Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
yeon narae's pov
/////
It took a while for us to find the rooms, but we managed. The hallways were eerie, dark, and a ghostly presence chilled our bones. Cobwebs were decorating the corners of the walls and some kind of red substance was smeared against the concrete walls. Jisung, Chenle, Jaemin and I crept alongside the walls, avoiding the red stains and the hanging webs.
We peered into windows to see if there were any glowing surfaces of smartphones, but there were none. We could see sleeping 1:27 members, their faces grim and as still as stone.
"Can't we just arrest them right here?" Chenle asked.
"Yeah, but we need an entire team of cops. There are like, fifteen people. Jaemin and I can't arrest that many." I sighed, tiptoeing along the sides.
"Oh yeah," he mumbled.
"Narae! There!" Jisung whispered excitedly. "I think that's a phone!"
We all turned to look where Jisung was peering through carefully. Indeed, there was a white, glowing surface of a phone resting on a night table, which was next to the sleeping body of a tall man, tucked under the covers.
We all bit our lips anxiously, wondering how we could slip through without awakening the man, until we heard the loud shouts of two men.
"What the hell, Jaehyun! Why are you bothering me at this ungodly hour?" The familiar yells of a certain captain made all of us jump.
"Hide!" Jaemin squeaked.
"There's no where to hide!" Jisung squeaked back, panicking. "What do we do?"
My eyes darted around the halls, until they caught on something that could save our lives. "Trapdoor!" I pointed and opened the door. We all piled into the space and closed it before the men could pass by.
"I just wanted to talk," the younger voice pleaded. "Please, sir, please just let me talk!"
"No! I don't want to talk to you!" Taeyong protested. "I don't need to hear your worthless apologies! Just shut up and go to sleep!"
"Please, sir, I want to explain-"
Slap.
Jaemin sucked in his breath in surprise.
"No! Nothing will explain how you treated me when we were kids! I'm never going to forget it!" He screamed, his face turning red. "This is the monster you turned me into. I'm like this because of your torture!"
"I'm so sorry, sir, please, I really am..." Jaehyun whimpered, practically bowing down on the floor. He was still clutching onto the side of his face that Taeyong hit him on. "I was immature and I didn't understand people's feelings. I was broken and torn, I just wanted to place the emptiness I felt myself onto someone else I hated..."
"Either way, even if you didn't bully me, you still hated me! You made my life like hell!" His voice softened, but his face was still menacing. "Just get out, Jaehyun. Leave. Don't make my life more complicated than it already is!"
Jaehyun's face was sad and solemn, but it soon flipped into seething fury. "Fine then! You didn't even bother to accept my apology, I guess I won't do anything!" The taller stomped away. "Just watch me, Taeyong. I still hate you! You're still the annoying prick from sixth grade! I'll destroy everything that you ever cared about, everything that you put your blood, sweat, and tears in!"
And with that, Jaehyun was gone, leaving the captain standing there, saying nothing.
"That son of a bitch..." he cursed under his breath, walking in the opposite direction.
We waited a few seconds. Maybe a few seconds times ten. We waited a while until no footsteps were heard coming our way. Slowly, we opened the trapdoor and we stepped out cautiously, one by one.
"Now, back to the phone," Chenle muttered. "What in the world was that about?" he wondered aloud as we tiptoed back to the room with the glowing phone.
Jaemin sighed. "I think I remember, but it was such a long time ago, I barely do," his voice softened as we hid among the dark shadows of the walls.
"Let's talk about this later," I said urgently. "There are only a few hours left until dawn, we need to hurry up. Let's plot a plan to get that phone out of that room, call the station, and put it back."
"One of us could just tiptoe in there, take the phone, come out, call, then another person can go back in and put the phone back." Chenle suggested.
"Honestly, that's the only reasonable strategy. The rest of us could stay around here and make sure no one is coming near." Jaemin scratched his chin.
"Then, who's going in?" Jisung gulped.
No one volunteered.
After a long silence, I sighed. "I'll do it. I mean, I'm a detective, I might as well use my role for something useful around here." I mentally prepared myself to tiptoe into the sleeping 1:27 member's room, steal the phone, and crawl back out without getting caught.
