AKA

Chapter Six

Jer slowly backed away from Min-joon. Unfortunately, the more Jer backed up, the more Min-joon moved closer to him.

"M-Min-joon...Wha-what are you d-doing here?" Jer found it highly difficult to get the words out his mouth. His throat was bone-dry and still felt like it was constricting a little more every second.

"I knew you were an idiot, Jer, but I didn't think you were this much of an idiot," Min-joon said as he rolled his still-narrow and glaring eyes. "You know why I'm here."

"To kill me?!" Jer exclaimed as he backed up against his bedroom wall. He forgot that he had put the pair of sneakers he was wearing earlier in that exact same spot against the wall and tripped over them. Jer nearly fell to the floor but quickly used the wall as support to get himself back upright.

Min-joon sighed and ran his left hand through his thick, blondish-brown hair. "I'm not here to kill you, Jer."

"Yeah, right," Jer said. He quickly scanned the items in his room that were nearest him to figure out what would be the best weapon against Min-joon. Since his sneakers were the closest item, he picked them both up and held them in front of him.

Min-joon gave him a mocking glare. "Seriously? Even if I was going to kill you, that's what you would use against me? A pair of sneakers?"

Jer thought about it for a second and decided that Min-joon was right. If Min-joon was going to kill him—which Jer was still sure Min-joon was going to do—he needed a better weapon than his old, over-worn sneakers.

After scanning the items closest to him again, Jer decided to drop the sneakers, dash to his bedside table, yank the lamp free from the outlet it was plugged into, and hold the lamp in front of him like it was a sword.

The smallest hint of a smile crossed over Min-joon's face. "Better. But even with that lamp, I still could kick your ass. But as I said, Jer, I'm not here to kill you. Honestly, I'm just here to talk."

Min-joon moved closer to Jer again, which made Jer back up more.

"Here to talk about what?" Jer asked cautiously. He still held the lamp in front of him just in case Min-joon was lying and actually wanted to kill him.

Min-joon groaned. "Oh my god, Jer. What do you think I want to talk to you about? What you overheard Samuel say about Hyun-woo's death, of course." Min-joon sighed again, but this time it was more of a sullen sigh than an exasperated sigh. "I don't know if you know this, but Hyun-woo was my best friend in the whole world. He was more than a best friend, really. He was more like my brother. My soulmate. I cared about him more than I cared about anyone else in my entire life."

Jer slowly set down the lamp and stood in awe as Min-joon continued to talk openly to him. "I knew Hyun-woo," Min-joon said, looking at Jer intensely. "I knew him better than anyone else. And I know for sure that he was not suicidal. He was the happiest person in the world. If things got tough, he would push through with a smile on his face and a laugh in his voice. He wouldn't just kill himself. Especially not out of the blue like that."

Min-joon sat down on the bottom-edge of Jer's bed. Jer sat down too but kept his distance from this strange but undoubtedly better version of the Lee Min-joon he's known for a whole year now. "I joined this band because I hoped that doing so would lead me to discover the truth of Hyun-woo's death. Yeah, I like to sing and dance and look fabulous and all that...Plus it gets me away from my backwards and pushy family...But the number one reason why I'm here with you annoying people is because I want to know what really happened to my best friend. And hearing you say what you said earlier at A-List Records...I'm hoping that this is the break that I've been waiting for. I've been in this band for a whole year, and so far, and I've gotten nowhere. So, please Jer, I want you to tell me everything you heard and everything you saw today. I need your help to figure out how Hyun-woo actually died."