In the dark

44

Peri had to admit it; seeing it took her a while. She was sitting at the dining room table, deep in thought. Her fingers crashed against the table with exasperation. 'I should have seen this coming. The signs were there,' she told herself. Peri thought back to the days leading up to where she was now. 

The first clue few right by her. They had all come back from their days of interviews. They should have been talked out. Ready to crash on the couch and not move for a while. However, they were buzzed on something. Maybe the interviews went well? Maybe they were actually drunk, having a celebratory drink after work. 

All of them were giggling and laughing with one another. Little faint whispers could be heard throughout the apartment. Especially the three younger ones, they were tickled pink about something, constantly snickering and whispering in each other's ears. Jin and Namjoon were trying to parent them, but it was useless. The maknaes were uncontrollable. It everyone several hours before they all calmed down for the night. 

The second clue came a few days later. Playing it back in her head, it was their perfected skill of distraction that got her. Peri never saw it coming. 

Peri was curled up on the couch. She had a book in her hand and a cup of tea cooling off on the table beside her. She had turned everything off and listened to the sound of the rain splattering on the windows. 

The elevator ping told her someone was there, but she paid no mind. She was so captured by the chapter she was reading. It was the third installment of the Pendergast novels, "The Cabinet of Curiosities." Peri had come up to the point in the story when Smithback was getting his ass handed to him by the mayor on his article, subsequently pissing off the killer and leading to more bodies. 'Serves him right. One thing you never do is make the killer angry. It only leads to a headache for the investigation,' she told herself. 

"Oh! Hey Peri! What are you doing at home? I thought you be off somewhere walking around," Hobi said as he pulled the numerous shopping bags behind him.

Peri looked over at him and pointed to the window behind her. Showing him the soggy weather that was keeping her indoors for the day. "Wow! You went on a shopping spree. Do you need help with those?" she asked him politely. 

Hobi was tapping away on his phone when she asked the question. "No, I'm ok. You can go back to your book."

"Oh no, it's ok. I don't mind," she told him. She heard her phone ring while trying to stand up from the couch. "Give me one sec, and then I'll help you," she told him, raising a finger to the sky. 

"Hey Kook, how are you?"

"Hey, Peri! Are you home? I need your help."

"Yeah, I am. What can I do for you?"

"I'm going to the gym later and can't find my shoes. Can you go into my room and see if they are there?"

"Sorry, Hobi, give me one more minute," she told Hobi as he bounced back on his heels. "Ok, Kookie, tell me, where would I find them in your room?" Peri said as she returned to her phone call and into Jungkook's room.

For a bunch of guys living together, they actually kept their rooms pretty clean. There would be the occasional random sock on the floor or glass of water on the tables, but nothing too terrible. 

"Can you check by my bed?" Peri walked over to his bed and could see anything immediate. She flipped the covers over and peered under the bed, coming up empty. 

She rose to her feet and placed the covers back as she found them. "Not there."

"Check my closet."