N0 B0DY, N0 CRIM3 | Bang Chan

[ Rec ]

After a restful sleep in her new bedroom, a shower, and a fresh change of clothes, Kiera eyed the video camera in front of her with anxiety brewing in her stomach. Chan had finally fully laid out his detailed plan to destroy Willie Campbell's credibility and image. Kiera was the star of it all. 

She wiped her sweaty palms on her sweatpants and sucked in a sharp breath. Across the way, Seungmin was setting up a video camera to record her. Chan had placed her at a table up against a black piece of fabric. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She glanced over at Chan. "My dad just told everyone I was dead and everyone believes it. How is this going to change anything?" 

"That was just to get the search for you to cease. When this video comes out, there's going to be a lot of questions from everyone. We're going to have you start by telling the truth about what Stray Kids does. You're not going to tell them who we are, only what we do. I've already made a script for you to follow along with. All you have to do is read it word for word and face the camera." 

"And try not to look like you're being held hostage," Seungmin grumbled. "The way you look right now, you look like you're being held at gunpoint. At least, try to look lively. Don't you want to bring down your father?" 

"I do, but I-" 

"So destroy him. I've finished setting up the camera, just click the record button when you're ready, and then the stop button to stop." He pulled away from the camera stand and looked at Chan. 

Chan had been standing with his arms crossed over his chest against the side wall of the room. He had been pulling his black lip piercing into his mouth with his top teeth and then letting it go. "Thanks, you can go ahead and leave now. I'll text you when I need you again." 

"Don't forget to lighten the fuck up, princess." Seungmin walked to the door, flung it open, and left without another word.

Kiera rolled her eyes and crossed her own arms over her chest. Chan couldn't hide his chuckle. Her eyes wandered back over to the video camera in front of her. It stood on a metal stand and Seungmin had zoomed it in enough that the viewfinder had the top half of her body in focus. 

"Are you ready to get this done and over with?" 

"I guess so." 

"You don't seem too happy to be bringing down your father. Did you have a change of heart or something?" Chan cocked his head and waited for her response. 

Her eyes found her fingers as she started to play with them. The two of them were in an empty room. Hyunjin hadn't bothered to fill it with anything, so Chan figured it was the perfect place to film. It was away from the living room, so there wouldn't be background noise. 

"Once this video goes out, everything crumbles for me. I know someone already wanted me dead and if I went back to the white house, I would have been taken out, but this is truly the end of the line for me. This seals my fate. When I turn on my father, there won't be any saving grace for me." 

"My car, my bank account, everything I own, it'll be gone. I'll be left with nothing and when this all blows over, I won't have anywhere to go." She bit down on the inside of her cheek. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'll be homeless and broke. It'll be the end of everything for me." 

"I understand that you're scared, but I need you t-" 

"I'll do it. I already said I was going to, so I'm not taking it back. I'm just terrified of the unknown. I guess I am like my father because I won't have control. Sure I couldn't control a lot back home, but I had some things. I had clothes, I had food, I had shelter, and I had water. I had a sense of stability even if it was damaging."

"You never know what might happen between now and then." 

Kiera nodded in agreement. 

"So are you ready to start?" 

She nodded again and adjusted herself in her seat. Chan left the room for a moment and came back with a few sheets of paper stapled together. He placed them down in front of her and explained that she was going to read them into the camera. She listened to him describe everything in silence. 

She was going to read from the script and tell the world the truth about Stray Kids. Seungmin was going to edit the video together. Official documents from court cases and police reports were going to be added in during editing to prove that Stray Kids weren't creating smear campaigns to destroy people's reputations. 

Every single person Kiera would be talking about happened to be friends of her father. Chan's plan was to expose the kind of people he befriended. The kind of people that surround you says a lot about who you are as a person. Your morals. Your ethics. Your values. Your friends are simply a reflection of you. 

"Okay, I'm going to hit the record button. Take a deep breath and relax." Chan hit the record button. The red light on the camera started to blink as it recorded. 

"Go ahead and tell the camera everything."