The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

35 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Chan stood in the store, carefully observing the toy shelves. His heart beat faster as he thought about what he might find. He dreamed of a new model of a race car he had seen in a magazine. Suddenly, a boy rushed into the store, holding a colorful ball in his hands, the glow of which seemed to promise endless fun.

"Catch it!" he shouted, passing by Chan like a storm.

Chan didn’t have time to realize what was happening when the boy threw him the ball, and his small feet hit the floor like thunder. Confused, Chan caught the ball mid-air. When he looked at his brother, his joy quickly turned to worry when he noticed the security guard chasing the running boy.

In an instant, Chan felt a heavy hand fall on his back.

"What’s going on here?" the security guard asked, pulling Chan towards the exit.

The silence in the store was terrifying; everyone turned their heads, watching the scene with curiosity and judgment. Chan felt his heart race faster, and a huge lump formed in his throat. He saw the boy stop for a moment, his face twisted in fear.

"I’m sorry!" the boy shouted, but the security ignored him, leading Chan to his mother, who was standing by the register, a clear expression of concern on her face. Chan felt his breath becoming shallow. What if Mom gets angry?

"Is this your son?" the security guard asked, pointing at Chan.

His mother looked at him disapprovingly. Chan felt his heart stop. Her gaze pierced him through. He knew what was about to happen—the thing he had feared.

"Yes, he’s my son," she said, her voice ringing like a bell announcing a verdict.

"Theft is theft, regardless of intent," the security guard replied, placing a hand on Chan’s shoulder as if to bind him to an irreversible guilt.

Chan tried to explain that it was an accident, that he didn’t mean to do it, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he felt his mother judging him with a disapproving look. His insides filled with sadness, and his heart drowned in a sea of expectations that had nothing to do with who he truly was.

"What kind of boy are you?" his mother asked, clearly disappointed. "I thought you learned what is good and what is bad."

Chan wanted to scream that it wasn’t his fault. But in the face of her disappointment, he felt powerless. It wasn’t his fault, but she didn’t believe him. His heart beat harder, and he felt like he was drowning in uncertainty that was tearing him apart.

The boy who had thrown him the ball had already disappeared around the corner, running to his father, and Chan stood there, with the ball in his hands, feeling his childhood dreams shattering into pieces.

≈🎃≈

Jisung pov.
Walking down the corridor of the station, I could feel the gazes of a few officers on me, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to that. I gripped the piece of paper in my hand that had been bothering me since the morning. "Start with his family." Those words weren’t random. I needed to find out what was going on, and Minho seemed to be the only person who could help me.

I found him sitting at a desk, absorbed in some files. As I approached and threw the note on his desk, he looked at me with a mix of surprise and interest.

"Minho, I need your help," I said, not taking my eyes off the note. "We want to find out something about Chan’s family. Someone gave us this tip, and I have a feeling it’s important. Can you check for any information about them?"

Minho looked at me, scrutinizing me as if trying to assess how serious my intentions were. Finally, he nodded and motioned for me to follow him to the computer room.

I watched as he typed, my heart pounding faster with every click of the keyboard. This was the moment we had been waiting for. Maybe we’d finally discover what Chan had been hiding from us all this time.

"This... this is strange," Minho muttered, stopping at one of the screens. I looked at his face, which now carried a shadow of concern.

"What’s going on?" I asked, leaning over the monitor.

"Chan’s family... they have several registered addresses, but one of them looks suspicious. It’s appeared in police files related to several thefts. And there’s also..." Minho hesitated. "It looks like Chan has a brother. But there’s no further information about him anywhere."

Minho’s words hung in the air for a moment before fully registering with me. Chan had a brother? Why had he never mentioned him?

I swallowed hard and looked at Minho. "Do you think someone wants us to discover this? Why now?"

Minho shrugged, but I could see in his eyes that he didn’t like this at all. I had a feeling this was just the beginning—and that this note was just one of many questions we needed to find answers to.

≈🎃≈

I sat on the couch in my living room, anxiously looking at my phone. Thoughts about Chan were constantly on my mind, especially after everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Although I had known him for years, the fact that he had been struggling with dark demons from his past, and that his history was tainted by such actions, made us feel confused. On one hand, I wanted to help him, but on the other, I couldn’t forget that he was the person who had taken many lives.

I heard a knock at the door. It had to be Minho—I had a feeling he was always nearby when something important happened. When I opened the door, Minho looked excited, but I could also see something else in his eyes—maybe it was worry?

"Jisung! You need to see this!" he exclaimed, rushing inside with a bag in hand.

I closed the door behind him, and he quickly pulled out an envelope, the contents of which made me freeze. Minho spread the photo on the table. There was a small Chan, smiling and carefree, but next to him... his brother had his face obscured. It looked like someone had deliberately tried to erase him from that moment.

"What is this?" I asked, feeling thoughts swirling in my head. "Why would someone do something like that?"

"I have no idea, but this could be important to our case. Someone erased his brother from this photo. And what Chan did—it can’t be a coincidence. Maybe it all connects somehow," Minho said.

At that moment, all the negative emotions I had been harboring regarding Chan exploded. I felt we had to be cautious. Some of us had every right to hate him, even fear him. His actions were unforgettable. But did that mean he didn’t deserve help?

"We need to find out why this happened," I responded, trying to control my emotions. "This could lead us to the answers that Chan has been trying to hide for so long."

Minho nodded, but I saw that even he was struggling with doubts. Together, we had to face this mystery, even if every step forward felt like walking on thin ice. I didn’t know where it would lead, but I knew we couldn’t wait any longer.

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Movie suggestion: Headless Horseman (1999)