VICIOUS

tied tongues.

05.

the shadow of the buildings was turning slender – furrowing by each passing minute. jia was blank minded, while yeonjun was a pond of raving questions. he wanted to break open like a piggy bank, flooding the scene with his strained emotions. yet all he could do was stare at the button in jia's hands. he couldn't even say it was his. why did she have it anyway?

"what do you think happened?" jia softly broke the silence. her eyes tipping towards the guy. his eyes stayed hidden behind growing hair. jia could bend forward to push it back, but she stayed put.

"i don't know." yeonjun swallowed a heavy lump.

jia sat across him, the sight of the shop in clear view. they were all alone in a dark alleyway, away from the mob that had formed earlier. they had taken mister hiroshi's body for autopsy. the crowd dissolved soon after, but a few people were left behind, sitting under awnings, with cigarette tips burning off into smoke. yeonjun hugged his knees closer. he wished the voices of the people softened into static too. jia noticed it all.

"do you want to wash up?" jia asked again. she didn't like how much she was speaking today. what was so special about yeonjun that had made her stay there? just as she worded another question, a running broke off the flow. jia turned to look over the corner. it was the other boy. the one that accompanied yeonjun near the lake.

"taehyun." yeonjun muttered. the uninvited guy gasped for air, hands on knees, sweat trickling down his neck. he hadn't noticed jia until he looked up, chest still heaving. he looked at her very blankly. then he rushed towards yeonjun, bombarding him with questions.

this was jia's  chance to take leave. she stood up, dusting the sand from her pants. before she could turn away, her eyes caught yeonjun's. a softness glazed his sight. jia turned around, her chest a flimsy flutter of emotions.

she buried it by thinking back to the murder, and whether it was a lead towards her destination.