paranoia / gyuricky

04: what if she's cute?

Walking into the police station was awkward, with the four of them being stared at by everyone there. Yujin clung to Gunwook as they approached the desk, the officer sitting there looking quite concerned.

"Hey there, is everything okay?" he asks, looking into Gunwook's eyes specifically.

He fiddled with the hem of his sweater, breaking eye contact with the officer. "Yeah, well, someone broke into my house just now, like, through the window. We ran away and came here, 'cause he wanted to attack my friend," Gunwook explains, gesturing to Ricky, who was standing (quite stiffly) next to him.

The officer suddenly begins typing on the computer in front of him. "Okay, I'll send an officer, Kim Jiwoong, to your house, if that's okay."

Gunwook nods. "Sure, ah, do you need my address?"

"Yes, please," the officer says, turning the computer screen to face Gunwook. "Type here."

He hesitates, but Gunwook types his address in, making sure to double-check before allowing the officer to proceed. He was visibly nervous, so Gyuvin placed a hand on Gunwook's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"He's on the way now, please don't be worried," the officer reassured with a smile. "I'll be assisting you here in the meantime. Please feel free to call me Officer Sung Hanbin. For starters, is anyone injured?"

"I don't think so..." Gunwook trails off, glancing around at his friends.

Hanbin makes a face of worry. "Are you sure? This one has blood on his shirt." He gestured towards Gyuvin, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. The blood is from Ricky." He links arms with the blonde standing next to him. "He was sick before that guy came in."

Questioning doesn't go as smoothly as desired, but the officer brushes it off as the kids being startled by the fact that they ran into a murderer. Hanbin asked some basic things, such as what they were doing, and where their parents were, jotting down the answers, although not necessarily helpful to the case.

Hanbin offers to escort the group back to Gunwook's car, as he parked quite far down the street, however, something catches Gyuvin's eye that makes him stray away from the rest.

"Gyuvin, where are you going?" asks Gunwook, running to catch up with the older.

He points at a girl sitting on the curb; she was humming quietly and fiddling with something in her hands. "Look! What if she needs our help? And what if she's cute?"

"What if she's cute?" Ricky repeated in annoyance. "Seriously?! We have more important things to do."

Gyuvin brushes off Ricky's nagging and approaches the girl anyway. As he gets closer, he realizes that the girl wasn't fiddling with anything—she was slitting her wrists with a box cutter, thick blood trickling down her arms. "I, um..." Gyuvin trails off.

The girl snaps her head up to look at Gyuvin, her humming coming to a stop. She stares at him curiously before lunging at him, her box cutter ripping a hole in the sleeve of his sweater.

"Holy shit!" Gyuvin shrieks, using his arms to block the swings coming from the girl, sustaining small cuts. "Holy shit, holy shit—"

He was abruptly seized by the arm and pulled away from the girl's grasp. "Run, Gyuvin!" Hanbin shouted, pushing the younger toward the remainder of the group, with whom he ran towards Gunwook's car.

When Hanbin realizes that the girl had no means of stopping even when he threatens her with a gun, he hesitates before pulling the trigger twice.

Both bullets struck the girl in the chest, prompting Hanbin to shout of concern when he saw that her blood was not red, but black. She collapses to the ground, stiffening after twitching a few times.

With a sigh, Hanbin turns away, making his way back to the police station. A shout from Gunwook's car forces him to return his gaze to the girl, startled to see her standing and advancing toward him once more.

"Just come here!" shouted Gyuvin as he opened the door, pulling Hanbin into the car once he ran towards him.

Gunwook, afraid to speed away, drives slower than usual, feeling anxious since there was a literal cop in his car. (He turned the AC on even though it wasn't that hot, he was just sweating because of anxiety).

Hanbin clears his throat. "You can drive faster, you know."

Yujin turned from the passenger seat to face the officer who was squished in the side of the car next to Gyuvin. "Sorry, man. Gunwook's afraid of police officers."

"Oh my God," Hanbin exclaims, chuckling at Yujin's remark. "You can speed if you want to, Gunwook. You're not gonna get in trouble."

"Don't say that," Ricky says, laughing along with the officer. "He's gonna think you're testing him."

Yujin nudges Gunwook's arm with his elbow. "Hyung, just go a little faster. We might be better off walking at this point!"

Gyuvin lets out a sigh. "Guys, I know we're being all funny and silly right now, but what about that girl? She got back up like it was nothing."

The sudden question does get the group pondering, as silence filled the car, but Hanbin eventually spoke up. "It's not as uncommon as you'd think," he said. "There were some times where I'd have to shoot someone, like, five times to make sure they stayed down."

At the thought, Gyuvin shuddered. "That's crazy," he said. "You're a strong guy to be doing all that."

They eventually arrive at Gunwook's house, where Officer Jiwoong is inspecting the property. He did notice footprints where the intruder would have been once they broke in, but that was all he seemed to locate. Jiwoong suggests that Gunwook cover the shattered window with duct tape for the time being, adding that he brought some and set it on the living room table. Before leaving, the two cops stated that they would be patrolling the neighbourhood more frequently to ensure the safety of the kids and that they would leave their business cards in case of another emergency.

The group collectively agreed on going to Gyuvin's house instead of sticking around after the incident, hopping back into Gunwook's car.

As they reach Gyuvin's house, he moves into the kitchen while he calls someone on his phone. The person who picks up on the other end is Taerae, a friend from school who shares a common interest in ghosts with Gyuvin, however, he was a lot more knowledgeable on the topic. He's called over by Gyuvin after he described what had happened, and agrees, but only if Matthew, someone who graduated a year prior, could come along. Taerae explained that they were hanging out and it felt rude to suddenly send him home, so Gyuvin easily gave in.