N0 B0DY, N0 CRIM3 | Bang Chan

Deep end

A/N: Trigger warning for mentions of sexual assault/battery.

_ _ _ 

"You can't possibly mean he's trying t-" 

"Lawrence Matthews will probably be dead by morning," Lee Know shrugged. 

"But he can't just..." 

"Actually he can. Changbin's hit-man group has some inside connections with people in different prisons. I'm sure there's one at Lawrence's prison." 

"Why would he do that?" Kiera stood up and ran a hand through her hair. "He can't do that! I don't want him to! Why now? He's acting like Lawrence did something to me." 

"He did do something to you, Kiera." 

"But it wasn't nearly as bad as what he did to his daughter! Why would he do this? You have to go stop him! I don't want Lawrence to be dead because of me! Oh god, what did I do?" She covered her face with both hands. 

"Whether you want to admit it or not, you were physically assaulted. He kept touching you without your permission. I'm not a lawyer, I don't know if it qualifies as sexual assault or sexual battery. Whatever it is, it's gross. He looked up your skirt as a child and kept touching your thigh and that's fucking sick." 

"I know, but I-" Kiera uncovered her face and sighed. "I don't want to be the reason that someone dies. You guys might be okay with killing people, but I'm not." 

"Think of it this way, your dad just went on live TV and talked about how he's friends with Lawrence Matthews. If Chan puts a hit on him and he dies, it'll probably cause your dad to feel threatened. Maybe he'll drop the act of wanting to place us in jail." 

"Knowing him, it'll piss him off more." 

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow then. Anyway, I'm sorry about Jennie. She always talked about how close she was to you. That must have been hard for you to deal with. I know it might not help, but you weren't responsible for her death. Jennie felt like the whole world turned on her. You were one person against the thousands against her. Humans aren't meant for that much hatred." 

Kiera swallowed and nodded her head. 

"I like to think she's in a better place now. I'm not sure where that might be, but I like to believe that souls end up in happy places. I hope it's somewhere comfortable and warm. A place where souls can finally rest after taking on so many emotions while in their human bodies." 

Kiera opened her mouth, but before she could respond, the entrance door opened again. She stayed silent while she watched Chan come back over towards the couch. Without a word, he plopped down and glanced at the pair. 

"Did you get it done?" Lee Know asked

"Of course, I did." 

Lee Know nodded, "good. Are you two hungry? I'm starving and I could go for some comfort food. How about homemade macaroni and cheese? I should probably call Felix and tell him everything is okay. I assumed he's texting me for updates because my back pocket is vibrating." 

Chan shook his head, "he never learns." 

"While we're here, can I ask you guys something about Felix?" 

"What is it?" Lee Know called over his shoulder. He walked out to the kitchen and began pulling ingredients out of the cupboards. 

"It sounds insensitive, but why is he so child-like? Of course, it's not a bad thing! I just d-" 

"He's had a pretty rough life since his parents were murdered in front of him. He was fifteen, at the time, and he grew up in foster care afterwards. He never had any remaining family, so he bounced from family to family."

"Oh my god, I had no idea." 

"You didn't know," Chan shrugged. "The last foster family he was with at seventeen, they were a pretty rough family. He ran away and I found him in an alleyway. He looked like he needed help, so I took him in. He's been by my side ever since." 

"Poor Felix." 

"When I first met him, he was pretty quiet, but he's always been childish. They say trauma rewires your brain and he might seem childish, but when he needs to be, he can be serious. Deep down, he's very intelligent." 

"But you guys never leave him alone," Kiera pointed out. 

"Sometimes he can be irrational and spontaneous. I like to make sure I have my bases covered. Besides, he doesn't like to be alone. It's something we've all silently agreed upon, we don't leave him alone unless we have to." 

"Thank you for telling me. I'm glad I've never asked about his family. Now that I know, I'll be sure to stay away from that topic. I don't want to make him upset or hurt his feelings." 

"He's a good guy," Lee Know called out from the kitchen. "Sometimes I think he stays stuck in that childish mindset because he feels safe there. Occasionally, he has briefly talked about his parents before they were killed. He had a pretty good relationship with them before they died. I think once they died, he lost a lot of himself." 

"The stories he's told about foster care..." Lee Know trailed off. "Some people can be amazing foster parents, but some are shitty. His parents died and he was riddled with grief. I don't think everyone is properly equipped to deal with a kid going through the stages of grief. Grief can be a funny thing, you know?" 

"I'm going to go call Felix while the two of you continue this conversation." Chan stood up, walked over to the entrance, and exited the back section of the gallery. He shut the bookcase door behind him and squeezed his eyes shut. 

It was hard to be part of the conversation when he was the cause of it.