granny

20// the one where it all ends

"may we come in?," two policemen knocked on the door of the room and minho immediately poked jisung gently to wake him up.

the older nodded and sleepily blinked while jisung rubbed his eyes, "i'm sorry, hello. did i miss anything? please, go on," he yawned confusedly but sat up a little to show that he was listening.

"we are here to tell you that all charges against you in relation to last night's arson and possible murder of kang injeong have been dropped," the man spoke in a flat voice, "you are therefore free to leave if your medical condition allows it but are expected to participate in a court trial when asked to."

"what about granny?," minho asked fearfully. it was good that they were deemed innocent but if that lady was about to walk free they were far from safe.

"currently, kang juhyun is detained and will go to jail, and then prison, if her culpability is proven," the woman explained, "things are not looking great for her though.."

the boys nodded but weren't convinced.

"what i can say to both of you about this is that it's over now," the woman smiled reassuringly, "you don't need to fear her anymore."

"b-but.. she was about to stab me just because she thought i was a bad influence to minho.. i don't think anyone would be safe around her.. she killed grandpa..," the younger sniffled and broke down crying. why was it so difficult for the police to just restrain her?

minho hugged him gently, minding his cast, and stroked his thigh, trying to calm him down.

"this is to be proven and then the law will punish her harshly," she smiled again and added, "she's already been arrested multiple times for animal abuse and we found complaints about her and her husband, filed by local people."

"i'm sorry, can you.. can you tell us more about that?," minho sheepishly demanded, "we don't really know anything about why she did this. i'd like to know what she had in mind chasing us like that.."

jisung smacked his lips together, realising that she had only revealed the reason to him, "i know actually.. it's because she thought we're too close," he admitted with embarrassment, "and she blamed me for it.. that's what she said when she threatened me with the knife."

minho bit his lip and squeezed his eyes together.

"no, we think that's not the real reason for the aggression actually," the man interrupted, "it is nothing that you did or didn't do but rather something that the two wanted from you."

"we've found records saying that your grandparents have been a part of a fanatic cult for more than 15 years now," the woman explained, "basically they believe that faithless people's mistakes cause the earth to wither."

minho and jisung's jaws dropped.

"mr kang has also been involved in countless accidents and has been the prime suspect for multiple arsons in the village and outside of it. he has also been diagnosed with a mental disorder and was supposed to be put in an institution because of the danger he constitutes but his wife volunteered to be his guardian."

"oh my god," jisung couldn't help but exclaim.

"so they wanted to kill us just because they were both deranged?," minho summarised, unbelieving that they had fallen into the trap so easily.

"no, not at all," the woman countered, "the cult is actually in debt, or at least the leader is, and we checked the information on your late father and his ownerships.."

minho and jisung looked to each other dubiously, "we haven't even had a notice from the notary about the heritage yet..," the younger mumbled, confused.

"well, according to our records, he does own two apartments in incheon, and has a bank account with quite a bit of money in it."

"wait.. really? he had all that?," minho doubtfully questioned.

"yes," the woman nodded, "this is thought to be the main reason why mr and mrs kang invited you to come over. it was all a plot from the beginning, ending in both of your's disappearance or the finding of your bodies. then the late mr kang's heritage would go to the last living family members.."

"and they wanted to kill us to have the money..," minho muttered and bit his cheek.

"i'm sorry. i'm sure it came off as a disappointment for your visit to ulsan province but we hope you recover safely," the policeman smiled, "that is all and i wish you a pleasant stay."

the two nodded and left while the boys returned the greeting mechanically, still dazed by the information they just received.