Wildfire And Rain

Chapter Forty

Yeonjun talks to the cops. It's not easy to explain the situation. After calling every hospital in the area Kai could have walked into after the accident, and come up empty-handed.

He is now considered missing.

They take all of his belongings from the car after proving to the cops that it is their property and they load the car and drive to Beomgyu's house once again. Beomgyu insists on staying in the police precinct by Yeonjun convinces him it'll do nothing but interrupt the officers who had promised to look for Kai.

Reluctantly, Beomgyu enters the house that now feels empty though he has his friends with him. He asks to see the box of things that they found in Kai's car.

Licenses, gums, pieces of paper, a small amount of trash. A few cigarette butts that Beomgyu cannot bear to look at and a small tape recorder.

Taehyun picks it up with trembling hands. "Kai brought it to our joined assignment together." he smiles fondly. Tears sprout in his eyes. "I wonder if our conversation is in here."

"Play it." Soobin whispers, they can all hear him due to being huddled so closely together. He rubs Taehyun's shoulder, knowing he is feeling wrecked too but he doesn't want to show it.

Taehyun still tries to keep it together; he presses play. Expecting something very particular. Only it's not their debate that is being played quite loudly around the large living room.

Talk!

It is Kai's voice. But he does not remember Kai yelling at him like that. He does not think he heard Kai yell before. The voice is slightly mechanic due to the nature of the tape recorder but it's definitely Kai's.

There are a few beats of silence after that; rustling.

You should hear me out first, Kai. A second voice speaks. It's familiar as well, if not less recognizable than Kai's. Taehyun has heard that voice a lot but he can pin point who's it is on the very first words. I did it for a reason.

Taehyun looks at Soobin who is tuned into the tape, tilting his ears despite it being loud enough to hear even if he didn't.

"Who is that?" Yeonjun asks.

Soobin shakes his head. "Not sure... Shhh." he shushes him.

I had an obligation.

An obligation? And again, Taehyun is pulled towards Kai's solemn voice. He shivers slightly; goosebumps on his arms.

To clean out society. Your dad was defective, Kai.

The color from Beomgyu's face drains leaving him sickly white. "I don't understand," he whispers. "What are they talking about? Who is-"

I did him a favor. Do you know what it is like, to suffer a mental illness that heavy? More rustling. Beomgyu turns even more uneasy. You probably do.

A beat of silence once again and for a split second they think the recording is over.

Why? The familiar yet unfamiliar voice speaks again and is irks Taehyun that he can't put his finger on who's the owner of it. He heard that voice a lot, he knows but he can't figure out where he had heard it.

The silence between the four of them is unsettling; too invested to speak.

You are just like him. Are you not? Is this... why you're suffering too? Ask yourself Kai, are you happy?

Beomgyu blinks the tears from his eyes. The more he listens, the more he feels that there is something wrong, something he has missed. A part of Kao's life that he was shunned from, forbidden from seeing.