dino's twin sister ➳ seventeen

Thirty Four ➵ Police

I wake up beside Joshua in his hospital bed. He's still asleep and his arm has now been casted. The surgery yesterday went well, thank god, but he still needs to stay in the hospital for a few days just for precautionary reasons.

I look to my side and see Jeonghan asleep beside me on the other chair. Joshua and Jeonghan are probably the closest in Seventeen, and when Jeonghan arrived at the hospital last night he was crying. I felt really sad too but I tried my best to comfort him.

The other boys are waiting in the waiting room, probably all asleep. I stand up and kiss him on the forehead before quietly walking passed Jeonghan and out of the small room.

I see all the boys are asleep besides Dino and Vernon, and I also notice Jasmine sitting beside my brother. She's asleep which is good because if she knows who I am, she would know that she's going to be dating my boyfriend. And also, I don't want to add extra stress onto Dino right now, he doesn't deserve it.

"Hey." I smile tiredly and Vernon looks up.

"Morning, Areum," he smiles and I sit beside him. "How's Joshua?"

"Just the same." I shrug and lean against his shoulder.

I didn't get much sleep last night, I was too busy worrying about Joshua. Vernon wraps his arm around my side in a friendly manner and squeezes my shoulder.

"He's going to be alright, Areum."

I feel a slight pain in my lower stomach and I wince. What was that?

I check Vernon isn't looking before discretely lifting up my shirt, only to see a dark bruise in the shape of a beam spread across my stomach. I didn't even know it was there, I was too worried to even feel any physical pain. When the nurses were checking up on me, I never told them about a pain in my stomach so they didn't look.

"Are you okay?" Vernon asks and I decide that it's better if I tell him.

"Come here." I say and stand up, taking his wrist and pulling him around the corner to an empty art of the corridor.

I lift up my shirt slightly and show him the darkening bruise, his eyes widening at the sight.

"Areum, you need to see a nurse about this." He says seriously and I nod in agreement.

"I know," I say. "I can't believe I didn't even notice it."

"Come on, I'll take you." He says and helps me find a nurse.

She takes me inside a room and Vernon stands by the door to watch. She lifts up my shirt and frowns at the sight.

"Why didn't you tell anybody about this, sweetie?" She asks and I shrug slightly.

"I didn't even realise. Will it be okay?"

She nods. "It should be. But I'll prescribe you with some medicine to help take the pain away for now. I'll get in touch with you later on once I've sorted it for you."

"Thank you." I say gratefully and follow Vernon back into the waiting room.

But once we reach the room, I don't expect to see what I do.

There's two police officers standing around the boys, asking them all questions. I look at Vernon, confused, and when he female officer sees me she turns around.

"Ah, Areum, isn't it?" She smiles kindly and I nod. "I'm officer Kim, can we have a few moments outside please?" She asks and I nod, following her outside of the room.

"Is everything okay?" I ask and she nods.

"Yes, but this morning we had officers search the PLEDIS building and we have reasons to believe the fire wasn't accidental. You were at the scene with Mr Hong when the fire started, is that correct?"

I nod. "That's right."

"We have a report from an anonymous witness who says they saw you enter the building with a lighter in your hand. Is that true?"

My eyes widen and my head shakes quickly. "No, of course not, I don't even smoke. I was inside the building when the fire started with Joshua. We were talking when the alarm went off. Can't you check the security cameras?"

She shakes her head. "That's the thing, the cameras with the best views have either been damaged by the fire or seemingly tampered with. Do you know how this may have happened?"

I shake my head, mostly in disbelief. Am I really getting the blame for this fire? I have an odd feeling that somebody has set me up.

"Of course I don't. Look, with all your respect, I'd appreciate it if you focused on the things which really matter here like Joshua's health or who did this. It obviously wasn't me because I was with him, you can ask him yourself when he wakes up. But as you're practically accusing me right now, there's a criminal walking freely yet to be caught." I sigh, surprised at my own words.

"We need you to come to the station and make a statement, Miss Lee."

"What? I can't do that, I need to stay here until he wakes up at least." I beg.

"The quicker we get his done the better," she tells me. "In all honesty, sweetie, I don't think you did this. But right now, there's significant evidence against you so it'll be better if you just come with me."

I nod, knowing she's right. I walk into the waiting room to say goodbye but when I see the boys' sad faces, something inside my triggers and I start to cry, hard.

What if I get found guilty for something that I didn't do?

Vernon is the first to stand up and hug me, whispering reassuring words into my ear but I can barely hear what he's saying.

"What's wrong, Areum?" Dino asks, concerned.

"Somebody's set me up," I announce sadly and the boys and Jasmine all gasp. "They think that I set the fire."