand against his bangs, which mess up his blonde hair with annoyance. He answers her question instead with a worried tone, "We just need to make sure if there isn't any danger imposed on you. We will answer your questions once we complete our task. "

Minju fights back the growing questions that are stuck inside her head, as she nods quietly to their request. She turns around quickly and walks briskly to her apartment, where Jeno literally almost attacks Minhyung for not keeping the situation calm. Minhyung rolls his eyes to himself, and almost slaps Jeno's back but he stops himself as Minju opens the door quietly. Since Minhyung never entered into her house, Jeno speaks up with by clearing his throat, "I'll check her bedroom and her bathroom. Hyung, you can check the front area and her office space."

Minhyung questions to how Jeno seems to know the order to her house, but he doesn't ask the other as Jeno follows Minju inside to her living area. Minju bites her lip nervously as she asks quietly, "Is this a bad thing?"

Jeno looks around within each corner to make sure that there isn't a recording device within the area, as he replies with an unsure response, "I'm not exactly sure. I will explain once I figure things out."

Minju nods quietly and stares at her feet, and is following the other carefully in hopes to see his actions. The house is extremely clean despite Minju's laziness to clean, so she praises the cleaning lady for coming a few days ago when she was out. Jeno searches carefully along with her bedsheets and also her desk. He makes sure to check the closet, and also the bathroom for any recording devices. He isn't sure why Minhyung had the audacity to suggest to check something that didn't make any sense. As he leaves the bedroom to talk to Minhyung, he turns his head to focus at the plant that was resting between the bathroom and bedroom door. There were no blooming flowers that were on the stems, but something caught his eye.

A red blink.

"Jeno."

He looks up to hear the older call his name, as Minhyung holds out his hand to reveal something very similar to the device found in the office and the plant.

"Where was this found?"

"The front door."

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a.n: rip sulli. you were truly an influential feminist who really changed the views of feminism in kpop (South Korea)