Bubble

18. Revelations

The silence that came with Bang Chan's request didn't last long before there was a debate about it. Felix, I.N, Bonita and even Minho were telling him what a reckless idea it was. The only two that were hesitant about saying the same thing and seemed to believe this was a good idea were Changbin and Han.

"He actually has a good point," said Changbin, silencing the protests leaving the four mouths. "If he is invincible and looks exactly like Chris, then he'd be able to flush the killer out of hiding. It's actually genius."

"It's stupid," snapped Bonita. "You even said yourself this whole flux theory of yours hasn't even been tested."

"Then let me run the tests," said Changbin. "We can resume this conversation afterwards."

Changbin and Han made quick work of transforming the kitchen table into a mini medical center, going right to work drawing Bang Chan's blood to test. When they were done, they cleaned up their setup as quickly as they had put it up, disappearing back to the hospital to get started. The air upon Changbin and Han's exit became awkward as they all moved to settle into the living room. Bang Chan, Felix, and I.N sat squished together on the couch while Bonita and Minho stood across from them.

"He was getting death threats?" asked Bonita finally as the five of them sat awkwardly staring at each other. "I thought he died in a car accident."

"I found out the day of the accident from Felix that my stepbrother had been getting death threats for some time," said I.N. "I was on the phone with Chris when he crashed and I know there is something more to the accident. I just know it..."

"Why don't you seem surprised by the death threats thing?" asked Bonita as she turned to look at Minho.

"I.N mentioned it to me in the hospital when we arrived," said Minho.

Bonita nodded, the revelation settling heavily on her as she looked over at Bang Chan. He was seated on the end of the couch by I.N which she could clearly see brought I.N a level of comfort. He looked more at ease than he had before entering her bedroom on the verge of a panic attack just a little while ago.

"How long was he getting death threats?" asked Bonita as she looked at Felix.

"I don't know. He kept the whole thing a secret from me too for a while," said Felix. "I only discovered on accident one time a few weeks before the accident when I went to pay him a visit on set. I saw the drawer he had stuffed with the letters and convinced him to report it to the police. The police never found the person responsible though and then when he died in that supposed car accident, it didn't seem to hold any sort of merit. They just closed the case as an accident and life went on."

"But it didn't go on..." whispered I.N. "At least not for everyone."

"Do you think anyone else would know about the death threats?" asked Bonita. "Like the studio? Or your parents even?"

"I...I don't know," said I.N. "I'm sure the studio must have known something since Felix and Chris did report it to the police, but as far as our parents...maybe his father knew? I don't know. When Chris died, he didn't talk about it. He actually didn't talk about much. It was several months before my mom or I ever started to get a chance to interact with him again. He stayed occupied with his work as a way to cope with his grief."

"Maybe he knows something then," said Bonita. "You never outright asked him?"

"No," said I.N. "When he finally started to come back around after a few months, neither my mom or I dared to stir the topic back up. We didn't want to cause him to spiral back into depression."

"I don't know why you're asking all these questions like you're some sort of Sherlock Holmes," remarked Minho. "Yes, if Chris was actually murdered, it would be great to find the killer, but what makes you think we can find them when the police never did?"

"Because you have me," spoke up Bang Chan as he looked at Minho. "Having me pretend to be Chris could finally capture the man once and for all."

The conversation for the most part died out shortly after that as they awaited the results of the blood test. It took several hours before Changbin gave Bonita's phone a call. There was a lot of medical terminology used before Changbin boiled it all down for her. Bang Chan was indeed invincible while in their world, but that wouldn't last forever. Unfortunately there was no way to tell for sure just how long Bang Chan would be able to survive in their world without fading away. They would have to operate by the principle, the sooner he returned home, the better.

In the meantime though, Bonita knew they had a job to do.

- - -

"You can't go with us. You have a job to do."

The next day Felix and I.N had decided the best course of action to take in terms of starting to attempt to flush out Chris' killer was to put Bang Chan's face back out there in his hometown. Bonita had insisted on going with them which led to Minho doing the same. However, Bonita was trying to convince him why he had to stay while she packed.

"Why? I have vacation days," said Minho. "Bonita, you can't seriously be thinking of going with those three, especially with what they are trying to do."

"I'm going to be fine, Minho."

"But you don't know that!"

Minho sighed as he ran a hair anxiously through his hair. Bonita looked at him, getting up from the edge of the bed she was sitting on to give him a hug.

"I appreciate your concern, Minho, but I'll be fine. I promise."

"I just...this is not a joke, Bonita. We're talking about trying to catfish a killer."

"Don't worry. I'm not going alone," said Bonita, "and I promise I'll be careful, okay?"

"I'm holding you to that," said Minho as he reluctantly dropped his arms away. "You'd better answer every time I call."

"I will," said Bonita as she moved back to where her duffel bag was on her bed. "Besides, I have a job or two for you to do while we're gone."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

Bonita smirked as she grabbed a notebook lying nearby, scribbling down an address before handing it to him.

"You work at the same entertainment company that the original 'Bubble' show used to air on," said Bonita. "Maybe you can snoop around and see if you can find anything. I also need you to go to this address."

"Who's at this address?"

"That's the address of the tech company that I dropped the DVD player off. I want you to check with Seungmin and Hyunjin about how it's going since Bang Chan has to get back to his show at some point before he fades from existence."

Minho looked at the paper, shaking his head as he said, "Boy you're lucky I..."

"I know. I know. I'm lucky to have you," interrupted Bonita as she moved to hug him again.

'That's not what I was going to say,' thought Minho, surprising even himself with the revelation as he hugged her once more.